“Yoga is inseparable from my life force.” Larry Payne didn’t actually say that, but he could have. A yoga instructor for over 25 years, Payne has attended to all aspects of the practice, expanding his knowledge and commitment to the philosophy with an intelligent attention to the Western mindset and perspective in his teaching. This fall, Payne is offering a class at Loyola Marymount University, designed to train yoga teachers to be yoga therapists and apply classical yoga postures for use in clinical settings to help treat common ailments and conditions. “The biggest complaint that patients have is that yoga teachers have little training in anatomy and physiology, and that doctors have zero training in movement,” Payne says. “Right now, a doctor, who is an excellent diagnostician, may say to a patient’let’s say a 40- or 50-year-old man”Take yoga.’ If this man walks into an Ashthanga class, he’ll get murdered.” Payne hopes that after his course, participants will be equipped to work with various medical specialists, chiropractors, osteopaths and physical therapists. The Level I course will focus on the musculoskeletal system. Students will meet one weekend a month for a year and address principles of practice, anatomy for yoga teachers, the origin and treatment of common low-back pain and upper back, knee and hip problems. In addition, the course will cover communication tools for working with doctors, including reading reports and understanding terminology and clinical notes. The optional Level II course offered the following year will focus on other systems of the body, including the circulatory, respiratory, digestive, nervous, reproductive and endocrine systems. Although Payne now follows a well-established lifestyle of yoga and healthful eating habits, including meat, he was not a natural. An overstressed advertising executive in the late 1970s, with severe back pain, Payne in desperation took a “why-not” stab at yoga. “I remember being embarrassed, thinking I couldn’t possibly do those strange postures the right way,” Payne recalls in his book “Yoga Rx.” With a compassionate teacher who instructed him gently with breathing, stretching and relaxation, Payne’s pain disappeared for the first time in two years. That epiphany sparked a life change. “I had enough money from advertising to sustain myself for a couple of years,” Payne says. His conversion took him to yoga centers all over the world and, eventually, to India, where he has returned several times. In 1981, he returned to Los Angeles and became a full-time yoga teacher and founded the Samata Yoga Center in Venice. In his own practice and in his classes, Payne has always kept the Western mentality in mind. He has developed User Friendly Yoga, which focuses on postures and breathing to help the practitioner become more aware of his or her body’s posture, alignment and movement with the goal of leading to deeper awareness of the self and to one’s surroundings. While it can be argued that yoga by its very nature is therapeutic, Payne distinguishes yoga therapy as yoga postures that are specifically adapted to treat specific health problems, such as back pain, asthma, migraines or menopause. “There are a lot of people who don’t fit into a group yoga class,” Payne explains. “For example, those who need one-on-one attention and who can’t do what’s being served by the classes’which are generally geared for healthy people and for general conditioning.” In yoga therapy, Payne does an evaluation and constructs a series just for individuals. To help them do it, he makes a CD of instructions for them. “Compliance is hard,” he admits, “but pain is a great incentive.” On one of his trips to India, Payne visited a number of yoga therapy clinics, which he recalls with a grimace. “When I reported a digestive problem, I was instructed to drink 10 glasses of salt water and throw up. If you’ve got the time and you’re there with people who know what they’re doing, that’s fine, but that wouldn’t be appealing here.” In the West, a yoga therapy practice has to be compatible with our culture as well as practical, user-friendly and safe, Payne says. “There are several important principles that I feel capture the essentials of effective yoga therapy practice in our modern world. These are: commitment to a daily yoga therapy program; combining breath and movement; emphasizing function over form; incorporating dynamic and static principles of motion; focusing on the spine; slowing down your pace; avoiding competition and staying faithful to sequencing.” While most of these principles are self-explanatory, a few need further explanation. For example, the emphasis on function over form. Payne is far more concerned that we be attuned to our own body, rather than pushing ourselves too far to achieve some idealized perfect posture. Staying faithful to sequencing is important, too, Payne says, because there is logic to the sequences of the postures that maximizes the benefits. The routine, whether 10 minutes or a half-hour, always starts with a transition posture that leads the practitioner away from the stress of the day, followed by a warm-up to prepare the body for the main postures. The postures are selected to address the goal, and are always balanced by compensating postures to bring the body back to neutral. Finally, breathing exercises and relaxation techniques allow rest before the practitioner moves back into his or her day. Payne’s class at Loyola Marymount is geared toward applicants who have completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training or its equivalent. Payne will introduce the first lecture followed in subsequent weeks by Western medical doctors, an ayurvedic practitioner, chiropractor, physical therapist, and a specialist in allopathic and traditional osteopathic medicine. Payne prepared the course with Dr. Richard Usatine, who co-authored “Yoga Rx,” and who has taken a holistic approach to treating patients. Usatine is vice-chair for education in the department of family and community medicine at the University of Texas at San Antonio. The Yoga Rx program begins October 8 at Loyola Marymount. Call 338-1971. Payne’s class at Jiva Yoga Studio on Sunset meets Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.

