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Current Research: Integrative Medicine
Page 12
October 16-17, 2017 Chicago, USA
Yoga and Physiotherapy Congress
Yoga and Physiotherapy 2017
Notes:
Dutch Martin
Carnegie Mellon University, USA
How yoga breaks you down so you can break through
As a certified yoga instructor, I strive every day to provide students with a practice that not only moves their
bodies, but moves their spirits and feeds their minds with what they need to become the best version of
themselves. This involves non-judgmental, compassion, meeting each student where he/she is on his/her mat, and
assuring them that, no matter what, they are good enough. That being said, as a husband and father, it took going
through yoga teacher training for me to finally unload over forty years of excess emotional and psychological
baggage from my upbringing, punctuated by poverty, growing up without a father, and discovering a family
secret about me that nearly pushed me to the breaking point, before I was finally able to have the emotional
breakthrough that I so desperately needed. It has helped me to be a better husband, father and instructor. Thanks
to a pivotal moment during teacher training, where I broke down in tears in a room full of like-minded souls, I
have finally been able to not only accept who I am in a loving and nonjudgmental way, but I would like to share
my story with the conference attendees (especially men), and show them that we have to break down in order to
break.
Biography
Dutch Martin Born and raised in Cleveland, OH. Dutch Martin knows what it means to pull himself up from his bootstraps and overcome adversity. Dutch found
yoga in August 2013 at a time in his when he decided to look at his health and wellness goals though a fresh pair of eyes. Like many, he caught the “yoga bug”
early on, and was immediately hooked. It was the first form of exercise he had ever done where he felt exhausted and exhilarated at the same time! He decided
to become a yoga instructor, with the desire to give back to others what yoga had given him: a deep physical, mental and emotional healing. He earned his RYT-
200 certification from Dancing Mind Yoga in Falls Church, Virginia in 2015, and has been teaching yoga ever since. Dutch currently serves as President of his
Toastmasters Club, is a participant in the Washington, DC chapter of the National Speakers Association’s Speaker Academy, and is currently studying to become
a certified speaker, trainer and coach with the Les Brown Institute and the John Maxwell Team. When he’s not teaching yoga, perfecting his forearm stand on his
yoga mat, or speaking to inspire, Dutch spends time reading motivational and self-help books. He is supported and anchored by his wife, Ibtissam, and young
son, Luther.