Mann Yoga Blog

A Pro Bowl Linebacker is Now a Yoga Instructor, and It All Started with an Injury

(Photo by Ali Kaukas for Wanderlust Festival)

BROOKLYN – It had been 15 years Keith Mitchell performed in front of thousands of fans in the greater New York City area. In his past life however, the crowd wasn’t widely splayed in front of him on yoga mats.
“I guess the more traditional way that we are supposed to greet each other in the yoga community is we say ‘Namaste,’” Mitchell, a former Pro Bowl linebacker with the New Orleans Saints, told the audience at Wanderlust 108 in Prospect Park on Saturday. “That’s so different from where I’ve come from because normally when I’d journey to the East Coast and New York City I would not be bringing peace typically. We would come here to beat up on the New York Giants and New York Jets.”

While it may seem strange to see a retired NFL veteran leading a series of “Ohm” chants at an outdoor yoga festival, Mitchell’s journey to his current profession as a certified yoga and meditation instructor actually started with a very scary moment on the football field in 2003.

Head over to USA Today's Sports Section for the amazing story of how one athlete rehabilitated himself with yoga.