[note — this is part 1 of 2; here we focus on Lowitz’s journey as a student of the practice; part 2 (coming soon) is about her experience as a yoga professional]

Yoga is a holistic experience for many — mind, body, spirit — but did one element or another first draw you to the practice? That is, were you seeking to settle your mind? Have greater physical flexibility? Explore your spiritual nature?

I wanted to feel grounded, more settled

How about now: does yoga feed your mind or your body or your spirit more, or are those elements more in balance than when you started?

it always helps me come home to myself

How frequently do you practice Asana yoga?

about twice a week

And heart yoga?

daily

If you’re not leading a session with others, are you more likely to attend classes at a studio or practice yoga at home?

home

Do you have a preferred yoga style?

hatha/restorative/yin

When you were starting out, what came easiest and what was more challenging?

it was challenging to let go of perfectionism, some idea of what a pose should look like — now I just feel, breathe, and enjoy

What have been the greatest benefits of yoga for you?

self-love, compassion

Apart from yoga, do you practice other techniques of mindfulness or meditation?

yoga is a state of being in union with yourself and the universal energy flow — yoga is every breath

Do you regularly do other forms of exercise?

mostly walking in nature — walking meditation

Outside of a yoga session, do you ever just assume a pose and stretch? If so, which pose(s) and where?

yes, all the time — side stretches twists, heart openers — if my body speaks to me, I respond intuitively — animalistic

If I gave you an expenses-paid yoga retreat, where would you go?

somewhere tropical, near the ocean — anywhere, really — Hawaii, Bali, Japan, the American Southwest — where the land is sacred

—interview © Marshal Zeringue

Yoga is a holistic experience for many — mind, body, spirit — but did one element or another first draw you to the practice? That is, were you seeking to settle your mind? Have greater physical flexibility? Explore your true, spiritual nature?

I was interested in learning more bodily control

How about now: does yoga feed your mind or your body or your spirit more, or are those elements more in balance than when you started?

everything about me is in better balance now: mind/body/spirit

As a yoga professional, what aspects — mind, body, spirit — do you pitch to someone who has never done yoga but is open to the possibility?

I try not to proselytize, but I share concepts

How long did you practice yoga before becoming a teacher?

six years

Do you have a preferred yoga style? Do you teach others?

all physical yoga is “Hatha Yoga” — I blend styles

Do you have a particularly strong tie to any teachings or texts?

my roots were with Swami Muktananda and Swami Vishnudevananda — I pattern my classes around the teachings of Patanjali

From your experience as a teacher, can you generalize about what comes easiest for younger beginners and what is more challenging?

younger beginners have shorter attention spans, prefer movement

How about for students coming to yoga later in life?

seniors often need to modify poses

Apart from yoga, do you recommend other techniques of mindfulness or meditation?

I consider all mindfulness, whether sitting, walking, breathing and/or movement to be yoga

Say you have a beginning student who has come to yoga for help with a bad back. They are already pretty chill, and you intuit they are only looking for the physical benefits from yoga. Do you leave it at that, or do you look for opportunities to promote the non-physical benefits?

I mention, but do not “promote,” yoga philosophy — I believe that physical power without a philosophy of unselfishness can be dangerous

I know you are a poet as well as a yoga teacher. Is there a poem or two that reflects the influence of yoga on your writing?

my own poems “Yoga Class, the Teacher Speaks” and “Solstice Poem” both available on blogger (google title, my name, and blogger) are directly connected to my practice of yoga — (as are all my poems, but less obviously)

You have a choice: lead a yoga class (1) outdoors on a beautiful day, overlooking the ocean, or (2) in a well-designed, very comfortable minimalist indoor space. Which do you pick?

I would absolutely choose an outdoor space on a beautiful day to a comfortable minimalist indoor space

—interview © Marshal Zeringue

Mind, body, spirit — yoga is a holistic experience for many. But did one element or another first draw you to the practice? That is, were you seeking to settle your mind? Have greater physical flexibility? Explore your true, spiritual nature?

I sought out yoga initially for the exercise in addition to my daily walks — I still appreciate how great I feel physically after I’ve stretched — but I’ve come to love how practicing it quiets my mind — it’s not unusual for the answers to problems I’m having with my writing to pop up in savasana

How about now: does yoga feed your mind or your body or your spirit more, or are those elements more in balance than when you started?

it still feeds my body most but that might be because I’ve been doing yoga long enough that I take the mental aspects of it for granted — I was amazed for the first few years at how well it cleared my mind and opened my spirit — I depend on those things now

How long have you been practicing yoga?

about twenty years

How frequently do you practice yoga?

