ALLFOCUSING ON FACES, 4 | POLLINATOR GARDEN, 21 | LIVING SPACES, 47

LIFEOctober 2017 • TurleyCT.com

A product of TurleyCT Community PublicationsVOLUME 4, EDITION 1valley

It’s witchcraftNikki Sleath publishes ‘You Might Be A Witch’ just in time for HalloweenSee story on page 35

24 VALLEY LIFE | October 2017

On Saturday mornings in Collinsville, those listening closely may be able to hear the jin-gle of coin-skirts, the

beat of drums and the laughter of local women radiating from The Yoga Center of Collinsville where Kalia Kellogg teaches belly dancing classes each week.

Kellogg has been conducting classes in this location for years, and has amassed a dedicated group of students who come to class each week in order to build confidence, de-stress and work up a sweat. Kellogg works hard to ensure that every woman who enters her class leaves feeling empowered, by empha-sizing the mental component of belly

dancing, which to her, means cele-brating each woman who walks through the door.

“Women, especially, have absorbed terrible messages about their bodies. We have learned to crit-icize and compare our bodies, but rarely do we remember to appreciate and enjoy them,” she said. “This movement celebrates femininity and the female form, and I see women discovering their freedom and sensu-ality and finding deep self-accep-tance. I’ve seen women transform their lives after they’ve gained confi-dence through dance. It’s more transformative mentally, spiritually, and emotionally than it is physically! Honestly, once you’ve seen your belly ripple while doing a shimmy and

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Shimmy and swingLocal women find unique ways to work up a sweatby Olivia PiperStaff Writer

Kalia Kellogg teaches classes at The Yoga Center of Collinsville

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Just for Women

October 2017 | VALLEY LIFE 25

learned how fun and beautiful that it, you never go back.”

That is exactly how Gia Khalsa, who teaches a belly dancing class at Vinnie’s: Jump & Jive every Sunday evening in Middletown, feels about the activity..

Khalsa began training in belly-dance 21 years ago in 1996, when she first encountered the dance at a friend’s party. Ever since she has been filled with a passion for the art form, and has made it her mission to teach other women about its physi-cal and mental benefits.

“Physically, belly dance increas-es circulation, stretches and strengthens the muscles, make you breathe deeper and sweat. Also bal-ance and coordination. All of which are very healthy. It helps the mind in that you connect the mind and the body. This makes you more aware of both, and the coordination between them,” she said.

Khalsa also praises belly danc-ing for its ability to connect women with an inner-energy, which is important in helping to encourage relaxation, self-confidence and gen-

eral happiness, while simultaneously promoting physical health.

“In my thinking it is a spiritual art form. It is mostly a dance of women. Is it a dance that connects you to the earth, your self, your audi-

ence, and other dancers. It can be fun and it can be a work out,” she said.

Though belly dancing is great for working up a sweat, both Khalsa and Kellog work hard to ensure that their classes are adaptable for every age group as well as for those deal-ing with injuries. Their classes are open to all and Kellogg enforces that

bellydance is a great form of exercise for those who may need to make adaptations to their practice due to injury or age.

“I have students who suffer from vertigo, have had knee and hip sur-

gery, brain injuries, etc., and if they feel up to it they come to class and just modify any movement that bothers them,” she said. “They do have to take personal responsibility for knowing their limits, but I never force anyone to do all movements. I trust where they are and what they know they need,” she says, while also

reiterating that belly dance is perfect for those who prefer or require a practice that is low-impact, “because it is such a grounded dance form, there is very little impact and that is great news for the joints and for avoiding injury.”

Those looking for a form of exer-cise that roots them to the earth may find their perfect match in belly dancing. However, for those who wish to take to the skies, Jayne Dean, an aerial yoga and acro aerial instructor in Hartford, may have just the right fit.

“Aerial yoga is basically taking our yoga poses and using a soft fabric hammock from the aerial arts to sup-port the body, partially or fully, in the yoga poses. The acro aerial came out of my seeing a need for people who wanted to explore the more aerial side of aerial yoga, and basically it is more of a fitness work out than the aerial yoga is,” Dean said.

