For the past two weeks, VisArts has hosted a type of class outside of its normal arts lineup: yoga. Students have two opportunities for donation-based classes every week now at VisArts: Creative Flow at 5:30PM on Tuesdays with VisArts’ own event manager Lizzie Oliver, and Creating Space at 10:00AM on Fridays with the VMFA’s Merenda Woodward (who also teaches youth mosaics at VisArts.) Last week we sat down with Merenda, and this week we talked to Lizzie about her yoga experiences.
How did you first get into yoga?
My mother was really into yoga when I was young, and so when I went to college there was a fantastic dancer who also taught yoga–I went to a small liberal arts school so dance was a big thing–I started taking her classes, and she was a fantastic teacher. I found that it was challenging and also rewarding for my body and mind in a way that “working out” wasn’t.
Tell me about becoming a yoga teacher.
Doing urdhva dhanurasana, or wheel pose.
I did my teacher training at the Charlottesville Yoga School, which took five or six months, and then I started teaching yoga in Charlottesville. I taught for the Guerrilla Yoga Project in Charlottesville, which was one of the first donation-based, city-wide yoga projects. We had a program where we taught yoga in a women’s prison, which was an incredible responsibility.
In your opinion, since this class is at a visual arts center, what connects yoga and creativity?
I think that it’s important, because VisArts is also a community center, and there is often a wellness component to our programming and outreach, I think it makes sense to offer that to our students in the building. I also think that yoga frees you a little bit–physically, you know what I mean? They probably go kind of hand-in-hand, being a medium to do something you didn’t think you can do.
What is your favorite yoga pose?
I would say inversions. They literally change our perspective on our world and build confidence. Inverting used to give me a lot of anxiety but after practice I find that they bring a calm energy to the body. I love the idea of stimulating the circulatory system and providing freshly oxygenated blood to the lungs and brain. I find inversions fun- they inspire a childlike sense of play.
What would you tell people about yoga who have never tried it or are hesitant to try it?
Yoga is for everybody–you just have to find a style and a teacher that are right for you for
Receiving adjustments for paschimottanasana, or seated forward bend.
right now. There’s going to be a class that’s more suitable for a person who’s been practicing yoga for three years than someone who is new to yoga. The biggest thing I think–for anything really–is to try it.
What are your goals for your class at VisArts?
My class is a flow class–you’re gonna sweat. I want the class to learn the basics of vinyasa, so it involves sun salutations, a standing series, a seated series, back bending, an inversion, and savasana. I want the class to be comfortable with that. I want them to be able to come in and do sun salutations on their own. I want it to be fun: I want to have music, and we’re gonna laugh, we’re gonna work hard. There’s a joyful component to it.
Bring your mat and attend yoga classes through mid-December! Learn more about Creative Flow through the yoga course descriptions.