Aurafitness focuses on mind, body well-being
AURAFITNESS IN TAOS IS A SANCTUARY FOR MIND
AND BODY.
The yoga studio feels calming with its soothing green colors, plants, textiles and natural light filling the room. It offers those who come here a space separate from the noise and distraction of daily life. Here, time doesn’t drive the tempo. It is driven by something deeper and more primal: the breath.
Body Restore
For a recent evening Body Restore class, participants arrive early and find a place on a yoga mat. They lie down, beginning to get comfortable. Aura Garver, co-founder of Aurafitness, begins the class by encouraging participants to notice their breath. “The breath,” she says, “is the bridge between the mind and body.”
This class is described as a mellow, calming class that is perfect for relaxing, unwinding and recuperating, a great beginning class. Working on the mat, the movements are subtle at first. The gentle stretches help each person become aware of their body: where it is out of balance and how it can begin to move back into harmony.
Garver gives instructions at just the right pace and tone to allow people to hear them but stay focused on their own movements. She offers options to cushion the knees and to vary the poses. Monitoring the class, she provides suggestions and encouragement. The class is an experience of returning to the body and feeling it relax.
Flow yoga
At Aurafitness, the instructors follow a flow-style yoga approach in which each movement leads to the next and helps prepare the body for the next posture. This style is also known by its Sanskrit name: Vinyasa.
“Flow yoga provides a certain grace. It is a meditation in motion with breath, body, and mind harmonizing. There is an arc that is choreographed. It can be a really gentle or a stronger flow, depending on whether it is a Body Restore or a Body Strong class,” says Garver. “Body Strong is a powerful way to build strength. It still has an arc and the breath leads postures, but it is completely different, more challenging with mostly standing poses.” For each type of class, Garver has a lesson plan in mind or on paper but is always ready to adjust the plan based on what she notices about the students who attend the class.
Fellow instructor Ashleigh Beyer describes the process as flowing with and surrendering to the breath. “It is answering the call of the breath, to be more present in the body,” she explains. Beyer usually comes with a concept for her classes. “It might be the idea like the element of water or the freedom of feeling the tailbone relax for first time, any idea that could help students have a new insight,” says Beyer.
Yoga for every body
Garver, Beyer and the other instructors at Aurafitness teach classes on a regular schedule each week. Class descriptions are on the Aurafitness website. “It is really important to teach as advertised,” says Garver. “Although each instructor has their own style, we know that people read the descriptions on the website. If a class is described as gentle and restorative, we definitely want to do that. We honor the class descriptions that makes sure that people feel safe and get the experience that are expecting.”
Some people regularly come for the same classes each week, but often several newcomers attend as well. The instructors pay particular attention to new students to make sure they are comfortable with the class.
Their long experience and deep knowledge help build a feeling of safety and confidence. “The quality of instruction is so high because Aura and her colleagues are grounded in anatomy and exercise physiology. I always feel safe to try something new,” says participant Ruthie Guzman, a certified nurse practitioner.
Depending on who is attending a class, the postures can be adjusted. “We teach in a way that gets the posture to fit the student. We want the experience of the posture to be successful for each person, so (we) can offer different options for each posture. Students can choose to do a gentler version of the pose or choose to stretch more,” says Garver.
Beyer adds, “It is one of the hardest things to achieve as a teacher. It takes a lot of practice and an openness to understand what you see. With years of learning, you develop a lot of options to respond to what might be needed at any given moment.”
Celebrating 13 years Community class
One unique offering at Aurafitness is the Community Class taught each Sunday evening from 5 to 6 p.m. by teachers who have graduated from the Aurafitness teacher training program. People may attend on a donation basis, paying what they can afford.The proceeds from these classes are donated to nonprofit causes, primarily to local organizations, such as Stray Hearts, Amigo Bravos, Bridges Project and HEART.
“We love supporting our community and the nonprofits that assist people who need help,” says Garver. “Sometimes we support national organizations like the ACLU or the protest at Standing Rock. Often the choices are guided by our participants who want to support a particular cause, like the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps.” Since the Community Class began in early 2015, close to $4,000 has been donated by Aurafitness.
“Upon graduation from our program, graduates are given the opportunity to teach Community Classes on a rotating basis with other grads from the program,” explains Beyer, who is the director of the program. “Aura or I attend at least the first class a new teacher offers and give them feedback, pointing out opportunities to offer different options for the postures. Not only are Community Classes a great opportunity to practice teaching, they also support our community, and everyone has the opportunity to get healed by yoga.”
Teacher training
Since 2014, Aurafitness has offered their teacher training program. “I was percolating on the body of knowledge I had accumulate over 20 years,” says Garver. “I have definite opinions and love teaching. I bring the eye of a personal trainer.”
She began to bring it all together to build a teacher training program while studying the requirements to be a certified program through Yoga Alliance. She immediately thought of Beyer, who has been teaching for 11 years and invited her to direct the program. “Ashleigh is a wonderful fit as a leader in our studio and a co-teacher. We worked collaboratively to build our amazing program. We exceed the minimum of 200 hours of training that is required,” says Garver.
The teacher training is an opportunity for Garver and Beyer to develop their expertise and to share with others. “I hope to bring my clarity from my experience and the training I have done,” says Beyer. “I always want to go deeper – to have the more in-depth conversations and to understand the student whether it is an injured knee or a hurting heart. The teacher training gives us the opportunity to delve more deeply into yoga. There is so much to learn, and I am continuing to learn while I teach this training. Each new teacher that graduates from our program offers something unique and yoga offers so much in terms of healing, strengthening, stabilizing and creating flexibility for everyone.”
This month, Aurafitness is celebrating 13 years in business. Both Garver and her husband and co-founder, David, who has been a personal trainer for 30 years, were working at a local spa. They saw the need for a different kind of space.
“We wanted to create a place that felt more private and aesthetically pleasing, a quiet place to work with clients that felt like a sanctuary,” says Garver. “We were focused on well-being in a physical form and wanted a space that provides positive support for people.”
Judging from the comments of their clients, Aurafitness has created that experience of harmony and support they were seeking. When asked what they enjoy most about their experience, clients mention the space and the positive energy there. “The beautiful, sacred space in Aura’s yoga studio creates possibility for students to be immersed completely in oneness,” says client Nancy Bourg.
“Practicing yoga at Aurafitness offers me a peaceful sanctuary for self-care and grounding in a chaotic world,” offers Patricia Pollard, another client.
Over time, Garver has noticed a shift in the focus of her clients to include inner well-being, as well as physical heath. “People are looking for well-being in a deeper sense. I see an increase in people who are interested in aging with grace and vitality. They want to invest in their bodies and stay active hiking and skiing,” she says.