Living Well April 2, 2008

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

By Teresa Griswold

Yogis choose YogaTejas over skiing
Snow was falling and two feet of fresh powder called to skiers, but dedicated yogis filled a Saturday morning class at YogaTejas in Driggs, Idaho, a few weeks ago. Though most were headed out to carve turns right after class, including the instructor Bridget Lyons, the call of the yoga class won out over the snowfall.

Lyons, who co-owns YogaTejas with Cate Stillman, has an energetic, powerful, and bright essence. Her strong build gives away her passion for outdoor sports like skiing and kayaking; the same passion that is apparent in her yoga class. Formerly a National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) kayaking and skiing instructor, she’s been instructing for many years, which lends her the educational savvy to teach yoga.

She’s been teaching yoga for two years and enjoys it because it connects the physical with the spiritual. Lyons said one of the reasons she wanted to teach yoga was because after practicing it for eight years, it changed her.

“Yoga provided me with incredible consistency and grounding,” she said. “And connected me with my body and something bigger – part of the divine.”

Like some of the athletes who take her class, she tried yoga because it helps prevent and heal sports injuries. She said she didn’t expect the spiritual aspect that came with it. “I love helping other people find that too,” she said. Her students not only experience injury prevention and healing, they become happier, more satisfied, and their minds are quieter.

YogaTejas was formerly BodyWise and owned by Sundari Lucey. Lyons and Stillman bought it almost a year ago and updated it to match their fiery personalities, according to Lyons, painting the walls bright colors of orange, red and gold. Lyons likened their taking over the studio as a passing of a flame, since Lucey introduced both Lyons and Stillman to yoga.

Tejas (pronounced tay-jas) and rhymes with outrageous, meaning “inner radiance” which is the fruit of the practice of yoga and captures the ambience of the studio. The space is dedicated to yoga and the studio accommodates 33 people. There are three massage therapy rooms, a prop closet and a retail store that sells yoga clothes, books, Ayurvedic supplements and CDs with Kirtan chants along with Lyon’s hand-made jewelry.

The setting attracts internationally known, high-caliber instructors for special workshops such as Noah Mazé, who is recognized in the yoga community as one of the most advanced and proficient practitioners and teachers of Anusara Yoga.

Yoga Tejas is located at 165 Front Street in Driggs. For a schedule and to learn more visit www.yogatejas.com or call 208-354-YOGA.

Benefits of Yoga
Yoga offers a variety of physical and mental benefits. Here are a few:

- It focuses the attention on the breath, teaching one how to better use their lungs. Better breathing benefits the entire body helping to calm the central nervous system.
- It introduces the practitioner to meditation techniques, such as disengaging from thoughts, helping to calm the mind.
- Physical activity in general is a good stress reliever, and the emphasis that yoga places on being in the moment helps relieve stress as well.
- Fine tuning the body’s alignment through yoga moves gives way to increased awareness of the body, improving posture and balance and increasing self-confidence.
- It increases flexibility and helps to lubricate joints, ligaments and tendons.
- It is like giving your body a massage from the inside out and the stimulation of the organs with yoga helps keep away disease and as well as flushes out toxins.

Correction
A photo caption in last week’s Living Well column incorrectly titled two of the people pictured. It is Dr. Nick Lydon, not Nick Lydon and it is Sally Luke, FNP-C, not Dr. Sally Luke.

Courtesy photo
YogaTejas is a bright studio offering yoga classes and workshops in Driggs.

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Living Well April 2, 2008 | Planet JH News Article: Living Well

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