Sudbury Living - Spring 2008 - (Page 42)

Health is wealth. Peace of mind is happiness. Yoga shows the way. Practising yoga oga means union — and not the closeness of one’s head to one’s toes. Rather, yoga refers to the union between one’s individual consciousness and the universal consciousness. Yoga is taught at exercise centres throughout Greater Sudbury and varies in style and technique from teacher to teacher and from class to class. For some, yoga is simply another form of exercise, for others, yoga is a holistic way to improve one’s life. For Lana Boyuk, owner of OM Yoga Space in downtown Sudbury, the ancient art is not just another group of exercises performed amid a cloud of incense. “We don’t teach fluff yoga here,” said Boyuk of her studio, which overflows at lunchtime when many profesLANA BOYUK sionals flock to her Elm St. location for invigorating classes. “There is no room for boredom here. We encourage our clients to feel their emotions and grow.” Boyuk had a yogic epiphany close to a decade ago. The single mother of two active boys was not feeling well, and felt overwhelmed and consumed by negative energy. In her quest to improve her health, she found a yoga video that she fell in love with. “My body slid into the postures effortlessly,” Boyuk recalled. “I found that through yoga I became more calm and collected.” Obviously there had to be more to this exercise experience, she thought. So she decided to learn as much as she could about the art of yoga, taking courses and spending hundreds of hours steeping her body and mind in all things yoga. The experience awakened in her a passion to live a vital life, with clarity, passion and purpose. “I decided I no longer wanted to be a slave to work,” benefits the body, mind and soul Swami Vishnu-devenanda (1927-1993) Y BY WENDY BIRD she said. “So I let go of my business (Asherah Soul and Body Soothers product line) and started teaching.” When Boyuk decided to join Om Yoga Space founder Jen Wilson and teacher Willa Paterson, little did she know that in a relatively short period she would take over the business as owner. She has been proprietor of the business for the last three years. “I need to do this. Doing yoga realigns me. There is nothing more potent,” she said thoughtfully. “When I find myself feeling overwhelmed, disinterested, chaotic, indifferent, confused, lacking in self-worth, or disconnected, yoga is guaranteed to bring me back to a quiet centre where I can re-evaluate what the drama is I am indulging in and get a clearer perspective. “This is because yoga works on all levels of our being: mind, body, emotions and spirit. I have yet to experience a form of exercise that offers me so much that I feel sated, complete, comforted, empowered and focused.” Boyuk noted that yoga is not all “sweet and lovely. It is challenging because the mind is being disciplined to be quiet, to focus on something other than the impulsive ego. Although there are hundreds of techniques involved in different types of yoga, there are basically five principles of that are constant in this ancient practice: proper exercise, proper breathing, proper relaxation, proper diet, and positive thinking and meditation. The physical building blocks of yoga are posture (asana) and breath. A series of poses held over a period of time — synchronized with breathing —exercises every part of the body. The health benefits of yoga are many, including: n The cardiovascular system (heart and arteries) Asanas are isometric exercise, meaning they rely on holding muscle tension for short periods. This improves cardiovascular fitness and circulation. Studies show that regular yoga practice may help normalize blood pressure.

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Sudbury Living - Spring 2008

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