I began yoga through a community class in Milwaukee and loved it. When I moved to Madison in 2007, I immediately joined Inner Fire Yoga (it had a different name back then) and fell madly in love with hot yoga. 

What spoke to me most about it was that it worked every muscle, squeezed every organ, and got my blood flowing. I felt alive. Dar VanderHoop was my teacher and always told us "you are in the prime of your life!" When I looked around the room, I saw people of all different ages and wondered who she was talking about: me? The older gentleman in the front corner? Then I realized that she meant all of us. Every single person who is alive and practicing yoga to the best of their ability is in the prime of their life. All of us. If you can show up on the mat (and in life) and put in the effort, you're doing it. That's it.

That's what I love about yoga – it meets you where you are. It's a celebration of being alive. 

If I'm honest, I really love hard work and challenging myself but I also love that the teachers here do not push and that they make space for people to have different abilities and limitations. When I am in the studio with my fellow yogis and teachers, I feel love and loved. And that's beautiful.