Cathy Humphries started teaching yoga in 2010 and enjoys exploring the many ways asanas can be utilized by all students.
1. How did you get started with yoga?
I took my first yoga class in a gym in Saddle Brook NJ at a community class taught by a sweet woman. I left the class feeling the effects of the deeper belly breath we used and having stretched what felt like every muscle. I was amazed at how different my body felt after doing these simple movements and even more happy for how calm I felt.
2. What got you hooked?
The way I felt physically and emotionally at the end of yoga class hooked me.
3. What’s one of your favorite poses and why?
This changes all the time for me. Lately, hip openers are my favorites like high lunge moving to standing balancing poses. I love balancing poses because of the way I experience wonderful slow-down in my thoughts.
4. What makes a private studio different/better than a yoga class at the gym?
I’m drawn to teachers for their wonderful different qualities. I’ve experienced such amazing teachers in studios that I prefer them over the experience I’ve had in gyms.
5. For someone who’s never tried yoga before, what are the main benefits they may gain from practicing it?
The most immediate benefits are to the mind and stress response. After the first yoga class notice how you feel for having experienced deeper breathing down into your belly and getting out of shallow breathing only into the chest. It also helps to release tension in the body and this feels really great to sweat a little and to release things you may be thinking about from your day.
6. What styles of yoga do you teach? Besides the style you teach, is there any other you enjoy?
I enjoy taking and teaching vinyasa or flowing yoga asana. I combine that with attention to alignment and the safety of my students. I have experienced many styles of yoga and the alignment-based and organic movement both appeal to me. They may sound like opposites but I find both are all about feeling complete and relaxed in your body with whatever challenges exist for you. I love working with what is in our bodies in yoga asana practice so that we can be more aware and able to be there comfortably in time.
7. Do you do anything else to stay in shape?
I love hiking or nature walks or just walks I can fit into my day. I do interval workouts. I especially enjoy pilates for the amazing feeling of accomplishment I get after every class plus quickly over time I feel stronger.
8. Who inspires you to stay motivated? How often do you practice when you are not teaching?
Friends, fellow yoga students and sometimes my husband says I won’t do something and that means for sure I’m gonna do it.
9. How seriously do you take nutrition?
Very and not at all. As humans, we are filled with dichotomy. I know very well what I should be eating. Do I always do it? Not at all. I enjoy the amazing fresh veggies we can get year-round. I do what I enjoy so I eat lots of fresh veg and fruit all the time. I come and I go with the wonderful treats of NJ.
10. What’s an interesting fact about yourself that others may not know?
I like music and listening to it has helped me through some unfun times and been a good part of fun times. I have gone to the folk festival in Newport, RI several years in a row. I like lots of kinds of music including Blue Grass and others. My sister and I used to make up skits and act them out like a precursor to music videos to The Grass Roots and Kiss’ album Rock and Roll All Over. TMI? Turn me on to a new singer or band and make my day.
11. Please tell us more about the class you teach at Studio 108.
I’m teaching an open vinyasa flow class great for many levels of practitioners starting at 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays, alternating every other Saturday with Sara Asher. I try to listen to what’s happening around me and to be a channel to the yoga as I teach any yoga asana class. I guide students in how to work the practice of asana for a calm mind and relaxed body. I enjoy getting inspiration from the seasons, weather and energy of my students for a well-rounded asana practice. I care about the variety of levels of experience present in all classes so I offer options to make the practice correct for many levels of practitioners.