What More Than 20 Years of Teaching Yoga Has Taught Me

When I opened breathe in 2002, I thought I was creating a place where people could become stronger, more flexible, and healthier. And while all of those things happen, after more than two decades of teaching I've come to realize that yoga is rarely about the poses.

It's about life.

I've taught thousands of classes over the years, and I've watched people walk through our doors carrying every imaginable story. Some came because they wanted a workout. Others were navigating divorce, grief, illness, burnout, or simply feeling disconnected from themselves

What I've learned is that yoga has an incredible way of meeting us exactly where we are.

And honestly, it's done the same for me.

Everyone Starts Somewhere

One of my favorite things about teaching is watching people take their first class. Some arrive nervous, convinced they're not flexible enough. Others come because their doctor suggested it, a friend dragged them along, or they're just looking for something to help them feel better.

The reason almost doesn't matter.

What matters is that they walked through the door.

Over the years I've watched countless people come looking for one thing and leave with something entirely different. They thought they were building strength or improving their balance.

Instead they found better sleep. More patience. More confidence. Friendships. A place where they could exhale.

Sometimes the thing we need most isn't the thing we think we're searching for.

Your Practice Should Evolve

If you had asked me twenty years ago what my favorite class was, I would have pointed you toward a challenging Power Vinyasa class without hesitation.

Today my answer is different.

Not because I value movement any less, but because life has taught me that our practice should evolve as we do.

Last year, after being hit by an SUV while crossing the street, my body changed overnight. There are poses I simply can't do anymore because my spine no longer moves the way it once did. For a while I grieved that. But somewhere along the way I realized that yoga had been preparing me for this lesson all along.

The practice isn't about forcing our bodies to do what they used to do.

It's about asking, "What do I need today?"

Some days the answer is strength.

Some days it's stillness.

Some days it's just showing up and breathing.

There's wisdom in honoring the season you're in instead of wishing you were in another one.

Showing Up Changes Everything

People often assume that the students who change the most are the ones who can do the hardest poses.

I don't think that's true.

The greatest transformations happen in the people who just keep coming back. Not because every class feels amazing.

But because they understand something bigger.

Healing, strength, resilience, even peace of mind, aren't built in one extraordinary day. They're built through ordinary moments repeated over time.

I've come to believe that's true far beyond yoga.

Life rarely changes all at once.  Small things, done consistently, matter.

We Need Each Other

One of the greatest gifts breathe has given me has very little to do with yoga.

It's the community.

I've watched complete strangers become best friends. I've seen students support one another through cancer treatments, celebrate weddings, welcome grandchildren, mourn unimaginable losses, and connect with each other with a conversation after class.

Movement brings people into the room. Connection is what keeps them there.

When people ask what makes breathe special, I never talk about our schedule or our studios first.

I talk about the people.

They've always been the heart of this place.

My Greatest Teachers

I’ve been teaching for more than twenty years, and every class still teaches me something.

My students have taught me about courage, perseverance, kindness, forgiveness, and what it looks like to begin again.

I've had the privilege of watching my daughter Carly step into her own as a teacher and as a leader.  Watching her, and so many graduates from our Teacher Training, find their own voice reminds me that being a yoga instructor has never been about teaching a certain way.

It's about helping people become more fully themselves.

That's true for teachers.

And it's true for students.

One Last Thought

If there's one lesson I carry with me after all these years, it's this:

We're all works in progress.

Yoga was never asking us to become more flexible.

Or stronger.

Or more accomplished.

It has always been inviting us to become more aware.

To listen more closely.

To trust our bodies.

To soften our grip on who we think we should be.

Life will change us. Sometimes gently. Sometimes in an instant.

Our practice changes too.

And maybe that's the point.

The poses come and go.

The real practice is learning to meet each season of life with a little more grace and a willingness to begin again.