Michael Porter

Junkie Stats

Status: Hooked

Years hooked: 2 years

Age: 34 years old

Weight: 64 kilograms

Height: 178 centimeters

Favourite Style: Vinyasa Yoga

Other Styles: Yin, Sivananda and Restorative

Least Favourite Style: Bikram Yoga

Favourite Pose: Astavakrasana

Least Favourite Pose: Urdhva Dhanurasana (working on it)

BIO:

Exercise for fitness, something that, for the majority of my early life, was never an idea that got me very excited. As a kid, life was good. I climbed a lot of trees, built zip lines, barrelled down hills on go-carts and cycled endless kilometres with friends. Hiking, rock-climbing and anything fun outside has generally been a strong feature in my life from the start, but exercise… never.

Sure, I tried my hand at running, and it was ok. I signed up for a points programme and hit the gym because it’s what you do, right? Well, no. Exercise for exercise sake is just not my thing.

Then a few years ago I got an invite to a yoga class. It was a Bikram class, but hey, no one’s perfect! This was interesting. I did a few more classes, because there was something there. I can’t say I had fallen in love, but there was certainly a spark.

It wasn’t until another friend invited me to a different class that things got really interesting. This was fun! I may have died in the class (before savasana), but I can honestly say that I’ve never enjoyed breaking a sweat in an “exercise” context more before that day. The teacher, Melanie Castleman. The style, Vinyasa. I was hooked!

From that class, it’s been a journey of discovery and enlightenment. For me, the initial draw of yoga was the physical, but as time has progressed, the mental aspect has played an ever increasing role. Grunting around a gym might give you bolt-on muscles, but tackling a series of yoga poses where mind and body work hand in hand is something that really gets the juices flowing. For those 90 minutes, nothing else matters. It’s me, the mat, the energy of the room and just being.

Fast forward to now, and I find that yoga has consumed my world. A teacher training opportunity with Melanie and my other favourite, Steven Heyman, was a no-brainer. Exploring the depths of this practice with the two of them, and a wonderful group of fellow yogis, is a life changing experience. If I can pass on even a fraction of this joy to others, that would be a very big adventure!

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