Feb. 27, 2001- The beauty of yoga is that you can take as little
or as much of it as you want. It can be practiced traditionally or
unconventionally.
But, there is much more to yoga than the practice of physical
postures, called hatha yoga, which is so popular in this country.
Yoga's roots stretch back thousands of years to India, and many
forms of hatha yoga are still practiced in the classical way. But now
some teachers are Americanizing yoga for people more interested in
fitness than in the East Indian masters.
Tom Gillette, director of Eyes of the World Yoga, teaches a hybrid
form, reflective of the masters who have trained and influenced him.
It's an energetic, yet flowing style that focuses on breathing. When
pressed, he refers to it as "vinyasa [Sanskrit for sequences] based
contemporary American yoga."
His classes appeal to people who want a workout, but he insists:
"We are more than our physical bodies, more than our thoughts."
However, he says that with American yoga, "There is nothing to accept
and there are no conflicts with your beliefs or opinions."
Despite the inclusiveness of the yoga philosophy, a cultural
divide has developed in America. Fewer people of color practice yoga.
Maya Breuer, a master Kripalu yoga teacher, wants to change that,
and is beginning with women of color. She explains, "Four years ago I
looked around and realized that there were no minorities in any of my
classes, and I teach a lot of classes."
Recently profiled in a Yoga Journal article that explored this
issue, Breuer is emerging as a national voice for diversity in yoga.
She leads an annual retreat for women of color at Kripalua Center for
Yoga and Health in Lenox, Mass., where she is a member of the board
of trustees.
She has what she calls a treasure that she wants to share with
people of color, but says, "I am not trying to build a separatist
system. My classes are all open to everybody."
She sets aside one of her four classes a week to fill a void.
"Women of color have a real longing, and need to be in community with
each other. Non-minorities are often in community with one another."
She explains, "We live in a place where the minority population is
small. It was my experience that there were no more than two other
people of color in any of the circumstances in which I found myself."
Breuer's studio is warmly decorated, and the aroma of tea or soup
might mingle with a light incense fragrance. Her cat might escape and
join you for Shavasana.
It works for Kai Cameron, a student relations officer with the
Providence School Department. She knew she needed to exercise, but
had trouble scheduling.
When Breuer announced the class, she was ready to try. "I knew I
would see familiar faces."
It's been less than a year, but Cameron is a yoga convert and is
beginning to explore other paths of yoga. "The class was a point of
entry for me. What keeps me coming is I enjoy it. The camaraderie.
It's a place where sisters can connect."
Still, Breuer stays true to her form. "It's classical yoga that I
teach," she says. "I don't alter the true esoteric information. It's
my method that reaches the masses. It's very user-friendly."
AROUND THE WORLD, the most popular classical form of yoga is named
for master B.K.S. Iyengar. Precision of postures and props to achieve
them are the hallmarks.
Suzanne Newton, director of Yoga Vidya, in Providence, is the only
certified Iyengar instructor in the state, an accomplishment she
likens to passing the bar exam.
"The first thing I learned from Iyengar via the senior teachers
was to have respect for past and great teachers. We can follow the
wisdom and take comfort in that," she says.
Following tradition, Newton displays a small photo of Iyengar on
the windowsill of her Angell Street studio. She refers to his
teachings throughout class and occasionally reads to her students
from various yoga treatises.
At the close of each session, the students rise together from the
last and calming pose, called the "corpse" pose. They face her,
sitting either crossed-legged or perched on knees as Newton brings
her hands together in a prayer position. They depart saying, Namaste,
a Sanskrit word, which means "I honor the place where you and I are
one."
Newton explains that "the techniques of yoga help you know
yourself intimately, your strengths and your weaknesses. You accept
yourself in all your aspects and change what you can to the
positive."
"You will deal with that which doesn't work well, whether it's
your body or your mind that comes up. It's not a masking technique,
it's an unveiling, and sometimes you get the bad news first."
Manette Jungels, an art and drama teacher, says she came to class
with a pretty good understanding what was going on inside of her.
"I was on empty emotionally, and I signed up for yoga because I
wanted to feel better. I wanted to keep my serenity," she says.
Jungels didn't seek an Iyengar teacher specifically. "I knew
nothing about it. I just showed up, and I fell in love with it.
Suzanne has such a wonderful balance. She is very clear about not
pushing the spiritual aspects on you."
Two years after Jungels began with Newton, she was diagnosed with
breast cancer. Unknowingly, Newton had been bolstering Jungels to
face a major life challenge. After surgery, Jungles returned to
class. "Suzanne made adjustments for me and made me feel safe."
"I read about people who have limited movement after surgery, but
I was able to pretty much get back everything. I can even do a half
arm balance." The postures she achieves aren't the point for Jungles.
"It's something I do strictly to make myself feel good."
