Yoga studio offers free classes

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

EVERY Sunday, one of Cebu City’s yoga studios offers people the chance to do their bodies some good, as well as to do a good deed.

Free yoga classes are offered every 8:30 a.m. on Sundays at the Surya Nanda Yoga studio.

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“Students are encouraged to give donations, in cash or in kind, to support our projects,” said Benilyn Formoso-Suralta, one of the studio’s instructors.

The Karma Yoga classes themselves are free, because the teachers wanted a way “to share the blessings we have received from teaching yoga,” explained Blanche Ladera, one of the studio’s co-owners and teachers. Karma means “action” or “deed” in Sanskrit.

Jeanne Torrefranca, who has practiced yoga for seven years, said the free classes give the studio’s teachers and students alike the chance to give back “time and effort and maybe also our treasures, without any conditions.”

Practiced regularly, yoga offers benefits that are not just physical, but also emotional, mental and spiritual. “Somehow, it makes one kinder and happier,” Torrefranca said.

Ladera added one of the reasons she has sustained her practice of yoga was that her first teacher spent her spare time teaching her a free, one-on-one class.

“I saw her patience and the willingness to teach me Ashtanga yoga without asking anything in return,” she said.

More than learning poses one can do on a mat, yoga confers benefits that are visible throughout the rest of one’s routines off the mat, like gaining a better outlook, said teacher and co-owner Ferilyn Magno.

“Although yoga is offered in some workout centers, not all people have the chance to practice at a very affordable rate,” she said. Surya Nanda Yoga’s goal, she added, is “to spread the love of yoga.”

The Saurya Nanda Yoga studio is located at Room 401 of the Krizia Building, behind the West Gorordo Hotel on Gorordo Ave. and across a side street from the QC Pavilion. It offers classes in Ashtanga Primary Series, Open Vinyasa, Power Core, Yoganastics and Yin-Inspired Restorative Yoga. For more information, please contact 417-1157.