Yoga Is "THAT" Thing I Was Searching For

You know the kid who is always dancing down the aisles of the supermarket, knocking down everything in sight? Yep. That was me. So, my parents put me in dance class at a local studio in my hometown as soon as they could. Dance eventually became a huge part of my life, and I decided at 13 to pursue professional dance training at a prestigious school in New York City.

As part of our curriculum, we were required to take yoga classes every week for cross training, which was my introduction to yoga. Back then, I thought of yoga as more of a way to balance out my training as a dancer, rather than it being something I could do for my well-being. In ballet, I experienced many challenges and bumps along the way: injuries, intense competition, and pressure for perfection.

When the time came to decide whether I wanted to pursue dance as my undergraduate major at a university or choose to leave the dance world, I not only chose to leave dance and pursue something I really love, teaching special needs children, but I decided to spread my wings and move from New Jersey to North Carolina - on my own. I'm currently pursuing my undergraduate degree in Special Education with a concentration in English at UNCG.

  

At UNCG, I met Tina (Romanelli) when I was taking her writing class my first semester there. After class one day, she and I chatted about my background in dance and my wanting to get back into yoga. She told me about Revolution Hot Yoga (RHY) and encouraged me to try a class, but I never did. Six months later, I ran into Tina again, and she was now teaching at RHY. After expressing the stress of undergrad expectations I was feeling, Tina again encouraged me to try a class at RHY thinking that I might really enjoy the environment and find some peace of mind.

So, I got my act together and showed up at a restorative yoga class that she taught, and I've been a regular at RHY ever since.

  

I started off doing the restorative yoga classes to just get a feel for what my body felt like doing yoga - not as a means for cross training this time. I found that I really enjoyed the stretching aspect of yoga because of its similarity to dancing.  For the first time ever, I'm learning to really listen to my body.

I decided to brave it out one Monday morning and showed up for the 6am regular hot yoga class. I really thought I wasn't going to make it through that first class, but I just kept telling myself to breathe through it. And I did, in fact, make it and have never let the fear of the heat keep me from classes since.

Yoga turned out to be THAT elusive thing that I'd been searching for since leaving the world of dancing. I love that the yoga is a combination of a choreographed sequence, a means of discovering something new about myself, and learning to be at peace with the process and not feeling like I'm competing with myself or anybody else. Yoga has become a tool of learning self compassion, acceptance, and combating the pressures and stresses of college life.

My yoga practice is still fairly new and evolving each day, but I've gained more confidence as I keep practicing. I'm learning to trust myself and my body and starting to come out of my shell. The most challenging part about yoga for me is developing patience needed because I'm a perfectionist and starting something new is always a huge challenge for me.

As a dancer, I never could touch my toes in seated staff pose, odd for a ballet dancer. But through yoga. I finally touched my toes last week, which was mind-blowing to me!

Coming to RHY was probably one of the best things I have ever done for myself. From the amazing teachers, to the wonderful people I've met on the mat; it's like one big family. I've learned so much from those around me in such a short amount of time. I'm so grateful for Tina, Jane, and Rebecca for their endless patience, support, encouragement, and reminding me to just ‘be.’

Getting to be a part of the RHY family as well as the work-study team is an honor!

This is Victoria Budesa's yoga story.