Although many friends of Yoga Lagniappe have already made a commitment to having yoga in their lives, we have a lot of friends who are interested in wellness and have thought about trying yoga but don’t know where to start.  With the wide range of yoga styles and class descriptions out there, it can be hard to know what to expect and whether a particular class will be a good fit for you. Here are our suggestions for how to take that first step onto the sticky mat.

1. Consider what type of physical and mental exercise you already enjoy. 

Think about what you already like to do and look for classes that sound appealing to you. At the same time, try to remember to keep your ego at bay when you see descriptive words like power, sweaty, and level III. For example, if you’re focused on loosing weight and have decided to run everyday because you think it’s the fastest way to get results, even through you hate the thought of pounding the pavement, a Power Yoga class might not be the first type of yoga to add to your routine.  Just because you’ve heard what a “great workout it is” doesn’t mean it’s the right yoga style for you.  Focus less, on what you think you should do and more on what you think you would enjoy from the beginning. Try to find a class description or teacher biography that appeals to more than your desire to loose weight, be a yoga super star, or put your foot behind your head. Yoga gives you tools and techniques that bring more balance to all areas of your life. So rather than continuing to increase certain physical characteristics of your exercise routine, look to complement what you’re already doing with a more holistic approach.

2. Remember being a beginner is not a bad thing.

In our culture we tend to want to be experts at whatever we do from the start.  With yoga in particular, this usually equates to being flexible and being able to “do” the poses the way we see the teacher or another student “doing” the poses. While the initial focus tends to be on the physical aspects of yoga it’s important to consider the mental focus, breath control, and spiritual elements that are also key components of the practice. It’s important not to jump into a level II or level III class just because you think you can handle it. Yoga has often been at the top of the list for sports related injuries. Injuries can be prevented if you allow yourself the time to find a competent teacher who can show you proper physical alignment and offer modifications to adjust the poses for your unique body.

3. Don’t limit yourself to the class that your friend likes.

While a yoga class and chat after-word can be a great way to catch up with friends, remember that just because your friend is in love with a particular yoga style doesn’t mean that you have to be.  Think about alternating which class you go to with your friend. Suggest switching it up every now and then and exploring different yoga studios. Even consider private lessons to begin your exploration of yoga. In a private session a teacher should be able to address your specific physical and mental make up and design a practice tailored to your needs. You will also benefit from the detailed instruction that you can gain from a private class. Incorporating those detailed tips to prevent injuries will be well worth the investment.

4. Read, talk, and listen to others members of the yoga community.

Once you begin a yoga practice, you’ll soon realize that yoga is a way of life and something that offers you tools to reach your greatest potential. The more you read about yoga studios and teachers in your area (see our interviews in Studio Overviews and Teacher Interviews) the better feel you will have for the variety of options that are available to you. Talk to people who already practice yoga and listen to their opinions, but above all listen to your gut feeling about whether a certain class is a good fit for you.

5. Try, Try, and Try Again

Fortunately, yoga has grown in popularity enough that there are now a wide range of yoga styles, classes, and teachers to choose from. Don’t give up on yoga because your first class didn’t meet your expectations.  Allow yourself some time to explore a few different classes and teachers. Cultivating patience is one of the gifts that practicing yoga brings. Give yourself the time to try numerous teachers and studios until you find a place where you feel at home. When you do finally find that special class, it’ll be like getting some extra special Yoga Lagniappe.

Website: www.marycg.com

Where do you teach?: Balance Yoga & Wellness, New Orleans Athletic Club,  Swan River Yoga

What styles of yoga do you teach?: Jivamukti Yoga, Stand Up Paddle Board Yoga, and Swan River Yoga

Mary is a professional dancer who found yoga when she moved to New Orleans. She completed the Swan River Yoga 350 Hour Teacher Training and is a Certified Jivamukti Yoga Teacher. In addition to teaching yoga classes, Mary is a student of AcroYoga, a professional fitness model, and a key member of the Tsunami Dance Company. Her intention is to be integral in the continuous growth of yoga and dance in the Gulf Coast Region.

With an education and career in dance, your body awareness must have already been strong when you discovered the practice of yoga. Has yoga helped you cultivate an even deeper level of body awareness or have you found it has had a more profound impact on your mind and spirit?  I am constantly surprised with how, after all of these years of dancing, I continue to learn more about body awareness. It’s really never-ending joy. Yoga has helped me to understand the dynamics of the body and its movements by more deeply investigating how to integrate muscular effort and alignment with the energetic, or pranic, flow within the body. But for certain, yoga’s most profound impact on my life has been the joy and ease that have come with the added clarity the yoga practice has introduced. Dedicating my life to service and to discovering how my life can be a proponent of happiness and freedom for all beings is my calling.

