Riaz Mamdani
Online Arts Editor
From basic breathing techniques to advanced headstands, Mira Costa senior Bella Radl is taking on her challenges one yoga pose at a time.
After a month off school and over 200 hours training in the secluded Nosara Region in Costa Rica, Radl has met California state standards and become a fully certified yoga instructor before graduating high school.
“Yoga has always been my passion, ever since I was a kid my mom and I would do yoga together, and it’s just been with me ever since” Radl said.
Radl was inspired by her mom, Danielle Radl, who started her own Yoga institute “Kids to Teen Yoga” in 2013, but has also been practicing and teaching ever since she was a kid as well.
“I’m going back to Costa Rica again for another 2 weeks so that I can get certified to teach Kids too,” explained Radl. “A major part of yoga is the spiritual aspect of it, and I feel like kids can really benefit from just learning how to calm their minds,”
Calming the mind however isn’t the easiest thing explains Radl, and that is precisely why the Nosara Region in Costa Rica is so helpful for aspiring yogis like Radl.
“It’s just something about being up there, alone, without your family or friends or anything, It’s really just you and nature, and you really can’t get that type of experience and sensation up here in Manhattan Beach or even Los angeles” Radl said.
So far she has taught over six 2 hour yoga classes here in Manhattan Beach and in Costa Rica combined. Also, due to her well seasoned yoga repertoire, Radl has also secured a teaching position at the Yoga Isla Vista in Santa Barbara.
“I’m not planning on Yoga being my primary career path, but I feel it’s still a good fallback for me to have, especially since I’m going to college up there anyways,” said Radl. “Teaching Yoga can be a solid income for me to have that I can be live with, especially since I enjoy it,”
Although from an onlooker perspective yoga instructing may appear to be, superficially, straightforward and basic, Radl explains that there is much more to teaching a proper class than just knowing the poses.
“A big part of the way I teach yoga is through the music that I choose,” Radl said. “It’s actually quite difficult to time the yoga flow right so that it can match the beat to the songs really well,”
No matter how well the playlist is constructed or matches the yoga flow, Radl says the most important part of Yoga is whether the student is relaxed and stress free.
“If you’re learning Yoga, you need to be feeling some sort of spiritual or emotional connection to either your surroundings, or nature, or even yourself,” Radl explains. “But as long as you’re feeling something, you’re on the right track. If not, then you’re not going to see any benefit from yoga no matter how much you train a day,”
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