This series started as a way to shine a brighter light on local merchants and businesses who offer unusual and thoughtful options for holiday gift-giving.
Three things became quickly apparent: First-we give gifts year-round, for different occasions. Two-sometimes we are the most deserving gift candidates we know. Third (channeling Sally Field now) you really, really liked it!
So now, going forward, this is a year-round, on-going series. Valentines Day is coming...so are birthdays, anniversaries, baby and bridal showers, etc. Please make this a favorite, and consider coming here first for you gift-giving inspiration.
For a number of years, I have been drawn to what I THOUGHT yoga was about, but got intimidated by all there was to KNOW: Intense yoga, hot yoga, gentle yoga? And oh yes, all the media images of slender flexible lovelies in spandex....the only constant was that I would read stories about real-life devotees in their 60s, 70s and beyond who were calm and happy, healthy and flexible. And the older I've gotten, the more I've wanted THAT to be MY future. 
This is not to educate anyone on the specifics of yoga...it's about how that even early on, it's come to work in the real life of an unathletic, non-graceful, kind of fearful and and semi-lumpy person (me), and that why a gift certificate for some introductory lessons could be the best gift you'd ever give.
Through a business organization I came to know Michele Weiss professionally. Travel is her business, but yoga is her passion. A casual conversation some months earlier led to an email about classes she was teaching, which then found me in a cozy studio in Stamford on a Saturday morning about 6 weeks ago.
Yoga Space Stamford is nestled in the 2nd floor of the LAA (Loft Artists Association) Building on Canal Street, just down from Fairway, off exit 8 of 95. Love the creative feeling of the building, and the clean, simple feeling of the studio.
Owner Silvana Stein opened Yoga Space Stamford in 2008. First a practicioner for nearly 30 years, then a certified instructor, she has taught in lower Fairfield county since 1993, she is one of those afore-mentioned devotees with an amazing story of healing.
There is a very old saying (proverb?) 'when the student is ready, the teacher will appear'. That has proven to be the case in other profound times in my life, and I am seeing that here, too.
As I contemplate writing this, it occurs to me how un-intellectual this is. Thinking, talking, reading about it will not help you understand...for me, so far, it's been about just showing up, listening and doing...just following instructions.
lynegar yoga is what Silvana, and Michele, and the other instructors practice, this link can tell you more about it. Six weeks in, I can tell you first I am sore the day after...but it's a good sore. I never was concious before of how many different body parts there were that I had such control over. But I am also thinking better, and carrying myself gently, straighter. I am taller and calmer, and deep, settling breaths just come, involuntarily. It's wild.
Yoga Space Stamford has a full schedule of classes for those of all abilities, and some very attractive deals if you wanted to try a few without any monster commitment. If you are ready, and lucky enough to live in the Stamford area( it's 20 minutes for me, coming from White Plains), check out the site and call Silvana for any questions. If you are out of the area, research it a bit, and look for your own local haven. Treat yourself, you'll be glad you did.
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