The California Coastal Commission gave the Palisades-Malibu YMCA two important approvals on Tuesday. First, the commission granted permission for the Y to continue its annual pumpkin and Christmas tree sales and youth day camp at the corner of Temescal Canyon Road and Sunset. Second, it advanced the Y’s option to purchase the 3.95-acre site by approving the division of the entire 56.78 acres owned by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy into two parcels. The commission’s actions culminated a decade-long battle between the YMCA and its opponents, who had argued for retaining the parcel as open space, free for public access. Tuesday’s meeting was the third time commissioners heard the case, which drew supporters on both sides to Costa Mesa, where they had to wait until 4 p.m. for the agenda item to be heard. While there was no dispute as to the value of the Y’s retail sales and summer day camp, the disagreement fell on three issues: (1) Could the Conservancy, a public agency, sell open space to a private, albeit nonprofit, agency? (2) Would there be adequate protection of the native coastal shrub? And (3) would there be future development of the property? In summarizing the issues, the commission staff vetted the questions and defined conditions and restrictions on the Y’s activities. Regarding open space, the commission report mandates that the environmentally sensitive habitat area (ESHA) in the upper northern portion of the property (away from Sunset) be untouched because of the presence of coastal sage shrub, except for vegetation removal for fire management (on the eastern portion slope nearest the residences above) and non-natives. In addition, the Y must re-route an existing road to the swimming pool up the canyon, out of the ESHA area. Regarding public access, the Coastal Development Permit requires the Y to dedicate and maintain a 10-ft.-wide access trail easement, beginning at Sunset and providing public access to the Conservancy property to the north. In addressing future development of the property, the commission expressly stipulated that “any future activity be limited to day-camp activities and recreational programs available to all members of the general public, temporary events, seasonal fundraising sales, low-cost public recreation and open space.” These restrictions transfer with the land, no matter the ownership. The coastal permit also stipulates that any future sale of the land must be offered to government agencies first, including the California Department of Parks and Recreation. Before the commission issues the permit, the Y must submit in writing its acceptance of the permit deed restrictions and the special conditions on the use of the property, which will be carried with the property. Speaking on behalf of the opponents, Save The Coast Foundation, Friends of Temescal Canyon and No Oil, Inc. attorney Frank Angel once again argued that the Coastal public access policy prohibits the Conservancy from selling public land to a private entity. “If you allow the land division, they [YMCA] as a private landowner will be be able to exclude the general public access,” Angel said. Responding to the question of whether the land should be considered open space, the commission staff concluded that the Y had optioned the land since 1972 in an agreement with the former owners, the Presbyterian Synod, and that the Coastal Act had no jurisdiction until its establishment in 1977. “The option property was never truly publicly owned open space,” said Ralph Faust, chief counsel for the commission. Sherman Stacey, attorney for the YMCA, agreed to the commission staff findings and restrictions and underscored the Y’s open door policies. “The YMCA provides recreation opportunities to both members and non-members at nominal rates,” he said. In responding to the suggestion that the Y choose a long-term lease over a lot split, Stacey rejected that option, arguing that a lease would be handled by the city’s General Services department and, as such, would be subject to an open bidding process that would not recognize the Y’s long-term option agreement. In addition, General Services leases are limited to five years, he said. Commissioner Sara Wan’s request for further clarification on future activities on the site was answered by commission attorney Faust, who reiterated the point that prior to the issuance of the Coastal Development Permit, the applicant will submit documentation that binds it “to the covenants, conditions and restrictions on the use and enjoyment of the property.” These restrictions are quite onerous on the property and carry attentive stewardship, according to Randy Young, an opponent speaking on behalf of the Palisades Historical Society. “The Y has responsibility for this open land, the defined ESHA, putting up a road, putting in a walkway and recognizing that this is a public site,” Young said. “When privatized, the Y will have taken on a major responsibility.” For its part, local YMCA executive director Carol Pfannkuche heralded the decision as “a victory for the whole community, for thousands of Palisadians who have supported the YMCA for 40 years, for those current and future participants in YMCA programs at Sunset and Temescal, and even for those who have opposed this decision because they will now have the opportunity to see that the YMCA is a responsible and caring community organization.”

