Grace Ellrodt

Growing up, my mom hosted a “yoga in the barn” class at my family’s home for friends with a wonderful local teacher. I remember rolling around on my mat, maybe touching my toes for the heck of it, but nonetheless being nestled in the air of calm that settled among all of the hard-working, on-the-move adults around me. I first began to practice yoga as a balancer for all the hip and hamstring-tightening road running miles I had put in since highschool, and to become a stronger athlete by building my stabilizer muscles and core. Not shocking for a young person living striving for the future me, I was motivated by the end result.

I stayed because yoga practice turns me both fully inward and fully outward; On my mat, I face my deepest anxieties and yet I feel utterly held by and bound to community. I invest in the moments before and after class, the breaths in savasana, as much as I do the physical practice. In 2023, I left my remote healthcare job to pursue nursing, and at the same time faced emerging health issues. To make that the rocky transition, I needed yoga the most I ever have. I took Radiance YTT-200 hour training and found a breadth of guidance on mindful class design. I now practice with all the more appreciation for the limbs of yoga beyond asana (posture), and work to offer limbs such as pranayama (breath) and pratyahara (withdrawal) both to myself as a student and to my students as a teacher. 

I hope to merge my nursing career with teaching yoga to share its physically therapeutic benefits and find an always ready dose of peace and direction.