Chris Bremerman
Program Director
Beth
Candy
Josie
Katie
Kiersten
Lindsay
Liz
Lizz
Lyndi
Mary
Monica
Nick
Amanda
Roseanne
Stefan
Stephanie
Tabatha
Tracy
Kelli
Chris Bremerman - Program Director
Beth
Did you discover yoga or did yoga discover you?
I discovered yoga as a form of therapy after a very close friend of mine died in
November 2014. I discovered a Bikram yoga studio near my daughter’s
gymnastics studio, and in my discovery of yoga I also found community and
connection.
How do you practice yoga off your mat?
I practice yoga off my mat by breathing through difficult conversations and
situations, being present to what is happening even when I may not like what I
am experiencing that is in or even out of my control, by being of service to
others through my job, my church, my family and my friends, and by looking for
the good in everyone I meet.
Something people might not know about me…
I completed four marathons (Marine Corps Marathon 1987, Hawaii Marathon 1995,
Hawaii Marathon 1996, and Batan Memorial Death
Candy
Did you discover yoga or did yoga discover you?
I found yoga after my second knee surgery! Being stuck on crutches for several weeks I was desperate to find a way to exercise, get my heart rate up and get rid of my excess energy! Tom Jacobs introduced me to yoga in 2000.
How do you practice yoga off your mat?
How you are on your mat in your practice is how you are off your mat in life. I am passionate about life! Yoga is life. It is about creating the person you desire to be not what anyone else expects you to be. It is about forgiving yourself and letting go of the small stuff that doesn’t serve you like needing to be perfect. It is about letting go of negative self talk and making room for positive growth. It is
about letting others in and sharing our stories. Life on and off the mat is about being present, opening up your heart and focusing on the possibilities and allowing yourself to go new places in your practice and in life.
Something people might not know about me…
I have flown an airplane, driven a train in and out of the round house, sailed a boat single handily and raced a Porche Carrera in an SCCA driving school. I went 150mph.Yikes! (IPY: No surprises here, Candy is a fearless badass 😉
Chris O.
How I discovered yoga (or how yoga discovered me) and how I practice off my mat
I discovered yoga during a particularly difficult time in my life. In desperation, I Googled how to relieve extreme stress and yoga came up. I went to my first yoga class the next week where I took my first deep cleansing breath in a very long time and felt peace settle in. I have not stopped yoga since! As my practice evolved, I felt the call to teach. I sought a place to train and landed in a Baptiste studio. I started Baptiste yoga training having only been to a Baptiste class a few times. I was able to grow as a Baptiste student and instructor at the same time and I count it as one of the most impactful experiences of my life. As I began my teaching career I was given the opportunity to further my training to become a Yin teacher. As a self identified super type A person the practice of stillness and yielding was a balm to my soul. I practice yoga off of my mat by bringing the strength and flexibility that yoga offers to my connections with others. At its core, yoga is intentional breath and movement. I bring that intentionality to my work and my play!
Something few people know about me: I am a master of recreating restaurant recipes that my family enjoys. I love to thrift shop and refinish and give new life to furniture pieces for my home. I have also recently discovered a love of nature and you can often find my husband and me tooling around town on our ebikes, hiking and maybe even, GASP, camping!
Josie
Katie
Kiersten
Lindsay
Liz
Lizz
Lyndi
Yoga practice has been a part of my life consistently for the last 9 years. When I started practicing I enjoyed it because for the physical aspect of having an intense workout.
What I quickly found out, is that it was MUCH more than that. After my first practice, I remember my mind feeling clearer and my body feeling lighter for the rest of the day. That’s when I realized that yoga was about body, mind and spirit. From that day on I have practiced regularly.
It’s because of yoga that I show up OFF my mat with an open heart and more grounded in life. Even on the weeks that I am super busy at home or work, I continue to make time for yoga because I know I am a better person for my family, job and friends when I have been putting in the time at the yoga studio.
