Published: April 17, 2007 12:02 pm    PrintThis  

Yoga classes raise money to help abused women, chldren

TOPSFIELD -- On Saturday mornings, local yoga enthusiasts raise money for a worthwhile cause the best way they know how -- by bending, stretching and relaxing.

The ABT Yoga Studio on South Main Street holds the weekly class at about half at the cost, with all the money going to benefit Help for Abused Women and their Children, a Salem-based organization that offers free and confidential domestic violence programs and services.

"We donate our time, and they donate their money," said ABT co-owner Anne Trevenen.

At $7 a head, and a constant class size of at least seven each Saturday at 9 a.m., the ABT team is able to donate at least $50 a week to HAWC. Often, guests choose to donate $10 or more to the cause.

"I don't know of any other way where you can raise that money in an hour and half, and everyone enjoys it," Trevenen said.

Trevenen, a Topsfield native, runs the studio with her husband, Australian-born Ken Lidden, and Shirley Pantoliano, a colleague from A Body Transformed, a massage therapy establishment in the same building.

ABT Yoga opened its doors on Jan. 3, and the couple realized that running a class to benefit the community would be an important part of the studio's existence. Yoga focuses on health of the mind, body, and spirit and supporting the overall health of ABT's neighbors became a top priority.

"We decided to do the community class just to share, and give back to the community," Lidden said.

The pairing of yoga and abuse prevention is a logical choice for the couple, who said yoga is all about nonviolence. And the marriage between ABT and HAWC has also turned out to be a worthwhile relationship for all involved. Some HAWC volunteers even come to the class.

"I had known of them for a long time," Trevenen said. "They're such a small organization, but they do so much with so little. And even in a town that looks this good, (abuse) is still an issue."

After slightly more than three months of business, Lidden said "there's a sense of momentum happening now" as they try to develop classes. Their first trial class, Family Yoga, had 25 people at the debut a few weeks ago. Yoga Kids and Yoga Tot and Mom are being added to their schedule in April. Their hope is that the lessons of yoga will help their students flourish as individuals.

"If you teach them to have self awareness, they're more likely to do what they want to do," Trevenen said. "You make different choices when they come from a good place."