IS
More information
about local
yoga studios
Living Fit Yoga
livingfi tnw.com
RiversZen Yoga
riverszenyoga.com
Seaside Yoga
seasideyogaretreats.com
Yoga Namasté
yoganam.com
Astoria Arts and Movement Center
astoriaartsandmovement.com
Cannon Beach Yoga Arts
cannonbeachyogaarts.com
The Hot Spot Yoga and Massage
hehotspotyogandmassage.com
Teresa Brownlie is a yoga student at
RiversZen in Astoria.
12 | March 10, 2016 | coastweekend.com
YOGA
FOR YOU? ?
Sally Anderson, center back, teaches a yoga class at RiverZen in
Astoria.
Jude MatulichHall is a yoga instructor at Astoria Arts and Movement Center.
Relieving pain, reducing stress, increasing coordination — all this, and
North Oregon Coast yoga studios are also a welcoming community to all
Story and photos by DWIGHT CASWELL
W
hat comes to mind when
you hear the word “yoga”?
An esoteric spiritual prac-
tice that involves twisting
the body into uncomfortable
positions? Yoga is much more
down-to-earth than that. There
is a spiritual aspect, and there are postures to
be assumed, but in speaking with yoga instruc-
tors on Oregon’s North Coast I discovered that
the reasons for doing yoga are practical and the
results are often remarkable.
Instructors invariably have stories of perma-
nent relief from chronic pain. Kristin Tschan-
nen, founder of Seaside Yoga, was diagnosed
with rheumatoid arthritis as a child, and her life
became one of pain, deterioration of her joints
and strong medication. A friend recommended
yoga for both physical and emotional repair,
and after a few weeks she was making real
progress. Today Tschannen is all but pain-free.
“You can ignore pain,” she says, “but what you
resist, persists. It’s not the same as getting to
the crux of what’s happening with your body.”
At 342 10th St. in Astoria, there is a sort of
Yoga Central. There are three instructors at As-
toria Arts and Movement Center, on the second
À oor of the building, and 8te Swerdloff, who
does the “Stand 8p and Stretch” episodes on
KM8N 1. )M, has Yoga Namastp one À oor
above.
Jude MatulichHall, an AAMC instructor,
found yoga helpful in dealing with the pain
of her scoliosis, and teaches a “relax and re-
store” yoga class based on “integrative yoga,”
that, “focuses on bringing yoga into anybody’s
life, whether they are dealing with chronic
pain, illness or injury.” Most yoga studios offer
“gentle” and “restorative” classes that provide
modi¿ cations for students, so that yoga is ac-
cessible to everyone. These include chair yoga,
with a set of postures suitable even for people
with balance problems
or those who lack the
strength to stand, blocks
and bolsters to support
the body, and straps to
provide resistance.
Yoga involves a se-
ries of postures, simple
at ¿ rst and more com-
plicated as you progress,
in tune with slower and
more relaxed breath-
ing. This stimulates the
body’s “natural relax-
ation response,” Mat-
ulichHall says. “When
it kicks in, it raises the
body’s
endorphins,
which relieves pain
and relaxes the nervous
system, which reduces stress. When you drop
stress, many things happen, including an im-
proved immune system.”
Not only does yoga relieve pain and stress
and improve the immune system, it can im-
prove posture, balance, coordination and À ex-
ibility. It’s no wonder that yoga classes are pro-
liferating. Astoria’s RiversZen Yoga began four
years ago and has been expanding ever since.
Today, 16 instructors offer 36 classes, seven
days a week, starting as early as 6 a.m. and as
late as 8 p.m., in everything from gentle yoga
to meditation to resistance stretching. There’s
even a new weight room.
Dave and Peggy Stevens, owners of Riv-
ersZen, were both dealing with injuries when
they took up yoga. The
results were not only im-
pressive, they were rapid.
“I was 53 and a broken
man,” says Dave, and “I
thought, ‘It can’t be this
easy.’” By now, he says,
“We’ve seen some real
miracles that go beyond
medicine and traditional
physical therapy. It’s a
humbling experience.”
“It’s very important
to us that yoga is acces-
sible to anyone, because
it’s done so much for us,”
Dave adds. RiversZen
offers classes for cancer
survivors and two free
community classes. If you
wish to sign up for regular classes, you get to take
as many classes as you wish for one day, for free.
Theoretically, you could take seven hours of free
classes on that day — but if you’re in that good
shape you’re probably already teaching yoga.
Yoga studios grow caring and encouraging
communities. “You develop friendships and
ties,” says Jeane Robinson of /iving )it Yoga
‘THE GREATEST
THING YOU
CAN LEARN
FROM YOGA
IS KINDNESS,
TO OURSELVES,
OUR BODIES
AND THE
WORLD.’
Terrie Powers, center, teaches gentle yoga classes at Astoria Arts
and Movement Center.
Most yoga studios of er “gentle” classes that provide modifi cations for students, such as blocks, bolsters or chairs. Here, Terrie Powers
teaches a gentle yoga class at Astoria Arts and Movement Center.
in Seaside. “We support each other, and there’s
an understanding that in yoga you meet people
where they’re at. The greatest thing you can
learn from yoga is kindness, to ourselves, our
bodies and the world.”
Still, there are those who, despite their need,
don’t consider yoga. Sally Anderson, a Riv-
ersZen instructor, says, “Most of the resistance
to coming to class is fear-based. They fear that
they will be judged by other students.” She sug-
gests that students talk to her, and perhaps have
a private session ¿ rst.
Christen Alsop, of Cannon Beach Yoga
Arts, gets around this resistance, especially in
men, by calling chair yoga “Yoga for Golfers.”
Alsop taught in various venues for a decade
before opening her studio in 2011. “We have an
older population in Cannon Beach, and we get
a lot of visitors, so our emphasis is on restor-
ative yoga and classes for beginners,” she says.
Because of the location, Alsop’s studio is
also a retreat center that offers weekend events
featuring instructors from far and wide. This
¿ nds its ultimate expression in the Cannon
Beach Yoga )estival, founded by Alsop. Al-
most 200 people attend, and the classes show
the diverse ways yoga can be integrated into
life, including yoga for kids, Bollywood dance,
yoga ¿ gure drawing, and yoga for addiction
and recovery.
)or those new to it, yoga can be confusing,
even intimidating. There’s the terminology,
like Hatha yoga (emphasizing holding postures
for short periods) and Vinyasa yoga (emphasiz-
ing À ow of movement with the breath). There
is a staggering variety of classes with descrip-
tions that may seem odd to the uninitiated. It’s
even possible to practice yoga at temperatures
of 110 degrees — which “increases blood À ow,
providing more blood and oxygen to be deliv-
ered to the musculoskeletal, lymphatic and en-
docrine systems” — at The Hot Spot Yoga and
Massage in Warrenton.
Just don’t worry about it. Go to a studio.
Talk to an instructor. )orget your ¿ tness or
body image issues. Yoga is a supportive and
accepting community. Teresa Brownlie, a stu-
dent at RiversZen, had taken yoga online for
years but wanted something more. She told me,
“I was so scared when I went to my ¿ rst class,
but they were so nice!”
Yoga isn’t just for those suffering chronic
pain or needing to be more À exible. As Chris-
ten Alsop says, “I practice yoga to help me live
my life in a manner more attentive, more gra-
cious and more fun.”
March 10, 2016 | coastweekend.com | 13