Rick Freeman began his yoga and meditation journey in 2003, not as a teacher but as a patient seeking a different way to live with Crohn’s disease. At the Chopra Center, he studied directly with Dr. Deepak Chopra and Dr. David Simon. He learned how yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, and mind-body practices could become part of everyday life.
That experience led Rick from patient to teacher. He became certified through the Chopra Center in Perfect Health, the Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga, and Primordial Sound Meditation. He later completed 500-hour yoga teacher training through the American Yoga Academy with Claire Diab.
In 2012, Rick survived a life-threatening Type A and Type B aortic dissection followed by an extensive recovery. The practices he had learned did not remove his medical challenges, but they gave him practical tools for living through fear, uncertainty, physical limitations, and change. His experiences as both a patient and teacher continue to shape his compassionate and realistic approach to wellness.
Over the years, Rick has taught yoga, meditation, breathing practices, and wellness programs in private, group, and community settings.
Rick’s current work, Awareness, Choice, Change, brings his training and life experiences together through breathing, movement, meditation, and practical awareness exercises. Its central message is simple, awareness creates choice, and repeated choices can create meaningful change.