Yoga has come to the Southwest with the opening of classes at the Duncanville Fieldhouse, presented by Yoga Club DFW. Live Love Teach trained and certified and Yoga Alliance registered instructors Alma Garcia and Alex Hamby deliver a unique approach to Yoga that builds on the ideal that this practice is for everyone.
“I began ‘practicing’ yoga around 2008,” Alma says, “When I finally decided that I didn’t have to be skinny, flexible, young or perfect to practice my yoga.”
Alex added, “After years of living a sedentary lifestyle, the type they talk about on all the wellness and fitness blogs, I went to the gym and lost 90 lbs. through the usual exercise routines that a lot of people do. But the weights and cardio machines weren’t helping me with the stress and anxiety I was suffering. I found relief from those in a yoga practice.”
Yoga has grown to become a popular form of fitness in America with a Yoga Journal study showing that 20.4 million of us are currently heading to the studio and the mat to improve flexibility, general conditioning, find relief from stress, and improve overall health and physical fitness. This is a number that is expected to grow as fitness moves from a luxury to a priority as more and more people are making the necessary changes in lifestyle to undo the effects of a standard Western lifestyle of processed foods, lack of movement, and the physical/mental repercussions associated.
Flexibility, strength, posture, spinal decompression, strengthened bones, circulation, reduction in blood pressure, lymph improvements, and weight loss are just some of the benefits of a yoga practice but there’s something else too. People who practice yoga report of a dramatic reduction of stress and an improvement in depression. Yoga significantly increases serotonin levels and a decreases the levels of monoamine oxidase (an enzyme that breaks down neurotransmitters) and cortisol. In other words: Yoga does a lot to improve both body and mind!
Alex and Alma are personally familiar with how intimidating that first yoga class can be. In a typical Yoga Club DFW class, students move from posture to posture, poses like Warrior II and Upward Facing Dog making regular appearances throughout a class. “But in a shorter amount of time than one might expect,” Alex offers, “those postures, and the benefits gained from each, quickly make sense.”
“Science and medicine are beginning to promote the benefits of this practice but feeling it is believing. The hardest part is just starting and sticking to it but after a few short weeks or regular, three to five day a week practice, you can begin to discover what a lot of people already have,” says Alex. “Yoga works!”
Yoga Club DFW offers daily classes that are accessible to all levels of fitness. Try it out for yourself with a special offer of 2 Weeks Unlimited Yoga for just $25!