As one of the more tranquil seasons, Fall helps you ease your way from the summer to winter months. Although many people associate health reboots with the new year, theres never been a better time to start improving your habits. Whether youre yet to try yoga or you already have some experience with it, its time to learn how daily practice benefits your life.

Stress is a tiring business. As your body continuously floods with hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, you burn energy.

As yoga has a strong association with reducing stress, it can help you feel more energetic too. To see the greatest benefits, try incorporating a quick 15-minute sequence into your morning routine.

If you associate stronger muscles with spending hours in the gym, nows the time to rethink your approach. Yoga encourages you to build strength using your own weight. As it does so in a controlled manner, you may reduce your risk of injury.

Adding daily yoga to your routine can complement your usual cardio practices too. As you stretch out your muscles, youll reduce your likelihood of encountering DOMS and prepare your joints for your next workout.

Or, even better still, you can empty it before you go to sleep. Many of us lead exceedingly hectic lives. As a result, our minds are too busy for full focus or a restful night of slumber.

Yoga encourages you to focus on what youre doing in the moment. As a result, you can ease your mind away from its hectic state and into a calmer one. By practicing in the morning, youll clear your brain for the day ahead. In the evening, itll help you relax before you drift off to sleep.

Every yoga move you execute requires you to breathe deeply and with focus. By adopting better breathing practices, you make it easier to move through each day with a sense of calm.

Over time, better breathing increases your tidal volume. In other words, your lung capacity is greater. Increasing your tidal volume makes it easier for you to adopt other healthy living practices too. For example, running.

When Fall comes around, many of us could do with more happy hormones. Yoga boosts your serotonin levels, so you may be able to rely on it to keep Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) at bay.

In addition to higher serotonin levels, youll increase the amount of GABA in your brain. Once again, GABA reduces your risk of conditions such as SAD.

So how much yoga should you do each day? Start with around 15 minutes and work your way up. In addition to using local classes, try online videos. Before long, youll learn enough moves to create your own daily routine at home.

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Reasons to adopt a daily yoga practice this fall - FairfaxNews.com

UNION, NJ - Did you know that September is National Yoga, Honey, and Library Card Sign-Up Month?

Your Union Public Library card provides access to free DVDs, ebooks, CDs, genealogy websites and more. Its both easy and free to get one.

Speaking of honey, if you like cookbooks youll be interested in knowing that the Union Public Library added more than 20 titles in the last three months to their collection of almost 50 shelves of titles. There is something for everyone. Take a look at The Complete Baby and Toddler Cookbook, Taste of Home Cook It Quick All-Time Family Classics, Husbands That Cook, and Indian-ish: Recipes and Antics from a Modern American Family. Vegetarians can enjoy Mostly Plants: 101 Delicious Flexitarian Recipes and Vegetables Unleashed.We also have exotic collections such as "Zeitoun: Recipes from the Palestinian Kitchen" and recipes for specialized diets: "Keto Friendly Recipes" and "Skinny Taste One and Done".

Sign Up for Union Newsletter

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Finally, the library hasnt forgotten the most important meal of the day -- dessert! Two new cookbooks take care of cravings including The Salt and Straw Ice Cream Cookbook and Tasty Dessert: All the Sweet You Can Eat.

The Library is located at 1980 Morris Avenue with a branch at 123 Hilton Avenue in Vauxhall. For further information call 908-851-5450 or go to uplnj.org.

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It's Yoga, Honey, and Library Card Sign Up Month - TAPinto.net

Artist's impression of Tower Bridge, London, on Car-Free Day, September 22.

World Car Free Day is an event celebrated in cities around the world on September 22 every year, encouraging motorists to give up their cars for a day by highlighting that roads are not just for motor traffic.

London will be staging one of the most significant global Car-Free Days, with the City of London and some surrounding streets becoming the venue for a major festival.

