STUDENT OF THE MONTH

Welcome to our new feature, Student of the Month". Each month we will present the story of one of our students who has truly transformed through their commitment to a yoga practice. These changes don't come with one class. These students have devoted a great deal of time and energy to make their practice a regular part of their lives.

Our first student is Denise. Denise has been with Yoga Dimensions almost since the beginning but this year has really committed to her practice with amazing results. It is a privilege to witness Denise's disciplined and cheerful approach to her daily yoga class. Thank you Denise for your story!


Finding Balance & Learning to Breathe:

Hanna, Denise's daughter, on her beautiful mat painted by Aline Marie.

Journey from Everyday Life to the Mat
and Back Again

Everyday Life

Eight years ago, I traded in my brief case for a diaper bag. My self-created method of transitioning from the professional world to the domestic one didn't turn out to be an even exchange, although it took many years to fully recognize this fact.  

As a graduate student and then a professional, I never thought I would be a stay at home mom.   But during the few brief seconds I looked into my daughters saucer sized blue eyes as she laid on my stomach in the delivery room, everything I ever thought about motherhood changed.   
I quit my job and without realizing it, became born again myself.

A previous workaholic, avid runner, and step aerobics fanatic, I approached motherhood with the same zeal as everything else I'd done in my life - whole-hearted focus and determination to over achieve. When my baby cried during the night, I was immediately by her side offering comfort. People suggested that she should cry herself to sleep, and two years later when she finally started to sleep through the night - I wondered if perhaps they had been right.  

With no family near by, a husband who traveled and worked late hours, health concerns, and a disposition of someone who finds it difficult to ask anyone for help, a night out was a rare event. And a trip to the gym was non-existent. I devoted my self entirely to taking care of my child, my home, and those around me.  

Returning to work part time from home for a few years while continuing the same devotions, I woke up one morning this past fall to find myself 65 pounds heavier than I had been before my pregnancy. I was tired and felt that something was missing in my life. The thought "I don't want to do any more, I just want to be" kept running through my mind.

The Mat

I decided to stop working and spent a few months organizing my home. Right after this past New Year, I realized that I was still not taking care of "Me". I needed a plan!   I had discovered Yoga Dimensions at their grand opening a few years earlier, but had only found my way there every once in a blue moon. I had enjoyed the classes and thought it would be a great start toward getting back into shape. I had no idea that my experience there would lead me on a path of spirituality that has transformed my life.

With focused gusto, I began attending a yoga class almost every day of the week and eating a balanced diet.  Within three months time, I lost twenty-five pounds and significantly improved a disrupted sleep pattern that had plagued me for the past eight years. What was most astonishing to me though, is the spirituality I found - having never realized it was missing.     

Yoga at Yoga Dimensions has been so much more than I ever expected. I started yoga plain and simply for exercise. But I discovered that the exercise of yoga is a tangible metaphor for life. This observation dawned on me one day during class when I was in plank position, a pose I had been finding difficult.  I suddenly realized that I was putting too much weight on my hands and not balancing the weight evenly between my feet and hands. Once I shifted into an even weight distribution, the pose was much easier. And of course we always hear that the key to life is finding balance, just as it is in mastering yoga poses.  

Yoga at Yoga Dimensions has also been a platform for connections...providing a community for like minded individuals to connect to each other — not just at classes, but concerts, retreats, meals out, etc.....helping to achieve a reconnection of the mind, body and spirit …and connecting intellect and emotions through the sharing of ideas and life experiences with insightful discussion prior to, beginning, during, after, and outside of class.  

There are so many different postures in yoga that it is always interesting, never the same from one class to another. The challenge of attaining a pose that I previously could not provides me with a sense of accomplishment and self-confidence. And I have found peace of mind through my practice, validating what a friend once told me — "the only people who can practice yoga are the ones who have mastered the ability to quiet their mind" - a beautiful gift indeed.

Back Again

Through the many connections I've made at Yoga Dimensions, I have learned to incorporate into my life the practice that several of the many wonderful teachers there describes as the "attitude of gratitude." I am no longer compelled to spend time and energy shopping and purchasing the latest and greatest gadgets, I manage my own time in a way that works for me, I no longer let the little things bother me, I am more connected to those who I spend time with, and I have given myself permission to take care of my mind and body first so that I will be stronger for taking care of those around me.  I now consciously think and feel a sense of peace and thankfulness at the end of each day …and I am happy. This spirituality has filled the void.   It has brought balance into my life and taught me how to breathe.  

I am delighted to be able to share my love of yoga with my family. My husband attends classes on the weekends, my daughter participates in kids yoga, and we all practice family yoga together. We are currently looking for an outstanding yoga retreat for our next family adventure. And we plan to always make yoga a part of our daily lives.

I am eternally grateful to Lynda for providing a beautifully comfortable safe haven for all of us seeking personal and spiritual growth, to all of the wonderful teachers who guide us through our journey, and to all of the other yogis who provide positive support, reinforcement, and pure fun!