Sweet Mystery

The versatile Richie DeMaria, the author of this week’s cover story on yoga in Santa Barbara and also the Indy’s Positively State Street music columnist and our hiking guru, first became acquainted with yoga in high school, “practicing only glimpses” of the poses. He got more serious in college, taking classes with his friend Lara Bache, and discovered a certain equilibrium. “Yoga has helped me understand myself and others,” he said, “with a greater acceptance toward the joys, sorrows, and mysteries of life.” Now certified in the rather rigorous ashtanga, the often-relaxed Richie tends to flow a little more freely between disciplines, all the while finding the “physical and mental benefits tremendous and a cure to listlessness.”