Photo by Jim Gebben

Carolyn Heines can well be described as the grand dame of Grand Rapids yoga. At seventy four (she doesn't look a day over fifty) this longtime yogini and teacher who celebrated thirty years of teaching yoga in 2008 has no plans to stop teaching any time soon. "I just signed a new lease for our studio" she tells me as we sit down for the interview.

The "studio " is The Yoga Studio (located near the  intersection of Cherry and Diamond in East Hills) is the oldest only Iyengar only yoga studio in Grand Rapids. Truth in advertising, I got started practicing yoga at The Yoga Studio, when it was located in Eastown. This "city secret" is a true treasure and legend of the Grand Rapids yoga community is held in high esteem by her fellow teachers and many students.

GR Yoga Examiner: How did you get started practicing yoga?
CH: I got start through the spiritual aspect I met a guru in 1976 Swami Joti . After a retreat with Swami Joti everything changed. I stopped smoking, and stopped eating meat. It was a time of great change. Eventually I moved into an ashram in Rockford. I was just focusing on meditating and not doing any hatha yoga at all. Swami Joti suggested I teach yoga. I wasn’t interested because I wasn’t very athletic. There was no one teaching yoga at that time in Grand Rapids. Later a friend moved in with me who had the the book Light on Yoga. My friend suggested that we practice yoga from the book. Swami Joti was happy that I was pursuing hatha yoga.

Then I sold my house drove to California and took three month intensive at Iyengar Center. It was an intense experience that had a great impact on my body as well as meditation and mind. I came back to Grand Rapids and I was intimidated to teach people were so different. So later I went back to the Iyengar Institute to do another 3 month intensive. When I returned to Grand Rapids I started teaching out of my home to friends and followers of Swami Joti. I went on to teach yoga  at Fountain Street Church Park and Unity churches. Anywhere I could find cheap rent. I was going to teach in a school but then I wasn’t allowed because yoga was "of the devil" because it quiets the mind and allows the devil to come in.   Now there are all kind of people doing yoga.

GR Yoga Examiner: What is yoga for you?
CH: Yoga is my community, I get such positive energy from teaching.To do what you love and help people. I don’t know what I would do when I retire. For my own health and well being, it is miraculous the effect that yoga has had. Most of my contemporaries are in pretty bad physical shape, falling a part, but I am not at 74 years. There are some many tools that yoga has to help you with life. If I am depressed I do back bends, or shoulderstands when stressed or wound up. I don’t love exercise but I do yoga. Sometimes it is a struggle, because it is great effort. But if I did not do yoga I would not do anything else. It is a life saver.

GR Yoga Examiner: What is your approach to teaching yoga?
CH: When I get on my mat I am thinking about how I am going to be teaching and how I will teach it. I want my student s to find something more than the physical. Greater self awareness, and self knowledge. Coming from the spiritual I want to bring that into the practice. People who don’t have a way to meditate will be able to get into that place through the physical. I do want then to learn something but mostly I want people to feel more fully alive, whole and peaceful.

GR Yoga Examiner: What is the secret to a good yoga practice
CH: Good is a kind of judgmental word. There is no secret, just getting on your mat and doing it. It is different for everyone. Being realistic, doing what is appropriate for your body. Give yourself a enough time that works for you. I tell people to start out a short amount of time.

GR Yoga Examiner: Have you ever considered doing teacher training at Yoga Studio?
CH: I never felt qualified to do teacher training and I have never wanted to do teacher training. I do have some trouble with some of the teacher training programs. Some are teaching when they only have a weekend of teacher training.  Yoga is a way to live. It is a philosophy. I can teach that through the hatha yoga. I always start my class with something about the yamas and niyamas (writer's addition: yoga's moral code).

What is unique about Yoga Studio
CH: We are the only Iyengar focus in the West Michigan area. Using the props and attention to precision and alignment. We are Iyengar inspired teach in the Iyengar tradition that gives a good foundation in the classical hatha yoga.  When you want to learn something go to someone who knows a lot about the subject .So we have something really important to share years of experience. It helps you not just do yoga but do life. Yoga is preparation for life.