Palisades Chamber of Commerce President Sandy Eddy optimistically told City Council candidate Bill Rosendahl this spring that when he won in May, she wanted him to install the new Chamber officers. Rosendahl promised if he won, he would, and he kept his promise. When Rosendahl came to town to install the officers in June, Eddy asked if he would donate his time for a lunch for a silent auction item. He agreed and three lucky bidders, Philip Kamins, D.D.S., Stefano Coaloa, and Victoria Harris, were the winners. Last Thursday, at Mort’s Palisades Deli, owner Bobbie Farberow paid for the lunch for the three bidders, but Rosendahl wouldn’t accept a free lunch. “I have to buy my own lunch, that’s my rule,” Rosendahl said. He doesn’t want his office to have the appearance of impropriety. Harris, a board member of California Wildlife Center, a nonprofit organization based in Malibu that does wildlife rescue, asked Rosendahl how it felt to be a councilman. “I’ve been playing the journalist for so many years asking questions that now it’s time for me to answer the questions,” he said. He explained that when he was running for 11th District councilman, two-thirds of the people in that district didn’t know him from television. He had to sell himself as a complete stranger. Some of the time it was good; he’d talk to people and after they met him they’d say, “I’m going to vote for you.” He’d respond, “Can I hug you?” Rosendahl also said there were rough moments: he’d go to a house and after introducing himself, the person would say, “It’s a politician,” and slam the door in his face. Gradually he felt that he was making headway when he saw the lawn signs go up, and more and more people were attending his “meet and greets.” On May 15, he turned 60 and two days later he won the council seat. A friend calls him a congenital optimist. Rosendahl agrees with that. “I’m a positive spirit. I wouldn’t have run for office as a 60-year-old if I wasn’t.” Harris asked Rosendahl about his position on closing the controversial Sunshine Canyon landfill. The landfill accommodates the solid waste for much of Los Angeles County and is located north of Granada Hills Rosendahl said his initial reaction was to vote to close the dump, but then he started asking “a million questions.” He discovered that there are several problems, the most immediate being, “If the landfill is closed, where do you put the garbage?” Rosendahl said. “We have to use Sunshine because we have no other alternative. Last Friday, he voted yes to extend the contract for five years, but with the idea of having alternative solutions in place when the next vote comes early in 2006. Currently, only residential areas are recycling in Los Angeles. Rosendahl supports getting the whole city on a recycling program, including multi-unit and commercial buildings. He would like to see any new construction be required to have a recycling center built into the complex. He also supports re-use of building supplies. If buildings are torn down, recycle wood and other construction materials, rather than sending them to a landfill. Rosendahl also discovered a town in Germany that burns its garbage which is then converted into clean reusable energy. He would like to do more investigation into alternative solutions to see if they’re feasible in Los Angeles. Rosendahl is on five City Council committees and chairs the Education and Neighborhoods committee. He and Mayor Villaraigosa want to investigate how to bring public education under the City’s umbrella, investigating what works, including charter schools, after-school programs and more parental involvement. When asked about traffic lights and street repaving, Rosendahl explained that projects slated to be implemented this year were approved during predecessor Cindy Miscowski’s term. His office staff is currently reviewing the approved projects. Norman Kulla, district director for Rosendahl, said, “Modest changes will be made because a lot of work was already put into the studies and recommendations.” Developments have already been approved that most people in the district don’t