You’ve studied with some prominent yoga teachers and decided to further your studies by completing the Jivamukti Yoga Teacher Training in 2012. What is it about this particular style of yoga that resonates with you?  My mentors at Swan River Yoga, Michele Baker and Keith Porteous, are both Jivamukti Certified teachers, so I have always felt a strong connection to that lineage.  In an effort to continue to grow as a teacher, and as the only way I feel I can truly show the gratitude to those who brought so much joy and depth into my life is to serve others to the best of my abilities, I decided to study with my teachers’ teachers. Since studying under Sharon Gannon and David Life, I am completely devoted to their message and the underlying passion of Jivamukti Yoga, which is to help bring awareness to how we can come into more peaceful and mutually beneficial relationships with everything in existence, so we may better flow with all of nature. And it’s real! It’s not flowery yoga-hippie-hang-out-barefoot-in-the-grass-everything-is-rainbows-and-butterflies-make-believe-fantasy-world. Although, I must say….all of that is like an added bonus. Ha!

Stand Up Paddle Board Yoga classes have become popular in recent years. Tell us what we can expect if we join you for a class on the bayou?  You can definitely expect an experience unlike any other! Our city of New Orleans is so incredibly beautiful and what better way to immerse yourself in its beauty than with yoga, floating on water, with some of the most beautiful scenery in the city? Every class is a little different. If there is more wind, we do more paddling; if there is less wind, we spend more time in yoga postures. There is a balance of the two. We do everything from standing poses and lunges, to forward bends, backbends, and sometimes inversions. A sense of adventure as well as some humor would be recommended for this practice. Any level yogi will enjoy it as well.

The practice of yoga and performance of dance both convey meaning without necessarily needing words to carry their message. As a yoga teacher and dance performer, what do you hope to convey to your students and your audience?  That true, everlasting happiness and freedom is available to us in this lifetime. That love is our natural state, and when we surrender to being the loving beings that we are, showing compassion towards all others, we will feel more like ourselves, and be closer to the happy, confident, super-powered beings we were meant to be! It may not be easy, but you can still have a good time along the ride… Laissez le bon temps rouler! 

Name:

Website: www.facebook.com/CommunityFlowYoga

Where do you teach?: Bodhisattva Tea Spa

What style of yoga do you teach?: Vinyasa Yoga

Priya is a graduate of the Wild Lotus Soul School Teacher Training Program. She teaches a weekly Community Flow Yoga class at the Bodhisattva Tea Spa in Metairie. With a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, Priya is no stranger to analytical thinking. Her career as an engineer allows her to describe yoga poses in a clear and logical way, while her own intuitive nature delivers a deeper element of subtlety to her students.

What brought you to New Orleans from Texas?  My job as a pipeline engineer originally brought me here. Overall, it has been a sweetly transformative and surprisingly magical experience. Transitions can be difficult, especially when you come to a city with an entirely different vibration, focus, and demography. While the two states are very different, I find happiness and joy in both places, but for different reasons. Texas proudly welcomes diversity and culture in the most opposite of locales; while New Orleans gives you her familiar faces, mysterious moments, and colorful historical traditions.

Why have you chosen to teach yoga in addition to your full-time career as a Project Engineer?  From a young age, I have always tried to find places of intersection between science and spirituality. I believe that we tend to compartmentalize ourselves and others as we assume religious and political divides define us. I find that having one foot in each realm keeps me learning about the other and blending the two continuously. Yoga teaches us so many important virtues that we can use in the business/scientific world, while the corporate realm teaches us the value of hard work, analytical thinking, and incentive. Both worlds teach us the most interesting dynamic of all—the value of the complex and intricate interactions between human beings.

Do you find that your work life and your yoga practice overlap? Do you have co-workers who are interested in yoga?  Absolutely they overlap. Successful engineers are able to see the big picture, use their intuition when something doesn’t feel right, and work collaboratively. They are also able to focus on the details when needed…a mentor of mine says, “The Devil is in the Details,” which is true for both engineering and yoga in many ways. Sometimes the smallest detail or movement makes the biggest difference-both on and off the mat. There is a time for innovation and a time for tradition. Then there is also a time to fuse the two together, which both yogis and engineers grow to recognize. Engineers must be creative and innovative like yoga teachers, and each job really helps me to keep the other fresh. Many of my co-workers are interested in yoga. Increasingly, they ask more and more about the spiritual side of yoga, which has been a delight to share with them.

In what ways can you see the practice of yoga benefitting other engineers like yourself? Is yoga something you would like to see your company’s Human Resources Department offer to employees?  Yoga opens the mind to new ways of thinking, fosters creativity and innovation, and teaches us how to manage stress physically and mentally. As boundaries shift and knowledge of yoga practices permeate the “corporate/scientific/business” world, more and more engineers are doing yoga regularly. My employer is highly supportive of anything that fosters a collaborative and healthy work environment, thus offering massage therapy, yoga, and several other classes at many key sites almost daily. These appointments and classes are nearly at capacity too!

Were you practicing yoga while you lived in Texas? If so, what do you find different about being a part of the New Orleans yoga community?  I started out doing Bikram yoga almost exclusively in Texas…where several years ago, I couldn’t tell you the name of many private non-Bikram studios. That has changed dramatically for both states it seems recently—as if there is really just a yoga explosion going on in the world, not just locally. It feels as though yoga practices have transcended so many previous definitions and connotations—finding every nationality, age, religion, and political affiliation to welcome to the path. An amazing sight to see in action.

