Yoga Instructor Kate Graham Teaching at Intentional Wellness in Katonah

Kate Graham, a longtime yoga teacher in northeastern Westchester, is now offering classes at the Intentional Wellness & Yoga Center in Katonah. 

She's offering a ropes course and a gentle Iyengar course on Wednesdays at the studio's Katonah home, 173 Katonah Ave. (Intentional Wellness also offers classes in Bedford, Somers, Chappaqua, Millwood, Bedford Hills & Mount Kisco.)

Graham is also promoting the county's third-annual summer solstice yoga mega-meetup, an event in which she has participated since its beginning in 2012.

The event brings hundreds of people to close a street in White Plains doing yoga together under the guidance of a celebrity teacher. Called "Get on Your Mat for Mental Health", it is sponsored by the Mental Health Association of Westchester and supported by a host of sponsors and participating yoga studios.

Kate loves the diversity of the crowd that attends "Get on Your Mat" every year because it demonstrates something important about yoga she'd like more people to know. 

"People often think of yoga as being for someone who is flexible," she said. "Yoga is for everyone."

And she knows personally the benefits of yoga—both physically and mentally.

"When I first came to yoga over twenty years ago, I was working in a very demanding job in NYC. I struggled with upper back pain and bouts of anxiety and panic attacks," she said. "I tried doctors and medication 
for my back pain. After just a few months of practicing yoga, I found that my upper back pain was gone. Eventually I was able to reduce my anxiety and reduce my panic issues dramatically."

Click to find out about Kate's classes at Intentional Wellness and at Yoga Sol in Croton. 

Click here to find out more or register for Get On Your Mat 2014.