he subject of the conversation with Janie Falk, was going to be: getting started -- or restarted -- in yoga.

By coincidence, when the busy director of director of Napa Valley Yoga had time to chat, the yoga class going on the studio adjacent to her office was "Mommy & Me," a group of seven new moms with their babies.

Talk about an easy way to get started: These infants, ages 8 weeks and up, are doing yoga before they can walk or talk. The class includes sections for moms (or dads or caregivers, Falk noted), for the infants and for the parent and child together. The instructor is Jodi Earls, a new mother herself, whose own baby is in the class.

Most of the women in the class took a prenatal yoga class at Napa Valley Yoga from Falk. "It's exciting to see them back with their babies and hear their stories," said Falk.

But with the chirps and squeaks from infants in the background, Falk returned to the subject of how those who didn't start doing yoga with their moms as 2-month old.

"I get calls all the time asking me, 'How do I begin?'" said Falk, who opened the Napa Valley Studio in the arts and crafts house on First Street in Napa two years ago after teaching yoga in Napa for several years.

Falk, who grew up in Napa, said she started studying yoga in the 1980, "when I got divorced." Ten years later, health concerns prompted her to take it up again. "Yoga has helped me so much," she said. "Twice."

The last couple of decades have seen an explosion of forms of yoga as many practitioners develop their own method or school-- Forrest yoga, Kripalu Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, Hot Yoga. Falk describes them as branches in the study of hatha yoga -- physical yoga -- which, in turn, is only one of many kinds of yoga. She likens it all to one very large tree.

In 2000 Falk began to study Anusara yoga which, she explained was developed by a longtime yoga practitioner, John Friend in 1997. Anusara, Falk said, means "flowing with grace."

"He had practiced Iyengar yoga for 30 plus years," she said. "It's so sound and healthy, but the link to the heart was missing." Anusara yoga integrates the biomechanical alignment of Iyengar yoga, plus a "celebration of the heart," she said.

Falk began doing classes with Friend, traveling to his seminars and finally doing a year-long immersion class in Berkeley.

Interest continues to grow in the practice of yoga, Falk said, as people "begin to realize that traditional exercise takes its toll. Jogging, aerobics -- they can be hard on the body. People are realizing that with yoga you don't need a barbell, you're not lifting a cold, steel bar. You use your body."

Most of all, she said, "people are looking for the mind, body, spirit connection."

But figuring out whether you're kripalu or vinyasa can be a challenge. Right now the studio offers 17 classes, weekends, mornings, evenings, taught by a range of teachers. "People are worried about going into a class," Falk said. "I talk to them and try get a feel for their personality, to match them up."

The studio offers an introductory pass for three classes for $30. Look for the ones labeled beginner basic, she advised, if you are worried about finding yourself amidst a group of 60-year-old human pretzels, all standing on their heads.

Actually, Falk noted, the appeal of yoga is spreading across all age groups, from children and teenagers to aging baby boomers looking for gentler exercise. "We're seeing a lot more men taking classes," she said.

Napa Valley Yoga also offers workshops, including one coming up Sunday titled "Overcoming Resistance to Practice." This four-hour workshop, from 1 to 5 p.m., is offered for people seeking "inner peace, a way to reduce stress or to clarify goals," with stress on ways start practicing yoga in your daily life. It includes a guided meditation and methods for meditation as well as yoga postures that will "deepen your practice and release resistance."

The cost is $75 and preregistration is required.

A school for teachers

In addition to offering a range of classes, Falk said, Napa Valley Yoga has just become certified as a register yoga school with Yoga Alliance, an international professional organization. Beginning in January the studio will offer a year-long Anusara Yoga Immersion and Teacher Training Program, which Falk said is for people interested in an in-depth study of anusara yoga, as well as those who are considering becoming yoga instructors.

Napa Valley Yoga will be offering a mini-immersion workshop Oct. 14 , two three-hour sessions on the core teachings of anusara yoga. This class is appropriate for people will little or no experience with yoga or anyone wanting a deeper understanding of the foundation of anusara yoga, Falk said. It's also a prerequisite for the year-long immersion program.

For more information about Napa Valley Yoga programs, call 253-1616 or visit www.NapaValleyYoga.net. The studio is at 1834 First St., in Napa.