Health and Fitness Classes

(Call for information and to register, most programs include a fee.)

¥ Free exercise class from Michigan Rehabilitation Center, 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. Wednesday and 9 to 9:45 a.m. Friday.

¥ Free Indoor Walking Club, 4:15 to 6 p.m. Oct. 6 through April 3, Monday Ð Friday, school days at Centennial Middle School, first floor.

¥ Feldenkrais Method of Movement 2 to 3 p.m. Mondays, four week ongoing sessions.

¥ Gentle Tai Chi for Seniors, 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. Thursdays, 4 week ongoing classes.

¥ Healthy Backs Yoga, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Mondays, 4 week sessions.

¥ Pilates for Seniors, 9 to 10 a.m., Fridays, 4 week sessions.

¥ Stretch for Health, chair exercise. Ongoing sessions 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. Mondays. Read the rest of this entry »

According to the participants, the yoga sessions have become increasingly popular over the last several months. In fact, Toca resident Annette Clark said the last time she was there “the place was packed.” While roaming the streets of Arabi last week, I encountered a cat, a cow and a cobra inside of the Community Center of St. Bernard.

No, it wasn’t an animal exhibit, but rather the names of some of the poses being executed by participants of the free weekly yoga class being held at the center.

I enjoy the stretching and the time to mediate. It’s really relaxing and it helps with my balance,” she said.

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Bellows came up with the idea for the yoga class earlier this year after falling in love with yoga when she first tried it at a retreat last year with the Institute of Jewish Spirituality held in West Cornwall, Conn.

“I never thought that yoga could bring me closer to God, to myself,” she said. “It changed my life.”

When she returned home she was too shy to take a public yoga class, so she practiced at home with a Jewish yoga compact disc. Six months later she got up the courage to join a live yoga class at the Highland Park Hospital Health and Fitness Center and that is where she met Alenier. She broached her with the idea of bringing yoga to her temple.

The pair launched the first six sessions of the Beth A yoga mat over the summer. Bellows had low expectations in terms of turnout, but each yoga class ended up averaging 20-25 people, she said. “It was incredible.”

In Evanston, Beth Emet’s Rabbi London agrees that combining yoga with religious practices can be transformative. People are often not able to connect their physical and spiritual sides, she said. “This is really a chance to bring that wholeness and integration and to see how Judaism really does have a rich spiritual tradition,” London said.

Bellows hopes that the yoga will provide others with a sense of strength.

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Panditrao added in many exercises, most don’t think of the body and mind as one. A local instructor believes the art of yoga is more than an activity - but it’s a life-style.

Instructor Kalpana Panditrao said yoga is a “very mind, body and soul exercise.”

She said, “You go to the gym, go on the treadmill and aren’t trying to connect with your body.”

Panditrao said members in the yoga class are feeling their body’s sensations and breathing.

“The air coming in and going out, it becomes brana,” Panditrao said.

Brana means vital energy. Members move ‘brana’ into their bodies while breathing.

“Like taking care of your body, it’s like servicing your car,” she said, adding “You’re trying to keep your joints healthy, servicing with different kinds of exercises.”

Panditrao said the breathing is the most important part of yoga.

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Yoga Classes will be starting next Monday September 22nd..The sessions run for six weeks at a cost of thirty-six dollars for the sixty minute classes and forty eight-dollars for the ninety minute classes.

The shorter early morning classes are designed to energize and invigorate one for the day ahead. The ninety minute classes include more guided relaxation and meditation. Please let me know your first, second, and third choice of times for class/classes I look forward to celebrating the season with you.

Yoga class this Fall in Dowling at Prasad Yoga Studio overlooking beautiful Bristol Lake with Diana Wilson e-RYT Integrative Yoga Therapy certified strengthen, tone, yoga mat, energize, calm and clear the mind!

Yoga, a form of exercise and relaxation, reduces risk of injury, relieves chronic pain and increases flexibility.It is $90 for 12 sessions.

Pathways yoga class are 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday at the center, 3789 River Road N, Suite D, Keizer. The center opened about a year and a half ago.

