As a passionate yoga instructor for Crunch Fitness, P.E. teacher, Mr. Sklarz loves to teach other students how to do yoga. Outside of teaching P.E. at Galileo for the last 34 years, Mr. Sklarz hopes to continue his yoga career, building his community of yoga students.
In 1994, Mr. Sklarz started practicing yoga after being offered a scholarship as a P.E teacher for a yoga studio by his coach. It started as a hobby, but quickly turned into something more serious. He practiced at least an hour a day and six to seven days a week. He said, “I loved the challenges, and I knew the benefits would help me in my life. I became consumed by it.”
When he first started yoga Mr. Sklarz thought it would be easy for him to pick up because he was an athlete. But he soon found out it required a different kind of skill and a lot of practice. His dedication impressed his teacher, who invited him to take an additional teacher training class for a few months.
He began teaching yoga once or twice a day and eventually made it part of his career. Since 1999 he has taught at Crunch Fitness, where he has made strong connections with students. Many of those students have also become his friends who invite him to birthday parties or even for dinner.
Yoga has helped him connect with people his own age, something he couldn’t always do during school hours. He enjoys being surrounded by others who are committed to the practice. Helping people grow through yoga has become one of his main goals.
When he sees people struggle in yoga, he feels motivated to help because he was in the same situation when he started. He believes many people treat yoga like a quick workout, but it really takes time and patience.
His future plans with yoga are to keep getting better each day. He always tells his students, “Everyday you want to get better than yesterday. Push yourself to your limits.” For him, yoga is a lifelong journey with no finish line.
