There are many wonderful yoga class opportunities in town and many qualified teachers to pick from. We're very fortunate to be living in a community so focused on health and healing here on the coast. But that's why we live here, yes?

Did you know, there's a terrific "yoga find" way back in the Valley at St. Peter's Church, 700 Oddstad Blvd., off Linda Mar?

For anyone new to yoga or a bit shy about their abilities and want to get their feet wet, Donation Yoga is the perfect choice. For some, gym classes may be too physically challenging and fast paced, or it might be daunting to navigate a private yoga studio's many choices if you don't know which style or teacher would be a good fit.

Stress is definitely the plague of the 21st century. At Donation Yoga, the goal is to provide a safe and nurturing space where anyone can acquire tools to deal with life's stresses. Here you'll learn how to breathe correctly to relax, slow down, and let go. It's been scientifically proven that Yoga activates the relaxation response and kicks in natural anti-depression hormones to the brain. It can be quite effective for back pain as well. Evidence based studies also show that regular yoga practice will make one more cheerful and less anxious. This is a wonderful inexpensive and non-invasive way to foster health and well being into our lives. How much better can it get?

Meet the two Yoga Instructors

Susan Grace Macaulay

Donation Yoga was born in September 2010 when Susan Grace was looking for a new teaching venue. The small studio where she taught had closed and she was looking for an opportunity to serve the Pacifica community. While taking her widowed mother to a donation based yoga class in San Francisco, she came up with the idea there might be a place for a program like this in Pacifica.

Susan will be speaking at the annual Institute of Consciousness Research Conference in Canada this August 4-5th on the healing benefits of Yoga and how it relates to the 12 Step Program. She was the first guest speaker in the 12-month series of health and healing discussion groups at Florey's Book Company in Pacifica on the third Wednesday of the month. She kicked off the series, twenty-five people attended her presentation and loved it. She is a natural speaker/presenter.

Donation Yoga co-founder Carol Dunnewas born in Ireland and moved to San Francisco with her family when she was a teenager. She and her family have resided in Pacifica for the past 28 years and she's practiced yoga for the past 15 years.

Carol initially started using yoga to ease her aching bones as a result of many accidents over the course of her life. Yoga helped strengthen her body and alleviate her pain. Using yoga also had a calming effect and aided Carol to move away from her over-analytical brain. Carol is counseling clients at a detox center in the San Francisco Bay Area and reports yoga has helped to increase her creativity and intuition. She's able to be more effective in her career as a result. Yoga has also helped her to make wiser decisions giving her a better life!

Originally posted here:
Donation Yoga -- The best-kept secret in Pacifica