Phil Whelan - June 2022

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My current Yoga journey started about 16 years ago, when I decided to try the Yoga class offered once a week at work. I was looking for something to help deal with the physical and the mental stresses of work.  I found that doing an hour of Yoga a week was very beneficial.  

Seven years later (5/2013), I'm still going to the weekly class at work when I found an opportunity to take additional Yoga classes for free at Heritage College. The Heritage program had several free public classes each week, so that their students would have someone to teach or classes led by their teachers to observe or practice in. During the 2 and half years that these classes were available, my practice greatly improved. Toward the end of that time, I was doing both of their Vinasa II classes and helping Jenn Stewart (the lead)  with teaching the physical portion of the Asana training once a week for the last 6 weeks of the program, because she was down to 2 students.  It was one of my greatest Yoga experiences.  

At this point, I'm addicted to taking Yoga classes and I think I found what I was going to do in retirement (Yoga).  I've found that no matter how good you get doing Yoga, there is always more.  The challenges are endless and I love a good challenge.  

At the end of 2015, I started attending 1 to 3 classes at Asana Studio in addition to the 1 class at work.  Then 5 months later, an early retirement package was offered at work and I took it.  My retirement started 6/4/2016 and by the end of August I was taking six classes a week and continued that until the pandemic put them out of business.  

Thanks to my Yoga buddy (Marcia) and my favorite Yoga teacher (Bri), I was able to continue my Yoga practice at home via phone calls, live streams, and replays during the pandemic.  

Now, six years into retirement, I'm at Sol Yoga taking up to 8 classes a week.  Taking full advantage of their monthly unlimited plan, great classes and teachers.

- Phil

When I think about my yoga journey, it is impossible not to think about my life journey in its entirety, as I feel the two are irrevocably intertwined.  I moved out at 16, I jumped out into the world like a flower on the breeze. I worked three jobs (ultimate hustler, I still work three jobs. Not the same ones but three… lol) one of those jobs was inside of a gym in Evergreen. I worked in the kid area to meet potential cliental for my budding nanny gig. A perk of the job was free yoga classes. I didn’t really know why I practiced at the time. I just did, but it would turn out to be because I needed to be strong to endure the path my life went down.  Fast forward about 10 years, I am an avid home practitioner. But somehow I fall off the wagon. I don’t pursue yoga again for at least another 4 or 5 years, sadly. In that time, I finally leave an abusive situation I had been stuck in for what ended up being 14 years of my life. Im free. To be me, whoever that is.  I chase after two things art and yoga. My passions. I do creative hair and make up, I make costumes, I paint… and I fly. In both art and yoga there is a freedom that comes with letting go and living presently. I have learned to cherish the present, especially after the unyielding roughness of my past.  I am so incredibly thankful to have found a home in Sol Yoga. From the beginning the family of people there have accepted and encouraged me like they’d known me for years. I look forward to seeing them daily. The connection we make in the studio feels sacred to me. That includes the connection I make to myself.  I am renewing what it means to be me. I am learning to love myself where I am at, but also to believe that I can achieve whatever I dream of. My goals to deepen my yoga practice now include YTT accomplishing my 200 hour certification, Also arm balance postures and hand stands unassisted without the use of the wall.  I am still a work in progress. I am still learning. In yoga I find acceptance, stillness, confidence and yet humbleness, gratitude and love. In yoga, I heal. I only hope to lift others by continuing to be an artist, a teacher and a friend. Love will always be my religion.  Namaste

I became a social worker and mother in the same hectic week in December 1996. My adult life has revolved around caring for others. Twenty-six years later I am a social worker, therapist, mother of two wonderful adult children, grandmother to an amazing 3-year-old granddaughter and at a crossroads in my life’s journey. During two bouts of Covid over the past two years and the on-going recovery, I came to the realization that I have neglected my physical, emotional, and spiritual parts of myself. I’ve spent the past two years reflecting on who I am, what I want from this life, and what is truly important to me. So, this January I made the decision to begin focusing on my well-being. During this process I found Sol Yoga and I committed to taking as many yoga classes as I could during my one-month trial. My first class was Vinyasa with Lucy and I felt comfortable and at ease. After class I remember thinking, “man this is going to be a good but tough month.” My next class was Meditation and Movement with Mimi on a Saturday morning. I was graciously greeted by several other “Sols”, and I felt so welcomed. I felt such peaceful loving energy throughout the practice that I left feeling energized and completely peaceful. I knew I had found my yoga home! Every class since has brought me a sense of peace, balance and energy. I now have a sadhana I am committed to no matter what is happening with or around me. I find peace and clarity now through my sadhana and I am eternally grateful to the universe for guiding me to Sol Yoga and the amazing Sol family that has embraced me.  In Peace & Love,  Katie 

