What feels better than loving your work-out, really achieving results, and feeling better before, during, and after your practice.  It is truly what brings me back to my mat over and over, and continuously renews my love for life.  I have studied and practiced yoga for 20 years now.  I have never been happier or healthier physically, emotionally and spiritually than during these 20 years of study.  Yoga is a mental and physical practice that will improve and cure the mind of life’s aversions and afflictions, instilling peace, tranquility and deep calm if practiced regularly.  Yoga actually took over my life time gym membership.  I don’t remember ever not exercising, because I just love it. 

As an avid athlete in my teens/twenties I accumulated injuries from gymnastics, water & snow skiing, in-line skating, kick-boxing and high-heels that left me now achy ankles, knees, hip and low back.  Even my yoga asana practice was becoming a challenge, one that left me sore and achy.  Arthritis was setting in, weakening the joints and causing chronic pain.  My core strength was suffering because of 3 pregnancies in 4 years.  I was sick from NSAIDs, physical therapy was not helping, and I didn’t like the thought of pain-killers, cortizone injections, hip or knee replacement (not yet, way too young).  I seriously feared for another 40 years of suffering in this body that I had pretty much destroyed in the first 30.  But the solution has been the precise mixture of yoga, pilates, and traditional ballet. 

This is the ultimate combination of 3 disciplines honoring the body/mind/spirit to heal and strengthen naturally though movement.  You don’t have to have ever had a class in any of the the three, don’t be intimidated.  Although it isn’t easy, it is simple.  Equipment requirements: a yoga mat, light wrist and ankle weights, the back of a chair.  The real medicine, the real beauty is in the specific choreographed sequences, that targets core strenght from the knees to the solarplexis.  We use pilates to deeply strengthen the core, the body as a free-weight creating long beautiful yoga poses, ballet technique ,and integrated weights to further sculpt and strengthen the shoulders, arms, booty and legs.  These specific sequences are also naturally a pain-reliever.  Strengthening creates a natural anti-inflamatory for the body that  relieves pain and swelling while burning up to 600 calories per session increasing muscle density and mass.

This practice is universally good for women and men who either want to strengthen, lengthen and define their already atheletic bodies, like runners, or distance walkers, weight lifters.  Or to an individual getting back into a fitness regime, post pregnancy, recovering from illness, injury or surgery. 

Lisa Tokarz, ERYT200 and founding director of the Yoga Studio of Shelby has worked in the fitness industry for 20 years.  She is a graduate of Walsh College of Accountancy and also worked in the financial markets during the great bull markets of the 1990′s training executives in market data and IT.   Her family lead her further down the path of fitness through the discovery of yoga, which fulfilled a hunger never quite fed through other adventures.   Lisa has studied with the foremost teacher’s from around the world including His Holiness the Dali Lama, John Friend, Sharon & David, and Sri K. Pattabis Jois.  She has incorporated these teachings in all areas of her life with joy and success and wishes to share her knowldege during a time when healthcare and related costs are at an all time high crisis level.

Check out her classes, Tuesday through Sunday at The Yoga Studio of Shelby.   Located on Van Dyke Ave. north of 21 Mile Rd. Shelby Springs Plaza. Click on Classes/Class Schedule for the complete schedule of classes.  Namaste’

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