Yoga for everyone

Yoga offers tremendous benefits at several levels, according to Birmingham yoga teacher Bailey Davis. “It’s a connection to self — mentally, emotionally, physically,” she said. “It changes the energy of who you are.”

And the ancient practice isn’t reserved for a narrow demographic, Davis said. 

“Yoga can benefit anyone or everyone, whether they come from physical pain or emotional pain or if they have a lot of mental chatter and want that mindfulness, to be able to sit with — and just be with — whatever arises,” she said.

Her deep belief in yoga’s benefits led Davis, along with collaborator Dawn Cassizzi, to open Beacon Yoga, a studio and lifestyle shop, in January in the Avondale Mills Shopping Center on Fourth Avenue South.

 “I’m very passionate about yoga,” Cassizzi said, calling the discipline “life changing.”

In fact, Cassizzi said she and Davis “want to make yoga accessible for everyone” and make a positive contribution to the community by gradually introducing numerous donation-based yoga classes. That community awareness extends to their retail shop, which offers exclusively eco-conscious apparel and other products.

Cassizzi said we “should raise our awareness about how we are shopping and spending our money and what goes into the things that we buy.”

The women both believe that yoga and similar practices will play a positive role in the future of the human race.

Cassizzi grew up in Plantersville and has lived in Birmingham since 2002. A Crestwood resident, she’s worked in retail since she was 18 and managed several stores. She’s also done social media and marketing. 

Originally from Fairhope, Davis lived in Colorado from 2011-14. 

“That’s where I fell in love with yoga,” she said. 

Davis moved to Birmingham in 2014, where she completed her first yoga teacher training at Life Power Yoga. She lives in Avondale. Both have practiced yoga for years — Davis for about a decade and Cassizzi since 2000.

The women met about a year and a half ago, and Cassizzi took classes from Davis. “She’s one of my favorite teachers ever,” Cassizzi said.

They started Beacon Yoga in the spring of 2018 and both wanted a permanent location.

“I’ve done retail my whole life and I always knew that I wanted to open a shop and that the point of view of the shop would fit in with the thinking of the same people who would practice yoga — mindfulness not only in how you move your body, but how you spend your money,” Cassizzi said.

“I knew I wanted to create a community, a spiritual home that I really hadn’t found in Birmingham,” Davis said.

Beacon offers 18 classes weekly in a variety of styles, including a donation-based “Karma Flow” class every Sunday at 11 a.m.

”We’ll be giving the proceeds to a local charity or family in need every three months,” Cassizzi said, referring to the Sunday class.

Beacon also offers other donation-based classes on a weekly basis. Beacon actually started as a donation-based class — also on Sundays — at Avondale Brewing in early 2017, according to Davis.

Davis describes her yoga teaching style as “a flow style of vinyasa” that focuses on “moving with the breath” and “linking breath to movement.” She said she’s drawn to yoga’s “spiritual aspect” and tries to “weave that into” her classes at Beacon.

The sessions include mudras, or hand gestures; mantras, or chants; and “music that really has a deep beat that can move people,” Davis said.

All the products the women sell are U.S.-made and come from brands that focus on sustainability and ethical production and manufacturing, according to Cassizzi.

Teeki and Yoga Democracy make yoga leggings that feel like traditional leggings, but Teeki uses recycled plastic water bottles, and Yoga Democracy uses water bottles and recycled fishing nets, according to Cassizzi. The Groceries Apparel brand uses fabrics made with organic cotton, eucalyptus and bamboo. Beacon carries a variety of other items, including sage, incense, chocolate, biodegradable glitter and topical CBD (cannabidiol) health products from Blue Ridge Hemp and Thought Cloud.

In addition to regular yoga classes, Beacon offers workshops and special events. The studio recently presented a pop-up flow class, called “Beats and Breath,” with local musician John Scalici playing percussion, according to Cassizzi.

Beacon’s location, in East Avondale near Crestwood, is a good one, Cassizzi said. The area “is obviously growing.”

“And we both live here,” Davis said. “We are already invested in this community and we wanted to keep it at home.”

Davis believes that yoga is growing in popularity in Birmingham and elsewhere. An increasing number of doctors and physical therapists “are recommending their patients get into yoga for that physical well-being, as well as mindfulness,” she said.

“I think, overall, the consciousness of humanity is rising, and I think yoga plays a part in that,” Cassizzi said.

The partners also have their business name to remind them of their mission.

“A beacon is a guide, a light that provides direction,” Cassizzi said. “We aspire, as a business, to be that light that gives our community the tools to continue to grow their own light — through yoga, fellowship and increasing overall awareness of our impact on the environment.” 

For more information, go to beaconyoga.love.