Power Yoga stretches body, mind
Wade Zinter, who calls himself a “yoga guru,” assumes the lotus position as he sits with each foot crossed over the opposite leg. He braces his arms as he slowly lifts his 140-pound body off the ground during a recent Power Yoga class at the Uniontown Area YMCA. As Wade balances his body in the air for what seems like an eternity, about 40 other aspiring yogis, ranging in age from their early 20s to their mid 60s, attempt to focus their minds so they can harness their strength, endurance and flexibility to achieve the same pose.
Meanwhile, Zinter’s wife, Leslie, the class instructor, gives the yogis step-by-step directions on the sequence of upcoming yoga poses.
The yoga routine begins with “sun salutations,” various postures that stretch the body from head to toe. The salutations are designed to build strength and flexibility and include poses such as lunges, planks and “upward dog” and “downward dog.”
During a recent interview with the Zinters before the class began, Leslie explained that Power Yoga is a form of the ancient exercise and meditation practice that originated from Ashtanga Yoga. For more than 5,000 years, yogis have been using the practice to develop their mental, physical and even spiritual well-being.
“Power Yoga is the American version of Ashtanga Yoga,” explained Leslie, a 5-foot, 1-inch, 110-pound woman with a powerful and lean body.
“It flows at the same speed as an Ashtanga class,” Leslie continued. “There are some restorative forms of yoga, but they don’t provide the amount of exercise and physical stretch that Power Yoga offers.
“When you’re doing Power Yoga and pushing your body to the limit, sweat will roll off your body because it’s very challenging,” she added.
Several years ago, Wade said he began trying to convert others to practice the popular health and fitness trend that he is convinced has improved the quality of his own life.
Wade, who also teaches yoga classes in Ohiopyle and at a yoga studio in Monroeville, credits yoga with improving his mental concentration level and clarity as well as his physical health, endurance, strength and flexibility.
During the last decade, a revolution has taken place in the ancient practice as Power Yoga has surged across the nation and around the world.
Yoga, which combines a series of breathing exercises, meditation and postures that stretch and flex various muscle groups, helps to reduce insomnia and lessen chronic pain, including lower back pain, arthritis, headaches and carpal tunnel syndrome, according to those who practice it.
In an effort to recruit new yoga followers, Wade spends his free time sitting or standing in contorted yoga poses in the weight room at the Uniontown Area YMCA or at Ohiopyle State Park during nice weather. When he sits or stands in a contorted position, Wade said he wants someone to notice him so they will stop to ask him what he is doing.
“I tell everyone that I meet that yoga works every part of your body – from your fingers to your toes,” he said. “It also works your mind and improves your concentration level, and that’s a benefit I never expected to receive from yoga.”
Wade, a 46-year-old Chalk Hill man who works as a physical therapist for Albert Gallatin Home Health Care in Uniontown, doesn’t appear to have an ounce of fat on his extremely fit, trim and muscular body.
Although he’s the picture of health and fitness now, Wade said he was considered a “nerd” 30 years ago when he was growing up in Illinois and Michigan.
“I was probably voted the least likely to be athletic in high school. I was the class nerd, and I have the photos to prove it,” Wade said, as he laughed.
After he graduated from high school, Wade decided to change his nerdy image and his life. He started running, and eventually he became fit enough to participate in 26-mile marathons. He also entered triathlons, which feature running, swimming and bicycling, because he wanted to cross-train and expand his fitness level.
While he was attending college in Michigan, a friend introduced Wade to kayaking.
“We journeyed to Ohiopyle at least once a year to go kayaking,” Wade said. “I also began to rock climb. I loved outdoor activities and the Ohiopyle area so much that I moved to Turtle Creek after I graduated from college so I could be closer to Ohiopyle.”
About 15 years ago, Wade was hired as a physical therapist at Albert Gallatin Home Care, and he moved to Fayette County.