Yoga saved my life. My practice began ten years ago, but until mid-December 2021, I had not practiced regularly in four years. I joined Sol Yoga after I spoke out about an injustice occurring in my work space; some would call me a “whistle blower.” I went out on FMLA for a bout of extreme situational anxiety- in short, I was having panic attacks every day when going to work. This situation was induced by bullying behavior from my administration that began interfering with my ability to work successfully. If I am one hundred percent vulnerable with myself and with you, suicidal thoughts had begun to creep in and I could not see bright, happy, healthy days. I began to see life as half empty rather than half full and my daily thoughts scared me.  I joined Sol Yoga and my mind, my spirit, and my body began to change immediately. Though it took me three full months of daily practice to achieve a balance pose for a sustained period of time greater than a few seconds.  If it wasn’t for Lucy, our warm and unjudgmental studio owner, or for Mimi, my favorite spiritual instructor, or for the small welcoming community of humble yogis whom embraced me into their safe community, I might not be here today.  Yoga, breath work, and meditation brought me back to God and wellbeing. My practice has bloomed over the last five months of dedication, but the real gift yoga and the Sol Yoga community has afforded me has been the restoration of my balanced mental, spiritual, and physical health.  Thank you, Sol Yoga; you literally saved my life.  

Yoga was introduced to me in college after enrolling in a semester-long class for undergraduate credit. Unfortunately, a month before class started I had surgery on my right foot from a past gymnastics injury that started to bother my everyday lifestyle. My first few yoga classes I was unable to do everything, but to my surprise, my teacher was able to accommodate my lack of mobility with modifications. I eventually healed and was able to slowly move into more movements through faster healing that yoga offered my body. As I mentioned, I was a gymnast before my college years and I started to really miss the flipping upside down, the flexibility that I once had, and the joy from moving my body in a graceful dance. However, my ability was far from what it used to be, and many movements seemed to come at a cost now. But I found that a consistent yoga practice kept me from feeling like I was falling apart while also giving me a chance to get back to some of my favorite parts of being a gymnast. I also suffer from scoliosis in my lower back and yoga offers the pain relief I want and need. My many years of yoga practice later led me to wanting to further my knowledge in the philosophy of yoga. At the time, I was practicing in a studio that focused heavily on this and on the benefits of yoga in everyday life. A teacher training at the studio became available so I signed up. I thought I was signing up to just further my practice and learn more about the history but my teacher training was so much more, it was a step for me that was life changing emotionally, mentally, and physically. 

I moved to Denver in 2019, just 4 months before everything shut down for the pandemic. In 2020, I moved to Arvada and found Sol Yoga studio. I felt like I found more than just a yoga studio, I found a yoga home. 

I stumbled upon Sol Yoga when, gloriously enough, I was buying dog food across the parking lot.  I had tried yoga before, but only in bits and pieces, and it had never done much for me, but life was in a state of chaos and flux and it seemed like a good idea to try again.

I almost walked away after my first class, a Yin class with - at that time - a bunch of strangers.  Bursting unexplainably, to me at least, into tears in the midst of a half-frog was not quite the auspicious start to this journey that I was looking for.  Nevertheless, I decided to be open to the possibility that maybe that was exactly the start I needed, and came back a couple of days later.  There were no tears in that second class, but rather an incredible sense of calm and a frightening sense of potential.  Needless to say, I was back again the next day.  And the next.

As someone who struggles with stillness under the best of circumstances, it has been a daunting and incredibly powerful challenge: being asked to stay present, to focus, to do the work that stillness requires, to move in a way that honors the “me” that is more than just body or brain.  I am still so far from where I want to be, but I know now that I am on the path.  It is a path that varies - sometimes it is Yin or Restorative, other times a Hatha or Vinyasa, or even an intentional time for Meditation - but I know that I am becoming more of the person I want to be when I can prioritize at least four classes a week.  That may not always be feasible, and I am excited to learn more about how to make my practice meaningful all on my own, but the support for me - both from instructors and classmates - is crucial right now.

Several months ago, before starting this journey, I had scribbled on a piece of paper a list of things I wanted to feel present in my life.  Like most moments of inspiration, it got shoved in a notebook and forgotten about.  Just this weekend, I found it again and actually laughed out loud.  Connection.  Calm.  Strength.  Grounding.  Balance.  Breath.  Belief.  Community.  Who knew that, thanks to Sol Yoga, I could find and support all of those things - in my life, and on my mat.

I will always remember the pose that made me I fall in love with this practice - savasana. After putting my body through a challenging yoga class, nothing else felt as uniquely satisfying as existing in stillness. It's where I discovered a simple bliss that I couldn't find anywhere else, and I kept returning to the mat in search of the sweet taste of inner peace I would experience by the end of class.