Dean, a practicing psychothera-pist, who teaches Aerial Yoga and Acro Aerial classes at her studio, The LivingWell Centre at The 224 EcoSpace in Hartford, has been

24- 25-just for w

“In my thinking it is a spiritual art form. It is mostly a dance of women. Is it a dance that connects you to the earth, your self, your audience, and

other dancers. It can be fun and it can be a work out.”

–Gia Khalsa

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26 VALLEY LIFE | October 2017

‘f lying’ on her own for years. Originally a student of both traditional yoga and circus trapeze, Dean found that her passions worked best for her, and for her many students, when com-

bined harmoniously into one activity, and thus Aerial Yoga and Aerial Acro became a reality. Similarly to belly dancing, aerial yoga focuses on improving balance, strengthening the

muscles and doing so in an extremely low-impact way. Dean said aerial yoga specifically has helped her difficult lower-back issues, which were aggra-vated by many other forms of exercise.

“For me, I was a gymnast at an intense level in high school and col-lege, which takes a toll on your body, and about 15 years ago I started hav-ing lower back issues. I actually have some compression in my lower back, which makes many of the traditional yoga postures hard on my body. The hammock, for me, takes that compres-sion off my back and really allows me to do more. So for my own body, aerial yoga has helped my back stay healthy and to recover from that pain that I had,” she says.

Dean is not alone in seeking out the health benefits of aerial yoga. Emma Yungk, one of Dean’s students, found that aerial yoga helped her to regain the ability to understand the capabilities of her own body after dealing with serious health issues.

“I started having some real health problems, and while my regu-lar yoga practice became harder to maintain, this was easier to modify in some ways. At one point things were really rough, I had crazy blood pressure and heart rate issues, and I

26-just for wom 27-re

Students take a class in Acro Aerial and Aerial Yoga at The LivingWell Centre

See SHIMMY on page 45

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October 2017 | VALLEY LIFE 45

basically lost confidence that I could go upside down and do stuff like this; but continuing it actu-ally helped to re-train my body and my nervous system, which was super helpful,” Yungk said.

Along with the ability to provide relief from certain injuries, aerial yoga strengthens the body and encourages physical fitness by utilizing the forces of gravity.

“Aerial yoga uses the upper body in a differ-ent way: there’s good strengthening in the upper body and in the core because you have gravity, which helps you to turn on your core muscles, find your balance and use your arms.

“Also it’s much easier to take inversions, put-ting the heart over the head, which is great for spinal decompression, relaxation and stretching. A tight muscle has nowhere to go, so we soften it by using the hammock, and then we strengthen it as well,” she said.

Additionally, Dean said that the practice of Acro Aerial, which is more dynamic and acrobat-ic, provides those looking for a challenge with a great workout, “the acro aerial provides more strengthening, more flexibility and improves your aerial technique while also letting you learn more flips and tricks,” she said.

Those who want to take advantage of the many health benefits of aerial yoga, but are look-ing for a more grounded, slower practice, may find a home in Yin Aerial Yoga, which is also prac-ticed at The 224 EchoSpace. Beth Gibbs, who is a certified yoga therapist, helps those wishing to work with a lower hammock find a practice that fits their needs, while still allowing them experi-ence the freedom of aerial yoga.

“My yoga training is grounded in the thera-peutic aspects of yoga for the body, breath and mind and that informs the classes I teach. I have had folks in the Yin class with diabetes, back and knee issues, and I will always offer a replacement pose or exercise if the posture being taught is not accessible to the student,” Gibbs says of her thera-peutic, slower-moving classes.

Though belly dancing and aerial yoga are entirely different practices, they share many of the same goals: increasing muscle strength and flexibility, decreasing stress and providing those who take part in these classes with the ability to shed their inhibitions, even if just for an hour each week. Khalsa echoes the opinions of Kellogg and Dean, when she exclaims that for her, she finds her greatest joy in knowing that her classes not only encourage physical health, but promote the happiness and confidence of every woman who walks through her doors.

“I teach for the power, freedom and joy of all women, that has always been my byline,” she says.

Contact Khalsa at 860-342-1881. Email Kellogg at kaliakellogg@yahoo.com or like her Facebook page “Kalia Belly Dance (CT)” for updates and information. Learn more about Acro Aerial and Yin Aerial Yoga at www.ctaerialyoga.com/con-tact/ or email Dean at jayne@ctaerialyoga.com.

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