By Tracy Green

Rita is not only a very experienced yoga teacher, she is also an entrepreneur who likes to give back to the community she lives in.
Originally from New York, Rita feels like she has found her heart in Texas after living here for more than three decades. It was in Houston that she found yoga in 1977 when she took her first yoga class.

In 1999 she took a teacher’s training with Doug Swenson. On this style of yoga, Rita mentions that she likes Ashtanga yoga because “it is fun, challenging and helped me to become a better teacher” as for Kundalini yoga she remembers that “a student gave me a tape and it was an amazing experience, I like the meditation and the different breathing techniques that this system offers”
Rita also finished a training program specifically geared to teach yoga in health clubs.  After completing three different teacher’s training programs and more than 35 years of practicing yoga she has developed her own eclectic style. In her own words she describe her style  “I specialize in Kundalini Yoga, the yoga of awareness, as taught by Yogi Bhajan. Kundalini yoga includes sound vibration, meditation, movement and relaxation.”

Committed to bringing the benefits and joys of yoga to her town, Rita initiated the first yoga classes offered in Longview, TX at a local athletic club where she taught for 2.5 years.  In 2002, she opened her own yoga studio, and continued teaching in East Texas until she and her husband moved to San Marcos.

For Rita “The practice of yoga enhances your life with a dynamic workout for the Mind, Body and Spirit. Breath is your Life Force…the connection with 
breath along with the gentle movement of yoga can help you stay focused.”

Through the years, Rita has noticed that her students report that the practice of yoga helps them to find more peace in their life, become limber and more content.

Rita has been living in San Marcos, TX for 6 years. She stopped teaching to settle down in her new home and to work on a Yoga DVD that is about to go out.  It is call “Yoga with Rita” that includes two 50 minutes yoga sessions and a relaxation session after each one.

Rita and her husband  also opened a Natural Food Market. Rita’s Natural Food Market is not your regular food market, it is a locally owned discount health, natural food and nutritional supplement store located in New Braunfels, Texas. Its prices are almost 40% less than suggested retail prices on name brand products.

For Rita eating right and exercising properly along with a yoga practice are the best way to be healthy in body and mind.

Rita will be teaching a Kundalini workshop in May at Two Rivers Yoga.

For more information about Rita’s classes log into http://www.yogarita.com/index.html or to spritsong@austin.rr.com