Moonflower Yoga’s 13-year anniversary by Nancy Weshkoff

Moonflower Yoga’s 13-year anniversary!

By Nancy Weshkoff

The years have flown by, and Moonflower Yoga has reached another milestone – our 13-year anniversary!

The journey began when I decided to leave corporate life behind and pursue something that I loved and that made me feel great, which was yoga.  I went from being a yoga student to a yoga teacher, having completed yoga teacher training and receiving Yoga Alliance certification. I had a dream that I wanted to reach students who might not feel comfortable in a gym setting or large studio and would often choose to “hide” in the back of the room.

Moonflower Yoga was born with a mantra of “small class, personal attention”.   Having this type of yoga studio enabled the teachers to interact with the students and guide them more closely in their practice.  It also helped many yoga students learn, improve their practice, and discover how much they love yoga.  By having the small class size, friendships were formed, and many of those students now spend time with people they met at Moonflower Yoga.

I also knew that community was important to me, and so I launched the Moonflower Yoga Book Club where we enjoy reading a book and then discussing it.  The Moonflower Yoga Book Club is still going strong today with monthly meetings.  Later, other clubs were formed including the Moonflower Yoga Mah Jongg Club which also has fun monthly get togethers.

I have become a Reiki Master Teacher and began offering Reiki training at Moonflower Yoga.  Reiki is a wonderful way to relax and take care of you. People in various fields, including nurses, received their Reiki training at Moonflower Yoga to help enhance their patient care.

We also learned something new in great workshops on a range of topics from creating art, cooking ideas, crafts, and so much more.  Lots of laughs have been shared in these workshops.  Some of these activities are now offered online such as “In the Kitchen with Bob” where we cook a meal together from our respective kitchens and then eat it together at the end of the workshop at our kitchen tables.  There is also “An Evening of Guided Meditation and Relaxation” with Bhante Sujatha, the loving kindness monk, who offers his words of wisdom from all over the world.  We have witnessed the sun rising over the mountains of Sri Lanka as Bhante taught his relaxing meditation. There is also the monthly “Yoga Nidra” with Jackie who helps you completely chill out and get ready for a good night’s sleep.  There are special yoga-related workshops from Moonflower Yoga’s great roster of yoga teachers where you can more deeply understand each pose to help improve your practice.

I cannot say there have been no bumps in the road.    The onset of COVID and the forced closure of the studio for in-person activities for over a year has been very difficult.   With every cloud there is a silver lining, and online classes via Zoom were formed.   The online classes enabled Moonflower Yoga to remain open, albeit virtually.    But it also did something great too which is it allowed us to connect to students who lived geographically away from the studio.   We now have students who live in Florida, Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, etc., who regularly attend activities.  And some teachers who we missed because they moved out of state can once again teach for Moonflower even though they live hundreds of miles away from Long Island.    I launched “hybrid” yoga classes which are the best of both worlds: up to 4 students are attending in person at the studio while simultaneously students are attending online via Zoom.

So what does the next year bring?   It brings a great variety of yoga and meditation classes that students can attend on a weekly basis.   It also brings special workshops and other activities.   Most importantly, it brings people together to feel physically better and stronger but also mentally by providing a de-stressing environment where you can relax and feel better.

For those of you who have never tried an activity at Moonflower Yoga, we welcome you to give it a try!  Check us out in Bellmore (Nassau County, Long Island).  If you do not live near the studio, online classes are available.  There is NEVER a contract to sign.   You can register for just one activity of your choosing from the Schedule tab on the moonfloweryoga.com website, following the simple registration steps, and see how you like it.

To those of you who have supported Moonflower Yoga through these years, THANK YOU!!   You have helped the studio grow and created a very special community.   And to those great teachers who join me every week to teach amazing yoga classes and workshops, THANK YOU to you as well.   Dozens of students have discovered the benefits of yoga through your great yoga and meditation classes.

With much gratitude!

