Dimension 999999999: Jared McCann 🐳🩵

Editor’s Note from Sally 💌

Jared completely altered the course of my life, helping me get serious about my yoga and meditation practice. I’d be living a very different life right now if I hadn’t met him. This business wouldn’t exist. I’d be chasing the wrong things. I’d be a little disconnected.

He’s my teacher, a friend, a teammate, a business partner and... there just aren't words that do justice. This is Jared’s presence to a web of people, globally. We are Jared. You just have to meet him.

It’s a dream to work with him and to be hosting THE END OF YOU, a meditation teacher training, together in Hawaii this month. This conversation came at the perfect time, what an inspiration.

Whalecome, Jared! 🐳

And thank you forever.

Intro & Interview by Rich Awn

Jared’s name first came up in conversation with Sally Choi, who studied 500 hours under him and now personally assists in his work. Naturally skeptical, I took her enthusiastic praise with a grain of salt. That skepticism lasted all of one second—until I met him on a Brooklyn sidewalk, just before attending one of his sold-out workshops, and found myself drawn in by his adoring eyes and generous spirit.

Jared is a master. His teaching style is thorough, deeply researched, measured, and focused. There’s no nonsense, no fluff—just a targeted laser beam from his mind and heart to that of the student. His approach to teaching yoga and meditation is entirely his own, while remaining deeply rooted in the lineages that move through him.

In this conversation, we begin in 2012, with Jared’s debut on the international yoga stage. From there, we candidly explore the inspirations and obstacles that have shaped his path to the present day—as a fully realized figure in the eons-old tradition of yoga and meditation.

It is with deep gratitude and respect that I present this interview.

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Richie: I can’t thank you enough for carving out a few minutes to chat today, Jared. My first question is what are you up to?

Jared: I was teaching the hot 84 advanced sequence.

Richie: That sequence kills me every time we get to the lotus section. What am I doing wrong? 

Jared: Do you not have a lotus? 

Richie: I sort of do. I can't be in a handstand and get into Lotus and do what you’re supposed to be able to.

Jared: I don't think there's anything you're supposed to be able to do. Lotus is all about your hips. Double pigeon is a good posture to work on to open your glutes—open that external thigh rotation. You’ll get into lotus, and then eventually get your legs behind your head.

Richie: Can you elaborate on your statement that there's “nothing that you're supposed to do?” I've always been under the impression that I need to live up to the standard that Iyengar, Bikram and Bishnu Ghosh and the great famous leaders have been teaching and translating from antiquity. 

Jared: I think there are a lot of assholes who can do lotus and a lot of good people who can't. I wouldn't let that define the quality of your life. 

Richie: True enough. 

Jared: But if you want to go to get into lotus, you can get into lotus. 

Richie: Staying with the yoga topic for a second, the year in which you became champion of this USA Yoga Federation Competition, it seems to me that they were scoring the men's group 18 to 49 differently than they have been. I don't think I've seen any other scores higher than yours. 

Jared: Oh, really? Is that true? 

Richie: At least from what I can tell reviewing their archive of the records. It shows you were head-to-head with Zeb Homison in 2014, which I assume was the second or third year you were in the competition? 

Jared: No, that was probably the 11th year I had been. I won the Nationals seven or eight years in—two years in a row. Then I won the Internationals, I think, nine or ten years in. 

Richie: You just woke up one day and were like, “I'm going to be a yoga champion.”

Jared: Not at all. I didn't even know about any of this stuff, but I was practicing at the Lower East Side with Trisha Donegan. 

Richie: So was I. 

Jared: Many of us have been through Trisha's good graces. 

Richie: She was hardcore. 

Jared: She terrified me, Rich. 

Richie: Yeah, she scared me. 

Jared: I tried to be on her good side. I tried to be friendly, but every time I did that, it always backfired—so I chose to be quiet around her.

One day I was in class doing my balancing stick, and she came up and said, “Point your toe because you're doing the yoga competition.” I didn't know what that was. I never heard of a yoga competition, but this was Trisha talking—so I’m thinking, “Okay. I'll do whatever you say because I don't want you to yell at me.”

Richie: This was just her random offhanded comment?

Jared: It was an offhanded comment during a Bikram class. She told me to come to the next advanced class. I got there and I had no idea what was going on.

The class moved fast and I was totally lost, but she encouraged me to keep coming and keep showing up. After a couple of months, I started to figure stuff out. Back in 2000-2003, yoga wasn't as welcoming as it is now. Now every yoga studio made every student feel seen and heard. When I started, the general sentiment was, “Good luck. If you keep coming, then we'll talk to you and tell you the secrets of yoga.”

