Yoga_Journal_-_December_2014_USA

STEVE LEGATO

marc

vetri

Award-winning Philadelphia chef and

founder of the Vetri family of restaurants

and Vetri Foundation for Children

I wish I’d found yoga earlier. I do Ashtanga;

I started about 12 years ago. It just worked

for me. Mysore was all about feeling that

connection with the movement and the

breath, and I thought, ‘This is the way

it’s supposed to be.’ Had I started earlier,

I would have a better understanding of

it, and maybe I would have been able

to travel to Mysore and study with some

of the founders.

I was a working chef when I started yoga.

I found myself a lot more centered, I felt

better, I had more energy. Yoga helps me

with stress. It certainly helps me with focus.

I’m on my feet a lot, so doing yoga, and

doing lifts and folds, helps with lengthen-

ing your spine and loosening things up

so they don’t hurt as much.

I met my wife at the studio. I actually prac-

ticed next to her for a year without saying

a word to her. One day it happened that

we were in the hallway at the same time

and just started talking, and that was it.

Now I think she prefers doing yoga without

me because I lose focus whenever I’m

practicing with her.

I don’t meditate. They always put sign-ups

for after Sunday practice, to chant and have

a discussion, and everyone’s always asking

if I’m going to go, and I’m like, ‘No way,

are you kidding me?’ That’s what yoga is

for them, and that’s great. I’m not dissing

it; it just doesn’t work for me.

I don’t understand when someone says,

‘I don’t do yoga, I’m not flexible.’ For me,

yoga is not a workout. It’s a way to be

better in touch with my inner self. I could

practice for the next 30 years and I may

never be able to get into Lotus, but that

doesn’t mean that I’m not practicing yoga.

In the end, when we’re old and frail and

still practicing, all we have is our breath.

WORDS TO LIVE BY

“Make what’s important a

priority. If it takes a back seat,

it’s obviously not a priority.

Yoga has never taken a back

seat in my life.”

Favorite asana

Sun Salutations. I could

just do 20 of them for

my entire practice. They

open up everything and

make it easy to follow

the lead of your breath.

YOGA JOURNAL Issue 270 (ISSN 0191-0965, USPS 116-050), established in 1975, is published nine times a year (February, March, May, June, August, September, October, November, December) by Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc., an

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Interview by Corina Quinn

96

december

2014

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