Yancy Scot Schwartz | The Skateboarding Yogi: Music, Dharma Yoga & Mental Clarity - Native Yoga Toddcast

Episode Transcript
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Todd McLaughlin (00:33):
Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. So happy
you are here. My goal with thischannel is to bring
inspirational speakers to themic in the field of yoga,
massage, bodywork and beyond.
Follow us at @nativeyoga andcheck us out at
nativeyogacenter.com. All right,let's begin.

(01:04):
Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast.
My name is Todd McLaughlintoday. My special guest is Yancy
Scot Schwartz. Get ready to meetan inspirational and
motivational individual. I thinkbecause he is a very talented
yogi and yoga teacher. He is avery talented skater,
skateboarder, and he's amusician, and you can check some
of his style and approach on hisInstagram page and give him a

(01:27):
little bit of love and let himknow that you appreciate this
conversation also. Thank you.
Andrew Jones, for theintroduction. All of your help
is much appreciated and helpingme find amazing guests. And I
really want to thank you thelistener for tuning in and for
sharing, liking, subscribing andletting your friends know about

(01:51):
this show. Thank you. Yancy man,it was so great to meet you. I
hope you listener, enjoy andlearn as much as I did, and
let's go ahead and get started.
I'm really honored to have thisopportunity to bring Yancy Scot
Schwartz onto the podcast today.
Yancy, thank you so much forjoining me. I really appreciate

(02:11):
this opportunity.

Yancy Scot Schwartz (02:13):
Thanks for having me. I appreciate being
host of being a guest.

That's cool, man. I want to thank Andrew
Jones for introducing us, andwhen I got a chance to read
through and look through some ofyour media, I got me really
excited, because I noticed thatyou're an avid yoga practitioner
with with some pretty amazingskills. And you skate, and you

(02:41):
skate and do some pretty cooltricks, and you're a musician,
which is amazing. I love whatyou put on Instagram. So I love
all these avenues. So I waslike, Oh my gosh, this is really
cool. I get to meet somebodyelse that's passionate about all
these, these three main things.
Can you tell me what came first?

(03:02):
Music, skateboarding or yoga?

Unknown (03:06):
Well, obviously, I guess maybe probably, if I
really think about it, music,because I was like music at a
young age, but I never knew howto play an instrument, never had
any lessons or anything likethat. I think my older brother,
I got a guitar, but nobody hadmoney for lessons or anything

(03:26):
like that. He's he was good withthe ear, but so I was just like
listening to rock and roll, andhe introduced me to music. He's
older. Had some older brothers,but then I picked up
skateboarding. So that's what Ireally like. At a young age. I
picked up skateboarding, and Iwent with that, but that was
always fueled by music, like thewhole skateboard culture and the

(03:47):
music thing very go hand inhand. So, and then, so, then it
became skateboarding, then yoga,amazing after a while, you know,
the skateboarding takes a tolland and I lived in New York, so,
you know, there's winters. Andonce I found yoga, I'm like,

(04:08):
Okay, I have something to do inthe winter time, and then have
something to do all the time,but mainly in the winter time.
So I focus on yoga because it'shard to skate outdoors in New
York in the winter, especiallywhen you get older and then, and
then later, I was always givensome instruments, so I picked up
the guitar and I really like,that became like, that's

(04:31):
probably like, now, like,probably what I do the most,
because It's most accessible.
Like, like, I am going toFlorida. Yeah, I have the guitar
in my bed. I have guitarseverywhere, nice. I wake up I'm
playing. Or as soon as I haveguitar, I have like, two

(04:52):
guitars. And every I got twoguitars in my bedroom, I got an
electric acoustic, two electricsin my. Living Room amps, yeah,
guitar. So to answer yourquestion, in short, I guess
music was like the first thing Iwas, you know, but
skateboarding, actively doingyoga, and then music actively

(05:14):
doing

Nice, nice.
That's cool, man. Did you growup in New York City, or did you
migrate into the city for theculture, for the What were you
chasing in that experience? No,I just grew up there. You grew
up there, nice in the city. Ihad no

Unknown (05:33):
choice. I didn't know anything different. Yeah, I grew
up in Queens, New York, a 17story building, five of them,
all the same, like in a bigcomplex park across the street,
like basketball courts, like aregular like Park and public
schools and whatever. And is, Idon't know, man, and then, so

(05:54):
it's easy to get around. So wefound, like the Brooklyn banks
or Manhattan and the skate shopsand and just we met people from
all over the boroughs, andthat's like me and my friends,
like in my little area. So wego, we have, like, little
sections. And then when I gotolder, I moved to Manhattan,
then to Brooklyn and and then Iwas like, going out west, back

(06:18):
and forth. But, yeah, grew up,born and raised

in New York.
Nice. What? What year were youborn? 74 nice. I'm 73 cool. Man,
we're close. Yeah, ah. I mean,let me just think in terms of
music, Black Flag andskateboarding. Like, I feel like
all we would do is put on thetape, some cassette tape at that
point. Usually any type ofheavier sounding music would

(06:43):
give us inspiration, and then,and then, kind of, you know,
taking some hard falls all thetime on a skateboard, and I feel
like the music really, reallyfit the whole experience. Can
you tell me a little bit aboutwhat genres really inspired you
throughout your childhood whenyou were really excited about

(07:04):
skateboarding,

Unknown (07:07):
for sure? Well, the wonderful thing about
skateboarding was such analternative culture in New York
and so think about it like,where did you grow

up? Like in Florida, in Yeah, what part of
Florida I'm gonna grew up in asmall town called Jupiter.
Jupiter, Florida. It's Laura,yeah, Zion, right from Yeah,
that's the first thing I wasgonna say after you have to know
Zion. I don't know

Unknown (07:37):
Zion, right? But with skateboarding, as you know, the
culture is, like, veryalternative. So you got a lot of
alternative music, so a lot ofpunk rock and rock and roll, and
like, mainly punk rock, like,you know, bad rings Fugazi, like
Black Flag misfits, the wholething. But growing up in New
York City, mixed with theculture was hip hop. So I

