{"id":92112,"date":"2019-10-18T16:46:24","date_gmt":"2019-10-18T16:46:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/can-yoga-help-heal-aztec\/"},"modified":"2019-10-18T16:46:24","modified_gmt":"2019-10-18T16:46:24","slug":"can-yoga-help-heal-aztec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/can-yoga-help-heal-aztec\/","title":{"rendered":"Can yoga help heal Aztec?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Staci
Staci Zweschper, founder of the Lift Each Other Up Foundation, leads a yoga class of about 50 community members last week at Aztec High School. The free classes are helping the community and first responders tap into positive energy.<\/span>LIZ WEBER\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

AZTEC \u2013 On the stage of a darkened high school auditorium, 50 people inhaled, pulling the oxygen deep into their lungs. With a 1-2-3 count, they audibly exhaled, sending a few of the candles flickering.<\/p>\n

Staci Zweschper believed the positive energy generated in this space on a Friday evening, as invisible as the breath expended in the auditorium, could ripple out to the surrounding Aztec community. The class was the first of a free continuing yoga series for Aztec schools offered by Zweschper\u2019s Lift Each Other Up Foundation<\/a>, which focuses on supporting those in need with free mindfulness, meditation and movement classes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we raise our vibrations, we raise the vibrations of those around us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

As the two-year anniversary of the Aztec High School shooting and the death of two of its students approaches, the community continues to look for ways to cultivate healing, and Zweschper\u2019s series of free classes offered at the high school aims to be a part of that process.<\/p>\n

While Zweschper\u2019s studio, Soul Den Hot Yoga<\/a>, primarily offers hot yoga classes \u2013 performed in a studio set between 80 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit \u2013 the foundation\u2019s free community classes place an emphasis on slowing the mind and body. They provide a vehicle for Zweschper to discuss stress reduction, managing negative energy, trauma healing and strengthening the mind \u2013 points she touches on throughout the hourlong class.<\/p>\n

Tania Prokop, deputy superintendent of Aztec Municipal School District, said the idea for the series at Aztec High School originally spread through teachers who took classes at Soul Den.<\/p>\n

\u201cEducators are givers. They\u2019re nurturers, and they give a lot of themselves not only financially but also energy-wise,\u201d Prokop said. \u201cWe\u2019re really hoping this is an opportunity they can fill their own bucket.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Aztec-based classes are open to everyone in the community, the majority of the first class consisted of teachers and students. Some were routine yoga practitioners, but for others, like Sylvia Candelaria, this was their first yoga experience.<\/p>\n

\"About
About 50 community members participate in a free yoga class last week at Aztec High School. The Lift Each Other Up Foundation his holding a series of classes to help the community and first responders tap into positive energy through meditation and movement.<\/span>LIZ WEBER\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Candelaria, a day care provider at Vista Nueva High School, said the class was an opportunity to \u201cjust let go of everything,\u201d and an almost spiritual release of anxiety. \u201cAztec in general has gone through a lot, and I think they need it to let loose,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

While the classes were not specifically designed with the anniversary of the 2017 Aztec High School shooting in mind, Zweschper said, there are undertones of healing running throughout her class.<\/p>\n

Prokop acknowledged yoga might not be for everyone but said, \u201cIf through this, people get an opportunity to release something that doesn\u2019t have to take up space in their story, I think that\u2019s really a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another participant, Tammy Rinerson, received her teacher\u2019s certification from Zweschper in 2017 and has her own studio in Aztec. It\u2019s the community classes that Rinerson finds especially uplifting. \u201cEvery community has its downs, and Aztec has definitely had a lot in the past couple of years, and I think we all need a little inspiration,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Finding yoga<\/div>\n

Zweschper, a U.S. Army veteran, worked for over 20 years as a pharmaceutical sales rep in Albuquerque. Throughout this time, she struggled with anxiety and depression. While she tried antidepressants and therapy, it wasn\u2019t until her first hot yoga class in 2010 that she found something clicked. Two years later she gained her yoga trainer\u2019s registration and has been teaching ever since.<\/p>\n

When she moved to Farmington in 2014, her husband built a small studio for her to practice, but she soon began holding public classes. \u201cThere weren\u2019t any yoga studios at that time, really,\u201d she said. \u201cSo there was this need in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Staci
Staci Zweschper said her yoga classes, like the one held last week at Aztec High School, aren\u2019t just a fitness program, but focus on the healing and emotional benefits.<\/span>LIZ WEBER\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

While Zweschper continued to build her studio, she also realized there was a missing link between those who attended yoga and those who could most benefit from the experience. She began offering free classes to community members like first responders and holding fundraising classes through her studio. From this, the Lift Each Other Up Foundation was born, according to the nonprofit\u2019s president, Monica Nagahiro.<\/p>\n

Nagahiro, whose first yoga class was held by Zweschper after the Aztec High School shooting, said attending a yoga class can feel intimidating but the free events help to break down those barriers. \u201cThey get the idea that they can do it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s available to you and it\u2019s not scary or weird.\u201d<\/p>\n

Offering these classes to first responders or health care providers is especially important, said Nagahiro, who is also a registered nurse. \u201cIt causes a bit of self-realization. If I don\u2019t take care of myself, how can I take care of anyone else?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For the foundation\u2019s launch as a nonprofit in July, Zweschper recruited Farmington\u2019s mayor, Nate Duckett, for a Yoga with the Mayor event. Duckett said it was important to support the individuals who work to give back to the community, and he continues to attend hot yoga classes, often with his wife and kids. \u201cIt\u2019s a good family experience to get in touch with yourself and reflect on things that have been hampering you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

An unmet need<\/div>\n

Many community members said the work of the foundation has tapped into an unrealized need in the community.<\/p>\n

\"Staci
Staci Zweschper talks about taking moments to slow down during her free yoga class held last week at Aztec High School.<\/span>LIZ WEBER\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Duckett said this is one reason why he initially supported Zweschper\u2019s foundation. \u201cThose folks on a daily basis are dealing with things that most people would run away from,\u201d he said. \u201cThey don\u2019t have the opportunity to look away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Danny McNealy, whose wife is a first responder, began attending the yoga classes with her. His business, Motto Mortgage, sponsored the first class held last week at Aztec High School. \u201cFirst responders go through a lot of trauma that they don\u2019t really get to deal with, so I think having a space where they get to just focus on breathing and centering can take them out of that space,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Zweschper will continue to offer the free classes to the Aztec community every other Friday through April.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just a fitness routine,\u201d she said. \u201cWe really focus on the healing, emotional benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

lweber@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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