TAWAS CITY With the cold weather and snow making its home Iosco County for the next few months, Alaina Edwards says people often become stagnant and, in turn, sad because their level of activity tends to decrease during this time of year.

As owner of Tawaste Yoga Studio in Tawas City, Edwards is trying to help those in the community combat lethargic lifestyles, while also snuffing out the stigmas attached to such disciplines as yoga.

Any preconceived notions about the practice go out the window when speaking with Edwards. While yoga can be very challenging, she notes that it can also be tailored to those of all ages, abilities and experience. Ones gender, body type and other factors are also irrelevant.

Yoga is just as much about mental health as it is physical, with Edwards pointing out that this natural mood booster is a form of meditation which can provide relief from a number of ailments.

She and other studio employees believe in this so much, in fact, that they have offered and plan to continue providing free sessions throughout the community. This has included chair classes at local senior centers, yoga lessons for area students and athletes and even some free guidance/classes on the Tawaste website.

Theyre just carrying so much weight that they dont need to, Edwards says of the students, in particular, noting that many young people now suffer with anxiety, aches and pains that they shouldnt be facing at this age, but that can be addressed.

Yoga is very humbling, she adds, noting that athletes may be able to run around a field for 90 minutes, but not be able to even touch their toes while stretching. Yoga, on the other hand, can help prevent injuries by loosening up the body, and also aids in curbing stress and anxiety.

Yoga, however, isnt about people just being able to touch their toes. Its all about the breath. We stretch to help get our breath into our tight shoulder, or our tight hip, Edwards explains.

We make these complicated shapes with our body because, the more complicated it is, the less we think. Its a form of meditation. So we get into the body to get out of the head, she describes. When we do that, thats our present moment. And thats all meditation is, is present moment.

She says it can be difficult for some people to only meditate but, when they can concentrate on something like yoga, Then youre there; youre in it.

Edwards says this is why she likes to offer yoga to children, and that she became trained in this field is because she has a son and she wanted him to learn the practice of breath and presence.

And I love yoga with seniors, because theres never a time thats too late, she added.

Edwards studied in Costa Rica and has been working as an RYT, or a 200-hour registered yoga teacher. She also recently completed the 1,000 hours of instructing required to be a teacher of other teachers, which has been a longtime goal of hers.

I did my teacher training because I love yoga. It really helped me with stress and anxiety, Edwards shares, adding that it has also helped with her feeling of calm and grace. Thats one of my prayers, God give me grace. I just learned that, with my breath, it helped me be in the present moment.

When introducing her husband Justin to the area, he loved it immediately and they moved to Tawas City about two years ago. Water and woods mean a lot to us. As a bonus, Edwards also has family who live in the community. They supported her dream of opening the yoga studio, which was realized on Jan. 5 this year.

The establishment features several instructors, including Edwards, and offers everything from Barre exercises, chair yoga and therapeutic massage, to Ashtanga yoga, dance lessons and Yin yoga.

We have some classes that are a lot slower; we dont ever get off of the floor. Its called Yin, and its more of that meditational, slow stretch, Edwards says, adding that there are different strokes for different folks, so she wanted to make everything available that she could at her studio.

She reiterated that Tawaste is all-inclusive and caters to those of any skill level, age and ability. In fact, on the day of the interview for this story, she had recently led a class where the participants ranged in age from 16-75.

Some people also assume that it is mostly women who partake in yoga, but Edwards says Tawaste welcomes a lot of male participants, as well.

Whatever your age, gender or experience, one point Edwards wants to drive home is that her studio is a safe space where real people can get together without fear of judgement or scrutiny.

For those who still prefer to get their workout done at home, Tawaste now offers online classes. Edwards also wanted to make this available, should inclement weather prevent people from showing up in person.

She says, though, that there are benefits to joining in on group classes, which also nurture peoples social needs. She has been delighted to watch friendships form, with many participants going out to eat or enjoying other activities together once their class ends.

And how nice that, in these times where things can be so isolated by our phones and just watching life happen, its actually happening in this spot, she expressed.

I like to share things that I like, and this has made such an impact on my life, that thats why I wanted to start this business here, because its something we could all use, she went on.

As for what people can do to beat the winter blues and carry that over into year-round wellness Edwards suggests starting each day with gratitude, a focus on breathing and doing a deep stretch. Just maybe inhaling, reaching up, exhaling, folding from your hips, she says.

We all get stagnant in this winter. We get sad. If were going to say one prayer a day, have it be thank you, she also recommends.

And just be mindful when we walk, when we have these slippery surfaces, to take our time. We are human beings, not human doings. We need to slow down, Edwards says.

When we feel like times are getting really tough, green is the color of peace, she also advises. This is why we are so fortunate where we live, because we are surrounded by trees.

If someone is feeling down, overwhelmed or even struggling with PTSD, Edwards says people have found relief just by being in nature and taking in the greenery around them, which is also known as forest bathing.

Thats one reason I have a lot of plants in here, she says of her studio, And its a big reason why we moved here, to be surrounded by nature. So this is a health tip that works for us year-round in our awesome community.

According to Edwards, people feel great after yoga lessons because of the stretching, but theyre also super charging their blood with oxygen, due to mindfully inhaling and exhaling. In with the new, out with the old.

Maintaining a good posture, stretching, practicing mindfulness and engaging in deep breathing to the belly can be carried out by almost anyone, and Edwards says she is actually surprised how some people live without this. Because life gets heavy, and this brings it back to the basics where we have everything we need within us.

She says the present moment is key, as well. Stop worrying about what happened, stop worrying about what might not even happen. Because right now, we are doing pretty good.

As for the deep abdominal breathing, she explains that this sparks the parasympathetic nervous system. The key to longevity is less stress, and the easiest thing to reduce this is by deep breaths in and out. You can feel it work.

Edwards says yoga is also very detoxifying and participants sweat a lot, but the effort is worth the reward. It all stems from our hips a lot of our knee problems, a lot of our back problems. A lot of it comes from these hips that were on, so when we open them up or neutralize them out, we walk better, we sleep better.

She shares that one reason she wanted to become a teacher of yoga teachers, is because she hopes to inspire others.

We teach because it magnifies our own practice, really. You dont teach yoga to become rich, but you do it to enrich your own practice, she notes. The more we practice, the more we crave it, and it becomes like this really healthy addiction, she went on, adding that yoga is a great opportunity to clear the mind and have some me time, without such distractions as cell phones.

Further, Edwards says yoga can spill over into other aspects of ones life, beyond just the four walls of a studio. What I tell people is, take your yoga off the mat. What did you just learn in this hour, that we can bring throughout our day?

Another way to feel healthy and happy is through community involvement, which is something Edwards also practices in her own life.

I love locality. I think we have strength in numbers. And I think thats whats really beautiful about small town life, is that our outreach makes more of an impact, she says.

Edwards is a proponent of local businesses and, rather than compete with other establishments, she prefers to join forces with them.

For example, Tawaste has held Barre at the Bar classes in conjunction with the Buckhorn Inn, as a way of getting people into spaces other than just the studio, and to even further integrate healthy habits into the community.

Edwards, along with Tawaste staff and other local supporters, also sponsored an East Tawas family this past year, through Harbor Lights Pregnancy & Information Center. Edwards says it went so well that the plan is to sponsor a few families this year. Im so excited to see what we can do.

Tawaste Yoga Studio is located at 211 W. Lake St. (US-23), and more information can be had by calling 984-5022 or visiting http://www.tawaste.com.

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Yoga studio owner shares tips for boosting the body and brain - Iosco County News Herald