(08:01):
started off, like a lot of punkrock and rock and roll, because
my older brother like rock androll and then punk rock, but
then the kids I was with, likethe older kids, like the rock
and roll and the younger kids Igrew up skating with, they
introduced me to hip hop. So Iwas like, okay, punk rock, hip
hop and so, like, it was aperfect that can be, like, all

(08:22):
punk rock and wild aggression,and then I can do, like, call
smooth style with the hip hop.
So it's like a mix. I wentthrough my little phases, you
know, like growing up, it waslike, rock and roll punk rock,
like, I really didn't know, andthen a little bit of hip hop,
you know, and then I was, like,heavy into the hip hop. And
then, and then, now, it's like acombo of both, like, and as I

(08:43):
got Oh, and then after the hiphop, I went, like, I got older,
I went very rock and roll to theskateboard, Baker 2g came out.
We're all like, Greco and Aliblue, Lala tight pants, tight
clothes, like, steal some girlspants or whatever. And like,
just go crazy and jump downthere, reckless, like, just
crazy, like, just, like, not acare in the world, like, no

(09:07):
consequences. And now I'm like,

middle of the road, I understand. I mean, I
don't. I Are you still skatingnow? Are you still in skate?
Yeah, you're still going for

Unknown (09:22):
it. That's fine. I'm more with the skating now. I'm
more particular, and I keep itkind of mellow kind of but
there's still that fire whereI'm like, okay, like, okay,
okay. Like, I don't care whathappens. So I still have that in

(09:43):
less I can die or break my armor break something, and I just
have those moments, but not, notas often as I used to when I was
younger. Yeah, I when I wasyounger, I had like, I could
care.

Have you?
Suffered any serious injury? Oh,my goodness, yeah, I'm thinking,
There's no way you can charge itlike that and not have some
serious, serious injury. Well,do you want the list? Do I want
the list? I'll take a portion ofthe list. Give me some of the
heavy hitters for sure.

Unknown (10:18):
First, one, broken left ankle. Two, broken left wrists
just cast. Never had to getsurgery. Two dislocated right
elbows and the second one, I hadto get surgery. And then broken
right foot and a bunch of brokenribs knocked out my broke my

(10:42):
teeth fell on my face. Yes,that's about it. The broken ribs
was, like, the last one was,like, that was like, pretty
recent, like, maybe a couple of,like, a year ago. Oh yeah. Two
broken left wrists, broken leftankle, broken right foot, two
dislocated elbows. Surgery onthis arm. Bunch of broken ribs,
broken teeth, dislocated middlefinger, oh my gosh. I pulled

(11:08):
that one back myself.
I was like, ah, pulledout the second one back myself.

Oh my gosh.
Well, I'm super curious. Then, Imean, from looking at the photos
that I saw of you practicing,you have some, I'm guessing. I
mean, I know it's not fair tosay to someone who practices
yoga that you have naturalflexibility, but it looks like
maybe on some of the backbending positions, that maybe
you're predisposed toward havingsome pretty flexible back bends

(11:38):
have. Was that your experienceyour whole life, or was it until
you walked into a yoga room? Orwere you extremely tight when
you went into yoga and thenunlocked a whole bunch of
potential through the practice?
I'm sure it's probably acombination of both, but I'm
curious like what, what it waslike for you when you started
practicing yoga, and what, whatopened up for you?

Unknown (12:00):
Well, I was a little bit flexible, not too flexible.
So it was like something thatunlocked with practice. Yeah,
took, took a while. So I guesswhen I was younger, I used to

(12:22):
watch, like, kung fu movies, andso I used to copy that. Is it
loud?

No, uh, I can hear it a little bit. It's
minimal, though. Let's let's seeif it does make a difference. If
the window closes better, let'stry it. Let's see,

Unknown (12:36):
yeah, I think I closed the window. There's, like, some
construction going on. So I waswatching kung fu movies, so I
was always mimicking the Kung Fulike movies, like, whatever
they're doing. So I guess, Iguess that's what gave me a
little bit of an edge. I nevertook any kung fu lessons, or
never had money, never took anylessons of anything in my life.
So that maybe gave me an edgeand skateboarding, because I was

(12:59):
always like, trying stuff, and Iwas always kind of stretching,
but I didn't even know what Iwas doing, because I'd skate so
much my legs would cramp up. SoI was like, Okay, I guess I
should stretch. I don't know,but my back wasn't as flexible.
It was okay. Not like, not like,anything to write home about. So
I guess, like, yeah, just took awhile to unlock. And just

(13:25):
constant, practice, practice,practice, and then, now I'm at a
place I guess I had some, a lotof great teachers and like,
seeing the people around me thatcan do these kind of things, I'm
like, okay, like, this is thenext, is the progression, like,
I just practice practice, andthen little by little, like,
things unlock. Like, so I don't,I never be nice to try to get a

(13:52):
couple poses, like after classor something like that. But not
like, just to practice them. Notlike, wasn't like, if that
happens or not, like, yeah,yeah, just through the constant
practice. Like, I started, like,my first yoga was, like, ashram

(14:13):
yoga, so there's no flexibility,there's like, should shoulder
stand, a couple mantras. Like, Istarted with such an on this
yoga so natural vim of the eyemovement and the avana mantra, I
think. And I don't even know, Ididn't even know what a
difference of yoga was. Took apower class. I thought it was
stupid. Like, this is not whatI'm used to. Like, my first yoga

(14:37):
was like ashram yoga, and thenplaying Eminem and expressive
breathing, like, Haha, like, letit out. I'm like, What is this?
And the poses are hard. I'mlike, dumb, yeah, I didn't, I
didn't know there's differenceof yoga. Like, I hear, ya, I
hear, but then, but then, like,I started doing, like, the power
yoga. I got past all that kindof stuff, figured out a couple

