Being active has always been an important part of my life. In high school, I played tennis competitively and would practice nearly every day after school. Once I was in college and had less time for tennis, I started taking cardio-focused group fitness classes, like Zumba and HIIT, at our student rec center. I felt like I needed something high energy with a competitive component to maintain my attention and get a good workout.

While completing my first year of law school, I neglected to find time to take care of my mental and physical wellness. This spring, I decided to tackle both through yoga! As a busybody, I thought that I would be bored and under-stimulated by yoga. I now know that yoga is very stimulating, and continues to challenge me every time I practice.

I started practicing a few years ago in graduate school at the University of Illinois when I saw a flyer for weekly free yoga in my office. I had been experiencing repetitive stress injuries from years of running, so it was a convenient way to recover and remain active. I was surprised at my lack of strength and mobility in areas I had overlooked while running competitively.

Thank you for pointing the Student Spotlight almost 200 miles northwest of Madison! My name is Kaia Simon, my pronouns are she/her, and I live in Eau Claire, WI where I am an Assistant Professor of English at UW-Eau Claire.

In 2018 my life had very little structure. I was finishing a graduate program and a dissertation, confronted with days, weeks, and months of nothing but writing and far too much time to think. It was draining and disorienting.

A yogic lifestyle involves an emphasis on comprehensive, holistic approach to health. For me, this means I need to be physically active daily to properly integrate mind, body and spirit. I find that doing yoga accomplishes this to the extent that such awareness also transcends to other aspects of my life and those around me.