My Yoglates II South Story

The first year anniversary celebrating the opening of the Yoglates II South Studio is actually a personal celebration for me.  I began practicing Yoglates at South during the first week that it was opened.  It has changed my life.

    Beginning in 2005, following the tragedies of Hurricane Katrina, I began experiencing strange changes in my body.  Fatigue, tiredness and a feeling like I had the beginning of a flu bug became my daily cross to bear.  Nothing helped.  My health went into a downward spiral.   My joints began to swell and I began experiencing gastrointestinal problems.  I underwent all the tests the doctors could run.  My final diagnosis: Fibromyalgia. 

    As a lawyer, I have represented clients diagnosed with Fibromyalgia who would come into my office and share with me the constant pain and daily burden.  At that point, I had almost resigned myself to the fact that I would never recover.  Discouragement and a fear that I would never be the same loomed over my head.

    During 2009-2010, in an attempt to ease my symptoms, I began a strict gluten-free diet believing that maybe I had a wheat allergy, i.e., celiac disease.  I was committed and learned how to be a pretty good gluten-free cook.  (Blueberry muffins, crawfish ettouffee, and brown gravy were challenges on a gluten-free diet, but I learned to make these yummy dishes and more.)  This diet made me feel better, but I was still having bouts of debilitating pain.  A final medical test determined that I did not have celiacs disease.

    In the summer of 2010, I was with my family in Taos, New Mexico where my husband, Kevin, and our three children love to visit.  However, this particular visit was excruciatingly painful.  I could only walk very short distances, and my movements were strained.  I sat next to a clear, cold mountain stream in the Taos Ski Valley and began to cry.  My heart broke.  The miles of hiking, fishing, and just the simple act of sitting by a stream were almost impossible because of the unbearable pain that haunted me.  I told my husband that I felt like I was going to die.....All he could do was hug me.  He knew how hard I was working to be well.

    Because no medicine worked, the rheumotologist that I was seeing told me to begin exercising and practicing something like yoga or pilates.  This seemed counter-intuitive to me.  I was too embarrassed to go into a studio because of how limited my movements had become.  My former strong, muscular body had now become tight---so tight I could barely touch my toes.

    My very dear friend, April Hill, kept encouraging me along the way.  She had been practicing Yoglates for years and knew the benefits, but I refused to go.  I was afraid. 

    Finally, when April opened the studio last year, I signed up for some individual instruction with April.  I will never, ever forget my first day in the Yoglates studio.  I had just had another round of invasive tests the day before, and I wasn't feeling great but was determined not to cancel.  The studio was warm.  My first half moon was painful, but something down deep inside of me felt soothed.  The warmth coupled with the deep stretching was like medicine to my body. April's voice with no outside distraction moved me through the routine.  Focus became easier the warmer and the more my muscles worked.  The rhythm was just right.......I was hooked.

    During the month of October 2010, I began attending Yoglates II classes on a regular basis.  Little by little, the flu-like pain that had gripped my body for so long began subsiding.  I began having fewer days where I felt desperation from pain.  On the days that I was in pain, I would remember the reality that the Yoglates II classes were the ONLY thing that would soothe that jagged, rough edge--it had become my medicine.  After several months, the realization that I WAS BACK was hard to believe.  The me that had energy and a joie de vivre had actually reemerged.

    I went back to Taos this past July, 2011.  I sat by that same clear mountain stream where I had hung my head and sobbed the year before.  I looked at my husband, Kevin, and my eyes filled with tears.  This time I was crying tears of joy.  "I have my life back,"  I said as I looked up at him.  Kevin smiled and took a picture of me.  I think he is just as thankful as I am!

    Happy Birthday, Yoglates II South!!!!!!!!!