Category: Blog

What is your “Yoga Story”? I doubt if I will ever be finished with the story, or, I hope not. Yoga is the one activity that touches all senses, when open to it, both mind and body. I am grateful for how the practice has helped me to grow in being compassionate to the journey I am on. Why do you practice yoga? To learn about myself and for the physical and mental challenges of the practice. What is your […]

I ran across a book on yoga in my early 20s, bought it and pretty much set it aside. Higher education and career were at the forefront of my mind and purpose. Jump several decades into the future when career becomes secondary, and it’s time for me to focus on me.  Yoga is back in my radar as more than the casual interest and occasional class over time. My practice evolved and I began to teach, and study for YA […]

Community Member Profile: Lorraine Lordi When people talk about how yoga has changed their lives, I can add one more to that:  yoga saved my life.  You see, ten years ago, I was diagnosed with MS.  I went from being someone who could go like the Ever-Ready bunny to a person who could barely walk down her driveway, to the mailbox.  It was all of fifty feet away. For several years after the diagnosis, I struggled with not only loss […]

Community Member Profile: Jay Gertz Why do you practice yoga? Yoga marks an endpoint of a long search and a new beginning in my life. For far too many years, I was seeking an elusive something that would fill that nagging emptiness inside. Yoga has provided a spiritual contentment and a physical nourishing that really sustains me. This transformative power of yoga is nothing short of miraculous. I am stronger and more supple. In executing asanas, I have come to not only […]

How Ayurveda Compliments Your Yoga Practice By Stephanie Keach Hatha Yoga does an amazing job at strengthening, stretching and detoxifying the body, while helping to replenish and rejuvenate all the internal glands and organs. Yet for some, it may not be enough for full wellbeing. Yoga has a sister, her name is Ayurveda (both born in India).  If Yoga’s original purpose was to get your body prepared for spiritual practice, then Ayurveda takes over from there with an expanded and […]

5 Tips for Aging Gracefully with Yoga By Stephanie Keach 1. Pelvic Floor Usually we think anti-sagging, anti-wrinkling, anti-balding when we see “Aging Gracefully”, but honestly those things don’t make us graceful. How about not having to wear a big, bulky diaper? Yup, GBK (Go Beyond Kegels) I say. My students will tell you I am not shy to drop anatomy terms like vagina, testicles, and anus in a yoga class. I’m a frequent flyer with pelvic floor anatomy because […]

5 Reasons Steph Loves Ashtanga Yoga 1. Strength Building I have the genetics for flexibility, which makes Yoga a dream job. Except that flexible people get injured in Yoga three times more than non-flexies. We apparently go too far into the stretch, injuring the tissues around our joints. Yup, I see it all the time. But lucky me, I “found” a style of Yoga early in my Yoga career that complemented my flexibility and built the much needed strength around […]

Instructor of the Month: Sara Levine Why do you teach yoga? Teaching gives me the opportunity to be joyful with those around me. As humans, we aren’t always able to be present and kind to ourselves and others, but when we’re on our mats, we are all equal – we are all graceful, clumsy, learning, falling, succeeding and showing up. What is your teaching history? I taught in San Francisco for 6 years before I moved to Asheville. I started […]

  The 5 Tenents of Jivamukti Yoga Hot, hip, and holy. Created in 1984 by Sharon Gannon and David Life, Jivamukti yoga strives to help us fulfill our true potential, liberation in this life! It is a practice that allows us to access the underlying, subtle, and esoteric teachings of yoga. Through the practice of the 5 tenents we strive for a life, not just a yoga asana class, that allows us to express compassion and create a mutually beneficial coexistence with all […]