In college and right after, I had several friends who were yogis, one in particular who was not only a certified yoga teacher but also a massage therapist. His connection to his practice was astounding. He always had a sunny disposition on life, despite its ups and downs. He applied elements of his practice “off the mat,” and it showed. I tried a few classes, but the connection was lacking. I was envious.

A few years later, I found myself back in Charlotte. One of my best friends growing up went through a breakup, and yoga was her salvation. She found the connection at a local studio, and for two years spoke frequently about how much it helped her. I went to her studio for a class and hated it. Hot power flow, with pop music as the backdrop. I was overweight, out of shape, and struggled to keep up. It was disappointing and I felt insecure once again; how could so many people in my life find a connection to a practice that’s essentially stretching and breathing?

Fast forward to the summer of 2012. Over the last year, I went through two surgeries for my gallbladder and had been officially unemployed for 3 months; I was laid off due to a company merger. I was in the middle of an identity crisis – I had attached so much of who I was to the job I performed. While on one hand I felt the excitement of rediscovering myself at the age of 31, on the other hand I felt boring. I put such an emphasis on work and now that was gone. It was scary.

Then one night, a friend invited me to join her for a yoga class at Be Yoga. The next week, I was in the Dilworth studio. A gorgeous, fresh-faced, cheerful brunette led our class [Kellie Jackson Daniel], and I left feeling like I was floating on a cloud. This was unlike any yoga class I’ve ever taken – there was no music, everyone was at a different level, she encouraged the use of props, and I didn’t feel self-conscious like I had before. I was still overweight, but there were people of all shapes, sizes and ages in my class. I was literally glowing when I walked out. I couldn’t thank my friend Shivonne enough.

Every week I went back, at least once or twice a week to Kellie Jackson Daniel’s class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I found it was the only thing to get me out of my head. I noticed my body was changing too – I gained flexibility and strength, and physically I was starting to look a little different. My clothes were getting loose.

Eventually I gained confidence in my practice and started branching out to other classes, like slow flow and vinyasa. Each teacher has their own unique style that I embrace to its fullest. Lee Anne Smith is so funny and laid back, but has a serious demeanor…I find myself laughing through each practice she leads. Allison Modaferri Brewster’s constant encouragement and endless patience makes the time fly by far too quickly. Elizabeth Dickinson’s angelic voice, whether speaking or singing, instantaneously calms you. Becky Tin and Emily Elder’s intense vinyasa practices leave me breathless and wanting more. This is just a few of the amazing teachers this studio has – I haven’t taken a class with a teacher I didn’t like.

I became employed again. I began volunteering at the front desk one day a week at the Carmel studio and subsequently began practicing several times a week – the Carmel studio had been open for several months, and is a lot closer to my home and work. I was feeling great. Then I suffered heartbreak at the beginning of February.

My relationship ended, and I was crushed. I didn’t know what to do with myself. So I started going to yoga six days a week. On the seventh day (Wednesday), I worked the front desk. Yoga was the only thing that got my mind off of my heartbreak for an hour and a half a day. Each time I went to the mat, I felt uneasy; uneasy about where my life would be without this person I loved so very much, what was the next step, how was I going to get through this.

The great thing about yoga is this – every day, I show up on my mat expecting the unknown. I have no idea what sequence of poses my teachers will present. I never know where it will lead. Then one day it clicked – life is full of unknowns, just like my practice. I’m okay with going to the mat not knowing what’s going to happen…I can be okay with life throwing its unknowns at me. That truth set me free.

I apply my practice to daily life in so many ways. If I feel myself getting anxious or angry, I start my throaty Darth Vader yoga breathing (the “technical” term is ujjayi pranayama) and I instantly feel calm. Joseph Snider, one of my wonderful teachers who is now in Colorado, would say in practice, “The most advanced yogi isn’t the one who can do each pose perfectly; it’s the one who can smile through even the most difficult of challenges. It’s the one who can fall out of a pose and laugh about it.” When something difficult or challenging happens, I smile and take it as it comes. If I fall, I laugh about it. I thank Joseph for that.

