The Yoga Journey

I started hot yoga to lose weight. I was 15.

I felt the pressure of the outside world to be and look a certain way, so I looked to change myself. I always looked at yoga as the thing “freaky hippies” did, and as a fashionista at the time, I did NOT enjoy tye-dye pants, fringe, nor did I have interest in gluten free, vegetarian diets and green drinks.

After my first 90 minute class, I was hooked.

The class spoke of empowerment, mindset, strength and being exactly the way you are. It was so much more than I thought.

I attended 3 classes per week, my sister and I signing up weeks ahead of time to make sure we got a spot, as the teen hot yoga was very popular. After all, hot yoga was the new hip thing at the time!

I ended up working front desk at the yoga studio, and I watched a yoga teacher training unfold before me. In a class during that time period, I decided I was going to be the one teaching people some day. I wanted to be the one who changed lives and minds to be the best they can be. Without knowing what I was getting into, I signed up for my 200 hour training when I was 17 years old.

Everyone said it was life changing, eye-opening and also tough. And it was. We learned anatomy, methodology, meditation, the 8 limbs, sequencing, speaking in front of crowds, and facing our fears. The people there were different than the types I was around at home. The people there saw what I was and what I dreamt of and encouraged it. It was a fresh take on living. When I graduated, the real life-changing magic took place. Using our teachings throughout life.

Flash-forward 3-4 years. I had switched studios, because my message with yoga shifted to something different. I lost clients, and I also lost motivation. I felt static in my teachings, and it was rare when I felt the magic. I rarely made time to practice myself. I had no accountability, I worked too many jobs at once to “get ahead in life” (hint: doesn’t work) and possessed no inspiration to study further. I thought, perhaps it’s time for the 300 hour. That’s it. I planted the seed. Coming back to mindset, I thought there wasn’t any way I could afford it, take time for it, or accomplish it. I felt inadequate. So, seed was seemingly squashed for now. “One day” right? It’s never the right time.

I’ve come to learn, that the time is always NOW.

Fast forward another 6ish months, mid-2016.  A new yoga teacher named Laurel shows up at my home-studio to take my class. She ended up my only student that day, and we had an amazing time. Something clicked between us. She and I ended up becoming best yoga-buddies. One day in early 2017 while having a cooking/baking fest at her house, she stated her discovery of a 300-hour Ashtanga training in India, and asked if I wanted to go. At this point, I was desperate for something new in my life, so I said YES without further questioning.  I had never practiced Ashtanga, and I had the common misconceptions about it, but since it was in India, the homeland of yoga, I was willing to learn.

I didn’t’ have the money, nor a way to make the money, but once that decision was made, I set everything in gear to make it happen. See, it’s all back to mindset. I didn’t say “I can’t afford that” or “I am not the kind of person who can do something like this”. I instead asked myself “How can I make this happen?” and “Why not me? Am I any different or less than someone who could easily do this?”

(No, of course not. No one is lesser or more than another.)

In the time between the decision to go and the trip, I had an expensive bachelorette trip to attend in Florida, weddings to plan and purchase for, I had slowly quit most my jobs, and my husband Nolan and I packed up to move to Colorado without much savings nor a plan once we got there. I was quite ballsy as this time, riding the wave of “Why not me?” and “Everything always works out”. (I would recommend some savings, or a kick-ass resume if you decide to take that kind of a leap though.)

All this time, I kept India in the back of my mind, stressing and worrying about making the money while trying to catch up after a cross-country move while earning minimum wage with no other income. (A first for me) However, I made it happen. I meditated, I used my abundance crystals, I chanted mantras and I told myself every day the money will come. Once I aligned myself and my whole entire being with this intention, the universe knew what to do next. The money came.

In March of 2018, I set off on my first international trip for the experience of a lifetime. 30 days of intense, hard, yet blissful work and study made such an impact on the way I teach, my message, and my skills. Being immersed in something I love as well as structure for the first time in my life helped me hone in on my love and passion for this sacred teaching.  I know yoga is what I am meant to share. Perhaps it’s not the only thing, but it will always be number 1.

I am here to share the beauty of yoga and the journey it brings. It is so much more than poses, I cannot express that enough. If you allow, the magic of yoga can burn through all of your pain and suffering, all of your negative mind-patterns and behaviors and unveil your inner light, revealing the purposeful, loving being you are. And you have a purpose in this life.

Mine is to help you find it.

With love and peace,

Sophie

Hari Om, Tat Sat

Hari Om, Tat Sat