Get your Downward Dog and other poses ready, because Yoga is going to be offered starting Sept. 18 at the Faraday Community Centre, compliments of the Faraday Recreation Committee. Amanda Stone, a member of the committee and Gloria Gutierrez of Mi Tula Yoga, who’ll be teaching the classes, comment on this exciting new offering.

The Yoga classes will be taught by Gutierrez of Mi Tula Yoga at the Faraday Community Centre starting on Sept. 18 at 5:30 p.m. with one-hour classes weekly for six weeks at a cost of $90 or students can pay $15 for each class. Six registrants are needed to run the class and walk-ins are welcome. Attendees are asked to bring a Yoga mat and Yoga blocks if they have them and to arrive 15 minutes early to class. For more information or to register, please contact Gutierrez at 905-515-5850 or at mitulayoga@gmail.com.

Gutierrez tells Bancroft This Week that Stone reached out to her to teach Yoga at the Faraday Community Centre and that she’ll primarily be delivering slow Vinyasa flow classes, but in addition to that, she’ll have other options such as restorative, balance and stretching classes if the community responds and commits to attending classes every week.

“Meditation and time for internal connection will be an important element present in each class delivered,” she says.

Gutierrez is hoping the community responds well to the upcoming classes and encourages those who are interested to book a spot as soon as possible.

“Classes will be delivered with a minimum six attendees, but we are hoping we will reach an attendance of twenty or so,” she says.

Gutierrez reveals she’s a retired athlete with extensive training as a competitive cyclist in South America along with a Physical Education degree. She says she knows the value of hard work and discipline and believes that one of the best ways to have a healthy body and mind is through physical movement.

“A life-long learner, in 2016 I began to focus on the deeper meaning of Hatha, Vinyasa, and Yin Yoga during my spare time. By 2021, I became profoundly fascinated with Ashtanga Yoga, committing to devoted practice every morning while continuing to practice and self-study through the evenings,” she says.

Stone says Gutierrez’s Yoga class is another in-demand fitness class and they’re excited to have her joining them this year.

“There has been a good deal of interest so far and we are hoping to have a packed class come Sept. 18,” she says.

Stone adds that the Faraday Recreation Committee is always looking to work with local instructors to bring more options to their community.

Gutierrez says that she began developing and leading weekly Yoga classes for a group of friends in Wilberforce in Oct. 2022. From there, she says this led her to travel to India in March, 2023, to study the traditional methods of Yoga practice and philosophy guided by Yogacharya Rakesh, founder-director of Samyak Yoga. This one month, intensive course further broadened her experience and led her to open Mi Tula Yoga in Wilberforce and the surrounding areas in April, 2023.

“Mi Tula Yoga’s invitation is to support each other through kindness, honesty, and respect, within a safe space of acceptance,” she says. “I believe in making Yoga accessible to anyone through modified movements, and ultimately helping people find their balance.”

Michael Riley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Bancroft Times