Today we’d like to introduce you to Ayako DeRuby.
Hi Ayako, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
As a little girl raised by a Marine recruiter, I would join my mom, and I would join my dad in his workouts, helping young men get ready for boot camp, so I always had physical fitness as part of my life. I found yoga after I gave birth to my youngest son, Toshi. I went to a yoga class at Gaia Flow Yoga with a friend, and I intended to stretch and perhaps do some cool poses. Even though I meditated in high school, got an Aum tattoo on my 18th birthday, and independently studied Tibetan Mysticism, yoga didn’t call to me until I was 27. And even then, I went only on a physical level. At 27, I thought I had it all figured out; my ego was strong! My ego didn’t even recognize that I had deep-rooted issues with dealing with pain and uncomfortable emotions by taking drugs and alcohol, and just saw myself as a party girl who wanted to have fun. After 3 years of taking classes, I started to unravel the total mess and finally began my healing process. I felt I was ready to dive deeper into understanding yoga, and I decided to enroll in the Gaia Flow Yoga YTT program in 2011. The following year, I took their first 300 YTT certification course. Even though I loved yoga so much, I felt there was a component that was missing. When I learned about meditation in the 300 YTT program, I knew I had found the missing link to deepening my practice. On December 8th, 2012, I dedicated myself to practicing meditation every day for 1 year to see if it would transform my life, whether it be 5 minutes or 2 hours, as long as I practiced every day. After one year, I marked the calendar of my 1st anniversary of meditation and discovered it was Bodhi Day, the day that Gautama Buddha (Shakyamuni) is said to have attained enlightenment. I took this as a sign to stay on the path of meditation. I told the owner of Gaia Flow, Chrystal, of my 1-year achievement, and she suggested I go to a 10-day silent retreat. I had no idea what it was about and found out on the first day of the retreat we were going to learn how to practice Vipassana. Vipassana is the same technique that the Buddha used when he attained enlightenment. That sealed the deal that Vipassana was the meditation technique that I was meant to do. I have been practicing Vipassana daily since January 2014 and going on yearly retreats.
As I got deeper into experiencing myself as a spiritual being, life was still happening, giving me opportunities to apply these ancient practices in modern times. In 2012, my husband and I decided to divorce. It was challenging at first as with 2 young boys and me being primarily a stay-at-home mom… lots of fear about what my life would be. After 1 year of moving out of my house, my ex-husband and I decided to give it another try. In the summer of 2013, I moved back in with him. I started to go back to college part-time to finish getting my degree. In August of 2016, my ex-husband and I realized it was not working and amicably decided to separate. To tell my boys again that we were separating was excruciating. In December of 2016, I found out I had lymphoma cancer.
My ex-husband, Gautam (he was named after the Buddha, again another sign!), graciously let me stay upstairs in our home while I was going through chemotherapy. The 6 months of going through that was my life’s most peaceful, transformative chapter. I practiced all that I learned and practiced Vipassana meditation in my chemo chair. A friend recommended I try to listen to frequencies and soundbowls during my treatment, and my time in the chemo chair became a beautiful practice within itself. With all my techniques to be fully present in the moment, there was one practice that hit hard, the highest form of unattachment: my own death. Every moment was savored and felt to the core of my being. All the little annoyances of life turned into moments I would cherish…from picking up the kids’ shoes to seeing them drinking water from the fridge door or them leaving their bookbag in the kitchen, hit differently. I realized this situation gave me perspective. Life can still be what it is, be when my perspective changed, the depth of each moment could be felt.
After I recovered from chemo and was in remission, I had a whole new zest for life…go all in and allow the flow of life to take me where I needed to go. I decided to enroll back into college, but this time full-time. Life was a hustle, but I loved it! School, taking care of my kids, teaching yoga, and now facilitating soundbaths. I met my now husband in May of 2020, and we instantly fell in love…oh how life can change on a dime! In Spring 2021, the year after I met my now husband, Jared DeRuby I completed my HR degree with honors. After graduation, I was going to find a corporate job and continue to teach yoga on the side. As life would have it, Jared encouraged me to open a yoga/meditation studio. I said no at first because I didn’t want to let him down if I couldn’t succeed, and I was worried what it would do to our relationship. A few months later, he asked again. I saw this as a sign that life was trying to direct me once again, and this time I said yes.
