James Cogan, 67: Renaissance Man

Every day is a new opportunity to be the person you were born to be. Should we want to, at any moment, we can learn, and we can improve. Once in a while, a door opens, and when we walk through it, our entire outlook and lived direction can change. This is what happened to James Cogan. A couple of decades ago, when he was in his 40s, James took on the twin challenges of yoga and therapy. Since then, James has had a tremendously successful career as a recording engineer, started a yoga studio, and then started writing about what men get so wrong in the world today—which is a lot, especially regarding women. 

How old are you? 
Sixty-seven years young.

Where are you from and where are you based?
Born and based in Chicago, IL.

Are you married? Kids? 
Divorced, no kids.

Tell us about your career transitions. 
Taught school in London right after college, then became an assistant engineer at Chicago Recording Co. Worked my way up the ranks, recording commercials (jingles) during the day, doing jazz, punk, and house music at night. Got hired by Columbia College to teach one class, grew that to several classes, then became full-time faculty, still recording six to eight albums a year.

Therapy entered the picture, and post I moved to Wisconsin in 2002, started taking yoga classes at the YMCA. Got certified, then opened my one and only brick-and-mortar business: a yoga studio on the north side of Chicago. Post pandemic, I’m living my honest-to-god best life: writing, traveling and teaching yoga.

How and when did you get into yoga?
Yoga has been my third major career, following recording engineer and academia. Got into it full on at age 45, thinking I was getting in too late—what a laugh! The only reason I tried it was after going to the chiropractor for 20+ years and having docs say, “You know, there is this thing called yoga…”. During a life-changing period of discovery, I went through two back-to-back transformative experiences: therapy and yoga. Life is pre and post those two events.

Why did you get your master’s degree in health and wellness? 
Because I wanted to delve into this area of discovery. It’s still an unrealized discipline (IMO). No one can agree on what wellness can or should be, so I see opportunity. I’m now writing a new type of book called Wellness Schmellness: The Art of Joyful Longevity. I intend to walk a new path of what well-being truly entails for folks over 60. Like, How lonely are you? How often do you self-medicate?—a pragmatic approach to well-being as opposed to “luxe wellness”.

After two years of successful therapy and then having my mind blown by yoga, it felt perfectly natural for me to take those as starting points for my version of wellness. And I was enrolled in the School for New Learning at De Paul, and it allowed me to tailor my MA to my needs. Pretty sweet!

What advice would you give to someone who is wanting to make fitness part of their life?
Post 40: You don’t have the choice to opt out of this. You can take step one: research beginner yoga classes near your zip code. Find a local gym that resonates with your age, vibes, and activities. Join a walking club. Or start one. TRY NEW THINGS, like kayaking. Make moving your body a varied and fun endeavor.

What’s your personal fitness routine? 
I like to mix it up. A lot of cycling (not the type A fast stuff!). Walking is super healthy in so many ways, so a good two mile walk every other day, and, naturally, yoga three to five times per week.

What about personal health practices that you do daily? 
I attempt to be still and meditative as my coffee is percolating! I like to stay engaged and curious, learn new things daily. Curiosity is huge. And I seek art—specifically film, music, and books—at all times.

What is your book Rampant Douchebaggery: The Death of the American Gent about? 
It’s sadly more resonant and real with each passing year. I had been on any number of dating sites in the 2000s and was chatting with women who were blowing my mind with tales of past exes, recent bad dates, etc., and I would always have my jaw drop hearing stories of “average” Mid-western men in their 40s to 50s, etc., who were behaving like wanton jackasses. Yet, I consciously wanted to add an element of “branding” and decided editorially to add a memoir/backstory element to describe my own journey from a not-so-awake guy to a slightly more awake guy. And, over five years, it kept evolving to what it became—quite unlike what started as sort of a “primer” that was not all that “literary” at first.

What is your writing process like? 
I have to be piqued, pissed off, really curious about a topic, and then I look for a title that feels “cool” to me. I have to have that excitement of, Oh, that’s good! Then I am seeking the best first sentence I can muster. I do not put pressure on myself to get it right at all. I just kind of overwrite and go back and whittle away.

What does being a man mean to you? 
How much space am I being allotted here? It means true chivalry primarily. There is a chapter in Rampant Douchebaggery entitled “Chivalry Is Sexy AF”, and chivalry, a 15th-century French word, captures the core of what it means to be a good man. Help out. Don’t be a victim. Stay hungry deep down. Practice a life of serving others in any meaningful way you can contribute. Stand tall, and help others not as lucky. Do the small things daily that make a big difference. Do what you say you’ll do and don’t talk smack. Reach out. Show up.

You had a past in the music industry and jazz world. Tell us about that. 
I taught British & American Lit in London, and then I moved to Los Angeles and was a waiter alongside Perry Farrell of Lollapalooza fame. Before that, I had been obsessive about the recording studio in late college, although not a musician technically. I was perusing the LA Reader and saw the names and addresses of the top studios in LA. One year later, on a resume I sent to Chicago Recording Co., I happened to put down the names of the top three LA studios as my previous experience. (Sort of a fib.) I was hired. 

And this is how it happens: I was handed a big avant-garde jazz session with all of these up-and-coming young Turks of Chicago jazz that another aspiring engineer turned down. From that one fateful session of 18 musicians, I built a solid 20 year career (from approx. 1981 to 2001). I became friends with all these amazing players who were all sweet, cool people and rarely had to record a synth or a drum machine. (Lucky.)

What music are you listening to these days? 
I am now listening to an amazing singer-songwriter from London named Labi Siffre. Check him out. Love Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey, but always play my go-tos: Steely Dan, Fab Four, Prince, Frank, Amy Winehouse, The Kinks, Stevie, Marvin, Marley, and on and on….

What is your day to day like?
French press coffee with cinnamon, read too much crap online, fulfilling my procrastination requirements, and then along about 1 p.m. I begin to “work” on whatever is front of mind/queue.

What is your ambition for the next 10 years?
To travel the globe, write and practice yoga, and forge deeper connections to living things.

What are your three life nonnegotiables? 
1. No bad energy allowed. Ever.

2. Kindness and humor are to be as sought and savored as much as sunlight.

3. Practice self-care and self-esteem daily. Hourly even.

Connect with James:
Email: james@jamescoganwellness.com
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