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Meta does sun salutations on the news.
See Meta welcome in the new day on KRQE news here.
The Best Intentions
January 7, 2005 - New Mexico Business Weekly
A few tweaks here and there. We hope you'll notice the subtle changes in the New Mexico Business Weekly. It is the start of a new year in New Mexico, and at the New Mexico Business Weekly, and as cynical as you all know me to be, I always look at the turning of the calendar page as a time for renewal and for personal and professional tweaking.
I won't use the "r" word in this column; like Christmas carols and holiday parties, that word is now so overused that it is devoid of meaning. In its place I offer up the word, "intention." Flip open the dictionary: "A stretching or bending of the mind toward an object; closeness of application; an aim that guides action; fixedness; earnestness."
I had a long email conversation with a friend earlier this year about the realizing of intentions -- different from goals, or resolutions (There. I wrote it. The dreaded word.), we decided, because intentions exist internally, within ourselves and aren't motivated by externalities. My friend intended to get her book published, and indeed, without much effort at all, she found a publisher who took a great interest in her work.
My yoga teacher, Meta, at YogaNow (Downtown), always asks us at the beginning of class, when we are lying quietly on our mats trying to carve out a moment's peace in our frenzied lives, to set an intention for our practice of yoga.
This is hard for me. When I am feeling particularly goal oriented, lying there on my mat listing the things I must do when I get back to work at 1:15, I take her words to mean that I want to feel my tight hamstrings stretching to the limit in the forward bend, or get my heels to the floor in downward-facing-dog. But that's not what she means at all. Instead, I think she'd like us to hold a part of ourselves in a quiet place, where our true natures, our earnestness, can flourish naturally, without pushing or pressing or forcing. Her words always remind me how powerful intentions can be: Sometimes I believe all you need to do is think about something intently and the universe begins spinning in its inexorable way toward that thought. In my goal oriented, day-timer-at-the-ready lifestyle, you can get really caught up in making things happen, instead of allowing them to bubble forward, the results of clearmindedness.
Over the years, I have written lists of New Year's goals for the New Mexico Business Weekly. Some I've realized: We've won some journalism awards, made an impact on the community, and I'd like to believe, offered our readers something interesting in every issue. My intentions have always been, as broad as this seems, to continually improve the newspaper, and that's what I hope you'll find here in the new year -- the slow and steady realization of my intentions for the newspaper. There are a few more places for faces (people love to read about people), a section here or there for more specialized news, and a whole lot of new, special projects, which we hope you'll find stimulating, interesting and informative. And of course, the news. Lots of it.
And for our readers in this new year, let me offer up this invitation: We practice community journalism here -- and community journalism is not community journalism without the community. That's you. Participate in this newspaper and it will be better, I promise. Send us your ideas, your letters, your leads, notes about what you find interesting and provocative. We welcome your involvement. Just like going to Yoga class, sometimes you need the efforts of a group intention to flourish individually.
Yoga in the Southwest: An Enlightening Way to Experience your Surroundings
2005 - Southwest Flair
Yoga, originating in India thousands of years ago, is the oldest system of personal development and attunement in the world. Yoga tones the body, the mind, and the soul. Yoga is not a religion, it is a physical practice that may lead to spiritual growth. It is slow, beautiful, and disciplined.
Since the rise of yoga’s popularity in the ‘60s, the Southwest has filled abundantly with yoga studios of every form. According to yogafinder.com, in New Mexico alone, there are over 78 yoga studios available. From Bikram's Yoga Santa Fe, the first Yoga College of India in the state of New Mexico, to Yogonow in Albuquerque, offering classes, workshops and retreats in a welcoming and safe environment beneath the shadow of the beautiful Sandia mountains. With over 150 yoga studios in Colorado, Boulder particularly, is a very popular choice for yoga enthusiasts, as is Tucson, with its own two-block area referred to as ‘yoga corner’ in town, and posh luxury resorts like Miraval and the Canyon Ranch in the Santa Catalina Mountains. Additionally there are over 75 yoga studios throughout Arizona.
Why yoga in the Southwest?
Visitors have been coming to the southwest to heal for many years because of the clean fresh air, dry climate, and near year-round sunshine. Artists and alternative life-stylers have also been attracted to the southwest since the late 1800s with the establishment of Taos as the region’s first artist community. It is no wonder then that yoga practitioners would be attracted to the southwest as well when one considers the alternative life-styles available, the beautiful vistas and views, and the spiritual awakening experienced in these southwestern Native American homelands of tribes such as the Hopi, the Navajo, and the Apache. Spirit-guides, vision-quests, and healing ceremonies are central to this region thus making it a perfect place to live or visit while enjoying the spiritual and healing aspects of yoga.