As well as a sunrise yoga session on Tower Bridge, there will be a later classic-cycle ride across the iconic bridge. All of the citys cycle hire bike will be free for the day, and organizers are hoping that 150,000 people will take to the streets and discover what London is like when its not clogged nose-to-tail with space-inefficient motor cars.

More than 20 miles of Londons roads will be closed to motor traffic for the day, and 340 residential streets will be made into PlayStreets for children.

Orchestral and dance performances will be staged at the Bank Junction in the City of London, and spectators will be able to relax on the roads on deckchairs, armchairs and bean bags.

Additionally, 15 London boroughsincluding Ealing, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Haringey, Islington, Newham, Tower Hamlets, and Waltham Forest will be staging their own Car-Free Day events.

Im really proud that London will be holding its biggest Car Free Day celebrations on Sunday, said Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

By enabling Londoners to explore our city without cars and traffic, we will inspire them to walk and cycle as part of their daily routinesomething which is crucial to clean up our toxic air.

Israel's "Car-Free Day" is held on Yom Kippur, a major Jewish religious holiday. On this day Israelis refrain from using cars. The empty streets are overtaken by pedestrians and cyclists. Credit: Michael Jacobs/Alamy live news (Photo by Michael

The clean-air theme was continued by Dr. Audrey de Nazelle of the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London who added: For one day Londoners will walk, bike and play down the streets devoid of the most immediate sources of air pollution, noise, and traffic stress. Hopefully, they will develop a taste for it and soon be demanding more permanent car-free solutions.

Cities have been organizing International Car-Free Days annually since 1995. In the EU, the day caps the end of European Mobility Week. Bogot in Colombia holds the worlds largest car-free day, which was formalized after a public referendum.

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Yoga On Londons Tower Bridge? Possible This Sunday As Its Car-Free Day - Forbes

Like many men my age, who are still breathing, I'm not nearly so flexible as I used to be.

The shoulders pop, the knees grind, and the back aches.

Like many men my age, who are still breathing, my sense of balance has left me a bit wobbly.

I used to romp like a young mountain goat across the rocky peaks of Grandfather Mountain. Now, I grip the rail going down the basement steps.

Like many men my age, who are still breathing, I'm about as flexible as a steel pipe.

Touch my toes without bending my knees? Sure, and then I'll leap the Bank of America building in downtown Charlotte with a single bound.

And, like many men my age, I spend too much time fretting about the past and worrying about the future and not nearly enough time fully experiencing the moment.

A few weeks ago, when we were chatting about upcoming yoga events at the Warlick Family YMCA, including the Sept. 28 Yoga Fest, Y Associate Executive Director Susan Blanton suggested I give yoga a try and even volunteered to set up a session for me with a local yoga instructor.

The instructor kind enough to work with me was Rene Henderson. In trading e-mails as we set up a time to get together, I wrote, "I'm 64. In moderately good shape. But, with no flexibility and with declining balance skills. In other words, a tough project."

Her response was wonderful:

"I do not believe you are a tough project. Yoga should fit your body, not the other way around. I would be honored to teach you the foundational aspects of yoga."

My response:

"Forgot to mention, I also have lower back issues. A project."

Undeterred, Rene agreed to meet me at the Y for an hour's session. Thatshort time of instructionproved eye-opening, invigorating, and relaxing all at the same time.

First, Rene made sure that nothing hurt. The yoga pad, a folded blanket, and foam blocks were used to provide support for my balky back.

Second, she emphasized the importance of breathing, of focus, of mental clarity.

Then, she slowly and carefully walked me through a series of positions, taking time to explain the kinetics of each of them and the benefit they provided.

And, when the end of the hour came all too quickly, my constantly-complaining lower back was oddly silent.

An hour, of course,is just a beginning. A tiny baby step down a road that it is now up to me to navigate if I so choose.

But I think I'll take that road. Sign up for some classes. Work with my bride at home. See where things lead.

After all, I may be old, but I'm still kicking. And maybe with yoga, I can kick a little higher.

Bill Poteat may be reached at 704-869-1855.

