The LDS Air Force Wife: 1,000 Hours of Teaching Yoga

On 12/12/17, I reached a new designation with Yoga Alliance. I have now taught 1,000 hours of yoga since my 200 hour training. I get a new license as well, E for Experienced.

Yoga has been a huge part of my life since 2012. While I was pregnant with Pants, I attended early morning kick boxing classes daily. After I had her, it was really hard to get up early and attend class. I actually had a hard time with everything- three kids was hard on me. I stopped exercising for 10 months and it made a really negative impact on my life. I was angry all the time, I was depressed, and I felt horrible inside and out. Some of this was my body's reaction to the hormones but a lot of it was the fact that I have always been physically active and so to just stop, my body and mind were taking a toll. I felt that since I had three kids now, I did not deserve to take care of myself because all of my energy needed to go to them. This could not have been more wrong. I realized that I needed to change my attitude and focus and I have really supportive, caring, wonderful husband. He had no problem taking over while I attended exercise classes at night. My gym, Sweaty Chix in Springville, Utah, held Zumba and Yoga classes at night. I could not believe the difference this time for me made and I could not believe that I had missed out on yoga my whole life until this point.

I have always taught ballet but I do not have a dance degree so I felt that I could only go so far with getting jobs. I felt that I needed to have some official credentials. So in 2013, I started looking into the 200 hour Ashtanga yoga certification at 3B Yoga in Provo, Utah. Again, Josh was really supportive. He felt that since we were looking into joining the Air Force (he signed up in 2014), yoga was something I could teach all over the world. I employed a babysitter for the month of training and devoted all my time and energy to my yoga training. This has been a decision that has changed my life. I have never had a hard time finding places to teach. I even taught at my home initially. I can accept classes that fit into the time frames of my life. I can focus on being mom to kids when they are home. This is valuable to me. I get my physical, social, and creative outlet as I prepare my lessons and hold my classes. I have had real moments of spiritual confirmation that yoga is what I should be doing as I see participants start to change their lifestyles and recognize the benefits of the discipline. I believe that yoga can be for any age and any stage of life so this should be something that can grow and bend with me. Namaste everyone!