Cars rush by outside, their murmurs barely perceptible inside. Students, mostly women, lie relaxed with their backs flat against rollout exercise mats. Instructor Claudia Braun beckons them to slowly pull up to a seated position, keeping every muscle in the body relaxed.
Her lips form a slight smile and in a voice light as air she whispers “Namaste,” a Sanskrit word meaning “the divinity in me sees the divinity in you.”
This is the scene inside the studio Living Mindfully, 829 Chicago Ave., on Tuesday night, two weeks after the studio’s opening.
Braun began studying yoga — relaxation for the body and the mind — in her late 20s when the daily three-hour commute to work became unbearable. She said she heard of yoga through a class offered near her house and decided to give it a try. Braun has been a yoga practitioner and Shiatsu masseur ever since.
“A lot of people come here because they are looking to ease physical or emotional pain or to relieve stress. With yoga you’re constantly learning more about yourself. You can come to a place of deeper understanding,” Braun said.
Braun has clients of all ages, from college students to people in their 70s.
“People are looking for something that has deeper meaning,” Braun said. “Yoga can fit that. They find themselves feeling better and thinking about their body differently.” She added that some people even credit yoga with helping them to make lifestyle changes, such as eating better or quitting smoking.
With a class of fewer than five participants, Braun is not inundated with students. But Angela Carini, Communication ’00, said she enjoyed her experience with the new studio.
“After graduating I wasn’t feeling very fulfilled by dance,” Carini said. “I wasn’t feeling a spiritual connection. Dance was learning steps and doing them, whereas yoga meant getting in touch with yourself. It got me more in touch with who I am.”
Colorful fabric collages, Braun’s own work, adorn the brown brick walls that comprise three sides of the studio, giving a feeling of earthiness. The fourth wall, a full-length window facing the street, allows the sun to shine in during the day and provides a constant sense of openness. During night classes, candlelight offsets the bright fluorescence of the overhead lights.
“I had a desire to have a studio that felt welcoming,” Braun said. “I wanted people to feel renewed, (like) they were in the city and yet somewhere far away.”
Students interested in beginning yoga should come with an open mind, she added.
“Don’t be daunted by the flexibility aspect,” Braun said. “Everyone’s at their own level and it’s more about what you get out of it internally than what you look like aesthetically.”
There are many different types of yoga. Braun describes the style of yoga she teaches as “very much about movement with breath and gravity and opening up the spine so that you find more lightness in the upper body and connect to gravity with the lower body.”
Living Mindful is offering free classes for prospective students through Oct. 28.