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First try at yoga a rewarding experience - Gaston Gazette

As the sun set on the Allerton Meadows in Monticello, Josie Heck gathered her students in a large circle. She had a wagon with purple yoga mats for those who did not bring their own, and she attached glow stick bracelets to everyones wrists. Then, at 7:30 p.m., she began her full moon flow.

Heck has been a yoga instructor in the Champaign-Urbana area for several years now, teaching classes to students from all over.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The Daily Illini: Can you tell me a little bit about the work you do?

Josie Heck: I teach yoga. I went full time with it over the course of 2019, but Ive been teaching for the past five years. I had always been in talks with Allerton, because it always settles me and reminds me to breathe. They were very supportive of me becoming a yoga teacher and bringing yoga to Allerton. I believe it was 2015 (when) we started (classes) once a month through the summer.

It took some time the first community classes I would get two people, or sometimes nobody would show. Throughout the last four years, the students have been amazing. They come from everywhere, and theyre the ones who have given us suggestions.

DI: Can you tell me about the kind of people who are attracted to these classes?

JH: Its interesting because the different classes are pulling people from different areas. (For) the full moon yoga, we get a lot of college students from all around, as well as people coming in from Springfield, Decatur, Champaign-Urbana, Tuscola people will drive a good 45 minutes to come and experience that sort of class.

Our monthly community yoga is usually (for) my regular students, but also (for) people who are not available to get into a class during the week. The summer series is again free community yoga.

We did Wednesdays this week at 9 a.m. through June and July, and that group is the teachers who are off for the summer. I love it. I usually have a really good group anywhere from like six-12 9 (people) will hit that series in the summer.

Its a different vibe for the different types of classes that we bring in, which I really like. I dont want people to get lost in this idea that yoga is for one type of person, or you have to have a certain amount of privilege to be able to bring yoga in.

I make it more available to people who are not able to afford a monthly pass or even occasionally make it available to kids I volunteer for the first-grade class at Lincoln, and thats another one where they really respond well to it. Then they will bring their parents to the free family community classes, which is nice, because that brings in a group that would not (come) if their kids didnt demand it.

DI: Why do you do yoga?

JH: I started yoga really as an accident. We were on vacation, and I found a little studio and went to a class every day. I had done one class ages ago, and it just didnt stimulate (me) enough it didnt fit at that time but this time, I really felt a connection.

When I got on my yoga mat, it really brought me back to myself in a way that I never experienced. I grew up with a lot of chaos in my home. Oftentimes it was a volatile place. I hadnt realized how much I had closed myself physically to protect myself over the years and how that transferred to my mental well-being. I was very reactive, quick to anger, quick to judge, quick to blame.

Those five days of yoga really brought a massive shift in how I viewed myself and how I operated. We were driving home, and my husband looked at me and said, You look different, and I said, I feel different, and I think maybe this is what Im supposed to do: Teach yoga.

I found Amara Studio in Champaign-Urbana, and when I walked in, it was like I was coming to a safe place, something that I hadnt previously experienced in my life.

The teacher tells me that I should take the teacher training, and after completing my 200 hours, I was trying to figure out how not only to be a student but to be a teacher.

I let myself go really slow until the last two years. I would teach community classes at the elementary school, at Kirby (Medical Center) and then of course my Allerton classes were always going around.

In April, a space popped open off the square, and I thought it would be really fun to open a full-time studio, so Yoga Off The Square now has a full-time studio where I dont have to take my mats everywhere. I still travel around, but now I can bring different groups into one space.

DI: How did full moon yoga start?

JH: It started with a student suggestion. I started to think about how to do a full moon class, looking into how we move in a yoga.

It shifts, so if were doing the practice in the morning, its very different from a practice we would do in the evening, and its the same as when the moon is high or low. Instead of going from the top of your mat to the back, we move from side to side. Were shifting the balance, how we move our bodies, just like the Earth is kind of being pulled slightly different with the full width of the moon.

