Providing Community Yoga in Weaverville, NC
with Gabrielle Pickard-Karnowski, CIYT Level 1
Thank you to IYASE for awarding me one of the 2022 Community Outreach Grants. The grant funded props like blankets, mats, and straps and allowed me to offer free classes to anyone in need. The classes happen at the Weaverville Community Center which is a gorgeous new building with lots of windows and quite a bit of wall space. Having a regular monthly class is helping to bring a community of interested individuals together. Through this inquiry of Yoga we have some opportunities to take a dip into our selves.
These classes are offered to anyone who is interested in learning more about Iyengar Yoga in particular and Yoga in general.
I am excited to continue my own studies and teaching is a wonderful way for me to give back when I feel I have received so much from the Iyengars and the Iyengar Yoga Community.
Moving Beyond the Studio in South Florida
with Rosa Santana, CIYT Level 3
As a result of the pandemic, and following my own bout with Covid and Covid-induced pneumonia, I made the decision to close Yogarosa, the studio I’d owned and operated for over 20 years. Yogarosa had attracted students from all walks of life, and as the owner of the studio, I had work exchange programs and scholarships for anyone who could not afford classes. While the decision to close my studio was incredibly difficult, I have since realized that doing so was a blessing in disguise—making me get creative and enabling me to focus on Iyengar Yoga Outreach.
The IYASE Community Outreach Grant enabled me to take yoga outside the traditional studio setting - to people’s homes and even the beach - and to reach students who wouldn’t be able to afford classes in a yoga studio. For instance, I’ve been introducing yoga to at risk youth and their mothers in various events in my area. I also have a student who is the daughter of the cleaning woman at my building. She just brought her legally blind daughter to the U.S. from Hungary. Her daughter had suffered a stroke and was in a coma in her native country. She has now been practicing regularly. Her balance has improved, and she has become very creative in using her furniture as props. She says she feels better as a result…. and, perhaps most importantly, she’s smiling more.