Yoga studio opens in downtown Medina
Photos by Sue Cook – Managing Instructor Deb Roberts stands outside the studio located at 105 Pearl St. in Medina.
By Sue Cook, staff reporter
MEDINA – Three Medina residentsthis week opened All Yoga Medina, a yoga studio in downtown Medina that offers classes to anyone of any ability in an effort to promote wellness and self value.
Deb Roberts is the managing instructor of the studio and has been practicing yoga for 16 years.
“It can benefit everyone,” she said. “The wellness benefits of yoga are being scientifically proven. Just breathing increases your wellness. It’s a different way to be strong. For me it’s more about bringing your mind and body in alignment.”
Roberts retired last year from the Cornell Cooperative Extension and decided to operate a yoga studio. She loved the space on Pearl Street that formerly belonged to Rock Paper Salon. When the hair salon moved, Roberts contacted the building owner, Tim Cooper, and was told she was the third person to ask about making the space into a yoga studio.
One of the people to inquire about the space was Katie Hartway, another Medina native. Roberts already knew her and after talking the two decided to also ask Julie Tette to work with them. Tette is another Medina resident who is also a yoga instructor at the Lockport schools and Kwandrans Tae Kwan Do in Medina.
Together, the three of them now offer a variety of yoga classes to suit several different needs. Hartway’s focus is on Power Core Yoga and Tette’s expertise is in Yoga Fit. Tette’s class, Yoga for Runners, is already full with Medina residents signing up as well as the Medina High School cross-country team.
Roberts shows the class how to get into a chair pose.
Roberts teaches a more classical style of yoga, which is slower and more meditative. She even tailors her individual classes to meet the abilities of the people who attend. Some classes she may choose to use certain poses if there are advanced students, whereas beginners receive more instruction and assistance.
“We’re all different ages and we’re at all different stages in life,” Roberts said. “We all share a love of yoga, but that means we kind of have something to offer. That’s really important to us. Not everybody wants to sit and be as meditative as some people do. The challenge for us is how to meet everybody’s needs.”
Younger people might prefer to do more vigorous yoga classes while older people might like the more meditative ones, but she also says that different life circumstances can alter what kind of yoga you’re looking for in life, too. People with kids or high-stress jobs might want a different kind of yoga than someone who is full of energy and wants to burn it off.
“You use yoga differently at different times in your life,” she added.
Roberts does not want anyone to be intimidated if they have never tried yoga before. She wants people to understand you only push yourself as far as you are able, regardless of the levels of your classmates.
Roberts addressed concerns that new learners might have, saying, “You don’t have to be flexible. If you can breathe, if you can raise your hands up in the air, that’s yoga. It’s not about being a pretzel, it’s not about being able to do great accomplishments. Yoga meets you where you are. So if you can’t get up and down on the floor, we’ll give you a chair to work in. If you don’t have balance, we’ll send you to hold on to the wall. There’s no perfect way to do yoga.”
Roberts gets into a warrior pose.
For beginners in Robert’s classes, the key points that are introduced are for students to take care of themselves. They will meditate and practice breathing exercises while beginning to learn yoga terminology. After a warm up, students begin to learn basic poses and core work focused on balance and strength. After the cool down, the class enters a meditative state to relax fully and let worldly cares wash away momentarily to end class in a peaceful state.
“As you build, it’s progression,” Roberts said. “We call it yoga practice for a reason. We don’t call it a performance. It is practicing something over and over and each time you practice it you learn something new, you see something new, you can do something new.”
The studio will offer one more class tomorrow free of charge to celebrate their grand opening. From 1 to 2 p.m. Roberts will have an introductory class before Medina’s Ale in Autumn event begins. The studio is located at 105 Pearl Street.
For more information about All Yoga Medina and upcoming class sessions, call (585) 259-1905 or click here.
