"Before finding yoga, stress was a way of life. I was burned out from too many obligations and my health started to show the telltale signs. I didn't believe that I could sustain happiness and I looked for things outside of myself to fill in the empty spaces
I was in a constant battle to control the way my body looked through unhealthy practices and sought outside validation which led to a string of painful relationships
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My life shifted with the pregnancy of my first child. Six months into the pregnancy my doctor advised me that I had to check the stress or else it would negatively impact my daughter. It took over a month and a health scare for me to truly embrace the fact that I had to check my stress no matter what. For the sake of my daughter and for my sake
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A co-worker shared how yoga changed her life and suggested I take up the practice. I was extremely skeptical because I was pregnant and the only image that came to mind was someone with their leg behind their head. I didn't think it was for me at all. Curiosity got the best of me and I decided to give it a try. My practice began in my living room two VHS tapes loaned to me by my coworker: Yoga AM/PM. There wasn't much I could do being very pregnant but the little I could do immediately shifted something in me
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I connected to my breath, the baby and to a deep sense of peace and calm that I had never experienced before. I continued to do gentle practices while pregnant and continued after I gave birth. Yoga opened up true happiness with no strings attached. The practice taught me that it was not only sustainable but it could also grow... and to this day, 17 years later, it continues to grow 🙏"