The Health Benefits of Yoga with Founders of Kaia Yoga Wellness Center

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Stan Woodman and Gina Norman, founders and co-directors of Kaia Yoga, the largest and fastest-growing whole living centers in Connecticut, join the show.

Organic living is more than a business to Stan Woodman and his wife Gina Norman, it’s their lifestyle and mission.  As founders and co-directors of Kaia Yoga, the largest and fastest-growing whole living centers in Connecticut, Stan and Gina recognize the need for a central community space that provides healthy options for their suburban Connecticut neighbors with a convenient, urban, “just down the block” feel.

Stan Woodman, an avid snowboarder and skateboarder, took his first yoga class in 1991 and began a dedicated daily Ashtanga Yoga practice in 1997.  Stan’s educational background includes intensive studies with special needs children, and extensive instruction in Eastern and Western Anatomy and Physiology, Kinesiology, Myology, Neurology, and Therapeutic Massage. His yoga education, training and practice has taken him all over the world, from Colorado and Vermont, to Puerto Rico, Sweden, Costa Rica and India.  Stan’s daily love for ashtanga yoga has continued to inspire his teaching and way of life. He has completed a 1000 Hour Yoga Teachers Certification course with Beryl Bender Birch and had the unique opportunity to work, study and assist her on national and international retreats, workshops and yoga teacher trainings for over 4 years.  With his passion in yoga philosophy and yoga therapy, Stan continued his training in ashtanga, studying with several of the top ashtanga teachers including David Swenson, Tim Miller, David Williams, Eddie Stern and travels to Mysore, India to study with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, Sharath Rangaswamy, and Saraswathi Rangaswamy. Stan is on faculty with the Kripalu Institute and will also instruct for the Wanderlust Festival this summer.

Gina Norman has always had a fascination with mind-body work and its essential connection to overall health and happiness.  She studied Thai massage in Thailand, Vipassana meditation in India, Buddhist studies in the Shambhala tradition, and Cranial Sacral Therapy through the Upledger Institute. Gina holds teacher training certificates from Beyoga (currently YogaWorks) and Om Yoga Center in New York City, where she was part of their teacher training staff.  Gina has studied pranayama and asana with many gifted teachers including Rodney Yee, Max Strom, Beryl Bender Birch, John Friend, Cyndi Lee and Alan Finger.  She has also taught yoga as part of Pema Chodron’s retreat at the Omega Institute and has been on the faculty of Omega in Rhinebeck, St. John and Costa Rica. Gina developed the Kaia Yoga 200 and 500 hour Yoga alliance certified teacher-training programs.  She is the main teacher of all Kaia Yoga Teacher Training programs, while overseeing a variety of training and classes for women and their families, including birth classes, mom’s groups and breastfeeding support. Gina is trained in yoga therapy and works independently with Connecticut pain management doctors.  She has lectured at Greenwich Hospital and other local organizations.  Gina has been a featured yoga expert forNatural Health magazine since 2004.

Stan and Gina recognize that everyone who arrives to practice yoga is looking for something, whether it’s stress relief, pain reduction, a desire to re-discover inner happiness, or simply to improve their backhand or golf swing. During these hard economic times it is amazing to see how phenomenally well the Kaia Yoga Centers are doing. In three years, Stan and Gina have seen their business triple and have expanded to three locations: Greenwich, Greenwich East, and the newest and largest 9,000 sq. ft. Westport Center, opening in January 2010.  With high stress levels and overall uncertainty, people will continue to look to the Kaia Yoga Centers and their full complement of services to relax, find center and balance, and learn better ways to be with their families and live within their community.

Stan Woodman and Gina Norman discuss & answer the following:

• What are the health benefits of yoga?
• Do you have to be flexible to practice yoga?
• How do you know what type of yoga is right for you?
• Tell us about Your yoga background and why you created the Kaia Yoga Complete Wellness Center.
• Do you see as many men practicing yoga as women? Why do you think it is  important for men to practice yoga and what usually holds them back?

Links: KaiaYoga.com