know about, said Rosendahl, who plans to let his constituents know about them through press releases, e-mail and the media. Rosendahl spoke briefly about his role as ad hoc member of the Gang Violence and Youth Development Committee. Though we don’t have gangs in the Palisades, there are gangs in the 11th District. He pointed out Los Angeles is the gang capital of the country. Among other issues that the bidders raised were the idea of businesses helping their neighborhoods pay for traffic lights and other improvements, and the controversy over the leases and rent hikes on Swarthmore. Andrea Epstein, Rosendahl’s field deputy for the Palisades, answered resident Kamins’ concern about his street, Asilomar. “We’re going to stabilize the street,” Epstein said, and explained that the project funding for that street would come through the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and that issues were currently being addressed. Beaming at his deputy, Rosendahl spoke about his staff selection: “I pick people smarter than I am, and then I empower and delegate. I diffuse my power. I have a hybrid staff that’s unique with a variety of people of different ages and interests.”

Golden Couples of the Palisades

Some 90 guests gathered at Palisades Lutheran Church last Saturday to celebrate with Curt and Leola Baer as they renewed their wedding vows after 50 years of marriage. The Baers’ actual wedding date of February 19 was celebrated at sea on a cruise to Hawaii. Rev. R.L. Meyer, pastor emeritus of Palisades Lutheran and long-time friend to the Baers, officiated at the brief renewal of vows ceremony, while his wife, Carrie, graciously served as organist. The guests were then shown a DVD history of some of the highlights of Curt and Leola’s 50 years together. Guests were especially interested in the sports cars Curt has owned through the years. Then the guests were invited to the patio for drinks, where they were delighted with a surprise visit by the Trojan marching band from Curt’s alma mater, USC. After the rousing serenade, a Santa Maria-style barbecue dinner was served in Lutheran Hall. Special romantic musical entertainment was provided during dinner by Devon Henderson. Among those attending were several members of the original wedding party: Gloria Castleberg-Werbe of Yorba Linda, maid of honor; Robert Sampson of Clovis, best man; Theresa Beno of Upland, flower girl; Claudia Mach of Brookings, Oregon, bridesmaid and sister-in-law; and Bill Mach, usher. Leola’s UCLA roommate Arletta Beloian and her husband Aram journeyed from Potomac, Maryland, for the services. Curt and Leola’s children, son Brian of Cardiff-by-the-Sea, and daughter Stephanie Adamson, her husband Tony and their children Victoria, Sean, and Michele were in attendance and also participated in the service. The Adamsons recently moved from Pennsylvania to Tucson, Arizona. At least nine other couples attending had already celebrated their 50th anniversary. Baers Celebrate Trojan Legacy By KAREN WILSON Palisadian-Post Intern Emeritus In 1955, the University of Southern California Trojans lost the Rose Bowl’the grand prix of college football’to the Ohio State Buccaneers. Faring better that year, however, were Palisadians Curtis and Leola Baer, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this past February 19. At first, Curtis and Leola (Lee) seemed an unlikely match. He was a Santa Monica native and USC junior, while she, born in Oklahoma and raised in Pomona, attended arch-rival UCLA. When Curt’s church youth group threw a party, Lee attended with a fellow UCLA classmate, but she soon left him for the handsome young Trojan. After graduation, they were married at Lee’s Lutheran church in Pomona. In an untraditional twist, the adventurous pair spent their month-long honeymoon on a coast-to-coast road trip, driving from California to Key West, Florida. After that, they went to Cuba'”when it was legal,” Lee jokes. Over the years, she has traded in her Bruin blue and yellow, and now “bleeds red and gold,” just like her Trojan husband. Upon returning to the States, Curt’who had deferred