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Rodney Yee
Published Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Yoga Celebrity Remains Low-Key in Lakeland Visit
By
Gary White
The Ledger
In the warmth of the afternoon light,
renowned yoga instructor Rodney Yee helps his class reach
enlightenment at My Time Yoga Studio in Lakeland recently.
Yee has conducted workshops all over the world and his
client list is star-studded. (CINDY SKOP/Ledger photos)
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They sat in the lotus position, their backs against the walls of the
dimly lit yoga studio. The instructor fell silent, encouraging the
students to close their eyes and fall into the utter absorption of
deep awareness. But the 14 students at Lakeland's My Time Yoga
Studio couldn't have been blamed for occasionally taking a peek at
the man in the snug black shorts and maroon T-shirt, if only to
remind themselves that he was actually in their presence.
In the realm of yoga, Rodney Yee is a celebrity. Yee conducts
workshops all over the world and has appeared in a series of
million-selling instructional videos, and his celebrity clients
include fashion designer Donna Karan.
Some 20 people -- a mixture of experienced yoga practitioners and
relative newcomers -- paid for the privilege of doing yoga under
Yee's attentive eye Friday in morning and afternoon sessions. Don
Arscott, a Lakeland marathon runner who began yoga classes a few
months ago, came away even more enthusiastic about yoga.
Yee leads his students in relaxation
exerceises at the end of the afternoon session at My Time
Yoga Studio. (CINDY SKOP/Ledger Photos)
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"He kind of cemented for me that I'm on the right track," said
Arscott, at 49 the same age as Yee. "Rodney was one of the most
inspirational people I've ever seen. He just has a way about him; he
seems very relaxed. He just made me feel relaxed looking at the guy.
To be in that kind of shape at 49 years old -- that's inspirational
to me in itself."
Yee discovered yoga at age 19 while a dancer with the Oakland
Ballet. He continued dancing but became increasingly consumed by
yoga, and in the mid-1980s he established a popular studio in
Oakland, Calif. Yee recently exchanged coasts and now works out of a
studio in Sag Harbor, N.Y., run by his wife and fellow yogi, Colleen
Saidman.
Yee said he conducts about 15 workshops a year now, fewer than he
did when he lived in California. His status as "the Tiger Woods of
yoga," in the phrase of My Time co-owner Carolyn Robles, or as a
"stud-muffin guru," as Time magazine has described him, can be a
hindrance in a discipline that emphasizes detachment from such
worldly assets as fame.
(CINDY SKOP/Ledger Photos)
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But Yee -- a compact man with long, black hair, dark eyes and a
ready laugh -- showed no sign of being intoxicated by his own
celebrity.
"Sometimes being well known is actually more a pain in the butt than
anything else," Yee said following an afternoon workshop. "(But) in
some ways being a rock star or whatever helps you inspire them. You
have their attention for a little bit, and sometimes half the job is
getting someone's attention."
Kristen Anderson, 15, who plays
volleyball for Lakeland High, gets special attention from
Yee. (CINDY SKOP/Ledger Photos)
|
Yee held the attention of the six men and eight women in his
afternoon workshop, students ranging from a 15-year-old high school
volleyball player to gray-haired men. He sprinkled ideas from
Buddhism and ancient yogic texts amid his specific suggestions about
body positioning and breathing techniques.
"Think of what the yogis say: If you could relax yourself
completely, in 10 minutes you could get eight hours of sleep," Yee
said, perched on a mat in the middle of the room. Later he added,
"They say in yoga's scriptures if you can concentrate for 14 full
seconds, you'll attain enlightenment. I don't know if that's true,
but . . . sometimes your awareness for even a microsecond is long
enough to show you the beauty of your life and give you great joy."
Asked afterward what he says to those who find yoga too daunting or
weird, Yee responded with a patient smile.
"I tell them, `You're already doing yoga,' " he said. "You wake up
in the morning, and what do you do?" He mimed stretching and
yawning. "You take a deep breath, you open up, you're really trying
to feel like, `Ah.' That's yoga. Most people want to feel good, and
that's the practice of yoga. What's the big deal?"
Jamie Naughright, the studio's co-owner and a certified athletic
trainer, geared Friday's clinic toward athletes. Participants
included three members of the Lakeland Thunderbolts, a professional
indoor football team, as well as Rachel George, a national champion
barefoot water skier.
"Jamie is one of the main bridges between the yoga world and
professional sports," Yee said.
Kenny Perry, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound receiver for the Thunderbolts,
had done only a couple of yoga classes before Friday. He came away
from the clinic a convert.
"I was really into it," said Perry, 23. "It was a lot harder than
what I expected. I thought I was a little bit more flexible than I
was. I was more tired doing that than if I was in the weight room
lifting for a long time. It was kind of a shock."
Perry said he will encourage his teammates to pursue yoga, which he
thinks could reduce risk of injury.
Several students in the afternoon session were patients of Dr. Larry
Padgett, a Winter Haven orthopedist, and Naughright, a physical
therapist. Name tags taped to the mats signaled their need for
rehabilitation: Bob, meniscus surgery; Susan, meniscus tear; Carol,
left ankle.
Carol Read-Dow of Lakeland broke an ankle six months ago and is
using yoga in her rehabilitation. She said Yee's presence added to
her appreciation for yoga.
"I thought he was really down to earth and really accessible," said
Read-Dow, 42. "He gave us all a lot of individual attention."
"He was like just another yoga teacher," added Kay Saari, 50, "but
you also realized who he was."
Gary White can be reached at
gary.white@theledger.com
or at 863-802-7518. |