Its designed to have you breathe and move in a way to discharge some of that excess energy, that tightness, that anxiety People trust themselves to move more instinctually. Theyre not fully focused on me; theyre not trying to set themselves up or to be exactly like the person next to them. Youre allowed to be completely in your own space on Earth and connect with the sky.

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Local instructor teaches full-moon yoga class - Daily Illini

Yoga

Find Zen for your little ones.

Kids yoga class at Sol Yoga in Conshohocken. Photograph by Courtney Apple

Phillys kids and teens have more anxiety than ever. But getting them into yoga may help them better navigate the stresses of school now and adulthood later. Here, five local sanctuaries that offer Zen for little ones.

Storytelling and music will trick the three-to-five-year-olds in this seasonal yoga series (the next one starts September 8th) into thinking its playtime when theyre really dipping their toes into impulse control and teamwork. $60 for all four classes or $17 for drop-in. 1100 Pine Street, Midtown Village.

Weekends are for young yogis at this luxe chain of studios, which offers classes at Jersey outposts in Hamilton, Pennington, Princeton and more. Kids four to 10 attend meditation-focused sessions; more advanced tweens learn arm balances, and the most intrepid can opt for aerial lessons. $15 to $20 drop-in. Multiple locations.

Owner Angela Travaglini Wilson turns to creative games like yoga limbo and toega (she tosses colorful cotton balls on the ground and has kids pick them up with their toes) to make asanas as engaging as iPads. $12 drop-in. 117 West Ridge Pike, number 4, Conshohocken.

Just in time for back-to-school, local yoga teacher Ashley Tryba will lead elementary-schoolers in regular Tuesday and Thursday classes from September through December that include postures, breathing exercises, and aromatherapy elements. $295 to enroll. 410 Monroe Street, Queen Village.

Working with the Free Library, yogi Wesley Blades offers gratis flow classes incorporating reading, journaling and games. (She teaches paid childrens classes elsewhere.) So far, shes planned sessions at the South Philly branch and the Parkway Central Library on dates through November check @littleyogacollective on Insta for updates. Free. Locations vary.

Published as Childs Pose in the September 2019 issue of Philadelphia magazine.

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5 Great Places for Kids Yoga Classes Around Philly - phillymag.com

Sun Yoga Hawaii | Photo: Hunter L./Yelp

Want to know where to go when it comes to yoga in Honolulu?

Luckily, there's no shortage of popular yoga options to choose from in and around Honolulu.

To find the top yoga studios in the area, Hoodline analyzed data from Yelp, Facebook and ClassPass to identify which studios are the most popular. Read on for the results.

(Bonus: You can try them all out if you're a member of ClassPass, a monthly fitness membership that provides access to thousands of different studios, gyms and wellness offerings.)

Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions.

820 W. Hind Drive, Kuliouou-Kalani Iki

Sun Yoga Hawaii is Honolulu's favorite yoga studio by the numbers, with 4.9 stars out of 1,321 reviews on ClassPass, 4.5 stars out of 77 reviews on Yelp and 4,784 fans on Facebook. It's the top yoga studio in the entire Honolulu metro area, according to ClassPass' rankings.

"Sun Yoga Hawaii offers 90 and 60-minute Signature Sun Yoga Classes, including Sun Salutations, Hatha Yoga postures and guided deep relaxation," per the business's ClassPass profile.

"Our use of infrared heat helps the body in detoxification through sweat, balancing metabolism, facilitating weight loss, increasing circulation, relieving joint pain, improving cardiovascular health, tissue elasticity, beautification of skin, stress relief and relaxation," Sun Yoga Hawaii notes on its Yelp page. "Sun Yoga Hawaii is a locally owned and operated yoga studio."

See what people are saying about the selection of classes at Sun Yoga Hawaii on ClassPass here.

1019 Waimanu St., Suite 101, Ala Moana-Kakaako

With 4.9 stars out of 1,902 reviews on ClassPassand4.5 stars out of 33 reviews on Yelp,Body Balance holds its own among the competition.

