NOW Y OUR N EIGHBOR Yoga instructor brings holistic health to Rochester community

“I grew up in Rochester and my family members live there,” stated Lindsay Barts, Winamac. “I love the town. I’ve started a movement to bring holistic healing to the community through our Roots Yoga and Dance studio in Rochester. We have nine certified yoga instructors. Ashley Taylor is our dance instructor. She teaches jazz, ballet and tap.”

Barts was an athlete and she loved working out. “I had some physical injuries that put me on the sidelines. I also developed digestive issues and my weight was dropping. Some of the stress I was suffering in that period of my life was also hindering me.”

It was through yoga that Barts began to understand the mind-body connection. “I had some childhood trauma I hadn’t dealt with and with the present stress I was suffering, my body was simply breaking down. I have since learned that there’s a part of our brain that responds to intentional movement. Yoga helps our brain process trauma and stress as we move and learn to relax. It also helps us process information.”

After participating in yoga, she regained her health. “Five years later I was at a healthy weight. This minimized the need for medical intervention in my recovery. I believe it was due to yoga, healthy food, exercise and nature. When I had those four areas in line, I was nursed back to health.”

When Barts lost her job in 2019, her stepfather Jim Ewen suggested she get her certified yoga credentials and open a studio in Rochester. “He paid for my yoga training that I took in Columbus, Ohio. After teaching yoga a few months there, I moved to Rochester during the pandemic.”

Barts started teaching yoga in her back yard. “In the summer of 2020, Julie Shambarger and I were both hosting yoga classes in our back yards. In 2021 we offered Yoga in the Park every Saturday morning and in 2022 added Yoga on the Deck at the Lilly Pond Boutique.”

By this time, Barts had created a lot of momentum. “The Times Theater offered me a space for a studio. We had volunteer labor renovating it and some business donations. I’ve been up and running since October 2022.”

In the past, Barts was a classroom teacher. She taught children in kindergarten, second grade, middle school and high school. She also coached in Rochester. “I’ve always been interested in literacy. And, of course, I’m also interested in mental health. I’ve combined the two to form my nonprofit organization The Ladybug Foundation.”

She is now in the negotiation process to start an Imagination Library in Fulton County. “Dolly Parton started the Imagination Library movement. It’s structured to deliver books to impoverished kids ages 0 to 5 in both rural and urban settings.”

Barts continued, “America is one of the richest, most influential countries in the world, but it’s also one of the countries with the most unhealthy minds and bodies. We have one of the highest illiteracy rates (64% at the fourth-grade level), with suicide being the number two cause of death for teenagers. Through yoga, education and community focus, The Ladybug Foundation is centered on helping reverse these unfortunate statistics starting in Fulton County.”

Bart’s hobbies include running, biking, swimming, playing piano, writing poetry and reading. She also loves riding her horse, Eli.

Affordable hearing aids come to Logansport

The Affordable Hearing Store of Rochester, inc., based in Rochester, has announced plans to open an Affordable Hearing office at 300 E. Broadway, Suite 104, in Logansport. This will be their third location in Indiana for the chain that sells top brands of hearing aids at half the typical price, saving their customers an average of $2,506 per pair.

Licensed Hearing Aid Dealer and owner Chuck Smith of Kewanna said his decision to open a store in Logansport was easy: “Too many people who would benefit from hearing aids can’t afford them, and even the people who can deserve a better deal.” Smith explained, “It’s not the price of the hearing aids that make them expensive, it’s the mark-up and overhead.”

Affordable Hearing has developed a low overhead business model that allows them to lower the price and make it up in volume. “80% of the people who need hearing aids don’t have them and the number one reason is the price” said Smith. Five levels of products and their prices are displayed in their stores and on their website, myaffordablehearing.com, ranging from the most basic to the most advanced. All the hearing aids are digital, programmable and available in a wide variety of styles from tiny, nearly invisible, in the ear to the high power behind the ear models.

Renovations should be completed for an early May opening. For questions on pricing and to schedule a free hearing test, call (574) 7014327.