Noble’s Story: If I Knew Then…

By Timothy “Noble” Priehs

Anyone reading this could probably come up with several ways to finish that sentence.

If I knew then…

My answer at this point in my life is simple: humility.

We’re not invincible, even though most of us have felt that way at some point. And I’ve come to realize that everyone has a different journey in life.

The Day Everything Changed

Mine changed in the blink of an eye in January 2003.

At that time, I was 13 years sober. I had a side job as a motorcycle escort for funeral processions. There were two escorts that day. There should have been four.

As the procession traveled from intersection to intersection, it came to a stop due to the lack of escorts. An attendee waved a driver through from the opposite direction.

The driver turned directly into my path as I was traveling at 75 mph.

My life flashed before my eyes in slow motion. I had no option; I T-boned a Toyota RAV4.

Putting My Life Back Together

My back was broken in three places. Initially, we hoped I would heal without surgery. After three months, however, doctors determined that I needed a six-level spinal fusion. I underwent two surgeries, three days apart, in April 2003, with a total of 22 hours between them.

For a year, I wore a body brace. I was called “Turtle Boy” because it looked like I was wearing a turtle shell. I walked with a cane for ten years.

And then there were the medications. I was prescribed heavy opioids and medication for PTSD. For ten years, I remained on prescription medications while trying to put my life back together.

The irony wasn’t lost on me. I had been sober for 13 years, and now I had become dependent on the very medications that were supposed to help me. I was beside myself.

Finding Calm Through Yoga

Then, in December 2003, something else entered my life: Bikram yoga: the 26+2 hot yoga practice. I took just a few classes that month. I remember feeling something I hadn’t felt in a long time: calm.

When 2004 began, I started practicing more. Four days a week became five, then six, and eventually seven days a week by April. I had found a new addiction. This one, thankfully, was different.

Nearly 8,000 Classes and Counting

As I dealt with my workers’ compensation case, I was told to keep track of all my expenses, mileage and other details. From 2003 to 2011, I logged more than 2,800 classes. In those days, each class was 90 minutes.

By the end of 2011, my home studio began using the Mindbody app, as did many of the other studios where I had practiced. There it was in black and white: 4,384 classes from 2011 to 2025. It’s crazy to think that I’ve taken close to 8,000 classes in my almost 23 years of practice.

Over the years, I’ve been blessed to travel internationally, practice in studios around the world and share my story with people who are looking for a little light at the end of the tunnel.

Yoga Pod Tucson is the 45th studio where I have had the opportunity to practice. And might I say, it may be the nicest of all.

Thank you to Lisa, Brian, the staff and all the teachers for making me feel so welcome.

Another Turning Point

But numbers and studios only tell part of the story. For ten years, I was still overmedicated and walking with a cane. The prescription medications were taking a tremendous toll on me. I eventually learned that the possible side effects of the medications I was taking included pain, anger, anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts—times ten!

In February 2013, my friend Tom called and encouraged me to explore a more integrated path that included nutritional support. I thought, here we go again. Then he asked, “Do you trust me?” “You had to play the trust card?” I said. “Okay, but I’ll still keep my arms crossed.”

That conversation became another turning point in my life. With support, I was eventually able to get off my medications and let go of the cane I had come to depend on. I honestly don’t know where I’d be without Tom. Back then, I couldn’t see a way forward.

He helped me find one.

A Second Chance and a Purpose

I’ve always said I was given a second chance. Well, technically, I’ve probably been given 12 or 13 chances.

But who’s counting?

My daddy always said, “Never lose your sense of humor.”

I haven’t.

Today, I believe I’ve been given a purpose: to help people who are praying for help—people who may be looking for a way forward but don’t yet see it.

I see myself as somewhat of a messenger, and the message is simple: Breath. Stillness. Quieting the mind.

Master those things in your yoga practice. Then learn to carry them into your everyday life. That’s when yoga becomes more than a practice. That’s when it becomes life-changing.