The teachers of that time wanted to see if you were serious—if you were going to show up and be consistent. I showed up to the advanced class every Wednesday and I learned a lot. Trisha put a routine together for me and I did the yoga competition and I got third place in New York. 

Richie: Where were you at that time in your life?

Jared: At that time in my life, I had just stopped doing drugs and partying. I stopped going out. I was genuinely trying to turn my life around.

The yoga competition gave me something to do. It gave me new people to do it with—people on a new trajectory that I'm aligning myself with. When I won third place in the regional in New York, it gave me a sense of accomplishment. I felt I had done something significant, so I kept doing it. I stuck with it. 

📸 Jared McCann

Richie: Did you expect you would win?

Jared: I never expected to win, but I liked the camaraderie. I liked going to advanced class. I liked learning the postures. 

It was a secret world of people that wanted to go deeper than the status quo at the time. During the yoga competition, I would be so inspired by the postures that other people did—scorpions, legs behind the head—things I didn't know about back then or think that I would ever be able to do. Trisha really forced me to do it and kept me going and I'm happy she did.

I’m forever grateful to Tricia for pushing me into that, because it gave me the practice that I have today. 

Richie: Can you put a finer point on how the practice of yoga—specifically asana combined with meditation—has affected your life?

Jared: I used the asana practice to do a lot of deeper emotional processing from being raised by narcissistic parents and not having necessarily the best childhood.

The asana helped me to process everything that happened to me and process a lot of the anger. I had a backlog of anger at 22 or 23 years old that I didn't know what to do with. The asana helped me to burn that anger off so that I could start to feel more normal, a little more at peace with myself. 

Richie: The Jared of 2012 is different from the Jared of 2026. Can you describe the difference between those two Jared's?

Jared: In 2012, I was 32 years old. I had just won the yoga competition and my life was entirely about yoga and the yoga competition. I wasn't thinking about money or relationships or any other thing other than yoga and meditation. That was my whole focus.

When I won in 2012, Rajashree Choudhury, Bikram's wife, sent me on a tour around Europe. I went to London, Rome, Prague and Dublin. I showed up, taught my classes and workshops, and tried to convey the information I had been experiencing in my practice and in my body. It went well. 

Richie: This was your international debut! What did you learn most from this first go-round on tour with your newfound notoriety?

Jared: While I was on tour, I took another person's workshop—someone well-revered in the community—and I thought to myself, “This is not that great.” It occurred to me that I could do much better and give students more information that could change their practice and their lives. This experience, somewhat falsely, gave me the confidence to teach at the highest possible level I could.

Because I had so much prior experience in meditation, I was able to convey a different perspective and unique take on yoga. Over time, students told their friends and their friends told their friends and lo and behold, I'm still traveling and teaching to this day. 

Richie: It sounds like you were thrown into the deep end and thrived! Were there any setbacks or obstacles?

Jared: That was my first time in Europe which was a big deal for me and it sucked.

I was so bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and new. I would have served my heart on a silver platter for them, to make them happy. I killed myself in those workshops. While I did good things that I’m proud of, the people-pleaser in me was at level ten back then. At this point in my life, the people-pleaser is at a level two.

Richie: Self-awareness around pleasing people is a huge leap. What other major shifts occurred during this time?

Jared: One of the big differences during that time is in 2012, I had $0.  Now I have some money in the bank, I’ve got a house, and I have an S-corporation. A lot of professional growth has happened in the last 14 years.

When I won the yoga competition, I was totally ethereal. I was doing all the asana, but I had no clue about money, savings, business, or what I'm going to do with my life. I was of the mindset that as long as I'm doing yoga and meditation, I don't even care. Due to my popularity, people started inviting me to places, and I realized I had to create a real life structure to sustain this as a business. 

Richie: Was this mindset the seed that sprouted your studio— Lighthouse Yoga School in Greenpoint?

Jared: I opened that yoga studio and all the real life things took over, which isn't the best for flexibility. I want to believe that I can do it all. I still have a killer asana practice for a 45-year old, but I also spend a lot more time sending emails and writing manuals.

One of the biggest and most unexpected transitions that has happened during this time is—I went from strictly yoga to being a businessman. I'm not a great businessman. Don't ask me for business advice. I'm just getting the job done. I create the framework to do the classes and workshops that I want to do. In doing so, despite my best efforts, I have made so many financial and business mistakes during this time. If I added up all of the money I pissed away, it would break your heart.

Richie: I can relate. 

