At this point I can honestly say that the previous pain that dictated my life has been reduced to a minor inconvenience. Through yoga, I also came to appreciate the powerful effect of meditation on my emotional well-being, and how that positive shift further supported and enhanced my physical health. 

When I walked into Greenville Yoga in January 2009 I had no idea what I was getting into.  The changes to my life are profound but challenging to describe. 

My yoga path has been a long one; I remember the first time I stood in tadasana and felt my body for the first time - I felt like I had awoken something sacred. I slowly gave more time and attention to learning what yoga can be through youtube classes. I did everything I could on my own, in privacy, in fear of being judged for not being perfect. But the more I practiced, the more I grew compassion and awareness for my body and all the things it does for me. Through yoga and therapy I began to live with this awareness of the mind body connection, being patient and kind to myself and others. The more I practiced, the more I felt alive and at peace.

I took my first yoga flow class in early 2004, and I was nervous afterwards about driving the 3 miles needed to get back home because I was SO relaxed.  I was HOOKED, even though I was only able to attend 1 class per week due to my work schedule.  My teacher moved to Greenville Yoga when in opened in 2005, and I followed her there, with the added benefit of frequently being able to enjoy a meditative stroll to and from class, weather permitting…

Moving from Charleston to Greenville meant losing my tribe and enduring years of isolation, anxiety, loss of self while focusing on other responsibilities. Returning to daily yoga, continues to brighten my energy. But most importantly, it gave me a priceless community of kind, supportive people and some new dear friends. This community has brought joy, connection and a true sense of belonging back into my life. As a communal soul, my gratitude overflows.

Before coming to Greenville Yoga for the first time, I had long been intrigued by the idea of yoga and intellectually had an understanding of its benefits. But I hadn’t taken that first step to try a class because of my preconceived notions about what people who “do yoga” look like and how they move and what their bodies are capable of. I had mistakenly decided I didn’t look like them or move like them and therefore I thought my body wouldn’t be capable of “doing yoga.”  Fortunately about 8 months ago I noticed that something in me felt envious of these other people “doing yoga,” enough so that I was gifted with the courage to overcome my preconceived notions and give a class at Greenville Yoga a try.

My life before Greenville Yoga was definitely a bit unstructured. I was not exercising enough and I felt emotionally unregulated. 

Life became spending time with family, creating "firsts" for the kids and caring for aging parents. Burnout from career & caregiving followed, but those practices held me along the way. Formally learning yoga felt right at home, and full circle as an integration of experiences that could be named. Now as a transitioning empty nester, yoga has become about reconnecting with myself, leaning into new "firsts" and experiences. Like a dance, yoga truly ebbs & flows with every stage of life. 

 I realized quickly that this all-encompassing practice touches on every aspect of me: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Wherever I find myself, in moments of joy or despair, pain or ease, yoga responds and nurtures. Learning more has allowed me to see what I need from the practice, be it rest or sweat, gentle or active, balance or strength or peace. I stick with yoga because it's always there for me in exactly the right way.  

I have always been a seeker.  Getting into anything and everything.  I was Type A.  I worked hard and I played hard with high expectations of myself.  When I really found yoga (had done several times in college, but wasn’t ready for all it had to offer) I was running marathons and living in Austin, TX working in a high stress job as an Apartment Property Manager for luxury downtown lease up communities.  Before yoga, I ran hard and long distances to clear my head from all the stress from my job.

One night in August I was surfing Instagram and I saw Liz’s post about a 6am community virtual yoga that was starting up. It said it would include community and other things that intrigued me and I knew I needed in my life. I recently experienced the passing of my mother, putting my dad in memory care and my firstborn leaving the nest and losing a job. So a lot going on in my life.

Before a regular yoga practice became part of my life, I was 24 years old and taught elementary school.  Other than asthma, I didn't have any aches or pains to note other than the fact I was very disconnected from my body. I took classes for about six months before I finally learned to breathe.  I moved my body every class but had no idea that I was just going through the motions.  I was 24 after all and could mimic all the shapes with ease… but something magical happened once I could move my own breath.