Three and a half months later, I look at myself and see an entirely different woman. Physically, I’m 20 pounds lighter, totaling 50 down since January of last year. I have muscles, and a core that is starting to show itself. I can do poses I didn’t think were possible, like crow and bird of paradise. I am more physiologically connected to myself than I’ve ever been. Mentally, I’m happier than I think I’ve ever been in my entire life. I’ve discovered who I am; identity crisis averted. I am a yogi who is the cutest Dutchorican you’ll ever come across. I have much love for yoga, hip-hop, food and life.

I look back now and realize this heartbreak was ultimately the catalyst for connecting me with my practice, much like it did for my friend a few years back. I can’t thank him enough for that experience. Because had I not gone through it, I’m not sure I would be writing this.

Everyone seeks a connection to a physical practice in some way, whether to become healthier, for aesthetic purposes, or for meditative benefits. It’s amazing that for 15 years, I dabbled in and out of yoga…and now I have the connection I so desperately sought…a meditative, physical practice that connects my body with my breath. I am thankful for my experiences that led me to Be Yoga. I am thankful for Be Yoga helping me to advance me in my practice in more ways than I can express through words. And, I am forever grateful for my practice.

I came to my 8:15 hot vinyasa class with Emily the next morning. I always look forward to this class to kick off my weekend. I almost didn’t go, but I pushed through that and showed up. I sat down on my mat and Emily began her opening greeting and meditation. She immediately asked the class if there were any teachers. I hesitantly raised my hand, the only one up in the room. She walked over to me, asked me to stand up, and gave me the most warm hearted and compassionate hug. I started quietly sobbing, just the release I needed.

Class was wonderful, as usual. We ended in a closing circle, repeating some positive mantras to send love and peace out into the world. BeYoga is such a welcoming, loving and safe place with wonderful greeters and teachers. It seems that your foundation is truly encouraging the human spirit. I feel that every time I enter the BeYoga doors, but felt it in such a powerful way last Saturday that I wanted to share that with you!

Thanks for the privilege of practicing at your amazing place!

Jenny Newstead

Blessings!!!
xo, Marcy

Then came BeYoga. Now to be clear, I am a wanderer with a local traveling radius easily an order of magnitude beyond that of my friends and coworkers. It means I enjoy practicing at every yoga studio in town – except for the one where my son’s step-mother teaches, at which I’m still working up the courage to lay down my mat. Nonetheless, that structure I expended so much energy refusing to acknowledge suddenly had a pulse; the same warm, welcoming pulse that emanates from atop the quaint brick building on East Blvd.

Eventually my heart softens and I cross the threshold, like a skittish cat I poke around a bit. Looking through the square window into the main studio, an involuntary wow escapes my lips. Christine quips “We made it just for you.” Chuckling I think to myself it kind of feels that way. Its warm heartedness wraps around my well-fed skepticism of Charlotte. It forces me to acknowledge this studio, the people who teach here, who practice here too embody Charlotte, an equally real, -dare I say-vivacious Charlotte.

Welcome, BeYoga, to the neighborhood and thank you for the positive light you cast on the Queen City.

Regards,

Laura, Be Yoga Student

Dear Be students,

A lot has changed in recent weeks in the world of Anusara Yoga.  The Anusara Style teachers here at Be Yoga want to welcome you to your mat to continue your practice, and we want you to know what you can expect when you come to our classes.  First and foremost, we will all continue to offer excellent yoga instruction, with powerful, inspired themes and strong attention to the details of alignment.  We all believe strongly in the methodology of Anusara yoga and its effectiveness, both on and off the mat!  In our classes, you can continue to expect opportunities to explore and go deeper in your practice, through asana, breathwork, meditation, contemplation, loving introspection, humor, personal expression, and playful discovery.  Often, we will also offer opportunities to chant.  Traditionally, Anusara classes begin with a chanted invocation.  The words of the Invocation are ancient and far pre-date the inception of Anusara yoga, yet since the tune was created for Anusara, the chant is now strongly associated with the Anusara style.  At this time, some of the Anusara Style teachers are leading the Invocation at the beginning of every class, and some are chanting it less regularly.  Sometimes, you may be in a class that begins with simple Aums, and other times you may have the opportunity to hear or learn an alternate chant.As you can see, there are some things changing.  Change can be hard, but it’s also natural and good.  We hope you will continue to grow with us, as all teachers have more to offer as they, themselves, grow and change as students.

Change can be hard, but it’s also natural and good.  We hope you will continue to grow with us, as all teachers have more to offer as they, themselves, grow and change as students.

