Guest BloggersHealth & Beauty

Blue Yoga Nyla Sanctuary

Guest blog by Sarah Thomas

Stacey Reynolds has worked with the same group of senior adults since 2002.

She also takes her love of yoga to hospice patients, senior communities and special needs adults. Stacey has been teaching yoga and yoga therapy since 2001, and she is a registered Yoga Therapist with the International Association of Yoga Therapists.

Stacey owns, operates and teaches at Blue Yoga Nyla Sanctuary, a studio in North Little Rock that seeks to offer physical and emotional healing through yoga – the same method by which Stacey experienced healing after battling depression, anxiety and physical ailments.

“Yoga is why I’m here today,” Stacey says. “Yoga is part of my faith, it’s my healing, it’s how I serve, it’s how I do what I feel like I’m called to do. Yoga is woven into my life. There’s no part of my life that’s not affected by yoga and enhanced and made better by yoga. It’s where I run to when I’m desperate, it’s how I celebrate when I’m full of joy and it’s how I extend my hand to others. I don’t know what my life would be without yoga.”

Stacey says she intentionally added ‘Sanctuary’ to the end of the studio’s name so that people feel comfortable, safe and welcome.

“It’s really important that people come in here and know that this is a refuge,” Stacey says. “I want healing for whoever walks through the door. That’s what’s important to me.”

An additional therapeutic benefit to the studio is the presence of Zeppelin the certified therapy dog.

“People walk in this place just to see that dog,” Stacey says. “He knows who needs extra love, he’s super gentle and he’s a goofball, he’s very funny. He’s a perfect partner for me because he helps me get through the day, and he brings a lot of joy to a lot of people.”

In addition to her work and service through her studio, Stacey and Arkansas Families First have partnered to offer the “Yoga Bliss” program, which “pairs the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavior Therapy with the healing power of Yoga to provide a unique approach for children and teens to overcome anxiety.”

Check out my interview with Stacey to hear more of her incredible story!

 

Stacey with Zeppelin the therapy dog. Photo by Stacy Kinzler

 

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