We recently connected with MICHAEL FINE and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, MICHAEL thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

IAM a recovering attorney by profession, a Transformation Facilitator/Original Hot Yoga Instructor by passion and circumstance.

On April 14, 2010, while driving to work on a beautiful spring, sunny day in Chicago, I was struck head on by a large, red concrete truck at approximately 50 miles per hour. The truck drove up my hood, through my windshield, and ripped off my left arm cleanly from my shoulder. Since that day, I have been living a life in chronic, dehabilitating, residual limb pain. You may find it hard to believe, but I still feel the left arm that was torn from my body as if it was still attached to me. However, what I feel is a phantom arm, encased in a block of ice and being continuously squeezed as if it were in a vise.

External triggers, or changes in weather, temperature, and barometric pressure, all serve to exacerbate the quantity in the caliper of level of pain that I feel. The internal triggers, the things that we all feel om a daily basis, especially living through what we as a world have experienced these past five years, things like stress, fear, and anxiety, also serve to increase the quantity and caliper of level of pain that I feel. I live at between a 5 and a 7 on the classic 1 to 10 Pain Scale, or between yellow and orange if you do the color Pain Scale. When the internal and external triggers collide, IAM catapulted clean off the Pain Scale to a excruciating place where I see in world in black and white.

I spent approximately 6 weeks in the hospital recovering after the accident and underwent 8 surgeries, 2 more that same year, and 2 more since.

Through an unfortunate series of events that occurred after my tragic accident, including losing both of my parents (one 2 months before, the other a year after), as well as the attempted revocation of my health insurance coverage by the insurance company, resulting in being almost crushed under a mountain of nearly $700,000 in medical debt, all while living in excruciating pain, During this time, I fell into a deep, dark, suicidal depression and attempted to take my own life on multiple occasions. This all culminated in a final attempt and being re-admitted into the psych ward of the very same hospital where I initially recovered after their accident months earlier.

I struggled to make it out of that psych ward and find my new normal. How could I get my life back? How could I live my life in constant, chronic pain? How can I simply survive? I dove deep down into the world of Eastern Medicine to do so. Acupuncture, Reiki, cranial sacral therapy, sensory limitation flotation therapy, cryotherapy, massage therapy, and other mindfulness work, just to name a few.

Ultimately, my acupuncturist, led me to discover Original Hot Yoga, also known as Bikram Yoga, as a mechanism to deal with my chronic residual limb pain. This yoga series, practiced for 90 minutes at 105° and 40% humidity, was described to me as a practice that is similar to doing acupuncture on yourself. Through a series of tourniquet effects occurring in the postures, one cuts off blood flow to all the different areas of the body. After a regular practice and over a period of time, the body returns to homeostasis, and begins to function as intended, and the result is that you start to feel better.

My first experience with practice was awful, and I walked out of that room mumbling that I would never come back. However, almost immediately after walking out of the hot room I noticed that my pain level had decreased from the normal 5 – 7 to a new 3 – 4 for a couple hours, the least amount of pain that I felt since the arm was ripped off! As soon as that occurred, I was hooked and felt like I found the answer, not a needle in the proverbial haystack, but the needle in a stack of other needles! After an exhaustive search, I finally found a natural, holistic mechanism to help to alleviate the pain.

Since that discovery, I have practiced daily for the next 5 years, and I become a teacher in 2016. I still practice daily, and I have now been teaching this magical yoga series for almost 10 years.

My job as a Transformation Facilitator is to teach people that as long as they have the ability to move their spines and breathe, they have the ability to heal from anything at all, including physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual trauma! It’s the greatest honor to be of service to others in this capacity and I will continue to do so until the day I die.

MICHAEL, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

As a recovering attorney, I literally fell into the yoga industry by accident, a traumatic car accident that took my left arm at the shoulder, left me in chronic, dehabilitating, phantom limb pain, and gave me so much more than I ever lost or could ever imagine receiving.

I practice and teach this healing, therapeutic Original Hot Yoga practice daily. This not only gives me the credibility by walking the talk, but other students see me practicing with them, side by side, with one arm, dealing with all my pain issues. It’s not always pretty in the hot room. You do the best that you can in every moment. Sometimes, your best is simply standing or sitting in stillness and focusing on breathing.

My job on a daily basis is to teach people from the perch of a podium that they each possess the unique ability as humans to heal from anything at all, from physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual trauma. For whatever reason, this unique yoga series comprised of 26 postures and two breathing exercises unlocks the body’s ability to heal. I stopped trying to figure out why it works many years ago. I just know that it works because I’ve watched it happen literally to thousands of people dealing with so many different types of issues and conditions. Once I observe students realize that they possess the ability to heal, it is my job to simply get out of their way and let them do so. IAM beyond privileged and honored to serve as a Transformation Facilitator and bridge to help people realize this profound concept.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

What helped me to build my practice and reputation is my genuine love of the healing and therapeutic yoga that I practice and teach on a daily basis. People in my world are very adept at seeing pretenders and those that are just trying to sell for financial gain and nothing more. I believe that if you truly love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. Money and success will come as ancillary benefits or byproducts of pursuing your passions. As much as I love teaching yoga, is as much as I despised practicing law.

IAM a classic example of finding success later in life through pursuing something that changed mine in a profound way. This demonstrates to others that it’s possible to change their situations and lives as well.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The primary lesson that I’ve learned from teaching and practicing this yoga for almost 15 years is that sometimes it’s not only okay but necessary to try a little less, not push so much. Just because you can do more, doesn’t necessarily mean that you should! Sometimes, the best thing to do is reflect and be content with where you are at the moment, to notice your breath and be grateful for all that you have. We spend so much time in an acquisition mode that we often forget to smell the roses so to speak. The true essence of yoga and life is simply finding a place in sttillness where you can notice yourself and the world in community.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @onearmedyogi
• Facebook: Michael Fine