My story on yoga | Why I do yoga and why you should too

My first blog, Yoga 101, lays the foundation that yoga is more than a physical practice and actually a way of being. Although I’ve been practicing yoga for 10 years, I did not know about the ethics of yoga until until about 2 years ago. Before diving into the deep and wide array of yoga topics and integrations into daily life, I thought it best to introduce myself. My name is Kenia, I’m a yoga teacher, engineer, small business-developer, Reno-ite, and lover of life.

My yoga practice started in high school when a P.E. teacher (Hi, Mr. Melcher) threw in a yoga tape during class. It was slow. It was boring. And I didn’t understand the point. In college I chose (lord knows why) geological engineering for my bachelor’s degree. I was pushing myself to make perfect grades, and needed healthy outlets to balance the all-nighters spent at the DeLaMare Library. On campus there were these posters about reducing stress through practicing yoga, so I started to attend the free yoga classes at Lombardi. It took me years to recognize the benefits of yoga that extended beyond physical. My yoga practice continued, as well as my sky-high stress levels and anxiety, through college and came with me on my two year stint moving and working around the Bay-Area, CA.

And then one day I had a complete nervous breakdown, quit my job from PG&E and moved home to Reno. I had worked in Corporate America for exactly 2 years and 2 days before I knew I needed to make major changes in my life. I was feeling pretty down in the dumps, unsure what I wanted to do with my life, jobless, and scared when I moved home to Reno. The only constant in my life at the time was yoga. One day without realizing it, I made a comment to my boyfriend at the time, “teaching yoga would be my dream” and it was actually him who got me into Reno’s best 200-hour yoga teacher training. This is where my real yoga journey began.

The 200-hour yoga teacher training was a much more profound experience than I ever thought it would be. It spanned the course of 5 months and during that time I experienced deep, intense awakenings and long periods of blissful rest. Like shedding an old layer and growing into new skin. In a very cheesy but truthful way, it changed my life. Through yoga I found peace my with my past, focus for my future, and awareness in the presence. I always loved teaching and tutoring in school, so the translation to teaching yoga at The Studio was natural. I’ve been teaching there consistently for the past two years. I am eternally grateful for this space as it allows me to help others on their own journey to self-discovery, self-knowledge and wisdom.

Now that you know me, follow along on my blog as I break down all things yoga, the yoga sutras, yoga philosophy and much much more. Up next: Ahimsa, Non-Violence and Compassion.

Comment below and tell me: What is your experience with yoga? How many years have you been practicing and what is the difference between when you started and now?