After moving to Louisiana the yoga flood gates opened wide for me, where I experienced the most powerful of practices in a short amount of time. Of those practices, the experience of Bhakti yoga sung most melodically, and also ironically. Texas is home to thousands of East Indian families who honor the traditions of Bhakti with fierce devotion, yet the idea of Bhakti and Yoga working together was not commonly fused together in Texas. We tend to focus on asana practice as westerners, but the powerful blend of asana, mantra, study of the deities, kirtan, and other traditions unleashes a kind of creativity and self-belief that just an asana practice cannot always provide. Ironically, I had to move away from my Indian roots, grounded in the state of Texas, to understand them better, in a more pure and vibrant way. Little did I know this was one gift waiting for me in New Orleans. I have my teachers and friends at Wild Lotus to thank for this gift. I still practice Bikram, Kundalini, and other types of yoga on a regular basis—always learning something new from each practice every time I hit the mat.

Website: www.sharonfloyd.com

Where is your Ayurveda practice and where do you teach yoga?: My Ayurveda practice is in the New Orleans Healing Center and I teach yoga at Balance Yoga & Wellness and Life Yoga.

What wellness services do you offer?: Ayurveda Consultations, Ashtanga and Vinyasa Yoga

Sharon recently completed her certification in Ayurvedic Studies and has opened a new business in the New Orleans Healing Center. We wanted to find out what type of services she is offering and how they can help members of our community. We were also interested in learning how Sharon is transitioning from the world of mixology to pursue her passion for wellness. We hope you find our video interview with Sharon informative.

Owner: Tony Vogt

Location: 3507 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA 70115

As a native of the area, Tony Vogt set out to contribute to the rebuilding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He had been thinking about opening a yoga studio for a while when he came across the perfect building to renovate on Tchoupitoulas Street. Tony put his two intentions together and created Random Studios. It’s a clean and comfortable space with ample parking, beautiful hardwood floors, and a central location.

Tony’s idea of a yoga studio is a little different from the traditional model. He provides a space for yoga teachers to offer private sessions and small group classes to their students. He also sees it as an opportunity for a student or prospective student to approach a teacher and request lessons that fit their schedule. Teachers are independent and do not work for Random Studios, but rent the space as a place to offer their yoga services.

Through his own study of yoga over more than 25 years, Tony has come to enjoy  smaller class sizes and the power of practicing yoga one-on-one with a skilled teacher. Random Studios is his contribution to the community to foster this type of practice and connect people to the valuable tools that yoga provides.

If you are interested in renting the space to hold a class, please contact Tony directly at (504) 812-2479.

Website: www.louannecho.com

Where do you teach?: Eleven Eleven Wellness Center (my personal studio) and Elmwood Fitness Center

What wellness services do you offer?: Yoga for Cancer Survivors, Kali Ray TriYoga, and Ayurveda Wellness Counseling

Louanne Cho is a dedicated yoga practitioner of more than 25 years and has been sharing her love of yoga as a teacher for over 11 years. She is knowledgeable in multiple areas of yoga philosophy and science. Louanne has studied primordial sound meditation and holds certifications in the TriYoga system and Ayurveda Wellness Counseling. Her current passion is Yoga for Cancer Survivors. She recently completed a full training in Colorado and is bringing this much needed resource to the New Orleans area.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This has become a time of year when people focus not just on breast cancer, but on the many avenues in which all types of cancer are affecting our society. Can you tell us how you became interested in using the tools of yoga to help people dealing with cancer?  I teach classes at Elmwood Fitness Center and a group private class. I had several cancer survivors that attended both locations. I noticed that their needs were much different than the needs of the other people in class (one person even attended a class hooked up to a device that was delivering her chemo treatment). I wanted to learn the specific needs of cancer survivors, as they progress through the various stages of cancer and cancer treatments. I discovered a wonderful and informative workshop entitled Yoga for Cancer Survivors, with Laura Kupperman, who is also a cancer survivor. This workshop has given me the knowledge and confidence to deliver an experience that is beneficial and safe to cancer patients and cancer survivors.

What was the most interesting thing you learned during the Yoga for Cancer Survivors training?  I learned that there are many types of cancer and that each type comes with different symptoms and side effects. I also learned that it’s important that a student fill out a questionnaire prior to the class, answering some important questions such as: What type of cancer do you have? When was your last surgery? What type of treatments are you receiving or have you completed?  This information is very important, so that I can familiarize myself with the type of cancer they have, as well as develop a customized sequence of postures that are safe for them to attempt according to their individualized needs for healing.

I also found it really interesting to learn about all the benefits cancer survivors received from practicing yoga during and after treatments. M.D. Anderson and Stanford University are just two of many institutions that have published studies showing how beneficial yoga can be for cancer survivors. Yoga poses and specific yoga breathing techniques help lessen symptoms from cancer treatments (decreased stress and pain, and less nausea and fatigue), improve lymphatic flow, strengthen the immune system, and improve mental and emotional well-being.