According to a recent article by Colleen Morton, Yoga on the Rocks, Morton says, “Out here in the desert, the metaphors of the practice come to life. When we start with Sun Salutations (Suryanamaskar), we are literally greeting the sun, perched in the sky over my right shoulder.” Others profess the spiritual awakenings that being in the desert brings. Any experience in the southwest is both enchanting and magical. Couple those with yoga and you have an incomparable experience.
We visited recently with the founder of Albuquerque’s YogoNow, Meta Hirschl, about her studios, her practice and being in the Southwest. Meta says:
“Yoga is a gift for me, a path of living and breathing and relating as an enthusiastic practitioner and teacher of yoga. After many years of corporate computer work, university teaching and writing software books, I am thrilled to be following my passion, leading with my heart. I founded YogaNow with a vision of a place for community.
Our mission is to create a welcoming and safe environment to learn and practice yoga in community. We look for success not just in terms of financial viability; we also measure success in the quality of our services, the way we respect our students and teachers and the human spirit, and our overall commitment to the greater community. We are dedicated to the belief that healing and transformation are possible for us all. Yoga is the ultimate playground – a place to explore our bodies, hearts and minds, to push and move our edges and especially, to have fun!
For me, teaching yoga comes from my own experience by exploring yoga from a diverse group, finally teaching what works in my own body, heart and mind. I am influenced by Vanda Scaravelli’s method, as well as Anusara, Iyengar, Ashtanga and Deskacachar. I am certified as a 500 hour Registered Yoga Teacher and have studied yoga therapy through certification at Yogaversity. Learning is a lifelong event and I am currently enrolled in an Anusara teacher training.
In addition to hatha yoga (the physical yoga most often associated with yoga) we practice nada (sound) yoga every Thursday at YogaNow Gold with kirtan and meditation. We practice karma yoga by giving back to our community and bhakti yoga by devotional chanting. Yoga is available in all aspects of our lives, if we let it in.
Sometimes when hiking in the beautiful Sandia Mountains, perhaps up the splendid La Luz trail, I’ll stop and practice some yoga to keep my hips open and loosen my hamstrings. When an eagle flies over head from its nest I may bow to the skies with an eagle pose, or practice a warrior pose when the climb is steep. Traditionally we are taught not to practice yoga outdoors. For example, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, Ashtanga Yoga father, in his book Yoga Mala says, “Yoga should neither be practiced in the open air, in a place that is unclean or malodorous, in a basement, or on a roof. Instead, the place of practice should be spotlessly clean and level, have windows, and be suitable for smearing cow dung.”
As in all yoga practice, and really in life, I believe in studying the teachers, reading the texts, and then making a decision based on my experience and place in the world. So, sometimes I practice yoga outside and it can feel magnificent!”
In addition to studying in a studio like Meta's YogaNow, an overwhelming number of practitioners, practice yoga alone; fifty-three percent, according to a recent survey at a popular yoga site. So add to the numbers of studios, the students who attend, the teachers, and the individuals practicing on their own, and that adds up to a lot of good karma coming from the southwest. If you have not practiced yoga you may now be inclined to discover your inner self, tune and tone your body, and reach heights of wisdom and spiritual devotion unlike any you have previously experienced. Visit one of the many southwest studios, contact a teacher, or take a trip to your local bookstore or library, and begin a journey that will take your body, mind, and spirit on a great southwest journey.
If you really want to go southwest to do your yoga, consider the new Present Moment Conscious Living Retreat. It is Awareness in Motion at Present Moment: Yoga, Meditation and Wellness Retreats on the Tranquil Mexican Riviera.
Through the practice of yoga, meditation and healing arts; peace and harmony are achieved at Present Moment Conscious Living Retreat. This tropical retreat, conveniently located 30 minutes north of the popular towns of Ixapa/Zihuatenejo, is quietly nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Sierra Madre mountains. Scheduled to open in November of 2005, Present Moment will be offering yoga and meditation retreats as well as mindful vacations and celebrations.
Present Moment is offering 7 to 14 day experiential retreats featuring dynamic guest instructors and educators, mouth watering spa cuisine and adventure aimed at supporting your passion for life. Present Moment focuses on yoga, meditation, laughter and creative self expression. This work is designed to help prepare your whole being for embracing the joy of everyday existence.
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Cover of November 27th Albuquerque Journal Boomer Magazine
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A Yearning For Yoga
October 26, 2004 - Red Nova
Meta Hirschl, owner of two studios in Albuquerque called YogaNow, says many people come to yoga for relief from pain or to help them in other sports, but they stay because of other reasons. Her own road to yoga is similar. "I came to yoga for the exercise and to run a marathon," says Hirschl, 48. "What kept me coming back was beginning to touch a real sense of peace."
