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#ODDlight: Yoni Berk
This April we're shedding some #ODDlight on the cool, calm, collected, Yoni Berk. If you haven't taken class with him yet, get. on. it. You can FLOW with him on Monday and Tuesday nights in Silverlake!
Name: Yonatan Shimon Wallin Berk
Nick Name: Yoni, or The Schlemiel of Encino
Hometown: Novato, CA
Favorite Place: Ras Shaitan, Sinai, Egypt
Favorite color: Broan
What’s your sign? Sagittarius
Most embarrassing moment?
Uh….. I’ll say like the 5th most embarrassing moment because why would I tell you about the time I shit my pants or whatever. One time while teaching I wanted to instruct getting into happy baby (Ananda Balasana). Happy baby pose also goes by another name… “Dead bug.” So I ended up accidentally blending the two names together and it… did not come out right :/
Fun Fact most wouldn’t know about you?
I'm self-taught in over 10 different musical instruments
Share a story or anecdote with us – something magical, changing, funny, or adventurous. Something that you love to tell.
Can it be one of my favorite short short stories????
How do you define yoga?
Creating balance between the body, mind, and soul.
Why do you teach?
It healed me, and maybe somehow I can help others heal themselves or at least put them on that path.
What brought you to become an instructor?
I had an amazing teacher at Santa Barbara City College of all places who taught me so much about yoga and one time on a road trip I was making a pit stop in SLO and over lunch the thought about becoming a teacher just set off like a million light bulbs and I thought “I can do that!"
What is your favorite song to play in class?
Dave Harrington’s edit of Paul Simon - Can’t Run. Literally never gets old for me and it FUCKIN SLAPS
What is your favorite pose or flow? Why?
Half pigeon. Everything we do and don’t do makes its way to our hips and as long as we are doing the pose correctly for our body, it is so profound and provides so much relief and benefits.
Memorable yoga moment?
Any time a student has a eureka moment. That’s all it takes for me to remind myself why I got certified 11 years ago
How did you first hear about One Down Dog?
My fiancé and I had just moved to LA from Santa Barbara and literally all the people who we trusted who knew about the yoga community kept mentioning ODD and I knew it was the right fit from the first class I took.
What is your favorite yogi prop or piece to wear or use?
Blocks. They’re so versatile and allow us to modify poses that we need to modify.
What special causes or non-profits do you hold dear to your heart?
SOVA, ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Innocence Project
Are there any links, @names, and #hashtags you would you like us to use in promoting you and your happenings?
@yoniberk
Would you more likely tell your boss they had food in their teeth or let it slide?
Depends if they suck or not. Luckily all my bosses rule so I would absolutely tell them. Gotta have good people’s backs.
If you could have any super power what would it be?
Knowing to read/write/speak every single language ever created fluently
What was the last book you read?
The Lemon by Mohamed Mrabet
Do you dream? Lucid dream?
I’ve only had 2 lucid dreams that I remember and I rarely dream.
Who or What is your role model?
Scout Niblett
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