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This woman’s daily yoga practice inspired her to move cross-country and completely reinvent her life.
Melissa Eckman (a.k.a.
Photo: Shape/Joy Kim
@melissametrano)found yoga when her life needed a total reset.
Read about her journey here, and follow her onTikTok.
I never thought of myself as athletic.
So, I decided to give a shot to get in shape.
I didn’t go about it the healthiest way.
Then I’d give up and gain the weight back.
I couldn’t find my groove or what would make me feel healthy and confident in my body.
Instead, I immersed myself in school and got my accounting degree.
Then I started going to Pure Barre, and I loved it so much that I went every day.
I started to feel a lot better about myself.
Eventually, the studio manager approached me and asked if I wanted to teach barre.
I went to training that weekend and saw an instant shift.
One of my friends at the barre studio was super intoyoga, and I had never done it before.
I wasn’t really interested.
But she finally convinced me to go to a class-and from that moment on, I was in love.
Just a few weeks after that first class I was doing yoga every day.
Since I was in Florida, I lived a mile and a half from the beach.
I’d go there every morning with my yoga mat and do a self-practice.
(Anddoing yoga outside has even more benefits, BTW.)
It can help build strength and improve flexibility, as well as boost mood and mental outlook.
I felt like I could finally maintain a healthier physique that I felt confident about.
Yoga helped me even more on a mental level.
I was going through a tough time where I didn’t really know if I was happy in life.
Yoga was a kind of therapy for me.
As I started doing it every day, I noticed so many other areas of my life changing.
It helped me organize myself internally.
I became more patient with myself and started to put my life into perspective.
I did my yoga teacher training, and I’ve never looked back.
I still do other workouts, but yoga is my core.
It’s very personal to me, so I practice as often as possible.
It’s really about connecting your mind, body, and soul.
I think that’s why it’s made such a big difference in my life.
It’s all about your individual journey.
There’s no good or bad, just different.
