Growing up in rural Michigan, Ivy League schools weren’t the norm for kids in Ashley Hartley’s neighborhood. But, following the advice of teachers and coaches, she applied to and was accepted by Harvard University to play softball.
Her sophomore year, she left the softball team and found herself aching for something else to challenge her body. What she discovered was yoga. Her journey with the ancient practice led her to inner peace, Austin and the opening of her very own studio, Empower Yoga.
After I quit softball, my best friend and I started training for a half-marathon. Her aunt was a runner, and she told us that yoga would be the perfect complement to our training.
To be perfectly honest, I sort of scoffed at the idea of yoga. I remember walking to the Baptiste Power Yoga Institute in Cambridge, Mass., and thinking, “Oh, this is going to be so easy for me because I am an athlete.”
I laugh when I think about it because that class was one of the most challenging things I had ever done.
Yoga is an ancient practice consisting of physical poses that are designed to connect and harmonize a person’s body, mind and heart. Most of us move through the day with a constant stream of thoughts, worries and concerns.
We are distracted. Yoga is about reducing distraction. It’s about connecting all the parts of yourself so that you can be successful in life.
Yoga is a journey, just like everything else. It teaches you how to deal with challenges calmly and peacefully instead of freaking out or running away from them.
During the first six months of practicing yoga, I got injured — I had been doing a pose incorrectly. The injury was a good lesson in terms of taking care of myself, being patient and having fun, no matter [what] the situation. It also taught me the importance of finding a highly skilled and educated instructor and doing what they asked me to do.
The Empower Yogathon to benefit HOPE [Helping Other People Everywhere] is a way for our business to give back to the local community. All of the proceeds will go to support the HOPE Farmer’s Market in Austin.
In two days we already have 20 people signed up to participate. For their fundraising efforts, Empower Yoga will give each of these participants unlimited $5 yoga classes for the entire month of January.
My goal is to raise at least $10,000 for HOPE. I want to create a feel-good activity for all of our students while giving them the opportunity to save money on their yoga practice. I know that the economy has affected people, so I want to support them.
Empower Yoga is dedicated to giving our students the tools to have really great lives. All of us believe that as teachers, we are facilitating a process, but ultimately the student is his or her own teacher.
We teach students to look to themselves for the answers. We are all learning. It is really about each of us being empowered to move forward in life the way we want.
Anybody can do yoga. If you are inflexible, out of shape or nervous, then you make up the majority of people who start yoga for the first time.
I’m not sure where I’ll be in 50 years, but I know I’ll be practicing yoga.
Empower Yoga is located at 1611 W. Fifth St., Suite 140. They can be found online at www.empoweryogaaustin.com.
