Lorraine Kermond will be holding monthly yoga classes at the Conway Public Library this summer to benefit White Mountain Community Health Center. The classes will be on Thursday evenings, on June 6 from 5-6 pm, July 23 from 5-6 pm, and August 13 from 4:30-5:30 pm. Classes are by donation, and half of all proceeds will go to support the health center’s programs and services.
Lorraine is a Registered Yoga Teacher certified through the Kripalu School of Yoga. Her mission is to create a welcoming and empowering space where people of all backgrounds and body types can embrace health, happiness, and wellness through yoga.
I talked to Lorraine to find out more about her approach to yoga and why she’s started offering yoga to benefit local nonprofits.
This is the third time you’re offering yoga as a fundraiser! What gave you the idea to do this?
I recently retired, after 40 years of working in the nonprofit sector in dementia care, so my heart has always been with nonprofits. I became a certified yoga instructor in January, and I thought how cool it would be to combine these two worlds. Mount Washington Valley is so rich in nonprofits, and it’s been great learning more about all of them. At the class I do a brief overview of the nonprofit, and ask for suggestions from participants for local nonprofits they support. I’ve already done classes to benefit the Camden Bailey Cancer Foundation and the Jackson Cross Country Bill Koch Youth Nordic Program, and I’ll be offering classes for Starting Point as well.
Why did you choose White Mountain Community Health Center?
Someone had attended my first yoga class and recommended it. The more I learned about your organization, the more I realized how aligned it is with what I’ve done. Making services accessible to all is so important to me. It’s important to me in how I offer my yoga classes too, making it possible for anyone to come. My classes are pay what you can – you can come and pay nothing, and you’re just as welcome as someone who donates $20. The mission of your organization is wonderful, making sure everyone can access healthcare.
Tell me about your yoga practice – what makes it unique?
I offer yoga for every body type, and every person. I make sure there are adaptions to every pose, so anyone who joins the class can feel comfortable. Giving people their own agency to alter a pose so it works better for them is really important. I don’t know who’s coming to each class, and what they’re bringing with them. It’s important to me to be really sensitive to that, and to offer a class that’s trauma-informed and empowers participants to use their agency and feel in control of what they’re doing with their body.
The other piece is offering yoga in spaces that are more accessible. Yoga studios are wonderful, they offer so many options. But it can be intimidating for someone who hasn’t done yoga before. I like bringing yoga to places people already go, like the library, where they feel comfortable. It’s important to me to break down those barriers of cost as well as location, and to bring yoga to different communities.
That’s wonderful. I know I’ve felt intimidated by yoga before, feeling like you have to have to have a certain kind of body or be flexible to go to a yoga class. But it feels wonderful when you do go, when it’s in an inclusive environment.
At the beginning of every class I share that this is a class for YOU – this is your time, your practice. In any pose, there are endless ways to do that pose, based on what works for your body. Yoga isn’t about perfecting a pose or looking a certain way. It’s about breathing, becoming aware of your own body. It’s an opportunity to connect the breath, the movement, and the mind. It’s about changing the fight or flight mode we’re often in, and instead providing a safe place where people can breathe, settle in, and feel a little more grounded.
I want to build a safe place where people can feel seen, included, safe, and grounded, no matter where they’re coming from, whether it’s people with different body shapes, the LGBTQ+ community, or people from different cultures and races. I feel strongly when I offer a class that I want to offer a safe space for everyone.
Why should someone try yoga if they haven’t done it before?
It’s always hard to try something new, but there are so many benefits to yoga. There’s a physical benefit of course – increasing your strength, mobility, endurance, flexibility. But also, yoga uses the breath and movement to activate the part of the brain that gives us a calm response. Life is chaotic, and having an hour that you offer yourself to breathe, and ground, and let go of the rumination and thoughts our minds might be stuck on – it’s like giving your brain a vacation.
I think of yoga as letting go – letting go of the tension in the body, but also letting go of thinking about the past and worrying about the future. Even if you get carried away by these thoughts again, teachers will give you a cue to bring your mind back to the present. Doing that can be really transformative for the body and the soul. A lot of time we feel stress in the body before we feel it in our mind. Yoga can get to that cellular level of stress. And what we practice on the mat teaches you a practice for life, to become aware of the tension in your body and use the breath to soften and release it.
For me personally, I had a debilitating back injury that left me with chronic pain. At my first yoga class I was petrified to move and cause more injury. But by going at my own pace, little by little, I was able to heal and strengthen my lower back by practicing yoga on a regular basis. I still sometimes need to adjust postures based on what my back needs on any given day. But that is the great part of yoga, you can tailor every pose and every class to meet your own needs.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
If you work for a local nonprofit, I’d love to hear from you! I’ve been doing my own research, and hearing from people in my classes about local nonprofits doing great work in our community, but I welcome people from nonprofits reaching out to me directly as well.
To learn more, contact Lorraine by emailing ldkermond@gmail.com or texting (781) 799-3568. Limited yoga mats will be available at the class, please bring your own mat or contact Lorraine ahead of time to reserve a mat.
White Mountain Community Health Center offers comprehensive primary care to men, women and children, including dental care, behavioral health, substance use disorder treatment, reproductive health, dietitian services, and care coordination, regardless of ability to pay. To learn more or become a patient, visit their website at whitemountainhealth.org or call (603) 447-8900.