Jared: That's what it is to do business, right? It is just one dumb mistake after another. That's how you learn and make changes for the better so that you can sustain and grow your business.

My asana practice is in last place in my daily routine—but I still get it in, and I get it done. Back then, my whole life was about yoga and meditation. That was my goal. That was my purpose. That's what I did. My parents told me I was crazy and that I needed to get a job and think about my future. No one could've told me anything during that time. All I cared about was yoga, and I’ll tell you what—it paid off.

Richie: Your online meditation groups have become as popular as your asana classes, retreats, and trainings. You are setting up for a training on the Big Island of Hawaii this coming February, which will be the first of its kind. Does this endeavor represent a reinvention of your work or uncharted territory? What can we expect from this first training in Hawaii?

Jared: Something I want people to understand about me is that all the success—and most of the good things that have come into my life, even my asana practice— have come from meditation. Meditation has always been the foundation for me. It's the cornerstone. It's the most important piece of the puzzle.

People don't know that when they see me because they think I'm the asana guy. Most people see a photo of me doing the scorpion or a deep backbend, but all of that is an effect of my meditation practice. The asana is catchy, and I've been the asana guy for so long because that's what catches people's attention—a picture of a beautiful pose. In contrast, a picture of me with my eyes closed is not going viral.

Despite that, I want to stress the importance of meditation more and more and teach yoga at this level. When you combine the asana with the yamas and the niyamas, with pranayama, and you put the eight limbs of yoga together, something crazy happens. Something I don't know if we really have words for in the English language. Basically, you become present—even that sounds ridiculous.

Meditation is not the easiest thing to sell, but when you put all the eight arms of yoga together, indeed does one achieve something indescribable. You’ve simply got to do the meditation. It's the whole thing. It's the whole practice.

The Bhagavad Gita says there are two paths to yoga: the path of meditation and the path of action. The path of action is probably the best way for most people. A lot of people don't have the constitution to meditate, or they're better off being of service— spreading whatever they're spreading, doing whatever they're doing, helping however they're helping.

Coming out of a party lifestyle at 22, one of the big things that hit me hard was I was able to connect to my soul's spiritual journey.  I had a very real understanding that I was working on subduing the mind. I’ve been working on that for many previous lifetimes, and it became clear that I'm going to keep working on that.

Richie: Besides the Bhagavad Gita, have there been any other guide books for you along this journey?

Jared: A Course in Miracles is a book I used that really helped me observe myself throughout the day—notice my thoughts and see what thoughts were aligned with my higher self, and which ones are coming my trauma, my dysfunctional family, or out of lack, fear, shame. The negative stuff.

I was determined to work on that. At 27, I had an experience where I saw God in a meditation that changed my perception of reality again—into this understanding that nothing really matters except aligning with that.

Putting your ego down completely to be able to experience that beauty, that grace. 

Richie: How do you integrate this beauty and grace with your life as an entrepreneur?

Jared: That’s the thing. In my 30s, I started my own business, started to see some money, and began building a life for myself.

I noticed that God took a back seat because instead of God, what I really wanted was a house. Still, I kept nourishing—fanning the flames of my spiritual practices and being of service to others. 

Richie: Dr. Helen Schucman’s A Course in Miracles sounds like an amazing book. Were you using that every single day?

Jared: I used it every day for eight years. It helped remind me to remember.

Life has a way of pulling you back into the Maya. In yoga, we call it the illusion—or the unreal. The truth is, reality still seems real. That relationship seemed real. That rent payment seemed real. That inspection I had to pass before I opened my yoga studio seemed really real.

A Course in Miracles helped me straddle the line that felt right for me. It allowed me to portion off exactly how much I'm going to be a part of this material world and how much I'm going to be a part of the spiritual world. I'm always trying to navigate that balance. 

Richie: It's tricky this “remembering to be graceful, to be compassionate.” It almost goes away overnight. 

Jared: It goes away in one second! 

Richie: That seems to me to be the duty of the teacher—to be the reminder. Through all of these teachings—the Vedic traditions, East Asian and Tibetan Buddhist teachings, Christian teachings—the same message comes through. Do you feel that you are reaching a point of convergence, both reckoning with the illusion and the truth of reality?

Jared: I still need to practice. I've got to meditate every day. If I skip a day, I feel a little crazy.

I have a good balance with everything. I've worked hard to create a good balance between my spiritual work and my professional work, my relationships, and my romantic interest. I’m living my life and doing what I do. I teach yoga classes—that's my job. I teach meditation, that is my job.

