My Interest in Fitness

"Take a deep inhale, and a deep exhale. To begin practice come into Childs Pose - sit on your knees, touch your toes behind your back, spread your knees hip with distance apart, rest your forehead on the matt and lay your arms out in front of you, face down. Now, take a deep inhale, deep exhale." I come out of my cross legged position, and place my hands on my friend Crystal's lower back, gently pushing her deeper into the stretch, she gives out a deep sigh - she has never done Yoga before. She had complained about her back hurting, so I suggested I give her a lesson sometime to see how she likes it, knowing that she would be amazed at how relaxing the practice is. Crystal and I did yoga weekly together after that day, she even told me she started doing it alone in her house. She said her back never felt less tense, and that her bad foot was beginning to became more stable. These are the moments that make me so happy to teach! My interest in fitness came at a young age. I discovered my inherent flexibility in ballet and gymnastics during Elementary school. To this day there is nothing more satisfying to me then to deeply stretch my body out. As a kid I was always doing something physical, usually playing outside and running around for hours. with my friends. Although, I didn't grow up playing sports, I expressed my love to be active through dance, and yoga. During eighth grade was when my interested deepened. I had read a book about Pilates and was interested to try it. I liked the idea that you could sculpt your body through exercising different muscles. The body was material, exercise was the tool and the best part? I was the artist. I took advantage of our "on demand" cable and would do Pilates videos in my attic, trying new ones every week. I also found running every morning to be enjoyable. I would run one mile each morning through this path in that went through Cherokee park and looped back around to my house. There was an exhilaration that came with