Hirschl, whose background is in the business world -- an MBA from New York University, stints at Arthur Andersen's consulting arm and teaching at Purdue University, found herself gradually attracted to yoga as a personal practice and later as a career. After moving to Albuquerque in 1994, she spent several years writing how-to software books for the instructional market. "It's such a head, dead-body job," she says. "Very staid, introverted work." She had occasionally taken yoga classes, but the practice had never really "spoken" to her in a deep way.
But when Hirschl decided on her 40th birthday that she wanted to run a marathon, she knew she would need yoga to help her physically. At age 41, she achieved her goal of running the Big Sur marathon in California, but shortly afterward injured her ankle while running a race with her daughter. "I still wanted that runner's high, and a friend introduced me to Ashtanga yoga," she says. Ashtanga is one of many types of yoga, a fast-paced series of postures that increase in difficulty. "It's very athletic, very focused on breath and definitely gave me a high. It opened up yoga for me as a spiritual path in a way other yoga types hadn't."
By calling it spiritual, she explains, "it was the focus on the breath and the inner experience that made it spiritual for me." She doesn't believe students should see yoga teachers as gurus, and she frequently tells her classes the only guru they should have is "Gee, You Are You," spelling out the word. "You should listen to your own inner calm."
At her studios, Hirschl and her staff teach a variety of yoga styles, from Ashtanga and Anusara to "gentle yoga" and multilevel classes. "I don't think Ashtanga is the right thing to do every day for most people, including myself," she says. "I'm already a hard, pushy person."
Hirschl says what many people have to learn about yoga is that is isn't about "putting your foot behind your head" or having strong abs, although those things can happen. "The critical thing is how you feel," she says. "A teacher should empower you as a student, not give you the sense that, 'You're useless unless I move that thighbone for you.' ''
That sense of empowerment is what Hirschl hopes her students tap into. "Sometimes I tell them to ask themselves, 'What does this feel like to me right now?' If you start asking yourself that on the yoga mat, you start asking yourself that in every part of your life."
And then there are the benefits to the libido, she says. The what? "That's something that nobody knows about," Hirschl says, laughing. "It's not tantric yoga (a type of yoga known for awakening sexuality). It's much more universal and accessible than that. I'm talking about the mula bandha. The more control you have over your mula bandha, the more pleasure you have. Just a little something people should know."
(In Sanskrit, mula means root, bandha means a lock or binding. Mula bandha is a technique for focusing energy at the bottom of the spine.)
YogaNow Targets Campaign Workers
October 18, 2004 - Albuquerque Journal
YogaNow aims to help campaign workers find inner peace this election season.
The business, with studios at 5850 Eubank NE and 215 Gold SW, has left vouchers for free yoga classes at both Democratic and Republican Party headquarters in Albuquerque. Campaign workers, volunteers and paid staff are invited to stop by and pick one up. The offer is good through Election Day.
Scene Heard
March 5, 2003 - New Mexico Business Weekly
Sunny salutes: Despite all the dreary predictions for new businesses, YogaNow on Gold Avenue celebrates its third anniversary this month. Owner and resident yogi Meta Hirschl started out as a management consultant for Andersen Consulting. Now she's got a small empire of yoga studios, having recently opened YogaNow in the Northeast Heights on Eubank in the Mountain Run shopping center. Hirschl says as way to say thank you, all merchandise at either studio is 30 percent off for the month of March.
For Health and Well-Being
September 4, 2003 - Albuquerque Journal Business Outlook
Also new is YogaNow Mountain Run, a yoga studio that opens Sept. 15 in— you guessed it— Mountain Run Shopping Center. It's the second location for owner Meta Hirschl, who also operates YogaNow Gold in Downtown. The motto of the studio is "not tomorrow, not later, but now." Classes span experience levels from basic to advanced, including classes for children and young adults. YogaNow Mountain Run has no telephone number yet, but the number at YogaNow Gold is 505-232-4717.
YogaNow to Open Second Location
August 25, 2003 - New Mexico Business Weekly
YogaNow Gold will be opening a new studio in northeast Albuquerque next month in order to expand its services. The 1,650-square-foot studio will be located in the Mountain Run Shopping Center at 5800 Eubank NE. The studio will employ seven teachers, and be open for classes on Sept. 15.
"I am eager to offer yoga to more students and introduce the incredible healing benefits of yoga to a large community," said Meta Hirschl, founder and owner of Yoga Now. "The Mountain Run Shopping Center is an ideal location for many who live and work in the area."
