How I Found Yoga

Today, I felt inspired to tell the story of how I found yoga and why I stuck with it.

As a teenager my parents were part of a gym that offered yoga classes. I took class there occasionally, but I was always, by far, the youngest person in the class, and felt a little out of place. In college, the rec center offered yoga too. I guess I liked something about it back then because I remember taking classes but it never became a habit.

After college, I moved to Seattle. I was at a place in my life where I felt quite lost. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.

I had studied communications and public relations. I had romanticized the idea of working in that field but the reality turned out to be quite boring to me and out of alignment with my personality. I went to interviews at marketing agencies and PR firms and immediately felt out of place, awkward and couldn’t wait to get the hell out of the super buttoned up, clean cut environment.

So, I did what any rebellious 21-year-old would do and got a job in the restaurant industry. I felt more at home amongst people there who didn’t care if was wearing designer clothes or if I had gone to a prestigious school. They just accepted me, and each other.

I loved these people who worked because they had to make a living but truly lived for their hobbies: musicians, skateboarders, artists. Everyone was so unique and yet we were all in this industry together.

Over the next 3 years I was a hostess, a server, a bartender, an event planner and eventually a restaurant manager. I worked my way up in the restaurant industry and felt passionate about hospitality. I loved providing a space for people to feel welcome and where they could leave with a smile on their face.

But, behind me making customer’s smile, I was struggling.

I worked long hours and multiple jobs. I drank a lot and used cocaine regularly. I was up late working and then sleeping in until my next shift would start. I often felt extremely anxious, dizzy, stressed, overwhelmed… I wasn’t sleeping or eating well and I didn’t exercise.

As a young person, surrounded by other people who were, in my perspective, probably worse off than me, I normalized my situation.

I thought adulthood was just about coming to terms with the fact that this level of discomfort and stress was going to be a normal part of reality.

Money needed to be made and some level of “fun” needed to be had, even if I felt like shit the next day.

Then, randomly, a friend invited me to a yoga class.

I went to a hot power yoga class at a candle lit studio in Capitol Hill, Seattle. The teacher talked about how we had the power to take a step back from our experiences and pasts and realize that they didn’t need to define us. She asked me to just observe my thoughts, let them go, and relax into the present. My mind opened. I relaxed. I had something of an out of body experience that night.

I realized that I was more than my job, more than my stress, more than my anxiety. I was just a human being experiencing these things and I had so much potential.

A switch flipped in me that day and I felt empowered.

I realized that the only person who could control my reality was me.

From that day forward I started to make decisions with more respect for my health, my body and my mind. I started to practice yoga regularly and felt hooked.

I slowly started to see other changes. I slept better. I choose to go to yoga classes instead of to the bars, at least a couple nights a week. I felt stronger and healthier.  I stopped having anxiety attacks and felt truly more at ease. I stopped using drugs and cut back on my drinking.

Then, I made a big decision. I felt ready to teach yoga too!

I wanted to show other people that they too could take charge of their own health. I wanted to teach anxiety and stress relief tools via yoga and breathwork. I wanted to build a happier, healthier life. 

So, I did.

I quit my job as a restaurant manager. I moved to San Diego. I felt like I needed a fresh start, new friends and a little more sunshine in my life. I did my first 200 hour yoga teacher training in 2016 and since have continued on to complete over 500 additional hours of training. I’m soon to be certified as a yoga therapist with IAYT.

I’m now 31 years old and it’s been ten years since I was that lost 21-year-old. I can look back and be proud of how far I’ve come. Now, I’m passionate about what I do and amazed that I get to call this my “work”.

Like in the hospitality industry, as a yoga teacher I get to see people’s smiling faces at the end of private lessons or as they leave the yoga studio. I have the honor of holding space for people who struggle with anxiety or depression too. I do my best to make clients feel safe and understood.

Now, I teach yoga from my lived experience. I know how important it is for there to be places where people feel supported because I remember what it felt like to feel lost and alone.

I don’t see yoga as just a physical practice – although we move our bodies and build strength and mobility – I see yoga as a mental health and resiliency tool. It teaches us to breathe through discomfort. It teaches us to know that even the hardest moments are temporary. It teaches us that each breath, each moment, can be a fresh start. That our past doesn’t define us and that we have the power to create the future we crave.

Yoga teaches non-judgement, self-awareness and encourages us to be kind to our bodies.

I hope to continue to inspire my clients to take the reins in their own lives and to let go of limiting beliefs. With a little movement, a few deep breaths and some mindful concentration, things can begin to shift.

I’m so happy to be able to share my story and truly appreciate it if you read ‘til the end!

Reach out to me HERE if you’d like to work together. I’m available if you have any questions or if I can be of support.