Category: Blog

What was your intial experience with yoga? The first yoga class that really captivated me was a power flow style with Sarah Powers. I was young – still in college, and a dedicated runner and climber at the time. Yoga was poetry for the body. In my attempts to find a class / teacher similar to Sarah, I stumbled into Ahimsa Ashram in Washington, DC and found kundalini yoga- which felt like rocket fuel to me. Some 30 years later, […]

5 Tips for Your Yoga Practice: Connecting On & Off The Mat By Shayla DiTolla Committing to a regular yoga practice can be challenging, especially with the demands of our busy lives. While we all know how beneficial yoga is and how good we feel when we have a regular practice, sometimes the chaos of our days get us carried away. However, by following these five tips, you can begin to create a sustainable yoga routine and connect with yoga […]

Spring Renewal: Yoga Practices to Care for Your Self & Environment By Alex Rice The full bloom of spring has arrived – the buds and birds greet us each morning and offer us their vibrancy and song. This time of birth in the macrocosm around us reflects the opportunity for rebirth and renewal within:We can practice ahimsa or non-violence with others, mother Earth, and also ourselves. When we notice thoughts of judgment or criticism, there’s an opportunity to return to […]

You Already Know How: Yoga and Breathing By Susan Kraft Hello Asheville Yoga Community! Did you know that Ada Limón, the extraordinary 24th Poet Laureate of the United States, loves yoga? And yet, in a recent On Being podcast, she laughed while sharing the following:When I lived in New York City, my two best friends, I would always try to get them to go to yoga with me. And they would say, “I don’t want to go to yoga.” And […]

Warrior Breath: Embodying Archetypes By Shala Worsley How I learned about ‘Warrior Breath’ A short time after I moved to Asheville, NC in 1996 I stumbled upon a little yoga practice room above an antique shop downtown. There was no sign outside advertising it as a studio or practice space. At the top of a narrow and creaking staircase there was simply a wooden bowl for donations. The room was dimly lit and I have a vague recollection of the […]

Kīrtan Chant By Michael Johnson & Friends अहिंसासत्यास्तेय ब्रह्मचर्यापरिग्रहाः यमाः ॥३०॥ahiṃsāsatyāsteya brahmacaryāparigrahāḥ yamāḥ ॥30॥ “The restraints are: non-violence, truthfulness, to not steal, respecting boundaries and non-possessiveness.”- Yogasūtra 2.30 Vṛtti:ahiṃsā ≈ non-violence, disrupting harmful practicessatya ≈ truthfulness, not lyingasteya ≈ to not steal, respecting others propertybrahmacarya ≈ respecting boundaries, chastity  aparigrahāḥ ≈ non-possessiveness, not hoarding Michael’s  Bhāṣya (commentary) Here is the first limb of Yoga. It is a set of skillful means (upāya) that we can adopt to create a space where we […]

Understanding Bhakti Vinyāsa Yoga By Michael Johnson What is Bhakti? Bhakti means devotion, a deep yearning to experience love in its purest form. According to Dr. Shyam Ranganathan, Bhakti is identical to Yoga as a basic ethical theory that originated in South Asia. Although it is often confused with Theism, a decolonized view of Yoga or Bhakti does not require any beliefs. By contrast, Bhakti Yoga is simply devoting ourselves to the universal ideal of Īśvara (being in control of […]

[av_video src=’https://vimeo.com/681582661′ mobile_image=” attachment=” attachment_size=” format=’16-9′ width=’16’ height=’9′ conditional_play=” id=” custom_class=” template_class=” av_uid=’av-13ha92v’ sc_version=’1.0′] Nationally-recognized Yoga Institution Transfers Ownership to Ayurvedic Wellness Organizations Co-Founders of the Asheville Yoga Center Handover Stewardship to AyurPrana and The Ayurvedic Institute to Continue Supporting the Local Community ASHEVILLE, NC (February, 24, 2022) – Asheville Yoga Center (AYC) is coming under new leadership, with the previous owners Stephanie and Sunny Keach wishing a heartfelt farewell to the thousands of students and teachers they have helped […]

[av_image src=’https://youryoga.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/AYC.jpg’ attachment=’12656′ attachment_size=’full’ copyright=” caption=” image_size=” styling=” align=’center’ font_size=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’ animation=’no-animation’ hover=” appearance=” link=” target=” title_attr=” alt_attr=” img_scrset=” lazy_loading=’disabled’ id=” custom_class=” template_class=” av_element_hidden_in_editor=’0′ av_uid=’av-kzx2isml’ sc_version=’1.0′ admin_preview_bg=”] Dearest Asheville Yoga Family, As you may have heard by now, we are in the process of selling Asheville Yoga Center and the buildings to the non-profit Ayurvedic Institute (ayurveda.com) and its sister organization Ayurprana (liveayurprana.com).  Many of you will know of Dr. Vasant Lad who is the Founder and leader […]

Giving Back with Yoga  By Rosie Mulford “Giving” is a funny thing.  It is like an endless well that just keeps on flowing and filling no matter how much it is used.  The word “purna” in Sanskrit means full. But more than full.  My teacher describes “purna” as holding a glass under the tap and water fills it to the top and then overflows.  This is what giving feels like. When we give, we feel complete and full. Perhaps it […]