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Port Richey Studio's Yoga Event To Aid Shelter

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By KLINT LOWRY | The Suncoast News

Published: January 10, 2009

PORT RICHEY - Yoga instructors across the country will bend over backward Jan. 24 to put their best foot forward - and not just to show off how flexible they are.

The event is Yoga Day USA, created by Yoga Alliance, an international organization for professional yoga teachers and schools. Hundreds of Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teachers and Registered Yoga Schools throughout the United States will hold free or low-cost workshops on Yoga Day USA designed to meet the particular needs of their local communities.

"Yoga Day USA is an annual event where the Yoga Alliance community comes together to share the health and wellness benefits of yoga and the transformative effects it can have on one's life," the Yoga Alliance's president and chief executive officer, R. Mark Davis, stated in a press release. "The practice is literally for 'every body' - it meets you where you are no matter what your capacity or state of health."

FLOW Yoga, Pilates/Personal Training/Massage, 7711 Grand Blvd. will be among the studios participating in Yoga Day USA. The yoga studio will offer free classes from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. for beginners interested in trying yoga or for those looking to take their yoga training in different directions.

But along with being a way to introduce the physical aspect of yoga, Yoga Alliance wants Yoga Day USA to be a demonstration of the philosophical-spiritual side to yoga and a practical application of the concept of karma.

Not merely simple self-promotion, the event at FLOW Yoga will also be a community fundraiser.

"They really do promote that you do this for charity," Faith Bevan, owner of FLOW Yoga, said, referring the Yoga Alliance.

Along with the free classes, massage therapists will offer chair massages for donations. There will also be a raffle for various prizes. FLOW Yoga's playfully named studio store, To Each His Om, will be open and offering its full array of yoga-related clothing and gear. Class gift cards will also be on sale.

Proceeds from all of these activities will go to the Women's Resource Center of Tampa Bay, a nonprofit center in New Port Richey for abused and homeless women and children.

Started by Susan Stallard in 1994, the Women's Resource Center offers informational workshops and clinics to help empower women to end patterns of abuse and chronic homelessness. The center operates entirely off of donations and fundraising proceeds.

Bevan and Stallard are longtime friends. Since opening her studio, Bevan has organized a summer solstice "yogathon" fundraiser for the center. The annual June 21 event draws wide participation from among the ranks of West Pasco yoga devotees.

Bevan thinks that community has grown since she opened her studio. Though it is not an official part of the event, she added, there will be an added sense of celebration because the studio recently marked its third anniversary.

Yoga has benefited from being demystified over the last decade or so, Bevan said. The misconceptions that yoga was some Eastern religious practice has fallen away, she said.

As a result, mainstream America has come to appreciate its many physical and mental health benefits, Bevan said. According to a 2008 Yoga Journal study, 15.8 million Americans practice yoga and 14 million say that a doctor or therapist has recommended yoga to improve their health.

Yoga Day USA is a chance for those who have wondered about yoga to try out a free sample. FLOW Yoga will offer four demonstration classes:

•Flow Yoga basics, at 9 a.m.

•Mat Pilates, at 10:30 a.m.

•Gentle Flow, at noon.

•Vinyasa Flow, at 1:30.

Each of these classes will run 50 minutes, roughly half the length of regular classes. There will be breaks in between classes, and guests are encouraged to stick around and mingle. The day has been set up so that even current students can try new classes and meet new people, Bevan said.

Like most business owners these days, she's happy just to see her clientele hold steady. While money's too tight for some people to spend on classes, others are finding yoga is helping them find balance - in every sense - in uncertain times.

"We're in a time when people are depressed, worried," Bevan said. "Yoga is able to bring you back to what is important. It's a way of nurturing yourself."

Bevan is not concerned about signing up a bunch of new students on Yoga Day. Rather, if her event introduces people to yoga and raises money for the women's center, she will consider it a success.

For more information or directions, call 727-848-7283.

Klint Lowry can be reached at 727-815-1067 or klowry@suncoastnews.com.

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