Trainer Troy Yoga

  Why Do We Keep Ending Up in the Same Place? While cleaning out old teacher training manuals recently, I came across an exercise that I have taught in one form or another for over twenty years. Looking through the pages brought back memories of students sitting quietly with a pencil in their hand, convinced they had a relationship problem, a job problem, a money problem, or a confidence problem. More often than not, twenty minutes later they were looking at the paper in front of them with a completely different understanding of what was actually happening. One of the things that has fascinated me throughout my life is how often we repeat the same patterns without realizing it. We change jobs and somehow find ourselves having the same frustrations. We move across the country and bring the same unhappiness with us. We swear we will never date another person like the last one and somehow wind up sitting across from the same person wearing different clothes. Over the years I noticed t...

First Father's Day  What Is a Father?  First Father's Day What Is a Father? Written by Troy Alan Cox 6/21/2026 Where Is My Father? It wasn't actually an official Father's Day, but to a little five-year-old boy it was a special Father's Day. The earliest memory I have of my father is my mom sewing. My mom was a seamstress, and an excellent one at that. She didn't do it for a living. She did it for fun. I so wish I had kept her little pink Singer sewing machine, although I did not inherit the skill. I have these big, fat, clumsy fingers that are not designed for detail work or little needles. In 1970s San Diego, my mom would take the little-boy version of me with her everywhere. It was just her and me. I was lucky in that I had all the time I wanted with my mom when my dad was away at sea.  My dad began his career in the Navy aboard ships. It wasn't until much later in life that he would talk about the U.S.S. Bayfield. The USS Bayfield was a 1940s ...

Monastic Sites and Garden Getaways Glendalough, via Wikimedia Commons. Used under the license listed on the file page. Troy Alan Cox Marinating in the Morose It has been almost two months since my father passed here at the house. Since then, I have completely rearranged everything in the house and begun stripping his room of carpet ruined from flooding. It is amazing the emotions that come out from simply removing carpeting. Each strip that I cut and roll up causes a deluge of tears. My nervous system is equating the removal of terrible carpet with the removal of memories. Although I know the two are unrelated, the feelings that are coming up are almost unbearable. While I wait on getting a mold assessment for the drywall, everything my father owned or brought with him from Kansas is piled in boxes in the office and adjoining spaces. It has to be done, but it is almost too hard to handle. It has been apparent to me since one time in Southern California when a young man who ...

Green Design, Human Sensitivity, and the Next Step Toward Safe Spaces By Troy Alan Cox There is a lot of talk now about green building design. What defines a green building? A green building is generally understood as an energy-efficient and environmentally aware structure, designed with consideration for its footprint, energy use, materials, sustainability, and impact on its surroundings. It is often part of a thorough certification process by which a building is rated for energy efficiency, environmental responsibility, and overall sustainability. From what I understand, it takes a team of engineers, architects, designers, builders, and other specialists to oversee the design, construction, and completion phase of a building. The process may also consider the potential destruction or removal of the building one day and the impact that would have on its surroundings. It is quite an extensive process, and it is very much a team effort. A green building is designed to be com...

SAFE SPACES EVALUATION METHOD Troy Alan Cox 6/13/2026 I'm am studying what is considered a safe location, architecture, design and requirement to classify a destination as safe for the human nervous system.  On my self guided trip to Ireland I am visiting out of the way, non tourist destinations. Before I visit each location I'm studying I am using a scientific method I've developed to evaluate their safety and my experience.  My evaluation consists of a series of steps beginning before entering the building up until a half hour after I leave the space or location.  Here is the method I've developed for evaluation.  1. The Approach.  As I approach a location I'm scanning for safety clues. I'm noticing the architecture of the entrance.  How is traffic directed towards the front of the structure? Is there clear demarcation indicating the threshold from the exterior to the interior of the space? As I approach I observe if it feels welcoming and saf...

  The Tools of Safety Pratyahara, Drishti, Samskaras, and the Nervous System By Troy Alan Cox Thank you for walking this path with me, the path of describing my experience as a Highly Sensitive Person.  In the previous writings in this series 'The Senses of a Highly Sensitive Person' I described how I hear, feel, see and smell the world and what the sense of safety means to me.  Today I am describing some of the practices and tools that I have learned to use.  These tools are not just yoga based although they have yoga based names.  I have found them to be real world applicable tools.  I use them everyday to help me deal with the world that always seems to be screaming at me and making me feel unsafe.  I hope that they can help others too.   The first tool is Pratyahara , often described in yoga as the withdrawal of the senses. I do not experience this as shutting the world out. I experience it as giving the senses permission to stop reaching...