Anne’s Yoga Works – Yoga and Pilates
annesyogaworks.com
info at annesyogaworks.com or 519-243-3552
May 4 to June 29 – Mondays
10:30 to 11:45 a.m. – Port Franks studio
8 weeks $72. Drop in fee $10.
6:45 to 8 p.m. – Port Franks studio
8 weeks $72. Drop in fee $10.
(Drop-in fee allows participant to try one class without committing to whole session)
Classes offered: Yoga Your Way; Beginner Pilates; Teen Yogilates; Trim and Tone Yoga; Restorative Yoga; Yoga/Pilates for Golfers; Private group and Individual Yoga or Pilates classes by appointment only; Two hour Workshops will also be available.
Story and photos by Casey Lessard
In these stressful times, you may be exploring ways to reconnect with your body and slow down. Port Franks yoga teacher Anne Chute believes yoga and Pilates can do both.
“It makes people feel better and sleep better,” Chute says. “It allows the body to heal itself from the inside, and creates a feeling of contentment. It helps you learn how to focus what’s happening in your body.
“For the most part it’s people who already recognize they should slow down,” she says of her typical clientele. “People that push themselves really hard should come, but they tend to be the last people who want to come to a yoga class. The type of yoga I teach is hatha yoga, but I teach on the gentle side.”
Hatha yoga, which Chute teaches, involves a holistic approach that includes physical postures, yogic breathing and meditation. Because of the type of focus needed, Chute says yoga has advantages over other health programs.
“In a lot of facilities, the music is cranked so loud and there’s so much other noise that you can’t focus on what your body is saying,” she says. “Yoga focuses on the abilities of your body and strengthening that.”
Chute has been teaching yoga for five years, and has earned her Yoga 500, which involves doing 500 hours of instruction. It’s a long road that started with watching yoga on TV and discovering the pitfalls of that route.
“It’s hard to do it that way,” she says. “A lot of them (DVDs and books) don’t give you the opportunity to find out what you’re doing wrong.”
Regardless of how you do yoga, Chute sees the value of getting started and staying focused.
“The healing always starts from the inside, even when you cut yourself. Yoga is no different, but it unites the mind, body and spirit. You end up with a better attitude about yourself and your surroundings. You let go of things you don’t need, whether it be ego or money. Yoga says, I’m here right now. I need to enjoy this moment.”