Nasmast-ay Home! Intro to our new Yoga Instructor - Nanci Haines
COVIDfitters!
You asked, we delivered… live Yoga & Meditation with Nanci Haines, professional Yoga instructor at Equinox Gym in Austin TX. We are so excited to announce live streamed Yoga Monday, Wednesday and Fridays at 2:30pm PST/5:30pm EST and Morning Meditations.
Who is Nanci Haines? @yogarat46 instagram
Tell us about yourself:
I am Nanci Haines :-) I started teaching yoga in 2000, but before that had a dance background and danced Modern dance, Jazz dance and ballet for almost 30 years! I even had my own dance company in college. I also currently teach barre classes, and have taught fitness classes, spin classes, and Pilates classes at various times. I love movement, almost as much as I love interacting with people. I am extremely social, and I absolutely love teaching because it allows me to connect with and meet people.
What got you into Yoga:
I actually got hired by a health club part-time, (even though I had another job) because I loved being busy and honestly I wanted the health club membership ;) I mostly just worked one day a week. After being there I loved the people I worked with and started trying out a few of the classes. Truthfully, coming from a dance background, I always thought Yoga would be boring and too easy, but I took a class at the health club and loved it the minute I tried it. I also watched a yoga video I did at home routinely. I was hooked. Funny how it is all coming full circle with COVID now.
There was a Yoga teacher there at the club, and she needed a substitute teacher for some classes and couldn’t find anyone that she thought competent. She knew I had been teaching dance for years...so she begged me to teach her class for her. I knew enough about Yoga at that point to instruct a rudimentary Yoga class. And then I was hooked on teaching. I even had my own Yoga studio for about 6 years!
How can Yoga help people during the COVID Pandemic?:
This can be a very challenging time for many people, and can be disconcerting or stressful or frustrating, because it is a very different and intense experience for so many of us. But I think this change can also bring about some good aspects: some people might be able to take a little bit of time to do things that they had not made time for before, like trying out a hobby or a workout that they have always wanted to try. For some folks that might be yoga. Some of us might have a chance to see more clearly the things we are grateful for right now...maybe you have a chance to have a greater appreciation for your health or your family or your neighbor or your dog, or whatever that thing might be that brings you joy or comfort. Yoga has many health benefits...both physical and mental and I think that people are very aware of the importance of that right now.
“ For me, at different times in my life, yoga has offered various benefits: it helps with my physical fitness, it can definitely be stress relieving, it can bring more self awareness, or even just bring more awareness for our bodies and our movements.”
It is a strange time, in that some of us feel more alone, and some feel more together, depending upon your living situation or your work situation. Yoga can be grounding and offer some stress relief, due to the simple fact that movement produces endorphins, but also because there is a focus and a kind of meditative quality to it. For me, at different times in my life, yoga has offered various benefits: it helps with my physical fitness, it can definitely be stress relieving, it can bring more self awareness, or even just bring more awareness for our bodies and our movements. I mean, let’s face it...if nothing else, it can be a great workout or stretch (depending upon the style of yoga) that you can do in the space of just a yoga mat. That is great right now when most of us are working out in our living room!
Schedule for my classes can be found here: https://www.covidfit.com/live-fitness
