MARFA — The Marfa Nutrition Center was temporarily transformed into a yoga studio on Tuesday morning as the inaugural class led by instructor Monika Bernstein got underway. Eight Marfa seniors, ranging from their 60s to 80s, remained seated in chairs as Bernstein and helper Marielle La Rue led them through a series of breathing and stretching exercises.
Bernstein runs Big Sky Yoga, a fitness studio located in the alley behind the Wrong store. Nutrition Center Director Mark Rodriguez said Bernstein approached him with the idea of hosting a free weekly yoga class and they started thinking about how to collaborate. “She came in, and it was like, wow, I’ve been looking for this,” Rodriguez said. “It’s great that she’s making the time, because obviously there is interest in it.”
He said he was already looking to expand the nutrition center’s roster of events, which primarily consists of thrice-weekly bingo. “I’d like for them to be a little more active, instead of just come eat, visit and then gotta go,” Rodriguez said. “We want something besides bingo to pass their time.”
Bernstein said she was motivated to organize yoga for Marfa’s seniors, in part, after seeing some struggling with their mobility while out and about at the grocery store, for example. “I was like, we need to reach out to these people and make them feel better, because they don’t feel good and they are still living independent lives,” Bernstein said. “I just want to make this community feel good and strong and healthy.”
Modifications to stretches were made for those with osteoporosis, and Bernstein explained to class participants how audible exhalations stimulate the vagus nerve, helping promote relaxation. Rodriguez said he appreciated her initial approach to use chairs for support and to get to know the seniors better.
“You get to know the people and everybody’s individual needs, you address them as they go,” Rodriguez said. “She’s able to find out what their strengths are, their weaknesses, or what they want to work on.”
As yoga class commenced, kitchen staff prepared and packaged lunches for the nutrition center’s Meals on Wheels and in-person clients. Red, white and blue banners and American flags, in honor of the upcoming holiday, decorated walls and tables.
The nutrition center abuts the city pool in the Marfa Activities Center, and while Bernstein and Rodriguez had the idea to also offer water aerobics classes for seniors, that initiative is being put on the back burner since the pool is unable to open this summer due to a lack of lifeguards.
The newly-converted yogis remarked that they had fun and felt good at the conclusion of the class. For some, it was their first time trying out yoga. “I felt safe, like I can do this,” Peggy Thornsburg said. Others remarked that they would like to work on improving their balance. Bernstein joked that pretty soon they’d be brushing their teeth while standing on one foot.
Yoga for Seniors takes place at the nutrition center on Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m.