says yoga in no way challenges religious

belief. Instead, he says, "it provides a
chance to think for yourself."
Yoga Shelter's business has grown
each year since opening in 2004, he

says. "Among the four studios, we are
adding between 375-400 new students

each month.
"It's popular because people are walk-
ing around scared and stressed, looking
for something more," says Feldman, a
father of three, whose wife, Marcy, is also
a yoga teacher. "All the conveniences we

have haven't made us feel better."
Yoga is able to address many differ-
ent things in one class, the Farmington
Hills resident says. With its emphasis on
rhythmic breathing through a series of

postures — some held, some done in
progression — "it's hard to think about
yesterday and to project forward to what

will happen in the future."
"More people are doing yoga because

FLIGHT OFYOGA on page A24

What Exactly
Is Yoga?

Yoga, as commonly defined, is
an ancient system of breathing
practices, physical exercises
and postures, and meditation in-
tended to integrate the practitio-
ner's body, mind and spirit.

"Yoga is an opportunity to become internally directed" — Steve Feldman of Yoga Shelter

Over the years, Kest says, "We've
added a variety of music, from opera to
rap. The classes have gotten warmer.
We let people flow more on their own."

The economy has prompted another
change: free community classes (2:45

p.m. Saturdays at Center for Yoga in
Birmingham and West Bloomfield). "We
realize some people can't afford it," he

says. "At the same time, we're giving

back.
"When there's a lot of stress, people

tend to come together," says Kest, a
father of four who lives in Birmingham.
"Yoga is very communal. It's not that

different than a temple or synagogue.
People come to be with other people.
Our community is so strong and deep."

In fact, Feldman, Granader and Kest
each work with synagogues and count
Jewish religious leaders among their

students.
Rabbi Paul Yedwab of Temple Israel,
for example, does Vinyasa (an energetic

flow of yoga poses) five times a week

"Yoga is a greai
tool to have
in this day and
a.ge. We need
to stow down,
o take that
hour to go
inside
ourselves.'

— Billie Tobin of Inner Wisdom

and has brought "Joga" to his West
Bloomfield-based synagogue.
He says that though yoga and
Judaism "are two different traditions,

there are places where they kiss."
When Yedwab and Kest offered a

combination of yoga and Kabbalah
(a discipline and school of thought
concerned with the mystical aspect
of Judaism) at the temple, 400 people
showed up for the six-session class.

"It was pretty overwhelming," Yedwab

says.
Still, he warns, "They may be comple-
mentary, but there's no such thing as

Jewish yoga."

Granader co-leads Shabbat yoga along-

side Rabbi Arnie Sleutelberg once a
month at Congregation Shir Tikvah in

Troy.
And Feldman, who with Temple Israel
Cantor Michael Smolash has conducted
musical yoga classes at Temple Israel,

jonny Kest taught many of the studio

owners and teachers that make up

Metro Detroit's yoga community.

It originated in India several
thousand years ago, and its prin-
ciples were first written down by
a scholar named Patanjali in the
second century B.C.E.
The various physical and men-
tal disciplines of yoga were seen
as a method for individuals to
attain union with the divine.
In the contemporary West,
however, yoga is more often
regarded as a beneficial form of
physical exercise than as a phi-
losophy or total way of life.

A23