Going to the yoga studio also gives me a sense of belonging to a community. It gives me the chance to connect with men and women in the studio who I’ve gotten to know over the last few years. It feels like “home” because everyone feels likes family.
Mary
Did you discover yoga or did yoga discover you?
Yoga discovered me. After I retired and was caring for my folks, I needed to do something for me….My body was stiff, joints and back hurt, I was much heavier then. So I bought myself a Groupon to a yoga studio. The only experience I had with yoga was in college, I had to take a course and I hated it back then. But I knew I needed to try something to get my body moving more without so much pain. Anyway, the yoga I remember was holding a stretch forever in an uncomfortable position trying to breath. When I found Baptiste yoga that all changed.. and I love it!! It is physically challenging, has movement and really brings the sweat!!
How do you practice yoga off your mat?
Breathing
.. I think I am much calmer in situations that used to be stressful or at least
I thought they were stressful….taking a breath gives me time to calm down,
relax and collect me thoughts. No matter where I go, my breath is with me
to calm me or give me strength at any time. That’s powerful.
Monica
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Nick
Did you discover yoga or did yoga discover you?
I discovered yoga. When I took my first yoga class nine years ago, it wasn’t something I thought I would do long-term, just a fun form of exercise to try once in a while. I realized that yoga can be more than a great workout, it’s whatever each individual needs it to be from moment to moment; exercise, a mental break from stress, friendships, and all of the above.
How do you practice yoga off your mat?
I find that the physical and mental aspects of practice carry over often in my daily life. The Four Agreements were a huge part of teacher training and apply seamlessly to situations outside of teaching. When I need to I close my eyes and focus on my breath as if I’m in class even when away from the studio. And sometimes I do poses while I brush my teeth. 🙂
Something
people might not know about me:
I’m
a published photographer and writer. I also have a twin sister. She teaches at
IN Power, and introduced me to yoga.
Amanda
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Roseanne
How did you discover yoga (or how did yoga discover you) and how
do you practice off your mat?
I discovered and rediscovered yoga at two very pivotal times of loss in my life. The first was following a miscarriage, during a three year (in)fertility journey and the second was following the loss of my dad. Both experiences were devastating and I knew I needed something to manage stress, work through grief, support my physical wellness and accept my lack of control (I might be a bit of a (recovering) control freak!) Yoga became a pathway to all of that and so much more. Practice at those times in life provided me my first moments of true peace. I’ve since learned that yoga is as powerful in times of joy as it is in times of challenge. Just as I do on my mat, off my mat I use breath, drishti and grounding to attain mindfulness, presence, resilience, grace and santosha (contentment). I practice the principles of yoga in all of my roles- wife, mom, daughter, sister, family member, friend, coach, counselor, trainer, colleague, yoga instructor- it fits everywhere, always for me!
Something people might not know about me…
I
have been published- I co-authored a chapter in the Handbook of Hope: Theory,
Measures and Applications with Shane Lopez, known as the “world’s leading
researcher in hope.” And, I birthed a 9 lbs, 12 oz, 21.5 inch son- at 5 ft
4 inches, that was quite a feat;)
Stefan
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Stephanie
Did you discover yoga
or did yoga discover you?
Yoga discovered me. I was seeking healing. My best friend brought me to a Kundalini class. Eight years later, here I am practicing yoga…or is yoga practicing me?
How do you practice
yoga off your mat?
I practice the Pause. I
feel my feet – wiggle my toes. Ask – Where is my breath? I find it and
bring it back into my body.
Something people might not know about me:
I have a strong desire to shoot flaming arrows. (We are soooo going to be there for this one!)
Right now I’m grateful for:
Yoga, Transformation, IN Power Community, Peace, Joy, Love, Smiles, Possibility.
Why I show up to teach:
Connection, Community, and I Believe in this practice.
