BY GINNY PRIVITAR
WEST MILFORD — You might say Donna Fauerback comes from a family whose focus is on fitness. The yoga instructor opened her studio, West Milford Hot Yoga, last fall in the karate studio run by her brother, Alan Mendilo, Jr. Her father, Alan Mendilo, Sr., had operated a karate studio for 40 years in Wayne. Her brother now operates the business and he wanted to expand the options available to the community, and make it more of a fitness center, so a yoga studio was a natural choice.
Fauerback said she has been practicing yoga for about 10 years, but was not certified.
“For the past couple of years, I wanted to get certified, but I could never fit it into my schedule," said Fauerback, who works in sales during the day. "So when my brother opened the center, it forced me to do it.”
She obtained her 200-hour certificate through Yoga Alliance and has been teaching yoga for about a year.
Fauerback offers hot yoga, which, as she says, is more on the warm side; the temperature is kept at 80 degrees. There are different types of yoga and she prefers Vinyasa yoga, a slow form that all levels can do. She said the benefit from hot yoga is that it makes the practitioner sweat more and increases metabolism, while enabling muscles to stretch more.
The studio also offers a class at room temperature.
The typical class is one hour. Fauerback said she feels an hour is a good amount of time, and students will feel they have gotten a lot out of it.
Most of Fauerback's students are new to yoga. She offers classes three evenings a week. Hot yoga classes are Mondays and Thursdays from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and Fauerback says they are not extremely hot.
"The hot yoga class really depends on you,” Fauerback said. “The teacher will make modifications. For a beginner, poses are modified to suit.” There are resting poses for those who want a break, she added. Whether you’re a first-timer or an advanced student, both can get a satisfying class and a good workout, she added.
Classes without heat are on Wednesdays from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. and involve extra stretching. She describes it as a more restorative class.
The fee is $12 for a drop-in class.
De-stress with yoga
Yoga is the perfect way to de-stress, Fauerback said. It relaxes you as well as provides exercise, so you get mind and body benefits.Fauerback has been married to her husband, Kurt, who happens to have a second degree black belt in karate, for more than 22 years. They have a son, Billy, 16, and daughters Faith, almost 14, and Angel, 13. Of the three, Angel is the biggest fan of yoga.
“I was not allowed to date unless I took a women’s self-defense course," said Fauerback about her family's connection to karate. She grew up in Wayne, where her dad had his business for many years.
Fauerback lives in Verona, but is very pleased to have her studio in West Milford.
“We’re pretty new (to the community)," she said, adding that her students are a special group. "Our students are willing to try anything and they’re always so friendly. It says a lot about the community; they’re very welcoming. And it’s just a nice environment.”