Freelance Photographer and Writer

Enriching a community one class at a time

By Liesl Marelli 201-787-5434 [email protected] All photos on http://www.LMarelliPhotography.com/Spirituality can be submitted at high resolution along with the story.

Finding yoga instructor is like shopping for the right pair of shoes. Comfort, style and affordability come together and hopefully create a happy relationship. Any discrepancies are sorely felt.

I recently moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, and was looking for a yoga studio. I had no idea where to begin my local search so I relied on what I knew best; I searched the internet.

Among the search results rendered was a calendar from the West Palm Beach Public Library, which hosts free yoga classes twice a week. While I loved the idea of free yoga, I found it hard to believe that free and quality went hand-in-hand. Nonetheless, I had nothing to lose so I plugged it on my calendar and committed to trying it just once to see how it felt.

I walked into a large classroom with a small stage, placed my mat down in the only open space left and had a seat on my mat. I scanned the room and saw an incredibly diverse crowd. Young and old, women and men, every ethnic background imaginable and even a few women with hair styles displaying their battles with cancer. The lights were dimmed, everyone on their mats drew to a hush and that’s when I heard Priyanka Shanbag’s voice.

Priyanka speaks American English but her upbringing in Bombay, India, leave her words speckled with a beautiful Hindi tune.

With a deep breath and lovingly calm tone she welcomes everyone to class. Close your eyes, she says, and breathe deeply. From that moment, she transforms the classroom into a spiritual oasis and brings her class on a 60 minute transformative experience.

The room is absolutely packed – maybe close to 80 to 100 people attend each class, consisting of fellow yoga lovers and dedicated Priyanka fans alike. During class she walks in between the closely laid mats and gently touches her students as they hold postures. Her touch is never alarming, rather it’s as if her energy is transferred for a brief connection. And during poses that seem to difficult to hold for even one more breathe, her touch rejuvenates her students and they continue their deep breaths as she takes them into another posture.

While holding poses that required strength and endurance, her touch provides the reinvigoration needed to carry it through to the next posture. Since it’s a free class and open to the public, the class is as basic as newcomers need and yet has the flexibility for advanced yoga students to delve deeper into more challenging postures. Her guidance comforts all the students the same – feel the heat from the postures and work into the uncomfortable.

Her class is far more than a basic yoga class. It’s more along the lines of a combination of physical, mental and emotional therapy. Priyanka is constantly reminding students that now is the time to let go of stress, of drama, of physical pain, of sorrow - to be in the moment. Strength comes from letting go. Her words vary but the message remains the same.

After weeks of class, I got a chance to have dinner with her. It was during the meal that I learned how her words are not just guidance for her students but also herself. She was raised by an abusive father and also suffered many physical ailments growing up to include severe eczema that covered her head to toe. She shared her pain and described her skin disease as she recalled never wearing clothes that showed off her body and was reminded by her parents that she’d never marry because of it. The physical scars of her skin disease miraculously healed in her twenties and went on to marry. Her skin is as smooth and golden as the caramel but the emotional scars from her abusive father still permeate her mind. When she explains to the class to let it go and be in the now, she is speaking as much to her soul as she is to theirs.

The class, like Priyanka, is deeply committed to a healthy lifestyle that goes beyond the classroom walls. Hosting a free community-based yoga class might not be the most financially rewarding class but Priyanka finds the personal value to be even greater. She tells her students as the class comes to a close, “The practice begins now.” She encourages everyone to make a friend – at least three new friends – she says each class. Working to enrich the community around her and practice her devotion of Humanism is what matters most to her.

She has inspired me like the countless other yoga lovers who have been blessed by her class and wisdom.

South Florida is certainly a destination vacation spot but maybe for those who travel this way, they’ll venture into the West Palm Beach Public Library on a Tuesday evening or Saturday morning and feel how one woman’s words have inspired a community. And just maybe they’ll understand what it means to be one of Priyanka’s students.

More photos available http://www.lmarelliphotography.com/Spirituality/ by Liesl Marelli