Standby… (inhale)… GO

I kind of can’t believe I am here.

It’s not really a surprise though right? I have been an educator in some capacity since graduating from the University of Iowa (go hawks!) and being the education fellow at Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC. Since then, over the last 10+ years I have gotten my Masters in Theatre Education from the Catholic University of America and have been very happily teaching as an adjunct at Des Moines Area Community College (go bears!) and Grand View University (go vikings - keep in mind this is the ONLY time you will EVER hear me cheer for a vikings team). Teaching is in my blood, I love it, but like - yoga?

I love yoga, but I was always so hesitant with my own practice because I felt like I didn’t fit the “mold” of it. Yoga was intimidating because there is a performative influence on it. And that is all it is, an influence. I thought I had to be super skinny, super flexible, in a matching sports bra and leggings, on top of a mountain or on the beach, and in some super intense pose where I am balancing on my pinky toe or something. As I breathed through my fear and self-consciousness about it, I learned so much and how much the image and influence of yoga today, is so far from the real deal. The influencer yoga is whitewashed and colonized, true yoga supports your body and your mind. I already have some blog posts in mind to discuss the 8 limbs of yoga that I had learned in my training, but ASANA - the poses and the movement, is only 1/8 of the tree of yoga. Yoga is so much deeper than just a workout.

I trained with Breathe 4 Change for my 200-hour certification. Their program focused on mindfulness, movement and social-emotional learning to support those in the classroom and others within the community. When I became pregnant with my firstborn, I continued yoga but I got that hesitation and worry with it again, not for being “perfect” with it, but with not supporting my changing body and my growing baby. I’ll admit I fell off the mat in fear of doing something wrong. That is where MA Yoga came in with their 85-hour training and certification, and the difference between my first and second pregnancy was definitely night and day and I believe my yoga training really helped make that second pregnancy a lot easier. Like,

I have wanted to be a resource for the central Iowa area for a while, but again, I was nervous. I had tried reaching out to local studios, but with my theatre teacher schedule, two kids at home, and when the few prenatal classes that were offered didn’t hit an enrollment goal, I felt discouraged. I commented on a post from the Ames Community Facebook page where someone asked about prenatal health options about being a RPYT, and that I was happy to help if they had questions. Thankfully, one of the organizers for the Ames Baby Fair reached out about having a booth and that lit the fire under my ass to stop waiting and do it myself. Honestly, it has been like 10 days from then to now and if you would have told me two weeks ago that I would have an LLC and start meeting some awesome people, I would have laughed. Laughed, then breathed, and said lets go.

This time, instead of the nerves, I am breathing and more excited than anything to make yoga accessible to my community. Deep breath in…. Deep breathe out…. Let’s go.