Matt Lund

 

If you come to Yoga Community on a regular basis, you've probably been mat-side with Matt Lund. I've been greeting Matt for months now, and was looking forward to sitting down for this interview. He did not disappoint! Matt (Matt works at The Depot Hotel's restaurant in Sonoma)is a presence, is definitely his own man, and is now a dedicated yoga student. He has what the yogis call sankalpa shati, or determination (see the Ask a Yogi column for more about that!). He has a straightforward approach to life and yoga, and an earnest way of getting some laughs out of this whole yoga thing.

BB: When did you first try yoga?

ML: A year ago. I was next door getting a carton of cigarettes and saw the place. I hadn't been exercising or doing any sports in a couple of years, so I felt like I had to do something. I didn't know anything at all about yoga. Nothing. So, I came down here, and at the time Katrina was working here, and she had this big smile and beautiful eyes and said, "You don't really need to bring anything or know anything, just wear comfortable clothing." I started a package for thirty bucks, just went from there.

BB: That was it.

ML: Yeah, it was a trip. I didn't have a clue what yoga was. I figured it was just a bunch of people sitting around chanting. Katrina was really good, started me off. I started every Friday, and moved on from there.

BB: Do you remember how you felt after your first class?

ML: Yeah, it kicked my ass.

BB: So, it felt hard?

ML: S--t, I was sore for two days after that from all the deep stretching, which you don't get any other way. You know, you don't stretch yourself up like that. It was a good sore.

BB: You couldn't wait to come back for more.

ML: I did have to wait a couple or three days!

BB: What else do you like doing other than yoga? And how does yoga help you enjoy it more?

ML: For me, it really hasn't changed my view and activities that much. The reason I go to yoga, and I'll continue going for as long as I can foresee, is the exercise. It's for the postures. The philosophy is not as important to me. I've really gotten kind of intrigued by it, and it is kind of fun, but really it is about the postures, and feeling physically better, after. Driving along you know, and sitting up straight in the seat instead of slouching back in the car. It's little things like that, the feeling of just feeling a lot better. In the last few months, I've been coming a few more times a week, feeling stronger, and so much more flexible.

I started out, from dead cold, I could barely touch the tops of my feet with my fingertips. Now I can put my knuckles on the ground from dead cold. Five or six inches of flexibility. And that came in the first three months. To get to my maximum now, I have to go to a class, to get that push.

BB: What is the biggest challenge for you?

ML: Sanskrit. For sure. Understanding directions from Marlie. I don't understand them, so I have to cheat. I've gotten to where I'm half a count behind everyone else, and watch the ones up front and do what they're doing. I've picked up some of it. My teachers had been Katrina, Lisa and Melanie, and they pretty much always use English. Marlie's been a new addition over the last couple of months, and so it is an adjustment with the Sanskrit.

BB: Any challenges in life that yoga helps you with?

ML: I'm feeling better at work. I wait tables for a living, and I have constant sciatica. Yoga has not taken it away, but it is so much more manageable now. When you're on your feet, walking fast all the time at work, it's nice to feel stronger, so you're not fatiguing out.

BB: You recently upgraded to a monthly unlimited membership. What does that say to you about your yoga practice?

ML: Well, it says that I am coming more than two and a half times a week. Once I added a third class a week consistently, it made sense. I'm not stopping.

BB: What is your favorite pose?

ML: Pigeon, for sure.

BB: That's a good one for sciatica.

ML: Yeah, Lisa knows about that.

BB: Least favorite?

ML: Which one? Least favorite? You know, I don't have a least favorite, because I really do like them all. I know that sounds bull----, but there are ones I'll never be able to do, like Q-tip in Ear pose I call it (Akarna Dhanurasana), because I can't get my leg over my arm and then get into crow.

Least favorite? That's an interesting question, because I never think of it that way, I think about which ones I like more. I don't go into yoga with any negativity or anything, it's all moving forward.

BB: That's yoga, right there, Matt. I know you said you're not that interested in the philosophy, but that attitude is very yogic.

ML: It's kind of natural.

BB: Not for everybody. You're lucky, it's not the case for everyone.

ML: That's interesting, because it's voluntary, you're doing it because you want to.

BB: We are all born with an innate positive view, but many, many people in this culture lose touch with that. (Until they find yoga!) Your glass is half full.

ML: I don't see any reason for it not to be.

BB: You could be a life coach, Matt. What aspects of yoga are you wanting to know more about?

ML: It's a question that is hard for me. 90% of what I know of yoga, I have learned from Lisa and Melanie. The other 10% is Marlie and Katrina. I don't know what I want to find out, because I don't know yet what is farther down the road. I'm letting my teachers take me down the road. And see where it leads. Deeper postures, more challenges, but heck, you can take any posture and learn more.

I don't coast in class. I figure if I'm here, I might as well do it. So every posture I push really hard to deepen it as much as I can. If you just want to coast you can. Or you can take the most simple posture and deepen it.

So, yeah, I don't know where I'm going. We'll see when I get there.

BB: What have you liked about Yoga Community?

ML: It's just the people. I don't see any reason to go anywhere else. I like the set-up, the physical parameters. The nice studios, the props. You've got everything here. Everybody's really nice. Probably too, I was raised in a house with all women, I didn't have a father at home, so that's familiar. It's nurturing, and yet challenging. And so it feels very at home to me.

BB: Men are a minority in yoga classes. You seem totally comfortable with that.

ML: It's a natural tendency as a guy to start feeling competitive when you see another guy. I've learned you get over that, but with all the women around, I focus on just challenging myself, because it doesn't matter. It's a great environment.

BB: Anything else you'd like to say?

ML: My three teachers, Lisa, Melanie, and Marlie, they're all really different. They're all really good. I like the different styles. I wonder if there will be a time when I'll want to stay with just one style, but I'm not there yet. So I keep enjoying the different instructors. Keeps it cool.