(14:58):
of the poses. Like, so. Oncitations. And then I found
Bikram yoga. And then I waslike, Okay, well, this helped my
back open up, because, like, itwas good spine stuff. And so
then I did a Bikram and a powerclass, so they get open. So
Bikram was a warm up, and then apower class, and then I found,
like, rocket and Ashtanga. Andthen I was like, Okay, this is,

(15:20):
like, these have all theseadvanced things. And this is
very, keeps me on my toes, like,keeps me sharp, like, I'm
interested in this. This is,like, what they're not offering
in these other classes, and, butthere's something missing, like,
so it's like, a lot of strength,and like, Ashtanga and rocket,

(15:42):
and it's power classes, and thenthat Bikram for the flexibility,
but it's not quite all there.
And then I found Dharma yoga.
And I'm like, Okay, this got itall. So like, with the
combination between Ashtanga,rocket and dharma, I got the
strength, and then with Dharma,the flexibility, and, like, all
these like kind of thing. So,like, just with constant
practice, like and like, withall the repetitions, without

(16:06):
fail, like it just practicepractice, like the it opened up
more and more and more and more.

That's cool, man. What At what point did you
start teaching yoga?

Unknown (16:18):
Um, I did my training in like 2008 or nine, my my 200
hour, whatever. And I wasworking at a skate shop and and
I actually the training. It'sfunny story about the training.
So, you know, I told you thestory where I did the the power

(16:43):
class. So the first class I evertook was, like, I was on a
skateboard tour in DominicanRepublic. We're filming for some
video, and I don't know, theyjust took me to Dominican
Republic, and they had a yoga onthe roof. So I was like, Okay,
let me do the yoga at the roofat the hotel. And it's a from
yoga. I was like, Oh, this ispretty cool. Chill. Like,
shoulder stand. Do some chance.
I don't know what we're doing.

(17:05):
Like, super chill. Then Istarted dating this girl when I
went back to New York, and shetook me to the yoga class. Was
power yoga, and I was like,playing Eminem. I love Eminem,
but, like, just wasn't I justdidn't understand it. I get it,
trying to put a modern twist onit, like a Brian cast like a

(17:26):
modern twist. And so, yeah, veryturn off. And then the girl, I
ended up dating that girl, andshe became a yoga teacher for
that place. So she showed me thesun salutation. So I'm like,
okay, so then, so I kept goingto that yoga place where she was
teaching at, and the owner ofthe studio tapped me on the

(17:48):
shoulder. Was like, how wouldyou like to do teacher training
for free? That was about 2008 soI was like, I'm a skateboarder.
So if you're going to tell mesomething for free, I'm greedy.
I was greed at the time. I'lltake anything for free. I felt
skateboard mentality, freeboards, free shoes, free, like
Yes, and I was working at theskate shop, so I did the

(18:09):
training. And then shortly afterthe training, I was still
working at the skate shop. I'dbe subbing to class here or
there, filling in if someonedidn't show up, and then the
owner, I talked to the owner,like the owner, it's like,
coming to teach classes youteach. And I was like, let's get
you more classes. I'm like,okay, so then I transitioned
from the skate shop in like,about 2008 so, like, full time

(18:33):
teaching this company, it's yogastudio.

Nice, very cool. Did you right away. Feel
like this was something that youwould want to do for a long
time. Did you feel pulled tocontinue teaching? Was it
something you fell in love withright away? Did it take a little
time for you to to want

Unknown (18:54):
I thought like I didn't really think about it too much.
I thought I thought like, Hey,this is a very important to me
in my life, in my like,spiritual practice and, like,
just helping me with my life.
And I'm just like, and I gotoffered to teach it more. And so
I was like, let me share whathelps me with others. So I

(19:15):
really didn't think about itmuch. I'm like, Okay, this
seemed more purposeful than,like, selling sneakers at a
skate shop, which I love. Likethe skate shop had a ramp. I
just the boss would leave, wejust skate the ramp all day.
Yeah, but, but, you know, likeit just felt a little bit more

(19:37):
purposeful. Skating is great,but, like, it's still, at the
end of the day, it's retail,yeah, like, Okay, this felt more
more meaningful. So I was like,Okay, this is cool, amazing.

Can you tell me what your connection is with
Dharma in relation to having asolid teacher? And to in in
terms of what it's like to havea teacher that you respect and
appreciate.

Unknown (20:06):
Okay, well, so when I was teaching at this one studio,
the other teachers, they theytook me to dharma. And these
teachers are amazing. Andbefore, like, I even went to
dharma, I think I was inSeattle, I was at a yoga studio,

(20:28):
and I saw a poster of some sunsalutation seed look very
vintagey. I'm like, This guy,this the first time on the
poster with the big Lotus. Andit's, like, all I was like, this
is just, like, a vintage yogathing. This is cool. Like, I
didn't even know that that was areal person. And then I got that
little book at a bookstore, the908 poses. I'm like, looking at

(20:49):
these poses. I'm like, how, howdo you get into this? Like, how
is it possible? Yeah, I had noidea. I was, like, so awestruck
and dumbfounded. And I thoughtthe person was dead. I didn't
know this person was alive. Ididn't know this was like, I
thought, this is some old Yogithat had passed from the 70s,
whatever. I didn't know. Then Iwent back to New York, Long

(21:14):
story short, and then I tookthis girl's class, and I got so
charged, so spiritually,charged, like, so charged and
so, like, like, juiced up, andthen I didn't know what it was
about. And I think I went backto the west coast. So this is
back and forth, and I came backto New York, and they took me to
dharma. And I'm like, and I wasalready doing Ashtanga and

(21:37):
rocket yoga, and I'm like, Thisis it? This is the missing
piece. And I saw Dharma, I methim, and I was like, This is it.
And so they're short, shortafter, like, we're supposed to
do 500 hours together, me andsome other friends. And they
backed out. I ended up doing it.
I was like, This is it. And thenthey asked me to teach at the
center, like, shortly after, butlike, I just when I found

(21:59):
dharma. I was like, This guy'sthe real deal. And I can
Something smells fishy. I cantell like, I'm like, he's not
perfect, but this seems like asclose that I can get to the real
deal as possible. And I'm like,okay, great, perfect. And he's
super chill. He's like, a he'slike, a grandpa. He's like,
super chill. But he can do allthis amazing stuff, and got a

(22:21):
lot of wealth of knowledge. I'mlike, This is it? This is the
missing piece that I'm notgetting from Ashtanga and rocket
yoga. Something like, okay,

at that point, at that point, did you recognize
that that was the person thatyou had seen on the poster in
Seattle?

