By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—Yoga is a set of ancient practices, with origins in the Indian subcontinent thousands of years ago. The word itself means “union” in Sanskrit and is related to the English word “yoke,” in the sense of “to join together.” One of the main purposes of yoga is indeed to create a union, one of mind, body, and spirit, through physical, mental, and spiritual engagement.
Though the mental and spiritual aspects of yoga are central to traditional practice, most of us are more familiar with the physical aspect, known as “Asana”: the notorious joint-stretching poses that sometimes look impossible to non-practitioners. Some of the more famous ones have evocative names, such as downward-facing dog, goddess, and standing firefly.
Yoga has been popular in the United States for decades now, moving from a counterculture practice associated with the hippie movement of the 1960s to mainstream physical exercise available in many gyms and health clubs.
Over the last few years, options for local folks interested in yoga have increased to the point where everyone can now find a teacher and a class that suit their physical needs, their personal approach, and their schedule. We no longer need to trek to Middlebury or Rutland to work with experienced teachers.
Brandon Yoga Center
On Route 7, just north of the intersection with Arnold District Road, is Brandon Yoga Center, which was founded by Judit Schneider in 2017.
Originally from Hungary, Schneider moved to Brandon from New Jersey with her husband, Jack, in 2016. She had been practicing yoga in earnest since 2009 and teaching since 2013.
“I was always athletic,” said Schneider at her studio. “I was running a couple miles every day. I always liked to face challenges.”
“But I started getting pain and stiffness in my joints,” she continued. “The doctor told me I needed to stop running. I didn’t want to stop being physical. A friend suggested that I try yoga. I wasn’t sure about it. It didn’t seem like people did anything in yoga.”
Schneider took a class. She wasn’t impressed at first, but she stuck with it and started doing “hot” yoga (also known as Bikram yoga after its originator, Bikram Choudhury). The benefits of hot yoga include detoxification (through perspiration) and deeper healing through heat.
The first classes of hot yoga were pretty tough on her.
“But I saw a beautiful woman in front of me in class and she was doing the poses so elegantly, I wanted to keep trying,” she said. She gave herself a month to continue.
“After two weeks, six sessions per week, I saw tremendous changes in my body,” she said. “The arthritis was completely gone.”
Schneider also embraced other changes in her diet and lifestyle—“we’re surrounded by toxins in our environment”—and hasn’t looked back.
There was immediate interest when she opened the Yoga Center in 2017, she said. People flocked to the studio to try the classes. Hot yoga can be challenging for newbies, but “the people whose souls are touched come back,” said Schneider.
“I love working with beginners,” she added. “They have a lot of energy and are eager to absorb the information.”
Schneider is also a certified natural health coach and can offer guidance on creating a healthier lifestyle through natural means.
“Yoga is just one part of being healthy,” she noted. (You can read more about her coaching practice at natureguidebyjudit.com.)
In addition to the hot yoga, Schneider offers several other options. For example, there’s “chair yoga” for those who have trouble with floor poses. Practitioners of chair yoga do both standing and sitting poses, using chairs for support, but don’t have to get down on the floor. It’s a good complement for bone-building classes, she added.
There’s also “restorative” yoga, which focuses more on the mental aspect of the practice, giving students an opportunity to engage in deeply relaxing, meditative practice that requires no physical exertion.
Judit’s husband, Jack, started practicing yoga when he met Judit in 2011.
“I’m more flexible. I have better balance,” he said. “It’s helped me with my skiing. It’s also helped a lot with my back pain. It’s good exercise and stress relief.”
“I try to keep the classes fun,” said Judit, noting that the social aspect of the classes is important to many of her students. “It’s human to human. Soul to soul.”
But Schneider also stated that she’s not trying to convert anyone to any spiritual path.
“The spiritual aspect is important—we start every class with meditation—but everyone’s soul is different and this isn’t a religion,” she said. “But yoga teachers should spread the philosophy of yoga to help people connect with themselves and nature.”
Schneider’s studio has become a local hub for both students and other teachers. Many teachers come to work at the Brandon Yoga Center before moving on to open their own studios.
“I love having different teachers,” she said. “Every teacher has a different approach. And every student has a different need. When people say they’re afraid to try yoga because they’re not flexible, I say, ‘Well, that’s why you’re here.’”
For a full listing of offerings, schedules, and rates at the Brandon Yoga Center, please visit brandonyogacenter.com.
The VT Yoga Barn
Set on 27 pastoral acres at 116 Old Sawmill Road in Orwell, the VT Yoga Barn is the realized vision of Lisa Limoge, who opened the off-grid studio and retreat center in 2014.
Limoge moved to Orwell from Colorado, having suffered major losses in a flood out there. She and her then-husband found the parcel of land in Orwell and lived in the barn while they built their off-grid house just up the hill.
“I’m an adventurer,” said Limoge on the sunny patio outside the barn that now houses both a warm wood-paneled yoga studio and a separate event space. “I had been wanting a retreat center for a long time. It was a 30-year dream. It wasn’t easy.”
