Yoga With Wegmans

Shoppers at Wegmans Food Markets can beat pre-holiday stress by checking out a new DVD exclusive to the Rochester, N.Y.-based grocery chain. “Yoga 101,” featuring certified yoga teacher Stency Wegman – wife of company CEO Danny -- demonstrates the benefits of yoga through easy-to-follow routines that can be performed daily. Available in the Nature’s Marketplace area of most Wegmans stores, the DVD sells for $14.99.

Stency Wegman has practiced yoga for more than 25 years and taught others for four years as a Yoga Certified Alliance Instructor in the hatha tradition. Two mornings a week during late spring and summer only, Wegman gives lessons in a yoga studio in the attic of the barn at Wegmans’ Organic Farm in New York state’s Finger Lakes region. Classes are limited to 20 participants and open to the public on a space-available basis.

“If you stick with it, you’ll see results quickly,” she said in an interview featured on the DVD. “You’ll probably sleep better, feel more agile, more balanced, and you may recuperate in less time. That’s not all: Breathing techniques may be the most important part of yoga. You can calm the nervous system. You can make clear decisions. It’s a wonderful tool.”

The DVD offers two fully narrated lessons with detailed demonstrations of technique, each lasting just under an hour. “Yoga at Dawn” is a morning practice to prepare body and mind for a busy day, while “Yoga at Dusk” helps people shed the stresses of a busy day and wind down for a relaxed evening.

Also included is a short section on yoga props that are helpful in doing the lessons properly, among them mats, blankets, blocks, a canvas belt, and a bolster. The props are sold sy most Wegmans stores.

Family-owned Wegmans operates 79 supermarkets in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, and Massachusetts.