Unknown (22:39):
Yeah. Like, it's really alive. I couldn't believe it. I
was like, No way. Like, this isthis guy's for real. Like,
that's not like a dead person,or, like, I hear you something
like that.

I hear you. I love the storyline about him
having a little cable connectedto his camera to be able to get
into the pose and bite onwhatever it was that would set
the timer for the shot tohappen, and just the idea of
exacto knifing all those littlepictures and the amount of work
and time and energy, and then,let alone to be able to do all

(23:18):
of those poses right, like, Likelike the one person to
physically be able to manipulatelike that. The body is pretty
impressive, pretty amazing.
That's so cool that you had achance to be in New York and to
study like that on such a closelevel.

Unknown (23:36):
Yeah, he, I learned so much from him. I just copy him
and watch them. And then, like,being at the center and teaching
there and and just watching theother practitioners. So then I
was like, watching him andwatching all the other
practitioners, and then everypose that was in the book, I was

(23:58):
like, oh, that's how you getinto it. That's how you
accomplish that. So I learned somuch just by being around the
other Dharma yogis and havinggreat mentors and just watching
dharma. I'm like, okay, great.
So like, opened up a wholedifferent world for me, like, in
terms of not just like Asana.

(24:20):
Why? Now, since I did mytraining, I have a steady
sadhana, like morning practices,like the same thing in the
training. So the training is thelife of a yogi, or, yeah, the
life of a yogi, Loa, life of ayogi. So it doesn't only just
teach you, like, awesome. And soit teaches you pranayama and

(24:43):
like, how to like, you know,like the other stuff that they
don't really teach you in othertraining. So, like how to be
like this is what you have todo. Like, this is how to be a
yogi, not like, how to do theposes or whatever. Like that,
like, that's. I like the cherryon top, like a little extra, but

(25:03):
it's like that other stuff likethis, let's eat this is, these
are the pranayama. These are thethese are some mantras. These
are like, this is, you know,like, that's cool.

That's cool, man. Well, I noticed on your
website you have, you'reteaching, I don't know if it's
current, but it looks likeyou're teaching at two different
studios. Is that correct? That'scorrect. And it looks like you
have a pretty solid teachingschedule. Like, like you're
teaching a lot. How many classesa day are you teaching
currently?

Unknown (25:35):
Wow, yeah. I mean, let's see, I teach anywhere from
three, two classes a day, yeah,uh, read two classes a day.
That's about it, three, so Max,like, sometimes four, but like,
and I teach uh three to twoclasses a day. Mainly, it's like

(25:56):
two or three. Uh, mainly, like,two, like, let's see, Mondays,
930 12, and then four So, threeTuesdays, two Wednesdays,
private, I have a private andthen, and then 12, four and then

(26:18):
730 So, four, four onWednesdays, and then Thursdays
another two. So that's 11, andthen Fridays is three. So that's
like maybe, like 1414, classes,and then another private, like
15 on Saturday, and then I haveanother private in between. So
that's like probably 16 classesa week.

Yeah, man, that's solid. That's solid. I
can I can attest that takes, youknow, it takes fortitude. And I
mean, if you when we love whatwe do, is it really all that
hard, but at the same time, likephysically. So I'd love to ask
you, like, physically, how doyou manage your body? And this

(27:05):
the feeling of moving your bodyall day, every day, and aches
and pains that exist in inreality. Can you tell me how you
manage all that?

Unknown (27:13):
Okay, so,

yeah,

Unknown (27:18):
all right. Well, the vegan diet helps. And then one
of my mentors, and who knowsthis guy? You might know him,
Yoshio,

somebody just told me about him. The last
person that I got a chance tointerview told me about Yoshio.
I feel like it was, was um,Alfonsina. Alfonsina, yes, yeah,
right, yeah. I just got a chanceto meet her, and she mentioned
you, you said, Yoshio, correct,yo. She was

Unknown (27:45):
one of my mentors.
Like, physicality. Like, morethan physicality, but so, like,
when we're doing training, thisguy used to walk around with the
watermelon every Monday, and so,like, so on every Monday. And I
was like, Why do you fast onMondays. Give a day, so we fast
on Monday so that helps fast onMondays. And then with the
repetition of like, like, let'ssay the rocket sequence, or

(28:09):
dharma yoga, your body just getsused to being open. And then I
have another regimen in themorning, like, more like
calisthenics, like a regimen inthe morning that I do like
without fail, like five days aweek, and so that helps like for
strengthening stuff and like.

(28:30):
And so, yeah, it's not bad. Andthen I I have a My discernment
where, where I need to like,depending on how deep I want to
go. But so like, every Tuesdaysand Fridays, we do, like,
secondary series poses, likerocket and so I'm always doing,
like, drawbacks and grabbing myankles, full chakras and a full

(28:52):
wheel, super Scorpion in frontof and it's a heated room, so
it's warm. So if it's not like,warm, I'm not going to do it.
And it's a great system of yoga,where you get warmed up and
you're ready for all that stuff.
And then I do Dharma in themorning, my shoulders get open.
So I guess it in terms I'm like,so used to it, and with diet, so
used to it. And with my diet,it's like, fine. My body's just

(29:15):
kind of, you saw, like, allthese like, kind of postures,
and then I know, like, when it'stime to go deep, and when it's
not time to go deep, so like, Ican go, you know, like I there's
like, not in an egotistical way,but in a way that's like, okay,

(29:39):
I can do all this stuff. Do Ineed to do all this stuff right
now? No, it's not the righttime, not the right place. Like,
okay. It's not right, okay, if Ihave the students that have that
kind of range of motion, okay,it's the time so my body, it's
like riding a bike. It turns on.