"Body Balance is a boutique fitness and wellness studio dedicated to transforming the mind and body," per the business's ClassPass profile.

"Body Balance is more than a boutique fitness studio, we are a part of the local community and your fitness family," Body Balance explains on its Yelp page. "We have been shaping bodies and hearts since 1998 and providing an extraordinary full-body experience. [We're] a new boutique experience bringing together the best in studio fitness rhythm cycling, Pilates, Barre and more in one luxurious space."

Story continues

Read reviews of the different classes at Body Balance on ClassPass here.

1055 Kalo Place, Suite 102, McCully-Moiliili

With 4.7 stars out of 10 reviews on ClassPass, four stars out of four reviews on Yelp and 177 fans on Facebook, Quality Health & Fitness is another popular local pick.

"Quality Health & Fitness' mission is to help people live a happier life through/by teaching their clients how to do specific/necessary exercises for you, not against you; providing their clients and community with the best science and service their goals deserve; helping them learn proper body mechanics and effective strength training techniques for continued progression; and assisting them make certain changes in their life to feel better, be stronger, be healthier, eat smarter and to look better," explains the business's ClassPass profile.

"My clientele varies from 11 years old to 84 years old. Therefore, I make very versatile fitness programs specifically for that individual to meet their needs and goals, while progressing their own pace," according to the business's Yelp page.

Check out reviews of the offerings at Quality Health & Fitness on ClassPass here.

This story was created automatically using ClassPass and other local business data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.

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What's Honolulu's top yoga studio? - Yahoo News

Corinne is a few days shy of 40 weeks pregnant and so done, she says, sitting on a mat inside Yoga Tree on Valencia Street in the Mission. Today would be great. Tomorrow would be great.

Lauren (34 weeks) has a fully transverse baby lying sideways across the mothers abdomen whose butt is digging into her ribs. Jamie (37.5 weeks) has all the things. Cecilia (32 weeks) cant sleep.

As the sharing moves around the room, there are varicose veins and back pain. Sore knees and cankles and indigestion even when I havent eaten. Someone else is feeling a lot of pressure in her breasts.

Because theyre growing, says prenatal yoga instructor Jane Austin, to a burst of laughter.

How much more?

So. Much. More.

When one woman has nothing to add, Austin prods gently. Are you sure you dont want to kvetch about anything? The floor is yours.

Every prenatal class here starts with this ritual: 40 to 50 women in all phases of pregnancy propped on blankets, bolsters and dense foam blocks, introducing themselves, how far along they are and how theyre feeling. Some are still in the early weeks, their bodies not yet expanded into new dimensions and shapes. Others are in the homestretch, heaving cautiously from pose to pose, ready to expel the tiny person theyve been cultivating for the past 40 weeks. I am somewhere in the middle, potbellied but not yet waddling, listening to the stories around me as reminders of whats past and previews of whats to come.

Wherever she is in the nineish-month journey, this is the safest of places for a woman going through pregnancy. Its a room where no topic is off limits and the weirdest complaint will be met with a knowing nod and a suggestion for acupuncture, wrist guards, pregnancy tea or that couch trick.

Ive had multiple womens water break in my class, Austin says. Ive had women in labor in class.

Over the last few decades, guidelines around exercise for pregnant women have shifted significantly, from bed rest and eating for two to healthy diet and regular exercise right up until delivery. Today, an array of fitness classes caters to pregnant women and recent mothers who want to keep up with their workouts. The Mindful Body teaches pre- and postnatal yoga in Pacific Heights; the Pad has pre- and postnatal pilates in the Marina; in Cow Hollow, the Dailey Method has Dailey Baby, where moms wear their infants in frontside carriers; and the Lotus Method focuses exclusively on pre- and postnatal strength training at four locations around the Bay Area.

At Yoga Tree Valencia, near the corner of 24th Street in the Mission, prenatal yoga is scheduled six times a week; drop-in classes cost $24. On weekends, they tend to fill up, mats inching closer together and spilling into the center aisle of the room so no one is turned away.

