Lying on my mat in savasana, my muscles are totally relaxed and at peace. My breathing feels like an ocean wave, rising with the inhalation and then softly falling onto the soft beach with the exhalation. Aside from my breath, my brain remains quiet until a gentle question arises, ‘Hey, this is great, why has it been so long since I went to a yoga class?’
Good question. Mountain people need yoga. We road bike, mountain bike, cross-country ski, downhill ski, hike, run and kayak with abandon. We might have strong, fit bodies, but not necessarily flexible ones. That is where yoga comes in. Sure, it helps with endurance and strength, but it also provides what a lot of us Tahoe outdoorsy types need the most: coordination and flexibility, two skills that can keep you on the trail instead of in the emergency room.
After pondering my question, I realize I need go to yoga more often. And what better place to put my new commitment into practice than the newly opened Tahoe Yoga Institute in the Tahoe City Cobblestone. Madona Casini, a fitness and Pilates instructor, opened the Tahoe Yoga Institute in May in a newly renovated space above the Corkscrews Wine and Cheese Bar. The studio overlooks Lake Tahoe and the Tahoe City Golf Course and has windows on three sides providing a wonderfully cheery and open place to practice yoga. Lay your mat down on the wood floors in the large space, and you will feel like you have found the right place to maximize your yoga potential.
‘In this economic climate where stress is rampant, we need to take time out for ourselves,’ says Casini. ‘Tahoe Yoga Institute offers a place of support for both longtime yogis and beginners.’
Casini’s goal is to fill up the studio with happy yogis by providing a wide variety of yoga classes at a reasonable price. If you put together a group of between three to 10 people, you pay only $40 per month for classes. A group of 15 or more people, such as a business, can get a monthly membership for only $30 per person. Considering you can select from about 20 classes per week, that is a good deal.
Another program they are working on is to reward some of our local heroes. Members of the fire department, police department or military personnel are welcome to attend one of the seven classes on Thursday, August 6 or Thursday, August 20 for free.
The institute’s cadre of instructors includes a number of experienced local teachers including Lynne Gardner, Tammy Miller, Deborah Lapkin, Bill Folkman, Eileen Cohen and Nancy Crowell. Yoga styles include Iyengar, Vinyassa, Ashtanga, Anusara, Kripalu and Yoga Flow. In addition to yoga, Madonna instructs a Pilates class several times per week that is sure to get your blood pumping, and Jon L. Weedn will slow it back down with his meditation class. The institute also has a Little Yoga for kids class, which is conveniently timed on Thursdays so you can walk across the street to the Farmers Market before or after class. Tai Chi and Chi Gong classes are also being planned. A full schedule of the institute’s offerings is available at the studio, via email at madona@casini.us, or on the website at tahoeyogainstitute.com.
