Cease’s yoga reset brings focus before Blue Jays start

Dylan Cease credits a yoga-first off-season routine with helping him steady himself on the mound, from his drives to the Isha Institute in Tennessee to meditation and visualization practices that he says keep him feeling balanced even when results lag.

TORONTO — Dylan Cease’s reset doesn’t start at a gym or a bullpen. In the off-season, he packs a bag, gets in his car, and makes the two-and-a-half-hour drive from his home in Woodstock, Ga. to a mountain retreat in central Tennessee: the Isha Institute of Inner-sciences.

At the institute, the Blue Jays right-hander steps away from the identity that comes with being one of baseball’s premier strikeout pitchers. Here, he’s a “seeker,” joining visitors who approach health and wellbeing through yogic science.

“He has an innate curiosity and longing to explore,” says Gomathy Swamy, a full-time volunteer with the Isha Foundation.

Cease’s personality in everyday life already stands out from the usual big-league routine. He enjoys painting and disc golf, frequents art galleries and vintage clothing stores, and has even picked up beekeeping as a hobby. But yoga is the interest that seems to run through everything he does.

When Cease takes the mound for the Blue Jays in Tuesday’s game against the Boston Red Sox. he’ll wear 84 on his jersey—an ode to the number of postures in hatha yoga. A pendant you’ll spot on his neck is of a nurturing deity from India. and the wallpaper on his iPhone lock screen is a picture of him with Sadhguru taken in Tennessee this past winter.

Sadhguru is a globally recognized yogi and spiritual practitioner from India. The 68-year-old. who has 13.1 million followers on Instagram. is known for modernizing ancient yogic teachings so they can be applied to everyday life. He holds many titles. including author. motivational speaker. environmental activist. poet. and he is also the founder of the Isha Foundation. a non-profit organization with locations across the world—including Los Angeles and Tennessee.

Cease’s connection to Sadhguru began in 2016, when he was a low-A starter in the Chicago White Sox organization. He stumbled onto a YouTube video and doesn’t remember its exact contents, but he says he was instantly compelled.

From there, he dove into more of Sadhguru’s videos, devoured his books, and began implementing meditation and visualization practices.

“It makes me feel good about life,” Cease says. “It puts me at ease a little bit, I guess. I think the yoga culture and what he talks about is very peaceful. They’re not afraid of death. They really want you to reflect on your mortality. And I just find the yoga lore behind all of it — the consciousness. the meditation. the history — to be really fascinating.”.

While Cease was still in the minor leagues. he enrolled in an online program by the Isha Foundation focused on rhythmic breathing. meditation. and introductory yoga poses. The practices are collectively known as Shambhavi Mahamudra. Cease says they helped him feel more balanced and in control of his thoughts. so he continued using them as he moved up toward the big leagues.

Now in his eighth MLB season, the routine remains constant. He has a 20-minute practice he calls an anchor, and if he goes without it for a stretch, his life starts to feel chaotic.

“It’s not like an exercise that you do and then you’re an expert at it,” says Swamy, who has volunteered with the Isha Foundation for over 30 years. “It keeps evolving with you so as you get better, there is more that it opens up.”

Cease estimates he’ll take part in it four to five times per week, and he says it’s especially helpful when he’s struggling to find results on the mound.

“I’ll rely on the meditation or the visualization or things like that to help me feel like, at the very least, even when I’m not doing well, I’m putting in the work to improve,” he says.

The demands of a major-league season also shape how he practices. Because of the physical grind, Cease has to leave more complex physical yoga routines for the off-season. One of his favorites is an intense, lower-body-focused practice known as Angamardana, which he incorporates into his conditioning program.

He visits the Tennessee institute frequently—he estimates he’s been there 10-15 times—to get what he calls “refreshers” from staff. Last off-season, during one of those visits, he met Sadhguru. He says he’d felt nervous each time before meeting him because “I feel like he can see through my soul.”

They chatted about baseball for some time. and Sadhguru invited Cease to visit his primary ashram and headquarters in South India for a two-week program on Kalari. an ancient martial art form that can help with flexibility. focus. and intensity. Cease wanted to make the trip. but he had to stay home to tend to his unfolding free agency. which required him to meet with different teams.

It could happen next winter. but for now. Sadhguru advised Cease to try a practice called Surya Kriya. combining breath and postural work to promote increased balance. stability. and coordination. Cease didn’t get a chance to adopt that during his busy off-season. After a first spring training with the Blue Jays. he finally started Surya Kriya last month after connecting virtually with a teacher from the Isha Foundation.

The physical and mental work doesn’t come with a simple scoreboard link. but the season results have been hard to ignore. Cease has been excellent this year—his first of a seven-year, $210-million deal. He leads all American League pitchers with 103 strikeouts and. after a brief stint on the injured list with a left hamstring issue. he returned last week without missing a step. He punched out 11 Phillies batters while lowering his ERA to 2.91.

There’s one more thing he keeps coming back to: how the process feels while it’s happening. Swamy believes that’s the real point of the routine.

“I don’t think it’s just about winning or losing for him,” she says. “It’s also about how he does it, how well he performs for himself. If not, you will only look at how much you need to do to win, right?. But I think for him, it matters that he wants to do his best. He wants to unlock what more lies within him.”.

Dylan Cease Blue Jays Boston Red Sox yoga Isha Institute Sadhguru Shambhavi Mahamudra Surya Kriya Angamardana Kalari AL strikeouts 2.91 ERA