Yoga provides physical, mental, emotional benefits

Here is a sampling of local studios that offer yoga classes. Other places to find yoga training include the YMCAs in Duluth and Superior, fitness centers, community education classes, schools, massage businesses, places of worship and McCabe Renewal Center in Duluth.

Yoga Tree Studio

Owner: Catherine Anderson

Address: 1323 Broadway St., Suite 220, Superior

Phone: 392-5055

Web site: www.yogatreestudio.net

Types of yoga classes: Hatha, kundalini, vinyasa, strength yoga.

Other classes include: Pilates (exercises that strengthen the body's core and increase flexibility), tai chi (a slow, graceful set of movements that blend yoga and meditation), "Be Aware, Stay Safe" class for girls ages 7-12.

Cost: Five-week introductory class is $55; $10 for drop-in; punch card costs $80 for 10 sessions.

Three West Yoga

Owner: Leanne Zeppa

Address: 3 W. Superior St.

Phone number: 722-9378

Web site: www.threewestyoga.com

Type of yoga offered: kundalini. In addition to regular kundalini classes, there are prenatal, mommy and me, family and kids yoga classes. A community yoga class at 4 p.m. Tuesdays is free with an unopened food donation.

Cost: $15 for drop-in; punch cards cost $50 for four classes, $75 for six classes and $108 for 10 classes; prices vary for family and kids yoga classes.

Yoga North

Owners: Deborah Adele and Ann Maxwell

Address: 4628 Pitt St., Suite 208

Phone number: 722-9642

Web site: www.yoganorthduluth.com

Types of yoga offered: Ashtanga, hatha, kundalini

Other classes: Feldenkrais method (it integrates the nervous system and movement), yoga play for children. Workshops on topics such as meditation and chakras (centers of the body considered as sources of energy). Speakers, extended studies, adventure trips, retreats and hatha yoga teacher training.

Cost: Class costs vary. $12 for drop-in; $8 for students and seniors; punch cards cost $44 for four classes, $90 for 10 classes. Season passes available.

Zenith Fitness Studio

Owner: Linda Glisson

Address: 132 E. Superior St., upstairs

Phone number: 727-8765

Web site: www.zenithfitness.com

Types of yoga offered: hatha, ashtanga (power yoga)

Other classes: Shake your Shakti combines yoga and free movement. Fitness classes include dance aerobics, group weight lifting and resistance training, and power core and power cardio classes.

Cost: $10 for drop-in; punch cards cost $45 for five classes; $80 for 10 classes; $140 for 20 classes. First class is free.

There are physical, mental and emotional benefits to doing yoga.

Yoga increases flexibility and strengthens muscles and bones, said Catherine Anderson, a registered nurse and owner of Yoga Tree Studio in Superior.

Yoga is about balance, Anderson said. If you develop muscle strength without also lengthening the muscles, then the muscles will be tight and pull on your joints and cause stress in your body, she said.

"If you lengthen as well as strengthen the muscles, you will have a more fluid body," Anderson said.

If you're not flexible, you usually aren't comfortable in your body and can strain your muscles when you do something as simple as reach for a cup, she said.

Yoga also helps your circulation, Anderson said.

When you're in an inverted yoga position, such as a head stand or shoulder stand, blood vessels plump up with blood and carry more oxygen and nutrients to the brain and you can think more clearly, she said.

Yoga teaches people to breathe deeper and more efficiently, which can help manage stress, Anderson said.

Yoga aids people psychologically because you learn to watch for thoughts that cause physical tension, she said.

"A lot of emotional patterns come from thought patterns and can result in raging emotions. As people begin to follow their breath, they hone their ability to see what causes them stress. Then they can manage that through breathing. It's all connected," Anderson said.

One of Anderson's motivations in teaching yoga came from working as a nurse in a hospital. She said she wants to help people prevent the kinds of health problems that could land them in a hospital someday.

Deborah Adele, co-owner of Yoga North in Duluth, said yoga postures are unique because they put your body in positions you don't normally experience, such as a twist. You get at places in the body you haven't gotten at before and it stimulates energy and circulation and brings a sense of ease and calm, she said.

"It's extremely beneficial in this stressed world to have that quiet and peacefulness in our muscles, mind and emotions," Adele said.

Through yoga, you can learn to manage your energy and not waste it, she said. "So then we have energy for what we love to do," Adele said. "There's increased vitality and well-being. We become more vibrant and motivated to live the life we want to live. Life becomes more interesting and contented."

Regardless of the reason you come to yoga, it brings you self-awareness and helps you get in touch with your spirituality, said Linda Glisson, owner of Zenith Fitness Studio in Duluth. "Yoga provides you with tools for better living," she said.

Anderson said many of her students are women ages 35 to 65 who are at an age when they are examining their lives and exploring how they can reach their full potential. "Yoga is very transformative," she said.

Leanne Zeppa, owner of Three West Yoga in Duluth, said yoga transformed her. She said she began doing kundalini yoga when she was having trouble in a previous marriage and needed something to lift her out and up.

"I would say kundalini saved my life," Zeppa said. "I got out of a very bad marriage because of it and it really turned my life around. Instead of seeing myself as a victim, I saw myself as a person of value. The kundalini did that. I started doing the meditations and saw myself as a person of worth. It turned everything around."