Dana

I am a Soldier and have been in the military for 29 years. I was brought to yoga to increase my flexibility from years of running and not properly stretching. I started doing some on-line and video yoga workouts in 2014. After a knee surgery in 2015 I knew I really had to challenge myself to increase my flexibility so I started to attend some local classes. A friend was teaching classes at the local library and I started to attend her classes.

I fell in love with yoga and the way it not only made my body feel but also my mind and spirit. Soon I was attending every possible class I could. The transformation that I could see in myself gave me the desire to one day help others achieve the same. In 2015 I knew that one day I would embark on a path to be a yoga instructor. In 2016 my work transferred me 350 miles across the Pennsylvania (from Erie to Philadelphia).

I found myself in the Horsham area in October of 2016 looking for an apartment and a place to continue my yoga practice. After a look on-line for Yoga Studios I was drawn to check out The Nourishing Storm studio in Hatboro. I visited on a Wednesday evening (26 October to be exact) and had dinner at the café. I instantly fell in love with the atmosphere. I was back and forth from Erie to Horsham every weekend I didn’t work until January of 2017. I had finally moved everything from Erie at the beginning of January and was ready to go back to The Nourishing Storm to attend a class. Yes, I found my studio only after one visit and that visit was just dinner at the café. I absolutely knew this place was made just for me.

I started attending classes in January and by February seemed to be at the studio everyday attending classes or helping out where I could. I was so drawn to the studio and the people that I couldn’t stay away. I knew some of the students that had started the Teacher Training that fall and I knew that my reason for being drawn to the studio was to attend the next session of Teacher Training. I am now on track to get my Teacher Certification in September of 2018. I plan to open my own studio when I retire in three or four years.

I am proud of my yoga lifestyle and encourage as many of my friends to join me as I can. I have met some amazing people and made some incredible friendships along the way. Yoga is not just something that I do, it is a part of me. My significant other supports me in my journey and is actually a part of it. This has allowed me to strengthen my beliefs and expand my world. I believe that one of the most powerful things I have ever heard is “there is nothing more powerful than that of a made up mind”. Yoga has allowed me to find my center, focus my mind and body, be in the present, and know and do what I truly believe in.

I think everyone should consider bringing yoga into their life. It can transform you in such a way that you Rise Up to greater heights and abilities, not only physically, but mentally and spiritually as well.