The Clayton News-Star, April 3, 2002, Page 1A
The evening special at The Coffee Mill in downtown Clayton on Monday is not cappuccino or latte – it's Iyengar yoga.
The Coffee Mill is closed to beverage lovers on Monday nights but open to those interested in improving their physical and mental well being through the practice of yoga. The classes, taught by registered Yoga Alliance instructor Catharine Eberhardt, will meet each Monday for 10 weeks – April 8 through June 10 – from 7:30 to 9 p.m.
Cliff Morgan, owner of The Coffee Mill along with his wife, Jodi Sager, said the yoga classes are an extension of their committment to support the arts in the community.
"Jodi and I have always looked at The Coffee Mill as a place to support and nurture music and art. We wanted to take that another step, and yoga does that."
This is the third yoga session sponsored by The Mill. Eberhardt said that although only two people showed up for the first class last October, by the end of the 10 weeks, she had a following.
"We stuck with it, and the class filled up."
The classes are held in the back room of the Lombard Street cafe and typically draw eight to 12 students. Participants can register for the entire session or pay the $10 per-class fee on a drop-in basis if space is available.
Sandy Holcomb, an air traffic controller at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, enrolled in Eberhardt's class after she moved to Clayton late last summer.
"I had a lot of stress with the move and a new job" she said. "I had done yoga before, but this is the first person I've stuck with. She's really good."
Morgan said, "Catharine really emphasizes the mind-body connection that yoga provides. Yoga has a way of centering you and relaxing you and bringing about peace of mind."
Morgan and Sager attend the classes when they can. They usually alternate weeks so that one of them can be home with the children.
"Jodi is real active in working out. I've joined clubs and I've done typical work-out activities, but it's never satisfied me and hasn't kept me motivated," Morgan said. "I find myself enjoying yoga and looking forward to it. I"m much more relaxed and less stressed."
Eberhardt is trained in teaching Iyengar yoga, which focuses on alignment of the body within the yoga poses. She said that the typical class begins with a warm-up that helps participants remove the distractions of the day and focus on their breathing. The class then moves into a series of poses and cools down with what is called the "corpse pose," which aids relaxation.
Among the benefits of yoga are increased flexibility and relaxation, or what Eberhardt calls "mental calming."
"The purpose of yoga is to quiet the mind," she said. "People can develop flexibility, and their awareness of their bodies and space changes. It focuses the mind on the physical."
She also said, "One thing I love about yoga is that it's noncompetitive. Everyone ranges in different ability. Not everyone can do everything. It (yoga) is nonjudgmental. You don't compare yourself to others. You're comparing yourself and recognizing that every day you are at a different place."
The class at The Coffee Mill is "one of the favorite classes I teach," Eberhardt said. "It has a slight informality and openness about it.
She added that there is a good balance of male and female participants representing a wide range of age groups.