DanaNellen.com

Reprited from the May 2, 2003 print edition of The St. Louis Business Journal

Small Talk

by Ron Janecke

The image is usually of someone twisted into the shape of a pretzel, but Dana Nellen knows there's much more to the discipline of yoga.

Nellen, who learned meditation and yoga from Swami Muktanada, considered a master in the field of meditation and yoga, teaches yoga to individuals and classes at a studio in University City. In addition, she began conducting seminars in late April and plans to hold the seminars on a monthly basis.

With the establishment of her Web site recently, Nellen's company is now known as Yogacoach.

"Yoga is not only about physical posture, but also about the emotional and spiritual being," Nellen said. "Yoga is about paying careful attention to the alignment of the body coupled with breathing properly and daily meditation. It's good for people who are stressed.

"It's been proven that deep breathing is just as effective as aerobics in increasing endurance. Breathing can also be used to alleviate stiffness, back pain, and neck to shoulder pain. " Nellen, who came to St. Louis in 1999, believes she brings a uniqueness to yoga teaching in the area because she studied with a master Muktananda for so many years.




After growing up in Indianapolis, Nellen, now 51, was a professional dancer for 17 years. She studied under Muktanada starting in 1976 and returned to Indianapolis in 1994 where she began teaching Iyengar yoga poses.

She has been conducting individual and class sessions for about a year and a half and recently lined up the group from the Arthritis Foundation for a month of classes. She also has been adding to her group of individual clients which should boost her revenue, which was $24,000 last year. She now averages about 25 clients.

At her St. Louis studio, Nellen employs the use of props, such as chairs and ropes on the walls, to gradually build up the strength of those she is instructing.

"The idea of yoga is to achieve mental calm and clarity," Nellen said, "to tap into our own inspiration. Slowing down the breathing is good for people who have had heart attacks. There are a lot of ways yoga can be used to help people, but the research is just beginning to unfold."

Nellen holds private sessions tailored to individuals, which usually last an hour. She charges $85 for a private session.

Classes are about an hour and a half long and are kept to groups of 10 or less. Each person is charged $20 for a group class or a package rate of $150 for eight classes.

There is no age limit for yoga, Nellen said. "It's a good way to keep your joints flexible," Nellen said. "There's a student of mine from Indianapolis who is 81 and has a steel hip who is still doing yoga. She has been the world's high jump champ for seniors. It's all about having the right mental attitude."

Nellen also said there is hardly any time of the day or place where yoga can't be practiced. She said doing breathing exercises in the morning can set someone up for the day. Lunch time also is a perfect time for meditating and relieving stress, Nellen said. "About the only time that it isn't good is right after a heavy meal," Nellen said. "You can even do the breathing exercises to calm and center while in a traffic jam."

To start her day, Nellen usually chants in the morning. She also practices different poses depending on the way she feels and what she needs each day.

"There are yoga poses for every creature ever created," Nellen said. "There are about 200 poses commonly in use, but there are thousands."