TORONTO — There's a mountain retreat nestled in a central Tennessee forest that Dylan Cease will often visit. During the off-season, he'll pack a bag, hop in his car and make the two-and-a-half-hour drive from his home in Woodstock, Ga., for the purpose of resetting himself.
When he arrives at the Isha Institute of Inner-sciences, Cease steps away from his life as one of baseball's premier strikeout pitchers. Instead, he becomes a "seeker," just like the rest of the visitors who share an interest in approaching health and wellbeing through the prism of yogic science.
"He has an innate curiosity and longing to explore," says Gomathy Swamy, a full-time volunteer with the Isha Foundation.
Cease's eccentric personality is different than what you'll typically encounter in a big-league clubhouse. He enjoys painting and disc golf, frequents art galleries and vintage clothing stores, and has even picked up beekeeping as a hobby.
However, perhaps no other interest influences Cease more than yoga. His life is steeped in the practices and teachings associated with the discipline.
Cease, who will take the mound for the Blue Jays in Tuesday's game against the Boston Red Sox (Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, 6 p.m. / 3 p.m. PT), wears 84 on his jersey as an ode to the number of postures in hatha yoga. The pendant you’ll spot on his neck is of a nurturing deity from India, while the wallpaper on his iPhone's lock screen is a picture of himself with a famous guru that was snapped in Tennessee this past winter.
Sadhguru is a globally recognized yogi and spiritual practitioner from India. The 68-year-old, who’s got 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 is also the founder of the Isha Foundation, a non-profit organization with locations across the world, including Los Angeles and Tennessee.
In 2016, when Cease was a low-A starter in the Chicago White Sox organization, he stumbled upon a YouTube video of Sadhguru. He doesn’t remember its exact contents, but recalls being instantly compelled.
From there, Cease dove into more of Sadhguru’s videos, devoured his books and began to implement meditation and visualization practices.
“It makes me feel good about life,” says Cease. “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 still in the minor leagues, Cease enrolled in an online program by the Isha Foundation that focused on rhythmic breathing, meditation and introductory yoga poses. The practices, collectively known as Shambhavi Mahamudra, helped him feel more balanced and in control of his thoughts, so he continued working on them during his ascent toward the big leagues.
Now in his eighth MLB season, Cease hasn’t stopped. The 20-minute routine has become an anchor for him and if he encounters a stretch where doesn’t do it, his life begins to feel chaotic.
“It's not like an exercise that you do and then you're an expert at it,” says Swamy, who’s 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 partake in it four to five times per week and 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.
Given the physical demands of the major-league campaign, Cease has to leave the more complex physical yoga routines for the off-season. One of his favourites is an intense, lower-body-focused practice known as Angamardana, which he incorporates into his conditioning program.
Cease visits the Tennessee institute frequently — he estimates he’s been there 10-15 times — to receive what he calls “refreshers” from some of the staff. Last off-season, during one of those visits, he had the chance to meet with Sadhguru. They’d previously met on a few occasions and Cease admits he’s felt nervous each time.
“Because I feel like he can see through my soul,” says Cease.
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 needed to stay home and tend to his unfolding free agency, which required him to meet with different teams.
It could very well happen next winter, but in the meantime, Sadhguru advised Cease to try a practice called Surya Kriya, which combines breath and postural work to promote increased balance, stability and coordination.
Cease didn’t get an opportunity to adopt that during his busy off-season, which was followed by his first spring training with the Blue Jays. However, last month, he finally started it after connecting virtually with a teacher from the Isha Foundation.
While it’s difficult to draw a direct line between Cease’s yoga practise with his results on the mound, there’s no denying he’s been excellent this season, the 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, the right-hander returned last week without missing a step. He punched out 11 Phillies batters while lowering his ERA to 2.91.
Outcomes aside, though, it’s clear the process is working for Cease.
“I don't think it's just about winning or losing for him,” says Swamy. “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.”
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