Another of Newton's students, Dr. Pat Mattingly, sought relief
from old athletic injuries. "I was a serious athlete as a young man
and have old knee and shoulder injuries in abundance." He has
remained active over the years, but began to develop exercise-
related injuries from aerobics and weights.
The yoga helped. His work with Newton also relieved pain he had
suffered all his life from fallen arches.
"It's not a conscious thing, but I learned to lift my ankles to
create an arch. I learned to focus in class and my mind/body learned
to do it, and I find myself walking that way."
Other off-the-mat benefits emerged. Yoga has helped him manage the
intensity of his job as president and chief operating officer of
Health Dialog, a health-information company in Boston.
"If you allow a situation to control you, it will produce stress,
but you can learn to react in ways that reduce stress. The yoga
postures are methods of learning to experience that."
Mattingly says the yoga stays with him now. "I can step back," he
says. "It's like the life situation becomes a posture."
BIKRAM YOGA is not for the faint of heart.
"This yoga comes with a warning label," says local master MaryAnne
Nassa, using the same sharp humor that characterizes founder Bikram
Choudhury.
In fact, new students are advised to get their doctors'
permission. Even then, instructors watch neophytes for distress.
Choudhury, touted as yogi to the stars and the richest yogi in
America, developed a rigorous hatha yoga of 26 or 84 sequential
postures done in rooms heated to between 98 and 105 degrees. Electric
heaters dot Nassa's studio to ensure high temperatures and mirrors
line the walls so students can check their form.
Nassa says, "The results make us different. It's a hard workout,
but the bottom line is a total transformation, mentally and
physically."
She knows firsthand what Bikram yoga can do. She could have died
from a congenital heart defect that was not detected until she was
18.
She found Bikram yoga after open-heart surgery. "I was very weak,
and yoga was challenging for me, but after my first class I never
felt so good in my life. I was an instant winner," she says.
Later, she trained with Choudhury for a year and now directs Yoga
Concepts/The Bikram Yoga College of Indian, in Cranston.
Bikram Yoga turns up the heat to protect from muscle tears,
promote flexibility and produce sweat that removes toxins. Positions
are held for ,10 to 20 seconds, said to produce a tourniquet effect
that floods muscles with healing blood when released.
There is criticism that Bikram yoga is more like a workout than
yoga. Nassa objects. "It's classical yoga. We are very concentrated,
and the body and mind have to participate 100 percent," she says.
She believes that Bikram yoga is the most therapeutic yoga. "When
you do a program, you go through the entire body every time. The
sequence is the genius of the system."
You won't get any argument from Patty DeAngelus, a twin, born two
months prematurely with a hole in her heart and cerebral palsy on her
left side. Bikram yoga helps balance her strength and increases her
overall flexibility.
DeAngelus is a young woman of conviction and energy, who has never
let disability stop her. The rigors of Bikram yoga don't scare her.
"I like it because it is strenuous," she says.
Her ability to execute and hold the poses has increased. "Just to
grab my foot would take great effort, but I don't depend on the wall
much anymore. I never could touch my toes before [the class]."
DeAngelus also gains emotional strength from yoga, which helped
her cope with the death of her father, William DeAngelus, owner of
the Twin Oaks restaurant, in Cranston, which her family still runs.
She has a demanding schedule of work and post-graduate studies at
Roger Williams University. "Yoga clears your head. If you have a bad
day, you forget about it."
* * *
Say What? A few terms and how to say them.
Asana As-sa-nah Physical postures of yoga
Ashantga yoga Ahsh-tahng-gah Vigorous style, often called Power Yoga
Bikram yoga BIC-rom Classic form, developed by Bikram Choudhury
Hatha yoga Haht-ha Branch of yoga that uses physical postures
Iyengar yoga eye-IN-gar Another classic, developed by B.K.S. Iyengar
Kripalu yoga Cru-pal-LU New Agey yoga that focuses on breath
Namast na-mas-STAY Expression of respect or acknowledgement
Pranayama prah-na-ya-mah Breath control
Shavasana Sha-vas-a-na Last pose of the session, a resting pose
Viniyoga Vin-E-yoga Flowing style of yoga
Yogi Yo-GHEE Male practitioner
Yogini Yo-gen-e Female practitioner
* * *
FINDING A YOGA CLASS THATS RIGHT FOR YOU
Bikram :
What makes it different? - Hot rooms, mirrors, an intense workout.
You may like this style if you are: - Fit, secure, like repetition,
and want to work your entire body at once.
Iyengar :
What makes it different? - Emphasis is on precise postures aided
by props. You may like this style if you are: - Detail-oriented, patient,
want a slower, reflective pace.
Kripalu :
What makes it different? - Focus is on breath more than postures.
You may like this style if you are: - Contemplative with a leaning
toward spirituality.
Viniyoga :
What makes it different? - Flowing movements with regulated breathing.
You may like this style if you are: - Reflective and more interested
in form than function.
