SAN ANTONIO -- If the idea of putting on a leotard and hitting a yoga class is something that you would be embarrassed or afraid to do, then Abby Lenz’s “Heavyweight Yoga” class might be perfect for you.

Lenz modified traditional and sometimes challenging yoga poses to accommodate people of all shapes, sizes and conditions.

“You don’t have to be pretzel thin to do yoga,” Lentz said. “You can get the body you want with whatever body you have today, with whatever circumstances you have today.”

Lenz pointed to success stories, like the one belong to Ginger Hunter, a woman in her 30s who had recently lost some weight through Weight Watchers, but needed conditioning.

“Everything’s changed for me,” said Hunter, an Austin lawyer, of her metamorphosis through yoga.

“The biggest barrier to yoga for people, especially who are overweight and have injury, is that fear of ‘I’m not going to be able to do it. I might be embarrassed. I might get hurt,’” Hunter explained.

Using the Heavyweight Yoga class as her stepping off point, Hunter said she now feels calmer, happier, and is preparing to run in San Antonio’s Rock and Roll Marathon.

Hunter is not alone in applauding the program as a cornerstone for physical and emotional improvements. Michelle Burns, who survived esophageal cancer surgery last year, is also among the growing fans of Heavyweight Yoga.

“All my stomach muscles don’t work really well anymore,” said Burns, a rehab nurse.

Still, Burns said she can participate in the program because it is slower and the yoga poses are accommodating to someone who can’t move well.

“I can turn and do things that everyone else takes for granted, and it just allows me to keep getting more and more flexible, (and have) less and less scarring. That strength is coming back,” she said.

The creator of Heavyweight Yoga is herself an admittedly large instructor at 258 pounds; however, Lentz moves gracefully from one yoga pose to another, almost all of which have been changed so extra volume won't prevent a good stretch.

Lentz showed KSAT's Ursula Pari a child’s pose stretch, which is done on all fours with the head reaching to the floor.

“(Without modification,) you can’t relax down. You can’t get the benefits. But, if you open your legs and make room for your belly, you can soften down and relax the head.”

Another yoga trick is what Lentz calls the “energetic swipe." It displaces the parts of the body that may get in the way of a good yoga move. Lentz also takes more time between poses, giving clients who move a little slower to get into a comfortable position.

Her modifications are the subject of two DVD exercise tapes, the latest of which also has a Spanish language version. You can get more information at www.HeavyWeightYoga.com.