An ancient art goes mainstream: 12 yoga poses for better mind, body and spirit

Anthony DePrimo | By Anthony DePrimo | Staten Island Advance
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on July 10, 2014 at 10:00 AM, updated July 10, 2014 at 10:06 AM

STATEN ISLAND N.Y. -- Some like to run. Some like to lift. Some like to swim. And others like to pose.

From a toned core to mental clarity, yoga has gained in popularity on Staten Island as way to achieve better health with a lean, flexible body and sound mind.

While there is no written record or exact date of yoga's origin, its South Asian techniques have evolved over centuries and aim to balance one's mind, body and spirit.  The practice was introduced in the United States in the late 1940s and from there it progressed.

There are dozens of yoga styles with many more variations on the specific poses.  Some of the most common styles are: Hatha, Vinyasa, Kundalini and Bikram, which has students perform movements in a room heated to approximately 104 degrees.

Longtime Island yogi, Betty Durnin, has been practicing yoga for more than 40 years, and while Ms. Durnin would not reveal her age, she says yoga is a great way to cleanse the body, stay fit and maintain physical balance, fending off aches and the appearance of aging.

"Yoga works on all the systems of the body", Ms. Durnin explained. "Squats are great for digestion ... the forward-bends are very calming, the back-bends are very invigorating."
"When you compress your organs [as with a forward bend], you're squeezing all of the blood and toxins out of them, and when you come out of it fresh blood rushes through and continues to cleanse the organs."

Yoga also purportedly alleviates stress and even mild-to-moderate bouts of depression. 

South Shore instructor, Andrew McDaniel, decided to get certified recently after taking classes at You Can Do It Yoga in Pleasant Plains. McDaniel credits yoga with helping him get through a tough period following open-heart surgery.

"I had to find a path. I wasn't happy, I was depressed ...  and I had to adjust", McDaniel said.  "I was 360 pounds, I just had open heart surgery, was suffering from depression – I was in a really bad place."

"I like to say yoga saved my life," McDaniel added.

Sal Cialino, an instructor based out of Mariners Harbor, also found support from the ancient practice when his wife died of cancer about 15 years ago. Cialino was a single father and widower struggling to get back on his feet.

"Yoga was therapy for me, in many ways", said Cialino. "Physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I think that's the whole package right there."

While Yoga was originally created by men, there exists a stigma today of it being geared solely towards woman, something Island instructors say is not true and a tough preconception to shatter.

"It's very hard to break a stereotypical belief that's out there ... That it's not for men", Mr. Cialino said.  "I grew up thinking it wasn't for men that's why I was reluctant to start it myself."

"I think that they get discouraged, and maybe feel embarrassed or self conscious, because [men] can't do what's happening in the class, not realizing that yoga is a practice", Betty Durnin explained. "That's why we call it a practice, because it takes practice, and it may take years .... So you never really get to that point where you say, 'I mastered everything in yoga.'"

Karen Torrone, owner and director of 5 Boro Power Yoga in New Dorp, teaches the Baptiste style of Vinyasa yoga, which is specifically meant to build strength through the poses, a characteristic she says draws more men to her classes.

"In some of the more vigorous styles of yoga–Baptiste and also Bikram–there's an attraction with the [physicality] that resonates with the male population", Ms. Torrone explained.

According to Mr. Cialino, as a man ages, muscle bulk can have negative effects on the joints and restrict movement. There is also an increase in the risk of injury, compounded with the impending onset of arthritis and the aches and pains that come with aging.

"Men who have been bulking up for 20 years or so ... are starting to feel the adverse effects of that," Cialino said.  "As you get older the muscles don't hold as well to that bulk. It's harder to keep them up, so maintenance becomes more rigorous because you have to be [at the gym] all the time to maintain it."

"There is a trend, it seems, that more men are starting to embrace it.  A lot of that has to to do with men becoming more comfortable with whatever feels good for them."

Bikram Yoga fires up the body and soul Video by Anthony DePrimo - 2014 Bikram Yoga is located in New Dorp and offers hot yoga at 94 degrees.