Delia Quigley: STORIES
Every woman has a story to tell. Every story holds her wisdom.
In STORIES, host Delia Quigley explores the moments, memories, and experiences that shape who we are as women. From deeply personal reflections to conversations with inspiring voices, each episode invites you to discover the truths within a life’s narrative.
At the heart of these stories is the wisdom of our Five Bodies—physical, energy, mental, wisdom, and divine—because the way we live, feel, think, and sense shapes every chapter of our journey.
Whether you’re navigating change, seeking clarity, or simply curious about the threads that connect us all, these stories will guide you toward greater self-understanding, compassion, and alignment.
Because when we share our stories, we awaken the wisdom within.
Delia Quigley: STORIES
Practice Yoga: All Is Coming
Delia Quigley shares her personal journey through decades of yoga practice, from discovering Bikram yoga in the 1980s to studying with masters like Sri K Pattabhi Jois and the 120-year-old Swami Bua. She reveals how yoga transformed not just her physical body but her entire approach to life.
• Starting as a neophyte in the early 1980s, when yoga teachers were scarce and information was limited
• Teaching up to 16 yoga classes weekly during the height of her teaching career
• Learning the deeper meaning behind Sri K Pattabhi Jois's famous words "Practice yoga, all is coming"
• Studying with remarkable yoga masters, including a centenarian Swami Bua, who survived his own funeral pyre
• Understanding that yoga practice extends beyond physical postures to encompass all eight limbs
• Discovering that true yoga practice offers the choice between living in fear or living in joy
• Experiencing how consistent practice creates a deep connection with universal energies
Follow Delia on Substack for Sunday Guidance, Wednesday Wisdom, this Stories podcast, and Mindful Mandala wisdom insights. Begin the day with love, spend the day with love, fill the day with love, and end the day with love. That is the way to God.
Like I am probably in the best place that I have ever been in my entire life. So is that all is coming? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Practice yoga, all is coming. Those are the immortal words of Sri Pattabhi Joyce, the yoga master who introduced the world and myself to Ashtanga Yoga. Welcome to Stories. I'm Delia Quigley. There are a million stories. Well, there's your story, there's my story, and each one shows us who we are, how we've evolved and how deeply connected we all are to each other.
Speaker 2:In this podcast, women's stories take center stage. Here you'll find reflections that reveal the wisdom hidden in everyday life, stories that remind us we share the same emotional software, the same fears, dreams, joys and hopes that make us human. So, delia, do you want to tell your listeners why you changed the name from Five-Body Wisdom Interviews with Ourselves to Stories? Well, yes, of course. You see, all along, this podcast has been about telling our stories, but at the heart of each episode is to bring awareness to your five bodies, your physical and mental bodies, your energy, your intuitive body, and to bring awareness and to awaken your divine body. You know, our stories don't just live in our mind. They shape our physical body, they influence our energy, spark our intuition and lead us towards liberation from the fluctuations of our chaotic, unfocused mind. Okay, and what about interviews with ourselves? Right, well, that continues as before, because it is in asking the deeper questions that I put to my guests and to myself that our stories emerge to be shared with the world. All right, so now that we have that settled, where shall we begin?
Speaker 2:Well, let's go back to the early 1980s, when yoga washed up on the shores of a small beach town in Sarasota, florida. This is my story and I'm sticking to it. 1983 was when yoga really kicked into my awareness. Well, I'd taken some classes in the 70s, but it wasn't until I was introduced to the Bikram style of yoga that it all clicked. Yeah, the postures were really difficult enough to challenge my dancer's body, but by the end of the first class I knew I had found what I hadn't even realized I was looking for. And then, within a few years, I was teaching yoga to my friends because they all wanted in on my practice. Suddenly, I went from neophyte to guru. I hadn't even read the sacred texts. I didn't know of their existence. Was there really an eight limb of yoga? I had no idea. I went looking for other yoga teachers so I could learn more. But I discovered we were all reading the same few books. We were all doing yoga sequences and finding a yoga teacher really required traveling to the far reaches of India, and many of our Western students traveled to India and studied with Sri Pattabhi Joyce and BKSI Yangar and many of the other gurus at that time, and then they brought that information back to all of us, who greatly benefited from all this new knowledge and sequences that we could practice.
