YOGA FOR YOU: “Yoga helps in so many ways. It gives you an inner sanctuary where you can separate yourself from the outside world. Yoga teaches us to face and be able to accept the stresses of life. With yoga, you are being grounded and centered.” Annie Isaacson, a certified yoga instructor and owner of Rise Power Yoga, is shown demonstrating the “Compass” pose.

It has become a $10 billion industry today. It is a worldwide phenomenon, with adherents practicing it at all levels of experience and for many reasons. Among them are exercise, meditation, relaxation, stress release, to mention just a few.

Indeed, those who study and practice yoga are all ages, from all backgrounds, professions, and mind-sets.

“My clients range in age from high school students to people in their seventies,” says Annie Isaacson, certified yoga instructor and owner of Rise Power Yoga. “They include men and women, Princeton University students, professors, a surgeon from Robert Wood Johnson Hospital, as well as people currently unemployed. They represent all levels of society, and everyone is the same here.

“We have clients from all over the world. Princeton is such an international community. The most amazing thing is that despite coming from different places, countries, and backgrounds, everyone is searching for something that is very similar.”

“Magic Window”

Located at 80 Nassau Street, Suite 2D on the second floor, Rise Power Yoga opened last August. It is situated in a studio formerly occupied by Yoga Above, where Ms. Issacson had been an instructor.

“From the first moment I was in this location, it was a transformation, an ‘aha’ moment,” she explains. “I was at the window, which looks out on Nassau Street and across to the Princeton University campus and Nassau Hall, and I felt this connection. I called it my ‘Magic Window’. Connection is very important, and it is an important part of yoga.”

Ms. Issacson began practicing yoga 10 years ago, and then studied with Baron Baptiste, founder of the Baptiste Yoga Institute.

“He is an internationally-renowned yoga teacher, and Baptiste Power Yoga emphasizes Vinyasa yoga and Yin yoga. I was trained in New York City and Montclair, N.J., and I have more than 400 hours of training. Vinyasa is more athletic; yin is a more relaxed form of yoga, with deep stretching. We also have classes in hot yoga and power yoga, which are more vigorous, strenuous, and challenging.

“The Baptiste Yoga practice is designed to empower you with the focus, training, and insight you need to achieve consistent results in the most important areas of your life. A potent physical yoga practice, meditation practice, and active self-inquiry are used as tools of transformation, encouraging participants to reclaim their full potential, discover creativity, awaken passion, and create authenticity, confidence, and new possibilities.”

Whatever the style of yoga, mindfulness of one’s breathing is always stressed, she adds. “With yoga, you become an observer of your breathing. Yoga brings mind and body together through the breath. There are mental and physical benefits. Yoga means ‘yoke’ in sanskrit, to come together.”

Lightness and Vibrancy

“A number one benefit of yoga is promoting healthy circulation and getting the body back into proper alignment,” continues Ms. Isaacson. “This helps to give mental focus, awareness, and well-being. Integrating is also one of the most important elements in the practice of yoga. You need to understand the internal and connect with who you really are. All the poses in yoga are designed to integrate you from the inside out, and the poses require you to concentrate.

“Also, with the practice of yoga we learn to be in the present moment, and then those who practice it will be able to be at their best to face the challenges in the outside world. At the end of a class, they achieve a sense of lightness and vibrancy.”

The studio, which is distingquished by its infra-red heating (from ceiling panels), has room for 30 individuals, with a typical class involving 15 to 20 participants. Most come twice a week, although attending three weekly sessions offers the most benefit, points out Ms. Isaacson. Even coming once a week, however, is helpful.

The classes, which are one hour and 15 minutes, are for those of all levels of experience, and also for people with a variety of health conditions. “Classes can be modified to accommodate those who have been injured, have arthritis, or other issues,” explains Ms. Isaacson. “I am also looking forward to sharing yoga with people with special needs and challenges, and encouraging them to practice yoga. I want it to be accessible to everyone.”

A variety of payment arrangements are available, she adds. An introductory special for new students is $40 for 30 days unlimited access. Others include $50 for five classes, and $90 for 10. A membership is $108 a month for unlimited classes.

Ms. Isaacson is very enthusiastic about the benefits yoga offers to everyone, and she is proud of her instructors. “We are set apart by the experience and level of training our instructors have. Their minimum numbers of hours of training are 200 and three have 500 hours. I continue to take classes myself four times a week. To be the best instructor you can, it is very important that you be consistent with your own practice.”

Shining Light

“In addition, our instructors stay current in their teaching and personal practice by continuous education and training at advanced teacher workshops. It is our goal for our instructors to be a shining light for each student.

Ms. Isaacson looks forward to continuing to share the benefits of yoga with more and more practitioners, and she sees many possibilities ahead. “The most surprising thing was that while it was a dream for me to open this studio, I found that once you achieve your dream, you see that the journey continues. This is just the beginning. There is so much more that you can achieve. You feel so limitless.

“Yoga, for me, is community service. It’s about giving back. I am so excited to see how much more the clients can understand and learn about yoga. There is birth and death, and in between, there is the unknown. Yoga gives us an opportunity to create with the universe. We believe that connection is the key to progression, knowledge is confidence, and confidence is power.”

Rise Power Yoga offers classes seven days a week, starting at 5:45 a.m. and continuing throughout the day. The last class is held at 7:30 p.m. Call or consult the website for hours of specific classes. (908) 752-8769.

Website:www.risepoweryoga.com.