WS Chronicle

By Timothy Ramsey

The practice of yoga is widely regarded for its physical, mental and spiritual benefits.  In an effort to bring more attention to yoga, Dr. Kimya Dennis brought in Dr. Marilyn Granger to teach a class at Triad Cultural Arts this past Saturday, March 31.

The purpose of the event was to bring awareness to the stress that affects everyday life and the ways yoga can help relieve said stress.  Granger is a psychiatrist in the city of Winston-Salem and has been practicing for over 30 years.  She uses yoga as part of her psychiatry work.

Dennis says she decided to have this event so the community can understand an alternative means of dealing with stress.

“I just want to introduce to our community to other ways of meditation and ways to wake up in the morning and not think of stress automatically,” Dennis said.  “And also before you go to bed it’s a way for your body to release negative energy, and that is something we need to learn as a community.

“For some people, this sounds like some unimportant stuff, but it actually is very important,” she continued.  “It’s something that has been in existence for thousands of years and we want people of America to understand what people have been doing around the world and stop demonizing everything we don’t understand.”

Granger started off by discussing why balancing community issues with self-health is so important.  The participants were then able to ask various questions of Granger.  She then went on to explain the benefits of yoga.

Once they hit the mats, Granger began giving relaxation and breathing techniques that put everyone at ease.  They then moved to actual yoga poses while Granger directed the movements.

Dennis says the benefits of yoga for her are that it challenges her to be open to things she doesn’t understand and the yearning to learn more about it.  She also feels it gives her body strength and shows how to stretch her muscles properly. 

Granger stated her purpose for being there is for the participants to understand themselves as a holistic being in terms of mind, body and who you truly are.  She says she also wanted to convey the message of an alternate way of navigating the world around the stress that is ever present. 

“With yoga I see that people often build relationships with themselves, their bodies, their thoughts and they try to understand that and also how it transfers out into the world.”

Granger says she got into yoga looking for a way to exercise.  She used to have back problems and found yoga to be an effective method of relieving her pain.

“Yoga also helped with my fall allergies but then as I started going forward with the practice and breathing techniques it really just helps to settle the mind,” she stated.