From controversial beginnings in the early 1970s, Tauranga Yoga Centre is now a community of yogis celebrating 50 years of mindful movement.

“The aim of the centre has always been about providing authentic yoga,” said centre operations manager Sue Furey.

Tauranga Yoga Centre (TYC) was first incorporated in 1972, and yoga classes were taught in community halls by volunteers.

Recognising the need for a dedicated space, the centre’s founders quickly began fundraising to build a purpose-built facility. The teachers volunteered their time, hosted massage days, and organised handcraft and cake stalls.

Their efforts paid off and in 1975 there was enough money for a deposit, along with a bank loan to secure the land, at 173 Elizabeth St West, leased from Tauranga City Council.

“The idea was initially met with some resistance,” said Furey. “One disgruntled resident wrote a letter to the newspaper describing it as a ‘Hindu cult’.

“People often fear and judge that which they don’t understand. Thankfully, things have changed, and today we have students from all walks of life and ages reaping the benefits for the mind and body.”

Furey said for her, yoga was a chance to get “out of my own head” for 90 minutes.

“I came out of my first class thinking: ‘I don’t know why, but I just feel good’,” said Furey, who has been practising yoga for around 50 years.

“These days, many of us work and live in a fight-and-flight adrenal state without realising it until something goes wrong. A regular yoga practice can help us to recognise and manage and change this. In yoga there’s no perfect posture or perfect pose, it’s always a practice.”

Furey described the older members of the Tauranga Yoga Centre community as inspiring; among them 96-year-old Doreen McNeill.

“I started yoga when I lived in the Bahamas,” the Brookfield resident said. “I found it difficult at first because I’d been playing a lot of squash. The stretching of yoga felt quite opposite, but I enjoyed it and kept it up.”

McNeill is an acclaimed abstract artist and often surprises others – as well as herself – with her age.

“I forget sometimes,” she laughed. “Someone the other day said: ‘Oh, so you’re 96’ and for a split second I genuinely thought that it wasn’t right. I mean, my youth is history, now. I was there in London as a 16-year-old celebrating V-E Day [Victory in Europe Day, marking the official end of World War II in Europe on May 8, 1945] 80 years ago.”

For someone whose final year of school was spent mostly in bomb shelters in northwest London – “It was so ordinary – you just got used to it” – Tauranga Yoga Centre now offers a relaxed community to be part of.

“I have a bad knee and a bad shoulder now, but there are still plenty of things I can do and really enjoy. Even gentle stretches will help you get looser and stronger,” said McNeill.

“Lots of people here are over 70 and it’s such a friendly, helpful group of people. We often go for a coffee and a chat afterwards.”

Tauranga Yoga Centre is offering a range of classes and events as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations. Visit: www.taurangayoga.org.nz