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Natural Awakenings North Central New Jersey

Nancy Candea: Yoga Impact

Sep 30, 2011 02:30PM ● By Jennifer L. Nelson

 For Rockaway resident Nancy Candea, a typical Thursday afternoon begins with sun salutations at the Morris County Jail. 

 Candea, 50, has been teaching yoga to inmates once a week since moving to New Jersey in 2010, but she’s been practicing her own asanas for nearly three decades. Though she opened her own yoga studio in Hawaii, it was during a stint in Colorado leading the practice for women’s shelters, jails, and at-risk youth programs that she decided she wanted to continue reaching underserved populations.  “I was ready for a new challenge,” she says. 

While in Colorado she became a certified yoga therapist and teamed up with a handful of yoga professionals to launch Yoga Impact in 2008.  The organization aims to take yoga out of the studio and into the community to reach populations who may not otherwise have access to the benefits of the practice, including the young, senior citizens, homeless people, and individuals who are incarcerated.  Her teacher trainings help prepare other instructors to lead yoga classes comprised of these populations; it’s her hope that the organization inspires other studios to implement similar programs.

She continually asks herself, “How can we inspire more people to experience the yoga lifestyle?” That lifestyle includes yoga postures, nutrition, breathing, relaxation techniques, and an awareness of the well-being of both the individual and her community. Says Candea, “We’re trying to take yoga to the next level by teaching these other life skills.” 

While Candea’s mission is making yoga more accessible to all people, she is particularly interested in reaching those who may be intimidated by a typical yoga studio setting — or the cost of taking yoga classes. She notes that approximately 86 percent of people who practice yoga fall into the upper- or middle-class economic bracket.  “It’s easy to find the underserved population,” she says. 

 Candea knows that for inmates at the jail, yoga is more than just a way to tone muscles and improve flexibility and posture. A key element of her practice is an extended relaxation period at the end of each class, where students are invited to meditate and express sentiments about love, kindness, truthfulness, and forgiveness.

 “Though the physical practice of yoga gets endorphins flowing, it also opens [people’s] minds.  I often see tears rolling down their cheeks,” she says.  “They tell me it helps give them hope that they can make some different choices in their lives.”

Candea has firsthand experience with making difficult life choices.  Like many women serving time at the Morris County Jail, Candea grew up in a home marked by domestic violence and can speak candidly about issues related to depression and addiction.  “These are women who aren’t much different than any of us,” she says.

She strongly believes that by engaging in traditional yoga poses, stretching, as well as movements such as handstands and backbends, her students are using their bodies to tap into their inner selves.  “When we create movement, we unlock emotions,” Candea explains, likening the phenomenon to anxiety causing a tight stomach or anger leading to a constricted throat. Indeed, practicing yoga has been credited with a wide range of mental and physical health benefits, including reduced stress, improved memory, better concentration, weight loss, and lower blood pressure. It has also been associated with alleviating symptoms related to chronic conditions ranging from asthma to insomnia to arthritis.

To extend her reach even further, Candea works with nonprofit organizations including Denville-based Purple Om and Kula for Karma in Franklin Lakes to train yoga teachers to teach groups such as special-needs children and teens as well as those affected by trauma or addiction.  She also leads training sessions at Princeton University.

“It’s not just about going in and doing some exercises.  The bigger picture of yoga is about service—and I do it because it makes me feel good,” Nancy Candea says.  “At age 50, I’m still doing cartwheels. I’m enthusiastic about life, I’m enjoying my career—and I want that for all people.” To learn more about Nancy Candea and Yoga Impact, visit NancyCandea.com or YogaIimpact.org.

Jennifer L. Nelson is a New Jersey-based freelance writer specializing in health, parenting, and lifestyle. Visit JenniferLNelson.com.

5 Top Tips to Finding Your Next Doctor

1 Keep an Open Mind! Healthcare has come a long way. Today, you have access to practitioners that branch outside of traditional medicine and aim to identify the root causes of conditions while using alternative treatments that may help you get the relief you need. Just because it’s not a pill, doesn’t make it pseudoscience.

2 Build Your Health Care Team. There is no one doctor that can be the be-all-end-all for your health needs. Be sure to have a team of practitioners with different “lenses” and areas of expertise who will treat the root cause and not just the symptom(s).

3   Environment Influences Healing. Health is multi-factorial. Your mental and emotional environment plays a pivotal role in your healing potential. Your doctors and their staff should create an office atmosphere filled with positivity so you can get the most out of your care.

4 Your Story Matters.  Before you begin any treatment, be sure to have a comprehensive consultation to discuss your health concerns. Find practitioners who welcome questions and will take the time to listen and treat you with respect.

5 Report of Findings. When it comes to our health, we often make decisions without understanding the risk versus benefits. Knowledge is an important part of the healing process and is essential to make conscious, informed health decisions. Find practitioners who take the time to explain their exam findings and the recommendations for treatment in ways that make sense to you.

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