SOUTH RIVER–Proven to have medical, emotional and spiritual benefits, the South River Library is offering free weekly yoga classes for residents.
“What a gift the library has given the residents by offering this free yoga program. The adult class is gentle, safe, judgement-free and accessible for most adults. The children’s classes are fun, lively, educational and relaxing. The better question is, ‘why wouldn’t a resident take a yoga class at the library?'” Yoga Instructor Hope Fisher said.
Fisher has been teaching children’s yoga at the library for a little over a year and gentle yoga for adults about six months. She also teaches in the Old Bridge and Monroe Township libraries.
The library offers free weekly adult, ‘tween and children classes every Monday. Gentle Adult Yoga class is at 3 p.m., children yoga is at 4:15 p.m. and the ‘tween class is at 5 p.m., according to Library Director Evalina Erbe.
According to Erbe, there have been yoga classes at the library for many years, with occasional breaks when the library needed to find a new instructor.
“Last spring we had several inquiries for adult yoga. Daytime classes are offered at the Senior Center in town, but not during the summer months. We decided to add a summer class for adults and it has been so well attended we decided to continue beyond the summer,” Erbe said.
Having grown up in East Brunswick, Fisher has resided in Monroe for the past 20 years with her husband Michael and two children Ryan, 22, and Hannah, 19. She is the owner and director of Hope Yoga in Jamesburg for the past two-and-a-half years.
Fisher said that a former employee of the South River Library had heard about the studio and the classes she was teaching to children with special needs at the Monroe Township Library and other children’s classes she has at the her studio in Jamesburg.
“She reached out to see if I would be interested in teaching children in South River. Over the summer, I was asked to launch a gentle yoga class for adults in South River and Old Bridge. I love bringing the benefits of yoga to everyone I possibly can,” Fisher said.
For each class, yoga mats are provided by the library, or attendees can bring their own.
“I feel that yoga has contributed greatly to my overall well-being. On a physical level, yoga allows me to keep moving without pain, lowers my blood pressure, helps to keep my bones strong, helps my digestive system, helps my lung capacity and truthfully there are too many health benefits to list,” Fisher said. “I’ve had some emotionally difficult times where yoga has helped me feel more calm and balanced. Yoga also teaches us how to be more present, enjoying what’s right in front of us at the moment rather than living in the past or rushing forward to the future, leading us toward more happiness, contentment and pure joy. Who wouldn’t want more of that?”
Loving to meet new people of any age Fisher said, “The icing on the cake is to connect with the students, to be of help to them and to see their growth physically, emotionally, mentally and/or spiritually.”
For more information, visit www.southriverlibrary.org.
Contact Vashti Harris at vharris@newspapermediagroup.com.
