By Alicia Doyle
Correspondent
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Photos by Karen Quincy Loberg / Star staff
(reprinted with permission)
 64 years old, Cynthia Paul says she is living proof that a person need not be skinny, young or flexible to do yoga.
“I was an oncology R.N. and injured my left leg in March 1998,” the Somis woman recalled. “I retired from nursing in January 2000, ate my way through the next 18 months, and became more and more unable to support my expanding weight on that leg.”
A short time later, she saw a sign in a coffee shop about a new studio called the Camarillo Yoga Center.
“I returned the next day for my first class and have not left since,” said Paul, who has been married to her husband, Darryl, for 39 years. The couple, who met in the Peace Corps, have a son and a daughter and recently became grandparents to their first granddaughter.
Paul said the yoga experience was a true life-changer.
The class was so beneficial, she said, she was inspired to earn certification with restorative yoga specialist Judith Lassiter in San Francisco.
Now, she is leading a class of her own: plus-size yoga at the Camarillo Yoga Center on Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m.
“This class can help plus-size people move and breathe in a nonjudgmental, noncompetitive and nonthreatening atmosphere,” Paul said. “The goal of this class is to encourage a plus-size person to accept your body now and move into making different choices about exercise and health. It is not easy or fast, but it does work to help release the self-doubt that can be a roadblock to weight loss.”
This is a class for people who may feel that regular exercise programs are too vigorous or fast for them, or who may feel uncomfortable exercising in a typical gym setting, said Audrey Walzer, owner and director of the Camarillo Yoga Center.
“It is a class for people who want to make a positive change in their lives, not simply by losing weight, but by becoming more comfortable and connected in their bodies right now,” said Walzer, adding that men and women of all ages are welcome. The class is also suitable for patients who have had bariatric surgery, with doctor’s permission.
With practices geared for larger-size bodies, the class incorporates gentle range-of-motion stretching, as well as strengthening and balancing to mitigate the effects of chair sitting and computer use. Breathing and meditation exercises for increased lung capacity and stress reduction are also used.
“In this class, participants are not required to get down on the floor, and we use chairs and the wall for support as needed,” Walzer said. “We move at a slower pace, with periods of rest and focused breathing, and participants are encouraged to take care of themselves by resting whenever needed, without worrying about what anyone else will think.”
 Alicia Goolsby, 23, of Camarillo, was always interested in yoga, “but I knew I wouldn’t feel comfortable in a normal class. This class accommodates plus-size women in a friendly environment. We don’t have to worry about what the person next to us is doing, because they are probably having the same problems we are.”
In addition to feeling refreshed and relaxed after each session, “I love being able to be myself and not worry about keeping up with someone of normal size. I get to be completely uninhibited, which is a rare thing for a plus-size woman when exercising.”
The class enables a person to feel comfortable with those who have similar issues, agreed 61-year-old Denise of Camarillo, who declined to give her last name.
“Those of us who are significantly overweight are often hesitant about joining a group, especially one that is body-based,” she said. “I personally didn’t join for weight loss but for exercise, health, and as a way to, hopefully, calm down from my long career and lower my blood pressure.”
In yoga, there is no competition and students are encouraged to practice without self-judgment, but rather with humor and patience, Walzer said.
“We are honest about the fact that yoga isn’t a magic pill to make you thin or happy, but it is a means for you to become comfortable with yourself and accept yourself as you are right now, and then, from that place, make better health, exercise and food choices.”
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