Austin is the center of the prenatal universe at the Mission studio. Legging-clad with long brown hair and tinkling jewelry, four days a week, she inspires pilgrimages of pregnant women from around San Francisco and the larger Bay Area. For about 90 minutes at a time, Austin is yogi, therapist, confidant and comedian, a sympathetic ear and knowledgeable voice who approaches the uncomfortable truths of pregnancy and motherhood with straightforwardness, humor and practical advice.

My hips somehow feel both tight and loose, says a woman who introduces herself as Candace.

It sounds like you might be pregnant, Austin deadpans. Then she explains: The joints get mobile to prepare for childbirth while the muscles stiffen to keep everything stabilized. This class is designed to address just that kind of discomfort. Well try to balance that out.

When Austin began teaching prenatal yoga in San Francisco almost 20 years ago, she wasnt a certified yoga instructor. Vinyasa wasnt part of the vernacular, and the term athleisure was years away from being coined by someone with a strong appreciation for spandex.

Austin is a former doula and midwife who left the field to have her own children. Shed taken a prenatal yoga class during her first pregnancy, and though it wasnt quite what she was looking for, she recognized the potential. There was something there, something powerful.

She went to San Francisco studio Yoga Tree and said, This is my big refrigerator credential. This is what I love about yoga. I want to join the two.

Thats essentially what she did, developing her own prenatal curriculum through trial and error, using her experience as a midwife to inform a practice that takes a holistic view of a womans body.

Pregnancy, for many women in the U.S. is really disempowering, Austin says. CEOs, managers, independent adults in charge of their own lives: They see two lines on a First Response test and suddenly theyre treated like children, told what to eat and how to move. The idea that women are inherently unstable or inherently fragile or that pregnancy is pathology, that's the lens in which women perceive their pregnancies, culturally.

The yoga, she says, helps them step away from all the chatter of what everybodys telling them to do, and really kind of tune into their own experience. Its always my great trust and faith that women, given the space and the opportunity, that she will make good choices for her and her baby.

Cassie Sikes (35 weeks) started taking the class in her first trimester, looking for guidance on what to do and not do, how not to squash the baby.

This has made the most difference for me in my pregnancy, she says. Austin is so full of information. She really cares about whats going on. You can ask Jane anything.

Shes also a regular presence in her clients lives. While many women see their doctors once a month during pregnancy, they may go to yoga multiple times each week.

At Yoga Tree, Austin teaches prenatal classes in addition to mom-and-baby yoga (the studio floor full of tiny, wide-eyed infants), workshops where partners learn to support their pregnant companions through labor, and Mama Tree teacher trainings that have produced many of the Bay Areas prenatal yoga instructors.

Jane in particular knows how to communicate to women who are pregnant, says Yoga Tree and Yoga Works San Francisco District Manager Lidia Valdez, who attended the classes religiously during her own pregnancy and has completed the teacher training. Its more than just the yoga practice. Its a time to connect.

That doesnt mean theres any forced spirituality. I dont superimpose how I think women should feel, Austin says. Sometimes I go to (other) prenatal yoga classes, and they'll be like, Breathe love into your belly. What if you don't feel like it? What if you had a fight with your partner or youre feeling a little like, Oh god, this baby is such a parasite? But do I create conditions for women to fall in love with their babies? Yeah.

In the class I attend, after the introductions, some deep breaths and a collective ohm, Austin instructs us to stretch our arms out to the side, palms up and elbows slightly bent, eyes closed. We hold it, 50 pregnant women posed like serene Ws, breathing and listening, as Austin monologues some distraction and the muscles in our shoulders, upper backs and chests start to scream.

For those who havent done this practice before, just know that we do this for a really, really, really long time, Austin says as the burn ratchets from mild sting to a deeper fire. So if you think its already been a long time, its only been a little time.

