Friday, July 6, 2012

My Yoga Journey - by Lucinda LaRee

My journey in becoming a yoga teacher and businesswoman are intertwined.  The study and practice of yoga has played a big part in my life.  I am committed to offering high quality classes day in and day out to service my clients, helping them become strong and flexible while encouraging them to be part of our neighborhood gym.

As a teenager growing up in California, I was inspired by Jane Fonda – she was such a fit, vivacious, active, politically-aware woman that she became my role model. So, at 16 I took my first Jazzercise class. This led me into teaching fitness classes in San Diego at Cal a Vie, which then opened the door for an opportunity to work at the Norwich Inn and Spa in Connecticut.

In the summer of 1989, Sports Illustrated held auditions nationwide for the next “Fitness Star” to lead their Sports Illustrated Exercise Video Series.  They planed to audition extras in Norwich, as they would be filming the videos at the spa in the fall. At the time, I was 25, teaching five classes day, running track and doing interval training at the local high school.  As I ran I visualized myself in the videos, a technique I learned from the book “Think and grow rich”.  I wanted to be a Fitness Consultant for the Rich and Famous and this audition was my chance. The audition turned into more than I expected, I was not picked just to be an extra, but was given the role of “Fitness Expert” to lead the Super Models: Cheryl Tiegs, Elle McPherson and Rachel Hunter.

Elle was a committed yoga practitioner and wanted to do a Yoga/Fitness video.  At the time this was unheard of, but we received the go ahead with one stipulation: we had to call it “Stretch and Strengthen” because it was believed no one would be interested in a Yoga video.  I met with her to watch a video of her yoga practice and we created a workout using her favorite yoga poses and my favorite mainstream fitness movements.  I had never taken a yoga class in my life yet here I was in charge of choreographing this merger of mediums with a Supermodel. The video series hit the market and were an instant success - they sold over a hundred thousand copies.

Upon the video release I moved to DC and began teaching fitness classes for Fit Physique, Inc. and my now business partner, Dega Schembri. DC, by nature, is a high-stress city. To address the stress levels and tight muscles of my students, I always ended my classes with stretch and relaxation using the techniques learned from the yoga video experience and from the yoga classes I had begun taking at Unity Woods. My students really enjoyed the stress relief and this established my reputation as a mind-body teacher.

In 1993, Brian and Doris Forscheimer hired me to consult/design and open City Fitness Gym in Cleveland Park. I was committed to create a “spa like” fitness class schedule and with much reluctance Brian and Doris agreed to let me try a yoga class. They preferred to start with a less-popular time slot to test the waters. Yoga turned that around and the class was consistently full. That led to a more balanced class schedule in which we offered yoga several times a week.

In 1996, I joined in a partnership with Dega and we bought City Fitness with a vision of creating a gym with a heart and soul.  We wanted grow our specialty class offerings at the gym and corporate sites and yoga was at the top of our list.  In 2000 the demand was so great we decided to start our Samayama Yoga Teacher Training Program to train teachers for the growing market.  Our company had been training qualified fitness instructors since 1993. We brought in the experts: Beryle Bender Birch of Power Yoga fame and David Swenson, one of the original Ashtanga Yogis.  I continued my studies with many other gifted yogis and used my experience to train and hire teachers who expressed our overall mission of safe fitness programming and community.

In 2013 Fit Physique will be celebrating a 30-Year Anniversary and City Fitness will be celebrating a 20-Year Anniversary.  We have been offering high quality fitness and yoga classes all these years and have added other mind-body mediums such as Pilates and T’ai Chi.

The abundance of bad yoga press lately does not surprise me.  Where there is money to made people take notice. A yoga business is like any other business - you need to make money for the business to continue and to pay a living wage to your employees. There can be very high overhead, particularly in cities like DC. But, there are still ethics that should not be ignored. It is unethical to open a yoga studio down the street from your teacher and become their competitor. It is unethical to practice business techniques that will do harm. As a yoga teacher and lifelong yoga student I follow a code of conduct and professional ethics. We are taught to honor our teachers, those who have gone before us to make this sacred path for us to tread.

I am not ashamed of my unique path in becoming a Yoga teacher or my company’s mission to provide the best service possible while operating a socially responsible and financially profitable business.  I believe in right livelihood.  I need to earn a living to support my family and hope in doing so I can also improve the well-being and quality of life of my students.

It makes me happy to imagine a world filled with wonderful yoga teachers and students practicing daily.  I believe humanity can only benefit from this large group of people, some of whom are my dearest friends, practicing with commitment and enthusiasm.

Sincerely,

Lucinda LaRee/E-RYT Master Yoga Teacher
CO-Owner