Yoga: club members get bent classes soar.

When Jennifer Jacobs, director of programming for WTS International--a sports facilities planning, staffing, and management firm based in Baltimore, MD--was contacted regarding information for an article on yoga in private clubs, she was in the middle of presenting a report to her boss, WTS President Gary Henken. It showed that of all the programming that WTS employees plan and present, yoga--and its first cousing, Pilates--were at the top of the heap in popularit.

"Yoga in private clubs is our most popular class, along with Pilates," Jacobs said. "Those two classes dominate all of our private club group exercise classes. When we do a basic introductory we're filling those classes every time."

Pilates was developed by Joseph Pilates during World War I and was embraced by ballet dancers when Pilates opened his New York studio in the 1920s. The discipline uses full-body movements on mechanical apparatuses that simultaneously stretch and strengthen the core muscles of the torso, improve the body's alignment, and focus breathing for maximum efficiency. The need to purchase a "reformer"--the basic apparatus used for Pilates--was one barrier to clubs introducing the program. Jacobs said that there are now portable reformers that are lower in cost. WTS trainers are also doing Pilates-based floor exercises and working with exercise balls, which many clubs already own.

While both classes are popular, yoga has a broader appeal in clubs. "In the private club and country club sector, yoga allows us to target the older adult population while also being a popular enough program with celebrities, football players, and everyone else doing it that it appeals to a younger generation," Jacobs said

While yoga has been around for 3,500 years and in this country for generations, its popularity here has risen dramatically in the last few years, when the combined effects of a world gone and and a sour economy have increased the focus on pursuits that address the needs of tired minds and bodies.

Yoga is, at its heart, a spiritual pursuit. The word "yoga" translates from Sanskrit (the language of ancient India) as "yoke" or "union," representing the integration of mind and body to create a better connection with one's pure, essential nature. So why does yoga appeal to professional football players, soccer moms, and private club golfers?

It's the beauty of yoga that when approached on almost any level--and there are a multitude of different practices from the purely physical to the ethereally spiritual--the practitioner experiences immediate physical and mental benefits. In all yoga, the practitioner assumes various asanas or poses. Regardless of what the poses look like to a non-practicioner, they are not painful. One of the basic rules of yoga is that if you experience pain, you're pushing your body too far.

In the most commonly practiced type of yoga in this country, a more physically-demanding variety called hatha (Sanskrit for willful or forced), the asanas are combined with focus on breathing (known as "breathwork"). The result is that one completes a 60- to 90-minute yoga class--even at a basic level where the poses are not challenging--with improved flexibility, conditioning, and a state of blissful "mindfulness" that makes it easier to focus on the tasks ahead. Jacobs said that her instructors have had golfers bring a club and take full swing before and after the class. The improvement, she said, is eye-opening.

WTS' Jacobs said that one of the tips for success in establishing yoga at your club is to offer two varieties--a gentle, basic yoga class and a more active-oriented sport yoga class. "That variety helps members become more comfortable with taking yoga classes," she said. The "sport yoga" that WTS instructors offer was developed by the company's trainers to offer a more physically-challenging practice that tones muscles for sports. There are a number of yoga disciplines that offer the same sort of workouts, two being ashtanga (www.yogaworkshop.com) and "Power Yoga," a program developed by instructor Bender Birch (www.poweryoga.com).

Jacobs also suggests that managers offer members a "try before you buy" session in introducing yoga to the club so that interest in starting the program can be gauged.

While members can get benefits from taking only yoga one session a week, it's more beneficial if they take two or three sessions. A great thing about yoga--both for your members and for your club's bottom line--is that members will become addicted to the way it makes them feel both physically and mentally. Once you've got them hooked, yoga is a lifetime pursuit.

Another attractive part of offering yoga is the incredibly low cost threshold for the club. Other than making sure that you've got a skilled instructor who will mesh well with your club's culture, the only thing needed is a proper space and sticky workout mats and blankets. In some instances, Jacobs said, clubs require members to bring their own blankets and mats for sanitation reasons, and the members have no problem with the request.

The room should be comfortably warm--warmer than a typical workout space. If it must be offered in the workout area, Jacobs suggests scheduling earlier in the day when the space tends to be warmer. Many clubs, she said, use carpeted meeting spaces for their yoga classes. An additional plus of that solution, she noted, is that the lighting levels should be lower for the practice of yoga than is typical in most workout spaces, and meeting rooms typically have dimmers. The fact that some workout spaces have expanses of windows can also be a problem. "For yoga classes where you want to incorporate meditation it becomes difficult if you have spectators," she said.

Once a club has a core group of yoga devotees, the possibilities for program expansion exists. "A lot of our clubs have been doing yoga for some time and are now doing more specialized yoga such as yoga for golf, yoga for sport, stretch and flex, and prenatal yoga. And they've been able to really target markets within their clubs by doing that."

One more benefit for managers: Members who are improving their mental outlook and their physical performance at work and sports by bending into yoga poses are probably less likely to get bent at the club manager.