I go to a class at least once a week — I’m not going to lie: my home practice is brief and undisciplined

What are the benefits of classes at a studio vs practicing yoga at home?

see above! — I’m too easily distracted to practice alone — during Covid, my instructor switched to zoom, which we still mostly do, with good results

Do you have a preferred yoga style?

hatha

When you were starting out, what came easiest and what was more challenging?

for me, in the beginning, getting the postures correctly was the hardest — settling my mind enough to enjoy savasana took a couple practices, too — I’m still impatient with breathing — guess I’ll always be a work-in-progress

What have been the greatest benefits of yoga for you?

favorite benefit: less body pain — I also enjoy how it helps to calm me, and to settle enough to receive answers to my writing puzzles

Apart from yoga, do you practice other techniques of mindfulness or meditation?

I think the act of writing is a sort of meditation when I’m in the flow — I strive for that writing flow every day though I don’t always achieve it

Do you regularly do other forms of exercise?

Outside of a yoga session, do you ever just strike a pose and stretch? If so, which pose(s) and where?

of course! I do leg lifts while watching TV and pull myself into a good standing posture whenever I think about it

If I gave you an expenses-paid yoga retreat, where would you go?

Costa Rica or Hawaii would be nice, but honestly, I’d go just about anywhere on a yoga retreat!

—interview © Marshal Zeringue

Mind, body, spirit — yoga is a holistic experience for many. But did one element or another first draw you to the practice? That is, were you seeking to settle your mind? Have greater physical flexibility? Explore your spiritual nature?

I became interested in yoga in college, but didn’t take a class until after college when I took my first job — the yogic and Hindu philosophy, present moment awareness, and meditation was what actually drew me in the first place — I am very much a seeker and a college philosophy course really sparked my interest — I was already doing physical activity, and the movement practice was more about the body/mind connection — although flexibility is a great secondary benefit!

How about now: does yoga feed your mind or your body or your spirit more, or are those elements more in balance than when you started?

yoga over the past 20+ years for me now feeds every aspect of my life — as I now have more of a desk job, the physical aspect of stretching is actually more important to keeping me pain free — I also use breathwork and yoga nidra for relaxation — and teaching yoga and owning a studio also feeds a creative need in me — the process of putting together a yoga class and maybe some music to complement it is really enjoyable

How long did you practice yoga before you started teaching it?

I practiced yoga for about 2 years before teaching — I knew I wanted a deeper knowledge of yoga, so the teacher training was more for me, at first — but our little community needed actual yoga teachers, so I began teaching as a way to bring it to others in 2003

When you’re teaching regularly, can you lead classes too often? How many times a week, and a day, might be too much?

since I also have another job, I only teach about 4-5 classes a week — there was a point where I taught 3 classes in one day — that was a lot, both mentally and physically, and wasn’t really sustainable with everything else going on — two classes in a day is plenty — I try to balance my yoga so that it doesn’t feel like work! — it’s my passion and I want to protect that

Do you have a preferred yoga style?

my go to practice is Vinyasa flow or Yin Yoga — but I enjoy getting to practice Kundalini and Iyengar for some of the benefits more specific to each

When you were starting out, what came easiest and what was more challenging?

settling my “monkey” mind was often one of the hardest things — but I loved when I could really tune in during a practice or savasana and catch those times of “thoughtlessness”

From your experience as a teacher, can you generalize about what comes easiest for beginners and what is more challenging?

I don’t know if there is an easy part for beginners — but not because the practice is hard, but because of the mindset of forcing and not allowing — I find so many people intimidated to even start because they don’t want to “do it wrong” or “look wrong” — the beginner mindset is that it’s not okay to be a beginner — it has to be perfect right away — that’s the hard part… allowing yourself to be a beginner and open yourself up to learning and not looking or being perfect, because there is no perfect — after 20 years there are things that I can’t physically do, whether it’s because my body isn’t physically able to bend in a certain way or because I haven’t taken the time to really cultivate practicing certain things — and either way, that’s okay

What are the more difficult poses for beginners to execute?

