Yogitales are your stories. At New York Yoga, we are continually inspired by what we hear from our students, about how yoga has had a transformative effect on their bodies and spirits. We wanted to share those stories with our community of yogis, and Yogitales was born.
I started practicing yoga
approximately five years ago. The York studio is located in my
neighborhood. One day, I decided to take a class for no particular
reason. That night, I could not believe how open my shoulders and chest
area felt- I was sold.
Like many, I initially thought
that yoga was all about bending and flexibility. However, I soon learned
that yoga is more about strength building (in particular the core and lower
back). I'm an avid skier- the yoga has immeasurably improved my
performance on the hill. Skiing is mostly about a strong core (the
balance and lunges also help), which yoga practice builds.
More importantly, yoga has a
strong spiritual component. I've always had a spiritual life. When
I started practicing, I did not grasp the yoga/spiritual connection. I
was especially weary of the references to ethereal energy. That changed
through a profound experience. My wife, Alexandra (Ali), practiced yoga for
many years. I think she was one of the original members at NYY. She
battled stage four cancer for many years. After a long battle, the
disease started to approach the end stages. At this time, she was living
in California. I mentioned to my favorite instructor, Rachel Page, that
Ali had gone into hospice. Rachel took an interest in her progress.
Ali passed on a Wednesday. I was beside myself and went to Rachel's class
in an attempt to inject some normalcy into the day. At that point, I was
still a relatively new practitioner and struggled to make it through
classes. At the beginning of class, Rachel stated that I had suffered a
loss and asked that the fellow students send energy my way. During the
class, I felt like superman. I mentioned this to Rachel following class.
She pointed out that it was because the other students had sent their energy to
me. I left the shadows of doubt and became a believer in the super
natural powers of yoga.
Thank you New York Yoga for
transforming my life.
