The mission of Alligator Healing Arts YOGA is to provide an environment of contemplation, rejuvenation, and inspiration for those interested in yoga, to develop committed practice and connect with like-minded friends. Traditional hatha yoga is the foundation of all instruction, with meditation as the central goal. All offerings are taught by highly qualified, dedicated teachers with a regular meditation practice. We share techniques of asana (postures), breathwork (pranayama), philosophy and self-study, and meditation to foster clarity, radiant well-being, and joy.
The purpose of practice and study with AHA YOGA is to elucidate our best and cultivate the beauty in, around, and through us.
Alligator Healing Arts Yoga, or simply, “AHA! Yoga,” is the passionate work of Virginia Hill. Virginia Hill grew up in Lake City, Florida, and is not only a seventh generation Floridian, but a seventh generation Columbia Countian. Her first love is academia, and she served as a museum specialist and college instructor until 2012, teaching, researching, and writing in the fields of cultural theory, with emphases on theories of the self (dovetails into yoga philosophy!) and race critical theory.
After being away from Columbia County, Florida, for eighteen years, she returned–dragging her heels, kicking, and screaming–in 2012. Little did she know at the time, but this harrowing and most difficult period of her life would eventually transform into a time and place of renewal, opening her life to previously unimagined possibilities and deepest joys. As part of her own healing path and synthesizing her years of scholarly training, she turned her long-standing yoga practice and love of learning into her life’s work. She began offering private group classes and individual sessions in Lake City, Florida, during the winter of 2016. These sessions began with just a few students, but quickly grew. She also began teaching in community spaces including churches and Halpatter Brewing Co. Dottie Price of Suwannee River Yoga also invited her to teach in White Springs, where she offered workshops and specialty courses, including Yoga for Grief & Life Transitions, beginning November of 2017 (one weekly Yoga for Strength & Vitality in White Springs is still an option).
While her teaching continued to grow, Virginia also expanded her training, completing, in addition to other specialized seminars, her 500-hour Yoga Teacher Training at the Himalayan Institute. Most importantly, her personal practice continued to expand, as she studied more Sanskrit and made Mantra Sadhana (mantra practice) central.
In July of 2018, kismet ensured AHA Yoga would continue to thrives and even expand, and a new space came into the works. After months of renovation to create an environment just right for her vision, in October 2018, Virginia opened her new practice and study space on the tranquil banks of Lake DeSoto in downtown Lake City. AHA Yoga is now located at 305 East Duval, Suite 101, Lake City, Florida. The entrance faces the water, and courses are offered from sunset to sundown. Once a week, Virginia also teaches at Suwannee River Yoga in White Springs.
Virginia’s favorite place to practice is still her beloved “Yoga House,” complete with a long-standing flower garden and refinished 1940s wooden floors, in the former home of her grandparents. You’ll still find blossoms from the Yoga House adorning the windows of the AHA Yoga studio at 305 East Duval Street. (Fresh flowers are a mainstay at AHA Yoga, and remind us of many of the basics of yoga philosophy!)
If you are interested in private instruction, learn all about Virginia’s signature Yoga Mentoring program here. Mentoring is still available, though there is space for only one student; only serious students ready for a regular practice will be accepted.
If you would like to know more about Virginia’s training, you can read about it here. You may also want to browse the recent feature about her in Currents Magazine as well as the Lake City 2019 Community Information Guide. Stay tuned to be part of this exciting growth!
Check here for the weekly class schedule. Virginia also hosts specialty one-day Workshops, Masterclasses, and special yoga events. Her next Yoga for Beginners series–always in high demand!–begins April 2019. This course is now full; join the community mailing list here if you are eager to join the next term. All classes require an RSVP, and you need to check in and make sure Virginia is the right teacher for you. She is open to teaching all levels, and works with yoga and meditation students students committed to their own inner growth and attuned toward awareness with sincerity, depth, and discipline. If you are looking for entertainment, physical fitness, or casual practice, this might not be your yoga home. If you are seeking more concentration, self-reflection, and steady methods for self-realization or at least curiosity and wonder, then this might be the place to share your practice and gifts.
Through AHA Yoga, Virginia specializes in teaching yoga to beginners, experienced students seeking to deepen their practice, and those prepared to develop a traditional meditation practice. Virginia places special emphasis on cultivating internal peace and refinement of inner capacities of mind for those who experience various stress- and trauma-related symptoms, or those simply ready to reach within to focus on their life’s purpose. Contact her for more information.
Want to learn yoga tips and stay in the loop about upcoming series, events, and workshops? Join Virginia’s e-mail community by subscribing here. You can also get event reminders, inspirational tidbits, and announcements by following her on Facebook; click here, or check out yoga photos are more on our Instagram.
Please e-mail (alligatoryoga@gmail.com) if you have any questions, or would like to meet the teacher. You can also simply fill out the contact form at the bottom of this page.
AHA! Yoga also welcomes invitations for Wellness, History, & Philosophy of Yoga speaking engagements, along with Corporate Yoga, which are events to introduce yoga basics to encourage healthy lifestyles, stress reduction, and inner reflection and rejuvenation within community groups. These sessions are designed to serve needs of specific populations. AHA! Yoga teaches regular people: yoga is for everybody and every body. The purpose of yoga is to create vitality, peace of mind, and self-realization, which is everyone’s purpose (we simply forget!).
Follow our website links for more about the instructor, class schedules, contact information, and yoga styles. For more about the physical and mental benefits of yoga, click “Why Yoga?” New to yoga and not sure what to expect? Read some tips here. For types and methods of yoga that are taught at AHA! Yoga, see our discussion here. Still not sure about yoga? Check out some of our blog posts.
More on “Why ALLIGATOR?” coming soon. Stay tuned.
Image Source: http://www.whats-your-sign.com/symbolic-alligator-meaning-and-crocodile-meaning.html