Who can participate in the classes you are offering and what is the best way for them to enroll?  I have a small private studio uptown that fits up to 10 people. I teach private classes and also teach an all-levels class on Sunday mornings at 8:30 a.m. If a small group of people are interested in having a class specifically designed for their needs and have a certain day and time in mind, they can call me at (504) 862-6861 or email yogalou@gmail.com. Check my website www.louannecho.com for more information.

Starting on Sunday, October 14, 2012 at 10:30 a.m., I will be offering special classes for Cancer Survivors every week. The class will be 90 minutes and the cost will be $15.  Cancer patients in treatment and post treatment, as well as caregivers may attend. Please call or email me if you wish to enroll, and to fill out a questionnaire.

On October 6, 2012 at Elmwood Fitness Center, we are doing a special event to raise money for breast cancer research. I will be teaching a special class for cancer survivors. The cost for the Cancer Survivor class is $10. To register call Elmwood at (504) 733-1600.

I’m offering Yoga Lagniappe readers who are interested in putting together their own small group class, the first class free. In addition, cancer patients can have their first class with me free. Please mention Yoga Lagniappe when booking your class.

How do you feel your background in Ayurveda and TriYoga help you teach cancer survivors?  Ayurveda and yoga are two complementary systems that share the same ancient Vedic roots and have a similar philosophical foundation. They both deal with all aspects of life, healing the mind and body. From these two sciences I have learned healing methods that offer various ways to restore and purify your body, as well as to prevent disease. In general they both have helped me to teach people how to discover their true potential, create a balanced life, and have inner peace, which are beneficial for all people.

Regardless of which yoga or wellness modality you teach, what do you hope students gain from your classes?  I have been truly blessed to have the opportunity to share the gift of yoga with so many people. I try to instill in my students that yoga is a way of life on and off the mat. It’s a personal journey of self-discovery, without judgment of oneself and others.

We should embrace the fact that we are unique beings and have different life experiences. Our paths will be different, as well as our life lessons. The most important thing I hope they can take away with them is that we all come from the same source of pure love, and that love is in our hearts. It is the essence of who we are spiritually.

Name: Cat McCarthy

Website: www.nolayoga.com

Where do you teach? NOLA YOGA housed at Romney Pilates Center and at studios around the US (soon to offer international workshops)

What wellness services do you offer? Align & Flow Yoga, Yoga Therapeutics, Prenatal Yoga, and soon Life Coaching

Cat McCarthy is a native of New Orleans and has been an instrumental part of building the yoga community in the city post-Katrina. Invited by fellow teachers in New Orleans to assist in rebuilding the community through yoga, Cat chose to split her time between New York and New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Since then, she’s been offering the service of yoga to help heal and empower residents of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region. Not only does Cat hold teaching certifications in Anusara Yoga, Kripalu Yoga, and Prenatal Yoga For Two™, but she’s also a Fulbright Scholar and an Emmy-nominated filmmaker.

Following Hurricane Katrina you brought your teaching skills back to New Orleans to help grow the yoga community. What have you found to be the most interesting aspect of how yoga has taken root locally?  “Go with the flow” is the attitude of The Big Easy, which has helped it weather many a storm. New Orleanians therefore have a resiliency that helps them persevere through the ups and downs of life. I’ve witnessed yoga help people hone the skill of staying soft and receptive when challenges present themselves. The effort we’ve given on the yoga mat, translates to how we’ve rebuilt the region.

I believe that part of why yoga has been embraced locally is due to the life lessons the practice teaches. Students learn that one’s quality of life can improve just by shifting his/her perspective. Yoga also offers ways to accommodate change as the constant, while establishing a strong inner core. These teachings allow the yogin to respond to devastation rather than react only as a victim, so that all experiences can be used to fuel one’s evolution.

The city’s outlook has evolved immensely since Katrina. Just look at how the city responded to prep for Hurricane Isaac. I am really proud of how much our hometown has grown. It’s a privilege to witness and to contribute to this expansion of yoga. From my initial workshops in pre-Katrina days, to the first Karma Krew 2006 initiative, to the current plethora of studios and styles, we’ve made yoga more accessible than ever in New Orleans.

You have committed students all across the region, from Texas to Florida. Can you give us an example of how you’ve seen other areas of the Gulf Coast benefit from the growth of yoga in New Orleans?  Yoga invites us to author our lives by taking what the world offers and transmuting it into a nourishing experience that will foster more personal growth. Since Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans has been an example of alchemizing destruction into more beauty, by playing the role of co-creator. Other Gulf Coast communities have also endured the impact of devastating hurricanes, oil spills, and cumulative coastal erosion, within a common economic recession. We all are in the same boat, so we can benefit by staying connected through our shared experiences.

