{Written by a SHINE Power Yoga Teacher Trainee after reading their required reading of How To Be An Anti-Racist by Ibram X Kendi} — I want to share a story about myself and how this book helped shift my mindset. A mindset that I didn’t even realize needed shifting. I must admit, I rolled my eyes a bit when I saw this on our reading list. I begrudgingly downloaded the audio book, thinking, well, I can listen while I walk the dog and get my steps in. It’s narrated by the author, Ibram X. Kendi. He has a very soothing voice. Maybe too soothing, I quickly found myself daydreaming or not paying e ..read more

??❤️ When I think of Shine Power Yoga I think of an evolved place. Where I feel a higher sense of purpose. I'm in the right place and on the right path. I aligned with my highest self and manifesting the life I am meant to live. I find myself in the walls of the studio, in the hot sweaty practice, in the community of each studio, and l see in myself the feeling of being home.My vision is to bring divine connection, expression, love, strength,and safety. The feeling of coming home! I want to see Shine go into 2021 with discovery of the changing times. Transition to an  even better communit ..read more

by Madi Gilhool College has been a major test for me.  It feels like I have been here for a year when in reality, it has been 6 1/2 weeks.  There have been so many events that I don’t even know where to start. There have been so many late night conversations and library grinds and drag shows but what I am beginning to realize is that these things don’t fulfill me.  Yes, I love these seeing gay men dolled up as the queens they are and sitting in the Addlestone Library with my vanilla latte but none of those things add up to community.  Community is what creates connection and connection is wh ..read more

Tapas―heat.  When I read the chapter dedicated to Tapas in “The Yamas and Niyamas,” by Deborah Adele, I felt like there was not much substance that I could pull from her words.  Initially, I found Tapas to be simple in nature, and I thought that I already had a grasp on what the Niyama entailed. In other words, I thought that I knew all there was to know about Tapas.  So I thought. The Universe taught me a lesson on Tapas the very next day. So funny how that works. I thought I had this Niyama all figured out, and then all of a sudden I did not. By the grace of the Universe, I was humbled to se ..read more