They’re working to bring a little bit more “ahhh” to life.

The Agame Yoga and Meditation Center is the home of a group of yoga instructors, massage therapists, and participants who are working hard to cultivate a community of personal growers. So far, they’re doing a great job.

“It’s the hub of spiritual being in Baton Rouge,” Alicia Willemet, a yoga instructor at the center, boasted to me after a yoga class earlier this week.

I stopped by the center, located on S. Acadian Thwy. near Capital Heights, earlier that day to speak with Phi Truong, owner and founder of Agame. She gave me a tour of her personal philosophies while we walked around the facilities.

“The mind is the cause of all our problems,” she said, noting that our perceptions of the world around us typically make us unhappy. “So we are bringing clarity between the ears. Yoga is a way of making philosophy real.”

The center’s goal, Truong explained to me, is “…cultivating community that is providing a safe environment for...people experimenting with growth.”

“We’re just trying to bring like-minded people together, [so] we can all just continue to grow in every direction,” Willemet told me later that evening. “It’s brought together so many healers.”

The studio itself is the most recent blossoming of the small yoga business, which is the only yoga studio in Baton Rouge to offer meditation instruction and weekly sittings.

“We’ve been here since August,” Truong said. “Prior to that I was teaching out of my home.”

The center has 11 yoga instructors, two massage therapists, a family therapist, and two healing touch specialists. In addition, Truong offers private sessions in meditation and spiritual coaching.

Soon, Truong said, there will be a café above the studio, named Blue Earth Lounge.

“We haven’t approached the health authorities yet,” she noted, indicating that is was a long-term goal. “We would like it to be full service, but we may have to do it in increments.”

Agame is bringing a variety of practices and traditions to Baton Rouge. There was the lunar festival on February 4th, which included yoga, a lion dance, Bollywood dancing, Tibetan bells, and meditation. In September, there will be a yoga teacher training with the yoga master Amrit Desai, founder of Kripalu Yoga in Massachusetts and Amrit Yoga Institute in Florida.

“It will be bringing the source of yoga to Louisiana,” Truong explained. “It is very exciting.”

And all the while, of course, the center brings peace and calm to its participants.

“Happiness in life is learning to experience the joy in each task,” Truong explained. “A yoga pose is a place to practice that. You can do the warrior pose and think ‘my legs hurt, I’m tired, my arms are shaking, when will this pose end.’ Or…” and at this point she lifted her arms, inhaled and exhaled, and looked me dead in the eye, “you can just experience the pose.”

Right.

I found myself repeating this mantra – experience the pose – often as I struggled through the basics class I took later that evening. I think I’ll be returning to the center to continue this struggle. As everyone says at Agame, it’s a journey.

Tranquility re-up! Here are some more cool up-and-comings in the BR Yoga community.

Agame’s new specials for the new year: Student special $50 membership, new member special $95 membership, and bring a friend for free.

Jangala Retreat: This June, Alicia Willemet, yoga instructor at Agama, will lead a group of yogis-in-training to the banks of the Amazon River to practice yoga with leopards, toucans, sloths, and pink dolphins. Another Baton Rougean, Kevin Harris, owns the retreat center, located in Iquitos, Peru. He donates 10 percent of proceeds to the local villages. The retreat will take place June 8th-13th. Those interested should contact Alicia Willemet, Alicia@AgameYMC.com.

350hr Yoga Training: Baton Rouge’s first ever six-month extensive yoga training will begin in April. Led by Michele Baker, classes and workshops will be taught by instructors from across the country on a range of topics, from anatomy, yoga philosophy, ethics, and, of course, all the poses. Donation-based yoga studio Mallika will host the training. For more information, contact Amanda Gonzalez: AGonza5@Gmail.com.