Speaker 2:At the time I was living an easy life walking the beach on Siesta Key, and back then it was all about the body, the tan, looking good, and for that the gym was the place to be. So, as I was dedicated to the worship of the body, teaching yoga at the gym was a no-brainer. Then, one day, a friend returned from L from LA, with news that there was more to yoga than Bikram's 26 yoga postures. Now, if I thought Bikram's program was kick-ass, then what she revealed was in a league all by itself. Remember, I was young, filled with energy, my ego flaring like fire, and suddenly the second piece of the yoga puzzle fell into place. Ashtanga yoga had rolled up on my shores, literally, and if there was ever a perfect style of yoga for the gym culture, it was the primary series, hot flow yoga or any of its many names. It reads G-Y-M, because it got you buffed strong and sweaty in less time than it took for similar results with a boring old weightlifting routine. Lifting your fat butt over and over again could produce some serious biceps and some serious injuries if not done properly. But for me it meant pretending was over. I began to read more books, because new ones were coming out all the time, and learn actually learn the Sanskrit names of the postures. I wrote down my classes on note cards in English with the Sanskrit name next to it, plus draw a little stick figure showing me what the posture looked like and what exactly I was going to be teaching.
Speaker 2:By the late 80s, I was teaching at the new college campus and the students turned out in droves. I had to turn them away at the door. The room was so crowded. It was just mat-to-mat bodies. I was 42 years old, teaching 18 and 19-year-olds whose young bodies could change and evolve from class to class to narcissism. Full-on detoxification of the mind-body, wrapped in t-shirts, tai chi pants, capri tights and thong leotards and or any variation thereof, and since there are no rules or precedents, clothes didn't matter In the gym. Wives would bring their pot-bellied husbands to my yoga class in hopes of sharing what they loved. And then the husband would do the vinyasa series and transform his body becoming the Adonis of the gym. Or at New College, the kick-sand-in-your-face skinny student would manage the challenging intermediate practice of the Ashtanga series and then suddenly transform to become the leader of a young band of blonde yoginis. Oh, it was an amazing thing to witness. What a time that was.
Speaker 1:I was in my 30s at the time when I found vinyasa. That's what attracted me. The classical stuff was just too static for me. My, you know, at that point my brain's going, the monkey chatter's going. It was really hard for me to sit. So the vinyasa was good, right, little boys, that's what they were teaching them to make them sit, still right. And that was me at that time. And now I'm like, yeah, just, you know my morning practice, I, meditation is my thing. Just let me sit in meditation and I'll do a few stretches, you know, a few yoga poses that work for my body, and I'm good. I mean, I was still pretty young, I mean it was still in my early forties probably, when meditation was just like I really connected with it. I was able to finally quiet the monkey mind, mostly through breath. For me it was, you know, that's usually my focal, my focal point, and I think that made the shift for me pretty early. But I don't think I would have ever done yoga had it not been for the physical.
Speaker 2:So, delia, you're teaching and observing, you're learning, but what about your own yoga practice? Well, that's a good question, because I would prepare my classes at home, on the floor of the living room. We were all using the cheap, first edition yoga mat, the ones that would shred and tear under your hands and feet, and then I would take those classes that I prepared and demonstrate them throughout the day as I made my way across town. All right well, do you ever meet other yogis from those days? I do Every now, and then I'll meet another yogi who has traveled the same path as I have. Every now and then I'll meet another yogi who has traveled the same path as I have. Oftentimes we talk about our injuries from those days of overtraining, pushing our 30-something bodies through several classes a day, demonstrating all these different poses. Then we'd go and take workshops with teachers who pushed us because actually nobody really knew what the hell they were doing. But we were willing to learn and we were willing to push ourselves.
