Discover Health Yoga Will Host Free Holistic Health Fair

Snakard demonstrates a reverse side angle pose.

Discover Health Yoga is holding a free Holistic Health Fair and Open House event on Sept. 13 from 1-4 p.m.  in Gainesville. The purpose of the event is to introduce people to a variety of healthy living services provided by similarly minded businesses in the local community.

Vendors will include those dedicated to promoting a healthy lifestyle for residents including yoga, massage, chiropractic, health and wellness coaching, meditation and more. There will be samples of products and services such as chair massages, cooking demos for healthy snacks and smoothies (with samples!) and skin analysis with mini facials. There will also be a moon bounce and face painting for children.

Plus, there will be sample yoga sessions on site so that people can get a taste of Discover Health Yoga.

Located on the edge of Prince William County, Discover Health Yoga offers a variety of yoga classes in a serene environment. For the owner, Spencer Snakard, yoga is more than a fun physical activity; it is a commitment to a healthy way of life. Here is a website where you can find out more regarding staying healthy.

Snakard demonstrates a warrior pose in the serene woods surrounding the yoga studio.

She sees health and wellness as a journey that requires a generous degree of self-acceptance. One reason she loves yoga is it has taught her to appreciate the present moment. In this way, it is different than the usual workout routine.

“With a lot of other forms of exercise, you feel like you’re trying to get to a certain point, and yoga helps you to be patient,” Snakard said.

Many people start a workout routine with a firm goal in mind, but they get frustrated when their progress is not immediate. Yoga is different; Snakard explained. It is more focused on the here and now.

The practice of yoga is a practice in being present. Rather than obsessing toward a future goal, people stretch, breath and ease deeper into the pose. In doing so, they become less concerned with the results and instead find enjoyment in the process.

Discover Health Yoga also offers prenatal and gentle yoga classes as demonstrated by one instructor.

As a result, many who practice yoga experience a change of perspective. Fitness no longer means a number on the scale. It becomes a journey. Snakard identifies with that aspect of yoga and brings the philosophy along with the physical practice into her studio.

“Part of that is we already have everything we need within us. Some people think there is some magic pill you have to take [to get healthy], but it’s more a matter of tapping into that, discovering what’s there and how to connect with that,” Snakard said.

People have been taught to think of health in an unhealthy way; she explained. They look at fashion magazines, and consider the retouched models or actors on those glossy pages to have the “perfect” body and the “perfect” look. So most people internalize what they do not have. They feel a lack, and then, that becomes their motivation to get into shape.

Snakard thinks that is the wrong approach to health, wellness and beauty. She prefers her clients discover balance and self-acceptance. She still encourages progress, but she believes desire for improvement ought to be balanced by an appreciation of every point along the journey.

Snakard does a yoga form headstand in a open field outside her studio.

Snakard also wants people to know that yoga can be hard work, and it is very effective in toning the body. Snakard explained that she was formerly a dancer. When she left dancing, she first took up strength training to stay in shape. She liked that weight lifting toned her muscles, but it lacked something for her. Then, she discovered yoga, and she immediately felt a connection to the ancient practice.

Yoga provided the same opportunity to get toned as a tough workout does, she explained, but it also incorporated the gracefulness of dancing. She further liked that, unlike dancing, the poses were less about spectacle and more about the positive changes they create within the body.

She also thinks yoga offers people a perspective that helps them cope with life’s unexpected challenges. She explains that some poses quite literally have people upside-down, standing on their heads. As yoga teaches people to be comfortable in almost any position, so does it teach those who practice it to gain poise and confidence that extends to all areas of their lives.

A yoga student may begin to think, “When life gets upside down, I can handle this,” Snakard said.

While there are several places one may choose to practice yoga, Snakard believes her studio is unique; the atmosphere is unmatched being surrounded by woods.

“It really has a retreat like feel. You really feel like you’re getting away from it all even though it’s just minutes from home,” Snakard said.

Snakard strikes a warrior style pose in the road surrounded by woods.

The studio offers a variety of classes that provide the opportunity to learn and grow, so students can continue to develop and master skills over time. Classes include level-1 yoga, level-2 yoga, mixed level yoga, flow yoga, prenatal yoga, gentle yoga, restorative yoga and kids yoga.

Snakard invites the community to Saturday’s Holistic Health Fair and adds that there are several other healthy events at the studio this fall including Holistic Happy Hours, a day retreat, and a group hike up Bull Run Mountain.

See their website www.DiscoverHealthYoga.com for more information including address, directions, and schedules.