01/20/2023
Life is truly a journey! You imagine one path, but then life takes you down a totally unexpected one. That’s how yoga became a part of me. It took a hold of me, and I’ve no intention of letting it go!
This is my yoga journey….
In 2012, I was a La Leche League breastfeeding support leader in Virginia. After reading Baby Om, I began doing yoga with my son and realized I could help other nursing moms bond with their little ones while offering weekly breastfeeding support. So, I started teaching Mommy Me Yoga. I taught from my heart without pay for two years, finally accepting donations and then a bare minimal cost. During that time, a mom at my church asked me to teach yoga to her 3 kids and my 2 kids. It was a joy working with older kids, helping them to discover healthy movement that was fun and engaging.
In 2015, we were in a Florida hotel waiting to move into our new home, I contacted Parks and Recreation, and two months later, I started teaching Baby Me and Toddler Me Yoga at The Sue Herndon McCollum Community Center. A month later, I decided to take my Mommy Me Yoga training. It totally changed how I taught my classes!
One of my Parks’ moms recommended me to Namaste Yoga, and 6 months later I began connecting with families in the yoga studio. I experienced my first yoga as a student and was blessed to glean from the wonderful teachers there. Within 6 months, I started offering Kids Yoga to homeschoolers.
While at the studio, I saw a handful of classes cancelled because there wasn’t a sub available. I expressed my concerns to my Dad, questioning whether to pursue a 200 hr adult yoga certification. He encouraged me, reminding me that once you get education, no one can take it away. By the next month, I enrolled in Many Rivers Yoga’s 200 hr training with the intention to sub. Boy, did that quickly change as I continued my training! Yoga quickly took ahold of my life!
Near the end of my year's training, I started teaching Family Bedtime Yoga. I fell in love with teaching both older kids and adults. One month later, I was thrilled to complete my adult yoga training! It seemed like forever, but it was just a short month before I debuted teaching my very first adult yoga class at Namaste Yoga. Yes, I was nervous but prepared. I confess I was unnerved when I got pulled over for unknowingly speeding as I intently studied my yoga routine. Frantic that I’d be late, tears, and an understanding police officer who advised me not to practice my yoga routine while driving soon got me on my way. Thankfully, I arrived with time to spare, giving me an opportunity to calm and center before the small, loving, and supportive community of yoga students arrived— and the rest is history!
Every year for the next 5 years, I taught yoga to 500 energetic and eager students at W.T. Moore Elementary’s Health Fair. I enjoyed two summers of Skolier STEM camp with an amazing group of middle and high schoolers who absolutely bask in Savasana! Enclaves of College Town allowed me to offer more complex yoga flows for FSU students. Teaching weekly after-school yoga at Governors’ Charter Academy blessed me with wonderful, excited students who soaked in yoga- an experience both in-person and live online.
I want kids to love yoga so they will manage their emotions successfully and choose a healthy lifestyle as they grow into young adults. I want adults to feel confident and connected to their breaths, bodies, studio, teachers, and each other.
I kept adding yoga classes to my schedule. I’ve combined classes, dropped classes, and changed class times to find what fits best for the studio and students. It’s a recipe, and you have to find the right ingredients for success!
With the coronavirus pandemic, I moved all classes to live online. It's been a learning experience juggling technology, communicating, leading students in their practices, and creating an online video library. But it has been a complete joy connecting to my wonderful yoga students as we socially isolated and maneuvered through the challenges of the pandemic. Live online yoga helped to maintain social sanity and continues to deepen those relationships!
When I moved back home to Virginia in 2022, I continued providing live online yoga. I began offering monthly prerecorded yoga challenges. This allows those doing live online classes to further immerse in yoga and those who cannot attend live online the opportunity to experience yoga. Not too long ago, I began posting videos on the wellness platform, Burnalong, to reach a greater community and give my students another way to share yoga with me. Whenever students reach out requesting a need for specific classes, such as Prenatal Yoga, I've taken the call.
The journey that we take in life has many pathways. Yoga unexpectedly became my passion. There were times I questioned having a master’s degree and teaching yoga. Then, my supportive Dad and husband would remind me I am using my education degree to teach something that I love.
Do I still love teaching yoga? Absolutely! Yes, even now, I still love what I do! I’ll continue to teach yoga until it’s no longer fun and when it starts to feel like work. I hope that day never comes. I’ll continue to do what I love and hope to open the hearts and minds of others to loving yoga too.
Come be a part of our community and share your own amazing yoga journey:
http://www.schedulicity.com/scheduling/CYRV3W/classes
