With the New Year, we ring in all kinds of resolutions, promising to change for the better over the next 365 days.
It’s like we all remember the person we wanted to be before we buried ourselves in chocolate and Christmas cookies.
This year will be my year, we tell ourselves. So, we stock up on kale and health shakes, throw away stale crackers and soured eggnog and sign up for that gym membership. We decide that the cold days of January are gong to wake up the ideal self somewhere beneath our skin.
The fact that so many resolutions fall flat by the first days of February might signal to us that we need a new approach.
Enter Evolution Power Yoga, which seeks to create lasting change.
Lisa Taylor started her company in 2001, back when yoga was not the cultural sensation it is today. At first, she was greeted by skepticism in her quiet, conservative Lancaster community. But Taylor persisted and, in doing so, grew her studio into a sustainable business across four locations in central Pennsylvania.
As per Taylor’s philosophy, Evolution Power Yoga focuses on the body as a whole, as each part influences the others.
“At its core, our program teaches you to take the time to extensively reflect on all aspects of yourself: your consciousness, your thought patterns, your yoga practice and your life overall,” she said.
Amanda Bachman, manager of Evolution’s Harrisburg branch, said that they help people become a part of something bigger than themselves.
“We are a community that supports one another,” she said. “People will experience mental and physical benefits after coming to Evolution.”
In January, the yoga studio will embark on “40 Days to Personal Revolution,” a program based on the Baron Baptiste book of the same name. The program explores motives, behaviors and repetitive patterns in oneself.
The program includes a daily yoga practice, as would be expected. But it also includes a weekly, one-hour group meeting and instruction to “encourage curiosity, self-reflection and exploration,” according to Bachman. Evolution Yoga, she said, takes a holistic view of the body and sees all parts as intertwined.
The belief is that, with this mindset, New Year’s resolutions will be a lot harder to break.
Evolution Power Yoga also runs a training and teaching program called the Evolution Learning Institute. The goal is to train people who would like to teach yoga, taking a similar approach to the “40 Days” program by focusing on the body as a whole.
“Engaging in a program like this, you teach yourself,” Taylor said. “This is about training teachers, but it’s mostly about training leaders.”
Bachman added that yoga has had a positive effect on her own life.
“Yoga has elevated our lives and inspired us as individuals,” she said. “We now are driven to share those experiences by making yoga accessible for all.”
Evolution Power Yoga has four locations in central PA, including the Harrisburg studio at 2591 Brindle Dr. (Shoppes at Susquehanna Marketplace). For more information, call 717-727-7069 or visit www.evolutionpoweryoga.com.
