Ep 2: Matthew Andrews on Yoga, Pilgrimage, and the Transformational Gifts of Devotion

Matthew Andrews is a writer, musician, entrepreneur, spiritual activist, and yoga teacher. He is co-owner of Yoga Center Amherst, which has had an average of about 1400 class attendances per month since 2016. He has completed 500+ hours of yoga teacher training, has co-taught several Embodyoga teacher trainings, and has organized and led eight yoga-oriented retreats in North and South India, with over 150 total attendees.

Brad Wetzler is the author of the new memoir INTO THE SOUL OF THE WORLD: MY JOURNEY TO HEALING (Hachette Go). You can buy the book on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Into-Soul-World-Journey-Healing/dp/0306829304/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1683471841&sr=8-1

This powerful memoir shares an adventure journalist’s story of a decade-long, round-the-world quest to overcome his drug addiction and to understand and heal from past traumas. Suffering from PTSD and severe depression from past trauma, battling an addiction to overprescribed psychiatric medication, and at the rock bottom of his career, journalist Brad Wetzler had nowhere to go. So he set out on a journey to wander and hopefully find himself—and the world—again. Into the Soul of the World is Wetzler’s thrilling, impactful, and heartrending memoir of healing—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. An adventure journalist at heart, Wetzler mixes travelogue with empowering insights about his inner journey to better care for his own mental health. Journey with him as he travels across Israel and the West Bank, before moving on to India, a candle-lit cave on a mountaintop in the Himalayan foothills, and a life-changing encounter with a 100-year-old yogi. Wetzler's writing is full of the poignant, amusing, and occasionally heart‑breaking situations that unfold when we finally decide to confront depression (or any mental health struggle) and declare ourselves ready to heal: How do we heal our past and thrive again? What does it mean to live a good life? How can we transform our suffering and serve others? His answer: live to tell the story and find the humility and courage to be the best human you can be. 

Matthew's spiritual path has developed in the midst of a rich, full life. Before owning Yoga Center Amherst, he was Senior Director of State Operations for Best Buddies International, responsible for over 100 employees and a $12 million annual budget. And he is currently President of the Board of Directors for Auroville International, USA, which supports the International Township of Auroville in South India. In 2020 he co-founded Reparations for Amherst Massachusetts, which worked with Town Councilors to pass a resolution apologizing for slavery and is now building a fund to pay material reparations.

Matthew first traveled to India in 2000, and since then he has been on a quest to understand and embody the teachings of yoga. He has studied ancient and modern texts and traveled to India ten times, but his most significant learnings have come through the embodied guidance of his guru GurujiMa.

Matthew is also a singer and songwriter, and in 2020 he released an album of sacred music called Let It Open. It's available on all major streaming platforms.

Music credit: "sun of the most high" by ketsa