Mohalu Yoga in the downtown Shepherdstown area News, sports, jobs

Lona Lozinski, a 200RYT yoga instructor at Ease Certified Warrior, stands on the floor of her studio space last week. Tabitha Johnston

Shepherd’s Stone – “It smells like sour milk and there’s some french fries on the floor, and you’re like, ‘I’m going to try to ignore all this.’ Mohalu Yoga Founder Lona Lozinski She said she first practiced yoga in 2001. Berkeley County Parks and Recreation’s 21-year journey into adult education on the cafeteria floor of Rosemont Elementary School may have had humble beginnings, but according to Lozinski. As a Shepherd University undergraduate student and member of the 167th Airlift Wing – West Virginia Air National Guard, that didn’t stop her from immediately realizing the benefits for her.

“For me, being where I am here in the cafeteria has been changing, but I’m in this stable place in my body.” Lozinski said. “I took it up as a personal practice for me and would take it wherever I could find it.”

Her journey led her to take yoga classes as often as possible, including at two yoga studios in Shepherdstown, where she opened her own yoga studio as a 200RYT yoga instructor. The studio space where she previously practiced for the two Shepherdstown studios is now, ironically, the space she now uses to teach – 211 East New Street.

I met Shepherdstown as a student here and found Harmony Healing Arts, right here, right here, and started practicing there. When I had my children, I did my prenatal yoga here 15 years ago, so this place, for me, was home. Lozinski said. “I was getting ready to give birth in this room! I managed a very young military career out of this place. And then Jala Yoga took over, and I started practicing with them after Harmony Healing Arts closed.

According to Lozinski, although she currently shares the space with Jala Yoga, she gives her yogis a unique skill set — one that can’t be found anywhere else in the Eastern Panhandle — like Warriors with a certification as a light instructor.

Mohalu Yoga shares its spaces with Jala Yoga, with the remaining space on New Street, which was previously home to Harmony Healing Arts. Tabitha Johnston

“About 13 years into my military career, I became a first sergeant.” said Shepherd University alumni. “It’s a job where you preside over disciplinary actions, but you’re kind of a support system for the members of the class: when they get in trouble, you make sure they’re getting the care they need. They’re going through a divorce, you make sure the people get the care they need. Or they come into your office and their life is falling apart, and you basically help them find the resources to fix it. The job, it was like a light bulb moment for me, saying, ‘We’re missing something, how do we manage care for military personnel.’

“For me, I thought my endurance came from my yoga practice. It helped me get grounded, it helped me center myself, it helped me feel like, ‘I can do this, no matter what.’ So, at some point, I decided that my long-term goal was to become a yoga instructor, because I wanted to teach yoga to veterans. Lozinski said. “I stumbled upon this program, Warriors with Ease. This is an international program that teaches yoga teachers how to teach yoga to veterans. It is the only one of its kind.”

When she opened her studio at 211 East New Street three weeks ago, Lozinski offers one-on-one classes with military members to help them directly address the trauma they’ve experienced in the military. She also offers monthly Warriors at Ease group retreats that are free to military personnel and open to civilian yogis, who are encouraged to help cover class costs. Schedules for that class and others, as well as where to book a one-on-one class with Lozinski, are available at https://www.mohaluwellness.com/

About the origin of the studio name? Lozinski said it has to do with the fact that her first name is Hawaiian; She, as a half-Korean woman, feels at home because of its high Asian population; And she completed her yoga teacher training during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“In Hawaiian culture, the 12th lunar cycle is called ‘Mohalu,’ and in that cycle the Hawaiian god Ken planted flowers. He believed that this would be the most important time to plant flowers – before the full moon. When I was looking into Hawaiian culture and what I wanted the mohal to represent, I stumbled upon the Hawaiian calendar and saw this word and all its connotations. It means ‘blossoming’, the correct word, ‘mohalu,’ does. Lozinski said. “It is representative of that time before our revenge, before the full moon. and ‘How beautiful is that?’ I thought.

“Even when we feel like we’ve accomplished everything, we’re always finding something else to accomplish.” Lozinski said. Calling it “Muhalu” is a reminder that we never did. We can always bloom a little more.