Poses, Portraits and Peace

Meditation

With her legs crossed and her eyes closed, she focuses on her breathing, pushing her stress aside. She sits in silence, clearing her mind and opening her heart as she meditates. She is preparing herself for the upcoming yoga session. She takes deep breaths, inhales and exhales.

Xan Nichols, a 23-year-old yoga instructor from Brunswick, Ga. hosts classes in Milledgeville and Macon. Yoga is a mental, physical and emotional discipline that requires great concentration.

“Stress drew me to yoga, and I learned that I could kind of make it disappear,” Nichols said. “You can get overwhelmed with your thoughts, but just paying attention to your breath and your posture can help with that.”

Nichols started practicing yoga in 2009 after she attended a silent retreat with a close friend.

“Ever since then I could not stop,” Nichols said.

Before the retreat, Nichols had never practiced yoga.

“I had never, ever done any yoga in my entire life; I didn’t even know what the downward dog was,” Nichols said.

Nichols earned her certification as a yoga instructor after she graduated from college in 2010.

“You know, after I graduated college, I was just like, ‘What am I going to do with myself?’” Nichols said.

Yoga is something that she has had a passion for since she began practicing.

“I just kept thinking about it, and yoga was just something I just kept being drawn to,” Nichols said. “I was like, ‘Well, why not, why not give it a try?’”

Nichols teaches in downtown Milledgeville at Play! A Creative Studio and at the Oconee River Greenway. In Macon, she teaches one class for kids and another for adults at YogaMoga. She also teaches a class for senior citizens in Milledgeville through the Department of Continuing Education at Georgia College.

“Oh, my gosh, I teach so much yoga,” Nichols said.

Rachel Ledford, a GC graduate student, attends Nichols’ yoga class at the Greenway.

“Xan’s yoga class is really approachable and it is great for all levels; anyone can enjoy them,” Ledford said.

Ledford was initially new to yoga and thought she might not fit in with the more advanced students.

“I thought I would be intimidated the first time I went, but there are all kinds of people who attend Xan’s classes, not just students,” Ledford said.

Megan Bowen owns Play!, which focuses on activities for kids and their families. Bowen wanted to attract more students and adults.

“Xan came to me with the idea to start the Tuesday yoga class,” Bowen said.

Play! initially started offering a yoga class to students and adults on Tuesday mornings. The studio has recently started a Thursday afternoon class for students and adults.

Asana

Now, Nichols is in the downward dog position, with her hands and her heels flat on her black yoga mat. She still concentrates on her breathing: in and out, deep breaths.

Yoga is not the only thing that requires great concentration, and it is not the only thing Nichols is passionate about.

Nichols graduated from GC with a degree in studio art. She is an artist, a painter and a photographer. She enjoys painting portraits and working with oil pastels.

Though she has yet to make a career out of her art, it has never been “put on the backburner.”

“That is just who I am, I’m an artist,” Nichols said.

She is always painting, drawing and looking at other artists to get inspired.

“Since I can remember, I’ve been able to draw and produce art,” Nichols said.

At last year’s Deep Roots Festival in Milledgeville, Nichols set up a booth and drew portraits in ballpoint pen.

“I have not figured out how to make a career out of art, but I went into art education because it is just who I am; it is in my blood,” Nichols said.

Nichols’ mother is an art teacher, her grandparents were artists and her great grandparents were painters.

“My parents are so encouraging, and they encouraged me to be an artist,” Nichols said.

Though Nichols is inspired by her parents, she does not share a connection with them through yoga. She recently discovered, however, that her grandfather used to meditate, practice yoga and fast once a week. Art, it seems, is not the only thing that resides in her blood.

“I thought that was really neat because I never knew that about my grandfather. I always thought of him as this stern guy that I was kind of afraid of, but I thought it was cool that we shared that connection,” Nichols said.

Restorative 

Laying flat on her back, legs spread to shoulder-width, she lays in silence. Her chest rises and falls as she takes deep breaths.

Yoga is all about concentration and clearing the mind. While practicing yoga, one usually concentrates on her breathing, which benefits the mind, relieving stress.

During her senior year at GC, Nichols had to generate a senior capstone. Her capstone, called “Particles,” was a collection of photographs that captured everyday moments in life, and the objects that structure one’s life.

Composing a senior capstone can be very stressful, as any other stress-inducing project.

“Meditating in general got me through my senior capstone,” Nichols said.

Stress not only comes with school, but it can also come with the elements that make up everyday life.

Nichols says since she has started practicing yoga she has become a more balanced person.

“I really found confidence in everything. I found balance in my relationships, my work environment and extracurricular things,” Nichols said.

Nichols’ students lay on their backs near the end of each session in a restorative pose, still clearing their minds and focusing on their breathing. As they lay there with their eyes closed, Nichols walks around the room, gently pressing each student’s temples.

The session is over, and the students sit up and blink their eyes rapidly, still feeling the “yoga high.”

Yoga is a practice that can calm nerves and surrender negative emotions; it is a practice that many believe can generate mental and physical health.

“It opens up your heart, and you are a more loving and more patient person,” Nichols explains. “It gets me through any emotions of jealousy, anger and impatience.”

 

Posted by TaylorSeay on Oct 20 2011. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.