Originally from Burlington, Limoge has traveled extensively and lived in California and New Hampshire, in addition to Colorado.
But it was as a teenager in Burlington that Limoge discovered yoga, though she wasn’t even aware that’s what she was doing.
“I was one of six children and not interested in watching TV with my siblings,” she recalled. “I would go up to my room and do postures that came to me intuitively. I was just connecting with my breath and communing with myself. I was raised Catholic and always had a spiritual focus.”
In 1992, employed as a social worker for Washington County Mental Health in Vermont, Limoge saw a flyer for a yoga class. Like many small moments that become life-altering, that flyer set her on a new path in life.
Limoge attended the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Massachusetts and later opened one of the first yoga studios in Burlington, which she operated until 2006.
“Yoga offers a big picture of wellness,” she said. “It’s mind, body, and spirit. You don’t have to embrace the spiritual aspect to benefit from it. Guru B.K.S. Iyengar said, ‘We don’t deny affiliation with religion, but it’s not required.’” Limoge may make the spiritual connection for herself but does not ask that her students adopt any of those teachings.
“I meet people right where they are,” she said. “They can take what works for them and leave the rest. I want to help people become integrated, which means they’re grounded, healthy, and contented.”
Limoge offers group classes, private sessions, and weekend retreats, both on site at her facility and at other sites in the area, including the Mercy Ecospirituality Center in Benson.
“Beginners are welcome,” she added. “We go at whatever pace is comfortable. People are so critical of themselves. I teach them to be kind to their bodies. Everyone can benefit. Yoga can help with posture and a positive posture can lead to a more positive outlook and attitude.”
“I want students to be informed about the culture of yoga and pursue whatever aspects appeal to them, but they can also treat it just like a class at a gym,” she added.
To find out more about VT Yoga Barn, including schedules of classes, please visit the center’s pages on Facebook and Instagram.
Yoga and Reiki with Melanie Redel
Melanie Redel runs her yoga classes in the pilates studio at 25 Rossiter Street in Brandon. She’s been in Vermont for 3 years, having moved to Leicester from Hawaii with her husband.
“My husband wanted four seasons,” she laughed.
Though she’s now in Vermont, she completed most of her formal training in Hawaii and is a registered member of the Yoga Alliance, which Redel refers to as the “gold standard” of certification. She’s got both her 200-hour and 500-hour certification.
Redel discovered yoga while living in New York City 25 years ago.
“I had chronic asthma,” she said. “I started doing hot yoga and something just spoke to me. I practiced hot yoga for 10 years and my lungs were stronger. I was generally healthier. I also changed my lifestyle and habits at the same time.”
Redel was working in a high-pressure job as a computer crime investigator and felt that yoga helped her “stay grounded in a stressful industry.”
“My mat was always my sanctuary,” she said. “Yoga is a spiritual path, but it’s not a religion or a cult. It’s a lifelong journey of self-exploration. It can bring a lot of meaning and joy to your life.”
There’s “zero expectation” of spiritual involvement in her classes, but she does bring that aspect into the sessions, as she sees it as integral to the practice.
“I encourage students to live a more heart-centered life,” she said. “Yoga brings unity where there’s divisiveness. That ripple effect can radiate out in this world of confusion. I want to soften the glue on the masks that we wear. There’s nothing wrong with being physical, but the philosophical underpinnings of yoga are very important to me. My first yoga teacher brought that into her classes, and it helped make sense of so much of my life. I wanted to be that kind of teacher.”
Like her colleagues, Redel works with all levels of experience.
“Show up where you are and listen to your body,” she advises. “Yoga should never hurt.”
In addition to classic yoga, Redel also offers reiki, which is a Japanese tradition of transference of energy from one person to another.
“It’s healing touch,” Redel explained. “I incorporate it into a restorative yoga class I offer once a month. It has a very calming effect.”
Redel emphasizes that her practice focuses on positive energy and healing.
“I want my students to get to know themselves and trust their inner wisdom,” she said. “It’s a very introspective practice.”
Redel’s classes are free-will donation.
“I want to keep it affordable for everyone,” she explained.
For the full schedule of classes, please visit melanieredel.com.
Is yoga right for you?
Many people are attracted to yoga for the health benefits but hesitate to take classes because they worry that they’re not flexible enough or that the spiritual aspect may be outside their comfort zone. But all the practitioners interviewed for this article are happy to work with inexperienced students and will not expect anyone to adopt yoga as a lifestyle, though if the spiritual aspect is appealing, they will gladly share that knowledge as well.
All the interviewed practitioners offer a range of classes, some of which are gentle, some of which are more vigorous. And they all offer one-on-one sessions as well that are tailored to your specific needs and abilities.
Ultimately, whether you’re comfortable with the practice depends on whether you’re comfortable with the teacher. Now with so many options in the area, finding a compatible teacher has never been easier.
Namaste!
