The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

If you are looking for an opportunity to stretch and grow in a supportive environment, you might consider Let it Be Yoga with Linda Krohn, who is offering a class every Wednesday morning from 10-11 a.m. at the River Rat on Broadway.

Krohn has been practicing yoga for 15 years and teaching for the last four. She got her start in the practice when a girlfriend talked her into joining a hot yoga class in Puyallup.

"I thought I was going to die," Krohn remembered, laughing.

She didn't, obviously. What she did do was get addicted to the heat of hot yoga.

Unfortunately, she had to give it up when covid-19 hit. Krohn began exploring other forms of yoga and got her first certification for teaching the gentle style of vinyasa.

I generally work with beginners or seniors," Krohn said.

She recently taught chair yoga to some ladies with a yacht club at the marina, and on July 14, she will be teaching a free yoga class sponsored by local Realtor Lacey Vik for Bald Eagle Days at the River Mile 38 Taproom at 1130 a.m. for anyone who would like to try it out.

She was already teaching yoga at the YMCA in Longview, when a friend suggested Krohn ask the question online, that would ascertain whether there was any interest in a local yoga class.

"It's been incredible," she said. "I've had a huge response."

She's had as many as 12 people in her class and now she is considering starting an evening class on Thursdays. She's even open to offering classes on Zoom in the future.

Classes cost $10, and she has a 10 classes, get one free punchcard. She takes cash, check Venmo and Zelle.

"Just show up," Krohn said. "Bring a mat if you have one."

If you don't, don't worry. She has extras, and props as well.

"I bill it as a beginner class," Krohn said, "but I also offer more advanced options. I think it's been mostly beginners in my class, though I do have a couple people who are more advanced."

"I hope I make people feel comfortable being in their own bodies," she added. "We're not Barbie Dolls, Do what actually feels good for you and not what your neighbor is doing."

"Yoga can be as hard or easy as you want to make it," she said. "I live by 'movement is improvement' no matter what you are doing. I usually ask people individually how they are feeling and if they have special needs. Or joint replacements or whatever. People with arthritis in their hips or knees, there are certain poses we can do to help with that. Joint pain in general, just getting some movement and using your body to the way it feels comfortable for you, but not in a dangerous way."

She emphasizes learning your own body.

"I think yoga gives you the time and space to do that," Krohn said. "I like to ground people so they are tuning in to each body part. I had one lady start crying the other day because it can open you up to a lot of emotions, which is totally normal."

Krohn and her husband are new to the community. They raised their kids in Puyallup and then headed to Boise for an "empty nesting adventure."

It was fantastic, Krohn said, but after seven years it was time to return to western Washington.

Her husband grew up fishing the Grays River and the Naselle River with a friend who lives in the area, and when a job offer came open nearby, Cathlamet came up on their house buying radar.

They found a home and have been remodeling it since October.

"We're super happy and we are in between our kids," Krohn said, "with one in Hillsboro and the other in Tacoma."

"This little town is magical, and I'm feeling super thankful for it," Krohn added.