With countless yoga classes being offered daily in studios and public spaces around Asheville and Western North Carolina, creative local yoga teachers are diversifying.
Xpress talked with six yoga teachers who have infused their yoga classes with complementary healing or movement practices to create a unique yogic experience. Anna Ferguson combines restorative yoga with massage to bring her students into a deeper state of relaxation.
Anna Ferguson — yoga and massage
Xpress: How do you incorporate massage into your yoga classes?
My restorative yoga and massage workshops are a chance to experience the deep relaxation of restorative poses, coupled with gentle and loving touch by the massage therapists. My idea to create the workshop came from the knowledge that accurate and skilled bodyworkers would be able to gently and knowledgeably use touch to enhance the posture practice and deepen relaxation, so the student gets more out of each moment in class.
What is it about yoga and massage that make them complementary?
They are both awareness and relaxation practices, but adding massage helps people go deeper into the experience of their body and deepens the state of relaxation they can experience in class.
Ferguson will teach her Therapeutic Restorative Yoga and Esalen Massage workshop at Nourishing Life Center of Health on July 11. More info at nourishinglife.com.
Stay tuned for more interviews with local yoga teachers.
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