vision, passion, and endurance: lillah schwartz
by sandi tomlin sutker

“I consider myself a pioneer of the Iyengar method in Western North Carolina.”

And rightfully so.

Lillah Schwartz started taking yoga classes in 1976 and was blessed to work with the master himself, BKS Iyengar. By 1979 she gained her first certification as a yoga instructor as well as a massage therapist. In 1985 she received the coveted certification as an Iyengar instructor; that same year she moved into her current space at 60 Biltmore Avenue.

THE EARLY DAYS
I first met Lillah in about 1981. She had recently moved to Asheville with new husband, Gary, and I decided to take her early Saturday morning yoga class at her new studio on North Market Street. It was housed on the top floor of what was then the Marketplace Restaurant and is now Vincenzo’s.
“It took a long time for Asheville to start warming up to yoga…everything was word-of-mouth and flyers everywhere. Once a month I talked to everyone I could: runners, the YMCA, the YWCA.”

Then in 1985 she decided to move and expand her studio to the current 60 Biltmore Avenue location. Gary moved his counseling practice into that space at the same time. “It was like going from stage ‘A’, right to stage ‘D’…skipping completely stages ‘B’ and ‘C’.

“I was the only yoga studio in town until 1992.” Bonnie Kelly taught one class early on at UNCA. Then Cindy Dollar and Marcus Hagerty opened Mountain Yoga. In those early years “it was about people getting to know you. I taught 14 classes a week back then with maybe 8 to 10 people per class.”

AND OH, BY THE WAY, SHE WAS ALSO A MOM
The move to Biltmore Avenue nearly coincided with her and Gary’s daughter, Jamila’s first birthday. I asked Lillah how she managed then, and over the years, to run her business and be a mom and wife too. “With my fingers crossed behind my back!” she laughed. “I took four weeks off after her birth and then went back part-time.

“For two years, when Jamila was pre-school age, a wonderful Warren Wilson student took care of her in exchange for yoga classes. She took her swimming, to the park…while I was able to teach two days per week.
“When Jamila was school age, on Fridays we went swimming together—I unplugged…the phone, everything, during that time. And it’s been good that Gary has flexibility. He sold his practice in 1997 and is in real estate now. So many things in yoga happen on the weekends, but I’ve always tried to adjust my schedule to accommodate family time. I only had one child, so I guess my other child was the business!”

GROWING THE BUSINESS
In the 1990’s, Lillah diversified her business. At that time the Omega Institute in upstate New York was the only place on this coast for yoga conferences. “I didn’t have the money to travel, so I brought the teachers here.” She held week-long yoga vacations at Highland Lake Inn in Flat Rock, for ten years sponsoring a female and a male Iyengar teacher to come here. There were kids’ yoga camps and day care too, so it was very family-friendly. Most years there were 35-45 people in attendance, so most years she made some profit since it took 32 people to break even!

In 1997 she started teacher training programs, pulling students from all over the southeast. 2006 will be her ninth year of offering nine weekends per year of training to 15-30 students.

Then in 1990 she made her first yoga video for healing back pain (I have loved and still have mine). In 2000 she added a companion video of therapeutic yoga for the neck and shoulders. Both are available on DVD now at Malaprop’s, Earth Fare stores in the southeast and online at lightenupyoga.com. Both videos were nationally reviewed and recommended by the likes of Dr. Andrew Weil, the Yoga Journal and Prevention Magazine.
In addition to her own projects, she added massage therapy to the mix of what her studio offered by leasing space in her building to several therapists.

ADJUSTING TO CHANGE
It’s a cliché that life is about change. In many ways business is an intensified version of that aspect of life. “Around 1997 the yoga boom started—before that there were no classes at the Y’s, so every class at Lighten Up! had about 20-25 students. Now the average class has 14 students. Also, wars and natural disasters always result in lower class attendance. So, we always have to adjust.”

Five or six years ago, when Jamila was a junior in high school (she’s now i applying to medical school!), “I was really cooked. I just wanted to teach yoga.” So she listed the studio for sale, advertised it nationally and got “lots of phone calls from people who had no clue about how to run a studio. After a year, I said, just forget it, I’ll keep doing it.”

Clearly the yoga boom has affected how Lillah runs her business. “There is a proliferation now of teachers with three years of training even beginning to train other teachers.” And the Internet has changed how she markets her yoga classes. She sends out an e-newsletter twice per month with class schedules and special offers. She doesn’t do the bulk mailings she once relied on. And she’s even cut back her local advertising.

“For years I carried the studio alone, but now you just can’t do it that way…you have to collaborate.” One example of that is a Yoga class for people with MS that she’s presenting at Cindy Dollar’s One Center Yoga studio, starting in January. She’s also hoping now to do more therapeutic private courses such as for the VA administration and small business groups.
And Lillah is beginning to simplify her business: she no longer has massage therapists in the studio space. She had planned, in October of this year, to move to a larger studio space on Hwy 74 with several other practitioners. Then she realized: “I just want to simplify and focus on offering quality yoga.” To that end, she decreased the size of the space she leases at 60 Biltmore, moved half her office home, and opened the downtown office only at limited times (Monday thru Thursdays from 9 am until 12:30 pm).
SUSTAINING THE VISIONIn September of this year, Lillah saw Mr. Iyengar again. “Seeing him, I thought, ‘Oh, I think I’ll study some more’…when you’re in the presence of someone great, you see things differently.” Now she and Cindy Dollar are going for the next level of Iyengar certification.
“It’s the toughest certification in the country. The amount one learns in preparation for this is invaluable…then it’s up to God to bring the people to us that we can help.”

She has always liked to spend at least six days per year with senior Iyengar teachers because, “yoga is a vertical tradition. It is passed on from teacher to student. You can learn some things from a book, but you really have to learn from teachers.

My classes are geared for the average person who has joint and stress difficulties and would like to get some deep relief . Plus there are good scientific studies of the poses and their application so people don’t get injured. I know bodies and I can really help people with their yoga. And I love sharing it…it’s sharing the Light.”

Lillah Schwartz has been sharing the light of yoga for over twenty-five years. And I wondered what sustains her through all the changes and keeps her, now in her 50’s, looking forward to new challenges. Her answer was a clear reflection of her vision and passion: “what sustains me is the truth of how the study of yoga and a simple yoga practice empowers individuals to relieve their own suffering.

 

Sandi Tomlin-Sutker lives with husband Sam, dog Fitzy and cat Pesto on beautiful Little Pine Creek in Madison County. She retired from retail in the past year and now relishes working full-time on WNC Woman magazine.