Energy healer brings practice to Sisters

We all carry tension and emotional, mental and spiritual baggage that limit us in our potential. Jeff Sanders developed Hara Yoga & Healing to help students release held tensions and gain a fuller awareness of themselves and how they relate to the world.

Now he has brought his practice to Sisters in a new healing center and yoga studio on Oak Street (in the former Tea & Treasures building).

Sanders was a highly successful entrepreneur in Ventura, California. He operated a screen printing and embroidery business employing 100 people and servicing major accounts. He had it made. But somehow he really didn't.

"What I realized much later is that I really didn't like it," Sanders said. "I mean, I was good at it, but I didn't like it. It wasn't really feeding me."

A sense of obligation kept him at it, but the stress of a life out of balance and alignment was eating at him - literally.

"Since that was out of alignment with who I am and who I wanted to be... I got an ulcer," he recalled.

He found yoga 15 years ago, and the ulcer went away. But still, he wasn't fulfilled, no matter how successful he became. Six years ago, the company had its best year ever.

"Then I went on a meditation retreat," Sanders said. "During that retreat, it became really, really clear that I was done, that there was maybe not a higher calling, but a different calling for me."

Coincidentally, the looming end of cotton quotas meant that clients were poised to move their production offshore. The time was right to move on. So Sanders did.

"I was aware and un-panicked enough to say, 'You know, this is a good opportunity,'" he said. "I just divested myself of everything."

With the resources to pursue a different path, Sanders went on a journey of study and discovery. He explored the healing science developed by former NASA physicist Barbara Brennan and began developing his approach to energy healing.

Through Hara Yoga and the associated practices Sanders combines, clients can heal from trauma or prolonged stress, awakening more deeply to life.

Sanders' goal is to assist students and clients in finding their inner and outer strength, to gain flexibility not only in their physical self but in the emotional, mental and spiritual areas as well, providing yoga to open and access your body, body work to dislodge tension and energy work to clear undigested emotions and limiting thoughts.

Sanders practiced for a time in Ojai, California, before he and his partner Kelly Sheets decided to look for something else. Avid outdoor enthusiasts, they were seeking a vibrant town with lots of outdoor recreation opportunities. Sanders was convinced that Colorado would be the place.

The couple came through Sisters, where Sanders visited his fellow yoga practitioner from Ojai, Kari Sims Anthon, who operates Life.Love.Yoga in Sisters.

"We spent a couple of days hiking, completely in love with everything about the area," Sanders said. "Then we thought the town is just too small."

He and Kelly were unimpressed by Bend and continued on. But Sanders' image of Colorado turned out to be different from the reality.

"I thought Leadville would be a sweet place to live," Sanders said. Instead, it felt too isolated and insular.

"We thought we didn't give Sisters and Bend much of a chance," he recalled.

So he and Kelly came back and looked at the community with fresh eyes. It became clear that all the elements they value are here, so Jeff moved forward with the creation of a healing center.

Hara Yoga & Healing offers group classes, private sessions and group energy healing workshops on Sunday and Monday.

Hara Yoga & Healing is located at 114 N. Oak St. For information call 541-588-6450 or visit http://HaraYoga.org.