"A Flexible Journey" by Loretta Barone: a Reflection of her 60 Years in Yoga
Sometime at the beginning of 1966, a friend asked me if I had ever taken a Yoga class. I don't remember what we were talking about at the time but the question was casual as was my answer, which was that I hadn't. She said she thought I would like it. That Spring, when the University of Miami sent out their bulletin with a list of community classes available, there was Hatha Yoga. On her recommendation, I decided to enroll.
It was April of 1966 and I showed up at the Dance Building not knowing anything about what was involved in a yoga class: no mat, and a pair of skin-tight jeans that wouldn't have allowed me to take a deep breath if my life were hanging in the balance. Nevertheless, I got up off the floor after the final relaxation, a devotee for life. It was a transformative experience.
I continued to take classes with that teacher and many others for many years. When our son went into kindergarten, I volunteered to be the 'room mother' who helped the teacher with things like field trips, parties and special events. She and I decided that with such a trove of talent among the parents of those children, I could schedule a parent every Friday for the last hour of the day to do some interesting activity and give her a chance to wind down from the week and get ready for the next one. We had story telling, sitar playing, and when I realized that 5-year-olds could not bend down and touch their toes, yoga classes. I continued teaching those students - and more - for 3 years, through 2nd grade.
That was the beginning of a long tenure with the Dade County Board of Public Instruction in their Adult Community Classes Program, taught all over the county in public schools beginning at 3 in the afternoon, after the children were gone. I taught in Miami/Coral Gables for 20+ years and continued when we moved to Pittsburgh in 1998. Byron Gottfried picked on me on a regular basis until I agreed to teach for the Osher Program in 2013. I couldn't be happier that he did.
In case you're doing the math, this coming April will be the 60th Anniversary of the first Yoga class I ever took.
It's been a wonderful journey.