Tue 6/2-Tue 10/27 @ 6:15PM
Yoga has gone mainstream, but that’s nothing new. In Cleveland and all around the world, yoga has become the universal way to oneness and inner peace. If you haven’t become a yoga enthusiast, it just hasn’t caught up to you. According to a recent Huffington Post article, the number of American who practice yoga has increased by 30% in the last four years and close to 9% of adults in the United States practice yoga.
When I started practicing yoga at 13, I relied on PBS to broadcast Lilias Yoga and You. In college, after Lilias Yoga ended, I relied on a book about yoga I bought at the Kent State bookstore. Today, my options are amazing — I can practice yoga at my workplace during the lunch hour, build up some heat at home, watch a Yoga Journal video to improve my crow or shoulder stand or go to a local yoga studio.
Yoga studios find their homes on the third floors of an early 20th-century house, storefronts in shopping centers and peaceful retreat centers in the woods. But what they have in common is a very real spirit of being present to the God-connection within and accepting of the many levels of fellow students in classes. Buddhas, candles, wall hangings, hardwood floors, and yoga mats and blankets stacked against walls are commonly found in the spaces created for yoga practice.
It’s a “practice” without judgment. Yoga allows us to know the power of being in the moment with the flow of breath and being present. All the small stuff loses its urgency. One of my favorite stories goes like this: there was once an American living in Italy who was miserable the day his Italian friend was coming to dinner because he hadn’t accomplished half the things on his list. The Italian said he picked up cannoli and a bottle of good Chianti, boarded a bus to travel across town and arrived with great success because he accomplished the one thing on his list for the day: visit his American friend. The word “yoga” means to yoke, to discover truth. The meditative practice of yoga shifts our responses to the world, and like the Italians, our glass becomes half full instead of half empty.
I have a “home” studio where yoga became more central to my life and a “convenient” studio that I can get to in seven minutes before work in the morning. The best ways to find a studio are to get a recommendation from a friend, stop by one you pass by just to see what it’s like or read studio websites to get a feel for their philosophy. The ones I’ve been to in the Cleveland area all capture the spirit of yoga and include Vision Yoga, Puma Yoga, Krysia Yoga and Agni Studio — you won’t go wrong at those studios.
The yoga community is generous. Not only do studios support local charitable causes, but they want to share yoga with you, especially at outside venues. I can’t think of any better way to feel the power of yoga than to go a free yoga practice like North Coast Namaste, which returns to downtown Cleveland’s Voinovich Park on Tuesday evenings from 6/2- 10/27 and features a different yoga studio every time — I’m signed up for 6/16. The 45-minute yoga classes begin at 6:15, but be there before 6 to register. The free yoga series is sponsored by the City of Cleveland and Infinity NP. Go to eventbrite.com/e/north-coast-namaste-free-summer-yoga-series-at-north-coast-harbor to sign up.
Try yoga this summer, if you haven’t already.
[Written by Claudia Taller]Claudia Taller writes about a yoga state of mind in her book 30 Perfect Days, Finding Abundance in Ordinary Life, published by Igniting Possibilities Press.
800 E 9th St, Cleveland, OH 44114