Army enlistment while in college’was drafted into the counter-intelligence corps at Fort Ord, followed by several years in the reserves. Army wife Lee supported her husband as his service took him to San Francisco, Maryland and back to Santa Monica, where Lee gave birth to son Brian and daughter Stephanie. In 1962, the Baers moved their brood to family-oriented Pacific Palisades. The Baer kids both attended Marquez Elementary, Paul Revere Junior High, and Palisades High. “We wanted them to go to USC!” Lee says, but it was not to be. Brian attended California Polytechnic at San Luis Obispo and now works in San Diego for Hewlett-Packard; Stephanie, who lives in the Philadelphia suburbs, graduated from Drake University in Iowa. Still, Curt and Lee have found other ways to carry on their Trojan legacy. Last year, they brought grandchildren Victoria, 11, Sean, 9, and Michele, 7, to the USC football team’s season opener against Virginia Tech. “They loved it,” the proud grandma says. It’s not hard to enjoy time spent with the senior Baers. They are affable and warm, and their enthusiasm for life is infectious. Curt is a veritable encyclopedia on all things Trojan football. Indeed, when this reporter mentions her crush on former quarterback Carson Palmer, he disappears and quickly returns with 2003’s official season guidebook and other memorabilia. It’s not surprising, then, that he’s a founder of the L.A. West Trojan Club'”a support group,” he says, “for those who like USC sports.” This past spring, the group raised funds and drummed up publicity for the oft-overlooked Lady Trojans basketball squad. “Tell her everything else you’re involved with,” Lee says, proudly, thumbing through the football goodies. For the record, Curt is a member of the Palisades Optimist Club, president of the Palisades Republican Club, a founder of the local Graffiti Busters group, and past president of the Village Green Committee. He also does arbitration work for the New York Stock Exchange and the National Association of Security Dealers, for which he handles two or three cases each year. All of this in addition to his day job: formerly a stockbroker, Curt has spent the past two decades selling health and life insurance from his homey office in the 881 Alma Real building. “I can tell you one thing,” he says, nodding at Lee. “She’s very supportive of me.” Over the years, his wife’s accomplishments have given Curt a run for his money. Formerly active with the Santa Monica Bay Women’s Club Juniors and Assistance League, Lee is probably, she laughs, “the only UCLA-er active in the Trojan Club.” On the religious front, both she and her husband are involved with the Palisades Lutheran Church, where Curt is an currently an elder and a past president of the congregation. When they need a break from their busy lives, the Baers enjoy travel’a tradition begun during their 3,000-mile honeymoon. Cruises are a favored adventure; in 2003, they took the entire family on a ship to Alaska, and this year they celebrated their golden anniversary on a cruise to Hawaii. They have also traveled on ocean liners in New Zealand and Australia, while also ringing in the New Year on the Panama Canal in 2001. But these romantic excursions aren’t the only key to their long, happy marriage. “You have to have a good sense of humor and a short memory,” Lee says. Adds Curt, “We have a lot in common’both raised by parents who taught us good character. We’ve tried to do the same with our kids.” When they’re not on the go, the Baers can be found relaxing at home, with Curt working on his prized Mercedes coupe and green-thumb Lee tending to their garden. Or check the parking lot at the Los Angeles Coliseum, where the Baers and their fellow football fans can be found tailgating before big games, wearing red-and-gold sweatshirts and manning a barbecue. And lest anyone should ever point Lee towards the UCLA section, know this: the onetime Bruin apparel and design major waited until her kids were grown, then took an architecture class at USC. “So I’m a Trojan now, officially,” she says. Not that anyone was arguing.

