Yoga for Every Body
We wake up in the morning and the drag race begins for many of us. We fly to work, run from meeting to meeting, eat on the go, drive the kids to athletic practice, maybe fit in exercise, try to feed the family, attempt to get the kids to take a bath, and pass out exhausted on our beds, only to start all over again in the morning.
In today’s high-stress way of life, it is often difficult to remember to take care of ourselves. Many people in our community have found a way to slow down, step back, and just breathe. They have discovered the practice of yoga.
The practice of yoga dates back more than 5,000 years to ancient India. The word “yoga” means “to join or yoke together,” and it brings the body and mind together into one harmonious experience.
 Lewellen Padgett believes that the practice of yoga teaches the true lessons of “how to love yourself, your children, your spouse, and the Spirit that connects us all one to another.”
Padgett, owner and yoga instructor at Artemesia Artworks and Yoga Studio in Salisbury, says that many people are on a fast-track and living a frantic lifestyle that causes a great deal of stress, strain and tension in their bodies. “All the aggression and anxiety we put ourselves through doesn’t allow us to breathe,” she says. “We don’t need any more aggression in the world. Life is not a competition.”
The physical benefits of yoga are widely known. Yoga helps the body become more flexible, aids in strength and muscle tone, enhances breath control, and assists in pain prevention.
Yoga is an intensively physical practice, yet it has many other advantages. It focuses on the breath, and therefore, brings calmness of the mind. While practicing yoga, there is an emphasis on being in the moment, learning not to dwell in the past or anticipate the future. Yoga also gives practitioners a strong sense of body awareness and, over time, increases the level of comfort in the body, leading to improved posture and self-confidence.
Stress is the number one cause of disease today, and Padgett believes that everyone should “give himself or herself the gift of learning how cope” with that stress. The practice of yoga can help do just that.
Padgett began practicing Sivananda Yoga in 1996. The method revolves around frequent relaxation, emphasizing full, yogic breathing, and it became a personal and spiritual awakening for her.
“Many people have forgotten how to breathe,” Padgett says. “Breathing properly connects us to the divine, our purpose, and ourselves. It brings us back to what is important in life and refocuses us away from our stress and anxiety.”
 Padgett became a certified yoga instructor in 2001 at the Sivananda Yoga Ashram in Nassau, Bahamas, where she studied extensively in diet and nutrition, anatomy, spirituality, pranayama (breath work), and asanas (yoga postures).
“It is my intention to help others learn to relax and take care of themselves, overcoming stress, learning how to breathe, and how to connect with their life’s purpose,” Padgett says.
Anne Waters, owner and yoga instructor of the Green Goat Gallery and Blue Ewe Yoga Studio in Spencer, also believes in the harmonious power of yoga.
“Yoga teaches us balance, not only of our bodies, but our lives. It is the opening of the heart and the mind while breathing freely,” Waters says.
Waters discovered her love of yoga in 1998 while attending classes at the YMCA. “My mind and body really had an ‘ah-ha!’ moment, and I knew that my life had a new direction.”
In 2007, Waters became a certified yoga instructor from the Asheville Yoga Center. She teaches a variety of styles of Hatha Yoga, where asanas, or postures, are linked with rhythmic breathing and sun salutations.
“For me, yoga allows for an elimination of preconceived notions and a true clearness of perception,” she says. “It teaches self-control and patience, lessons for me to take off the mat into life.”
Both Padgett and Waters express their desire to grow the yoga community.
“I want so much to engender this love of yoga and bring yoga to a deeper community,” Waters says.
International Free Yoga Day will be Saturday, January 21, 2012, and several studios and individual yoga instructors will be holding free yoga opportunities for the community.
 Yoga classes are available at Artemesia Artworks and Yoga Studio (www. artemesiaartworks.com) and the Blue Ewe Yoga Studio housed in the Green Goat Gallery (www.greengoatgallery.com/yoga), as well as at local gyms.
Throughout Rowan County, several certified yoga instructors give private lessons in their homes, in local community centers, at local colleges and universities, and in parks.
“Yoga is a practice for the mind, body and soul,” Waters says. “It is an opportunity to slow down, to take care of and center ourselves, and discover what is important in life.
“There are many forms of yoga practices, and it is important to find a type of yoga that works for you. There truly is yoga for every body.”
Story by Tara E. Van Geons
Photography by Sean Meyers, Lewellen Padgett, and Clyde Padgett.
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