Jeffrey Bores has found a home practicing yoga, and has created a community for students at taraNa Yoga Studio in South Minneapolis.

Bores took his first yoga class in 1998, at the suggestion of his aerobics teacher, and hasn't looked back. A class-action litigation attorney for the Chestnut & Cambronne law firm in Minneapolis, Bores appreciated both "stretching the body and calming the mind" through Ashtanga yoga.

"I felt like I had found a home," Bores says, "not only with a community of people but a home within my own body and mind."

Bores, who began teaching yoga in 2000 at health clubs, opened taraNa in 2006. With soft light, candles and Hindi-inspired artwork, taraNa offers a more meaningful environment in which to practice various anasas, or yoga poses.

Fun is also part of the program, with light jazz playing in the studio and dashes of Bores' humor. Friday night Yoga Happy Hour classes feature post-class snacks and adult beverages.

Unlike health clubs, taraNa does not see a January rush of those trying to keep New Year's resolutions. At his studio, resolutions typically involve trying to conquer challenging poses, Bores says.

"We're always having new students come in but there isn't always a huge influx of new students coming in after the new year," Bores says. "There isn't that blip. People tend to practice consistently."

Three and out with taraNa's Jeffrey Bores

  • How does yoga help you as a lawyer?

You can think more clearly through circumstances. You can apply a lot of the yoga moral and ethical principles in all aspects of your life, including the law.

  • What your New Year's health and wellness tip?

Try yoga and keep doing it. It opens so many doors. There's an expression from Pattabhi Jois (prominent yoga teacher with a worldwide following, who died last May): "Practice and all is coming."

  • What does taraNa mean?

It's a Sanskrit word that means to cross to the further shore. Yoga has a transformative quality as it transports your mind and body from whatever shore you're on to whatever shore you're going to. It's about journey.