Renovation of the space is being done by Lindy Woodward's We Build It. YogaNow Gold has been at its 215 Gold SW location since March 2001. It currently has about eight teachers.
Women Seek Fitness in a Kinder, Gentler Way
September 2, 2001 - Albuquerque Journal, By Jane Mahoney
There was a time Charlene Schroeder, now 54, felt she could keep dancing forever in her high-impact, high-volume aerobics classes. Middle-school math teacher Paula Maxmin, now 35, took pride in her strength as a power weight lifter. Then she injured her back doing squats, and that sidelined her before she hit 30.
Today, both women find themselves happily enrolled in yoga classes at the YogaNow studio in downtown Albuquerque. After years of battling injuries from repetitious high-impact kicks, steps, squats and lifts, they've discovered that the gentle stretches of yoga leave them feeling healthier than ever. "I'm working from the inside out now," says Maxmin. "Weight lifting was very much from the outside in."
These women are not alone in taking a kinder, gentler — and more holistic — view of their fitness routines. "Women today are looking for a program that lets them connect with their bodies instead of just using their bodies," says Stephanie Browne, executive director of the Mountainside YMCA. "The old days of sweating and mindlessly banging on that box are gone. I see more purposeful, intentional thinking when it comes to exercise these days, but everyone is trying to achieve a more holistic approach. 'Wellness' is a bigger word than 'fitness.'"
How it impacts you
Indeed. Check out the class schedules at many gyms around the city, and you'll find alongside the traditional high-impact aerobics classes, other listings: yoga, water exercise, cycling, Pilates (exercises that emphasize strength and conditioning), exercise balls and low-impact aerobics, to name a few.
"We've offered a variety of yoga classes for the past three or four years," says Natalie Roache, interim aerobics director at Defined Fitness. "Last year, they just exploded in popularity. I'd say the classes have nearly doubled in size."
Women's expectations of a fitness program generally change as they grow older, according to Browne. For more than 15 years, Browne has watched fitness trends not only as someone involved in the business, but as an active participant. Increased strength, flexibility and balance are the triple benefits of yoga touted by YogaNow founder Meta Hirschl, 45, who teaches mixed-level classes of varying techniques almost daily in her newly remodeled downtown studio at 215 Gold SW. Many of her students, like Schroeder and Maxmin, have sought out a lower impact fitness routine that doesn't aggravate old injuries every time they work out. Others are women between their 30s and 60s who are beginning to exercise regularly for the first time in their lives.
Building inner strength
Nearly all of Hirschl's students, however, are looking for a workout that nourishes them emotionally as well as physically. "Yoga has helped me feel so much better," said Maxmin, who once lifted 200-pound weights with regularity until a back injury sidelined her with excruciating pain and fruitless years of seeking medical relief. "When I tried yoga for the very first time, my back felt better. Nothing had helped me before. It's helped my body get strong."
Women often are surprised to discover that yoga can offer strength building and cardiovascular benefits, said Hirschl, who teaches an active form of the discipline that includes poses designed to strengthen the upper body by progressively putting more weight on the hands and shoulders. "I hate it when people tell me they can't do yoga because they're not strong enough or flexible enough," she said. "That's why you do it. You can become stronger, more flexible and more balanced than at any other time in your life." Roache said, "Women in general don't have much upper body strength. And after age 30, there's a decrease in metabolism and they burn less fat. Women lose muscle and bone density every year if they aren't doing weight-bearing exercises.
Low-risk exercise
Older women, in particular, may find it easier to participate in low-impact water exercise programs offered at Defined Fitness and the YMCA. "It's a great way to elevate the heart rate without any impact at all," Roache says. "You only weigh about 10 percent of your body weight in a pool, so you're hitting the bottom with a lot less impact. It's a way to exercise without risking injury like spraining a knee or twisting an ankle."
Fitness instructors advocate a balanced approach to exercise anyway. Browne suggests combining strength training on exercise machines with other activities, alternating them on different days. "Strength training is key," she said. "It's not even an option anymore. It's what everyone should be doing to keep up with muscle loss as we get older."
Roache refers to the combined approach as "cross-training," and says many women at the Defined Fitness gyms use yoga as a springboard to other aerobic classes. Over at YogaNow, Hirschl has taken up golf and tennis since starting yoga. Schroeder walks. Maxmin is slowly and carefully lifting weights again. Browne sees many middle-age women start the YMCA fitness programs after years of little thought to their own health because they have been busy raising children or establishing careers. She calls them the "yet-to-be-fit" crowd, and advises them to find a health club where they feel comfortable working out. "These women are not ready to put on a sexy exercise outfit and fit in," she said. "They need a lower key approach."
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