Speaker 1:Probably at the time that I was teaching too much, probably my own practice suffered because I was teaching anywhere from 13 to 16 classes a week. It's a lot of classes. I would go places you know to go take. I would go to Kripalu. I would go to Kripalu, I would go to Omega. I went to Colorado once, you know, to study with somebody for a solid week to get something out of it for me as well as then to bring back to students.
Speaker 1:But it really, I think that was always really for me. I mean I've now got like scoliosis which was like, well, where the heck did that come from? You know? I mean, you know, how could I have scoliosis all of a sudden? Never had that before. It's gotta be from overly teaching. One side definitely have like hip injuries and I've had, you know, knee issues, and so I've definitely got my share of stuff.
Speaker 1:I will say that you know now that I've backed away from teaching and I'm strictly just I'm just doing massage and I have a morning practice, which is great. I have a morning like other also workout routine which I never used to do, Like after I had dropped teaching exercise classes and I had dropped teaching dance. I lost the physicality of me and was just strictly doing yoga only, and I kind of feel that, you know, we do need some strength training, we do need other things that we're not getting from the practice of yoga, where before I was very much like this is all you need. You don't need anything else. Just do yoga and your life will be perfect.
Speaker 2:You just heard from Denise Kay, renowned yoga teacher from her community in northwestern New Jersey, who I had the great pleasure to teach with many, many times and train some really wonderful yoga teachers over the years. So, delia, did you ever spend any time in an ashram? Well, not in the 80s, but later in the 90s and the 2000s, I did. There's a very strict discipline and commitment when you join an ashram. We can visit them, take workshops and classes at Kripalu or Omega Institute or anywhere around the world. Whole other story when you really commit to that particular teacher or guru who sits in presence or residence at the ashram. Okay, I'll tell you what I'm going to. Let Carolyn Green tell you all about it, because she finally made a commitment to the guru Satchidananda and went to live at his ashram in Yogaville. Here's her story.
Speaker 3:So the other thing that happened organically was somebody told me about this ashram up in Virginia, and I didn't even know what an ashram was, but they advertised that they could teach you how to live yoga, and that was a concept I really wanted to learn more about. What really drew me to him was his laughter. He did this with humor. He had so much fun in his life and that's what he said was our purpose. Everybody's purpose is to have fun. That's why God put us here. I want to commit to that because my life has been stressful. I've been dealing with a disease I had, you know, like everybody does, psychological issues from bad family life. Everything was woes to me up to that point and I wanted to follow what he was teaching have fun in life, but take care of your body. You have to take care of your body to do that. By practicing the yoga, you bring fun into your life. You bring some happiness into your life. The only reason why I committed to him is I wanted to follow his life.
Speaker 3:I started actively coming to Yogaville in 2015. It was when I went into the living yoga training program the four weeks coming up to Yogaville. It was during that time that I started to really look what is this life like 2018, really look what is this life like 2018,. When I took my vow, when I took mantra initiation, I started it, but every year since then it goes deeper. I decided to yes, why not live in Yogaville? And that's when I even went deeper into my practice. If you put it out to the universe that you want to go deeper into spiritual practice, you will get it. And it is so hard. So Swami Satchitananda calls when you go into spiritual practice, you have to rub and scrub. He calls it rubbing and scrubbing. So all that crap that is in your mind come out. You learn how to let it go. But the more I do it and the more I want to leave Yogaville and I go out and come back in, the more committed I am to being here.
Speaker 2:So, delia, what did Sri K Pattabhi Joyce mean when he said to practice yoga and all is coming. Well, basically, what that means is, by living a consistent, devoted yoga practice, you will experience inner transformation. You'll experience personal growth and a deeper understanding of yourself. But what you need to do is show up daily with commitment and discipline, not just to practice a sequence of yoga poses, which are called asanas, but to live the step-by-step progression of the full eight limbs of yoga. Naturally, there are going to be challenges and setbacks along the way, which the student comes to accept and understand as part of the practice, but these challenges eventually bring freedom from the ego mind and, eventually, a harmonious connection with all aspects of life. Well, delia, now that you've been quoting K Patabi Joyce, did you study with him while he was alive? Well, you know, throughout the 90s and early 2000s, I studied with a number of well-known teachers who were Ashtanga trained by Patabi Joyce. And then, in 2001, I finally was able to study with him.