The following year, Wade, who has two children, Wendy, 21, and Noah, 18, from a previous marriage, met his future wife, Leslie, a 1987 graduate of Laurel Highlands Senior High School, in the weight room at the YMCA. Wade said it was love at first sight, and he still remembers when he saw Leslie for the first time because she was performing a yoga pose.
“But Leslie didn’t even know she was doing yoga because that’s before it became really popular,” Wade said. “She was weight lifting and stretching her muscles between sets.”
The couple began dating, and they were married 10 years ago. Because of Wade’s love of outdoor activities and the mountains, they now live at Chalk Hill.
His first exposure to yoga actually occurred about 20 years ago when Wade bought a book that featured 12 yoga postures. He tried the yoga postures to help him stretch so he wouldn’t injure himself during marathons.
“But I got away from the yoga, and I forgot about it because I was really into rock climbing and kayaking,” he said. “I discovered that doing sports doesn’t necessarily make you fit. When you do sports, you only work one part of your body or certain muscles, but you don’t work your whole body. Yoga is a total body and mind workout.”
As he entered his 40s, Wade, like many other people his age, began to notice aches and pains in his knees and back.
“Gravity never quits. It’s always there pulling you down,” Wade said. “If you don’t do something to work against it, it just gets worse.”
At the same time his body was starting to feel aches and pains caused by routine wear and tear and decades of exercise, Wade said his wife, Leslie, attended an aerobics convention in Philadelphia in February 1999. She signed up for a Reebok Flexible Strength class, which was a Power Yoga class as her part of her continuing education credits for aerobics certification.
“I liked it right away because it was less stress on the body,” Leslie said. “I had been doing high-impact activities for 16 years. I discovered that yoga actually challenged me after 16 years. It was totally different than any other exercise program I had done in the past, with no impact on my body.”
In May 2001, the Zinters took a 40-hour Power Yoga training session taught by David Swenson of Texas at a small yoga studio in Columbia, Md.
“We had both read a lot about yoga and had practiced other types of yoga before we took the class, but we really learned a lot about Power Yoga from David Swenson,” Leslie said. “I don’t think that people understand that you can do yoga just for the health benefits of it. You don’t have to get into the religious aspects of it.”
Leslie, a 34-year-old woman who works as a fitness instructor at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa near Farmington and also teaches yoga and strength-training classes at the YMCA, said yoga is her favorite exercise. She previously worked as a paralegal for the Davis & Davis law firm, but several years ago she decided to change her career to become a fitness instructor because that is her true passion.
“Yoga is a challenge, and it still frustrates me,” she said. “It’s the only physical exercise you can do that can be energy gaining. You can take a yoga class, and you will still have energy to do something else when you’re done.”
Leslie, who first began taking aerobics classes at the YMCA when she was only 16 years old, has been teaching yoga classes at the Y for the past three years.
Teaching yoga became a necessity for Leslie, who suffered from a severe case of gastro reflux, which meant that she couldn’t teach aerobics classes because she felt like she was going to have a heart attack when she participated in high-impact activities.
“Since I started doing yoga, the gastro reflux has disappeared. It’s gone,” Leslie said.
Leslie said she started having some problems with high blood pressure because it runs in her family, and both her mother and grandmother suffer from blood pressure problems.
“I was already doing yoga when I found out that I was developing high blood pressure,” Leslie said. “I had some dizzy spells, and Wade checked my blood pressure, and he said it was going up. I think I would be a lot worse off if I hadn’t been doing the yoga.”
Although yoga is not considered to be a high-impact exercise program, Leslie said it does promote weight loss by increasing metabolism through proper breathing techniques.
“Some of the people who take yoga classes have actually given up weight training and aerobic activities because they found out that they can lose weight just by doing yoga because the type of breathing increases your metabolism,” she said. “When you’re done with yoga, you’re soaked.”
“You’re required to lift your own body weight, which is more difficult than any weight-training program,” she added. “It’s a safe way to gain flexibility because it’s through controlled movements. You’re holding the position for so long, and that’s how you’re working the muscles.”
For more information on Power Yoga classes and aerobic classes offered at the Uniontown Area YMCA, call 724-438-2584.