shape up, emporia!
By Jan Plunkett & Amy Ringler
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
For a moment, let’s step away from our busy, fast-paced lives and learn to listen, breathe and feel. Let’s acknowledge where and who we are at this moment — and try to give ourselves time when our mind/body asks for it. …
That’s what Debbie Illk, Frannie Walburn and the two of us teach participants of our yoga classes. All four of us instructors at Walburn’s Athletic Club are YogaFit Certified and deliver a diverse and user-friendly yoga class for people of all ages, fitness levels, and walks of life. We constantly remind people that yoga is a practice — a journey — that offers people the opportunity to embrace their realities and feel the joys that can be lost in “to-do” lists, expectations, and the chaos of our daily lives.
Yoga instruction teaches flexibility, focus, balance and fitness. No, you don’t have to be a skinny, super-flexible, stretchy dancer to qualify for yoga. That’s the beauty of it. Yoga is for everyone from 8-80 years old, from sedentary to physically active, from calm to busy.
So what do you need to begin your journey? There are no equipment requirements. You just give your body and mind what they needs at the time they ask.. That can mean stretching when your body aches or breathing when your mind is cluttered or stressed. Your yoga practice does not have to take place in a class, in a gym, or in a studio. You can practice at home, at work, and most of you probably do practice without even realizing it. Simply honoring your mind and body is practicing yoga.