I meant to post this back in February, but, oh
well...
I swear, I should have started
Instagram when I had the chance. Before all of these photo sharing live feeds,
all I ever did was post photos. Since the invention of the camera phone I have
been OBSESSED with taking photos. The best thing about it is that I get to
choose what I see (mostly). I have the entire world at my fingertips. Lately,
my feed is filled with three things, my loved ones, makeup, and yoga. Lots of
yoga.
It's also opened up a whole world of
people that I may have never been in contact with or knew existed! A wonderful
community of supportive, body-positive yogis, people who aren't conforming to what society tells them they should look like, who are improving lives and changing the world, one
Tree Pose at a time. Two of them in particular, Dana and Jessamyn. These two
fantastic yogis are proving that there is no such thing as cookie cutter
"yoga body" and that feeling comfortable in your own skin is the most
valuable thing a person can own. When I came across these women, I was floored.
They were doing the things I wanted to do! I don't just mean the beautiful
postures they were posting (which are amazing), but they were inspiring people
everywhere! I felt like for what is probably the first time in my life, there
were other women just like me out there. Little did I know, that I would have
the chance to not only meet them, but to take their class!
A fellow yogi I've connected with
through social media, Luisa (check out her IG and amazing journey here),
had purchased an inversion workshop taught by both of them. Dana and Jessamyn
were touring and holding workshops on the west coast. Unfortunately, Luisa
could not attend. So she held a little contest for it. As luck would have it, I
would be the one chosen to get it! I was stoked!
I live in San Diego, and the class
was in Riverside, so I made the two hour drive on a Sunday to be there. Since I
was worried about traffic, and way too excited, I arrived super early. I parked
in front of the studio and fidgeted with my mat and towel in the car to burn a
few minutes. When I finally made my way inside, it was just Dana and Jessamyn,
setting up for class and sorting through some yoga pants. Right off of the bat,
they smiled at me and welcomed me in. I mildly geeked out, I couldn't believe I
was about to take a class with women who each have over 150k followers!
Women who I've watched videos and read about on HuffPost, Buzzfeed and Cosmo! Of course,
having no shame, I told them this. And Jessamyn says "Girl, we are the
most normal people you will ever meet." The best part? They were.
Their workshop was awesome. After we
warmed up with a flow, we did some exercises and a lot of prep postures to get
our bodies ready for inversions, we played around with headstands and different
ways to get into them. Even a little handstand prep. We didn't have a
wall or anything, so falling was very real. I was already doing inversions, and
was feeling more and more comfortable, but having someone break down the
posture and show you what needs to be engaged and aligned to make it happen
totally opened up my eyes! This totally kicked up my headstand game! Even
though the studio I go to has an awesome and welcoming community of yogis,
being in a room with other women of all shapes and sizes, women who were all in
different places with their practice, women who didn't give a shit what people
thought about them, was so refreshing. As sore and tired as I was, I was sad to
see it end.
I am so grateful to Luisa for being
behind me meeting them. I look forward to the day her and I meet as well!
If you want to learn more about these
wonderful women, links to their websites and IG accounts are below.
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