I’ve read a bit about yoga in magazines and have listened to a few practitioners talk about its benefits. I even tried a class once a couple of years ago but didn’t feel comfortable with it at the time, mostly because everyone else in the room had been practicing for several months or more and I felt inept alongside their agility. Mostly, I forgot about yoga until six months ago when montanabliss opened its doors in Bigfork. Last December, before their official opening, owners Dana and Craig Stoddard offered complimentary classes with different teachers. For whatever reason, whether due to a schedule conflict or forgetfulness on my part, I didn’t take advantage of a free class.

Last week that changed when I visited with Dana and Craig at montanabliss to talk about what led them to open a yoga studio here in Bigfork.

The Stoddards moved here from Southern California twelve years ago after visiting the area on vacation and falling in love with it. About three years ago Craig and Dana began practicing yoga with tapes at home. Once, when they were in New York City together, they attended their first yoga class. Dana continued attending classes while traveling on business and came up with the idea for montanabliss from the various yoga studios she visited around the U.S., Europe and the Far East. “Every time I walked into a yoga studio anywhere around the world I immediately felt welcome and at home. The other people were there for the same reason and I became a part of each group so quickly.”

Back then she was working full-time in the jewelry industry, traveling weekly in the U.S. and to the company’s factories overseas. She still works part-time for the company but she’s been able to cut her traveling back to once a month, allowing her to concentrate most of her energy on montanabliss. Craig, a builder by trade, also helps on a regular basis.

Dana envisioned montanabliss as a local place where she could bring many of the teachers she had met around the U.S. to conduct workshops and where local yoga teachers could teach different yoga traditions. Local teachers immediately offered their services to lead classes, such as Debra Sykes who specializes in Anusara Yoga, a tradition with very specific postures started by John Friend. In addition to her Anusara class on Monday evenings, Debra also teaches therapeutic yoga which can help speed recovery from certain accidents or help with different kinds of pain. Debra also leads experienced yoga practitioners in a three-hour class on Saturday mornings called “The Practice.”

Dana teaches a basic Hatha Yoga class on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and Friday afternoons. ”We sometimes practice challenging postures, but the most important thing is not how beautiful or how perfect the poses. It’s about breath, about being with your breath in the moment and experiencing the practice of yoga. I do teach a little more strenuous, challenging class, but it’s for all levels. Every single posture we teach here can be taken to one’s own edge [the point where you need to stop] but no further than that. Some people can go all the way to the floor and some just go two inches. No matter how far it’s perfect.“
Craig then expanded on Dana’s explanation. “The purpose of that is to get to that edge where your breathing actually starts to change. That’s the challenge. I can’t go nearly as far as Dana, but I can still get the same experience as Dana can because I can go to my edge. The beginners who have come in since we’ve opened have come so far. You see it in their posture, in the way they handle themselves. They’re happier. There are just huge changes.”

Connie Piasecki demonstrating a pose in the beginners/seniors class.
(Photo by Todd Yamashita)

Debbie Huntington offers a free group meditation on Wednesday evenings. “When you bring a lot of people together in the same space to meditate the energy is that much stronger, “ Dana explained to me. “To anyone who has never meditated before, Debbie would be the perfect voice to explain how to pay attention to your breath and being centered—closing everything off from the outside and just being in the moment. The whole purpose of yoga is preparing yourself to go into meditation. A lot of people don’t know that because the benefits of yoga are that you become healthy, stronger, more balanced and flexible.”

After the meditation Debbie teaches a Kundalini Yoga class for all levels. She describes Kundalini Yoga as the “yoga of awareness” through postures, mantras, breath-work, and movements, to bring up the energy located at the bottom of the spine, making you feel more vibrant and radiant.” Cheryl Dawson, a nationally certified massage therapist in Bigfork and one of Debbie’s students told me how much she enjoys Debbie’s classes. “I appreciate the opportunity to experience a special body/spirit/mind connection that stays with me long after I leave class. I feel grounded, energized and eager for my next Kundalini Yoga session with an excellent teacher and delightful classmates!”

Besides her Wednesday class, Debbie teaches Fridays from 7:30 - 9:00 AM and offers a complimentary (donations only) class on Monday mornings from 5:30 - 7:30 AM, with all the proceeds donated to the Bigfork Food Pantry. In addition, Debbie is a licensed esthetician, offering result-oriented facials that are combined with ancient healing massage techniques.