September 25, 2021, we opened The Alchemy Yoga. I wanted to open a space where we can learn how to alchemize life’s experiences into something sacred, as I have learned to do with my life’s experiences. Soon after opening, a Lululemon staff member, Macy, attended my sound bath classes. lululemon was looking for a local yoga ambassador and reached out to me. I was honored to have the privilege to be part of such an amazing brand and find other ways to be involved in our community.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As I got deeper into experiencing myself as a spiritual being, life was still happening, giving me opportunities to apply these ancient practices in modern times. In 2012, my husband and I decided to divorce. It was challenging at first as with 2 young boys and me being primarily a stay-at-home mom… lots of fear about what my life would be. After 1 year of moving out of my house, my ex-husband and I decided to give it another try. In the summer of 2013, I moved back in with him. I started to go back to college part-time to finish getting my degree. In August of 2016, my ex-husband and I realized it was not working and amicably decided to separate. To tell my boys again that we were separating was excruciating. In December of 2016, I found out I had lymphoma cancer.
My ex-husband, Gautam (he was named after the Buddha, again another sign!), graciously let me stay upstairs in our home while I was going through chemotherapy. The 6 months of going through that was my life’s most peaceful, transformative chapter. I practiced all that I learned and practiced Vipassana meditation in my chemo chair. A friend recommended I try to listen to frequencies and sound bowls during my treatment, and my time in the chemo chair became a beautiful practice within itself. With all my techniques to be fully present in the moment, there was one practice that hit hard, the highest form of unattachment: my own death. Every moment was savored and felt to the core of my being. All the little annoyances of life turned into moments I would cherish…from picking up the kids’ shoes to seeing them drinking water from the fridge door or them leaving their bookbag in the kitchen, hit differently. I realized this situation gave me perspective. Life can still be what it is, be when my perspective changed, the depth of each moment could be felt.
As you know, we’re big fans of The Alchemy Yoga LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
Our studio teaches how to greet life so that everything has meaning and intentionality. Just as alchemy transforms base metal into gold, we can to transform our everyday life situations, no matter how mundane or challenging, into a source of healing and let go of stories that hold us back from our true divine essence. Yes, we teach the physical practice of yoga (asana), but we also teach breathing techniques (pranayama), and meditation, facilitate sound healing, and we are a school to obtain a 200 RYT yoga certification through Yoga Alliance. As the West has made yoga primarily a physical practice, we specialize in the philosophy and subtle yet very powerful and transformative aspects of yoga meditation. We have 2 separate rooms in the studio. The heated FIRE room is our yoga asana room, and the soundproof ETHER room is our meditation, sound bath, and philosophical discussion room.
There is going to be a point where our bodies will not always be able to do the physical postures, at some point in time we will have to give them all back, just as I had to while going through chemo, so how can we still practice? This is where our studio differs from so many. We teach the art of living. We teach students how to observe the chattering mind, the fluid movements of the emotional heart, with equanimity and compassion. This can be done by observing the physical body in movement, asana practice, and stillness in meditation. We learn how to do this in a safe container, and we then can apply this to our everyday life…we become emotionally resilient with a tender heart.
I am very proud of our corporate offerings, too. I have been working closely with the Marriott hotels with their VPs, HR Directors, and Managers, teaching them simple techniques of meditation and breathing. They even flew The Alchemy Yoga out to Chicago for a women in leadership event to facilitate sound healing meditation.
I am most proud of our community! Our teachers are amazing at their craft but are also some of the most inspirational human beings I have ever met. They not only teach yoga but also live it off the mat. Our students are also highly dedicated and extremely welcoming. I had some newcomers think that the students were instructors because of how helpful and welcoming they were. I love how we are all so different, and even though we are all on our individual paths, we all are walking hand in hand together, holding and sharing space with each other.
What do you think about happiness?
Having a balanced life makes me happy. To spend quality time with my family, and friends, to serve our community, and also to have time for myself in solitude and quiet.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thealchemyyoga.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thealchemyyoga/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAlchemyYogaTX/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-alchemy-yoga-frisco
Image Credits
Thanin Viriyaki Photography
