On a snowy late-morning, the usually bustling gym of Silver Lake Regional High School seems empty -until you notice a section of bleachers in the back corner packed with students and flanked by coaches. It is a remarkably reverent group of teenagers at the moment and all eyes are on the tall man in a suit standing at the podium facing them. Though it is an unassuming scene, it is clear that the person at the podium is not a random guest or a familiar teacher or coach, but someone who instantly has the respect and attention of everyone in the room. That is because it is Silver Lake Regional High School’s most distinguished living alumni -Tim Murphy, and these students are the sports team captains of Silver Lake High who have come to glean any available wisdom from this legendary Laker.
Whether he knew it or not, in the early 1970s, Silver Lake Regional High football coach John Montosi had two pending stars of the college football world on his team. His quarterback, Eugene (Buddy) Teevens and a scrappy end/linebacker, Timothy Murphy, would go on to be legends in American football. “We became best friends after playing on Little League together. Our story began with a call that I am still 51% sure was wrong as I was called ‘out’. He says the call was right, but we will never really know,” Murphy recounts to the benches of observing students. Teevens went on to be the quarterback of, and later head football coach, at Dartmouth College. Murphy went on to play at Springfield College under Coach Vandersea where he was named All New England linebacker. Both former Silver Lake students went on to have historic careers in the world of college football and, more importantly, keep a true friendship that would prove a motivating force in both their lives.
Rick Swanson, Silver Lake Regional High School Athletic Director, asked Murphy to touch base on three main traits that the team captains had been focusing on to become ideal leaders for their respective teams. The first question Swanson asked was for Murphy’s take on and experience with work ethic and how it impacted his career and life.
Following his high school graduation, Murphy started as part-time assistant coach for Brown University. He met a Brown engineering student and football player who inspired Murphy to set new goals. “I realized, it is not enough to have a goal in life, you have to have a plan.” Murphy made a goal to become a head coach for a college football team by age 30, and if he couldn’t do that, he decided he would go back to school and get his M.B.A.
After spending another year at Brown as assistant offensive-line coach, and a year as defensive-line coach at Lafayette, Murphy began to work for an M.B.A. during three years on Rick Taylor’s staff at Boston University. In 1985, Teevens became head coach at the University of Maine and he hired Murphy as offensive coordinator. Although accepted into business school, Murphy could not shake the call and passion for coaching. In 1987, Teevan’s left to coach his alma mater and Murphy was offered the head coaching position for the Black Bears at the University of Maine where he was the youngest head coach in college football -just about meeting his goal of being a head coach of a football team by age 30.
Two years and one Yankee Conference title later, Murphy moved to Cincinnati where he was the youngest head coach in Division I. Cincinnati’s football program had not had a winning season in a decade and they had a reduced roster of 53 players on scholarship due to NCAA infractions instead of the typical 85. Under the direction of Murphy, the program rebounded and was ranked in the top 25 by the time he left to take over at Harvard in 1994. Murphy led the Harvard Crimson football team to success after success for 30 years. He retired as the second longest tenured coach in Division I with 16 consecutive winning seasons, 10 Ivy League championships with only one losing season in this century, and an athletics program that focused on academic success as well as athletic success. Murphy was also named the President of the American Football Coaches Association. It is arguable that Murphy is the one of the most successful collegiate football coaches in history.
As he accumulated career opportunities, Murphy was also gaining enormous amounts of insight into what it takes to be successful. “The best players were always the hardest workers -not the most gifted or strongest or fastest, the hardest workers. Worth ethic changes everything. If you have a goal, and you don’t let anything talk you down from it, you will transcend your own limits,” Murphy assures.
Swanson then asked for Murphy to give advice on leaders practicing servitude and humility and how this quality enhances leadership positions. “Being humble is good for everyone -and it earns you true respect. One reason Buddy was such a successful leader was because he earned the trust of his teammates by leveling with them -helping them out and making sure they felt equal.” Murphy goes on, “You know, I always noticed the leader’s mannerisms in the locker rooms. Some kids make such a mess in there, and then there would be the captains going around picking things up, encouraging people to clean up a bit -humility is about having a level of respect for others and being willing to pitch in and not think any task is beneath you.”
Swanson followed up with the final focus point for the years team captains -Communication. Murphy easily agreed that this was a key quality for any leader to possess but especially in a sports environment. “Communicating in a constructive way with your teammates is the make or break of a good team dynamic. You can’t just communicate with your friends or the best players on the team -you have to keep that line open with everyone. You have to be real and vulnerable and that puts people at ease to be themselves. And honestly, building the foundations of a team on healthy and constructive communication will reward you with lifelong friends.
Murphy explained how friendships forged with teammates often transcend the team. “The greatest gift from playing sports is the friendships you get from it. The likelihood of the relationships you have on your teams now carrying on throughout your lives is very high because you are forging a bond with these people. You are learning to rely on them, read them, trust them, appreciate them, and work with them and those kinds of things carry on after graduation and the games stop. You are making bonds with people that are unique to sports and unlike friendships made in other activities because you have to work as one when you are on a team. You have a common goal for an extended period of time and that makes lifelong bonds.” Murphy explained that even your opponents in sports can be lifelong connections, “When you compete with someone, you have to witness how hard they are working and that makes you respect them.”
