Fitness challenge:
Yoga Vince's way
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health-wellbeing/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501238&objectid=11188899
Each week Rachel
Grunwell will try out a new form of exercise to bring you the lowdown.
Prana Yoga
What is it? A dynamic
stretch class, synchronising breathing and movement to achieve a flexible and
well-functioning body. Prana means life force, or breathe, life, vitality of
the spirit.
What's needed? Gym
gear, water.
The experience: Some
yoga teachers seek heavenly perfection out of a yoga pose. But Vincent Bolletta
isn't one of them.
This experienced yoga
teacher can pull off all those tricky, show-off poses such as handstands and
backbends. But he'd rather keep yoga "real" to the masses, thanks. He
won't prattle on about how you should try to seek divinity from everything you
do. He'll tell you "this is just yoga, man" and flash his cheeky
grin.
He says things like:
"Try and touch your toes, but don't worry if you can't reach. Flexible
people can still be arse. Flexibility doesn't define your character."
He's trying to say
that you should try to reach your toes, or more to the point your potential,
but yoga is more about enjoyment and a sense of personal achievement. Just give
it a go and don't take it so seriously.
Vince knows his
stance is "controversial" in the yoga world. But he reckons he just
doesn't put yoga up on a pedestal for people to live up to.
I enjoy being a bit
of a yogi and I've tried enough classes over the years to recognise Vince is
among the best.
He's a freelance
instructor and has his own studio, Yoga Ground in Grey Lynn. He also takes
classes at other studios and gyms, as well as sessions for private clients,
domestically and internationally. He works with doctors, too, to help clients
with issues such as rehabilitation and combating stress. And he trains future
yoga teachers at a school in Albany.
I see him weekly at
the GetRunning studio and in the past I've joined some of his Les Mills classes
where up to 80 people squeeze into his sessions. For this column I checked out
his Prana Yoga class at Genesis Fitness in Remuera. I made a point of visiting
him elsewhere because I wanted to see if he instructed, and connected, with all
his classes in the same manner (even he admits "I push the edges").
And yes, Remmers women use their laughing muscles as much as they stretch their
limbs as they delight in his tales.
The 46-year-old was a
gym instructor when he was introduced to yoga by a mentor and friend in 1989.
He loved the artistry of it, how it looked, and how yoga made him feel.
He sees yoga as
something that is physical, but exudes gracefulness, peacefulness and calmness.
He believes it improves people's lives.
For this class, we
did a warm-up with knee-hugs and then lay on our backs for synchronised leg and
arm movements. Downward dogs, and other variations of this movement featured
and then squats and pigeon poses (sit-down, hip-opening positions), and more. Nothing
too tricky, but a challenging good stretch and body strength workout. To end
the class, we relaxed on our backs.
He's done an
exhibition of yoga poses that went all the way to a fine arts gallery in Colorado. And instead of
sunsets in the background of these pictures, his were done in gritty urban
environments. Again, it's all about making yoga seem accessible and adaptable
and to show "it can be done anywhere".
Vince helps me unfurl
my rigid runner's body with yoga. He puts me in challenging pretzel-like
positions. I leave his sessions feeling like I could leap out of a
jack-in-the-box.
How not to sell your
house
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/design-garden/news/article.cfm?c_id=236&objectid=11188941