Bengal News West Reporters
As the vibration of mellow
tunes flow throughout the body and citrus-flavored incense fills the hot, humidified room, one
can’t help but to feel relaxed by the calmness of one’s mind.
Evolation Yoga made its first appearance
on the Elmwood strip in 2009 as a Bikram Yoga, also known as hot yoga studio. Since then it has become
a transnational meeting ground for diverse individuals sharing a common passion
for yoga.
 |
| Alicia Kirkendall |
Bikram Yogawas created by Bikram Choudhury. It is a 26-posture exercise conducted in a 105
degree room. Each individual posture works collectively to create muscle
flexibility, constant blood flow and a clearer mind.
The studio has expanded, offering a variety of
classes for students including a beginners
yoga class conducted in a less heated room, a faster-paced yoga class also
known as “flow” and Bikram Yoga for advanced students. These classes focus on
controlling the outer body through inner stillness.
Alicia Kirkendall has been
a yoga instructor at Evolation for two years and says that yoga has helped her
to exude positivity and embrace self-reflection and meditation.
“What
are you doing for everybody? You’re just sitting there meditating but without
that inner stillness what would you be projecting otherwise? Chaos or anger?
There are so many feelings that people feel, that they don’t realize they can
put off to others,” Kirkendall said.
In addition to the advantages
that yoga has for the mind, practicing yoga in a heated room helps to sweat out
toxins held within the glands and organs of the body. The heat also helps to
soften the muscles, allowing students to easily adjust to the various postures
without messing up their body alignment.
“With the heat, it
increases the circulation of your blood so it gets everything moving around
faster,” Kirkendall said.
Kelly Trip, a Yoga Flow
instructor at Evolation calls it fun. She teaches yoga to her employees at her
corporate job for 50 minutes during her lunch break and calls it “corporate
yoga.”
“It’s really about
connecting the postures in a fluid way,” Trip said.
Yoga also allows students
to connect with each other. Students contribute to the self-healing process of
people around them. They work together by feeding off of each other’s energy
and motivating one another.
“It’s amazing having everyone
come together into one room and work hard to better themselves,” Kirkendall
said.
Instructors at Evolation
Yoga continue to build a larger yoga community by teaching their techniques to
students and teachers nationally and internationally. They conduct a series of
training workshops in California, Florida, Costa Rica and Spain, and have
helped open Evolation Yoga studios in Florida, Atlanta, Costa Rica and
Columbia.
“We all help each other,”
Kirkendall said. “It’s a good network of teachers and guidance. It’s a
well-rounded training.”
They have training workshops in California and Hawaii in March 2014, and
later in London, Paris and Amsterdam.
“Yoga is a great getaway from a hectic life,” said Lasasha
Oyo, student at SUNY Buffalo State.
Oyo has participated in
yoga classes at Evolation for the past year and calls it a spiritual journey.
The West Side offers many
other yoga studios that contribute to the community and present a different focus
other than hot yoga. With all of the different types of classes available, an
individual can find a style specific to what he or she wishes to accomplish.
Erin Cook, owner of Head to
Heart Yoga, says that it is never too
late to begin yoga. She believes that there are various styles and levels to
suit anyone’s liking.
“There are many kids yoga
classes offered around the world and people practice yoga well into their 80s
and even 90s,” Cook said.
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