Lauren Sacks

PATH: Spring is always a time of renewal for me. I tend to become incredibly introspective and overly analytical of everything in my life at the time. Fortunately, this usually leads to good things. It was six years ago during one of these introspective periods that I began my yoga practice. Having attended a local gym for a few years, I decided I needed more than the stairmaster and the weight machines could supply. My mom had been trying to convince me for years that yoga would be ideal to me. I finally listened and took my first class and absolutely loved it. It was challenging and relaxing and, instead of leaving the gym tired and sore, I left the gym renewed and energetic. It was great. I got hooked. I completed my first yoga teacher training on the Big Island of Hawaii in June of 2002. After teaching vinyasa/flow yoga for several years, I began to study with Tricia Mickelberry and found myself in awe of the inspiring melding of wisdom, heart and humor that accompanied Anusara. This past summer, I completed a 5-month teacher training with Senior Anusara teacher Todd Norian. INSPIRATION: Although I enjoy my personal practice, I absolutely love practicing with others. The energy that radiates from different people sharing the same space is a true source of inspiration. During my training with Todd, everyone would rise at dawn to meditate together for a half-hour before breakfast. Prior to that, we’d warm up (perhaps so we wouldn’t be tempted to fall asleep!) with our own short asana practice. Everyone practicing, in their own rhythm, with their own energy, listening to their own bodies is a memory that I go back to time and again. FAVORITES FOR GROUNDING: I’m finding it more and more challenging to be still, yet I recently worked with an amazing yoga therapeutics teacher whose advice “to slow down a little, work with some restorative yoga” is something that I am truly trying to take to heart. Stopping to “smell the yogic roses” and truly savor a pose and the subtleties within is something that, I think, will continue to help ground me in my practice. FAVORITES FOR KICKING IT: Music. Vinyasa. Trying asanas I’ve never seen before, let alone imagined possible! PRACTICE: Shifts constantly and is a wonderful mirror for life and an amazing salve for everything that goes along with it. INTENTION: One of the many aspects of Anusara yoga that I love is its embrace of all that is – the light and the dark, the challenging and the comfortable. I hope that my yoga classes create a space in which it becomes absolutely essential to be exactly who you are, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, at that given point in time and to embrace that current manifestation of that you to the fullest extent. I want my students to have fun, to learn, to teach, and to leave glad that they came. MY CLASSES @ CYCO: Wednesdays: 5:45 p.m. – Anusara Inspired Yoga Level 2 Fridays: 7:45 am – Morning Yoga Sundays: 10:00 a.m. – Anusara Inspired Yoga Level 1 - 2