PORT ST. LUCIE PEOPLE
THE YOGIC DIPLOMAT
BY ELLEN GILLETTE
entertainment attorney’s office, then opened his own office.
One of his favorite clients was Little Richard, who “channeled
incredible energy. It was an honor to represent him.”
Small law offices handle everything. “Your specialty is
whatever comes through the door,” Allman says. “Law is all
about fighting — between lawyers, between clients, in the
courtroom, to get paid.”
Although it was unsatisfying work at some levels, he says
it was also a great experience which made him a better person
… until the stress got to him.
Allman had dabbled in yoga in the ’70s but in the ’80s, he
returned to it for stress relief. He attended Ashram Sivananda
in the Bahamas, studying with Swami Vishnudevananda,
the head of Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre — credited with
making yoga accessible and popular in the western world.
“You can take a 500-hour online class to become a certified
yoga instructor and never encounter what yoga is about,”
Allman says. “Comprehensive, immersive training at an ashram
is far more beneficial. Yoga is about control, starting with
the breath but affecting every aspect of life.”
During advanced yoga training at Sivananda’s Canadian
headquarters in 1986, Allman met a Swiss teacher named
Marie-Laurence and her husband. When their paths crossed
Port St. Lucie resident Larry Allman has lived a life of
both intensity and calm, from being a Los Angeles
attorney to the solitude of swimming laps to train for
competition, with world travel and yoga woven throughout.
How did a boy from Delaware end up in California, then
Switzerland, then Port St. Lucie?
A published author, Allman understands the value of
description.
“I was born on a cold, dark Nov. 7 night in Delaware,” he
says with a grin.
“At 16, I left home to live with my grandparents. My
grandfather was Russian, my grandmother was Romanian,
welcoming and supportive. Old World values. It was one of
the best things I ever did.”
Allman attended East Carolina University on a partial
swimming scholarship, graduating with a political science
degree. His grandparents encouraged him to follow a beloved
uncle to Los Angeles and start law school.
“I was an average student before but things clicked.”
Working during the day, taking night classes, Allman
graduated in five years.
Applying his swimming discipline to his studies, Allman
passed the bar on his first try. He clerked two years in an
30 Port St. Lucie Magazine
ANTHONY INSWASTY
Working with a United Nations agency provided Larry Allman an opportunity to see the world. These days, he enjoys relaxing in his Verano home.
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