| FACES |
STORY BY ANNE REED
SHARING THE
POWER OF YOGA The Chiodo family celebrates Joyful Yoga & Spa’s 15th anniversary as they take instruction virtual. Led by family matriarch Tess Chiodo and her two daughters, Jacqueline Chiodo and Emily Cioffi, Joyful Yoga is one of the oldest yoga studios in Southwest Florida. In the pre-shelter-in-place world, the beautiful, light-filled studio had the quiet bustle of students and teachers arriving for classes or sessions. Now? Tess, Jacqueline, Emily and their staff have gone digital, offering classes first through Facebook Live and now through Zoom and sharing articles on the benefits of meditation and more through their social media pages. That willingness to change, to change and meet the needs of the people around them, is something that started 50 years ago
in Southern California. “I was a Catholic schoolgirl and got into yoga as my thing,” Tess says. After marrying her high school sweetheart, “he went off the rails. I found out TM was being taught at a local community college in San Bernardino.” TM is transcendental meditation, created by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the mid1950s. It became popular in the 1960s and 1970s as celebrities embraced the practice, which involves using a silent mantra to meditate for a period of time daily. It is taught by certified teachers and is used as a method for stress reduction, self-development and relaxation.
Jacqueline, Tess and Emily
14 | SUMMER 2020 | grandeurmagazine.com
PHOTOS SPECIAL TO GRANDEUR
ifteen years in Southwest Florida time seems like forever. In a land filled with seasonal residents, recent transplants and what seems like a new gated community every month, anything that survives here for a decade is rare. It takes patience, care and, in this current COVID-19 climate, flexibility. All three things one can find through the practice of yoga. Joyful Yoga & Spa in Bonita Springs is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year.
