Yoga & Meditation Center of

Susan began to study yoga in 1968 in response to a stressful job and lifestyle. She soon wanted to share the tremendous benefits that she experienced in terms of relaxation, balance, strength, flexibility and general wellness, and began teaching yoga in 1974. In 1976, when yoga was still new to most westerners, she founded the Yoga and Meditation Center of Montclair. A 1990 car accident left Susan with a serious back injury. The resulting pain and limitations became a turning point in her life as a teacher. After nine months of rehabilitation, she returned to teaching with an understanding of how to work with a body that is in pain and with a mind that, because of fear, can actually create more pain. Susan’s teaching emphasizes the holistic quality of yoga and has evolved into therapeutics. Most of her work is done in private, one-to-one sessions that address people’s specific issues and empower them to create real change and healing. Why take a private class? When you work with Susan privately, she is able to help you experience the greatest benefit from yoga or a combination of yoga and other modalities, because the work is geared to your specific needs. Some of the reasons that people give for taking a private class include: a new student wanting an individualized experience before committing to a group class; an experienced student wanting to deepen his or her practice; students with specific musculoskeletal issues like foot, hip, neck, shoulder and lower back pain, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, and a myriad of challenges including stress related issues like anxiety, insomnia, and high blood pressure. Susan works with people of all ages and levels of fitness, from athletes to those who are in wheelchairs. Susan has recently completed a professional training in yoga for people with cancer and cancer survivors at Duke University School of Integrative Medicine. This is a pioneering evidence-based protocol which has been found to increase energy and relaxation and decrease pain, fatigue, and treatment-related symptoms. Private therapeutic work may include one or more of modalities specifically tailored to your needs. Your personalized program will lead to results that will motivate you to practice and you will experience the empowerment of self-healing. What to expect during a session. Susan will evaluate your specific needs and create a program for you that is realistic in terms of the amount of time that you will give to your practice. Frequently, people who already feel overwhelmed by “too much to do” will commit to 10 minutes a day, and find that they feel such a difference from their 10 minute practice that they increase it to 20 and then 30 minutes or more. THE THREE MAIN MODALITIES: Yoga therapy may include breathing techniques and postures (sustained stretches) -- often with the use of props (blankets, blocks, straps) to properly and safely align the student in a posture. Besides stretching, yoga offers techniques to develop strength, balance, and relaxation. Together, Susan and the student explore the practical aspects of doing what is really essential. Meditation is a wonderful tool for well-being as it creates a deep, healing rest for the nervous system and brings serenity and clarity to moment-to-moment awareness. A natural, simple, effortless approach to meditation can profoundly effect the way in which you go through your day – with a bit more space and fluidity and less suffering. Rather than a traditional, formal, timeuctured practice, Susan introduces a relaxed way of connecting and accessing the inner spaciousness that is always available. Yamuna Body Rolling (YBR) in private sessions allows more opportunity to focus in on specific and problematic areas in the body. The powerful YBR routines, using various sizes of small balls, often give the student dramatic results in a very short time. Foot fitness work can eliminate plantar fasciitis quickly and easily. Working with the balls eliminates pain by quickly and deeply releasing tightness and tension that restrict movement. YBR one-on-one work includes both hands-on therapeutics and routines for home use.