Since my return, I have taught to and been inspired by yogins from the all over the southeast region of the US. My hope has been to connect the yoga communities, so that the matrix of support can grow beyond studio walls, parishes, and state lines. In fact, one of my students came up with an idea to maintain this collective network by creating an event that brings together yoga teachers from across the Gulf Coast area. So this November 16-18th, the first annual Mahabhuta Yoga Festival will take place in Pensacola, Florida. I’m honored to be one of many contributing teachers from New Orleans. This manifestation not only came about from the desire to bridge the communities but to celebrate the diversity of yogic paths, as we continue on this journey together.

As someone who travels to teach workshops nationally, what do you find unique about the New Orleans yoga and wellness community?  At the heart of NOLA is the spirit of savoring every moment, which I like to call “tarpe diem.” This city is not ascetical. There is little holding back. This life-affirming irreverence is what I love.  The city’s joie de vivre dovetails quite nicely with the style of yoga that I teach, which presumes that embodiment is a gift. Consuming every experience fully can translate into a playful yoga practice.

Growing up here, I was raised with an appreciation of the absurd and ironic. I have been drawn to a yoga lineage that embraces the paradox of life, not as a problem to be solved but rather a game to be played. Yoga is about embracing opposites concurrently. You can’t have levity without heaviness, peaks without valleys, light without dark. In fact, the brighter one’s light, the darker the shadow cast. It’s in contrast that we know ourselves better and cultivate dimensionality.

The paradoxical joy that New Orleans represents led me to put together a class called “Yoga and Wine.” On October 13th, I will be teaching how to stretch your palate on the mat and refine your taste buds for wine and life in this fun and insightful session. After the practice, we will apply yogic principles in wine tasting, of course.

I am constantly amused by my own incongruities and how I struggle with “walking the talk.”  I strive to be the best yogin that I can be, but it takes effort. I apply awareness to my everyday actions. Whether successful or not, I share with my students what I learned in the process. It’s what makes us human and thus more connected.

Whether you’re teaching locally or nationally, what do you hope students gain from your classes?  Since childhood, I’ve always had a knack for finding four-leaf clovers. This is a skill in being able to view a broad scope of patterns while seeing a specific glitch in the matrix, which is where the “defective” and lucky clover is found. I see this as yoga.

Whether teaching a class or directing a film crew, I hope to hold a safe space for people to see his/her true essence more clearly…the big picture perspective while simultaneously focusing on the details. My quest is to raise this awareness in my students…physically of how they are living in their bodies, mentally of what their default mental patterns are, and emotionally of what fuels their passion in life. My hope is that my students feel better about themselves when they leave class. If they feel integrated inside, then they can offer that back to their families, relationships, and cohorts at work.  By connecting all of these dots with playful precision and prowess, we continue conscious conversation both on and off the mat.

Name:

Website: www.facebook.com/YogiMood

Where do you teach?: The Pilates Loft

What type of wellness classes do you teach?: Vinyasa and Restorative Yoga

Daria is the owner of YogiMood, a line of handmade aromatherapy products. She’s also a yoga teacher and speaks three languages: her native Russian, Italian, and Spanish. In addition to her responsibilities as a business owner and yoga teacher, Daria found time this summer to link the people of New Orleans with Russians who were suffering from a natural disaster.

You studied yoga in Russia before teaching it in the United States. What brought you to New Orleans and why did you decide to teach yoga here?  I consider myself very lucky. I got a chance to travel around the world, to study in the United States, and to fall in love with New Orleans. I came here to do my Master’s Degree in Arts.

Yoga has always been my “inner home” and I love sharing it with others. Nothing inspires me more than exploring different cultures and languages, but at the same time feeling a sense of unity with one another. For me it is yoga, yoga unites. I met incredible people here because of yoga. I learnt from them and it was not long before I started to teach.

What inspired you to start your business, YogiMood?  I had been using aromatherapy for quite a while just to enrich and indulge the senses. I used essential oils at home, while traveling or at spa. Then, just out of curiosity, I put a few drops of essential oil on my mat. That’s how the journey began: mixing, smelling, breathing, blending… I love the scent of essential oils during yoga class. It compliments and completes the atmosphere of the room, draws your attention to the breath (which is very important in yoga practice) and everything just smells great! I started to incorporate it in my classes and students began to wonder what I was using. This is how YogiMood was born. I love to experiment with different oils and how they affect people’s moods, feelings, and perceptions. I love doing custom blends, because we are all different and react differently to scents. I use recipes from Ayurveda to compliment the doshas, to give the brain and nose some sense of harmony and balance.

To bring two powerful sciences together I have developed a special workshop called Restorative Yoga + Aromatherapy. While you relax deeply in restorative yoga poses I perform Aromatherapy rituals. It is very beneficial and relaxing for everyone, not to mention how nice you smell after it.

This summer there was a devastating flood in Krymsk, Russia. In response to the tragedy you took it upon yourself to organize yoga classes and art auctions to raise money that you then sent to Russia to finance the rebuilding efforts. Initially you hoped to raise $500, but the response you received from your students and the community was overwhelming. Can you tell us a little bit about how this experience impacted you?  When I heard about the tragedy, my first thought was not to blame or try to find out the reasons, but to help. I was born and raised in Krasnodar, the capital of that region, and I visited that place just a few months before the flood. The feelings were very similar to those when I was looking at the pictures of New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. I called my friend in California and we decided to raise money. My position as a yoga teacher gives me an opportunity to meet a lot of people every day, to speak to them, and I knew that we could not only talk about it but actually do something. I couldn’t ask for a better response from my friends, students, yoga fellows, studio owners, and just friends of my friends who spread the word. I definitely learned that if there is a need, there will be people who you can rely on. And it is all thanks to yoga!

