Avid yoga practitioner Sarah Righter moved to Puyallup from California in August 2008 and was dreading the idea of driving through stressful traffic to go and relax at a yoga studio.
She didn’t have to for long: One month later, Anne Arntson opened up Yoga Soleil in downtown Puyallup. Righter is now one of Arntson’s most loyal clients.
“She loves yoga and because of her love, she has this extensive knowledge,” Righter said. “She makes it very user-friendly.”
“I elected to do an introduction to yoga class (on that day) because I realize there’s a little bit of mystique to yoga,” Arntson said. “People have this image in their head about someone with ... their legs behind their head. (I wanted) to bring them to the mat and do something for an hour and a half or two hours ... that may make them interested in doing something further.”
Arntson often offers lower-cost classes for her clients and is offering a totally free introductory class on Yoga Day. She said she welcomes everyone from children, as long as they are able to handle the class, to senior citizens, like regular Yoga Soleil client Bob Carlson.
“(Yoga has) been very helpful, both from a physical and mental point of view,” said Carlson, a retiree who was formerly the executive director of The Puyallup Fair. “It’s calming, it’s relaxing, it’s satisfying. It tends to focus you.”
Carlson said he’d done yoga very occasionally before he met Arntson.
“I’d done it maybe for a month at a time, then I wouldn’t do it for two or three years,” he explained.
After practicing it regularly for months now, the 68-year-old said he can feel his stamina growing steadily.
“Some of these poses we have to do we have to stand on one leg for two minutes,” he said. “I can’t do that every day. But I can do it for 30 seconds. Sometimes I can do it for the whole time. I’m growing stronger.”
Carlson said he would recommend taking the free course for anyone interested in improving their health. So would Arntson.
“Not only can (yoga) change your blood pressure and all that, but it also changes your health in more subtle ways,” she said. “It lowers stress, which in turn helps your digestive system, your circulatory system. I’m hoping seniors will come, because it’s something that has amazing life-saving skills for seniors, like learning to get off the floor if you get down. You improve flexibility.”
Carlson also said he wanted to calm nerves for anyone who is avoiding yoga for fear of failure.
“Anne adjusts poses for people, she’s very cognizant of the individual,” Carlson said. “You’re not in competition with the person next to you, you’re just trying to get yourself in that position.”
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Yoga Day USA As part of Yoga Day USA, Puyallup’s Yoga Soleil owner and instructor Anne Arnston is hosting a free introductory workshop from 10:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 23 at the studio, 110 E. Stewart in downtown Puyallup. Pre-registration is required by visiting www.yogasoleil.com. For more information, call 253-446-7045. For more information about Yoga Day USA, visit www.yogadayusa.org.
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