Namaste,

Nancy

The Benefits of Chair Yoga by Nancy Weshkoff

The Benefits of Chair Yoga

By Nancy Weshkoff

One of the misconceptions about Chair Yoga is that the attendees are all the people are seniors with disabilities.  And while Chair Yoga can certainly be a great option for people with physical challenges, it is available to everyone.

How many of us spend a lot of sitting in a chair all day on Zoom calls or working at a computer screen?  For all of those people, your muscles can get very tight, and you can have neck and shoulder strain from online meetings and computer work.   Wouldn’t it be nice to have less neck, back, and shoulder strain from these activities?  For women who are pregnant, they can feel fatigue from the pregnancy and getting up/down from the ground for a regular yoga class can be very challenging.   And for those seniors who find a floor yoga class difficult but are very much in need of stretching and strength building, Chair Yoga is a wonderful option.

Chair yoga will teach you some stretching exercises that you can do from your office chair or a home chair to alleviate muscle tension.   For people with injuries that might find it difficult to be in a traditional floor yoga class, Chair Yoga is also a great option.   For the seniors who do attend the weekly Chair Yoga class at Moonflower Yoga, I applaud them for trying yoga for the first time in their 70’s and 80’s.   Chair yoga provides them with fabulous stretching poses to keep their muscles flexible and improve strength.  And for pregnant moms, doing some gentle stretching to help release tightness can be helpful.   The Chair Yoga classes at Moonflower Yoga are something that everyone can consider, and they are fun as well.   We also finish the Chair Yoga classes with some quiet relaxation to help you further de-stress and feel better.

Join me on Tuesdays or Vicky on Thursdays at 12 noon and give a great Chair Yoga class a try!  The Moonflower Yoga studio is located in the town of Bellmore, in Long Island New York’s Nassau County.   But you do not need to live on Long Island to join us for a great yoga class.  Both classes are available via Zoom for online class attendance.  We have attendees joining us from other states including Florida.   You will love these great yoga classes or any of the fabulous yoga classes on the Moonflower Yoga schedule provided by some of the best yoga teachers.

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It is Moonflower Yoga’s 8th anniversary! by Nancy Weshkoff

It is Moonflower Yoga’s 8th anniversary!

By Nancy Weshkoff

This week marks another milestone for Moonflower Yoga – it is our 8^th anniversary!    When I embarked on the journey of opening a yoga studio 8 years ago in Bellmore, Long Island, New York, I was not exactly sure how things would progress.  I will be the first to admit that some things did not go as  planned.   But I am happy to say that many things did.   The vision that I had of building a community where people could come together to practice yoga and meditation but to also make friends and expand horizons through the   Moonflower Yoga Clubs such as the Moonflower Yoga Book Club, Needle Arts Group, Mah Jongg Club and Canasta Club have all happened.    And we have all had fun and learned something new in the great workshops including cooking workshops, jewelry workshops, yoga-related workshops, and much more.   Reiki became an addition to the schedule, and many people  have become trained in this calming healing system to help the practitioner learn tools for stress reduction and relaxation.  And, of course, the yoga classes which were just a handful of classes at first but have grown to a wonderful variety of daily classes.  I have personally witnessed students of all ages who were not familiar with yoga fall in love with yoga as they become stronger, more flexible, improve balance, take care of themselves, and make friends with their fellow attendees.

I could not have done all of this without the great yoga teachers who join me in offering an amazing variety of yoga and meditation classes each day.   To those who provide these great yoga classes and help students improve their practice, I thank you for your dedication!

Most importantly – THANK YOU to the people who have walked through the doors of Moonflower Yoga and now join us on a regular basis via great online Zoom classes.   Your support of Moonflower Yoga and your friendship have created a very special place.

These are challenging times for small businesses as we cope with the pandemic.   With your continued support, we can weather the storm and look forward to clearing skies in the future.   THANK YOU for 8 wonderful years!