What has yoga taught you?  No matter what we are going through in our lives, we must take care of ourselves. You cannot take care of others before you take care of yourself. Yoga practice and philosophy taught me a great deal of self awareness. I learned to concentrate and listen to my inner self. Yoga gives you stability. We need that so much in today’s fast paced world, where information can overwhelm the rhythm of life. If you know your inner strength and know when to pause and take some quite time, you will get more energy to do whatever you need to do. The key is to learn who you are and to stay true to yourself, to stay present.

Co-owners: Michele Baker and Keith Porteous  Interviewee: Michele Baker

Locations: Mid-City Mandir: 2940 Canal Blvd. New Orleans, LA; Marigny: 2600 Chartres St. New Orleans, LA; Community Center-Yoga & Seva: 7011 St. Claude Ave. Arabi, LA

Website: www.swanriveryoga.com  Phone: (504) 301-3134

Michele Baker and Keith Porteous, both New Orleans natives, came together following Hurricane Katrina to open Swan River Yoga. They chose a location on Magazine Street because it was one of the only independent business corridors in the city that was functioning well at the time. Since then, these New Orleanians have used the power of their self described “yin/yang” personalities to expand their yoga and wellness offerings throughout the city.

Yoga Lagniappe met with Michele at the Swan River Mid-City Mandir. The space was once a library and features a beautiful mural upstairs in the naturally lit practice space. As the studio was setting up for an upcoming crystal bowl concert, Michele shared her thoughts on her own yoga journey and how important community is to her personally and to the studio.

The original location for Swan River Yoga, on Magazine Street, is no longer open and your attention has turned to your locations in Mid-City and the Marigny, along with the Arabi community center. Do you feel they each have a unique vibe? Our blessed launching pad was indeed the dear Shala on Magazine Street. Now our dearest sacred space is truly in Arabi, where the students are in deep, passionate appreciation and gratitude. This space is entirely Seva, by donation and by leaps of heart felt faith. The Marigny is dear to our hearts because of the building it is in, above Feelings Cafe, with a classic New Orleans courtyard and in the oldest plantation home in the entire area. This space will show anyone what New Orleans charm and history is, and you can go to the wine and cheese bar next door or eat downstairs after class. This is oh so very New Orleans!

Now the Mandir, in Mid-City, is beyond our wildest dreams. It is literally a dream, seen in a vision, come true. A “Mandir” is a large community, cultural, and spiritually sacred gathering space in India and we feel so humbly honored and blessed to provide a Mandir in New Orleans for the first time ever. This space has infinite potential, being 3 stories and around 7,000 square feet. We would have never imagined this! This space, in the center of the city, has a quality to it of being in great balance and centeredness… the “bindu” (seed center). It seems to be the most diverse in age, gender, race, cultural, and religious backgrounds, of which we cherish and love the most. The more diverse, the better. This is a true reflection of what yoga is to us, as community is our most emphasized and important aspect. It is the root of why we are doing all of this.

You mentioned that one of the reasons you and Keith were compelled to open Swan River was the longing of students to connect with each other and practice together after Hurricane Katrina. How has this emphasis on community, and the Swan River Yoga community itself, evolved since you first opened and what do you feel it offers students who are new to your locations? We have four tenets that we honor fully at Swan River and their order is of great significance. 1. Community 2. Integrity 3. Art 4. Beauty Our first and primary emphasis is on community because it brings the greatest reflection back to ourselves (each one of us) in relationship. Relationship is very important to a yogi since the translation of yoga is “union.” I find that the practice of asana and understanding of the yogic philosophies will only evolve us so far. The true evolution, in my own personal experience, comes when we actually have to do it, i.e. act on it. Then the teachings are activated and actuated, so we are walking and not just talking out our authenticity and desire for yoga.

Having taught in New Orleans for so many years, I have watched students grow in such a real, interconnected way. Students truly go out of their way to be kind to one another, to serve and to do things for one another. I have watched deep relationships emerge from meeting one another at class, events, or workshops. This is the deepest reason we do this and it brings us a type of fulfillment that cannot be explained in words. It is so precious and everlasting. Once this fabric is interwoven, we then hope to hold a space for our other tenets to unfold in natural order. Integrity and doing the right thing become important once there is value in relationship, then we want to express our ability to create and share this beauty and diversity with others, all in fondness of the heart. Somehow we feel we have attracted the best company we could ever imagine. It really is something I have never seen before in all of my travels. The teachers, staff, students, and guests are impeccable, clear, and unique, bringing the highest frequency of warmth to the atmospheres created within Swan River. This is the richness of life and is very precious to us. We pray in gratitude every day for these blessings.

