It Doesn't Feel Like Work

I came into my job on happenstance, as many great adventures often begin. I'd been a member at my yoga studio for about a year, attending three to six times a week. The exercise, the infrared heat, the community, it all helped with both my physical and mental health. When the studio owners announced their plan to move to Costa Rica I jumped at the opportunity and slapped my resume on their desk the following day.

They hired me!

From there I transitioned from my old desk job in customer service and accounts recievable to managing a busy yoga studio. There were definitely some bumps along the way as I learned to manage a fantastic team of yogis and front-desk staff, as well as scheduling, sales, marketing, social media, and everything in between.

I knew this job would be perfect for me, not only for right then, at that moment, but for the future. And I was right.

Now, I'm a busy mom with two little boys and a budding writing career. I'm able to balance parenting, running a household, writing, and managing a studio all at once. Working from home, I'm able to do everything behind-the-scenes to ensure my team at the studio have what they need to create a gorgeous environment and teach excellent classes for our members. Plus, I have the best, most understanding boss in the world! Seriously, yoga people are fantastic to work with.

When I was pregnant with my second-born, I also took my yoga teacher training. Not only can I help my team by picking up classes when they need it, but I've taken a few spots on the schedule, teaching a chill relaxation class one night, an intense fitness class the next, followed by weekend goat yoga. (GOAT YOGA OMG!)

But what makes my job really special is how we're able to impact the lives of others.

Yoga is about so much more than exercise. There's an inherent spirituality to it, stemming from its roots in Hinduism, that many believe have been stripped away through Westernization and cultural whitewashing. It's true, yoga is often looked at as an example of cultural appropriation; it's something all yoga lovers realize and struggle to understand. But moving with your breath, practicing mindfullness, uniting body and mind, it's all still there. The only difference is that Western yoga allows a blank slate for one to apply their own spiritual views, or lackthereof, to the practice, so that it is available to everyone.

Okay, I said yoga is much more than exercise, but it's also about that. Exercise is fantastic for you! Everyone knows that! Having a low-impact way to work out is great for people no matter their fitness journey, their injuries, their fitness-level. Yoga is for everyone, and I mean everyone! Take that beautiful body to your mat and start moving. I promise you won't regret it! The endorphins released from exercise plus the seretonin released via the infra-red lights create an addictive conconction that get you, I'm being totally real here, high. A natural, healthy high that makes you giddy and happy the rest of the day.

Yoga is also about community. Coming together with other likeminded people, breathing as one, moving as one, it gives you an intense sense of belonging akin to a fantastic concert where everyone's singing along with their lighters in the air.

Every day I watch people enter class, with their worries and baggage and thoughts and emotions, and leave feeling ten pounds lighter-- faces flushed, drenched in sweat, and broad smiles upon their faces.

And that's what makes my job so fantastic. We make people happier and healthier, one class at a time. And, through one happier, healthier person at a time, we will make the world a better place.