From No Way To Namaste: Why You Need To Give Yoga That 2nd Chance

CAUTION: YOGA HAS BEEN KNOWN TO CAUSE HEALTH AND HAPPINESS. 

I’m not flexible.
I’m too out of shape.
I have _________ injury.
I don’t like how SLOOOOOOOWWWW yoga moves.
I went this one time and it was so terrible….

I could go on and on with the endless amount of excuses I hear. I was one of those people once too, so trust me, I get it. Before I actually got on a mat and tried it, I gave a family friend every excuse in the “I’m Not Going To Yoga” book. Maybe it was fear; maybe I wasn’t ready for the change that yoga inspires. Whatever it was, my attitude changed and I finally gave yoga a try. 

Turns out, I was wrong for not trying it when it was first suggested to me. No sooner did I fall in love with yoga than I realized I wanted to teach it. In December, I graduated from Raffa Yoga’s 200 Hour Yoga Alliance Certified School of Yoga. Over the course of 11 weeks, I worked on my practice inside and outside the Raffa facility. I learned so much about myself and met some incredible people.

Through my (former) job at lululemon athletica, I met a woman and her husband, Jayme and Jamie. They are the owners of What Is Movement, in Warwick, RI. “Girl” Jayme teaches yoga at WIM. I fell in love with her teaching style and started going to her classes, as well as the Forrest Yoga classes there taught by Jessie Dwiggins, regularly. Forrest Yoga is another style of yoga; during teacher training I tried a bunch of different ones and my favorites are Forrest, Restorative, and Yin. (Of course leaving room for new styles I have not tried yet!)

Before I even graduated, Jayme and Jamie offered me a job to teach at WIM. My first reaction was NO! I hadn’t even graduated yet and HELLO… thinking about leading a class was terrifying; I was like a month into my teacher training. Jayme assured me that I could do it. She was 100% right!

The day after I graduated, I started teaching. I teach at What Is Movement on Monday nights at 6:30, Friday mornings at 10:00, and Sunday at noon. Class on Sunday has been a huge hit; we’ve nicknamed it “The Hangover Saver Class”. It’s a slower paced class that uses blocks, bolsters, and blankets to get as comfy as possible to stretch and repair the body. This class is also great for athletes, people who lift weights, and anyone who does a lot of driving or sits at a desk for most of the week. My Monday and Friday classes are a little more of what you'd call Vinyasa. I try to slow it down to make it a more mindful flow, focusing on breath, and building strength. (If group yoga isn’t your thing, WIM offers yoga privates too.)

If this hasn’t inspired you to try yoga, “Guy” Jamie teaches some great classes and offers private training as well. He works with Kettle Bells and weighted cylinders called ViPRs. His workouts are typically barefoot, on turf, and anyone can do them.

WIM is such a great place because we have people from so many different age groups and backgrounds coming together because they want to feel their best. I hope to see you on the mat or the turf at WIM but if not, just get out there and move! A very wise person once told me, “You are only as young as your spine is flexible.” 

Namaste,

Giana 

Photo Credits: All photos courtesy of Giana, except for the Peace on Earth sign at Raffa, which is courtesy of the PattyJDotCom Instagram account.