From a housing project in Hartford, CT, to a senior teacher internationally known for his Laughing Heart style of yoga, Paul Spector’s forty-plus years of experience have left him surprisingly circumspect about the value of his art. “Yoga isn’t really about progress.” Spector told me in a recent interview, “There are days when I’m a beginner because I’m not really in my body.” And that defines his approach to teaching. The aim of yoga should be the continual re-building of the body-mind connection. And this may differ for each student, depending on their health, injury status, or phase of life. Spector says that his own many injuries, including knee problems, which originated when he played basketball in his youth and were exacerbated by ‘serious’ running later in life, to multiple back surgeries, have sensitized him to mortality and the limitations that constrain many who come to him for help and guidance.
And many do come, and stay. I spoke with several of his students about his style of teaching. Leslie Robinson, who first studied with Spector 35 years ago, and has taken classes with him continuously for the past 18 years, said that his classes reflect his light-hearted approach to yoga. He finds levity in the things going on in class and is known for his remarkable sense of humor. That is not to say that he doesn’t take yoga seriously, however. As a young man in the late 1960s, recently graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, where he was one of the first six men to matriculate, he moved to the Caribbean and soon found that he needed some grounding. He began meditating. He read many books including B.S. Iyengar’s “Light on Yoga” and a copy of “Be Here Now” that arrived, unsolicited, in his mail. Then he began developing his own yoga practice. The intense personal discipline required to do this was necessary, in part, due to the times. He began his practice long before the proliferation of yoga studios when there were few teachers available in the West.
But as he developed he eventually sought out teachers. He studied Iyengar, Anusara and Kripalu yoga styles and used principles and practices from all three in developing his own style which he calls Laughing Heart Yoga. Student and assistant instructor Jim Percival says that the name derives, in part, from the humor that Spector uses in his classes. The reference to Heart may also derive from his background in Anusara which focuses spiritually on open-heartedness. Regardless, this teacher, with his stand-up comedian tendencies, and his focus on the unique needs of each individual student, is a popular favorite with many local practitioners. He has taught classes in the greater New Haven area for over 35 years, most recently at Your Community Yoga Center.
For an introduction to Paul Spector’s teachings, students are invited to attend a series of four workshops, Sept. 26th, Oct. 24th, Nov. 21st, and Dec. 12th, to be offered this fall at YCYC. Each workshop will run from 9:30-12:30. The cost is $160.00 for all four, or $45.00 each with pre-registration ($50.00 at the door.) Contact Your Community Yoga Center at 203-287-2277 for more information or to register. These workshops promise to provide each individual a basis for deepening their own practice with an emphasis on working around any personal constraints imposed by injuries or phase of life. And they promise to be filled with the humor of a Laughing Heart. Long-time Spector student Leslie Robinson tried to explain this aspect to me, “He has great comic timing,” she said. Then, “He’s very funny. You just have to be there!”
Your Community Yoga Center at 39 Putnam Ave., Hamden, Ct 06517 located in the greater New Haven area, servicing Branford, Cheshire, East Haven, Hamden, Meriden, Milford, New Haven, Northford, North Branford, North Haven, Orange, Wallingford, West Haven, and Woodbridge. Offering yoga for Beginners, All-levels yoga, ParaYoga®, Gentle/Restorative Yoga, Chair Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Yoga for Teens, Yoga for Tweens, Vinyasa Yoga, Pre-Natal Yoga, Senior/Gentle Yoga, Anusara Inspired Yoga, Belly Dance, Hatha-Tantra Yoga, Tantra Meditation, Buddhist Meditation, Ayurveda, Early Morning Sunrise Yoga and free yoga classes for the community. Our bookstore carries books on yoga, meditation, and ayurveda as well as cds, yoga mats, blocks, props and jewelry. Formerly The Connecticut Yoga Center.
