Graham C

I was training for my tenth marathon in August 2002 and my knees were starting to trouble me.  I’d read about a new hot yoga studio that had opened on Lyndale and figured it might be a great complement to my marathon training and, in particular, help the knee situation.  I signed up for the intro package, thinking I’d take a few classes and that would be that.  Boy, was I wrong!  The marathon turned out to be my last and, pretty soon, I’d hung up my Asics in favour of the 26 and 2.

So much changed for me after I committed to a steady, regular practice.  I credit the yoga with helping me find the courage to ask my company for a transfer to the New York office, a city I’d always wanted to live in.  A few years after that, in 2006, I found the courage to quit that job and career, which I was good at but which didn’t bring me any joy, to go to teacher training in Los Angeles.  I returned to New York and began teaching full-time.  Over and over, as I experienced life’s twists and turns (which New York City is very good at serving up!), it was the hot room and my practice that sustained me.  This yoga is the one thing I’ve found in life that is never afraid to tell me the truth and point me in a direction needed to heal mind, body and spirit.

I moved back to Minneapolis in early 2020, coincidentally just before the pandemic.  I’m thrilled to be back at the studio where my hot yoga  journey began!  If there is one thing I could tell every student, current and future, it’s that the hardest part about this yoga, just like life, is showing up.  Once you’ve signed in, once you’ve rolled out your mat, once class has started, well that’s the easy part.  See you in the room!