The words help set a warm and inviting mood for an one-and-a-half-hour yoga class that takes participants through downward-facing dog poses, sun salutations, comforting child poses and, for the especially pliable participants, graceful back bends.
Votive candles flicker behind Hasek, who owns the studio with her husband, Robert. Yoga Springs seems to ooze Zen bliss, with its wood floor studios tucked inside a 100-year-old brick building. Hasek, who is a certified Hatha yoga teacher with training in Iyengar and Anusara yoga, thoroughly explains each move and encourages her students to build tapas — an inner fire or essential energy — throughout their practice.
According to co-directors Kim Carter and Kathi Kizirnis of Practice Yoga on 5th in Dayton’s Oregon District, yoga is not a form of trendy exercise — although such celebrities as Madonna and Sting have given it a certain rock-star status —but a collection of ancient disciplines or practices with a few main branches and many younger offshoots. Yoga may encompass postures (asanas), energy and breath control (pranayama), meditation, music, philosophy and other approaches.
Its mainstream appeal is evident in the number of area classes and studios. Most area athletic gyms offer some kind of yoga class, and there are sessions available for pregnant women, teens, baby boomers, runners and, with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, even couples.
Yoga Journal’s “Yoga in America” study indicates that 6.9 percent of U.S. adults, or 15.8 million people, practice yoga.
“The great thing about yoga is it meets you at your level,” said Kizirnis, who practices Ashtanga and Power Vinyasa yoga. “It is a way to safely build strength and flexibility, and it also offers spiritual and meditative aspects.”
Hasek said more and more people are drawn to the many benefits of yoga: Muscle toning and stretching, flexibility, weight loss, balance and pain management.
“Its overall benefits also include alleviating stress and calming the mind,” said Hasek. “When our body is aching, our whole being feels awful. When we are in pain or discomfort, we forget who we really are. Through the practice of yoga, there are so many tools, including asana and pranayama, to help us focus the mind.”
Debbie Stirsman, owner and teacher at Inner Dance Yoga Center in Oakwood, agrees. “It’s one-stop shopping for all your health needs. It teaches people to elicit their own relaxation techniques.”
Do you have to say “om” and engage in the chanting part of yoga?
Of course not, say the experts, but they encourage people to at least give it a try. “It’s very grounding and very calming,” said Stirsman, who teaches different levels of Vinyasa yoga.
“It’s not a religion. It’s not a cult,” stressed Katie Nardecchia, who teaches Vinyasa-style classes at fitness facilities in Dayton, Tipp City, Piqua and Vandalia. “It is a beautiful, ancient practice and it is a spiritual process. We do say namaste, which means nothing more than I honor the light that shines in you as I honor the light that shines in me.”
As with any exercise program, the teachers urge people to start slowly, listen to their bodies and get medical clearance, if necessary. They also recommend finding a instructor who is certified through the national Yoga Alliance.
Stirsman said she has had clients with such chronic illnesses as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis find pain relief and management through yoga.
“One of my best students is 80 years old,” Nardecchia added, illustrating how accessible yoga can be. She adds people wrongly assume they must possess amazing dexterity (“they have that pretzel thing in their mind”) in order to do yoga. “Just show up and be there,” she said. “When if comes to yoga, you want to have the mindset of an explorer. You have to begin somewhere.”
Carter encourages beginners as well. “I think the first thing to let go of is the idea that they have to be good ,” she said. “It’s noncompetitive and it’s learning in your own way. From a practical standpoint, wear loose clothing and be prepared to move. The mat is kind of a symbol of your path. It’s like you come to your mat and it’s your space, even if there are 20 people in the room.”
As the class finishes at Yoga Springs, Hasek slightly bows her head and says “namaste” with her palms pressed together. The participants roll up their sticky mats and put away such props as D-ring straps and foam blocks.
Kim Gillie Krier, 43 of Yellow Springs, said she started yoga five years ago. “I was getting to the point in my life where I was ready for more than a treadmill, and this has been a boost for my mind and body.” As a mother, she says she looks forward to yoga as much-deserved “me time.”
Erin Wolf, 21, said she started the practice when she was in her early teens. “I wanted to get more flexible,” she said, and yoga enhances her skills as a dancer.
Flexibility, too, was one reason Pam Conine, 60, started classes at Yoga Springs. “It’s part of my wellness program and I also appreciate the meditative aspects of yoga.”
Yoga helps Nardecchia navigate a busy schedule that includes co-parenting three sons and three stepdaughters. (The oldest is 20, and the youngest is 1.) “People always ask me, ‘Katie, how do you find balance?’ I tell them, it’s one word: yoga.”
Contact this reporter at rmcmacken@daytondailynews or call (937) 225-0671.
About the Author