Meet Enid Kassner
Explain
your experience with how you came back to yoga after
having a child.
Like many "boomers" I had practiced yoga and meditation
during the 1970s, but hadn't stuck with it. I had my daughter
at age 40, and I loved the new dimension this brought to
my life. But when she hit the "terrible twos," parenting
suddenly became more challenging! When I realized that I
had been doing nothing for myself, something inside me just
knew that I needed to return to yoga. Lucky for me, the Sun
and Moon Studio had just opened. I started taking classes
and, over time, the role of yoga in my life has blossomed.
Now I feel fortunate that what started as a "crisis" turned
into a positive life transformation.
Describe your daily yoga practice.
I get up early in the morning, usually 6 a.m., so that
I have a quiet time for meditation and pranayama (breathing
practice). I look forward to this opportunity to ground and
center myself; to sit in stillness; and from this stillness
to be open to receive. Each day is a new experience that
helps me connect with something greater than myself.
While meditation comes first, I still love my asana (hatha yoga) practice. I try to go with how I feel each day. Some days I do a very gentle practice; other days a vigorous "vinyasa" practice, letting one pose flow continuously into the next. I usually do at least one inverted pose each day. If I'm really busy, my whole practice might be just a 5-minute headstand and 5 minutes of savasana (relaxation pose). I practice restorative poses at least once a week - to rest and re-energize myself.
Today, what is your favorite yoga pose?
I love supported bridge pose - a restorative pose in
which you lie over two bolsters (or folded blankets), end-to-end,
letting your shoulders and head drape over the end and rest
on the floor. If I've had a tough day, I like to come home
and turn off the lights, put on some soft music, pull out
the bolsters, and just lie in supported bridge pose for 10-15
minutes. I feel totally refreshed.
What gives you the greatest joy in teaching?
My greatest joy in teaching is seeing the peaceful look
on students' faces after savasana. Most of us lead such busy,
stressful lives that taking the time for a brief period of
relaxation in yoga class is a major luxury - but one that
we really need. When I teach, I like to offer a class that
is challenging. I try to give students something new to work
toward, but in an atmosphere that is very supportive and
accepting of each person working from the place that is appropriate
for him or her. Then my favorite part of class is doing a
guided relaxation during savasana and just feeling the energy
in the room grow quiet.
Who or what has been your greatest inspiration
for your teaching or personal practice?
My greatest inspiration has probably been the Bhagavad
Gita - a classical text on yoga philosophy which I first
read many years ago, and have come back to again and again.
It inspires my efforts to incorporate the philosophy of yoga
into my daily life which is an ongoing challenge. In addition,
two teachers have inspired both my teaching and my personal
practice: JJ and Erich Schiffmann. What they have in common
is an approach to yoga in which the practitioner goes deep
inside him or herself and experiences yoga from the inside
out. JJ has often talked about the ancient yogis as great
experimenters who kept trying different things and figuring
out how these practices affected them energetically. By encouraging
us to do the same, she teaches a style of yoga that is not
rigid and dogmatic about having to be done in one "right" way.
Erich Schiffmann's approach of "moving into stillness" resonates
deeply with my personal style - using asana practice as a
vehicle for enhancing sensitivity and moving toward a meditative
state.