YOGA TODAY
about feeling anxious. She shook her head and looked at me as if she was seeing through me. With the most loving voice she simply said, “You think too much.” By the time I was struggling in graduate school at USC, I found Siv - ananda Yoga Society. This was also an actual studio, and, I might add, the only Sivananda Yoga studio in LA in the mid-1980s. Located in West LA, off the beaten path in the industrial section, where there was only street parking and the studio was located on the building’s second floor. Classes were $5 each! This was a bit of a stretch for me, but I bit the bullet and forged ahead. The protocol of the practices was exactly like the other Yoga experiences I had had. We did the same series of breathwork, poses, resting and meditation I was used to. There were never any standing poses. And still… no Yoga mats. Yoga Gains in Stature The mid-1980s were a stressful time, but also a turning point. I was completing my work for graduate school and raising two step children while struggling to get to Sivananda’s to find parking and practice. Al - though Yoga was the only place I found peace in the midst of life’s stress, I realized it would be easier to just start teaching on my own. But this was a time when no expensive Yoga Teacher Training pro - grams existed. So I started teaching Yoga from what I knew. I approached the newly built YMCA in Santa Monica and offered to teach Yoga there. They didn’t know what it was, so I had to explain it to them! In the end, I was the first person to ever teach Yoga there, and soon had several regulars who came to my classes. When There Were No Yoga Mats... ...continued from page 11
During this time, I was happily teaching, practicing and finding a balance. I was invited to teach at the home of one of my students, and I even taught my first Yoga retreat in Death Valley at a small hot springs town. I also taught on campus at USC in between graduate seminars. And it was somewhere in this haze of my life responsibilities that I first learned about “YogaWorks.” I recall being in an office somewhere doing my work as a social worker when a colleague of mine asked, “Have you heard about this place called ‘YogaWorks’? It just opened in Santa Monica’.”Apparent - ly the owners were getting all these world famous teachers to come and give workshops. One such teacher was Donna Holleman, and she taught Iyengar Yoga. Without really understanding why, I just knew immediately I needed to be there, and contacted this brand new space. The woman who answered the phone was Maty Ezraty. This is how the conversation went: Me: Hello, I heard you were going to have a teacher there and I am interested in coming. Her: (in a very nasal sounding voice) Yes, Donna Holleman is coming. Me: May I be a part of that workshop? Her: What’s your practice like? Me: (who has never done a standing pose) I practice every day. Her: Ok, well, why don’t you come and do my Ashtanga class to - morrow, and I will let you know if we can get you into that workshop. Me: Okay, what time and how much is it? Her: 6am, and our regular classes are $12. Me: (falling off my chair at the staggering price) Okay, I’ll be there. For those who don’t know, Maty Ezraty, along with her partner
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50—PATHWAYS—Summer 23
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