Yoga- All Level- Ongoing

Harris Arts Center Community Room 

Wednesday 6:00-7:00 PM

Harris Arts Center- Upstairs Community Room (Enter the double doors back of building)  

Class is for those with some degree of flexibility. Emphasis is on core strengthening, increasing flexibility and proper breathing (Pranayama) for health. Hatha Flow, Kundalini, Yin and Restorative Yoga practiced.

Gentle Yoga for Lunch

Harris Arts Center Community Room     

Wednesdays 12:00-12:45 PM

Harris Arts Center- Upstairs Community Room (Enter the double doors back of building)

Come join us for Gentle Yoga for Lunch. Classes are created for all levels and abilities- for busy executives, store owners, those that are already in great shape but desire to reduce stress levels and increase flexibility, seniors, or those just getting back into shape. Bring a Yoga mat and wear comfortable pants.

Gentle Yoga for Lunch is a Hatha Yoga class designed to increase your breathing capacity by bringing you body back to its natural breathing rhythm. By doing just that, you will learn to relax and allow your muscles to release, gaining increased flexibility with very gentle stretching, Even better, all Yoga postures and breathing for this class are done from a seated, reclining or lying-down position!

 Gentle Yoga with Pranayama (regulated breathing) practiced regularly, has been proven with independent studies by medical researchers and Universities, to reduce the risk of heart attack, help to reduce blood pressure and decrease stress, help you gain increased flexibility, and give you a clearer mind on a day-to-day basis.

Each class ends with a relaxing meditation. Doors open at 10 minutes before the hour. Arrive early to unwind before class. Bring a Yoga mat and wear comfortable clothing.

All classes are a minimum  $8.00 donation per class, pay as you go.

 Questions?

Contact Rhonda Shannon, Yoga and Meditation Instructor

For more information on Harris Arts Center,

Rhonda Shannon, is the owner of Stretch and Breathe Yoga and LeiHall Organic Farm and Wildlife Refuge in Plainville, GA.  Rhonda’s style of teaching Yoga in Gordon County is gaining positive recognition throughout Georgia. She maintains, “ I have a strong sense of community and value qualities that support the well being of all. “Yoga is a weekly 'must do' for those wanting to maintain and achieve both mental and physical well being.” 

 Ms. Shannon’s family roots and her ability to sooth and bring healing and improved health to the Gordon County Community go back to her grandfather, the late, Dr. W. D. Hall, Sr. of Calhoun and Founder of Johnston Hall Hospital.   “Pop taught me to be patient, caring and to be the best I can be at what I do”. He was a wonderful example, a man that exemplified healing and heath to all those that came to him.    

 Ms Shannon has been practicing Yoga since childhood when Yoga was taught to her in German School at age 12 as a way to relax the mind and body before exams. She incorporated her Yoga breathing and postures into her ballet study after she graduated from German Hoch Schule and Heidelberg American School and while attending College at the University of Maryland in Heidelberg.  Ms. Shannon is a retired Atlanta Business Professional and former Yoga Instructor in Cobb and Fulton County, Georgia.  She returned to LeiHall Farm in Gordon County for a change of lifestyle as she began early retirement in 2005. Ms. Shannon resumed her Yoga teaching career in Gordon County shortly thereafter at the encouragement of her Senior Yoga Instructor in Rome.  Ms. Shannon’s Yoga classes in Gordon County were initially taught at the Clinic of Hope, which was formerly Johnston-Hall Hospital. Her classroom was across the hallway from the operating room where she used to watch her grandfather perform surgery when she was just a small child.

 Today, Ms. Shannon’s study of Yoga during residency in Europe and then in the USA, combined with her unique teaching style, experience and wisdom will bring you into a total state of relaxation as you work your muscles and tissues without strain and gently stretch your body and your mind into a better state of health. As a Yoga and Meditation Leader, Rhonda takes her time, allowing for position adjustments and offers alternative postures for those that may have problem areas.  She is a living model of Yogin health- practicing daily meditation, eating only fruits, herbs and vegetables that she grows organically on her farm and practicing a sustainable and healthy lifestyle. 

In each class taught by Ms. Shannon, she combines multiple Yoga philosophies and that is what makes Ms. Shannon a successful and versatile teacher. Ms. Shannon also strives to make each student feel welcome and comfortable. She darkens the room during her classes and most Yoga sessions are taught by candlelight. She recognizes that new students may feel uncomfortable at first. Darkening the room helps with both relaxing the student and making them feel more at ease. Candlelight Yoga also brings with it a separate sense of calm and peace. 

 “Yoga is not about getting to a perfect pose, it's about feeling perfect wherever you are. When you do a Yogasana, (pose) you are living in the moment-to-moment sensation; you are one with the feeling. Beautifully, there is no intention or goal. You simply relax and allow your body to move to its own capacity and that is why you feel no stress. “ Ms Shannon went on to say,  “I want every student in my class to feel comfortable with their body and its ability to move. Even my strongest students have difficulty with certain poses. We all have strengths and weakness in different areas whether it is from injury, surgery or simple weakness. That is something we all have to accept. “

 Ms Shannon’s Yoga classes at Harris Arts Center are a wonderful philosophical blend of Hatha, Vinyasa, Kundalini, Ying and Restorative Yoga. Below is a brief description of each Yoga philosophy Ms. Shannon incorporates into every  class. 