Deirdre Murphy has just begun teaching a Vinyasa Flow Yoga class for intermediate and advanced levels on Tuesday evenings—a “meditation in motion” that takes students far beyond where they thought they could go. Christine Schimpff offers core conditioning/Pilates classes on Monday and Wednesday mornings and Thursday evenings.

Last, but certainly not least, is Connie Piasecki from Bigfork, a favorite yoga instructor at montanabliss. On Thursday mornings she teaches Beginning Yoga, perfect for seniors and for newcomers, like myself. She likes to explain to new students how yoga differs from exercise: “Yoga is gentle. Yoga is done without striving to achieve or forcing your body. Yoga is non-competitive; there are no yoga Olympics. Yoga can be adapted to anyone. Yoga honors your body limits and does not push through them. Yoga focuses on maintaining awareness in the present moment. Yoga emphasizes breathing techniques throughout the practice. Yoga maintains an internal focus. Yoga focuses on ‘being’ rather than ‘doing.’ — ‘Don’t just do something, sit there.’ Yoga does not prescribe to the ‘no pain, no gain’ theory. Yoga requires no special equipment or clothing.”

Last Thursday I took Connie’s 90-minute class, and it was an encouraging experience for me. Connie is the perfect instructor for beginners and for anyone wanting a “gentler class.” The class size that day was small—six women and one man—and Connie explained each technique slowly, demonstrating each move for us, stopping to answer questions whenever one was asked. She was patient with our awkward poses, suggesting what we could do to improve our form, allowing us to stop when we reached our edge, all the while reminding us to breathe, breathe, breathe. When the class started 90 minutes seemed like an eternity to me, but at the end, when we lay on our mats on the floor, calming ourselves, listening to the soothing music and to Connie’s quiet voice, I was sorry it was over. I plan to return to her Beginning Yoga class as often as possible. Connie also teaches a Hatha Yoga class for all levels on Saturdays.
Classes are held at montanabliss six days a week, Monday through Saturday at different times of the day and evening. The drop-in charge is $10 per class ($7 for students); a series of five classes is $45, and a series of 10 classes is $80.
Starting July 29 a five-week “Yoga for Children” class is being offered on Thursdays from 3:00 to 4:00 PM for children ages five to eight (plus or minus), and the cost is $40. Space is limited, so sign your child up early.
The first workshop at montanabliss, held last month with master teacher Mas Vidal from California, was sold out but he will return in December for another workshop. Dates for an Introduction to Hatha Yoga workshop with Celeste Chiappetta Pasca will soon be finalized.

A beginners’/seniors’ class
(Photo by Todd Yamashita)

In addition to the yoga and Pilates classes, montanabliss also offers the services of Doctor of Chiropractic Ryan M. Wigness of Whitefish, and nationally certified massage therapist Rachel Cooper. (The combination of yoga and/or Pilates with Rachel’s healing hands can further enhance one’s ability to relax while increasing strength, balance and flexibility.) There is also a boutique on site offering an assortment of yoga supplies, clothing made from organic cotton, books, music, essential oils, candles and incense, skin care products, locally designed jewelry and jewelry from Dana’s “day job.” Boutique hours are Monday 1 to 6 PM, Tuesday - Friday 11 AM - 6 PM, and Saturday 9 AM - 2 PM.

A book club has just been started that meets two evenings a month. Check the montanabliss website, www.montanabliss.com for a list of classes, workshops, book club meeting dates, instructor bios, and basic information about yoga, or call them at 837-4772. montanabliss is located at 108 Crestview Drive in Bigfork.
“I’d just like people to understand that yoga is not a religion, it’s a science. It’s been around for 5,000 years. The Yogis will tell you that it’s for people of all religions. It helps you practice your own religion that much deeper, that much stronger, and with more devotion,” Dana explained.

The montanabliss website lists the many benefits of yoga: it increases concentration, energy, focus, balance and attention; it increases strength and muscle toning; it creates a stronger, more flexible spine; it aids in recovery from injury and trauma; it helps you sleep; it reduces stress; it builds self-esteem and confidence; it cultivates a peaceful, relaxed state of body and mind; it strengthens your body and mind as you become more flexible; it improves and maintains your health physically and emotionally; it teaches you to “let go”...and stay in the moment (increases mindfulness); and it complements sports training. If you’ve ever thought of learning yoga, now is the time to try it for one or more of the above reasons. It’s never too late to start improving your mental, emotional or physical health. “It’s the only activity in which one actually progresses as one gets older. Even the masters in their 70s and 80s are finding themselves in new poses for the very first time,” Dana concluded at the end of our interview.