Yoga instructors look beyond traditional studios
At church, in nature and more, instructors look beyond traditional studios for classes
When Carrie Bingham finished her yoga training, she launched her own class — not in a traditional yoga studio but in a church. She calls her class Warriors for Christ. The experience enables her to share the benefits of yoga with Sunday School and Bible study participants who may never go to a yoga studio.
“I wanted to find a place I could teach to help people,” she says, “to make it more of a ministry.”
She is among several certified yoga instructors taking yoga to the streets, museums, parks and places of worship. For some, it’s a means of taking yoga into neighborhoods that may lack a traditional studio. For others, it’s a way to find inspiration or combine passions.
Bingham says she has taken some flak for offering yoga in church because the practice is based in Hindu philosophy. But she says the people who criticized her were people commenting on the Facebook page she uses to advertise the class and she believes they weren’t people who live in Chattanooga.
She sees yoga as a means to stretch the body and sharpen the ability to focus. She starts each class with a prayer and says that anyone who knows her knows that she practices the Christian faith.
Besides, she says, yoga isn’t limited to people who practice Hindu. In Western culture, yoga is often associated with physical exercise, best known by the names of its poses,
such as Downward-Facing Dog or Locust. Yoga also focuses on breath, meditation and mindfulness. According to YogaJournal.com, the practice increases flexibility, builds muscle strength, increases blood flow and improves balance.
According to statista. com, yoga in the United States is expected to increase from the 36.7 million participants counted in 2015 to 55.5 million by 2020.
White Oak Baptist Church, where Bingham teaches, provides free child care on Monday nights, mats that beginners may use and even workout clothes, if needed, that newcomers may keep. And because she doesn’t want finances to deter people, she asks $5 for most classes and waives that fee for newbies. She charges $8 for a monthly themed class that ends with food. Luau Yoga, her themed session for this month, is at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 27.
She teaches at White Oak’s Access campus, located at 4064 S. Access Road, on Mondays and Tuesdays at 5:30 and on Friday mornings at 9:30 a.m. She also offers some Saturday classes and posts those times on the Warriors for Christ Facebook page.
It doesn’t matter how you look, the amount of yoga experience you have, your age or from where you come. Bingham says she’s reaching out to everybody.
“It truly is a ministry,” she says. “We have a laidback atmosphere where we can feel comfortable with one another.”
Victoria Priest shares in Bingham’s passion to share yoga.
Priest will teach the next Chattanooga River Market yoga class near the Tennessee Aquarium from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 25. It’s an outdoor class that overlooks the river, and it’s free, says Priest.
Different yoga instructors teach the class every Saturday morning. Classes continue through Oct. 6, when Chattanooga River Market closes for the season.
The River Market yoga class is for beginners and people with experience. It’s for anyone who wants to feel relief and elevate their well-being, says Priest.
“Yoga studios can be beautiful,” she says. “But I really love being outside, and early in the morning it’s relaxing.”
The Hunter Museum of American Art offers an Artful Yoga session each month. The next, Vibrating Between, is scheduled from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25. Madia Swicord, director of Chattanooga Yoga School, will lead a gallery discussion on yoga inspired by the work of artist Karen LaMonte, whose sculptures are on view in the gallery.
Next month, the museum also hosts a special-event yoga session and wine tasting 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13. The museum asks for a donation of $5 for yoga only or $10 for yoga and wine tasting.
Slay Dance Fit founder Natalie Mason teaches yoga at Devante Williams Dance Academy at 1106 McCallie Ave. at 7:45 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. The fee is $10 for newbies and $12 for returnees. She also offers package deals where the price per class decreases.
“You don’t have to have experience with yoga or be a dancer,” she says. “It’s about having fun and moving.”
And Anthony Crutcher, instructor and former owner of ClearSpring Yoga, teaches classes at Nutrition World, 6201 Lee Highway, at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays and at 8:15 a.m. Saturdays. In September, the Saturday class will move to 10 a.m. Thursday. The drop-in fee for one class is $15. Cost for five classes is $60 and for 10 classes $100.
“Our philosophies kind of match,” says Crutcher about using the Nutrition World space. “It’s all about wellness and making people healthier.”
“Yoga studios can be beautiful. But I really love being outside, and early in the morning it’s relaxing.” VICTORIA PRIEST, WHO WILL TEACH THE NEXT RIVER MARKET YOGA CLASS NEAR THE TENNESSEE AQUARIUM ON SATURDAY