Gentle Hatha Yoga Including Asana and Pranayama
 Hatha Yoga is an ancient practice, originating in the area we now call India as much as 6,000 years ago. Hatha Yoga uses deep relaxation, diaphragmatic breathing, gentle stretching and strengthening exercises, and meditation to support an individual's physical, emotional, and spiritual health. The term Hatha Yoga has been commonly used to describe the practice of asana (postures). The syllable 'ha' denotes the pranic (vital) force governing the physical body and 'tha' denotes the chitta (mental) force thus making Hatha Yoga a catalyst to an awakening of the two energies that govern our lives. 

Ms. Shannon introduces the practices of Gentle Yoga by developing physical and emotional awareness through relaxation and a focus on breathing, using very gentle stretching postures to enhance and deepen relaxation. “I want my students to learn Yoga from a personal awareness of their unique body and mind without competition or expectations “, Ms. Shannon says. Yoga for lunch class allows students to explore the physical and emotional aspects of Yoga gently during the course of an otherwise, busy and hectic day.The Hatha Yoga system includes asana along with  Pranayama (pranic or rhythmic breathing and awakening practices). Fine-tuning along with physical and mental detox systems of meditation, breathing and energy release techniques of the human personality at increasingly subtle levels leads to higher states of awareness, physical flexibility and fitness and clarity of mind. Hatha Yoga harmonizes and purifies the body systems, increasing flexibility and body strength as well as creating a stronger focus of the mind.

Vinyasa Flow Yoga

The word Vinyasa means “breath-synchronized movement.” In other words, you will be taught to move from one pose to the next on an inhale or an exhale. This technique is called Vinyasa Flow, or just Flow because of the smooth way that several poses run together and become like a dance. The flow is composed of a series of gentle postures that will increase flexibility using reverse stretches of the spine, hip and core to strengthen and separate the vertebra along the spine. A Cat-Stretch is an example of a very simple Vinyasa, because the spine may be rounded on an inhale and arched on exhale.

Kundalini Yoga

Kundalini yoga links movement primarily with breath. It is differentiated by a direct focus on moving energy through the chakra system, stimulating the energy in the lower chakras and moving it to the higher chakras. The chakras are energy centers, seven in total, located beginning at the base of the spine and ending at the top of the head. An eighth chakra exists in Kundalini Yoga, which is the electromagnetic field, sometimes called "aura." The aura is thought to be strengthened through the practice of Kundalini Yoga. Kundalini Yoga is intended to awaken the energy that resides in the spine by activating the nerve channels that are intertwined there.Kundalini yoga is sometimes called "the yoga of awareness" because it awakens the "kundalini" which is the unlimited potential that already exists within every human being. Practitioners believe that when the infinite potential energy is raised in the body it stimulates the higher centers, giving the individual enhanced intuition and mental clarity and creative potential. As such, kundalini was considered a dangerous practice by ruling powers and so, was historically practiced in secret. Only after a lengthy initiation process was the knowledge handed down from Master to student.Yoga Instructors may or may not  discuss the Chakra Healing process that  you will experience in Yoga. Rest assured your Chakra energy centers will be stimulated and renewed during your Yoga expereince and this may better assist you with a clearer understanding of the ultimate feeling of peace and health that regular Yoga practice will bring.

Ying (Yin) Yoga

Ying Yoga postures focus on strengthening the connective tissues to and surrounding the muscles. Class focus is to provide a variety of postures - depending on the level of the class- for strengthening connective tissue (Ying). With Ying practice selective poses are held longer than others. Longer holds in Ying Postures strengthen connective tissue since the tissues do not require as much physical energy and direct concentration as the muscle mass. Ying Yoga is practiced and incorporated into  each class.

 Restorative Yoga

The development of Restorative Yoga is credited to B.K.S. Iyengar, of Pune, India. Restorative Yoga is a complete relaxation that allows gravity to do the work for you.  Restorative Yoga focuses on relaxing the body in restful postures. This Rest provides the body an opportunity to renew and heal. Countless studies have proven the physical and emotional benefits of this.

Restorative yoga, as well as other forms of yoga, helps trigger the Parasympathetic nervous system also known as the PNS. The PNS is responsible for balancing the body and bringing its response system back into equilibrium. Stimulating the PNS helps to lower heart rate, blood pressure; it helps to healthily stimulate the immune system and keep the endocrine system operating healthily. When this system gets out of whack, or when the Sympathetic nervous system, SNS gets over-stimulated, the PNS helps to bring all back in balance. It is believed that is the PNS is tapped out or under-active, illness pervades. The complete rest and posture relaxation that Restorative Yoga provides, help to stimulate the PNS are generally beneficial for overall body health

Yoga Gift certificates for 4-week sessions and/ or private instruction are available.

Ms Shannon is available for classes at your church or organization.