Speaker 2:He was teaching a series of workshops in New York City. I drove in with one of my students on a bright September morning to take the workshop. The place was packed. It was really interesting to watch how people revered him kissing his feet, bowing to him, which was really a new experience to me. He and his grandson were teaching the primary Ashtanga series. That day At one point in the class he stopped by and complimented me on my practice, which was really nice to know that I was on the right track. And when we were leaving after the class there was a big line to go up to him, bow and kiss his feet. That one was a little rough for me, but when my time came I went and with hands together, I bowed. He looked at his feet and looked at me, and I looked at his feet and looked at him, but I couldn't make myself bend the knee. I could tell he was a little disappointed because obviously for me all that was coming hadn't come to me yet.
Speaker 4:That the practice of yoga, how it intentionally was practiced, was that through the alignment and at the same time total, focusing on basically everything mind, soul, body opening, opening being super aware about in the practice, about the asana, what it opened, what you know, what it did in the muscles, in the, in everything, this total focus, this total attention, opens up the channels towards the higher consciousness, god consciousness, however you want to call this. That's how I understand, of course, always practicing mantras. It's like a non-stop practice. The real practice of yoga is the non-stop practice, like the practice of tantra.
Speaker 4:Every kind of religion, seriously practiced, is not like a one-hour practice, three times a week or, you know, every now and then.
Speaker 4:No, it is a non-stop practice, a non-stop dedication. It is just this full attention to everything that happens in that moment, in the body, in the mind, in the being. And this, this opens up the channel to the God consciousness and with this comes wisdom, insights, intuition and the openness towards other dimensions of consciousness which are far more subtle and beyond all of this worldly manifestation, which is absolutely beautiful there's nothing against this, but it is very limited. This consciousness level opens up, consciousness, comes into the other realm and then the whole experiencing realm of this quite heavy and dense and repetitive experience on this just manifestation in the so-called world, becomes so much more lighter, so much more rich. Your understanding and understanding of things that are just like even just a pure understanding of it just makes it already like, gives it a total different quality, and this happens by practicing of yoga. There's no doubt about this. Practicing yoga in a serious way, everything will be coming, and what will be coming is the openness towards God's consciousness, towards the expanded consciousness, towards other realms of consciousness. It's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2:So, delia, I think we have enough time for one more story. All right, great, because I have a really good one. In 1996, I came across a magazine article about an old swami, believed to be over 100 years old, who was still teaching yoga classes in New York City. I was living in New Jersey and sending out vibes to the universe searching for a knowledgeable yoga teacher. The article mentioned that Swami Bua was teaching out of his apartment on West 58th Street. They provided his phone number, I gave a call and on a clear summer morning I drove into the city with no clue what to expect and nothing really could have prepared me for meeting this revered yogi. So his apartment was his yoga studio and it was on the 11th floor of a high-rise overlooking Columbus Circle. What should have been the living room was left wide open for bodies to stretch and bend, and in the center of the room sat the swami in orange robes, his little feet tucked into lotus position and his head resting on one hand propped against the arm of the chair. On the wall behind him were photos of him demonstrating advanced yoga poses, taken when he was in his 80s. It was really astonishing to see and all I could do was stare at the photos and take in my surroundings. Once the class was all assembled, he looked around the room and, pointing to me, asked who my teacher was. I told him I had no teacher, but had been practicing for years. Then you come to this class as a beginner. He said. Do not think you know everything about yoga. Yes, swami, I answered, and then the class began.
Speaker 2:Now, swami Bua was of the old school of teaching yoga. He was not above yelling, criticizing, intimidating and shouting corrections to a really rapt and attentive class, but he always had a twinkle in his eyes as if he was having fun with disrupting our limited attention span. Once there was a man next to me who was sweating profusely and Swami Bua told him stop sweating. He was as hilarious as he was frightening, but each mind in that room was riveted to every word the Swami uttered. If you happen to glance his way which I happen to do numerous occasions if just to see if he was shouting at me, he would raise his arms in dismay and chastise the offender. Do not look at me, I am just an ugly old man doing nothing here. Look to yourself instead. So he looked, looked anywhere, anywhere but at him, until he realized, well, there was nowhere to look but within yourself.