Tabatha
How I discovered yoga (or how yoga discovered me) and how I practice off my mat:
I discovered yoga when I lived in Los Angeles. I visited many studios and practiced many types of yoga. All of which I enjoyed but nothing really stuck. I was a fast paced girl hustling in a busy city and preferred high cardio classes and dark rooms and loud music for my workouts, detoxes and energy consumption! Fast forward to 2013, my grandpa was passing away and I decided to move back home to KC to be with my grandma. Wow! That was a change of pace and “moving home” was a catalyst to some major healing. I found myself in group therapy work and went to the yoga studio nearest my house. It happened to be a Baptiste inspired studio. And that is where yoga discovered me!! I met myself everyday on my mat for 6 months healing, feeling, sweating, crying and connecting with a community that I felt seen, safe and supported in. My roots began to settle in this new space of earth beneath my mat. This was the beginning of me reconnecting to my truest self and my new old home. Yoga gave me the physical strength and courage to process my emotional healing one day and one breath at a time! Little did I know, my journey to the heart was also my journey into power! 10 years later, I practice yoga on and off my mat by exploring the pause and taking a few extra breaths when I feel the urge to make a move fast. Yoga has been a platform to living life authentically, intentionally and without limitations!
Something few people know about me: One of the biggest surprises of my life I found out during yoga teacher training. Literally, before our final 3 hour practice, I found out I was going to be a mom! The timing of this surprise couldn’t have been better. To have spent a week connecting, healing, growing, shedding layers and becoming empowered with a group of yogis that felt like my family, I was able to just lean in! Cue Trevor Hall singing “there’s a way, there’s a way, there’s a way” ~ Green Mountain State, on repeat during class. Tears streaming down my face, of joy, fear, gratitude and everything in between. I took one step into each new pose, with breath, acceptance, possibility and a willingness to come apart. I stepped into my HELL YES of motherhood and never looked back!
Tracy
Did you discover yoga or did yoga discover you?
Yoga discovered me. After experiencing severe hip pain while marathon training I was diagnosed with arthritis in my hip and told no more running. The next day I went to mail a package and saw a yoga studio had opened next door. I went in & checked it out- it was hot yoga and I don’t like being hot. The owner showed me the hot room and offered the first class free since she had just opened. I took class the next day and have never looked back.
How do you practice yoga off your mat?
I have so many tools I’ve learned in my yoga journey that I use everyday. The greatest of these is how I react when I feel overwhelmed – learning to pause, take a few full breaths, notice where my feet are planted and know I have everything I need to begin again. Another is to be intentional with my thoughts and words.
Something people might not know about me…
I’ve
seen Neil Diamond in concert 12 times (on purpose) and have flown on Air Force
One.
Kelli
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Tom
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Chris
Favorite quote/mantra right now: “Living in the moment is a gift. That’s why they call it the present.” —Ted Lasso
How I discovered yoga
(or how yoga discovered me) and how I practice off my mat: I discovered yoga because it was something I
thought I should be doing as a fairly new and somewhat
overweight recreational runner in my late 30s looking to improve my fitness. I
searched for yoga on Google and found a hot power vinyasa studio near me and
thought to myself, “This is what I need. It looks intense, I’m going to
push myself, and I’ll get really fit and fast.” But after learning the
practice and the intention of the practice, yoga became something I wanted to
do, and the practice did not have to be difficult or about improving my
fitness, although yoga can be those things if that is your intention.
I practice off my mat
in several ways. I incorporate the physical poses into my post-run routine,
high crescent lunges, pyramid and twisting triangles, deep squats and
wide-leg forward folds. And I also practice presence, awareness, mindfulness
and breath outside of the physical practice. Just as we breathe before taking
the next asana on the mat, I breathe before reacting (or choosing not to
react) to something I hear or read. We sometimes stay in a pose, like
a deep chair twist, even when we want to leave. Off the mat, I stay in my work
as a writer even if I’m stuck on the next paragraph and feel the urge to check
my phone. Most importantly, I remind myself we can let go of past mistakes and
begin again. Every breath is an opportunity for a new step