DECATUR - The participants shed their shoes, coats and other trappings of the day. For 45 minutes, the soft glow of Christmas lights illuminate the perimeter of the room and gentle melodies play in the background, providing ambiance for Shelli Reinhardt's yoga class at the Decatur Family YMCA.

The participants, led by Reinhardt, flow from pose to pose, allowing the stress of the day to melt away as they challenge themselves, using their own body weight as resistance.

Reinhardt said yoga, which originally was just one of many fitness classes and activities in which she took part or instructed, has become central to her health and way of life. She has been teaching it for six years.

"We sit at computers all day," Reinhardt said. "We sit in our car, and we're all hunched over forward. We need to lengthen and decompress and allow ourselves to breathe fully again. I think we're so busy and so stimulated these days that it's really just time to recuperate."

Linda Scribner, another instructor at the YMCA, has been teaching yoga for two years. She started off teaching Pilates, and she said the transition to yoga was a natural evolution and an easy transition.

Scribner said one of the best health benefits of yoga as exercise is the core strength it provides. "All your energy starts at your core and extends out through your extremities."

The breathing techniques taught in yoga class are central to the movements, Scribner said, and they add to a person's ability to relax on and off the yoga mat.

"The breathing alone can really bring some relaxation and focus in," she said. "And, you know, in this busy life, don't we all need that?"

Scribner said yoga creates a general sense of well being for her.

"You bring the mind and the body and the spirit together at once," she said. "So it's not just exercise."

Scribner said yoga is becoming more popular locally. People were asking for it at the YMCA, and many evening classes are full. The Decatur Indoor Sports Center and other gyms and centers also offer classes for those wanting to maintain an active lifestyle and improve strength.

"They'll see flexibility, so they'll be able to stretch in ways they haven't before," Allison Krich, group fitness supervisor at the DISC said.

Yoga builds strength from supporting your body weight in different ways, she added, which leads to longer, leaner, more toned muscles.

"It also can provide some pain prevention," Krich said.

Dr. Edward Elliott, director of Decatur Memorial Hospital's radiation oncology department, said he has been doing yoga for three years. He started with a beginner class, and he said he has seen increases in his flexibility and strength.

"I think it just makes me more relaxed in my daily life," Elliott said.

He added that studies link yoga practice to better treatment tolerance and an improved outlook on life for cancer patients. When DMH completes construction of its new cancer center, Elliott said, some patients will have a chance to try yoga and other complementary medical practices that can ease the stress, pain and tension of battling cancer.

Janet Wilks, a nurse who works with Elliott, said he encouraged her to try it out, and now she and her sister, a former gymnast, attend Reinhardt's weekly night class at the YMCA.

"Relaxation is a big benefit," Wilks said. "It's almost like you can walk out of the class and things just look better."

Dr. Elizabeth Jones, a pathologist at DMH, is another medical professional who touts the health benefits of regular yoga. She has been practicing it for a little more than a year and said it stopped back pain and increased her ability to relax, balance and handle stress.

"Even if you can just do it five minutes a day," Scribner said, the benefits one will feel are worth the time and effort. She suggested sun salutations, a series of movements that warm the body and create some energy to start the day.

The instructors both agreed that yoga is something people from all walks of life and all skill levels can do with the various modifications available.

Scribner encouraged people to try different forms of yoga until they find one that is right for them.

"If they're not doing yoga, they should be doing something for themselves," she said. "It's a good way to find a 'you time.' "

Annie Getsinger can be reached at agetsinger@herald-review.com or 421-6968.