Murphy also pointed out that leadership can’t be an act or defined by a checklist, it has to be genuine. “The biggest influences in my life were my coaches. They genuinely wanted to see me become my best self and they really cared about me as a person -not just an athlete. I had a home life where my dad wasn’t around for mentorship, but my coaches filled that for me. Coaches and leaders who care change lives. Mine really cared and caring about someone isn’t something you can fake,” Murphy says.
Murphy then noted that student athletes are unique in the world of sports. “Being a student athlete is so much harder than just being an athlete. Your academic success only enhances you as an athlete because it requires the same qualities that being a good athlete does. Hard work, humility and being open to learning, and communicating and advocating for yourself and others -all of these make you a great student as well.”
Murphy explained that the most successful leaders for sports teams in the Ivy League setting were also dedicated students. “I knew that if someone was willing to put in the work to get an A in economics, they would likely also work really hard for the team.” Murphy encouraged the students to not separate being a good student from a good athlete, but to see them as inseparable. “If you can keep your studies up as well as show up for your team every day, you are basically set for anything life hands you because you have the recipe for success right there.”
Most importantly, Murphy emphasized that working on relationships with family and friends should always be the number one priority. “You know, coaching college football is really, really hard. The schedule is incredibly demanding. Playing sports and keeping up grades is really hard, and these things can make you neglect those around you. But remember that they are your reason for all of this and that you can’t do anything hard in life without support from family or friends or mentors. Keep the right perspective because it will help you make better decisions for yourself, too.”
The closing remarks were followed by questions from students, one in particular asked what a captain or leader should do when there were mistakes made during a game. Murphy replied, “You own it. Good leaders always take responsibility for things that go bad. You can’t blame anyone -it’s everyone. Mistakes don’t usually happen because of one isolated thing -it’s usually a series of things that add up. A good leader will take it upon themselves to own the mistake and then work with the team to find solutions.”
After a group picture was taken, the attending student athletes filed back out into the hallways to their next classes, but the speech given by Murphy was hardly over. No, the things all of us heard, students and adults, were the kind that stick, provoke thought, and influence many decisions made thereafter -because they were the genuine words of humble wisdom from a true leader, and those never really leave us.

Soft chatter and laughter fill the January-sun-drenched space and provide a warmth, body and soul, that make lingering easy. An occasional water droplet from the melting snow on the sloped, clear rooftop hits the few remaining yoga mats yet to be rolled up. A rainbow-clad peace flag flies above the landscape fabric floor like a castle banner in a great hall -but this is a banner of inclusion, acceptance, and love and it flies above empty wooden tables that will soon be laden with the seedlings for this year’s crops at Colchester Farm in Plympton. In the center of the room is a tiny powerhouse of blonde hair and energy, Meg Murphy Garfield, doing her favorite thing: Sharing the lessons of yoga and whole health with others.
During the winter months, the large greenhouse at Colchester Farm in Plympton is used for Garfield’s tri-weekly yoga classes which are moved to her outdoor backyard pool at her house in the warmer months. Garfield shares her passion and knowledge with students of all experience levels -from those who can teach yoga themselves to people who are there for their first class. Garfield, herself, was not introduced to yoga until age 50 when she took a class at her local gym in Rochester, NY. What started as a trial class quickly turned into a way of life for Garfield as she found her body and mind transforming for the better as she continued to attend.
Prior to a career in teaching yoga, Garfield was immersed in the world of health and whole foods. She worked for Niblack Foods -a spice and ingredient supplier that put her to work doing nutritional and food research. She applied her passion for healthy eating and food sources to a career as a private chef and also gave weekly demonstrations and instruction at the Rochester, NY Farmers Market. Garfield’s exclaims, “I absolutely loved the farmers market in Rochester, and talking to people about healthy eating and teaching them what I was learning was incredible!”
After establishing herself as a health support chef and yoga enthusiast, Garfield moved to Plymouth, MA. Once there, she was looking for the next big step to take in life and it wasn’t hard for her to identify what she wanted to dedicate her life to: Yoga. Garfield purchased Open Doors Yoga in Plymouth in 2012. Garfield continued to learn and research and teach and watch her life improve drastically in many ways while also helping others find things that worked for them. “Every body is so different,” says Garfield, “I want people to know that yoga is a practice. It becomes YOUR practice -not mine or the person next to you. I can help you make modifications to suit your level and preferences in yoga and in your health, but then it becomes your responsibility.”
Due to the inability to meet in person during the pandemic, Garfield closed the doors of Open Doors Yoga in 2020 and moved her classes to virtual. Now that she has relocated to Plympton, she keeps her in-person classes local at her home and neighboring Colchester Farm thanks to the generosity of farmer Jim Lough. This year, Garfield’s mantra for her classes focuses on the “inner and outer smile” and finding peace and balance of body and soul and building upon last year’s mantra, strength and purpose. When asked what is the most important focus in yoga for anyone at any level, Garfield answers easily, “Breathing. It is all about breathing. If we, as a society, just learned to breathe through things, our world would be so much better.”
