Yoga and Friendship written by Nancy Weshkoff
Yoga and Friendship
Written by Nancy Weshkoff
Y
oga has many wonderful health benefits from a physical standpoint. You will gain strength, build better flexibility, and improve your balance. But it also has another wonderful benefit: friendship.
When I first started practicing yoga many years ago, I met some amazing people who were also attending the same yoga class as me. What started on the first day as a hello then developed into something much deeper. As we practiced together, we became friends. Over the years, that friendship became stronger, and my best friends today are those same amazing women that I met at a yoga class years earlier. One of them moved out of state but came back to Long Island to attend a family event this week. And, of course, we had a yoga session together. Later in the evening, all the “yoginis” got together and we shared a wonderful dinner laughing and loving each other’s company. It is because of yoga that I met these incredible women who became my dear friends.
In creating Moonflower Yoga in Bellmore, New York, in Long Island’s Nassau County, I wanted to have a studio which made this type of friendship possible. Moonflower Yoga has small-sized yoga classes that provide a more intimate experience. And with that experience, comes the opportunity of getting to know the fellow students who are attending the yoga class with you. I am so pleased when I see friendships forming and the laughter and joy that comes from sharing a yoga practice with new friends – people that never met each other before walking into the doors of Moonflower Yoga in Bellmore.
I have heard people say they practice yoga by watching a yoga DVD. And, yes, you can learn a bit about yoga from watching a yoga DVD. But when you come to Moonflower Yoga, you will have a great yoga teacher who will pay close attention to you and help make sure you are doing the pose correctly and you will have a variety of great yoga classes from which you can choose. And you also gain something else when you practice at Moonflower Yoga as opposed to being alone in your living room. You will meet new people and create new friendships. And, like me, some of these new people that you meet at your yoga class can become your best friends in life. How wonderful is that!
If you are in Bellmore, in Long Island’s Nassau County, come try a yoga class at Moonflower Yoga. Your first class is free. You can have a great yoga experience, become physically stronger, and meet someone new. Is there a new friendship in your future?
Healthier You written by Nancy Weshkoff
“Healthier You”
Written by Nancy Weshkoff
When I made the decision about a year ago to create Moonflower Yoga in Bellmore, on Long Island, New York’s Nassau County, I wanted to have a wonderful yoga studio with personal attention and great yoga teachers where people of all ages and fitness levels could practice yoga in a loving environment. But I also wanted Moonflower Yoga to offer something else: an opportunity to learn something new, meet interesting people, and learn tips to help you move towards a healthier lifestyle. The Moonflower Yoga workshop program was then formed, and we have recently introduced our new “Healthier You” series.
The first of these “Healthier You” workshops was “Healthier You: Moving Towards a Plant-Based Diet”, taught by Moonflower Yoga’s Laura Lipari, who has a degree in nutrition and a passion for healthy eating. I, too, have a love for a plant-based diet. About 35 years ago, my husband and I decided to become vegetarians. It was a bit comical back then to try and find vegetarian options when eating out. We laughed when we saw the scene from the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” when it was discovered that the groom was a vegetarian and didn’t eat meat. Not eat meat? No worries was the thought – the groom could have lamb instead. Things have definitely changed since then.
Laura’s workshop was very informative, and even for me as a seasoned vegetarian I learned something new. The participants also were able to eat some delicious foods including the very yummy cold melon soup which tastes soothing and comforting on a hot July day. I received positive feedback from those that attended, and the participants are trying some of the great ideas they learned in the “Healthier You” workshop.
We have two other “Healthier You” workshops in the immediate future. There is “Healthier You: Learn ‘Tapping’ (EFT)”. Tapping is a wonderful way to reduce stress and anxiety and help release negative emotions. It is a safe, easy, self-administered technique that stimulates acupressure points while focusing on the issue that is causing your stress, fear, etc. It has been used by returning members of our armed services to help them cope with the emotional aftermath of combat duty. And on September 27th, Moonflower Yoga is pleased to have author, wellness expert and nutrition coach Jovanka Ciares speak on the topic “Supercharge Your Health: Self-Care Practices to Look Your Best, Lose Weight, and Feel Great from the Inside Out”. Jovanka also has regular spots on Fox News, NPR, CBS Radio, Telemundo, The Huffington Post, and MindBodyGreen. Stay tuned as there are additional “Healthier You” workshops being planned for the fall.
If you would like to try something new, have fun, meet new people, and learn some tips on how to live a healthier lifestyle, come try one of our “Healthier You” workshops at Moonflower Yoga in Bellmore, Long Island (New York). You will be happy that you did. And, of course, a great yoga class is also part of a healthier lifestyle, and if you have not yet tried at yoga class at Moonflower Yoga, you can do so for free, as your first yoga class at Moonflower Yoga is always free.
Hope to see you soon at a “Healthier You” workshop or a great yoga class!
The New Journey written by Nancy Weshkoff
THE NEW JOURNEY
Written by Nancy Weshkoff
The wonderful poet, Robert Frost, wrote one of my favorite poems: “The Road Not Taken”. In this poem, he writes:
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
This poem resonates deeply with me. It was just a year ago that I reached a crossroad in my life and chose the road (for me) that was less traveled. I made a decision to leave behind my past and open a yoga studio that was a bit different than the other studios I had encountered. Moonflower Yoga was then born. It was one year ago in July that I began the steps of locating studio space in Bellmore, New York, in Long Island’s Nassau County, finding great yoga teachers to join me at Moonflower Yoga, and all the million other things that need to be done to launch a new adventure. And although the doors of Moonflower Yoga officially opened in September, 2012, it was in July, 2012, that the adventure began.
I cannot believe how quickly that year has flown by! I feel truly blessed to have many wonderful students walk through the doors of Moonflower Yoga every day to practice yoga at the studio. The transformation that I have seen in these students where they have gotten stronger and more flexible, gained confidence, and feel more relaxed from their yoga classes at Moonflower Yoga have been inspiring. I very much appreciate the support that I receive from them and the great yoga teachers at Moonflower Yoga who have made the studio a success.
As the one-year anniversary of the opening of the studio doors comes in September, I will write more on this subject. For now, I wanted to mark this important one-year anniversary of having the courage to take the road less traveled. Perhaps you have experienced the same thing in your life: reaching an important crossroad and having to make a decision about which road to take. Did you have the courage to take the road less traveled?
