The third Saturday of every January, or today, is Yoga Day USA, an annual celebration of the modern-day exercise of the ancient Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline. The brainchild of the Yoga Alliance, Yoga Day USA was created to celebrate the art of yoga and invite those who have never experienced it to try it.

It's also a day when many yoga studios and instructors across the country offer free demonstrations to spread the word to newcomers about the practice of yoga and its spiritual and physical benefits. 

While locally, just one Bellmore and one Wantagh celebration of Yoga Day USA is taking place and little else is going on locally in honor of this national event, a great deal of yoga is being taught and practiced on an ongoing basis throughout our area.  

Local celebration or not, Yoga Day USA is the perfect excuse to consider finding out what yoga is all about and where local classes are offered. 

About yoga 

Yoga is a health-based system of exercise that explores and integrates the mind, body, and breath.  Yoga Day USA creater the Yoga Alliance is an international organization of professional yoga teachers and schools which sets standards for protecting the health and welfare of practitioners. Although based on an ancient Hindu spiritual and ascetic tradition, today in the United States, much of the yoga practiced focuses on fitness and stress relief.  

Yoga involves breathing exercises for relaxation and meditation, and body positions or poses designed for improving balance and flexibility. A 2005 Harris survey for Yoga Journal magazine found that 16. 5 million people in the USA now practice yoga, according to USA Today. That figure may have reached 18 million in 2009, according to some professional yoga journals.

Local Yoga Day USA

The one Yoga Day USA-related event in Bellmore is an offer of free demonstration classes by Vicky Seff of Floating Lotus Yoga of Bellmore. http://floating-lotus-yoga.com Seff is leading morning introductory yoga classes for preregistered children, teens and adults at Grace Lutheran Church in North Bellmore in honor of the event, requesting donations of non-perishable food item to support the St. Barnabas food pantry in Bellmore.

The one Yoga Day USA-related event in Bellmore is an offer of free demonstration classes by Vicky Seff of Floating Lotus Yoga of Bellmore. Seff is leading morning introductory yoga classes for preregistered children, teens and adults at Grace Lutheran Church in North Bellmore in honor of the event, requesting donations of non-perishable food item to support the St. Barnabas food pantry in Bellmore.

Seff's teaching of yoga throughout the community continues all year. The certified Iyenger yoga teacher offers adult yoga classes at the church on Thursday nights, children's classes at the North Bellmore Public Library and Bellmore Memorial Library. Seff also teaches private classes, and works with special needs, such as pregnancy and those with medical conditions or injuries.

In nearby Wantagh, Harmony Yoga & Dance, Healing Arts Center  is holding a Yoga Day USA  Open House from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., offering sample classes in yoga, pilates, Zumba, and Tai-chi., yogi tea and raffles for gift certificates. A $10 donation for fundrasing toward Yoga tuition for special children is suggested for participation.

On an ongoing basis, the center offers instruction at all levels, from beginners to established practitioners, and varied themes of yoga classes, such as Viniyasa flow yoga, yoga for stress relief, chakra yoga, yoga for losing weight, better back/restorative yoga, yoga for balance, Pranayama healing/breathing technique yoga, as well as family Yoga (parents and children) and personal counseling. 

Ongoing Yoga Classes

Yoga classes are offered throughout the Bellmores and Merricks, including free classes at local libraries, as well as through the following:

• Floating Lotus Yoga, P.O. Box 598 North Bellmore, NY 11710

(917) 846-4347

http://floating-lotus-yoga.com/2201.html

• PranaShakti Yoga, 2466 N.Jerusalem Road North Bellmore 11710

917-757-0922

http://www.pranashaktiyoga.com

• Jem Yoga, 29A Merrick Avenue Merrick, NY 11566                       

516-868-4536

http://www.jemyoga.com

• Harmony Yoga & Dance, Healing Arts Center, 3050 Merrick Road Wantagh, NY 11793

516-330-8998

http://harmonyyogaanddance.org

• The Little Yoga House, 1855 Jane Street, Wantagh NY 11793 

516-221-YOGA 

http://www.littleyogahouse.com

*Engaging in yoga, the pace slows and the language changes. For example Yoga students often repeat "Namaste" at the end of each class as a thank you, honoring their instructor. Namaste is a Hindi salutation or greeting. The word Namaste is a combination of the two Sanskrit words: nama, and te. Basically, nama means "to bow" and te means "you." Namaste is significant because it is a humbling gesture. Namaste is done as a recognition that we are all on equal standings, all of us are children of divinity.

We are one. "Namaste," Bellmore yoga instructor Seff declares as each of her classes concludes, her hands in a prayer stance, fingertips pointing upward. Her definition is "the light within me honors the light within you." 

Get Your Om On Right Here in Merrick

Jem Yoga, 29 Merrick Ave. offers instructional workshops, kids and teens classes and private classes.  Staff members Jeanne, Angela, Karen and Maryanne are all certified yoga teachers.

OM Shanti Yoga, located at 1991 Merrick Rd. offers yoga, yogalates and yoga meneo. They also have yoga with weights classes, which combines traditional yoga poses  using small weights (up to three pounds).