Jacci Gruninger in her yoga practice at 190 Central Park Square, #209. Courtesy photo

Jacci Gruninger offers yoga instruction, yoga therapy and Thai Yoga Massage Therapy. Courtesy photo

By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

Jacci Gruninger, MS, C-IAYT, ERYT500, is bringing her extensive experience and knowledge of yoga and Thai Yoga Therapy to Los Alamos.

Gruninger opened her yoga practice, Yoga with Jacci Inspired Be-ing, Monday at 190 Central Park Square, #209.

While she does have a physical location, Gruninger also is offering her services on YouTube channel and offers livestream classes through her website, https://www.athomeyogaandwellbeing.com/.

While small  group classes are not being offered, Gruninger is providing one-on-one yoga therapy and Thai Yoga Massage Therapy for clients. She is a certified COVID safe business in New Mexico.

Those who seek her services will discover Gruninger has a lot of experience. She said she has done Thai Yoga Massage Therapy since 2008, and has taught yoga for 22 years. She has been a certified Yoga Therapist for the last seven years.

Thai massage and yoga therapy are two different practices, Gruninger said, but they do compliment each other.

She explained that yoga therapy is relatively new; it was started in 2011-2012 and was established by  the International Association of Yoga Therapists.

Yoga Therapy takes the tenants of yoga: postures, breathing, meditation and philosophy and helps people deal with stress, chronic pain, anxiety and depression, Gruninger said.

A yoga therapist will put together a “prescription” of different practices and philosophies to help create more balance for their clients. If a client is feeling pain like back pain, headaches or  stress, then Gruninger and the client will work on different yoga teachings to manage that stress and pain.

There also is a philosophical component, Gruninger said.  She works with the Yamas and Niyamas, philosophy from the Bhagavad Gita about living a right life as well as philosophy from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika.

“Yoga is really about how I choose to live my life everyday, it’s not about just practicing yoga,” she said. “The practice on the mat helps inform who I am as a human being.”

The practice with clients is not fixed; Gruninger said she likes to meet with clients at least three times. She encourages her clients to offer feedback so she can adjust the practice.

Thai Yoga Massage Therapy, on the other hand, “is sometimes called lazy man’s yoga,” Gruninger said. “Thai practice also works the physical body, the emotional body, and the mental body.”

However, rather than guiding a client through different practices, Gruninger is doing the work on the client.

Gruninger said she uses a big mat or cushion on the floor. Unlike other massages, clients keep their clothes on and Gruninger moves their bodies through various yoga poses.  She joked that one of the things that drew her to Thai massage was she did not want to touch people who were naked.

She explained that Thai Massage is based on the belief that there are energy lines running through the body and these energy lines are activated by pressing on the lines with the hands, elbows, finger, knees or feet.  In Thailand, Thai Massage is a component of the medical system and used as a complement for all types of ailments.

Thai Yoga Therapy teaches the body on a cellular level that it can be moved but still be relaxed, Gruninger said.

This style of massage works for everyone, she added, “for the couch potato to the athlete.”

As for her yoga practices, Gruninger said her background is in Kripalu and Pranakriya yoga. She said her practices are very meditative and breathing focused so clients can get in touch with what is going on in their bodies and minds

“We are already enlightened, we just forget it,” she said. “The idea is to learn about yourself (and come) back to who you really are.”

Wellness is something Gruninger has always been interested in.

She has a Masters in Health Science from The George Washington University and subsequently ran The George Washington University Wellness Program before moving on to create and run a wellness program for Arlington County Government employees. Gruninger said she taught “everything under the sun” from cycling to water aerobics.

When she hired a yoga instructor to do yoga classes for her staff, the instructor encouraged Gruninger to attend as well.

“It changed my world,” she said.

She started doing yoga once a week with a teacher as well as practicing at home. When she told her teacher she wanted to become a yoga teacher, she recommended she read “Yoga For Dummies,” which introduced Gruninger to all different types of yoga. After reading and trying the different types, she settled on the practice of Kripalu Yoga.

After having her son, Gruninger decided to open her own yoga studio. She also passed on her own knowledge by training more than 400 yoga instructors over the last 12 years.

“It’s just been incredibly rewarding,” Gruninger said.

Although she loves the energy and community of teaching group classes, she also enjoys working individually with clients.

“Working with individual clients, I love to see the lightbulb go off when they become aware of one of their own behaviors or habits  that aren’t  serving them,” Gruninger said. “And sharing with them a technique or series of tools to continue to strengthen their container – physical body, emotional body, mental body and breath body.”

Gruninger said she moved to Santa Fe in 2008 and she missed the community that can be found in a yoga studio. She compared it to being like a church congregation.

With the pandemic, Gruninger said she wasn’t sure she could create that same community online, but people greet each other at the beginning of classes and her virtual practices get nationwide participation.

“…people are making new friends … so it is still really powerful,” she said.

There are other perks to the job.

I like being my own boss,” Gruninger said. “I’ve been running my own business since 2003 … I like most of the autonomy of it (and that) I can choose where to put my energy and what I want to do.”

Plus, she describes herself as a self-starter; she likes to get things done and to have the opportunity to change her mind.

“It really just allows me to work with people and be present with people,” Gruninger said. “One of the nicest things about yoga is that it is so diverse, you will find the teacher and the practice that works best for you.”