My yoga journey began in 2004 when I replaced my chiropractor appointments with yoga classes after recovering from a breast reduction surgery. My doctor recommended yoga as a postoperative way to develop core strength, relieve my chronic back pain, and manage the overall health of my spine. So originally I turned to yoga for the physiological benefits which were nothing short of drastic - I lost 40 pounds, grew 2 inches taller, and I was completely free from the back pain I had been suffering for years. But something unexpected happened that was equally monumental. Yoga began to strengthen my ability to navigate through my complex mental health issues, and I continued to seek out classes to maintain the inner calm that I found when I committed to a regular practice.

Looking back over the past 14 years, it is unmistakable that yoga has been the north star consistently guiding the direction of my life. The periods of time where I felt the most lost and walked through my deepest inner darkness were unsurprisingly the only times I didn't have an established self-care routine. And yoga was the singular thing I would faithfully turn to, providing a vessel for me to tap into my dormant inner strength. This is the reason why I have now devoted my life to this practice of mindful living, and I have made the commitment to arrive on the mat every single day, regardless of how I feel. On the days where I'm on top of the world, I'll do a dozen Surya Namaskar Bs. Other days when I feel like crawling into a hole, I'll simply lie in Savasana and just breathe. My practice is constantly changing, but my steadfast devotional love of yoga is the reservoir from where I draw my strength.

I view myself first as a yoga student, and a yoga instructor second. My teaching style is an homage to the lineage of yoga teachers that all came before me and it is my mission to uphold sacred traditions that were passed down to me. I am immeasurably privileged to share and experience the benefits of yoga with other students, and feel honored to be a member of the beautiful community here at Sol Yoga.

I tried yoga for the first time when I was fifteen. I did not enjoy it. At the time, I was more into active and competitive sports(if any sports at all :D!). Since then, I slowly have learned to appreciate yoga much more. About four years ago, I took my first vinyasa class. I practiced for a couple of months and then stopped, and this continued for quite some time. In September of 2020, my husband and I moved to Arvada. I found out how close Sol Yoga studio is to my house, so I decided to visit the studio and see if I will be more consistent this time. Well, it has been more than eight months, and I still have not stopped practicing. I average between four and five classes a week. I tried different types of yoga at the studio, and they all are exceptional and can give you a lot, but my favorites are Upside Down Foundations and Vinyasa. My goal by the end of the year is to be able to do a handstand. I am sure with Lucy's help and mentorship, I will succeed in this! 

Andrea Nozykowski, 200RYT, 150RYT Yoga for Cancer Survivors instructor, and Yoga Nidra Instructor.  Andrea has been teaching yoga for nearly 20 years.  Her style and training is rooted in the Ashtanga Vinyasa lineage and teaching basic kindness- starting with how to be kind to ourselves. She began practicing yoga to help her through her mom’s breast cancer diagnosis and working a high-stress marketing job in Chicago.  She was hooked after one class and was amazed by how much it noticeably reduced her stress and changed her perspective on life.  She moved to San Diego, where she spent nearly a decade teaching yoga at the beach, training professional ballerinas to international jiu-jitsu champions. Although most of her training is rooted in a physical asana practice, she loves incorporating chakra education, meditation and pranayama in her classes.  She also loves teaching her students how to take their yoga off the mat, creating deeper relationships, managing stress and living life to its fullest!

March Student and teacher of the month - Jenny Warchesik  It’s hard to tell you my yoga story without telling you my life, as the two have become very intermingled and fairly inseparable.  I started taking yoga classes in my early 20’s after being in a car accident led to pain in my low back. I continued taking classes for the stress relief from a demanding job in Human Resources and life in general.  I found my first yoga home when I stumbled upon a small and humble studio at the end of a strip mall in Golden. The door from the street opened right into the classroom.  As life unfolds many changes occurred personally, professionally and physically, but my yoga practice remained. Yoga has helped me navigate the constant changes life brings and learn to accept there are things in this life that just cannot be controlled or directed no matter how much we want them. We can not control our external environment (including others) the only thing we can control is our perception, our way of reacting to and dealing with what is happening around us. Yoga has also taught me it’s OK to make mistakes. Practicing through injuries, I have learned that just because I could move my physical self into a posture, did not automatically mean that I should.  It has helped me through physical and emotional difficulties, and always meets me exactly where I am.  I completed my 200 hour Hatha training at my yoga home, Asana Studio in 2012, from five amazing mentors. I am still teaching the very first class I was gifted, with most of the same students attending! I also got to teach at my first yoga home. What an amazing feeling, to lead a class where I had taken so many. I have also completed a training in Yoga Nidra by Sri Devidas.  My goal when I teach is to always leave my students feeling better off after taking my class than they did when they walked in.  This might be physically, mentally, emotionally or holistically better. I lean toward the gentler side of yoga, that sometimes less is more. I encourage students to always take care of themselves and listen to their own internal guidance.

