Inspiring Yogi | Alana Speed

Today we are featuring a Denton student named Alana. She has been coming to Inspire since 2016 and makes her practice a priority despite a busy schedule with school and work. Alana has found yoga to be the perfect compliment to her daily activity and a helper for her to alleviate stress and anxiety. Give her some love in the comments!

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Gosh, I don’t even know where to start. I guess I should start by saying how shocked I am to be the yogi of the month. Seriously shocked. I thought, “Me? Stress-ridden, scatterbrained, a-little-awkward me?” Having just gotten into yoga over the past year, I never thought I would be Inspire’s Yogi of the Month. I imagined some sun-kissed ridiculously flexible, totally-at-peace-with-themselves type of person to be featured. So, when I was first asked to write a little about myself and my “yoga testimonial” I didn’t think of this glamorous story of how my yoga journey began –

I immediately thought of my anxiety.

I thought about why I started yoga and how far I’ve come in even the few months that I began coming to Inspire. While a few months sounds like a short amount of time, I have overcome a lot since I first started this journey. I started heavily practicing yoga this year because I came to a point in my life where I said, “I do not want my stress to define me anymore.” I didn’t want to feel like I couldn’t control my anxiety and I surely thought there was something out there that could help. And at first, it didn’t start with yoga. I began looking for a counselor over the summer to cope with my anxiety and I soon found out that one session costs upwards of $175. ONE SESSION! There was absolutely no way a college student who works part-time could afford that twice a week. I began looking for an alternative and in His perfect timing, God presented me with Inspire Yoga in a beautifully wrapped present at my door step. I signed up, anxious and unsure of if it would even help and even more nervous that I did not have enough experience. Little did I know that a few months later, yoga would become my counselor, the place I go after a long day at school or work. The place I could finally say, “OK, you can let everything go now.”

Inspire Yoga has helped me of course in my flexibility and strength, but so much more in bettering myself. Sure, I still face anxiety and stress every day, but yoga has given me the ability to look at it and say, “I am more than my anxiety.” I can go about my day and face all of my battles knowing that this problem or struggle I am dealing with will not last forever and is not the end of the world. I can leave my mat taking the confidence, peace and love for myself that everyone deserves to have. Before, I would be consumed by everything and be so frustrated that I just couldn’t let things go, in turn making it worse.

I am so thankful each time I step onto my mat and even when little bubbles of worry pop into my head, I’m thankful I have the ability to let them go. I’m grateful for each and every one who has welcomed me with open arms into Inspire Yoga because you have no idea how you have inspired me in the last few months. Thank you Nancy for the opportunity to share my story and to everyone who has practiced aside me, spreading your love and passion for yoga onto me. I look forward to pursuing yoga until I absolutely cannot do it anymore. And I’m thrilled to be doing Inspire Yoga Teacher Training this April! I know I still have a long path of yoga ahead and am eternally grateful.

Lots and lots of love,

Alana

Interested in learning more about how yoga can help you counter stress and anxiety? Check out the related articles below!

Can Yoga Help My Anxiety?

Yin Yoga for Anxiety