(30:00):
And it needs to turn on. Youknow, that's, that's, that's all
I can say. It's like, probably,like, riding a bike. Like, once
you do it, it's in your body,yeah, and you do it, you like,
do the train, like the warm,warm ups to, like, always, to
keep your range. But then it'slike, there's times where it can
be like, like, I practiceprimary on the weekends, like on

(30:22):
Saturdays, and there's no heatin my apartment, or nothing like
that. But I do my drop backsback then it's but, and I just
do a scorpion. And that'snothing, cuz my body's like,
easy. I'll do a handstand, pinchof scorpion. Like, nothing,
Tuesdays, Thursdays, I'll grabmy ankles and do super
scorpions. Like, okay, I'malready do stuff. I'm warmed up

(30:45):
like, this is what I have to do,but then the rest of the days,

yeah, yeah, that's cool, man. I appreciate
you breaking it down like that.
It's interesting to hear how youknow your body well enough to
win. It's important when you cando it. I also appreciate, like
you said, if you're in asituation where it's not
appropriate, do you feel likewhen you say, maybe not
appropriate? Because sometimes,if you have a lot of talent and
skill physically, and youdemonstrate that in front of

(31:12):
folks that haven't seen itbefore, that sometimes it almost
it, it almost like pulls theirenergy a little bit to where
they they're like, Oh, that'scool that you can do that. Man.
Well, how do you do that? And Iwish I could do that. And, and
sometimes it's not worth showingthat if you know you're gonna
get all that attention, or isthat kind of what you're
alluding to, a little bit likejust being aware of how

(31:33):
attention moves around and andbeing

Unknown (31:38):
I, I'll do okay, for example, as teaching wise, I'll
read the room,and I'm not going to do a whole
class where there's a lot ofstuff that's like, there's just
no point. I might do one littlething just to get their interest
sparked, and then maybesomething that's attainable, or

(32:02):
maybe something to just gettheir their attention sparked,
but everything else, like, I'lljust keep them out. Like, not
mellow, but like, I'll challengethe student. I won't, like, show
them the

whole blast them

Unknown (32:20):
do it? No, not at all as a student, if I'm in a room
full of people that they're notthe asana practice isn't my
just, you know, that kind ofbasic, like, you know, which is
not, there's nothing wrong.
Like, that's fine, yeah, andlet's say the teacher knows I've

(32:41):
had been in situations. Oh, wow,Yancy there, like, let me do all
this kind of stuff. Like I won'tdo it because it's not there's
no point. Like I'm not in thecollective consciousness. Is
like the group, I'm not tryingto get attention, and I usually
do my practice at home anyway,is what I have to do. So anytime
I take a class like I'll justlisten to the teacher and do

(33:04):
I've gone to classes where Ididn't I can do handstands and
do all this stuff. Nothing.
Never want. Not one inversion,nothing. I hear you. There's no
point in doing that, even if theteacher has given me the
opportunity to do that, like Idon't need to

do that. You know, it's so interesting,

(34:08):
because then thinking of you asa skater and being able to
execute, potentially executereal critical moves, but also
you could just choose to rolldown the sidewalk. Do you take a
similar approach in the way thatyou demonstrate your skill when
you're out. Because when you'reout in public, it's unique to

(34:28):
like, when you're vibing off ofpeople watching you, you know,
like when you know you have anaudience, you you'll tend to my
detriment. I would try toperform more, you know, like,
but if you're by yourself andyou know no one's watching you.
It's so different in terms of,like, what do I actually want to
achieve here? So I'm curious,um, is it similar? Do you kind

(34:48):
of have a similar philosophy inrelation to when you're working
in, when you're on a board,

Unknown (34:54):
when I'm skating? Yeah, I used to go for broke. Like, I
don't care who's watching orwhatever, or I, like, I have my
quiet moments where I just workon things, because maybe I'm
like, I don't know, like, youknow you're a teenager, or
you're like, whatever you gotgoing on, or older and broadband

(35:16):
breakups and whatever, andyou're just so I'm like, Ah,
like, or Just working on stuff,trying to just let your whatever
energy out, and to get thatangst out, whatever it is you're
going through nowadays, I justdo my skating like maintenance,
just to stay sharp. And I cannotstand it when there's people

(35:40):
watching you. Uh, so it's not aperformance thing. I just start
trying to, like, when people arewatching, I kind of get my get a
little bit nervous, or justlike, like, super self
conscious, as before I wantedattention. I'm like, Yeah,
people, I'm gonna go crazy,like, and then I'll go for broke
anyways. Now people arewatching. Like, sure, because I

(36:00):
already want to go for brokeanyway, not have some eyes on
me. Like, perfect, perfectcombo. Now I like less eyes on
me. And I like to do, like,maintenance, and then when it's
time for me to, like, have thatfire, like, yes, and then when
it's that's the time, I wantpeople around me that are like,

(36:24):
very similar, or will give mesome energy, not just random
people or like some crowd. Icannot stand skate parks and
crowds at the skate park outhere, I cannot stand it. So it's
like just the right group ofpeople to get me sparked up to
execute those moves, and then,and then the rest of the time is
just like, just like, justkeeping it like, the right, it's

(36:47):
the right people around awesome,like a park, at the skate park,
or wherever, at the spot, theright people around that helps,
you know, the energy, but notthe eyes on me, like a bunch of
people, like, I not like it tohave to be The right people.

That's cool, man. So interesting to hear the
MindScape that that getsinvolved in this. So then, in
relation to music. Now,obviously you can play music
inside, and nobody has to hearanything that you do. I saw I
like the posts that you do onInstagram. And I feel like when
you when you play and you recordit and you put it out there.

