VIDA Member Spotlight: Pasquale Guiducci
After taking Tuesday night 7:30 p.m. Vinyasa at Metropole I caught up with VIDA member, Pasquale Guiducci, who is an actor/dancer and is currently on the journey to becoming a certified yoga teacher.
How long have you been practicing yoga?
About six years.
When did you being practicing at VIDA?
I’ve been a member of VIDA for about a year and a half, so for as long as I’ve been a member here!
What do you like most about this particular Vinyasa class with it being a little longer at 75 minutes long?
I like how the 75 minute class just feels fuller, you have time to really ease in to each pose and stretch and pull what areas you want to focus on.
And you get a good period of time to rest at the end. I think a lot of people write off the last pose, savasana, or corpse pose, as relatively unimportant, but it’s really one of the most important poses in your practice. If you don’t have time to truly sink in to that pose and allow your muscles to calm down and recover from the work you just did for 45 minutes to an hour, you’re doing yourself a disservice.
How does yoga fit in to your overall fitness regimen?
I’m an actor and dancer by trade, so yoga for me started off as another way to work on my flexibility, but the more I practiced the more I realized how yoga benefits my balance and strength.
Yoga has also really helped me to have an awareness of how I hold and move my body, even when I’m just walking. When I’m weight training I can see the benefits yoga has brought to maintaing proper alignment and form when completing an exercise. And with running I can definitely feel the lower body strength and stability yoga has brought.
What does yoga do for you more in the spiritual and mental sense, rather than just physically?
When I first started yoga it was very much just about the physical benefits, but the more I practiced the more I found myself centered and relaxed outside of the classroom. It’s become my favorite time of day because it’s an hour solely devoted to just focusing inward on me, my connection to my own body and on each breath that takes me from one movement to another.
Also, with living in the city and holding multiple jobs, yoga is a chance to breathe and escape from the hectic feelings that life brings, it’s time to just slow down.
What is your favorite yoga pose?
I love scorpion pose! It’s a forearm stance where you lay your forearms on the floor and then almost move in to a downward dog pose, but then you lift up to bring your feet above you, and as you continue working on that pose you’re able to continually bring your feet more forward toward your head. (You can see Pasquale doing this pose in the photo above!)
Anything else you would like to add for anyone who hasn’t tried a yoga class at VIDA?
What I love about yoga in general, and what VIDA offers, is there are so many styles you can try.
Not every style is for everyone, so with the diverse schedule VIDA has, take the time to seek out different classes and styles to find one that works best for you.