The first time I practice yoga was in 2007 in a gym in Shanghai. But back then it was not attractive to me. Therefore yoga practice did not become my regular routine. In 2016, I started my regular hot yoga practice after I moved to my new home in Vancouver Washington. In June 2018, I was honored to receive my first 200 RYT in Hot 26 and 2019 I received my second 200 RYT in hot Vinyasa. This was a life changing event I cherish forever. I believe through my training and experience I have gained more insight into yoga and proper alignment. Also in 2019, I went back to Shanghai and stayed 2 months to practice more yoga which made me realize the way they teach yoga in Asia are very different compare to US. I am happy to bring my knowledge back to the United States and help my students to explore different yoga postures. 

If you have taken my class before, you may notice some difference in the execution of the postures.  There are always postures you haven't tried before. Even the same postures you have done so many times , you will feel it is harder and more challenging in my class. But you are also building your strengthen very quickly. You will see your improvement in your own practice every day. 

My teaching style is more focused on alignment and proper muscle group engagement. Then bringing all those together to a whole mind body connection. I am extremely excited and encouraged by the therapeutic benefits of yoga. The benefits of yoga on the knee's, back , joint, and shoulder pain are measurable. I personally suffered from excruciating shoulder pain that lasted for years. That's why you probably noticed in my class, I focus on our shoulders a lot. 

It gives me great joy to be in front of my students watching them strive and grow. I appreciate the diversity of students all with very different capabilities and needs. This ensures a rewarding and stimulating class environment. 

I'm looking forward to seeing the continued growth of our yoga community. The first time I practice yoga was in 2007 in a gym in Shanghai. But back then it was not attractive to me. Therefore yoga practice did not become my regular routine. In 2016, I started my regular hot yoga practice after I moved to my new home in Vancouver Washington. In June 2018, I was honored to receive my first 200 RYT in Hot 26 and 2019 I received my second 200 RYT in hot Vinyasa. This was a life changing event I cherish forever. I believe through my training and experience I have gained more insight into yoga and proper alignment. Also in 2019, I went back to Shanghai and stayed 2 months to practice more yoga which made me realize the way they teach yoga in Asia are very different compare to US. I am happy to bring my knowledge back to the United States and help my students to explore different yoga postures. 

If you have taken my class before, you may notice some difference in the execution of the postures.  There are always postures you haven't tried before. Even the same postures you have done so many times , you will feel it is harder and more challenging in my class. But you are also building your strengthen very quickly. You will see your improvement in your own practice every day. 

My teaching style is more focused on alignment and proper muscle group engagement. Then bringing all those together to a whole mind body connection. I am extremely excited and encouraged by the therapeutic benefits of yoga. The benefits of yoga on the knee's, back , joint, and shoulder pain are measurable. I personally suffered from excruciating shoulder pain that lasted for years. That's why you probably noticed in my class, I focus on our shoulders a lot. 

It gives me great joy to be in front of my students watching them strive and grow. I appreciate the diversity of students all with very different capabilities and needs. This ensures a rewarding and stimulating class environment. 

I'm looking forward to seeing the continued growth of our yoga community. 

I was first introduced to yoga around ten years ago, most likely through a girlfriend at the time, however I did not continue my yoga practice on a regular basis. More recently, I started practicing yoga approx. once a week, however I never viewed yoga as my primary form of exercise and considered it more of a side dish. 

From approx. March 2020 thru July 2020 I was unable to practice yoga due to coronavirus until I found Sol Yoga. After my first practice with Lucy I can not recall a time my body felt so good and so sore the following day. Initially, I started coming to Sol Yoga more frequently in order to try and offset my power lifting routine, although soon I truly felt the majority of my strength gains were coming from my yoga practice. Currently, I'm in the studio approx. 4 times a week for the past three months and still after every practice my body is so sore but in such a great way.

Like most yogis, I always enjoy practicing what I consider myself good at, but very much appreciate the class dynamic at Sol Yoga. I feel most confident doing/demonstrating back and shoulder flexibility, as well as some inversion techniques. I'm excited to continue my yoga practice and to continue my path toward total body strength and flexibility, hopefully one day mastering the grueling toe squat!

I first started my yoga journey because I wanted to try to calm my mind and my body and I thought that yoga would be a great place to start. Once I started I fell in love with yoga and kept practicing from there. I have noticed a huge difference in how calm I have become. One of my favorite things about yoga is how my practice on the mat translates into my every day Life off the mat. Yoga has taught me to process information about my body and to respond without judgement instead of reacting. Yoga has also taught me to always breath no matter what! I try to practice 5 times a week or as much as my schedule allows. My favorite yoga class is Vinyasa, but my appreciation for Yin yoga has really grown as I learn to breath more. I am very grateful for this studio and hope to see everyone in class!