Speaker 2:Over the next 10 years I would arrange for him to teach private classes to my teacher training students. He loved having the room full of women devoted to his every word. He was not above boasting and at the end of the session would bring forth this large conch shell and ask us how long we thought he could blow with one single breath. Well, it was hard to imagine that this tiny, thin centenarian with no teeth could possibly blow that conch shell at all. So we would say like 10 seconds or wow, we'd even stretch it to one minute and the Swami would just giggle and shake his head, finally announcing he would blow on the conch shell for five minutes using one breath. And to our amazement, that's what he would do. He put that conch shell to his lips and he would begin to make the most outrageous noise. That lasted a full five minutes, never failed. He hid it every time.
Speaker 2:Swami Bojji had an amazing story. You see, he was born crippled and he remained so until he was 10. Then a doctor predicted he would die. He did die, or they thought he died. So they took him to the cremation ground, put his body on the pyre and as the flames were lit, his body began to shake. Everyone ran away. Only one sadhu named Yogeshwara stayed and he took Swami Bua away from the fire, took him to his ashram, gave him Himalayan herbs and taught him yoga. By 17, the swami had regained his health, but his family would not take him back. When Swami asked his guru how he could repay him for all he had done, his guru told him to move to the West and teach yoga, and that is what he did until he passed away on July 23, 2010, at the supposed age of 120. If there was one who deserves the title of Titan of Yoga, it was this humble and generous man who taught yoga with the sincere intention of bringing his students closer to God. So, delia, any last words for your listeners.
Speaker 2:Of course you know, lately I've taken to dancing down the street. I walk a lot and people always pass me. They're walking their doggies or riding their bike, they're on their skateboard or they're jogging, but you never see anyone dancing down the street. I live in this little small town and one day I came upon the old Wang Chung song Dance Hall Days, so I put in my earbuds, went out for a walk and actually started dancing down the street. People would pass me, smile, give me the thumbs up, and I felt great. I wanted to dance and it made me really happy.
Speaker 2:One man saw me dancing and he said what's the answer, delia, you seem to have it all figured out. So what's the answer? And I realized he really wanted an answer. He wanted me to tell him and I said yeah, okay. Well, the answer is you have a choice. You can choose to live in fear and anger, or you can choose to live in joy and happiness, and dancing makes me joyful. Doing things I love makes me joyful and happy. This is my choice, and in saying this, I became aware of how good I really feel mentally, physically, energetically, spiritually Is this all is coming Well. These past decades of consistently practicing the eight limbs of yoga has gifted me a deep connection, not just within my physical body, but with the external, cosmic, universal energies as well, and it just feels so right. I wake up every morning, I practice my yoga, I meditate and I look forward to all that the day will bring. But you know I worked hard for that understanding. I worked very hard for that, and you will too. For those of you stuck in asana. Read and study Patanjali's sutras, find a trustworthy teacher. Study, learn and practice. All is coming.
Speaker 2:I'd like to thank my guests Denise Kay, carolyn Green and Anita Peterhansel for sharing their yoga stories here on Practice Yoga. And All is Coming. And here's a choice piece of news I'm moving over to Substack, where you'll be able to find all my offerings my Sunday guidance, my Wednesday wisdom, which is practical teachings on the five bodies, this stories podcast and the Mindful Mandala wisdom insights and prompts inspired by my Mindful Mandala cards. I want to leave you with what Swami Buaji would say to all of us at the end of every class. What Swami Buaji would say to all of us at the end of every class. He would say Love all unconditionally, without any reservation, including yourself. Begin the day with love, spend the day with love, fill the day with love and end the day with love. That is the way to God. I'm Delia Quigley. You've been listening to Stories. Until next time you.
