As an avid athlete who devoted numerous hours in the gym or field, yoga always sounded intriguing, but was never accessible growing up in a rural community at the time. Yoga held all the components of fitness that I enjoyed: balance and strength. It wasn't until the summer of 2014 that I stepped into a yoga studio for the first time. I remember thinking there is no way I can do hot yoga, but I went along with my friends and tried it out. After the first class I was hooked! I knew I wanted to learn more and mastering that tricky looking crow pose was first on my to do list!
After a couple of years of practicing yoga in different studios, I started thinking about teaching and looking into different trainings in the region. I thought I would start teaching were I knew I wanted to build a strong community, so I began teaching a vinyasa flow class after school with the teachers I worked with. Finally during the fall of 2018, I decided to take the time and complete the yoga teacher training course. Upon completion of the course, I have enjoyed sharing my journey and love for hot yoga with all that practice alongside me.
The opportunity to open Aspire Yoga manifested late November of 2017 and we started to pursue the dream of offering hot yoga classes in Southern Illinois. About one week after signing documents for Aspire, I found out that I was pregnant with our first baby! To say that I had no idea how I was going to move forward with my yoga practice during this time and in conjunction with opening a new studio was an understatement! As Thomas Rhett says in the song Life Changes, I made plans, but you hear God laughing.
Overall with the help of great friends and family, the studio opened in March of 2018 and Baby Milianah, healthy and beautiful, was welcomed into the world in August. Now back on the mat, but this time with a mini practicing beside me, I'm learning more about life and myself on and off the mat.
Life changes, but I wouldn't change it for the world!