Dr. Phil

Phil is a yoga instructor at the Pacific Culture Center in Santa Cruz. I have been taking Phil's classes since April. He's moving to the east coast in January, and thanks to my company's extended furlough for the next two weeks, today was my last class with him. Phil's website is Yoga with Phil. I have had many yoga instructors in the ten years that I have been practicing. The big gyms tend to cater to beginners, and the studios tend to cater to the spirited souls. Phil's teaching is practical, sophisticated and very demanding. He's the only instructor willing to work with my stubborn bad hips, instead of labeling me as some sort of unwilling lazy duck and push me aside. He sees human body as functioning structure built from inside out, not limbs to form poses to look like pictures. Phil has humor and ideas. He talks up a storm in the class, and if you have to stand on one leg for three minutes, the entertainment is perfectly on the spot. Before the election he talked sincerely about the uncertain future of the nation. The frankness is a breath of fresh air, even in Santa Cruz. Phil is a rare find, and I will miss him.