Sonora Yoga Loft owner/instructor Cherie Newman leads her students through an intermediate vinyasa yoga session Tuesday evening.

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In 1996, Cherie Newman hurt her knee doing high-impact cardio classes. That meant no more going to the gym. At the time, she had a hectic, high-stress job managing an upscale restaurant in Santa Barbara, and she had a regular customer who just seemed to walk on air. There was a lightness and grace about this woman. She told Newman her secret yoga and recommended that Newman try it for her bum knee.

Newman was hooked from her first class and started attending as many as five classes a week. She was so hooked that she missed yoga when she and her longtime boyfriend, Tim Schupp, moved to Sonora a few years later. Newman, 56, could take yoga classes at the gym, but there was no yoga studio and nowhere near the number of classes she was used to.

One day while driving in downtown Sonora, Newman saw a for-rent sign in one of the windows of a second-story building. She knew the space would be perfect for a yoga studio, with its high ceiling and many windows that let in lots of natural light. Newman recently celebrated her ninth year as owner of the Sonora Yoga Loft. She has operated in that same building the entire time. She and several other teachers offer more than a dozen classes each week to people of all ages and every size and shape.

Q. What is yoga?

A. Well, it is a 3,000-year-old science originating from India. In most hatha yoga classes, you experience four components: asana (postures), pranayama (breath work), dhyana (meditation) and savasana (relaxation corpse pose). Our primary focus will be on the postures because they are the primary draw to yoga classes. There are thousands of poses, transitions and movements to choose from.

In a general yoga class, one would find poses that encourage the spine to bend, twist, rotate, straighten; poses that nudge the large muscle groups to lengthen, strengthen, elongate, contract; poses that ask the body to balance, to endure, to dissolve, to connect. Some postures are familiar from other disciplines, like lunges or squats. Some movements are similar to a cardio core class, like bicycle situps and leg lifts; some are uniquely yoga, like down dog and pigeon pose.

Ive been an adjunct faculty member at Columbia College for 12 years. I teach no surprise yoga! I include in my course curriculum a paper on the subject What exactly is yoga? The papers are among my most cherished possessions, right up there with my black pearl earrings. Im always moved by the soulful, revealing, open responses I am gifted with. On occasion, I receive a purely plagiarized response: Yoga is a 3,000-year-old contemplative practice based on Hinduism (which is not true) that blah blah blah. The papers I cherish are from the students who do not describe the actual practice but discuss the sensation of stillness, relaxation, acceptance and the transformation that happens within in the course of 70 minutes of yoga practice.

Q. How is yoga different from other exercise programs?

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Sonora instructor turns a passion for yoga into a profession

Taking a 12-week yoga class and practicing at home may ease sleep problems such as insomnia - but not to fewer or less bothersome hot flushes or night sweats.

The link between yoga and better sleep was the only statistically significant finding in this MsFLASH (Menopause Strategies: Finding Lasting Answers for Symptoms and Health) Network randomised controlled trial.

"Many women suffer from insomnia during menopause, and it's good to know that yoga may help them," said lead author Katherine Newton, PhD, a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute. She e-published these findings in Menopause, ahead of print.

"Hormone therapy is the only Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment for hot flushes and night sweats," Dr. Newton said, "and fewer women are opting for hormone therapy these days."

As a result MsFLASH tried to see whether three more "natural" approachesyoga, exercise, or fish oilmight help ease these menopause symptoms.

The study assigned 249 healthy, previously sedentary women at multiple sites, including Group Health, to do yoga, a moderate aerobic exercise program, or neitherand to take an omega-3 fatty acid supplement or a placebo.

Exercise seemed linked to slightly improved sleep and less insomnia and depression, and yoga also was linked to better sleep quality and less depressionbut these effects were not statistically significant. The omega-3 supplement was not linked to any improvement in hot flushes, night sweats, sleep, or mood.

"Exercise is absolutely critical," says Susan Moores, a registered dietician. Exercise can be a powerful sleep aid, combating the sleep disturbances many women complain about. It has been shown to improve the whole gamut of menopause symptoms from hot flushes to mood swings. She says not to just focus on aerobic exercise, but also try strength training and relaxation techniques, such as yoga.

"Flaxseed falls in the same camp as soy for the phytoestrogens," says Susan Moores, a registered dietician. One study by the Mayo Clinic found the incidence of hot flushes was reduced as much as 50 percent by consuming flaxseed. It is also thought to be very promising because, along with phytoestrogens, it also contains omega-3 fatty acids, which can aid in mood stabilization. According to A.D.A.M., an online health content provider, when compared to hormone replacement therapy, 40 grams of flaxseed was reported to be equally as effective in reducing hot flushes, vaginal dryness and mood disturbances.

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How To Treat Menopause: Yoga May Help With Insomnia, But Not Hot Flushes