The Yoga Place

When

it comes to the stresses of everyday life, it is common for one to say “I haven’t even had time to breathe.” But for Karen Reeves, balancing mind and body is as easy as spending a little time every week practicing yoga.

“For me it began after I injured my knee and I was looking for something low-impact that would still keep me active,” Reeves said, sitting on the stage of The Yoga Place, her studio located at Whittington Place – formerly the Artchurch.

“My doctor told me that within the next four or five years I would have to have a knee replacement, but I was 45 years old – I don’t know of anyone that wants to have that kind of surgery so young,” she said.

Reeves began practicing yoga eight years ago when classes were introduced at the church she was attending. It was a therapeutic exercise she could do with friends that ultimately has made her joints stronger than before.

“The arthritis I have in my knee won’t be going away, but I’d have to say that practicing yoga has really made an impact on my well-being,” she said.

In May of 2011, Reeves became a certified yoga instructor, though her original plan wasn’t necessarily to take on teaching yoga full time.

After her eldest grandson – now 2 years old – was born, Reeves began working with him as an infant.

“I started with light stretches when he was a baby, and by the time he was 18 months old, I would practice yoga on my mat and teach him the poses,” she said.

Reeves now attends a mommy and me yoga class once a week in Little Rock with her two grandsons, and has even taught mommy and me classes.

“I became very interested in all types of specialized yoga and found that there is a yoga class for everyone,” she said. “My interests and passions for the types of classes I teach are pretty broad. Everyone can benefit from yoga.”

It was when a close cousin to Reeves battled cancer that she became passionate about ways yoga can benefit cancer patients.

“Something about her got me so interested in therapeutic yoga for people battling cancer,” she said. “I began reading books on the subject and found that Duke Medical School offers certifications.”

Reeves got in contact with local non-profit Our Promise Cancer Resources in the fall about teaching a group

therapy class, and began teaching once a month at Genesis Cancer Center. But she soon moved those classes – having added a second one – to her location on Whittington.

“This was a place where they got their treatment and many patients had problems relaxing,” she said. “And that’s the whole reason for the classes.”

She now teaches classes twice a week for patients and their caregivers, and has been accepted to the training program at Duke in June.

The Yoga Place recently started offering classes once a month, taught either by Reeves or a guest instructor, that specialize in everything from Power Yoga to Restorative Yoga.

“With Power Yoga, it’s challenging and it really gets the blood pumping,” she said. “But with Restorative Yoga, it allows you to use supports, so you are still benefiting from the stretches, but it takes the pressure off relying on your muscles to support you.”

But even with new possibilities on the horizon, if there is one thing practicing yoga has taught Reeves, it’s that all anyone has is the present moment.

“I practice to keep me grounded, and it integrates my body with my breath,” she said. “Sometimes we need something that will silence the monkey chatter in our brain. All we have is the present, no matter what stresses we have tomorrow or pain we have from yesterday – you’re alive and you’re breathing right now.”