Bend It Like Pacelli

As many students camp out in Lamont, others have opted to relieve their stress through yoga with Gene Pacelli at the Malkin Athletic Center (MAC).

The 64-year-old yoga instructor stood in front of his 25-person class, balancing on one leg with his hands clasped together as if he were praying.

“Whatever it is you’re holding on to, let go of everything less than happiness,” Pacelli says.

“I had an exam on Friday, so I had to go to yoga Thursday,” says Anna Reinert ’08, who has faithfully gone to Pacelli’s class since freshman year and describes him to friends as “a Hindu Billy Crystal.”

Pacelli, who has been teaching yoga for more than 25 years, has developed a large following at the MAC for his patient teaching style and spiritual approach to yoga and life. And it doesn’t hurt that he remembers every single one of his students’ names.

Jack Ward, an employee at the MAC, says that Gene “has developed a following—people stick with him. He attracts more people than any of the other yoga teachers here.”

Indeed, yoga seems to be growing in popularity at Harvard. Passes for Pacelli’s classes are usually gone 15 minutes before they start, says Kristen E. Schmidt, a personal trainer at the MAC.

Yoga and spinning are the most popular classes at the MAC, says Robert M. Latessa ’08, who works the front desk, and Pacelli says that he thinks Harvard students in particular can benefit from practicing yoga.

“People come to feel like they really need yoga. They find it a source of refreshment and energy during a difficult time,” he says, adding that his MAC classes attract more men than his classes at other venues.

Pacelli also said that he especially likes teaching Harvard students because he can help “people who are going to be very effective and important bring more happiness and love into the world.”

Udayakumar Selty, a local software developer and one of Pacelli’s regular students, says he never used to exercise until he discovered Pacelli’s Ashtanga Yoga classes. Now, Selty says that he has become committed to this genre of yoga.

“Yoga helps me get peace out of my regular activities and day-to-day life,” Selty says.

Another of Gene’s regular students, Harvard Law School student Effie Barton, says that while she doesn’t usually have favorite classes, she does now.

“Gene’s unique,” she says. “He remembers everyone’s name so that you feel guilty if you don’t come back.”

Erinn M.M. Wattie ’06, who has attended Pacelli’s classes twice a week since the beginning of the year, says she likes Pacelli’s “quirky, random anecdotes” and the way he offers advice.

“Gene is very attentive to everyone,” says Wattie. “He doesn’t just focus on the good people; he helps everyone modify the poses to their body types.”



BENDING THE RULES

Pacelli discovered yoga in an unusual way.

A native of New York City, Pacelli dropped out of both Brooklyn Polytechnic University and New York University, unsure of his career plans and originally interested in math or science. He spent five years as an actuarial trainee and worked as a guitar instructor before his “kudalini experience,” or life-changing experience, at age 26.

He became inexplicably ill, losing 65 pounds and experienced constant diarrhea over the course of a year and a half. Doctors were unable to explain what was going on, and Pacelli was unsure what to do.

“I didn’t know what the heck was going on,” Pacelli says. “It was both frightening and blissful at the same time.”

The illness acted as a sort of spiritual awakening, he says. At a friend’s suggestion, Pacelli started reading about yoga.

The illness “began to make me feel I was meant to be a yogi,” Pacelli says, adding that he also adopted a vegetarian raw food diet that consisted of fruits, nuts, and vegetables.

He started teaching yoga in 1980 in New York and has continued ever since. Of his affinity for teaching, Pacelli says, “To me, teaching is a matter of loving the subject, loving people, and wanting to share that love.”

Pacelli and his wife moved to Boston in 1990 to be closer to his guru, Avatar Adi Da Samraj (whose given last name is Jones), with whom Pacelli has traveled to Fiji, Hawaii, and California.

Pacelli estimates that he has taught at the MAC for at least 10 years. He leads two yoga classes twice a week at the MAC, in addition to teaching at the Chinatown YMCA, numerous senior citizen homes, and the Boston Sports Club.

Because he teaches between 20 and 25 classes a week, Pacelli estimates he’s taught more than 1,000 students over the course of his career.

Some of his more unconventional students have included Josie, a 101-year old woman who is legally deaf and blind, a 71-year-old marathon runner, and numerous pregnant women, Pacelli says.

Psychology Lecturer Tal D. Ben-Shahar ’96 agrees that yoga can have substantial mental and physical benefits.

“Yoga is associated with induced calm...and a more positive disposition and higher self-esteem,” says Ben-Shahar, who teaches Psychology 1504, “Positive Psychology.”

“Modern life is extremely stressful, so Harvard students would benefit a great deal if they took more time to do yoga. The MAC classes are quite excellent,” Ben-Shahar says, adding that he has taken several yoga classes at the MAC.

Ying Sun ’06, who is new to Pacelli’s class, says that she felt Pacelli’s class has conveyed much of the same messages as she has learned in Positive Psychology. Laughing, she also notes, “I’m here now [at 12:30], so I’m obviously missing Positive Psychology class.”

Looking toward the future, Pacelli says he hopes to teach yoga as long as possible.

“Some teachers continue until they’re 100,” he says. “I’m up for it.”

—Staff writer Pamela T. Freed can be reached at pfreed@fas.harvard.edu.