“Shrek” opened the second season of Movies in the Park on the outfield grass at the Palisades Recreation Center last Saturday night. David Williams, the event’s co-chair, estimated there were “between 680 and 700 people, based on the park’s head count and our count.” “It’s the best community event I’ve seen,” said Dave Gadelha, Recreation Center director. “I’ve pitched the idea to other parks.” He served free hot dogs during the movie. He had 500 beef and a 100 turkey franks ready for the grill, but wasn’t worried about running out. “In an emergency I can always go over to Ralphs.” Hunter Aarniokoski, 6, and his three-year-old brother Dash ran up with a $5 bill to buy hot dogs. One of the beauties of Movies in the Park is that it’s all community. There are not many places a parent can give money to young children and let them have the independence of buying something while they’re able to watch from a safe distance. Gadelha told the boys the hot dogs were free. While they were waiting, Hunter unfolded a piece of paper and explained, “This is hieroglyphics, which is ancient Egypt writing.” Though the two boys couldn’t spend their money on hot dogs, other food like water, sodas, Pringles and candy were for sale at a adjoining table. Jacob Thompson, a member of Boy Scout Troop 23, is using the proceeds from sales during the four-week series towards his Eagle Scout project. Thompson, 15, who attends Palisades High, is planning to restore a patch of land near the school. Currently, the land is littered and filled with dead grass. He plans to landscape the site and provide benches. (Continued on Page 4) Directly in front of the 15- by 20-ft. screen, Deann and Bruce Heline and Paula and Steve Edwards sat on chairs and blankets, looking perfectly relaxed. Although both couples have two small children, none were in evidence. Deann jokingly said, “I guess we should figure out where they are.” One only needed to turn around to see lots of small children running, chasing and playing while they waited for the movie to start. “It reminds me of the drive-in when we were little,” Deann said. “We’d go early, have dinner and then the kids would go and play on the playground.” The man of the hour was Andrew Bzura, who blew bubbles for his three-year-old son, Billy. Close to a dozen kids joined Billy in trying to pop the bubbles as they danced above the field. Some families played frisbee, while others kicked a soccer ball around or played catch. “I’m pleased with how the community is taking to it.,” said John Wirth, one of the founders of the event. “It’s joyous.” Sam Lagana acted as the evening’s announcer, which involved keeping people posted about the start time as well as helping others locate lost keys. Lagana, who is known as the “The Voice of the Beach Volleyball,” was recently appointed as the Assistant Vice-Chancellor for Athletics at Pepperdine. Not everyone ate hot dogs. Many brought take-out from places like Subway, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Panda Express, and Domino’s. Dan and Judy Clement’s “Sunset Hollywood” picnic of garlic mashed potato salad, basalmic BBQ’d chicken sandwiches, beefsteak tomatoes in basalmic vinegar and small cheesecakes turned picnicking into an art form. On a blanket next to the Clements, long-time Palisadian resident Flora Yeh sat with three different multi-generational families. She convinced those families to move here because “When they were in Santa Monica, I told them to come to the Palisades. It’s a good place to raise children.” James K. Hahn and his wife Jeanne were on a blanket with their three-year-old granddaughter, Amalinalli (Amy). “Amy hasn’t seen a movie before so it will be fun,” Jeanne said. Palisadian Hahn, who has the exact same name as former Mayor Hahn, explained he was glad there’s a new mayor. He would get phone calls at his home from people complaining about noisy trash trucks and asking him to fix their problems. He also had a $2-million lien put against his house by a disgruntled citizen who was sure he was dealing with the Los Angeles mayor. Twenty high school students from Scotland were fortunate enough to attend Movies in the Park, as well as Universal Studios, Disneyland and the Getty Center. Palisades Presbyterian Youth Minister Eric Shaefer had arranged for his high school group to go to Scotland in June, and this past week Fraser Penny from Dunkel Cathedral brought his senior group to the United States. Don Condon, who heads the Youth Director’s Council based in Santa Monica, brought nine of his volunteers to help with set-up and take-down. The group consists of 8th through 12th graders who do 100 hours of community service a year as part of their requirement. Once it was dark enough, the event started with a three-minute short called “Deere John.” The short was a “tongue-in-cheek” choreographed dance between an earth excavator and a male dancer. Quirky, but fun, the no-dialogue short set the tone for the feature film. This Saturday’s movie, beginning at 8 p.m., will be the Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night.” Words for the songs will be passed out, so that eager vocalists can sing along. Chamber President Sandy Eddy reminds people, “Please: no dogs, no smoking, no alcohol and no stick-leg chairs.” Admission is free.