Yoga Instructor Sue Lyddon-Hayes demonstrates how a simple tennis ball can help relieve foot stress and tension
California, MD – Yoga studios and Yoga pants are showing up everywhere these days, but what exactly is Yoga? First, there are many different types of Yoga, but the classic techniques date back more than 5,000 years. The word Yoga means “to join or yoke together,” and it brings the body and mind together into one harmonious experience.
Yoga is built on a system made of three main components: exercise, breathing and meditation. The exercises of Yoga are designed to put pressure on the glandular systems of the body, thereby increasing its efficiency and total health. The benefit of improved health is quite a draw for some Yoga students.
Continued Yoga practice inspires some individuals to take an instructors class. On Dec. 4, thirteen individuals graduated from the basic 200-hour Yoga instructors course offered at Evolve Yoga and Wellness Studio located in California. “Some individuals take the Yoga instructor’s course just to improve their own practice, deepen their understanding and knowledge,” said Sue Lyddon-Hayes.
Lyddon-Hayes teaches a basic class offered at Evolve Yoga and Wellness and has been practicing Yoga since college. “It is important for people to know that Yoga is for everyone, not just people of a particular gender or body type,” she said.
The body is looked upon as the primary instrument that enables us to work and evolve in the world, and so a Yoga student learns how to treat it with great care and respect. Breathing techniques are based on the concept that breath is the source of life in the body. The Yoga student gently increases breath control to improve the health and function of both body and mind.
These two systems of exercise and breathing then prepare the body and mind for meditation, and the student finds an easy approach to a quiet mind that allows silence and healing from everyday stress.
Yoga can be practiced alone, with a partner or in a group. “Starting on Saturday, Jan. 14, from 12:30 to 1 p.m., Evolve will offer Family Yoga with Kathy,” said Kathy Therrien. Therrien is a registered children’s Yoga teacher, speech language pathologist and specializes in working with children who have special needs. “I love working with children and seeing them benefit from Yoga,” she said.
“It is also great to see entire families come in to take a Yoga class,” she said. Therrien’s experience working with special needs children makes Yoga available to everyone. “I teach a class for children ages 4 to 9 on Friday from 5 to 6 p.m. and some of them have been referred by their occupational therapist,” saidTherrien.
In 2017, they will offer a variety of classes to help with flexibility, structural alignment and stability, as well as childbirth. Evolve Yoga and Wellness is located at 23415 Three Notch Road in California.
On Tuesday, Jan. 10, from 5 to 6 p.m., they will offer a Yoga class at St. Mary’s College in Historic St. Mary’s City. This class will focus on building strength and increasing flexibility. For more information about this program call 301-862-1236 or visit www.EvolveYogaWellness.com to register for other classes or workshops.
Contact Shertina Mack at s.mack@TheBayNet.com
