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Pulse ... A Guide to Health & Fitness Wednesday, January 29, 2003 • HERITAGE NEWSPAPERS/THE NEWS-HERALD Page 3 Yoga: Wellness of body, mind and spirit
BY BETH OATES
HERITAGE NEWSPAPERS Scott Malnar of Southgate holds his posture, or asanas, at Rising Sun Yoga in Southgate. It took about 25 years, but Lisa Rutledge of Taylor finally took her mother’s advice. Rutledge said her mother has been telling her to take up yoga, but she didn’t think she could do it because she has symptoms similar to muscular dystrophy. “But I’m more flexible than I thought,” she said. “And now I’m less stressed.” Rutledge, 42, said there are many other benefits. “My attitude is better and I’ve started writing poetry,” she said. “And I can meditate now. I never could before.” She’s been practicing yoga for about a year and a half, and since June, she has visited Rising Sun Yoga in Southgate more than 70 times. “Some days, I’m tense all over after work and I just want to go home,” she said. “But I know I’ll feel better if I do yoga.” She takes classes three to five times every week. “It’s hard these days to find a sense of community,” she said, “but I can get it here. “This has been a major change, but it doesn’t feel like it.” Since she began yoga, Rutledge also has lost weight and gone down in clothing sizes. Yoga was created in India more than 5,000 years ago to increase strength, flexibility and balance, and to make meditation last longer. That’s what Jim Pero, owner and instructor of Rising Sun Yoga, has learned. “From the meditation came yoga postures,” he said. Many still use yoga for meditation, but others flock to classes for exercise and stress relief.
The word “yoga” is from the Sanskrit word “yug,” meaning “union.” Pero considers yoga the wellness of the body, mind and spirit. Yoga is a series of postures, breathing exercises and meditation. There are eight limbs of yoga,
which are: Pero said you can do just the breathing (pranayama) or postures (asanas), or any combination, and still reap some benefits of yoga. “The benefits include building strength, balance and flexibility, but it goes beyond that,” Pero said. He said every pose in yoga works a different part of the body on different levels. “It works a lot of the glands in the body and works to stimulate glands to get them to work properly,” he said. The twisting and bending is massaging and cleansing the organs at the same time. It squeezes the toxins out of the body and spine. “It’s like a purification process,” he said. “You stretch your long muscles. It’s good for the body. “It’s good for weight reduction; you’re squeezing cellulite out.” Yoga helps balance metabolism and can help with weight problems because it burns calories. Pero said yoga can be nonstrenuous, but there also are classes that are dynamic and can really work up a sweat. Either way, “You come out of yoga and your mind is clear,” Pero said. “You let go of any worries. “You’re almost floating, like walking on a cloud.” Raluca Metea, 33, has been taking classes at Rising Sun Yoga since it opened and plans to go to school to become an instructor. “It’s like going to a retreat every day,” she said. “It keeps me very focused in every day activities.” A Detroit resident, Metea said she uses yoga for stress relief and fitness, has been practicing the spiritual training for about three years and takes classes Mondays through Fridays. Yoga is for anyone, any shape, size or age, its proponents say. Pero offers children’s classes, prenatal classes and beginner to advanced classes. “We have people in their 80s coming in,” he said. Classes last from one hour to an hour and a half. Pero said he likes longer classes, but two hours is a lot of time to ask of the busy people who come in. In Pero’s classes, the first 10 to 15 minutes is spent getting in touch with the body and establishing breath patterns. “That’s what makes yoga different,” Pero said. “Awareness and breath control.” The class then will go on to asanas for about an hour and will end with about 15 minutes of deep relaxation, which, Pero said, is similar to meditation. “It allows the muscles to relax,” he said. “It’s quieting after you’ve expelled all this energy. “That time is most people’s favorite part. It’s why some folks seem to just float out of here.” And, the painlessness of the classes may be another reason for the “floating.” Pero used a simple neck exercise to explain practicing yoga: When turning your head to the side, twisting your neck, you begin to feel an edge, where you can’t comfortably go any farther. In yoga, you stay there. As your muscles begin to relax and warm up, you can move more, without “It should be a comfortable discomfort.” He said yoga is a lot of work with the back and spine. “The key to youthfulness is through a flexible spine,” he said. He said a lot of people ask what yoga is going to do for them. In return, he asks them, “What do you want from yoga?” Pero owns Rising Sun Yoga with his wife, Kathy Reiber. Contact Staff Writer Beth Oates at boates@heritage.com
or 1-734- 246-0832.
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