(37:23):
It's very soulful. And I feellike you're genuinely singing
and playing from from yourheart, like I don't get the
feeling that you're like, dude,I'm gonna do this to, like, show
everybody how cool I am. You'relike, singing because, like, you
got, you got some sort ofinspiration that came through.
Can you talk a little bit aboutwhat your music playing and

(37:45):
motivation and where yourinspiration, what usually will
spark you to want to write orplay?

Unknown (37:54):
Oh, wow. So Well, a music motivation. I'm very
fortunate where I was givingguitars for free. I hadn't
always had a guitar, so I'mlike, okay, great.
And then, you know, being in arelationship, living I was

(38:17):
married at one point, ex wifeleft me. I was lonely. I didn't
know what to do, so I had yoga,but I couldn't be going doing
yoga all the time, a lot, and sothen I found music. I started
playing guitar. I startedlearning, teaching myself and

(38:38):
songs that I like. I want tolearn them. And the only reason
why I play music and guitar, arelationship to it is company.
When I play music, especiallythe guitar, it's like a
feedback. Someone's talking tome, not so much like a language,

(39:02):
like, it's just like, it's likesending like, a sound back to
me, and I just feel it, and it'slike, it's a conversation. So
I'm never lonely when I'mplaying music. So I was lonely.
I was like, I didn't know whatto do. I can't be doing yoga,
like, all day long, and I can'tbe skateboarding all day long.
That's like acting. So it's likea conversation. I'm not lonely,

(39:23):
and music or playing guitar art,for me, is very similar skating,
because there's a rhythm and youhave to practice. It's so
similar to skateboarding. Theonly difference is, is when you
mess up, it does not hurt. Yeah,that's the beauty about it, and

(39:46):
it's more accessible. So I havemy guitars with me all the time,
and the kind of music I play isjust like, What inspires me to
write? I'll be playing somewhatever, and I'm I figure out a
little riff, and then I'm like,Okay, I like this. I'll just
keep playing that, and I'llfigure out some words. Or
sometimes I'll hear like aphrase or a word or something

(40:07):
will pop up in my head. I'mlike, I'll write the music
around that, and I'll just keepwriting whatever to make a song.
I know the structure of a song,so I'll just keep writing that.
Or if I want to a song inspiresme someone else's song, like,
sometimes I'll just cover it myown way. I'll play that while
the song really touches it movesme, like I feel it, like I feel

(40:31):
this person's music. You can getinside like, kind of like
reading a book, get intosomeone's head the music or
their emotions, that the musiccan really feel this person's
emotions. I feel where they'recoming from, like, It's deep. So
I'm like, Okay, I'm gonna learnthis. So that's I play. I like
rock and roll, like, I likeheavy stuff, like, what's that I

(40:51):
grew up on? So, like, okay,cool. Nice. The kind of music I
play, I'll either writesomething or learn something
that I like

that's cool.
Yancy, that's amazing. Thank youfor sharing all that. I really
enjoy hearing like that processwhat goes on. I when I was
looking at your website, Inoticed that you put some
attention on psychic developmentand and I've never gotten a
chance to take the psychicdevelopment class with Dharma
Mitra, but I've known afterhaving a chance. Now I've been,

(41:22):
I feel, I'll say, lucky enough,or I'm very grateful to having
met Andrew. He's beenintroducing me to more and more
of the Dharma community and suchan incredible, incredible group
of people. And because there'sbeen, because Dharma pointed
folks in the direction of beingreceptive and paying attention

(41:43):
to things that maybe we don'tjust hear with our ears or read
with our eyes or that type ofthing, that there's the
potential for that sort ofcommunication. So I saw your
website, I emailed with you, andI we, we set the date, so we
figured out that we would behere today, and I got all that,
we got all that figured out. Andthen I came in to take class,

(42:05):
and a woman who comes regularlybrought her daughter in, and she
lives in LA and so I said, she'slike, Do you have a Do you have
any studios you recommend out inLos Angeles? And I said, Oh,
man, let me think about that. Iwas like, let me just kind of
rack my brain for a moment. AndI was like, first thought I went
to was Yoga works in SantaMonica. But I'm like, that's way
too old school, because that's awhole nother thing. I don't even

(42:28):
know if that's there now. So I'mlike, I don't know if I really,
I don't really even know. Andshe goes, I go, Why have you not
found a teacher that you reallygroove with? And she goes, Yeah,
I did actually. I found a reallygood teacher, and and then, but
he went to a move to a differentstudio, and I go, and not
because I'm always like, who canI interview? I want to find

(42:50):
someone cool that I can talk toand bring on the podcast. So I
go, Well, who wasn't she? Goes,Oh, this guy named Yancy. And I
kind of had this moment where Iwent, what, like my head did,
like a full 360 was like, Areyou kidding me? I said I just
got done setting up to do aninterview with Yancey, and she
goes, Oh yeah, he's amazing, buthe went to a different,

(43:10):
different studio, and I and Ijust like, I had a little moment
where I was like, Is this acoincidence? Like, what are the
chances that the day after youand I have email conversation
that someone comes in from LAand and mentions your name,
there's a hundreds of yogateachers in in LA, right? Like,

(43:31):
have to be there has to behundreds. Wouldn't you say that
maybe 1000s?

Unknown (43:40):
La, what's the criteria? Like, artist, actor,
yoga, teacher, surfers, theater,yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, server,
like, that's like, that's like,that's like, the criteria, like,

I know, man, it was, it was cool. So I guess I'd
like to it felt like a littlebit of some sort of connection
that came out of the blue. SoI'm curious, um, can you Is that
something you can talk about?
Are you able to explain a littlebit more what your what you how
would you define telepathy andor psychic?