Yoga might sound like a complex, out-of-reach thing to some, but Garfield assures that it offers plenty of highly beneficial things for anyone and everyone. “I am 67 this year and I have never felt better,” says Garfield, “I make sure that we move gently while also challenging ourselves so that growth is fluid and natural -not stressful or causing injury. Even if movement is restricted, yoga is about awareness and organic movement. So much of disease happens when things get stagnant and stuck. Yoga can help keep things flowing and helps us listen to our bodies and minds as one.”
Another offering in practicing yoga is the ability to be present. Garfield explains, “Yoga focuses your attention on your body’s abilities at the present moment. It helps develop breath and strength of mind and body. It’s not about what you look like, it is about how you feel.” Unlike many other fitness or dance classes, yoga studios typically don’t have mirrors so people can focus their awareness inward rather than how a pose, or the people around them, looks. Studies have found that those who practiced yoga were more aware of and in harmony with their bodies and overall health than people who didn’t practice yoga. They were also more satisfied with and less critical of their bodies -creating a cycle of positive body image and self-esteem in a society where comparison is king.
In addition to the benefits of mind, Garfield is dedicated to helping her students learn about taking action and responsibility for their own health. “Medicine should not be one size fits all,’ says Garfield. Everyone will respond to varying levels of different things in different ways. I can give you ideas and tell you what worked for me, but it is up to you to learn your body and advocate what works for you.”
Garfield then explains that yoga can effectively stimulate the Vagus nerve, promoting relaxation, reducing stress, and enhancing overall well-being. “The Vagus nerve is the center of our parasympathetic nervous system -helping us regulate and process things. When it is not functioning well, we can be left with stress and health problems that are usually just treated with medication.” Garfield suggests that exploring new ways to support your natural systems, rather than muting or silencing them, could lead to a more permanent improvement than what can be offered in traditional routes of healthcare.
In addition to the seemingly endless benefits of yoga for body and mind, another perk of taking up the practice is that if often plays a role in improving one’s relationship with food. Garfield says, “When you get talking to people around you who also care about and are passionate about health and people’s minds open up to things about what they are putting in and on their bodies. We are lacking so many nutrients and filled with things that don’t work with our bodies’ systems -causing inflammations and dysfunction.”
Our modern-day food culture tends to result in over-fed, malnourished people and the key to fixing that is most likely found in the collective efforts of individuals like Garfield who dare you to ask yourself real, honest questions about what you are doing to help or hinder your body and mind. “I want to help people heal and take care of themselves. My daughter has chronic Lyme and I have spent many years with her on her own health journey to find things that give her relief. I know how overwhelming it can be, but doing nothing is the worst thing you can do,” reflects Garfield.
In addition to yoga, Garfield makes sure her students are well-versed in being able to meditate. “So many people today are just constantly yelling at themselves internally,” Garfield points out, “The negative self-talk is so damaging. Learning to quiet that self-hate and encourage and uplift yourself by being in control of your emotional range is healing. The best decisions are made in the quiet.”
Garfield knows that perhaps the benefits of yoga sound out of reach or strange or for a “certain type” of person -but yoga is really about enhancing the human experience and can be practiced uniquely by everyone no matter the age or interests or condition of health or life status. “The hardest part about starting your journey with yoga…is starting. Walking through the door. But once you have done that,” Garfield smiles, “You are going to feel welcome, and peaceful, and grounded. Yoga is an escape -it is magic, but it is the kind of escape that is educational.”
Garfield knows what it is like to be the newbie -the beginner, and to not know what you are doing for a while. “I did not have any expectations when I started,” she says, “But it began to have such an impact on me that I realized I needed it.” On making yoga a positive personal journey, Garfield suggests applying it as often as possible because you can’t use it if you don’t know it. “You take what you learn and feel with you and it is yours to use in daily life once you leave this space. Being able to find yourself stopping in a stressful situation and saying, ‘What do I see? Hear? Smell? Feel?’ and being able to find that calm and breath instead of settling into fight or flight -that is where health is found. It is not just about being able to get into a difficult pose, or be the most flexible, it is about finding yourself and your sacred space in the world.”
You can’t help but notice as you leave the warm greenhouse and the undeniably positive energy to traipse through the snow back to your car, that you feel different. The connections you made were refreshingly non-digital, the chaos of the world isn’t as loud, and the breath you didn’t realize you were holding beforehand flows easier through you. You start to see for yourself that perhaps yoga IS for everyone, and suddenly next week with sunny, motivating Meg in the toasty greenhouse down a little Plympton country road can’t come fast enough -so you will just have to remember to breathe in and out until then.
Yoga 111 Love Yoga holds classes at Colchester Farm, 90 Brook St., Plympton
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday 9:30-10:45 a.m.
$20 per class, 20 spots per class max.
Special for Express readers: If you mention this article, you can take your first class for just $5!
Please follow along with Meg Murphy Garfield to see her other teaching locations and classes such as sound bathing.