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?
Spring Arrives! written by Nancy Weshkoff
Spring Arrives!
Written by Nancy Weshkoff
Spring officially arrives this week on March 22. While spring is always one of my favorite times of the year, I am particularly looking forward to this one. Here in Bellmore, Long Island, it has felt like we have been in a bad period starting with the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, followed by a cold winter with snow and a record blizzard in some parts of Long Island.
And now here comes spring. Spring means new beginnings. Despite so much bad weather, miraculously spring bulbs have come alive with green leaves coming up from the ground. Some of the bulbs have also started to flower. You can’t help but smile when you see life coming back to the earth again.
Like those spring bulbs, we start to dust off the bad memories of the last several months too. Our bodies react positively to more daylight and patches of warmer weather. Yoga provides a great way for us to come alive too. You will gain better strength and flexibility. The deep, cleansing breaths that are part of a yoga practice provide more oxygen to the organs of the body enabling them to function better. And practicing yoga in a small class setting such as Moonflower Yoga enables you to get to know the people in the studio practicing with you and to forge new relationships or rekindle old ones. In this past week at Moonflower Yoga, there were two separate incidents of people who have not seen each other for years coincidentally taking the same yoga class together at Moonflower Yoga and having a great time doing so while catching up in a positive way on how they have been doing. It reminds me of those spring bulbs coming to life again.
Come visit the Moonflower Yoga studio if you are in the area of Bellmore in Long Island’s Nassau County. Try one of the great yoga classes that we have lovingly put together for you by our fabulous teachers. Dust off the winter cobwebs and spring to life!
“How Yoga Can Change a Life” written by Nancy Weshkoff
Yoga has changed the course of my life. Can it change yours too?
More than a dozen years ago, I noticed that my local gym was offering a new yoga class. I decided to give it a try. I instantly fell in love. This was different than working out on machines at the gym or taking various aerobics classes. I loved the flow of the class. And you got to take a long relaxation at the end of the class!
Over the years, my practice has grown, and I have gotten stronger and more flexible. But something more important has happened. When life was stressful, either from work or the challenges that life throws at you, it was on my yoga mat that I found inner peace. Going to my yoga classes, moving, breathing, and taking a break from those stresses enabled me to release some of that tension in a positive way and feel better. And I also developed a new circle of friends from attending classes, many of whom remain close friends today.
And then a year ago, a whole new set of challenges started to unfold. My husband lost his job of 30 years when his company went bankrupt. Three months later, I was told that my position of 18 years was coming to an end because of the sale of the company that employed me. In a tough economy, this is not the news you want to hear. For my husband, he found a great new job that he likes. For me, the job search was hitting brick walls. What to do?
I decided to turn to what always helped me when life was stressful: my yoga practice. I enrolled in a teacher training program and fell in love with the teaching. I started to realize this is where I wanted to be: helping and teaching others. But in order to truly do this in a way that I wanted, I felt I needed my own small yoga studio. And I wanted to reach fellow baby boomers, as well as beginners of all ages, who have been afraid to try yoga because they couldn’t do complex poses. This was the genesis for forming my new yoga studio, Moonflower Yoga, which offers small class sizes and personal attention. In addition to the classes I teach, I have some wonderful teachers working with me at Moonflower Yoga, and they designed interesting classes for different fitness levels. Moonflower’s philosophy is to make yoga enjoyable for everyone and to create a sense of community from its weekly workshops and small class settings. If you live or visit Long Island, New York, come stop by and try a class or workshop at the studio!
So yoga changed my life: It helped me deal with some very difficult times. I have built physical strength and flexibility and met some wonderful people. And it changed the course of the direction in my life, as I am now the proud owner of my own yoga studio opening in September, 2012. Owning a studio also has some interesting moments, and I’m hoping to share those with you in future blogs.
Tell me about your positive yoga experiences. How has yoga helped you?
