Page 59 - Panama City Living Magazine

What would you tell people who are just getting start- ed?Yoga brings together your body, your mind, and your spirit. That's unusual to happen anymore. We are so scat- tered and never really feel like we are completely in one place at one time. In yoga, all aspects of your body and mind are connected by your breathing.Yoga is still very misunderstood. It is not a religious cult or religion-oriented. It is spiritual, but it's your own spir- ituality. Western yoga doesn't try to connect you to any- thing than yourself. There is a great book I just gave to David Bulger, “The Science of Yoga.” It came out a couple of years ago. I would recommend it to every skeptic.When you started, how many men were there in the classroom with you?Probably just me.What was that like? Were you given looks?Not really. In the rst class, the power yoga class, the teacher was much stronger than I was. She was amazing. I was intimidated by her. She was tall, beautiful, and in- credibly strong. I was oored by her. I really didn't pay much attention to whether there were other guys in the room or not. I was just trying to not embarrass myself in front of her.How many male yoga students are participating in your classes?There are a few. But some don't last very long at all.Why do you think that is?They might expect something totally di erent. Yoga re- quires a combination of strength and exibility. If you are strong but don't have any exibility, your body is not able to use the strength in the poses. Often, guys feel discour- aged real fast. About two years ago I had eight navy divers in my class once or twice a week. It was nice having them. They got a lot out of it because they wanted to.I had a guy just the other day–he had never done yoga before. He came in with his girlfriend. He got through four minutes. We weren't even doing any yoga yet. We prac- ticed breathing and he got up and left.Do you think his pride got in the way?I wanted to talk to him after class but I didn't see him. He was just impatient. But I also get very enthusiastic guys. There is one right now. He is in his 40s and has been breakdancing his entire life. He practices yoga because it helps him with the dance moves. There are also several who have an improved golf swing through yoga.How do you think men can be motivated to try yoga? What would you tell them?I think just by doing it enough you start getting involved in your own practice. You start forgetting about everything else. When I started, I com- pletely concentrated on my health. Maybe I viewed yoga as a way to regain the things I lost through the cancer treatment. I didn't think about much else. Admittedly, I was self-conscious about not being able to keep up but I wanted to learn. I didn't think that, at age 70, I would have a 20 something year old teacher like David and I would still be learning as much as I am.The world we live in is now more than ever crazy. I am a news junkie, I am political. I could watch ve hours of news a day. I am really addicted to it. If I didn't have yoga to counterbalance that, I can't imagine where I might have been.In some moments, when it all comes together– you've taught a class, or you've taken a class and you are happy with yourself. Your body, your mind and your spirit are at ease and a feeling of accomplishment sets in. It all comes together. When it all works, you feel an enormous satisfaction. My sister was a ballet dancer. She studied at Juilliard School. She experi- enced the same in dancing. When you are on stage and everything that you've trained for and studied, all the hard work pays o and you feel the emotional part of dancing, and the music, and the other people, it all comes together, it puts you in a state of euphoria.What do you think makes a good teacher or a good student?I think in yoga particularly you have to always get back to the yoga. I have experienced yoga teachers where the class became more about them and who they are than about the yoga. I think as a teacher you should demon- strate the breathing and the poses and all of that. Be yourself but do not try to be more than yourself.Do you think your students see you as a guru in one way?(Laughs) I hope not. No, anybody who tries to tell me or tell somebody that they can help them... there is too much commerce nowadays.... not that people can't help one another but that someone will have all the answers and can solve all the problems in your life, I just don’t trust that.Peter Knisel's teaching schedule can be found online at www.gulfcoast.edu/current-students/academic-divisions/wellness/wellness-classes.htmlwww.PanamaCityLiving.com • March - April 2018 • 59