Category: Blog

Charity of the Month: Asheville on Bikes Asheville Yoga Center is cycling into the New Year with Asheville on Bikes to help support eco-friendly transportation and bike safety in the community. Starting on January 1, there will be donation boxes in AYC’s studio and boutique locations for monetary contributions. On Thursday, January 25, 10% of drop-in and community-class sales will be donated to the charity along with a direct donation of $250. “We realize the importance of reducing our carbon […]

Transform Yourself with Yoga in 2018 New year, new beginnings. It’s a cliché, no doubt, but the idea tends to resonate in all of us. As we enter a new year, we often reflect on the past and set expectations for the future — but are we taking the time to embrace the present? If 2018 is a year of new beginnings, allow it to start right here, right now. Instead of setting lofty goals and putting unnecessary pressure on […]

Asheville Yoga Center Fundraises for Homeless High School Students Yoga studio dedicates classes & 10% of proceeds on Dec. 28 to Asheville City Schools The solution to poverty begins with providing quality education to all children, no matter what their socioeconomic situation. To support this effort, Asheville Yoga Center is collecting donations for Asheville City Schools to help foster the successful education of homeless and underprivileged students in our community. Donation boxes will be stationed in the AYC Studio and […]

10 Reasons Why We’re Thankful For Yoga By Cynthia McDermott The holidays are a time of joy and togetherness, but sometimes in all the hustle and bustle, we lose sight of what we’re actually celebrating. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to reclaim your happiness — gratitude! Cultivating a daily gratitude practice can help tremendously with regaining focus, increasing positivity and reducing stress. In the spirit of our upcoming holiday of gratitude, we offer you 10 reasons why we’re grateful for […]

Dear AYC Community Members, We’re giving the Blue Room and Green Room a fresh coat of paint, and some of your regularly scheduled classes may be affected while we improve our studio from November 6-9. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause, and we are grateful for your patience as we refresh the spaces. Please see the updated class schedule below, and we hope to see you in the studio! Check out our full yoga class schedule here. […]

6 Benefits of Japa Meditation By Timothy Burgin, Founder & Creator of Japa Mala Beads While there are numerous traditions and styles of meditation one can practice, I’ve found that using a mantra with mala beads is the easiest and most powerful way to meditate. In addition to all of the benefits of meditation, japa meditation adds the benefits of the energy and properties of a mantra and the healing and transformative powers of the gemstone mala beads! After much […]

What’s so scary about Yoga? Debunking common misconceptions and reservations about practicing yoga. By Matthew Ceurvorst Yoga draws people in for a myriad of reasons: perhaps it was a doctor’s recommendation, the testimony of a friend or family member, or just sheer curiosity. Regardless of the paths that have led to this point, most people encounter the same obstacle when starting a yoga practice — fear. For those of us who have never been to a yoga studio, our minds […]

20 Inspirational Mantras Contributed by AYC Instructor Michael Johnson Asheville Yoga Studio, building a community of yogis since 1997. To help celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Asheville Yoga Center, I would like to offer you these 20 mantras with a brief explanation. Mantra means resolution. It is derived from the words manas ≈ mind and trai ≈ to defend. Nearly all the Sanskṛt mantras below originated within the extraordinarily diverse culture of India. I have attempted to translate some […]

20 Yoga Poses and Movements for Peace By Instructor Julia Albertson In todays modern world, finding peace can take effort. Our days are often absorbed with long and busy work hours and sometimes our self-care needs get put on the back burner.  Then, our stress can accumulate in our bodies and minds. When we allow this stress to stay built up, we can become sluggish, irritable, and unhappy. If instead, we take time out of our days to stop, move, […]

The Therapeutic Wisdom of Yoga Hatha yoga was never simply about stretching, or even seeking simply ‘fitness’ and strength, though it certainly includes the benefits of flexibility and strength. Hatha yoga focused on the blocks or ‘knots’ — physical as well as energetic and emotional — that get in the way of the creative flow of thought and movement — and which are often at the root of pain and suffering. This was described in terms of the flow of […]