Today we’d like to introduce you to Stewart Yaros.
Hi Stewart, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was a ballet dancer and then a ballroom dancer, and then a ten dancer both ballroom and Latin dance. I had created and ran a Ballroom and Latin Dance School in Austin called Dance International for many years and did some teaching at UT as well as doing festivals with the city’s arts commission. During running my school, one of my students said they stopped seeing their therapist because of me, which was a big eye-opener for me. I started to notice the influence and effect I was having on students. Yes movement, music, and a caring all played a role. At this time, I started to look into health-related topics to better help. Things like yoga, tai chi, meditation, energy work, nutrition, music/sound, etc… all played an interest in my growth and inquiries. It finally led me to creating Balance Health a health and wellness program. The hope and intent is to help people be healthier and happier. There are four main aspects to the program; exercise, nutrition, nature, and mindfulness & meditation. I also created four programs for people to choose from: Moving Forward, Getting Grounded, the Jedi, and Mastery, www.balancehealth.guru. The programs are easy to access and affordable. You can call me with questions: 512-970-1343.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It took a while to formulate it in my head and then get it to paper, but it’s moving along now. But the hardest challenge is that I’m not very tech-oriented or enjoy it much, so things like social media and posting has been a challenge. My hope is one day, I can hire someone to do that for me. I enjoy and prefer the actual teaching of things like; yoga, tai chi, meditation, and also connecting to people and also helping to motivate them. In fact, I already teach, by donation basis, every Saturday morning at 9am tai chi and 10am yoga class at Springwoods park off of Anderson Mill Road out in the field past the tennis courts. I always finish with some meditation at the end of both classes. The idea is to get people moving their bodies, spending time outside, giving them exposure to sunlight, fresh air, and meditation.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As a young man my first career was as a professional ballet dancer. I studied at New York City Ballet School(SAB) and also at ABT(American Ballet Theater) on Scholarship. I danced with the Basel Ballet in Switzerland and then the Boston Ballet. I even won first place during a competition and also got to spend time with Baryshnikov and Nureyev as well as Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. I received a full Scholarship at UMass Boston far artistic achievement. Instead of becoming a lawyer, I became a Ballroom dancer. That is a long story., but ultimately I moved to Austin, Texas and created and ran a Ballroom and Latin school for many hears. It was called Dance International. And I also taught at UT in different departments and helped create dance festivals with the City’s Arts Commission bringing US and World Champions to Austin. And I competed as a professional ten dancer Ballroom and Latin. I hope people would say I was a good dancer, but many people have said that I was a good teacher. So, when making the transition to yoga, tai chi, meditation, and other health-related fields, I have tried to use my teaching skills to help educate and inspire. These days to help people be healthier and happier with Balance Health, my health program.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I loved swimming with the Dolphins. I grew up in Miami, Florida and I took a trip to Key Largo where they had a natural research center for Dolphins. They didn’t train the dolphins to interact with you but instead gave a lecture about Dolphins and the state of our Oceans, then you were allowed to get into the tanks with the Dolphins and swim. Some pretty miraculous things happened… but that too is a long story. If you are interested, I can tell you sometime.
Pricing:
- Classes in the park are by donation basis
- Moving Forward program is $25.
- Getting Grounded program is $50.
- The Jedi program is $100.
- The Mastery program is $250., private lessons also available.
Contact Info:
- Email: Info@balancehealth.guru
- Instagram: Balancehealthguru
- Facebook: BalanceHealthguru
- Youtube: Balance Health & Wellness
Image Credits:
Miriam, Jeff Rosenberg, and Big Ideas
