🎵 El @ConservatorioMx celebra la 2ª edición del Encuentro de Música Contemporánea Armando Luna, con jóvenes talentos y compositores nacionales.
#PeriodismoParaTi #SociedadNoticias
Enjoy the flavors of Salsa and Merengue music with Armando Luna and his latest album ‘Tiene Sabor’. He has also released a single named ‘Black Magic Woman’.
Join the musical journey with Armando Luna and his latest 11 track Spanish album ‘Tiene Sabor’. He has also released an English single named ‘Black Magic Woman’.
Meet The Yoga Teacher Who’s Helping Make the Heart of Bayview Stronger
As if it were a hidden treasure, the well-known 3rd Street at Bayview houses the TriFusion Yoga Studio at the corner of Newcomb Avenue. Mistaken for a gym during its opening, it has become an object of curiosity for passers-by who stop to look through its windows to be greeted by the sight of women hanging from a so-called Yoga Wall that has adjustable straps for students to stretch and balance with.
A sandwich billboard in front of the green building lists a menu of classes. Armando Luna, its 58-year-old yoga teacher who has lived in the neighborhood for 14 years, has the proverbial welcome mat outside the front door.
Luna has been teaching yoga in the Bayview for a total of five years, initially at the Bayview Opera House. When it closed for renovations in March last year, Luna and his students temporarily moved to the nearby Joseph Lee Gym to practice. Any time the gym was not available, they simply rolled out their mats on the grass outside and did their stretches, so determined were they to keep doing yoga.
It was last January that Luna was able to open TriFusion, a large studio with two little rooms at the back. The studio is filled with soft candlelight and green-colored walls, setting the right tone. It’s a place where his students can have uninterrupted practice and “keep their hearts stronger,” as he says.
Classes are tailored to seniors, his biggest clientele. But there are classes for parents with toddlers, too. All of them are free, thanks to an Opera House grant. Luna believes the yoga has helped to not only improve the health of his students it has built strong friendships among themselves and fostered a sense of community.
Healthy Hearts San Francisco (HHSF) sat down with Armando Luna to find out about his service to the community.
HHSF: Why did you decide to open a yoga studio in the Bayview?
Armando Luna: Out of a total of 35 years I have spent in the Bay Area, I have lived here in the Bayview for 14 years. One of the reasons I moved here is the community. I started teaching yoga to adults at the Opera House, and then to kids in an after-school yoga program at the Joseph Lee Recreation Center. I had 25 kids to a class during the summers. I was teaching four days a week for four hours each day, two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. When it closed down (for renovation), I thought this neighborhood needed a yoga studio, even though a gym might have been more popular. After all, my senior classes drew a lot of students. Some of my (current) students are in their 80s - one as old as 87 - who want to hang upside down from the Yoga Wall. They love it.
HHSF: What is so special about the Yoga Wall, and why did you decide to include it in your studio?
AL: As far as I know this the only studio in San Francisco with a Yoga Wall. I teach vinyasa flow and meditative yoga. When I first taught in Sacramento, a friend of mine up there, also a yoga teacher, introduced me to the wall. So when I opened TriFusion, I didn’t want students to see just four walls. I wanted them to have a different experience. When I demonstrate hanging from the wall, they want to get up there, too.
HHSF: Who are your students?
AL: A lot of seniors are low-income African Americans, some of them live in the Senior Center here (in the Bayview). The majority of them come from the nearby YMCA, which refers them to me. Some others discovered the studio while passing by. This is a prime location because it is easily accessible to seniors in the neighborhood and to the elementary kids who can walk down here from school to join their parents in their practice.
HHSF: Tell me about the Parent-Toddler classes.
AL: Having these classes is primarily to get young mothers and their kids to do yoga. I have a couple of mothers who come here from the neighborhood, but I get a lot of mothers from the Mission, Bernal Heights, Sunset District, Potrero Hill. They are predominantly African American and Latino.
Armando Luna opened TriFusion Yoga in early 2015 to provide a relaxing fitness environment for the Bayview community. It is located at 4734 3rd Street directly across from the Bayview Opera House in San Francisco, CA.
Video credit: Chanelle Ignant
HHSF: How old are these kids?
AL:They are in grades one through six. Some of the mothers I teach began doing yoga when they were pregnant and came back when the children were still very young. Some kids sit next to the mother and try some yoga too. If they get restless, they go to a room at the back to do art with the teacher, Danielle Satinover. I also teach them how to chant sacred verses. Their teachers at the schools they attend tell me that when they go into the playground they sometimes hear these kids chanting. The children do headstands. To make it more fun, I change the names of the yoga poses and give them playful names. For example, the warrior pose becomes the surfer pose, Another pose I call the full flying turtle. It’s storybook time for them. The kids love it. I have been teaching some of them for about five years. When I run into them on the street, they call me Mr. Yoga.
HHSF: Is there any medical condition that impedes the practice of yoga?
AL:Some of my clients have had heart surgery, some of them have COPD, (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). Others have had back surgery and knee surgery. So I modify the poses for them. I teach what I call the senior chair yoga because I figure that seniors with knee or hip problems won’t be getting up and down from the floor.
When they see women hanging from the wall, some of them want to try it, too. The women try to encourage each other. I tell them to do whatever they can and I help them do it in a safe and comfortable way.
HHSF: How can yoga help to keep your heart healthy?
AL: First of all, yoga helps you become calm, helps you release stress, helps your focus inward. It is very meditative. But it also helps build strength and endurance. It helps you build a stronger heart. The seniors who come here tell me that after the class they sleep better, rest better, breathe better. Yoga is a lot about deep breathing. It is so good to see how the women and kids who come here can connect with themselves, and are able to shut themselves off from what is going on around them.
HHSF: Did you have a personal motivation for embracing yoga?
AL:At age 11 I was warned to be careful because I was prone to become diabetic. I had a brother who passed away from the disease. As you grow older, you are more prone to become diabetic. That stuck in my head and at some point, something clicked. And this is what I've been trying to tell the community here: as long as they keep active, keep it moving, they can live longer lives.
