Shelby Stricklin

Almost 20 years ago, I began practicing yoga. I remember my first yoga class like it was yesterday. My college instructor guided me gently into my breath. We held each pose for what seemed like forever and with each exhale I could feel everything I had been holding on to just melt away. I knew right away I wanted to further explore the practice of yoga, so I continued taking classes anywhere I could. To my advantage I was living in the San Francisco Bay Area, a mecca for yoga, and took classes at various studios and with many different teachers. For nearly 10 years I really enjoyed a regular Bikram practice which transformed my physical and mental strength, flexibility and resilience.

In 2008 I decided to deepen my yoga practice by taking the 200-Hour Advanced Teacher Training Program at Piedmont Yoga Studio in Oakland, California. There, I was afforded the opportunity to study under Richard Rosen, Mary Paffard, Baxter Bell, Vickie Russell Bell, and Ann Dyer with whom I completed 30 hours of teacher assisting. In addition, I completed yoga workshops for Scoliosis, Prenatal, Teaching Disabilities, Meditation & Yoga, Inversions, and Ayurvedic Yoga.

After my teacher training I diligently continued my home practice and attended Yin Yoga classes with Suzanna Spring. In 2012, after having my daughter, I started to experience health challenges. My body was achey, stiff and fatigued. I was in terrible pain and my symptoms brought my yoga practice to a halt. A few years later, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. It was then I knew, I had to get back on my mat. My health depended on it, but I could no longer practice yoga for any significant length of time without overdoing it and causing a flare-up of symptoms. So I began very slowly with Gentle and Restorative Yoga and by 2016 after slowly returning to my mat I began to feel better.

Right away, I began working at A Gentle Way Yoga in San Diego teaching Gentle and Restorative Yoga classes. These mind-body classes helped heal my body, and before I knew it I was teaching more energentic Hatha and Vinyasa classes. Getting back to yoga has transformed my experience with Fibromyalgia. Where there was once only pain and worry, I now find strength and hope. By teaching yoga, I hope to empower others to reclaim their health in similar ways. I encourage students to really listen to their body with a strong emphasis on the breath and visualization. Yoga is the best gift I have given myself and I just want to share it with others.