What brought you to your yoga practice?
I was looking for something like this because I felt like I needed this for healing and to help me move and build my self esteem.

I was feeling not myself during the COVID time, feeling isolated, stagnant and wasn't feeling right mentally and physically. I wasn't feeling good about myself and kind of depressed.

I tried yoga a few times before but never really stuck to it more than once or twice.

What benefits did you notice once you started practicing consistently? 
More flexibility, my body is able to be more flexible, and it taught me how to breathe and meditate and stay in the moment. It also helped me with digestive problems that I started having during the pandemic.
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What would you now tell yourself before you started practicing yoga? 
That I need to get out and do something for myself. Life is not always comfort because if you stay comfortable it doesn't help you in the long run and after a while you start to digress.

I will keep coming back.​

What brought you to your yoga practice?
I tried yoga in high school and loved it, but had focused on my on-again-off-again relationship with cardio for the past years. Last summer, I attended yoga classes at Gallagher Way hosted by Five Keys, and I fell in love with yoga as a communal and cultural practice. I've been attending a class at least once a week ever since. 

What benefits did you notice once you started practicing consistently? 
Immediately, I experienced pain relief in my hips and back. I grew in confidence, and experienced a much deeper relationship with my body; one based on respect and love for its capabilities. Those things make it easy to turn yoga into a priority in my schedule. 
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What would you now tell yourself before you started practicing yoga? 
I would tell myself that respecting and honoring what my body is capable of is much more important than meeting my own expectations of image. Health is so much more holistic than you think. How I show up to class mentally is almost as important as the practice. ​

​What brought you to your yoga practice?
I need movement in my life to be happy, and for a long time before yoga I exclusively practiced martial arts. While there are a lot of benefits to that and I don't regret it at all, there came a time where engaging with it was no longer supporting what I wanted my life to become. I came to yoga looking for a more supportive community that would let me engage on my own terms and an activity that would challenge me in new ways physically and mentally. I found both! 

What benefits did you notice once you started practicing consistently? 
I'm a lot more gentle with myself when I need to do something differently than what I feel is expected of me. The practice of sitting with whatever your limits are, right now, today has made it a lot easier to "take a modification" in real life to accommodate what I need in the moment. 
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What would you now tell yourself before you started practicing yoga? 
You don't have to work at it. It's not something you need to stress about improving or changing. Your practice today is as valid as your worst day and your best day, and if today you just sit down and don't move that's your practice then maybe you worked just as hard as anyone else.

What brought you to your yoga practice?
I really missed yoga in a studio and wanted to find the right place. I decided to try five keys with little to no expectations and am so happy! 

What benefits did you notice once you started practicing consistently? 
I’m able to focus on clearing my mind more and increased mobility. 
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What would you now tell yourself before you started practicing yoga? 
You can do hard things! It’s a practice and every day is a work in progress.

I’m so grateful for every instructor at five keys who has helped me over the last 7 months. I feel so seen and heard in this studio and I love the “come as you are” feeling when I walk in!!

What brought you to your yoga practice?
I was searching for a mindful practice where I could be in the present moment without distractions like my phone or tv. I also love to stretch and was looking to tone my muscles - yoga was the perfect answer! 

What benefits did you notice once you started practicing consistently? 
I noticed my balance and flexibility improve significantly! Also found myself moving more freely and with more comfort, as well as feeling less anxiety in my daily life.
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What would you now tell yourself before you started practicing yoga? 
To give yourself grace, and not get discouraged when falling out of routine. It’s never too late to jump back in!​

What brought you to your yoga practice?
I was looking for a new way to incorporate some movement and de-stress from my work, and after doing some searching I found 5KY on meetup and decided to give it a try.

What benefits did you notice once you started practicing consistently? 
After my first session I noticed how relaxed my muscles felt, especially in my back and shoulders, and how much tension I had been holding there for who knows how long. It brought a lot of relief especially during a stressful work week.
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What would you now tell yourself before you started practicing yoga? 
I would tell my pre-yoga self that it’s important that your mind and body be in tune with one another, and many times the key to feeling better mentally is to take care of yourself physically. Even on days when you’re not feeling up to it, sometimes movement is enough to make you feel a lot better both physically and mentally. 

What brought you to your yoga practice?
I was looking for physical activity that would also support my emotional life.

What benefits did you notice once you started practicing consistently?
My mind is quieter and I have the ability to focus on one part of my body at a time while I am practicing. I feel stronger and I can access breath work and yoga poses in my daily life not just in the studio.

What would you now tell yourself before you started practicing yoga?
The routine of practicing three days a week at Five Keys has had a profound impact on my well being. It’s a welcoming supportive community that I am happy to be a part of.

What brought you to your yoga practice?
     I had been interested in Buddhism and eastern spiritual practices since I was in high school but became more fully interested again in my late 40s when I started a regular meditation practice. My interest in meditation is what actually led me to yoga. As I read more about meditation, it became clear to me that the practice of yoga could enhance my meditation practice.  

What benefits did you notice once you started practicing consistently?
First I learned that yoga was a wonderful way to become more centered, focused and calm in a way that was different from meditation but also a complimenting it . I also learned that yoga was good for my body.  As I practiced more regularly, I found that my body became both stronger and more flexible.  As I have aged, this has been a wonderful benefit.  If I don’t practice regularly at this point, I really feel it in my body.  Apart from Asana practice, the more I have practiced, the more I have learned about the other aspects of yoga including the precepts of the yoga sutras.  These have helped to provide a compass in my life that I did not expect at all.  
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What would you now tell yourself before you started practicing yoga?
That yoga has so many benefits beyond the obvious ones of helping you stay in shape!  More importantly, I would  tell myself that yoga is a constantly evolving endeavor - a practice and not a goal.  I used to hope that I could eventually do poses perfectly but I realize now that perfection is not the goal nor is it really attainable.  It is the process of evolving toward any given pose or any given mindset that is the focus.