Yoga on Wednesdays

I am now 3 weeks into my agreement with myself to attend a regular yoga class. The class that I found closest to my home was only available on Wednesday evenings. Initially I was kind of hoping for something on a Saturday morning. Apparently fate knew better than me.

My normal week is a little hectic (whose isn’t right?) and can sometimes feel like a pressure cooker building and building from Monday through to Saturday. Often times when Thursday arrives I feel somewhat drained and can have trouble concentrating well enough to take care of some of my work.

This is no longer true. As it turns out, attending my new yoga class on Wednesday evenings has made an amazing difference in the flow of my week. When Wednesday evening arrives I can’t get to yoga fast enough. I enter the Wicker Room at Stella Maris and we move the furniture to clear the middle of the room. Bonita, our teacher, and the rest of the students arrive and at 6:30pm we begin. For the next 1 and 1/2 hours we meditate, practice yoga poses, stretch, do various breathing exercises (still working on the “breath of fire” exercise) and then close the class with a beautiful cup of tea and some light conversation. Read more

There are many different styles of yoga

I am a newbie in the yoga world, I’ve only been to less than 5 yoga classes. Nonetheless, I’ve already found there are many different styles of yoga teaching. The key is to find the style that is right for you.

Initially I attended a yoga class that I would say is closer in style to a general fitness class. Meaning, very quick transition from one pose to the next pose. Although I definitely worked up a sweat in that one, it wasn’t really what I was looking for. There in lies the key, what are you looking for in a yoga class?

My second yoga class was at CNY Healing Arts Center with Kim Fischer. Ahh, I found exactly what I was looking for. A combination of a good yoga workout with the additional meditation and calming of the mind that I so needed. That particular evening my mind was numb from the racing thoughts and Kim’s class was like a prescription for calm.

I only had one hurdle, I spent over an hour in travel time to get to and from the class. Now, we all know time is precious and this was a bit of a hurdle for me. So much to do in a day and so little time

I knew I needed a regular yoga class but I also was determined to find one that was closer to home. Last night I hit pay dirt! I found what seems to be the best kept secret in town, a lovely yoga class with Bonita Shear that is held weekly at the Stella Maris Retreat Center in Skaneateles, NY. The class was wonderful and had the 2 main ingredients I so needed: a physical workout as well as meditation for calming my mind.

If you have been searching for that perfect yoga class and are near the Skaneateles area, look no further. Wednesdays, 6:30-8:00pm, Yoga with Bonita Shear at Stella Maris. Come, you won’t regret it If you want further information about the class you can contact Bonita via email at bonitaim@roadrunner.com or by phone at 315.685.6759. Bonita is also a regular contributor here on MindBodySmile.com – click here to visit her author page.

Christine Briel
SkaneatelesTalk.com