In a semester abroad, Sam Fuhrer acts out his yoga in Italian

Sam, in crow pose on Capri, returns to teach yoga at Breathe during his six-week holiday break.
December 16, 2011
by Sam Fuhrer

For a semester abroad, I have been enrolled in an actor’s training program at the Accademia dell’ Arte in Arezzo, Italy, for the past three months.  Arezzo is an ancient Tuscan town, about 45 minutes by train from Florence. The Accademia is located on a hillside in the midst of many beautiful orchards and vineyards leading up to a fabulous mountain range.

Every day the colors of the surrounding countryside seemed to change, one day more vibrant and full, and others pale and cool—each having a unique and special tang of beauty that was unknown to me before my Italian experience. When I opened my shade each morning I saw post-card like scenery.  The Accademia dell’ Arte is a non-profit organization founded by Scott McGee.  It’s a thriving community of artists, musicians, scholars and students who live in an environment dedicated to training, growth and performance.  I was basically in paradise.

Aside from the natural beauty around me, the Villa Godiola, where I lived and took classes for the last three months was unbelievable.  The sounds of classical music pieces being played perfectly vibrated through the halls and out the windows.  There were three giant and empty studios filled with nothing but yoga mats, the smell of pasta sauce came from the mensa, which was being prepared for us by our own personal Tuscan chef and each room had its own personal shower and bathroom; there was nothing more I could ask for.  I wasted no time.  As soon as I saw the studios, I offered a free yoga class, advertising it as a way to “beat the jet lag and finally settle into Italy.”  I had ten people show up and we got right into it.

Although it was nice being surrounded by unlimited beauty, the intensity of the program hit hard and soon.  We were taking eight of hours of classes each day, which required an immense amount of physical exertion, as well as an Italian language course.  Many people were complaining about soreness, indigestion, funny sleeping patterns and other bodily dysfunctions.  Luckily for me I hadn’t been experiencing any adverse effects and in fact felt fully capable and empowered rather than drained.  It was clear to me that my daily yoga practice was keeping me healthy and allowing me to get through the toughest part of the program, the beginning. 

I wanted to share my secret with the others and hopefully help heal my fellow students.  Since my first class had already been a hit I hoped there would be an interest in more, especially after the rigor of the program had become apparent, so I offered to teach a morning class at 7:00 a.m. Monday through Thursday.  To my surprise I had 14 people show up the next morning and we had a beautiful practice on a rooftop where we could see the sun rise illuminate the entire city of Arezzo.  Unfortunately I was scolded for bringing the mats outside and from that point on we had to practice in the studio. 

Either way the morning yoga practice was essential for me and about eight other loyal followers who barely missed a class.  The yoga helped me realize and appreciate where I was each day as well as warming and healing my body before getting into crazy acrobatics and other movement patterns.  The breath and movement work with yoga is almost synonymous with some of the voice and physical work that actors need and essentially both aim to lead to the same place: unconscious human experience, since an actor needs to lose total self consciousness in order to truthfully give himself to a character he is portraying.

Keeping yoga a constant in my life has helped me find stillness and security in some chaotic times over the past two years.  In just under two years my travels have taken me to Mexico, Hong Kong, Greece, Peru, Spain, Italy—and my next stop, January 23, will be India for another semester abroad.  Yoga has helped me relax, surrender and embrace experience, making the present more rich and full. 

Throughout my next six weeks here at home I will be teaching at Breathe Studio in Chappaqua, right across the street from Rite Aid. The class can range from a rigorous flow and intense physical practice, to a calm restorative session dealing with light movement and focused mostly on breath work. I invite all levels to come practice with me.  Give yourself a gift!

Sam Fuhrer graduated from Greeley in 2009.  He is now a junior at Muhlenberg College, double-majoring in Theater and Psychology.  While at Greeley, Sam wrote about his transition (due to an injury) from sports to theater. See “Trying out a new indoor sport, no equipment necessary,” NCNOW.org, 5/16/08.