Yoga popularity grows by YARD
The Yoga Alliance of Red Deer is stretching to meet demand for the ancient, Indian form of exercise.
The evening classes run by the non-profit society are almost always booked full, sometimes arching over the 30-student limit, says society president Trish Campbell. It’s fortunate some employers are flexible enough to let their staff go early to squeeze into the afternoon sessions.
“Really, our only problem is that there’s just too much demand.”
As a rough estimate, Campbell guesses there are 400 to 500 registrants in all the classes — although some people are enrolled in more than one.
YARD was born in 2002 as a way of preserving the ideal yoga space downtown, renovated by the former business More Yoga. A small core of yoga instructors, including Ann Waschuk and Bette Chan, worked hard to preserve the space when the business closed, and Chan’s husband, lawyer Don Simpson, helped them get the non-profit society off the floor.
There weren’t enough yoga students around to keep a for-profit business running, but the non-profit organization has enough followers that it’s a bit of a challenge avoiding profit. The society needs to offer workshops from time to time and subsidize the students to make sure the surplus gets used, Campbell says.
At $80 a class or $120 for two, there’s still plenty of cash to pay for instructors and space. Students also donate time on clerical duties.
Since the space was designed for yoga classes, it’s a lot nicer than the gymnasiums, cafeterias or wherever else some other organizations offering yoga are forced to use, Campbell says. That gives the YARD classes a lot of appeal.
Yoga also draws from a wide cross-section of society, and the classes are filled with women and men of all ages and backgrounds.
Because yoga has so many different styles, some can take it for a physical workout, while others can take it for stress relief, Campbell explains.
Office workers find it helps with repetitive strain problems, and the combination of some exercise combined with meditation helps relieve tension.
On the other hand, athletes such as herself can get a good workout from power yoga, she says, and they get dynamic stretching, which is key to avoiding injuries.
“Athletes in general don’t like to stretch.”
Campbell runs and plays basketball, but has given up on going to the gym.
“I don’t need to go to the gym anymore,” she says. “You’re using so much of your body weight (in power yoga) — lifting your body weight — that you don’t really need to lift weights anymore.”
Although yoga has strong ties with the Hindu religion, yoga is a separate practice of its own, so there’s no concern about being recruited. That said, it’s hard not to have some kind of spiritual experience when practising yoga, Campbell says.
“When I talk about it being a spiritual experience, I would speak of running in the same way: as a spiritual experience.”
While each class offers only a once weekly session, students often work out their own home practice to keep up their strength and flexibility. It’s difficult not to let yoga spill over into everyday life, Campbell says, whether it’s in increased exercise or using a deep yoga breath to help relieve nervousness.
It appears to have an effect on the people who practice it regularly, as the society’s functioning attests. Campbell has been involved in a lot of committees in her time, and says this collection of centred and well-balanced people are the best she’s ever worked with.
“It’s a very harmonious society,” she laughs.
YARD’s next series of classes begin March 24, and it offers outreach programs to outside organizations as well. For more information, visit www.reddeeryoga.ca or call 350-5830.
Contact Carl Hahn at chahn@reddeeradvocate.com.
