Category: Upstate NY
-
You Can’t Muscle Through Breath: Ryan Brady
“I’m considerably different because of yoga. I’ve always been good under pressure, but I’ve done it by holding my breath and biting my lip to muscle through whatever life threw at me. The best lesson yoga taught me was in my second class ever. My instructor told me to try less. It took six months […]
-
Doubt Your Doubts and Love Yourself First: Caitlin Bedford
“My parents divorced when I was 20. In the long run it turned out to be for the best, but there was a whole lot of anger and angst and other emotions built up that came up from that. A couple years ago I started really taking yoga seriously, as more than just the physical […]
-
Feel it to Heal it: Claire Bowen Congdon
“Years back, I witnessed my good friend’s transformation through yoga. As she dove deeper into the self-inquiry part of the practice, her life changed for the better. That’s not what yoga was for me…at first, at least. When I first walked into Yoga Body Shop, all I really wanted to do was stretch out my […]
-
Disregard Fear, Keep Listening, and Trust Your Intuition: Aisha Jasper
“I started my yoga journey when I was in high school. At first, my practice was supplemental exercise to my classical dance training, which at the time was my entire world. By the time I was 16, I was already positive that I wanted to become a professional ballet dancer. I spent my summers alone […]
-
You Are Your Own Change: Shawna Santi
“My yoga practice just started as this workout to get in shape, and the gradually became my happy place – evolving into a practice that is the best of both worlds for me. The physical part of it is wonderful, but it ultimately became my coping mechanism. I’ve gone off and on to therapy and […]
-
I Am Free to be Myself: Cory Rusin
“I got into yoga in 2013 – very untraditionally. I was studying abroad in New Zealand and wanted an exercise I could do in my apartment. I ran across DDP yoga, which is a program created by a professional wrestler, Diamond Dallas Page. Looking back on it, DDP is truly, a one-of-a-kind experience, which awakened […]
-
Let go. Move Forward With an Empty Slate: Karen Stelmak
“I’m now looking forward instead of back because there’s nothing I can change or do differently that’s happened. I just need to move forward. The fact that I have a blank canvas is exhilarating. I’m cleaning out the old and I’m moving in the new. It’s a huge sense of comfort knowing I have this […]
-
You Are Valuable; Who You Are is Enough: Brittany Bennett
“I was never very happy or confident in myself and had always struggled with being healthy overall. I’ve spent money on all these workouts and supplements over the years and nothing ever really stuck until I started doing yoga consistently. Once we hit the 40 Days to Personal Revolution (Baptiste Yoga program) and began doing […]
-
Step Into YOUR Authenticity: Jenn King
“My yoga journey started purely in the realm of the physical to get in shape and push myself to a different level. It was like that for the first two years of my practice, and then I began to see the shift to something more. I was in a high stress job and began […]
-
Find Your Voice; Speak Your Truth: Ashley Mastronardi
“When I first started practicing at Yoga Body Shop, I remember I couldn’t focus in class. My eyes would be looking all around the room at the other people, or just, anything. It was during the time I was taking my hardest classes, I was stressed, didn’t know what the future held for me, and […]
-
Be Patient With Others; be Patient With Yourself: Kyle Rogers
“The first week, you die in hot yoga…like, you actually die in those classes. You’re in the middle of the class and thinking, ‘why did I come back here?’ But then all of a sudden you realize that the pose isn’t that bad, and then you’re able to try another, and another. One day I […]
-
Just Breathe: Heather Furman
“I started yoga when my twin boys were 6 months old. Everything was so chaotic. I remember I kept thinking that if I worked out I’d feel better. I knew I had to find something that gave me strength, but peace at the same time. I searched and found a Gwen Lawrence yoga video and […]
-
You Are Good Enough: Anna Crandell
“I’ve been working really hard to try to value my body in a type of way that I haven’t before. I’m trying, and it’s hard – and I felt like I was making a lot of progress but I just always end up setting myself back. I’m at a point where I know what I’m […]
-
You Are Not Alone. Discover Your Community: Scott Watson
“I thought yoga was just stretching and it’s NOT. The way I felt after class was just amazing. I couldn’t get over that feeling (whatever it was), so I immediately signed up for the first month of unlimited yoga. Right off the bat I knew something was there, and realized that it wasn’t the physical I […]
-
Stand Strong. You Are Powerful: Chelsea Kuzmak
“I was introduced to a yoga teacher training and personal development program before I even started practicing consistently. I talked to one of the teachers at Yoga Body Shop, Jenn and had said, ‘I don’t know about this, it’s a huge commitment’ and she said, ‘Well, your life is a huge commitment, right?’ Man, it’s […]
THE SELF STORIES 