Can you tell us about your latest projects, the Bhakti Caravan and the Good Karma Cafe, and how they came about? One of the things we emphasis the greatest now, after watching asana emerge and become well known and accepted, is to take advantage of the ripeness and readiness of the community by going a step further to offer the other “margas,” or paths of yoga. The second areas that we are bringing focus to are “Nada Yoga” and “Bhakti Yoga.” New Orleans couldn’t be more well suited for this goal.

Nada yoga is the yoga of sound through high frequency healing vibrations and is thought to be the very first form of yoga, since all things are sound and come from sound. It is our origin. It is beyond words and affects the energy body in ways our mind cannot understand. We offer “Sound Baths” and “Crystal Bowl Concerts” at our Mandir. Very few words are spoken, and students lie down the entire time, receiving the sacred mantras that already exist in the atmosphere and hearing sound frequencies that contain lucid patterns that push out any cloudiness within our own inner rivers or “nadis” within us. Most students leave so serene and celestial that they just cannot speak afterwords. It is Divine.

Our emphasis on Bhakti has brought great passion to the Mandir. Bhakti is the path of loving ecstatic devotion through art, ceremony, food, dancing, and music. It is clearly the primary marga of India if anyone has ever been to yoga’s origin, the Motherland. Since the Mandir is inspired by India, we intend to follow suite with emphasis on inviting more art, dance, and bhakti. We’re introducing events such as our new project “Bhakti Dance Cathedral” where we have World-Indian tech beats on full volume lead by a DJ all night. As well as dance performances and blessed bhakti conscious food through “Bhakti Caravan.” Bhakti Caravan is a troupe of beings that live bhakti daily and have for most of their life, so it is very easy for us to share it comfortably and from the warmth of our hearts. An entire program takes place with Bhakti Caravan that makes it much more than just a band or kirtan performance. We feel it our duty to reveal the entire bhakti experience since so many have not had this chance in their lives, yet. A program will first provide a full course, blessed “Prasad” (Indian, vegetarian, vegan friendly cuisine) made with serious love and mantras infused into the meal. Then recipients will lie down to listen to more than forty crystal bowls, along with a giant gong, and love song lullabies (bhajans). Then one will sit up for a passionate and rocking kirtan performance with two singers, harmonium, Mridanga drums from West Bengal, kartals, guitar, and more. There will be dance performances inspired by the classical style of the Odissa region of Indian, more folk inspired gypsy movements from Ragasthan, and Mridanga drum performances. The audience will also learn some easy village dance movements and be encouraged to sing loud in praise and shake it, move it, and jump it out in ecstasy and the heart’s ignition. You won’t be able to sleep for a while after this you will be so lit up!

Providing music as a service has been our greatest dharma and we feel it is important to begin sharing it more in every aspect of our lives and all that we do daily. Food is something very serious here in New Orleans that we all experience with great pleasure daily. That is why our next project, “Good Karma 3″ is so important to us in completing our mission of a full yogic and bhakti experience in the culinary capital of the country.

Service or “karma yoga” being another way to express Bhakti is also very important to us. For this reason, all of the proceeds that we collect for Bhakti Caravan will go into the first ever bhakti conscious cafe right inside the Mandir’s doors. This will be open during the day and will provide one with the experience of tasting something that is cooked with devotional intentions, the best of all love medicines and drugs. The ritual care of this food includes Mantras being put into the food and the least amount of harm in its ingredients and preparation. Costumers can learn how to cook sacred food for themselves and get inspired to practice bhakti-consciousness in their own kitchens, as well as learn how to grow their own food. These are all very important concepts to the owners of this cafe, who all live on a farm and practice devotion as the primary part of their lives.

We are so thrilled our hearts are singing to provide this for our city and feel it will attract yet another crowd of beings that wish to have heart consciousness in their lives and in the many ways it can be expressed.

Would you say that the themes of community and respect are something special to practicing yoga in the New Orleans area? Oh yes the South is warm, accepting, and so supportive. I have traveled extensively and seen many yoga communities. Yogis are humans in the end and every group of people coming together has karma to work through, thus their meeting. I have found the South to be very trusting, encouraging, and from the heart. The leaders within soul groups are really ones that have a chance to set pretty impressionable examples. I have found the ones here clearly doing this and at the same time being totally themselves and keeping it real.

What do you hope students take away from their experience with Swan River? To us the practice of yoga can begin with simply being kind to others, living your purpose, and being lead by the purity of your heart. We hope to provide the space for this and support others. We hope the precious beings that enter our spaces know there is someone who will always believe in them. If every person has this and can touch another soul, we are all truly free.

Name: Laura Jarrait Flora

Website: www.alamkarayoga.com

Where do you teach?: Balance Yoga & Wellness, Freret Street Yoga, Swan River Yoga

What wellness services do you offer?: Anusara Yoga, Body Talk, Akashic Records, and Reconnective Healing

Laura’s ability to teach was honed not only on the yoga mat, but also in commanding the attention of a high school audience as a math teacher. Her background in mathematics and science have combined with her interest in the philosophical to create her own unique teaching style. Laura delivers yoga classes that are practical in their physical application, yet philosophical in the way she directs her students to use the alignment of their bodies to access a deeper level of awareness.

