 Larry Sherman Before Yoga
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 Larry Sherman After Yoga |
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Larry Sherman once weighed 538 pounds. In 2006, Larry was so overweight he was in physical pain, to the point where he suffered a heart attack and he didn’t even realize it because chest pain felt normal to him. Larry was in emotional pain as well, constantly blaming himself for being overweight and calling himself “weak-willed,” “lazy,” and “lacking in integrity.” But Larry’s life was about to change forever. He was about to discover the healing power of yoga.
Meeting Michelle
Larry attended a health fair at work where he met a yoga instructor, Michelle Moten. Larry didn’t know much about yoga and he thought of it as “stretching yourself into weird shapes.” He asked Michelle if he could practice yoga at his size and she responded with a clear and confident, “Yes.” Larry signed up for twice weekly yoga classes. At first, he needed chairs and physical assistance from other people to move his body. But he noticed that when the instructor said, “Feel your feet,” or, “Fill your lungs and feel your breath,” he felt calm and tuned in to his body. Practicing yoga made him feel centered. He remembers that he was able to do triangle pose and she said, “Good triangle, Larry.” He felt motivated to continue.
Yoga Shelter
For six months, Larry practiced yoga at his workplace. Then one day he decided to visit YogaShelter, a Michigan-based yoga studio offering “sanga,” meaning community of people who come together to encourage and nurture spirit. Larry describes Yoga Shelter as his “true home and family.” At Yoga Shelter, he met yoga instructor Lisa Paskel and the owners of Yoga Shelter, Eric Paskel and Steve Feldman. Larry recounts, “In my first class at Yoga Shelter, still weighing 478 pounds and after 17 years of feeling fat, ugly, and disgusting, I found another miracle. Lisa Paskel was teaching that morning and she did yoga in a way I had not seen before. She did not talk in Sanskrit or play traditional yoga music. She played pop, folk, and rock. She spoke to the class about hope, redemption, and choices. She encouraged us to look deep inside ourselves and to change our lives from within.” Then Lisa helped Larry with a pose by putting one hand on his heart and her other hand on his back. Larry remembers, “This is difficult to explain but that one touch erased 17 years of self-hatred. I felt worthy of unconditional love and compassion.”
Transformation
At Yoga Shelter, Larry practiced yoga as frequently as he could and his skill grew. One benefit of his practice is that for the first time in his life, he was able to consistently follow a non-addictive eating plan. He says, “Going to yoga class helped so much.” As his yoga practice matured, he eventually developed the skill to do such advanced poses as shoulder stands and head stands. Because of his eating program and his yoga practice, Larry lost weight. As of November of 2009, he weighs 185 pounds. Larry has lost 353 pounds, without surgery or punishing exercise.
I asked Larry to tell me his life story. How did he get to be 538 pounds? He recounts, “I was so insecure. The physical weight was a reflection of emotional pain.” Larry grew up as the middle child of five children. He says he was always vying for attention and he was unhappy. Then he survived childhood abuse and he wanted to be bigger so that no one could hurt him. When he was old enough, he joined the military and he was constantly being threatened with discharge because of his weight. He would crash diet to meet weight requirements or compulsively exercise to keep his weight under control. He explains, “I would run twenty miles three or four times per week.”
As a young man, Larry struggled with multiple addictions including cocaine, alcohol, compulsive eating, and compulsive exercise. In 1985, he entered rehab for cocaine and alcohol. He has been clean and sober for 24 years. But the eating problems persisted. When Larry stopped exercising so much, his weight ballooned. In 2006, he had a 76” waist and was splitting size 6x shirts. He recalls that he tried to chop vegetables and the fat on his arms got in his way. For 11 years, Larry was in and out of twelve step programs for food addiction. He would lose weight and someone would express romantic interest in him, and then he would gain it back. He remembers, “I was always running from something.” Finally in 2006, around the time he met the yoga instructor who would change his life forever, he decided to pray for help and he committed to recovery for good. He said he changed his perception of God as someone who is “judgmental and hateful” to “an experience that is real inside all of us.” Larry felt motivated to rise above all obstacles and touch other people’s lives. He says, “If I can help someone, maybe that person won’t have to struggle as long as I did.”
Acceptance
Larry explains that yoga has been instrumental in teaching him how to “be comfortable with being uncomfortable.” He believes all children should learn how to practice yoga so that they learn how to cope with discomfort. He notices that parents try to soothe and numb all pain and he worries that doing this does children a disservice. He says some key lessons in yoga are that you don’t try to defeat a pose, you keep trying even when all you feel like doing is child’s pose, and you keep showing up even if you aren’t doing the difficult poses well. Larry says he no longer feels shame about his past and he focuses instead on the “good messages” of yoga.
Larry credits yoga for giving him the discipline to stay on a strict food program. He plans all his eating the day before so that he doesn’t have to make choices all day long. He eats only fresh unprocessed foods and he prepares the food himself. He avoids sugar and flour because he believes those substances are addictive to him. He left his twenty five year career as a chef because he no longer wishes to be surrounded by food all day.
A New Career
After yoga became a central part of Larry’s life, he decided to enroll in teacher training led by Eric Paskel at Yoga Shelter. Larry describes his experience with training: “Eric became not only my teacher but my friend. His understanding of addiction and redemption taught me how to base my beliefs on what feels right in my own heart and mind.” Larry adds that his friendship with Eric grew until they became like brothers. He admires Eric and the work that is done at Yoga Shelter, clarifying, “Eric started this community so would have somewhere to go to find peace and to continue his own recovery when things got rough. In doing this, he provided a place for many others who need the same. Five years after opening Yoga Shelter, thousands have walked through its doors to find hope, community, and trust.” Yoga Shelter partners with
YogaMedics, an organization that provides customized yoga programs for medical treatment and therapeutic recovery from addictions. Larry is currently undergoing training to work for YogaMedics.
In his free time, Larry goes to hospitals and meets obese patients who underwent gastric bypass surgery and lost weight but then regained it back. He has advice for people who feel discouraged: “It all begins with the first step. Change your mind. You don’t have to believe the negative messages that other people tell you.” Larry believes his life purpose is to serve others, even if he isn’t yet sure of the specific path toward which yoga will lead him. He expresses his trust in this way, “When you are doing what you know is right for yourself, it might not be profitable at first, but you will be sustained and good things will flow to you.” I have no doubt that this will be true for Larry.
Larry, thank you for sharing your success story with YogaFixes.com!
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