unless it is set up well, I don’t think most people need to put the compression on the cervical spine that shoulderstand creates — our modern forward slumping shoulders already exacerbates that — until it is learned safely (at the wall and with props), I don’t think the benefits outweigh the risks — another asana that I think beginners should learn with a teacher so they can do them safely is Ardha chandrasana (standing half moon) — understanding rooting/grounding and even using a block or a wall to find alignment if the hip isn’t open enough can make a lot of difference to the balance and enjoyment of that pose

What have been the greatest benefits of yoga for you?

learning to observe my thoughts in the moment before I act on something — being present for wonderful things that I might miss otherwise — breathwork, meditation and flexibility have helped me with both of my pregnancies and childbirth — and I get to meet some pretty amazing people as both teachers and students from being a yogini — shoutouts to a few of my amazing teachers: Anna Pittman, Paul Grilley, Eric Schiffman, and Katie Silcox

Apart from yoga, do you practice other techniques of mindfulness or meditation?

I practice yoga nidra, especially for sleep — walking and being in nature — my seated meditation is on and off — I also find painting to be a mindfulness practice, especially outdoors

Do you regularly do other forms of exercise?

mostly walking or hiking

Outside of a yoga session, do you ever just strike a pose and stretch? If so, which poses and where?

twists in bed first thing in the morning — squatting is great for some back traction — and legs up the wall on an acupressure mat when I get a migraine

You have a choice: lead a yoga class (1) outdoors on a beautiful day, overlooking the ocean, or (2) in a well-designed, very comfortable minimalist indoor space. Which do you pick?

I’m a forester by profession and an outdoorsy person in general — outdoors anytime, anywhere — I’m spoiled to live in a beautiful place in the mountains where outdoor yoga is just magical

—interview © Marshal Zeringue

Mind, body, spirit — did one element or another first draw you to yoga? That is, were you seeking to settle your mind? Have greater physical flexibility? Explore your true, spiritual nature?

a little mind and a little body — I was a type-A non-athlete in my early 20s in NYC and someone suggested yoga as “non-exercise” exercise that would also address stress and anxiety — it worked

How about now: does yoga feed your mind or your body or your spirit more, or are those elements more in balance than when you started?

finding “balance” is kind of the holy grail of life in my opinion — yoga keeps me closer to the center and helps reorient me both physically and mentally when I am veering too far in one direction or another

How long have you been practicing yoga, and how frequently do you hit the mat?

I’ve been practicing for 25 years and try to get on the mat at least 3-4 times/week — in an ideal world it would be every day!

How long did you practice before you started teaching, and how long did you teach?

I practiced for almost 15 years before I started teaching — I’d wanted to take teacher training for a long time, but it didn’t work with my full-time corporate job — I taught for about 5 years, stopping when I got serious about novel writing — I love teaching but with two kids I didn’t have time for everything so, for now, I just practice

What are the benefits of classes at a studio vs practicing yoga at home?

in a home practice you have the freedom to explore — I practiced at home a lot more when I was teaching because that was how I refined sequencing — the studio is more escapist — I can get more immersed in the practice (both yoga and meditation) at a studio when I’m not the one deciding what comes next — I also feed off the energy of the room which is kind of magical

Do you have a preferred yoga style?

I like slow vinyasa flow — I’m an alignment nut and I love props, so I always have a little hatha and Iyengar in my head, but I like to move with the breath

When you were starting out, what came easiest and what was more challenging?

nothing about yoga or meditation came easily to me! I had never moved my body (or thought about it for that matter) in the ways that yoga asks you to — I was not flexible, and my mind was always busy — when I tried to think about breathing, I would feel like I was hyperventilating — still, I stuck with it — getting comfortable with discomfort and all that

What have been the greatest benefits of yoga for you?

more mental balance and a greater sense of self-acceptance

Apart from yoga, do you practice other techniques of mindfulness or meditation?

I try to practice mindfulness meditation several times a week — I often fail

Do you regularly do other forms of exercise?

I still hate “exercise,” but I do love to walk and hike — and I work out with a trainer to address aches and pains and hopefully stay strong as I age

Outside of a yoga session, do you ever just strike a pose and stretch? If so, which poses and where?

yes! — my go-tos are janu sirsasana (head-to-knee forward bend) and viparita karani (legs-up-the-wall) which I often do for a few minutes before bed — actually, for me it is “legs-up-the-bed” pose

If I gave you an expenses-paid yoga retreat, where would you go?

I’d go to the mountains — where the mornings and nights were cool and the days warm and I could go on easy hikes in between yoga sessions

—interview © Marshal Zeringue