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Health & Fitness

My Experience With Absolutely Wonderful Absolute Yoga

I took my first yoga class this week.

It was wonderful.

I’ve never taken a yoga class before this week, but I’ve been practicing yoga on and off for about seven and a half years. I’ve done work with DVD’s by Baron Baptiste and Bill Donnelly, I’ve followed Patricia Walden and Rodney Yee’s style of yoga, and I’ve even subscribed to Yoga Journal for new monthly yoga practices.

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None of these ever prepared me for what I experienced this week.

I’ve always liked classes that teach you something. I was enrolled in karate for several months, until I jammed my wrist and had to stop practicing. I loved the camaraderie of my classmates, and I really enjoyed learning how the stances and katas were supposed to be done properly. Mat work always helped me to feel stronger, more focused, and a lot more balanced. I also took a meditation course at a friend’s home; she ran the program, and there were at least eight others in the class with me. I loved how we all chatted before and after meditation, and I loved how relaxed I felt when I left.

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Taking this yoga class combined the best of those wonderful worlds.

Absolute Yoga in Woodbury has been running a yoga class for people with MS for quite some time now. I’ve noticed the advertisements in the back of my “MS Connections” magazine, and I always made a mental note to check it out, but always forgot about it. This month, however, I got up my nerve and decided to see what it was all about.

When I got to the studio, which is located in the shopping center off Piquets Lane in Woodbury, just before Jericho Turnpike, I felt a bit nervous. Here I was, dressed in jeans and sneakers, barely prepared for a yoga class, and I wasn’t sure what would even be involved in taking the class. I had done about forty-five minutes of yoga that morning, so I wasn’t really hyped for doing more stretching. The note on the door announced, “Class in session.” I almost turned back towards my car, but something told me to go inside.

I’m so glad that I did.

Leslie Luft, the owner and director of Absolute Yoga, greeted me with a warm smile. She let me know that the class hadn’t begun yet for MS Yoga, and so I asked if I could just “sit in” to get a feel for how strenuous the asanas would be. There was only one other student in the room, so Leslie cheerfully agreed. We removed our shoes and socks and went into one of the two large rooms to begin our practice.

Leslie began the session with a brief warm up to some soothing music. The poses soon began, in what Leslie instructs with Anusara styled routines, where one holds the poses for longer periods of time. I decided to join in, since I was sitting on the mat anyway. I was a little hesitant, considering the fact that I was wearing a pair of jeans, but I soon found myself able to move with great flexibility, and I was beginning to really work up a good sweat!

After about an hour of asanas, Leslie took us through a cool-down period, coupled with a full body relaxation. I honestly thought that I was going to fall asleep; between Leslie’s soothing voice and the soft music, my body was beginning to yield to the hard surface of the floor. My body felt strengthened, stretched, and completely relaxed.

After class, Leslie, the other student and I chatted briefly in the waiting area about the benefits of yoga. I found out that there are two classes for people with MS, on Tuesday and Thursday, and Leslie invited me to join her during either these classes or the beginner’s yoga classes. I’m grateful that she offered the beginner’s classes, because although I have practiced for many years, I could very well be practicing incorrectly. There is nothing like having a knowledgeable teacher to guide you into practicing safely.

I will return to Absolute Yoga after the holiday season draws to a close, because I enjoyed every single moment of the experience. I even walked into the small store that was set up by the second classroom; beautiful yoga gear of various patterns and colors greeted me brightly. It was a fabulous experience, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone interested in starting yoga.

Yoga has so many wonderful benefits. It has been used as an intervention for many conditions, including depression, back pain, stress, and multiple sclerosis. According to a survey released in 2008 by the US National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, yoga was the sixth most commonly used alternative practice in 2007. With the advent of more and more people practicing, that number is significantly higher today. There are low impact styles of yoga, as well as pranayama, which means “extension of breath” in Sanskrit. Pranayama includes various types of breathing exercises that help to increase focus and mental alertness.

Even if you can’t practice a full half hour or hour session, five minutes a day of yoga is all that’s necessary to reap the benefits. As it has been said by many instructors, including Sage Roundtree and Wayne Dyer, “a little yoga is better than no yoga at all.” If I’m in a hurry, I am sure to do at least three or four rounds of Sun Salutations. They help to revitalize me, and I feel a lot better that I did something good for myself.

For more information about Absolute Yoga and the services and classes that they offer, you can visit them on the web at www.absoluteyogastudio.com, or you can reach them at (516) 682-YOGA (9642). They are located at 1 Guilles Lane in Woodbury, one block south of Jericho Turnpike, off Piquets Lane. Who knows? Maybe I’ll see you there!

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