Unknown (44:21):
I got you. No, thank you. Alright, so I, you know,
dharma was in I was takingsecond development classes, like
even before I did Dharmatraining with all these Dharma
yogis. And okay, so I was doingpsychic development, and it was

(44:45):
great. It wasn't like the firstthing I gravitated it's like,
more so Asana, like, I was like,This is great, but the psychic
zone was really interesting. Inever thought that I'd be
teaching it, or, like, doing itso much like I said when I got
divorced, I was verytraumatizing. It's just like,
there's a lot. So I was like, Ineed something. I got invited to

(45:07):
the Dharma yoga conference, andwe did psychic development. I
really studied Dharma, and Ireally paid attention, and it's
in our manuals and and I waslike, This is it. I need to just
be doing psychic development tohelp me out to get through this
tough time. And so then I'm justdoing it with faith, just doing

(45:28):
it, just doing it, just doing itlike. And I do it like as taught
and whatever, and even like lastmonth, when I was like, studying
Dharma and like. And then to putit in a nutshell. And then after
studying it, and, like, makingmy own assessments of it and all
this kind of stuff, I wasreally, you know, like, what do

(45:52):
you call those Kiana yogis, Yogiof knowledge? I was, like,
really studying and really,like, trying to figure this out.
And so I'm like, Okay, I stayedinside this yoga sutras, sutra
243, particularly withausterity. Mantra pranayama.
Wanted achieve the psychicabilities the CDs like those

(46:15):
yoga there's so many, right? SoI just practiced that. So to
break it down, in a nutshell, wedo our physical practice, right
so the body's nice and strongand healthy. That's like, what
we do. And then like, psychicdevelopments, specifically,

(46:35):
specific mantras, ancientmantras, and pranayama, just
specific and dharma changesabout like, like, the order of
things, like, but I just do itlike I was showed in the
beginning. Body strong mantrasfor the mind, Pranayamas for the
mind. So you get the body out ofthe way, get the mind nice and
clear, and the mind's nice andclear and you have a blank

(46:57):
space, like, create or have theright thoughts, the right words,
the right actions. So that's,that's what it is. And things
can manifest or happen, Isuppose you know. So it works. I
taught it to private clients,and they're like, Wow, good

(47:18):
stuff. Myself. Works. Cool.
Okay, yeah, but usually, if thebody has to be strong, so it's
not in afflicting the mind. Andthen the mind, you know what
mantra, man, mind, crossreverse, to go beyond, to
protect the mind. The pranayama,like raises your energy, helps

(47:40):
clear your mind as well, andthen the mind is clear make
things happen, or get, like,some kind of vision, or like,
some exact way of doing things,or like, if something pops up,
or whatever, you know exactlyhow to do it. So it's how it's
worked for me and it's workedfor others. So nice, yeah, it's
a nice combination. It's notjust, like, I always look at

(48:03):
psychic development or thepranayama and the mantra stuff,
like,as opposed to Asana. Like, like,
Asana is like a movie preview,and then, like, you go to the
movies and you see the preview,or wherever you see the trailer,

(48:26):
but you never go to the movie.
So, like, that's why I look atpsychic development. So, so
that's like, and it works.
There's so many different citiesand stuff like that. So, you
know, I can't say, like, if itactivates the city telepathy or
whatever like that, but it'sthere. You know, it's there. But

(48:51):
all I can say is, like, withconstant practice of this, it
helped me out through a roughpatch of my life and seeing some
stuff, and it happens. Trickypart, though, is you've got to
be careful what you think youget what you want, but the

(49:14):
outcome might be a little bitdifferent. It's always got to be
for the greater good. Yeah, it'slooking for stuff for yourself.
You could get what you want.
It's like, careful what you wishfor. You might actually get it.
And you're like, Yay, and then,then not so much, yay. Like,

(49:35):
later, just like, Oh no, but,but it,

it works.
That's cool. Man, I appreciateyou.

Unknown (49:44):
I like looking at it like super 243, it's just like
specific mantra and pranayama,like an achieve like the city,
the Yoga With austerities,Asana, Mantra, pranayama. So
that's like part of it.

Very cool.
That's awesome. Yancey, man, I'mso grateful to get a chance to
hear some of your thoughtprocesses and how you, you know,
are blending these different artforms together. A lot of times I
look at yoga like it's an artform, and then music and
skateboarding, I see is art aswell. Maybe someone looks at

(50:17):
skateboarding says, That'ssport, that's not art. But it
seems like to me like it's all areflection of an artistic
endeavor. And, yeah, do likesport, right? We can. We can
look at yoga like it's sport. Imean, maybe if we look at the
way yoga is marketed,

Unknown (50:40):
you look at yoga. The art, yeah, I do hygiene

as hygiene, just hygiene,

Unknown (50:51):
mental, physical, spiritual hygiene, yeah, I just
look at it as hygiene. And thenlike, oh, no, I have, according
to my karmas or whatever, that'swhy I have to do what I have to
do, yeah? I'm like, Oh, let mejust get her done. I have to do
all this stuff because I can andwhatever, like, you perform,
yeah, guys, but I guess what Ihave to do, like, not for

(51:12):
everybody has to go grab theirankle, yeah, yeah, yeah. Not
everybody has to put the feethere, back here. Like, this is
what I have to do. I look at itas hygiene.

That's cool, man. I'm gonna start. I'm gonna
put that into my practicetomorrow or today.

Unknown (51:31):
I look at it like brushing my teeth, Yeah, or like
washing my clothes or doing thelaundry. And then some days you
have those days, it's like youwant to floss and do all that
extra stuff. I just get herdone. Because Dharma always
says, do it because it has to bedone. I'm like, I have to do

(51:54):
this, but that's a good point.
Do it because it has to be done.
Like words ringing like, I'mlike, do I want to do this? No,
do it has, because it has to bedone. Yeah, man, that's not
pleasant. Like, oh my God, thenI'll just for a full and you
draw back sometimes, like, Ah,

that's a good that's a good point. Yeah, I
know. Like, um, I was teachingmy I was taking my daughter out
into the surf the other day, andwe had a decent swell from
Hurricane Erin, and she wants tolearn. So the first part of the
session, she was like, Oh, Dad,this is so much fun. I could
stay out of here all day. So ofcourse, I couldn't help but be

(52:37):
happier to hear her say that.
And then a couple sets rolledthrough. We got tossed around
board, hit us in the head, allthat stuff, and she popped up,
and she was like, Dad, thissucks. I hate this. I'm not
going anywhere. I'm just stuckin the same spot and and ah. And
I couldn't help but just laughand be like, I know, I don't
know how to tell you, butsurfing isn't always fun most of

(52:59):
the time, most of the time, it'sa real drag. You're just getting
beat up in the inside. You don'teven make it out there. So, I
mean, I think you're rightlooking at yoga in a similar
way. I mean, a lot of us kind ofjump into yoga thinking, this is
just gonna be fun. This is onlygonna be rose colored glasses.
It's gonna fix all my problems,and everything's gonna be great.
But then, like, you're sayingtoo, like, in terms of, like,

(53:20):
hygiene. Like, No, you need todo this. It's not always easy,
it's not always just fun, butit's something that we need to
do.

