Page 10 - Florida Sentinel 11-1-16 Online Edition

LAST WEEK TO GET OUT AND VOTE EARLY
Hillsborough County Early Voting Locations
Yoga Instructor Takes Classes To Park
Early voting began in Hills- borough County on Monday, October 24th. It will continue through Sunday, November 4th. Registered Voters can cast their ballots at any one of 16 locations between the hours of 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
The locations are as fol- lows:
Bloomingdale Public Library, 1906 Bloomingdale Avenue, Valrico;
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr., Public Library, 2607 E. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd.;
Fred B. Karl County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd. 26th Floor;
Jan Kaminis Platt Re- gional Library, 3910 S. Manhattan Avenue;
Jimmie B. Keel Re-
gional Library, 2902 W. Bearss Avenue;
Keystone Community Center, 17928 Gunn High- way, Odessa, FL
New Tampa Regional Library, 10001 Cross Creek Blvd.;
North Tampa Branch Library, 8916 North Blvd.;
Plant City, Bruton Me- morial Library, 302 W. McLendon Street, Plant City;
Riverview Branch Li- brary, 10509 Riverview Drive, Riverview;
Robert L. Gilder Elec- tions Service Center, 2514 N. Falkenburg, Rd.;
SouthShore Regional Library, 15816 Beth Shields Way, Ruskin;
Temple Terrace Public Library, 207 Bullard Park-
way, Temple Terrace;
Town N’ Country Re- gional Library, 7606 Paula Drive, Tampa;
Upper Tampa Bay Re- gional Public Library, 11211 Countryway Blvd., Tampa; and
West Tampa Branch Library, 2312 W. Union Street.
Voters will be required to provide one or two forms of identification. Acceptable identification includes: a Florida Driver's License; Florida ID Card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; U. S. Passport; Debit or Credit Card; Military ID; Student ID; Re- tirement Center ID; Neighbor- hood Association ID; or Public Assistance ID.
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
Step inside a yoga studio or take part in a yoga class, and if you’re Black and a woman you may be the only person fitting that demo- graphic.
According to a 2012 Yoga Journal study, more than four-fifths of the one in 15 Americans who practice yoga are white. It’s a trend that Mya Cato wants to reverse.
So she first completed 200 hours of training to ob- tain her yoga instructor certi- fication and now teaches part-time at downtown’s Veya Fit Spa. She’s also founded her own yoga cloth- ing line, Meeyogi Apparel, which was “inspired by the desire to empower women.”
Most recently, she founded Be Dope, Do Yoga, a weekly yoga class that takes place in parks throughout the city. She shares the class schedule with two other women yoga instructors.
For Cato, the ancient practice of breathing, medita- tion, and movement is more than just a way of keeping fit – it’s a lifestyle that she seeks to share with others, espe- cially Black women.
The yoga classes in the park attract “people of all sorts,” but Cato said she wants to see more Black women not only embrace yoga as a form of exercise, but also become instructors.
“I want people of color to really realize the benefits (of yoga),” she said. “Yoga is for everyone.”
The Yoga Journal study estimated that nearly 40 mil- lion Americans practice yoga, but number of African-Amer- icans teaching or practicing yoga is unclear.
A 2015 survey by Nielsen found that 92 percent of African-Americans said they felt it’s important to live a healthy lifestyle, and they’re doing so by adopting health- ier habits by taking up popu-
lar fitness activities like run- ning, swimming, and biking. There was also an increase by health conscious Blacks in yoga/pilates, among other ac- tivities.
Cato, who also goes by the name Mya Meeyogi, said she knows first-hand the positive effect yoga can have on the body.
Just a few years ago, Cato said she felt like she was drowning.
“I was working but just surviving,” she said. “I found myself searching for happi- ness.”
It wasn’t until Cato took a yoga class that she found the joy for which she had been searching.
It washed over her at the end of that first class while Cato was lying in the corpse pose – where the body is completely still.
“I was lying there, listening to the instructor and I let all the energy settle in,” she said. “I felt so much peace. I fell in love with that feeling and I wanted more of it.”
Cato said her consistently being the only Black woman in the classes led her to pur- sue the yoga instructor certi- fication.
“I really believe represen- tation matters, so I went into teaching,” she said.
Teaching yoga requires a discipline and focus that is different from other forms of exercise because the move- ments are similar to choreog- raphy, Cato said.
For example, Cato said she draws out the sequences of each class to map out the execution of the poses and ensure the transitions are smooth.
“I think about the areas of the body I want to focus on – the hips, the heart,” she said.
Cato said her long-term goal is to open her own yoga studio.
“That’s what I’m working for,” she said. “There needs to be more education about yoga and the benefits.”
MYA CATO
(Also Known As MYA MEEYOGI)
Local
PAGE 10 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2016