The Ananda Scotts Valley Yoga Center will celebrate the grand opening of its new location with an open house this Saturday.
The new location at 221-A Mount Hermon Road is beautiful both inside and out, has room for 22 students, and offers a soothing environment to practice both yoga and meditation, says proprietor Doug Andrews.
Andrews started his center over 20 years ago in Ben Lomond. Since then, he said, it moved to the center’s previous location at Pinnacle Pass in Scotts Valley where yoga classes were held for seven and a half years.
“We have over three times the amount of space as we did in our old center,” he said, “and — among other things — this place is not falling apart and the other place was … that’s a big difference.”
Andrews said he signed the lease for Ananda’s new center back in October. In the meantime, interior construction has been underway and the first classes were offered on Jan. 3.
A healing room dedicated to yoga therapy is also present at this new center, Andrews said.
“Yoga therapy is a distinct use of yoga, often times embraced by the medical establishment these days because there are many things that yoga and meditation can do that medications really don’t accomplish,” he said. “For people who have a lot of heart-related problems or anxiety-related problems, yoga and mediation are actually very effective. “
According to Andrews, yoga postures were always intended to lead people towards meditation. In this day and age, many people practice yoga for physical exercise, which lacks the important meditative aspect that helps dissolve stress and other tensions in the body.
“No one had to say that yoga was spiritual when yoga first began, it just is an expression of practices that will lead us back to remembering who we are,” Andrews explained.
This new space has two major components; one being a temple that serves to understand the spiritual aspects of yoga and the other being a space for the physical postures.
“Many people when they learn to meditate, it often times is helpful to understand that there is a spiritual side to it and many people are looking for that as well,” he said.
These postures can also lead to meditation when they are done correctly, Andrews said, adding that many begin to have a feeling of bliss or “ananda,” an experience of joy which is not linked to any cause. This is done primarily through eliminating things that are not healthy like tension and or stress.
“What makes this style of yoga unique is the fact that we focus on removing the things that we are not,” he said. “They are temporary identifications, things like tension, worry, anxiety, stress, and our society really builds those into us.”
David Leland, who is in charge of marketing for the center— and a student as well — said that he takes classes at Ananda three times a week.
“A couple of years ago my body was not feeling well and I would get up in the morning and have aches and pains and it would take a while to kind of get going, and then I started yoga and I have been pain-free ever since,” Leland said.
He began his training with Andrews and also practices with his wife, who also teaches yoga.
“I donate my time here and try to get our name out and get a lot of people involved because it’s such a nice way to spend your time,” Leland said.
Currently, there are six yoga instructors at the center and a range of classes exist, allowing anyone — even someone who has difficulty getting up off of the ground — to practice healthily.
Andrews said that he tries to keep the classes are affordable, with the drop-in rate being $15.
“As we teach yoga here at Ananda — and for me personally — it’s just sort of a culmination of over 25 years of practice now,” he said. “When I teach yoga, it’s often times really a matter of what is practical, what works, what is doable for each person at that moment.”
At the grand opening, yoga, guided meditation, and tai chi will all be available for anyone to try between the hours of 12 and 5 p.m.
For the grand opening’s schedule of classes visit www.anandascottsvalley.org
