Deanna Bartlett (she/her)
How yoga encouraged me to build confidence, become in-tune with my body, and build an authentic identity
After several years of being in the fitness industry and consumed by toxic wellness culture, I was ready for a change. I discovered yoga essentially as a ‘rest day’ and very quickly noticed how good I would feel after practice; physically, mentally, and emotionally. I began slowly letting go of the hustle of the fitness industry and toxic diet culture and started utilizing yoga years later as a tool to discover body trust. After several failed attempts of breaking free from societal pressures and expectations, yoga was what helped me, and continues to help me take up space, learn to be comfortable and present in and with my body, learn and practice interoceptive awareness, and trust that the body I'm in is enough. The practice of yoga physically on the mat and in my every day life through how I speak, respond, and think, continues to be a big piece of creating and getting to re-define what an authentic life looks like for me.
I find that through asana and meditation, we have an invitation to get out of the head and trickle downstairs into the body. I use my personal connection to yoga to walk beside others on and off their mats to find what its like to trust their bodies wisdom, question societal and generational norms that have become engrained, and work with the here and now body; without apology.
In practice, students can expect to disengage from the over active mind, and allow time to pause and experience mindfulness through bearing witness to the physical, mental, and spiritual body via breathe, movement, and rest. My classes generally include open invitation to let the body be the guide, to move from a place of curiosity, and plenty of room to question ideas and beliefs pertaining to diet culture, societal expectations and ways we’ve been conditioned to take up less space with our body, our words, our actions and reactions.
It brings me immense joy to hold yoga in unconventional spaces, and create spaces where we as a collective can trust and witness that we are not so different, and we all have stuff going on. The practice of slowing down and sitting with is a powerful gateway into self-acceptance, mindfulness, emotional-regulation, and connection to self and others.