She tells us that this is not a test, and that we can take breaks whenever we need to. She tells us to use our breath to focus our minds. When its already been an impossibly long time, she tells us that were going to hold our arms out for another two whole minutes, so we build up stamina and strength for pregnancy, for labor, for everything that comes after.

Thats what this class is all about: preparing women for motherhood. Our shoulders, at the very least, will be ready.

Sarah Feldberg is the assistant features editor at The Chronicle. Email: sarah.feldberg@sfchronicle.com.

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Preparing for birth and everything after at prenatal yoga - San Francisco Chronicle

Kids are fueled by imagination, and yoga can help them grow. Video by Kelly-Jane Cotter

Mary Ansell, owner of Open Heart Yoga in Red Bank(Photo: Courtesy of Open Heart Yoga)

When you're on the mat in yoga class, does your mind wander?

Are you all about Warrior Pose, or are you thinking about meeting a deadline at work, or what to make for dinner, or that time in high school when you really embarrassed yourself, or that impossibly toned person a few mats away? How does she make it look so easy? Why don't my arms look like that? Should we have pasta tonight?

Mary Ansell is not judging you for that.

"Life is never easy," she said, "and yoga is not easy or perfect."

As the owner of Open Heart Yoga, at 93 Shrewsbury Ave. in Red Bank, she knows how challenging it can be to stay in the present. She wants her studio to be a place where stress evaporates, where anxiety and competiveness fall away, and where yogis can focus on everyone's value and dignity. And she created her business model with all that in mind.

With her friend and business partner, Robin L. Klein, as president of the venture, Ansell opened her studio as a non-profit organization. The women reached out to other local non-profits,in hopes of collaborating with them.

Robin L. Klein, president of Open Heart Yoga in Red Bank.(Photo: Kelly-Jane Cotter)

Everyone was on board, from Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, which fights hunger, poverty and homelessness; to 180 Turning Lives Around, which helps those affected by domestic and sexual violence; to the Tigger House Foundation, which helps those affected by the opiod and heroin addiction crisis,to Count Basie Center For The Arts, dedicated to fostering inclusive artistic experiences for the community.

"No one said no," said Klein, who lives in Middletown, "and there are others who want to be involved, and we hope to bring them in at some point."

Ansellstarted practicing yoga 23 years ago, after the birth of her daughter, and stuck with it as she raised her two sons as well. She gained balance and perspective from yoga, and felt grateful that she had the time and resources to devote to it. But she also realized not everyone was as privileged. A one-hour yoga class can cost $15, $20 or more. Child care needs, transportation and work schedules also can present roadblocks.

"I saw versions of me in those classes," saidAnsell, who lives in Shrewsbury,"and I wanted as many people as possible to experience it. So that idea marinated for years."

Ansell's goals wereboth simple and deep: Create opportunity for people of all walks of life to enjoy the benefits of yoga together. Foster the physical and spiritual benefits of yoga for everyone in the class. Build community.

And here's how it works: When you buy an individualclass or package at Open Heart Yoga, the studio donates the same experience to a client or volunteer from one of the local non-profits. You get to choose which one. And you get to take a tax deduction for half the price of your purchase.

Sylvia Hofmann, a licensed professional counselor and yoga instructor leads a yoga class focused on anxiety and stress reduction Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018 at Mind, Body and Soul Wellness Center in Haddon Heights, N.J. Produced by Joe Lamberti/Courier-Post

In addition to the aforementioned non-profits, Open Heart Yoga also benefits The Beauty Foundation For Cancer Care, which gives financial aid to families with cancer; Bloom Again, which gives emergency funds to economically vulnerable working women; Lunch Break, which provides food, clothing and life skills to people in need; Parker Family Health Center, a free health care clinic for people without medical insurance or sufficient money; Stephy's Place, which offers free support groups for the bereaved; and the Visiting Nurse Association Health Group, which serves vulnerable populations, including at-risk children, the elderly, those with disabling and chronic illness, and people facing the end of life.

