Feeling down and out? Just take a deep breath.
words and photos: Jonathan Clancy
While attending graduate school at Tufts University, Italian born Francesca Spidelieri met and married a United States Naval officer. After her graduation, the newlyweds moved to Newport in 2010. Far from her home and family, Spidelieri, 28, had trouble relating to people in the area, and couldn’t find a job in her field. After a few months in town, Spidelieri’s spirit was sinking.
“I was really dark at that point,” Spidelieri said. “Everything was crumbling around me. I didn’t know anybody, and I felt like my career was over.”
Luckily for Spidelieri, the wife of another Naval officer suggested that she try a yoga class to help her out of the funk.
Yoga is a mental, physical, and spiritual practice that dates back to ancient India. There are various styles of yoga. Hatha is a commonly used term that covers many physical styles of yoga. Vinyasa or flow yoga will take practitioners through a series of breathing-synchronized movements. Ashtanga yoga is a fast-paced style where a specific series of poses are performed, always in the same order. This highly physical form gave birth to Power yoga, which is less strict to the set, and more forgiving to newcomers. Bikram or heated yoga is practiced in a 95 to 100 degree room, which allows for a loosening of tight muscles and profuse sweating.
Finding the right yoga for you is a matter of personal preference, and many times comes right down to the instructor. Some yoga studios will combine different styles into their practice. Despite their differences, one thing all styles all have in common is that yoga offers a sanctuary to temporarily escape from stress and problems. Most practitioners claim a feeling of rejuvenation and clarity after a class.
“When you step off your yoga mat, you come back to your life and you see things differently,” said Newport Power Yoga owner and instructor Terence Munnelly. He remembers Spidelieri from her early days as a student, and said he was impressed but not surprised with her progress.
Munnelly, 46, began practicing yoga in 2002. He was living in New York City at that time, working in real estate and sales. The instructor sites the attacks on 9/11 amongst a list of other stresses in his life that led him to practice. In 2011, he opened his own studio in Newport at the intersection of Bellevue and Memorial, which ironically used to be a bar.
“Yoga means to yoke, to connect, to realize the interdependence of everyone,” Munnelly said and continued, “When you realize that, anxiety and fear dissipate because you are no longer isolated.”
Soon after starting her yoga practice, Spidelieri began to see the light. “Yoga quickly became my new favorite activity of the day,” she said. “It provided me with a great community of friends and mentors, it made me more mindful, forgiving, patient and appreciative of life. I felt better inside and out.”
The secret ingredient to yoga is a deep focused breath. Munnelly said, “In order to achieve this balanced breath, I have to pay attention to it, and when I’m paying attention to that, I can’t think about anything else.”
That “anything else” could be whatever problems one has going in their life. Whether it’s a relationship crisis, financial trouble, or an issue with the body, Munnelly believes that yoga can help one to reset the psyche and move on with daily life.
During an observed class, Munnelly guided students through a flow of poses. He cued breathing, in and out; along with specific movements like downward facing dog, plank, and other common poses know as sun salutations. As the class warmed up the poses became more advanced, yet still approachable for the varying demographic. At its peak the class sweated in unison, salty drops pulled by gravity - the human body’s ultimate stress - fell to the towels below. The latter half of the class involved some deep back bends and a few other positions that offer similar “upside down” views. The class finished with each student laying flat backed, breathing deep relaxed breaths on their own, before coming to their feet to greet the rest of the day.
Munnelly liked the practice of yoga to another daily practice. “When I brush my teeth in the morning, I try to touch every tooth. If I miss a tooth what happens? It’s gets sick, starts to get cavities, and it dies. Eventually if I don’t take care of [the cavity], it affects my whole body. So the yoga poses are like brushing each part of the body. And, I’m not scraping the enamel off, but I’m not avoiding [the task] either.”
A common misconception about yoga is that it’s all about flexibility and core strength. But, Munnelly said that, “There is no proof that putting your foot behind your head will make you a healthier person.”
Yoga is also not about staying young, or fit, or losing weight. “Yoga doesn’t want that,” said Munnelly who added, “That’s what I want! That’s my ego. Yoga doesn’t think there is anything wrong with me if I’m a little heavier, or have gray hair, or don’t have the perfect body. Yoga is more concerned with the quality of my thoughts.”
Munnelly explained that one of yoga’s main functions is using the body to quiet the mind. The human mind has a tendency to focus on past failures while worrying about future endevours. Yoga, however, wants one to be present in the moment, to see opportunities, and to witness the simple miracle of life.
A few months into her practice, Spidelieri’s attitude had changed. “I believed I could do better professionally, and otherwise, [to] find the life I wanted here in Rhode Island,” she said. Spidelieri set out to use her education and landed a job as a Cyber Security Fellow at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy at Salve Regina University. Though she is busier these days, she still finds time to practice yoga. “If it weren’t for [yoga] I don’t know where I would be now.”
Two of the best qualities that yoga helps develop are being gentle, and humble. “That doesn’t mean wimpy,” Munnelly explained, “It just means listening to your body.” The instructor advised to back off, or stop completely, anything that hurts your body. “That’s humility, and that’s the hardest muscle to practice,” the instructor said.
For more information on Yoga log onto www.newportpoweryoga.com
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