CityView Magazine

Far left | Leilani Kikugawa stretches at Om in downtown Fayetteville. Bottom left | Susan Franzblau went from yoga student to yoga teacher when she opened the studio. Top right | But teaching is in her blood; Franzblau is a professor at Fayetteville State University. Bottom right | No shoes allowed at most of Fayetteville’s small fitness studios, including Pilates of Fayetteville. Below | Susie Godwin works out at Breathing Space in Haymount. The need to find stillness, says Lisa Lofthouse, is one of the main things that draws people to her classes. Lofthouse teaches yoga at Breathing Space, the business she and friend Charlotte Sessoms, a massage therapist, opened in January 2005. Lofthouse said many of those who discover the little white house with blue shutters come for one reason. “I want to learn how to relax,” they tell her. For many, relaxation does not come naturally. They just don’t know how to slow down, and part of her job is teaching them that skill. Walk through the front door of Breathing Space, and you’ll be greeted by soft music. You might visit for a massage, but the seven ladies there also offer chiropractic care, alternative skin care programs and even business coaching. Or you might go straight to the yoga mat, as I did. I am no yoga aficionado, but I have been to enough classes to know I love its gentle movements, its deep stretches and its conscious breathing. Lofthouse teaches in a long, carpeted room with many windows. It’s off the kitchen and feels comfortable and homey. It was a gentle class with a period of meditation at the end, which was why I chose it. I am discovering that my frantic mind responds to intentional meditation. I left so relaxed I was a bit dazed. At the end of most of her yoga classes is a period of deep relaxation, Lofthouse said. Some beginners – but not me, I love it – don’t last through those final few minutes. They can’t lie still that long. They can’t fight the urge to move on and get out. Not being in constant motion feels uncomfortable. The distractions of the world tend to draw us outward, Lofthouse explained, but yoga returns the focus inward, directing our awareness to the breath and the body. By focusing on breathing, or on tensing and releasing the muscles, it shuts out mind clutter. Yoga is a noncompetitive, gentler form of exercise. But be sure not to show up for your first class with any expectations or preconceived ideas. You don’t need special clothing. You CityViewNC.com | 37

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