Acupuncture

This month we’d love you to meet Deanna! You can catch her, and her enthusiasm for Yoga every week on Wednesdays at 12:30, Fridays at 9:00am, and Saturdays at 9:00am.

Deanna, when did you start practicing Yoga and why?
I started practicing in 2004.  There was a Bikram yoga studio across the street from my apartment and I loved the idea of working out in a heated room.
2. How has Yoga helped you in your life?
I think overall, yoga has taught me how to breathe! When I first started yoga I was running a lot and I immediately remember how much my lung capacity increased.  Beyond that and the obvious strength/flexibility it helps to build, it has offered me salvation, inspired me and been a creative outlet, and ultimately it is the place I go, over and over again, to come home to myself.Read More »Teacher Feature – Deanna Bekker

If you have attended a ‘Chanting for Healing’ session at Hemma in the last year and half,  then I have a lot of gratitude for you. We come together for this practice as a way to elicit healing to those present in the room, and to send that healing out into the community. It’s a practice that is rooted in the Satyananda Yoga tradition from northern India.  I want to thank you because the contribution of your energy inspires me to continue to share this practice, and your donations have totalled over $1000 since last January!

These donations are being sent back to the Satyananda Ashram in Jharkand, India to support the underserved populations in that area. It’s not about offering charity to these villagers, but offering them tools and training so they sustain themselves. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Swami Satyananda’s arrival Read More »Thank You

1. Mental Focus.
Yoga provides the perfect opportunity for runners to improve our mental game.  Precise alignment cues and dynamic flow sequences demand that we carefully attune to the way our bodies are moving in space, and to listen to what our bodies have to tell us as we move.  The heightened body awareness that we develop on the yoga mat translates into an enhanced ability to tune in to our pace, our form, and the inevitable twinges and niggles that come up as we run.  And when our minds begin to wander – as they most certainly will – yoga teaches us to watch where they go.  We learn to repeatedly bring our minds back into the moment, and manage the negative self talk that all to often undermines our best efforts as runners and human beings.

2. Breath control.
Yoga teaches us to coordinate our breath with Read More »6 reasons every runner should practice yoga