Before yoga, I loved caffeine, stress and carbs. I didn’t take care of myself. I developed a condition that caused me to pass out quite frequently. After one too many falls, I developed a head injury. For over a year I was laid out in bed. I could only get up for one hour per day. Without insurance I had to find ways to heal myself. I found yoga videos on You Tube and discovered yoga as a practice for rehabilitation of my balance. After the head injury, I developed severe motion sickness and a knee injury. I had poor visual tracking which would make me sick and unable to stand for too long. The TBI caused deficiency in my sleep, ability to handle stress and in my memory. So for four years, I continued to do yoga at home to heal.

I came to Kelly’s morning class in January of 2014. ( I think the year is correct.) I had never taken a yoga class before. I had a book and tried to do poses while reading, trying to breathe correctly and look at pictures. It didn’t work well. Though I had wanted to start a practice, I was uneasy about starting classes. I had read an article in the Greenville News about you and Brian and your studio. I guess maybe a New Year’s resolution got me in the door. Kelly made me feel welcome and there were other women my age there. At one point we were in child's pose and Kelly came and pressed her warm hands on my lower back. I was hooked and never looked back.

In 1975, my first husband and I attended yoga classes as part of Greenville Tec’s community offerings. He was the only male student. I remember having to buy leotards and tights but not a mat. At least, I was able to find dark brown leotards at McAlister Square (instead of the normal black). The poses escape me but I remember moving classroom desks before doing our yoga. After participating in the classes, I declared I needed a more active form of exercise.

Meet Nancy & Ron. This story begins further back than I even know, but in 2005 I met Reverend Nancy Neal.  I had just moved to Greenville and was leading an open house at Stone Academy as a teacher.  I was super nervous as I know I am not the norm for a 4th grade teacher.  In walked Nancy and her daughter looking just like they stepped out of a poster for California.  They immediately put me at ease and made me feel at home.  Nancy and I continued to talk and stay connected over the years through community events, friends, and healing work.  There is more to this story, but for this newsletter the magic begins here…

Doing yoga helped me find a sense of peace that has continued to this day. I feel like a part of me is missing when I don’t get my morning yoga class in. I feel more content, happier and very little stress. Yoga is me and will always be part of me!!

Yoga is a spiritual practice that over the past eight years has led me deeper into my Christian faith. Yoga provides me one hour each day during the week for stillness, silence, and space to breathe. These times allow me to prayerfully meditate on redemption, forgiveness, faith, and my identity as God’s precious, beloved, baptized child. Without fail every time I leave the studio after a class, I feel lighter, calmer, more free. I have also described this deep sense of peace to friends and parishioners with these words, “It makes me not give a shit,” which for an uptight, high-strung person like me, is a very good thing.

I can’t begin the telling of my yoga story without first admitting that this is the third time in my adult life I have tried practicing yoga. My first try was over a decade ago in a multi-purpose gym setting. I was a serious gym rat in those days – the most physically fit I have been since my teen years as a dancer – and spent an average of an hour and a half, six days a week working out. Yoga was offered before my favorite crazy-intense cardio classes and I would spend 30 minutes on the treadmill, take the 30-minute yoga class and then take that hour cardio class. I proclaimed at that time that was “just not a yoga person.” Well, no one in that class was a yoga person! A half hour class in the parentheses of intense cardio was not an ideal yoga introduction.

Yoga has been a goal of mine for several years. I led a very stressful life and never developed the coping mechanisms to manage it. I kept piling more responsibilities on and being the “yes man” both at my job and with those around me. It felt as though I had the weight of the world on my shoulders and that burnout was imminent. Couple this with being someone who grew up with body and self-esteem issues and a general lack of self-love as well as personal drama with family and life in general, and I was a breakdown waiting to happen!