In Yogic philosophy there is a similar principle called satya, or truth, and its partner ahimsa, non-harming, which imply that

we have a responsibility to present the truth in a way that creates wholeness, and healing.

Even difficult facts can be presented in a compassionate, caring way that causes the least amount of trauma to all involved.

These are in the same vein as a concept that my mother offered to me when I was a child. “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say It.” A rather concise statement, but the essence of the message is the same: our words have the power to either harm or heal, and it is up to us as human beings to learn to use the gift of verbal communication wisely and helpfully.

When one is a reporter, this can be a challenge. Dramatic stories sell. Scandals concerning sex, money, or both, help ratings. Beloved leaders falling from grace, is headline news. I understand this as an unfortunate reality.

What I take issue with, is when reporters utilize unrelated events, poor research and plain opinions and generalizations to make something sound dangerous, scandalous, and dramatic. The latest NYTimes article by W.J. Broad, insinuating that yoga practice incites sexual arousal in practitioners, and leads to abuse of power by teachers, is simply unfounded and untrue.

Yoga does not “fan the sexual flames”, any more than playing tennis does. Any physical sport that increases circulation is bound to be a powerful antidepressant and libido booster, which is something the pharmaceutical companies would rather we not know. Any vigorous cardiovascular activity, be it brisk walking, swimming, or yoga, has a long list of benefits that include mood elevation. This does not lead to sexual misconduct. My personal experience in my many careers from restaurant work, to emergency medicine, to yoga, leads me to observe that there is in fact LESS frequency of sexual misconduct in the yoga world. It’s simply that it gets more headlines when it does occur.

Yoga practice is a long and rich tradition with many facets from spiritual devotion, to volunteerism and service, to simply physical fitness. We as students and practitioners have the opportunity to draw water from this well in any way that we choose.

The benefits and dangers of a yoga practice are most often found in the ingredients we bring to it, because yoga refines what lies within.

If you practice yoga poses in a peaceful, mindful, compassionate way, slowing down and observing with care, you will not injure yourself. If you practice yoga poses pushing and shoving your body around, competing and full of ambition, you may very well injure yourself. It’s what you bring to it.

If a teacher, boss, politician, or person in power uses their influence in a way that is beneficial to everyone, with humility, in the spirit of selfless service, then abuse will not happen. If that same person uses their influence in a way that is prideful, letting their ends justify their means, taking liberties with and advantage of their supporters and admirers, then abuse will inevitably happen. Not just in the yoga world, but anywhere.

If anything, yoga practice has taught me to not blindly follow any one teacher, but to draw from multiple sources, cross-reference, empirically test, and trust the intuition and guidance that my own heart provides. To do my own research, and check my sources. Upon checking Mr. Broad’s history, it seems that he had a yoga-related injury in 2008, and is obviously lashing out at yoga in the media since. While I sympathize and wish for Mr. Broad’s healing and recovery, I’m not completely convinced that yoga caused the injury. He very likely brought an attitude of over extending into the classroom if his articles are any indicator.

Beryl Bender Birch, a lovely Ashtanga teacher well into her 60’s with a happy marriage, says “You don’t get injured doing Yoga. You get injured doing Yoga WRONG.” Yoga, done from a place of compassion, selflessness, mindfulness, and earnestness is nothing but good medicine.

I have a childhood friend I found on facebook, who, when we met for brunch in NY after 30 years, sighed when he heard I was a yoga teacher. “You would hate what I do for a living”, he said. “I have to think of scary things and make it sound like people are actually in danger, so that they don’t change the channel. Shark attack, home invasion, cancer scare, toxicity levels, violent crime, terrorist attack…I create the tension… and then you get to undo it.” He openly admitted, that journalism has succumbed to sensationalism in the attempt to keep advertisers money flowing. So, the latest NYTimes article is probably not the last one we’ll see touting the dangers of yoga practice, unfortunately.

To practice yoga, is really to undo the tension our world and media create, to untie the knots of our own past karma and experiences, and to reveal the truth in our present surroundings. What we give, is what we get, out of a yoga practice, and out of life itself. It is with this spirit of inquiry, openness, and earnestness that I hope we continue to see the gifts Yoga has to offer, in the form of right speech, and compassionate communication.

Christine Navarro