Christine Panico
Instructor Interviews
With Christine Panico
How were you first introduced to yoga?
My friend Allison Moore asked me to go to a class about 20 years ago, when Mandala was in the first space where Pink Chicken is now. And that was it.
What made you decide to move beyond being a student to become a teacher?
My last children are twins and they were going off to college. It was the first time in 25 years I was able to dedicate myself to a 10 month teacher training program.
What were you doing before you taught yoga?
I raised 5 children, ranging in ages from 20 to 26 years old. Seriously, the most rewarding thing I have ever done.
How has your yoga practice changed since you began?
Whether it was during the school year or summer, I was always committed to taking an 8:30 am morning class Monday through Saturday. Knowing how busy my day was during the school year, I’d take my kids to school and race to get to my yoga class. Funny story during the summers, at the original studio, when my kids were little, I would place my mat at the wall at the window and leave my shoes outside the window on the brick walkway closest to the square. That way, I could end my shavasana early, hop out the window and get my kids to YMCA camp in EH by 9:30!
Is there a particular aspect of yoga you are especially intrigued with right now?
I really love to teach restorative yoga, and creatively adapt classes which offer pose modifications and as well as the use of props. This type of yoga is accommodating to those who would like to further their practice regardless of their limitations, whether it be due to injury or physical limitation. I teach Chair Yoga and Backs to the Mat for the HNF (Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation) and the CMT (Charcot Marie Tooth) communities for an exercise program called Movement is Medicine. HNF is a non profit 501 (c)3 organization whose mission is to increase awareness and accurate diagnoses of Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) and related inherited neuropathies, support patients and families with critical information to improve quality of life, and fund research that will lead to treatments and cures.
What else have you studied in depth?
Anytime someone would say their hamstrings are tight or they had lower back pain, or a family member was pregnant and had a beautiful practice and was missing yoga, I would research to find poses and create a short sequence for them. Jolie had a woman call early summer looking for prenatal yoga and I research poses for her and met with her twice a week for 8 weeks. I’m actually going to visit her later today.
What are some of your other practices or passions?
I love to sing, walk, and read from a variety of different genres and authors. Alan Finger, Eddie Stern, Emily Griffin, and lately - Quest Love. He is the musical director for Jimmy Fallon, a producer, a drummer, a professor at NYU, a culinary chef. His book “Creative Quest” caught my eye. Everyone has real life situations. He refers to meditation; that it doesn’t have to be for 20 minutes. He refers to it that any time you go within, micro-meditation, it could be for 2 minutes or 30 seconds. It is at that moment that we allow ourselves to just be.
When you really need grounding what do you do?
I go into a class not expecting anything. And those are the days that when you least expect it, that it’s exactly where you are supposed to be or what you needed. Sort of just like Emma sending this email asking for my reflection of training. It is always nice to revisit a time in your life and reflect. After the TT ended, each student was given a month to teach the Thursday community class. Whatever book I was reading at the time, I’d take quotes to build upon and apply them to yoga postures. “Stepping out of my comfort zone” is exactly what happened. I found myself not only linking my breath to movement but sharing real life experiences but sharing real life experiences that made a connection to a posture that may have been difficult, but we did them anyway. And what this course helped me to see is that we don’t have to take ourselves so serious. It’s yoga and it’s a lifetime of learning and growing. And some days we have balance and can concentrate to hold poses, and other days it’s just not happening. And that’s ok. Yoga TT showed me how important it is to know yourself and what you need; and taking the time to ask questions and breathe. Let go of the things that are out of our control. And focus on the now and what I can do for myself. And then I’m ready to be present for others.