Open Heart Yoga is part of a thriving block of businesses on Red Bank's West side.(Photo: Courtesy of Open Heart Yoga)

"We're so happy to be on the West side, with everything going on here," Klein said.

The West side of Red Bank, traditionally less wealthy than the East side near the Navesink River, has seen significant development in recent years. Two River Theater anchors the neighborhood, with Triumph Brewing Co.drawing the craft beer crowd. The newly rehabilitated Anderson Building, at Monmouth Street and Bridge Avenue, offers loft-style office space across from the train station. Sickles Market,a much-loved gourmet and farmers' market in Little Silver, opened a second location to occupy the ground floor of the Anderson Building.

Even better for Open Heart Yoga, many of the studio's community partners also are based on the West Side, enhancing that connection.

"For me," Ansell said, "it's a community-seeking thing."

When you buy a class or package at Open Heart Yoga in Red Bank, the studio will donate the same to a local charity.(Photo: Courtesy of Open Heart Yoga)

Ansell hopes to eventually have fully integrated classes, with equal numbers of paying students and students who've received gift vouchers.

"Once you walk in here, it's not intimidating," said Klein.

The studio was previously a karate center. It has one room, with plenty of daylight pouring in. The Rumson-based artist Kathleen Palmeri created and donated art work for the studio: three painted hearts.

"One for "Open," one for "Heart," and one for "Yoga,"" Ansell said.

Instructors at Open Heart Yoga include Ann Yocum, Mary Ansell, Amy Crowe, Elizabeth Kirk, Linda Vera and Katherine Amoedo. Not pictured are Caroline DeFelice, Katie Leasor and Kelly Annarella.(Photo: Courtesy of Open Heart Yoga)

Open Heart Yoga opened in May, due in part to support received from community sponsors: Shore Point Distributors, Chelsea Senior Living, Care To Give, Ansell Grimm & Aaron, Denholtz Properties, Newport Capital Group and West Side Lofts.

"It's been a community effort on every level," Ansell said.

The pay-off, she hopes, will be better health for all.

"Physically, yoga works every muscle and tendon system in your body," Ansell said. "When you connect to your breath, you get mental and emotional benefits as well. Mindfulness seeps into you."

In time, even that interior monologue of list-making,worrying, and envying might go away, replaced by calm and gratitude.

"We learn how to transition calmly, and not to live from holiday to holiday, like the stores do," Ansell said. "Yoga even helped me after my kids went to college. A lot of people pine for the past, but I don't. Now is a good place to be."

For more info on Open Heart Yoga, call 732-859-6749 or go to openheartyoganj.org

Hi, there! I'm Kelly-Jane Cotter. My favorite styles of yoga areKripalu and Iyengar. Readmore of my stories below, follow me@KellyJaneCotter,reach me at kcotter@gannettnj.com, and please consider supporting local journalism with a subscription.

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More:
Red Bank's Open Heart Yoga lets you help others while you help yourself - Asbury Park Press

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - One of the world' most popular yogis is out with a second book about overcoming the most channeling time in her life.

Rachel Brathen, better known as Yoga Girl, spent eight hours in excruciating pain with doctors unable to find the cause.

"The same eight hours my best friend hit a truck driving on the wrong side of the road," said Brathen during FOX 5 NY morning program, 'Good Day NY.' "It took her eight hours to pass away."

That moment was life changing for the Aruba resident.

In 'To Love and Let Go,' Brathenwrites about the long road to accepting loss and moving on with life.

"The only way is through. We have togive ourselves space to experience the pain not just take a way around it," said Brathen

Her new book is about ways to move through adversity.

Brathen is a big proponent of practicing yoga.

"It's one of the few forms of movements and life styles that you can take with you through anything," said Brathen.

Another tip, writing down what you're feeling.

"It took me five years to write the book," said Brathen. "So writing it was like reliving the painful things that happened to me."

Read more from the original source:
'Yoga Girl' shares tips on ways to move through adversity - Fox5NY