Unknown (53:29):
It's just hygiene.
Yeah, I like putting my feetbehind my head. No, it's sucks,
like, all the time, and I do it,and then I'm like, okay, like,
then now, like, now, it's like,okay, my favorite thing to do,
but I do it. I could do it.

(53:54):
That's cool. No, I just do it.

I hear you, man. I appreciate your
perspective. Thank you so muchfor taking a chunk of

Unknown (54:04):
your story about, like, you didn't tell me something
about skating or something. Oh,you know, actually,

the story about the girl from California was the
one I was super excited to tellyou about. Oh, yeah, that's the
Okay, cool. That's when I was soexcited about because I just
thought, after she said that, Iwas like, I have to tell Yancy
this. This is kind of kind ofblew my mind a little bit. I
know, I know. Well, um,skateboarding story. I don't

(54:29):
skate anymore because my son wasabout, oh my gosh, I was 40, and
I take him to a skate park inLakeland, Florida called Team
pain. And you probably haveskated, and, I mean, it's an
appropriate name for a skatepark. And so I went with my
friend. His son was about thesame age as my son. We go over

(54:50):
to Lakeland, we have a fun timeskating. And I'm like, I hadn't
really skated for about 10years, so I'm hitting my 40s,
and I'm thinking, Ah, this isgreat. I can skate just as good
as I was when I was 20. This isamazing. And I was going in the
bowls, and I'm getting up on theVert and getting up and, you
know, wearing pads, wearing ahelmet, you know, I gotta be
safe, you know. And the lastday, we're like, well, we should

(55:14):
get going. And so, okay, let'sdo one more run. And I said, Do
I need to say anymore? Do I needto say anymore? I don't know. So
my son, he was on a Razorscooter, and I was on my
skateboard, and there's a snakerun. And so I go, let's do a
tandem run. And Ethan go. SoEthan goes, and so we're going

(55:36):
down the banks, and he's out infront of me, and he gets a
little further out in front ofme than I probably should have.
So. He hits the end bowl, goesdown, comes around. I can't see
him right when I'm coming down,he pops around the corner. And I
realized I was going so fast,and he was going so fast, and we
were heading straight for eachother that we were gonna
collide. So I came down, I triedto grab him so I could catch him

(55:58):
with my right arm and roll, andhopefully I'd protect him and
the handle of his Razor scooterwent straight into my eyeball
and and knocked me so hard. Iapologize for everybody
listening this story, becauseit's kind of gruesome, but I
think Yancy will appreciate it.
So I'm on the ground and I'mliterally my eyes swelled up so
fast that I was like, where's myeyeball? And I was looking, I

(56:21):
was trying to, I figured it hadto have popped out. It didn't.
But I broke my orbit bone, and Ihad to have a surgery where they
had to go in and push my eyeballback forward, in place, so that
I didn't see double vision.
Because I went from likethinking I'm 40 and I can skate
better than I'm 20 to feel likeI was 80, and I couldn't drive

(56:42):
at night because I was seeingdouble everywhere. So I had such
a dramatic, I don't know,experience that, I thought,
Whoa, man. I gotta, I got kidsand stuff. I gotta tone it down,
man. I gotta tone it down. So,so the fact that you're still
skating, I'm like, I kudos toyou, man, kudos because that is,

(57:04):
that's a real deal.

Unknown (57:06):
It's so long, and that's like, my I don't know. I
don't know what else to do.
Thank God I found music, becauseI'd probably be like, No, I like
what you said, wheelchair, froma wheelchair.

Oh my gosh.
Nancy, I hear you well. I again,man, it's really an opportunity
to meet you. And I really, Iappreciate your insights. And
thank you for opening up andtalking with me and being public
like this and sharing some ofyour some of your ways of
thinking and how you go aboutit. And I hope next time I get

(57:43):
to chance to come to California,I can, I can look you up and
come practice

Unknown (57:48):
for sure. And if I'm ever in Florida, I'll go to
native yoga. Where's that ApplePark, Florida?

I'm in a town called Juno Beach, which is
right next to Jupiter. So it's,um,

Unknown (57:57):
well, I'm gonna tell my friend She's out there. Oh, that
would be she's in Jupiter.

That would be awesome. Well, I really
appreciate that. I look forwardto staying in contact and see
thank you so much, Todd.

Unknown (58:09):
Man, my pleasure. Thank you for having me. Thank you.
You're awesome. Thank you. Man,same to you.

Native yoga Todd cast is produced by myself.
The theme music is dreamed up byBryce Allen. If you like this
show, let me know if there'sroom for improvement. I want to
hear that too. We are curious toknow what you think and what you
want more of what I can improve,and if you have ideas for future

(58:44):
guests or topics, please send usyour thoughts to info at Native
yoga center. You can find us atNative yoga center.com, and hey,
if you did like this episode,share it with your friends. Rate
it and review and join us nexttime

Unknown (59:13):
you.

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Yancy Scot Schwartz | The Skateboarding Yogi: Music, Dharma Yoga & Mental Clarity

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Yancy Scot Schwartz | The Skateboarding Yogi: Music, Dharma Yoga & Mental Clarity