New Yoga Studio on Campus

Posted by Charli Renken in Campus

Yoga instructor Sean Tebor, performs yoga poses in the Southwest Annex. Photo by Jason Stilgebouer

In the dim light passing through the windows of the Southwest Annex, Sean Tebor welcomes yoga students to the new Of Origin studio. Yoga mats and blankets piled up in the back of the studio are laid out by students on the studio floor. Some students lay on their backs, meditate or stretch as they wait for Tebor to begin the Primal class. “I don’t want to turn the neons [lights] on so if you want, you can practise today with your eyes closed,” he says before sitting down on his knees in front of the class, which begins with a few moments of meditation and chanting.

Of Origin is currently offering free classes four days a week to students, staff and faculty at Santa Fe University of Art and Design in the Southwest Annex. The studio was brought to SFUAD as part of an administrative “goal to have an active campus,” says Finance Director Steven Posey. Film teacher Claudio Ruben brought the idea of having Of Origin on campus after attending Tebor’s classes himself.  Of Origins is currently the sole occupant of the Southwest Annex. “We give them a little bit of a cut on the rent in exchange for free classes,” Posey says. Tebor says it’s a joy to be able to trade with the community by teaching students for free in exchange for lower rental space. “It’s really great to offer accessibility to the practise,” he says.

Tebor’s yoga practise doesn’t fall into any of the major branches of yoga but rather pulls from multiple sources. “It’s kind of hard to describe,” Tebor says. “Primal is really the only way to explain it,” he says. “It’s functional… sustainable, and regenerative. It’s unorthodox in regard to the sculpting of a pose and it’s more about allowing the evolution of the movement through constant exploration.” Primal yoga focusses on fueling one’s “inner furnace.” The practise has a cycle of heating up the body through difficult movements and then letting it cool down with period of easier stretching and meditation. It also features poses based on instinct such as crouching and martial arts moves such as the cat pose. Some of these poses might be difficult for beginners but Tebor encourages people of all levels to attend anyway and pay attention to their body. “It’s not a beginners class but it’s accessible,” Tebor says.  

Yoga instructor Sean Tebor. Photo by Jason Stilgebouer

Tebor encourages students, staff and faculty to use yoga as a means of taking care of their own physical and mental health. “Yoga is a recovery of embodied awareness,” he says. “It’s sanity, it’s medicinal, it’s a constant detox.” Yoga has been shown to lower stress, increase energy and improve mobility.

Of Origin teaches Tuesdays 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., Wednesday 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m., Thursdays 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., Fridays 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. in the Southwest Annex. While classes are free for the SFUAD community, they are also available to the Santa Fe public. For pricing and more information visit Of Origin’s website.