In the spirit of alamkara and lagniappe, Laura is offering Yoga Lagniappe readers 25% off  private yoga sessions and her professional services through August 2012. Learn more about her healing services and their benefits at www.alamkarayoga.com. Please call (504) 214-1632 or email alamkarayoga@gmail.com and mention Yoga Lagniappe when booking your appointment. 

What brought you to New Orleans? My husband and I moved to New Orleans after having lived in Puerto Rico for three years.  At the time I worked as an actuary in the health insurance industry and I was able to get a job here.  We fell in love with the city and stayed.

What did you do before you decided to become a yoga teacher and wellness practitioner? I have a Master’s degree in mathematics and have had a couple of different careers, first as a health insurance actuary, then as a high school math teacher.  I taught at Isidore Newman School for 10 years, started teaching yoga while there, and have gradually made the transition to more yoga teaching.  Though I no longer teach math at Newman, I do some academic and technical support for the school and am available for tutoring.

You first practiced Iyengar yoga before you found the method of Anusara yoga. Both styles place a strong emphasis on alignment. What made you choose to study Anusara and become certified, rather than pursuing certification in Iyengar?  I view my introduction to Anusara yoga as quite serendipitous.  I had been practicing originally what I’ll call “Iyengaresque” hatha yoga and then formal Iyengar yoga ever since I moved to New Orleans in 1996.  It was probably about 2003 or 2004 that a big article about Anusara yoga was featured in Yoga Journal magazine.  I thought it sounded like something I would like to explore but there was no presence in New Orleans.  It was during my four month evacuation after Hurrican Katrina, that I found an Anusara class and amazing teachers within walking distance from my in-laws’ house.  Having nothing else to do, I did work-study at the studio.  While I had been practicing yoga for about 9 years at that point, I had never considered teaching until one of my teachers in New Orleans suggested that I take over her classes since she was moving.  That was earlier in the summer so I sought out a teacher training program and then had to leave home.  In my four months away, I found all of the Anusara teachers I had so excellent and the blending of the Tantric philosophy into the classes so inspiring, I thought that if I was going to teach, I wanted to have that level of excellence.  The philosophy has really helped me heal and grow in astounding ways and I want to share that with others.  What I particularly like is exploring how these seemingly abstract concepts can be physicalized and felt in the body.

Within the past year the Anusara yoga community has experienced disruption and many of the style’s well known teachers have decided to withdraw their association with the corporate entity. You are one such teacher who has recently made the difficult decision to step away from Anusara, Inc. This decision does not take away the immense knowledge and understanding that the practice has given you as a student and teacher. What elements do you plan to keep in your teaching and what exciting new discoveries do you think you will explore in the yoga world? As I said, what I loved most about Anusara is the physicializing of philosophy using very intelligent alignment, so that will stay.  What is becoming increasingly interesting to me is helping students explore the liveliness that is moving within them and all of this world all the time.  So I’d like to pursue studies that explore the feeling-sense of embodied living, as with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen of BodyMind Centering, and study with teachers who might articulate Tantric philosophy and more subtle body practices in different ways.  I am interested in including more pranayama and meditation as a regular part of my classes.

Did your interest in other wellness modalities occur before or after you began practicing yoga? While each is a unique modality, what elements do you feel they all have in common?  Definitely after.  The yoga practice prepared me to be able to accept these more energetic modalities.  One of my favorite quotations is from Shakespeare’s Hamlet:: “There is more in heaven and earth than is dreamt of in your philosophy, dear Horatio.”  I got introduced to each modality (first Akashic Record Reading, then BodyTalk, then Reconnective Healing) in synchronistic ways.  The common element for all, once again, is how consciousness is embodied, how our physical bodies contain a record of all that we have experienced, and can be healed through all these means to help us experience our inherent freedom more clearly and powerfully.

You chose to name your business Alamkara Yoga and Healing. Alamkara loosely translates to ornamentation or decoration. What made you choose this Sanskrit word? One of my teachers, Dr. Douglas Brooks, elaborates on this definition by saying that alamkara indicates that little something extra that brings beauty or refinement to an object.  I love this because it indicates that we are not merely living or even just trying to get good at life, but that we are invited to make art of our life, to create something beautiful, elegant, refined.  The “little something extra” makes me think too of lagniappe so it’s perfect for New Orleans.

What do you hope students leave your classes with?  I really hope that my students have experiences in my classes that help them feel that living a purposeful, skillful, enjoyable life is truly within their reach.  I hope that they are able to take whatever is presented in class and use it in whatever way is appropriate for them to make the changes in attitudes and actions that support their highest intentions, whether they be on body, mind, or spirit level since all are intertwined and hold strong value.  And, I really hope that they are challenged to push beyond their perceived limits in a safe and encouraging environment and (at least some of the time) have some fun doing it.