"Yoga Basics" Classes

In a partnership between Bernardsville Public Library and Bernardsville Recreation, a six-session course on yoga basics will be offered in the library's Community Room on Tuesdays, January 15 to February 19 at 1:00 pm.  Taught by Julie Shaw of Lotus Mind and Body, the total cost for the 6-week session is $5.00.  Registration is through Bernardsville Recreation’s Community Pass portal, https://register.communitypass.net.  Students should bring a yoga mat or towel with them to class.

Suitable for all students, the classes will offer an integrated sequence of poses designed to warm up the body and then work toward a specific intention within the natural movements of the spine.  Students are encouraged throughout the entire practice to link their awareness of breath to the movements of the body.  This awareness is the single most important key to a Hatha yoga practice because it serves to keep the practitioner in the present movement, observing and accepting what is.  Pranayama (breath work) and a final deep relaxation are integral to every class.

Twenty-five years ago Instructor Shaw's long commute in a car with a cranky clutch resulted in back pain.  She looked up “yoga” in the yellow pages and stepped into so much more than an exercise class.  Fourteen years later she completed her first level Yoga Alliance-approved teacher training, followed six years later by her second level training.   She began teaching ten years ago and has studied several primary forms of yoga, including Iyengar, Kripalu and Viniyoga.  Currently, she is studying to become a certified yoga therapist in the Viniyoga tradition, which is one of the remaining truly authentic yoga traditions.  She teaches group classes and works privately with individuals, developing a yoga practice which can best serve their needs, whatever their condition may be.  Ms. Shaw has had the privilege of experiencing the cumulative effects of decades of yoga, and she uses that awareness to encourage all students, beginners or veterans, to be open to what yoga can offer in this moment of their lives. 

For further information, call Bernardsville Library at 908-766-0118 or Bernardsville Recreation at 908-766-2546.