lunchtime yogis stay in shape

(I wrote this for the March 2008 newsletter where I work. What I wrote was cut to fit. Here's the entire article. It was written to share with non-yogi colleagues what we do in yoga class.)

If you’re curious about where your colleagues carrying yoga mats are heading right before noon on Mondays and Wednesdays, you may be interested in knowing that Eleanor Harris has been teaching yoga at REJ for the last five years.

Eleanor, a certified Iyengar yoga instructor also registered with the Yoga Alliance as a trainer of yoga teachers, has been studying and teaching yoga for over 20 years. After working as a massage therapist to business executives in New York City for 10 years, Eleanor realized that although massage helped with repetitive stress problems, yoga was a way to prevent those problems in the first place. She chose Iyengar yoga because it addresses issues in the body, focusing on structural alignment to promote well-being.

“Even though I was strong and flexible, with Iyengar, I found where I was imbalanced in my body, where I needed to work,” she said. By teaching Iyengar yoga, she could help her students do the same.

Eleanor began studying with master teachers in 1987, a practice she continues, most recently studying with Shiva Rea, an internationally known teacher of vinyasa flow yoga.

(Some clarification for non-yogis: Iyengar classes are verbal and precise, with teachers occasionally adjusting students’ postures so they can feel and learn proper alignment. In vinyasa flow, teachers instruct students in fluid movement from one pose into another, coordinating movement and breath. Eleanor draws on both styles in her classes.)

Eleanor says the biggest benefit of a yoga practice is “learning to recognize where you are now. It has physical benefits, it’s emotionally calming, and it can have spiritual benefits, like feeling at one with the world.”

She says her own yoga practice has changed in response to changes her life, including the death of her mother, extra weight gain during pregnancy, and a difficult childbirth. She has been inspired to add Reiki, acupressure, and craniosacral therapy—healing modalities that assist the body’s energy flows—to her skills, enhancing both her yoga and massage practices.

Eleanor sees her own yoga practice as a way of developing resilience and taking balanced risks in life as well as practice. “To me now, yoga is not so much about doing poses. Yoga gives me the ability to put myself back into tree pose when I fall out of the tree—and it also gives me the ability to go out on a limb of that tree.”

I got serious about yoga after a car wreck in 1996 left me with lingering pain, weakness, and alignment problems. Yoga helped me regain and improve my flexibility, strength, balance, focus, and overall well-being.

Therefore, I was thrilled to learn about Eleanor’s lunchtime classes after I started work here in 2004. Having yoga available at work with a suggested donation of $5 (most yoga classes are $12-16) and especially having a teacher with Eleanor’s experience was a perk too good to pass up.

Over a dozen current LBB employees are on the mailing list for Eleanor’s classes, with about eight attending regularly. The other students come from other agencies in this building and from nearby buildings. About 15 students attend on average at present. Here’s what some of the LBBers say.

John O’Brien, who’s attended Eleanor’s class for nearly two years, says, “Some of my early experiences with yoga were with a style that required more coordination—almost like dance. Eleanor’s laid-back progression through a series of yoga positions better fits my needs and comfort level.”

Melitta Berger, who’s been attending for about six months, says, “This was my first structured yoga class, and I have really enjoyed the relaxation, stretching, and strength exercises. I was a bit nervous starting out, but Eleanor teaches to all levels. My balance and strength have really improved! Plus the mental ‘time-out’ forces me to focus just on what I'm doing and not the work waiting in the office.”

“Eleanor’s yoga class has been a great complement for my other workout and sports activities. I’ve been able to avoid a lot of the muscle pulls and stiffness that I normally experience by stretching in yoga each week,” says Garron Guszak.

Ursula Parks says, “I appreciate Eleanor's noon yoga class for its combination of solid yoga fundamentals—all of the benefits of asana [AH-sa-na in Sanskrit, the yoga postures] are present, including strength, flexibility, mental focus, and deep relaxation. I am also grateful for her clear instruction, attention to detail with each student, and sense of humor. The convenience of the class being right here in our building makes it an easy choice to attend!”

“Eleanor is excellent about gradually building on poses so that they are done correctly. I have been practicing yoga for almost 10 years, and I think I have only through Eleanor learned the proper positioning of some poses. She is also great with adapting the day’s practice to what we need or want to do,” says Emily Brownlow, who has attended for the past two years. “I am always thankful I attended class afterwards.”

Susan Dow, who just started in February, says, “Eleanor’s knowledge level and presentation style as an instructor provide a quality environment for class members. As a beginner participant, I understand her exercise instructions and feel quite comfortable, which is sometimes difficult when learning new poses. The yoga stretching movements complement the other physical activities I do.”

I’ve attended Eleanor’s class for three years. To me, yoga is about being present in my body, with patience and kindness, and focusing and expanding my awareness. I discover that my ability to hold a balance pose changes from foot to foot and from day to day. I notice how a spinal twist miraculously wrings all the tension out of my back. I stretch to my limit, breathe, and discover I can stretch a little further. Yoga gives me more vitality and keeps me on an even keel.

I appreciate Eleanor’s attention to detail. For instance, for adho mukha svanasana (downward-facing dog), she will give directions about what our hands, feet, shoulders, head, thigh muscles, and breath are doing; meanwhile, she is adjusting new students’ bodies so they can learn and receive the full benefit of the aligned pose. Her voice is calm and reassuring, her touch is gentle but firm, and she really notices what we’re doing.

Eleanor prefers that new yoga students attend on Mondays, keeping Wednesdays for a more advanced class. (Some students attend both days.) She says a student’s current fitness level doesn’t matter, because she can have them adapt poses to any level of strength and flexibility or substitute a similar pose.

Iyengar yoga sometimes uses props. Eleanor supplies belts for students who don’t bring their own, and some students bring blocks or blankets as well. A yoga mat is the only required gear, along with clothing you can move in. We practice with bare feet.

The classes are moderately paced and not so vigorous that students need a shower afterward. Eleanor always asks students at the beginning of each class what they would like to work on that day. Usually a couple of people respond with body parts, and we have a focus for the day—although since everything connects to everything else, we end up with a good all-around workout.

Eleanor always ends her classes with the deeply restful savasana (corpse pose).

Eleanor is also our massage therapist, coming in twice a month, usually on Wednesday afternoons. She does massage work at Cocoon, 1210 S. Congress, as well, and teaches yoga and Pilates at both Joy Moves and Pure studios. To contact Eleanor, email harriseleanor@sbcglobal.net or call 698-9642.