My job is also a reminder to myself to continue my own practice, and  to get people on that path of practicing themselves. Maybe they stick with the practice I'm teaching, or maybe they go to a different practice—it doesn’t matter. At least they're doing something for them to come back to stillness, back to center.

At this point, I've found a good balance of all things, and I'm sure it'll have to shift and change. I'll have to jump over here, do a spin over there, and then do a backflip over there somewhere. You never quite get it.

I'm getting better at getting it and keeping it—keeping myself in a good spot—but then something else comes along and just destroys the whole house of cards. 

Richie: It sounds like the balance is accepting both extremes. Creation and destruction are both happening simultaneously, and our ability to find stillness—to embrace emptiness—is the gift of meditation.

Touching on Hawaii again, just because we're so excited for this training, was your time in Hawaii anything that contributed to your trauma? Are you worried about going back there? 

Jared: Hawaii didn't traumatize me, my parents did.

Hawaii, for me is the most healing place. It's only sweet every time I go back there. I went to middle school and high school in Hawaii, and my parents still lived there up until three years ago, so I’ve been going back often.

I love Hawaii, and I'm so excited to meditate with a group there. It’s really my dream coming true.

Richie: Same. Cannot wait for this. This training is going to be so mind-blowing. I also wanted to ask you about your grandmother who recently passed. I'm so sorry to hear of her passing and I understand she's been such a major influence on you. Can you tell me more about her role in the shaping of your life? 

Jared: Honey was her name, and she made me—for sure.

Honey was deep into meditation, and she lived with a meditation group in Missoula, Montana. I would go to Missoula and meditate with them.

Honey's whole life was easy. Her whole personality was just easy, easy, easy—at peace, doing exactly what she wanted to do, on her timing, in her way.

She will forever be my North Star. Everything that I teach comes from my time with Honey. 

Richie: Beautiful. 

Jared: That's the foundation of it all.

She completed herself—and she would never say this about herself, because she was just a normal old grandma who had the neighbors over, cooking and hosting.

People are always curious about what Honey taught, and Honey didn't teach anything. She was always making something in the kitchen, baking cookies. She loved hiking. She loved walking. She loved her husband.

She was just so true to herself, and that made a huge impression on me—and everyone around her. 

Richie: What kind of meditation group was the one in Missoula? 

Jared: There was a woman there that ran the group, and purportedly, the woman could fly.

They did a lot of meditations where we would go to different dimensional realities. We were always having to go to the 999th dimension, and we'd have to talk to people in this dimension and get information from them.

Richie: So this is at the forefront of the new age. 

Jared: Yes, this was the forefront of the new age for sure. They probably invented the new age!

The woman who owned the group looked at me when I was 17 and said, “Do you want to be gay?” I thought about it and I said yes I do, because I was dating a guy at the time and I love being gay.

She said to me, “You know, we can make you straight if you want. We can work with your energy and make you live a straight lifestyle if you'd like to.” I said "No, I'm good."

That was one funny thing that happened while I was with the group. 

Richie: I'm glad that you're who you are—that you stuck to your guns—and your grandmother’s truth in herself was so inspirational! 

Jared: I think it’s a good thing I stayed gay. Otherwise, I would probably have 15 children or something. Who knows?

Richie: That could be happening in the 999th dimension, probably. 

Jared: I'm gonna leave that over there and just stick with whatever dimension we're in right now.

Richie: Jared, you are my inspiration. You are such a wonderful person. I am so grateful that our orbits have intersected. This love bubble we’ve created with Sally is something I truly cherish. Thank you for taking time for this interview—but before we wrap, do you have an idea of where future Jared is going?

Jared: I really don't, Rich. I've never been someone that makes New Year's resolutions. I've never had a five-year plan or a ten-year plan... I'm rolling with it.

The more I roll with it, the more perfect opportunities appear at the perfect time in the perfect way.

Until that stops working out, I'm going to just keep being in my flow. 

Richie: What a wonderful sentiment to wrap our interview. Enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you again for everything. Talk to you soon.

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Outro by Rich Awn

Jared will be leading a meditation teacher training on the Island of Hawaii from February 24th through March 4th and there are just a few spots remaining. This is the first in an upcoming series of in-person meditation training experiences designed for all levels, slated for destinations all over the world. Whether you’re a super fan or completely naive to Jared’s work, the best way to experience him is through direct participation. To be in his atmosphere and learn from him as a student, you immediately become aware that you are in the presence of the best of the best.

Take the leap and jump in on a class, workshop, training, retreat, or online meditation through his social profile and right here on www.theairything.com. Your life may depend on it.