A stronger, steadier yoga class with Lisa Manecke, beginning Tuesday, May 26, at Yoga Among Friends.
Some yoga stories begin with a deep spiritual calling.
Lisa Manecke’s began with a co-worker sprinting out the door with a yoga mat.
It was 1997, and Lisa was working as a marketing assistant in Indianapolis. Once a week, her marketing manager would leave work with her mat tucked under her arm. Lisa asked where she was going.
Yoga.
What Lisa noticed next stayed with her. If this co-worker missed yoga, she was not happy. But when she went, she seemed centered, energized, beautiful, and, as Lisa remembers, “soooo cool.”
So Lisa signed up for a yoga class at the Y the very next week.
“I have been hooked ever since,” she says.
“I have been hooked ever since”
From One First Class to a Lifetime of Practice
Nearly three decades later, Lisa still practices almost every day. Yoga has moved with her through many seasons of life, and it has become something she can return to again and again.
“You really don’t need anything to do it,” Lisa says. “You can do it anywhere — and I have. Any amount of yoga makes you feel better about life.”
That lived love of practice is what she brings to Grounded Power Flow, her new Tuesday evening class at Yoga Among Friends in Downers Grove.
Grounded Power Flow begins Tuesday, May 26, from 6:00–7:15 PM. This active, steady evening class blends mindful movement, breath, strength, and spacious stretching to help students release the day and reconnect to themselves.
Maybe you have had a moment like that, too — seeing someone return from yoga a little softer, lighter, or more like themselves, and wondering, What is happening in that room?
What Lisa’s Class Feels Like
Lisa describes her teaching style as traditional, with a foundation in Ashtanga-based flow. Her own practice is rooted mostly in Ashtanga, and she brings that steady structure into class in a way that is clear, curious, and accessible.
She likes to demonstrate. She likes to pause and workshop a pose. She likes helping students discover a new way in.
“I love to teach students something new,” Lisa says, “or a different way to get into a pose.”
So yes, you can expect to move.
You can expect to build heat.
You can expect strength, stretching, breath, and moments of learning along the way.
Lisa puts it more simply:
“Expect to have fun, sweat, stretch, strengthen, and breathe deeper than you’ve breathed all day.”
“Expect to have fun, sweat, stretch, strengthen, and breathe deeper than you’ve breathed all day.”
This is a full-body practice with steady movement, accessible strength-building, heart-opening stretches, and the kind of breath that helps you return to your body after a long day.
It is active, but not frantic.
Strong, but not harsh.
Grounded, but never boring.
Who Grounded Power Flow Is For
Grounded Power Flow is best for students who want a more active yoga practice that still feels mindful, grounded, and supportive.
This class may be a good fit if you are looking for:
steady movement after a long day
a class that builds strength without losing breath awareness
an evening reset that helps you release stress
a practice that feels energizing, but not frantic
a way to reconnect to your body with more presence and ease
This is not meant to be the gentlest offering on the Yoga Among Friends schedule. If you are brand new to yoga, working with an injury, or looking for a slower, more restorative class, another class may be a better starting place.
But if you are ready to move, breathe, strengthen, and leave feeling clearer than when you arrived, this class may be exactly what your Tuesday evening needs.
A Teacher with Deep Roots and a Light Heart
Lisa completed her 200-hour teacher training through Moksha Yoga Chicago in 2004, where she also managed the Lakeview studio. During that time, she immersed herself in every workshop she could.
Over the years, she has practiced with and studied among many influential teachers, including Pattabhi Jois, Ana Forrest, Tim Miller, Kino MacGregor, Shiva Rea, Seane Corn, Baron Baptiste, Rod Stryker, Dharma Mittra, and others.
That depth is part of what makes her teaching feel grounded. But Lisa does not make yoga feel overly serious or out of reach.
Her favorite teaching themes say a lot:
“Any yoga is better than no yoga.”
“Inversions are like happy pills.”
“Backbends are like pancakes. The first two don’t count.”
That is Lisa.
Deep practice, light heart.
Deep practice, light heart.
A traditional foundation, but room to laugh.
A teacher who loves yoga, lives yoga, and still remembers exactly what it felt like to be inspired by someone walking out the door with a mat.
Now she gets to be that person for someone else.
Join Lisa on Tuesday Evenings
Lisa’s hope is simple: that students leave class feeling better than when they arrived.
Less stressed. More relaxed. A little sweaty. More spacious.
And grateful they carved out the time to practice.
Join Lisa for Grounded Power Flow on Tuesdays from 6:00–7:15 PM, beginning May 26, at Yoga Among Friends in Downers Grove.
Come ready to move, breathe, strengthen, sweat a little, and leave feeling more like yourself.