The center is owned by mother-daughter team Cheryl McKenzie and Jennifer Griffin.

Beginning a life change

I went to their beginner yoga class then using a good yoga mat, and at that point I wasn’t thinking about exercise at all. I was just thinking “this is something that will help me clear my head and relax,” and it really did. I’d always leave yoga feeling really good, so I started going three times a week.

Plus running three times a week

I’m so not an athletic type, you just have to know that. When we first got here, we had six weeks with my son not in school and we were setting up our house and exploring cities. I’m not a stay-at-home mom, so 24 hours of kids was unusual for me. When my little guy napped, I’d go out and walk around the neighborhood. That was my only time to myself. One day I was like “maybe I’ll just run for a little bit,” so I ran for five minutes and it was kind of nice so I kept doing that. It started out as a walk and turned into a walk/run and then turned into a run/walk and then it just turned into a run.

Discipline improves mood

I’ve been traveling a lot for work, and everywhere I go, I find yoga. I just search for it on the Internet. It makes me feel so good, and if I don’t do it, I don’t feel good. There’s something really nice about getting off a plane and feeling cramped and smooshed and then going to a nice yoga class.

Depression antidote

I moved to Minneapolis last August from Los Angeles with my husband and kids. I was very attached to my girlfriends, and I just got really homesick and was very depressed. My next-door neighbor said, “Hey, try that yoga place down the block.”

Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga is a highly effective method of Asana practice, which quickly builds strength, increases flexibility and clears toxins out of the body. This method includes numerous sequences of Asanas (yoga postures). Vinyasa (fluid movements, which are initiated by either the inhaling or exhaling breath) link one posture to another. The practice of Asana with Vinyasa stimulates the cardiovascular system and creates heat in the body using a good yoga mat, which eases the body into the Asanas. The Ashtanga Vinyasa practice removes impurities and strengthens the functions of the body and mind.

Immerse deeply in the Ashtanga Yoga practice in this 200 hour Teacher Training certification course with Ashtanga Yoga Instructor, Caroline Klebl. This teacher training includes two months of Mysore Style Ashtanga Yoga practice. For additional information visit http://www.yogawww.com

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Pilates

This class for teens and adults will meet Tuesday and Thursday for six weeks, beginning Tuesday, Sept. 30, from 7:15-8:15 p.m. The class will be appropriate for adults of all ages and fitness levels from the novice to the experienced exerciser. Instructor Alice Gould will focus students on strengthening major and minor muscle groups in arms, legs and core. Equipment needed for this course will be a non-weighted stability ball, exertube and sticky mat. The fee for the class is $40.

For information on the above two classes or any of the other classes being offered, contact the Palace Theatre box office at 740-383-2101, visit www.mari onpalace.org or stop by 270 W. Center St. for a brochure of classes being offered.

Beginning yoga for teens and adults

Instructor Helene Everson will introduce students to the restorative power that yoga brings to the mind and body and they will receive instruction that is geared to personal needs and abilities. Students will learn basic yoga postures and ways to modify the postures for your their body type. The class will meet for eight weeks, beginning Tuesday, Sept. 30, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The fee for the class is $35. Students should bring a sticky mat and dress comfortably.

The nine-week session begins on Sept. 25. Classes are an hour long: Beginners’ Yoga at 9 a.m., followed by Chair Yoga at 10:15. Childcare will be provided.

Classes will be held in the auditorium of the parish house, (37 Church Mall–the large room across from the main office). Classes will be taught by Janna Sage Peterson, a registered Yoga Alliance teacher. Fellowship time will follow each yoga class.

The First Presbyterian Church in Springfield is offering two yoga classes, Beginners Yoga and Chair Yoga. Both classes will be an introduction to yoga with exploration of slow yoga mat, gentle movement, stretching, and healthy alignment. Breathing and relaxation techniques will be fully incorporated into each class. In Chair Yoga, a chair or the wall will provide support. Yoga has many benefits, including increased strength and flexibility, improved balance and concentration, and stress relief.