Chuck Angevine

Inner Fire Yogi since 2012

They (whoever 'they' is) say that every journey begins with taking one first step. Mine was a tentative one. One fine day, I was talked into attending a morning Power Flow class by my wife, Peggy, and a friend. I didn’t know an asana from a vinyasa. As I looked unknowingly around the room before class started, I was advised to watch others for clues as to what to do next. I survived the class and somewhere between that first bead of perspiration forming on my brow and uttering my first ‘namaste’, exhausted, I was hooked. I had found something vital for which I didn’t know I was looking.

The timing was perfect. Always active and having played competitive soccer for years, I’d just hung up my soccer shoes, forced into retirement by a worn-out knee. The physical challenge of yoga filled an exercise void. I got into a rhythm and soon discovered that, for me, the benefits of regular practice went well beyond strength and balance.

At Inner Fire Yoga, I found my breath a counterweight to crazy work weeks. I saw pre-class banter create community and friendship, and felt a reading encourage me or in some small way remind me of what it means to be human.

While I tell myself I should attend more Original Hot classes, my ‘go to’ is Inner Fire Flow. I really can’t choose my favorite yoga pose but I so enjoy the connection of a simple assist and the feeling of an icy cold mint and lemongrass scent-infused cotton ball on my forehead as I lay spent in Savasana at the end of a class.

I am very grateful for all the inspiration and guidance my Inner Fire Yoga teachers have provided over the years. Teachers like Julie Logue, Sandra Homburg, and Hope Henley stand out and have all been inducted into my personal Yoga Instructor Hall of Fame. Karen Rigsby, however, is in a class by herself, both as a yoga instructor and a person. Who but Karen creates a yoga playlist that includes an instrumental version of The Pixies’ ‘Where Is My Mind?’. Enough said.