I started at Dragonfly the day the Sun Prairie studio opened. I was inspired to try yoga from friends who thought I would enjoy it. I loved it from the first class and instantly became a regular yogi. Before coming to Dragonfly Hot Yoga, I had taken a few power stretch classes at the gym I attend, but never a real yoga class. I didn’t even allow myself time to stretch after running or strength training classes and my body paid the price. I was constantly battling running injuries, and really was not listening to my body when I needed to modify activities.

Learning to listen to my body, calm my mind and being ok with not always pushing to the limit have been important lessons I’ve received from regular yoga practice. I love the strength I build without the fear of injury. I have allowed myself to back off of running to let my body heal, which has been difficult for me to do in the past. I also feel I have more patience with myself and with the stress of life in general.
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I started at Dragonfly in December 2014 after sustaining a running injury. Being a life-long distance runner, it was devastating to put that passion on the back burner for the foreseeable future. At that point I had been debating trying yoga for about a year and the injury was the decision-maker. Yoga, I thought, was going to be something to fill that void until I was healed, but it has evolved into so much more for me.

I had no prior yoga or barre experience before joining Dragonfly. I was hesitant about trying it initially because I didn’t think yoga would be for me. Turns out, yoga is what you make it; therefore it can be for everyone.
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I swim, play sports and work out, but I hadn’t really practiced yoga until about a year ago after reading the book “Raw Food and Hot Yoga.” Nutrition and health are my passion and I was already eating mostly raw, so I thought I would try the hot yoga too. I’m so glad I did. Even though I found many of the poses challenging, and still do, I was quickly addicted. I began attending different classes and liked all of them (well, I don’t actually like barre, but I do it anyway because I like what it does for me). I really love the intense heat. There is such a sense of accomplishment that is extremely liberating when you finish a tough class and you are dripping sweat. Oh I enjoy getting to wear those cute outfits too :). It’s inspiring to see the more accomplished yogis and feel that maybe someday I’ll be doing those moves. My only complaint is that savasana is never long enough!
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I moved to Madison from Michigan, where I kept a very regular yoga practice. After looking for a new yoga home for about a year in Madison, I finally found Dragonfly after it opened its downtown studio. It has always been full of welcoming staff and teachers, and I instantly felt it would be a supportive and challenging yoga community to join – which is what I was looking for.

Before Dragonfly, I had extensive experience in vinyasa flow classes, but I had never done much work with weight lifting/cardio classes or barre classes. Adding the more strength and endurance-oriented classes have helped to strengthen my vinyasa practice.
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