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Imagine stepping into a world of self-discovery from a book during a Peace Corps service in South America. That's precisely what happened to me, Shuva Rahim, as I embarked on my yoga journey. This episode of Mats and Miles recounts my exploration into yoga, evolving from a self-taught enthusiast in the small nation of Suriname to a dedicated practitioner in Iowa City, Iowa. Indulge in my narrative of teaching the little I knew to villagers, my hesitation to join a hot yoga class, and ultimately embracing and understanding this rejuvenating practice in this enlivening episode.
Mats and Miles is a weekly show about yoga, running, and Pilates featuring conversations with everyday people who champion a consistent movement practice. Hosted by runner and mat movement enthusiast Shuva Rahim, You’ll learn from inspiring practitioners and instructors, get fitness-related recommendations, and hear race reviews.
Do you or someone you know have an interesting yoga, running, and/or Pilates story who would make a great guest? If so, send an email to matsandmiles@gmail.com.
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Shuva Rahim:
I found a book from which I learned poses. I used that to teach myself yoga, but also teach impromptu lessons to villagers when I would take trips into the interior. So that was the start of my journey. I was actually doing some yoga myself, but also teaching, not really knowing what I was doing pretty early on.
Welcome to Mats and Miles, a weekly show about yoga, running, and Pilates. featuring conversations with everyday people who champion a consistent movement practice. You'll learn from inspiring practitioners and instructors, get fitness related recommendations and hear race reviews. I'm your host, fellow runner, and mat movement enthusiast, Shuva Rahim. Let's get started.
Hello, friends. As I start this podcast, I thought it would be best to share my story with each of these movement practices. So in this episode, I'd like to share about my yoga journey. So my yoga journey began when I was in Peace Corps. I served in the Peace Corps in Suriname, which is a country in South America, from 2004 to 2006.
My roommate during the training of my Peace Corps service introduced me to yoga. She practiced every morning and I admired her dedication. Then after our training we went our separate ways with our different assignments. And during service I found a book from which I learned poses. I used that to teach myself yoga, but also teach impromptu lessons to villagers when I would take trips into the interior. I also lived on a sea turtle beach for a little bit and I taught some of the staff there some yoga poses. So that was the start of my journey. I was actually doing some yoga myself, but also teaching not really knowing what I was doing pretty early on.
In 2007, I moved back to my hometown, which is the Quad Cities, a region of four cities on the Iowa-Illinois border, and I began taking classes at a local studio. And that became my yoga home for several years. Through that, I met some really great people, including some other studio owners in the area. Now, my yoga journey then became integrated with my work. I started a photography business, which I had for nearly 12 years and I did a number of yoga related photo shoots and that was a lot of fun.
So for many years, yoga was something I simply enjoyed and nothing more.
Then in 2012, I moved to where I currently live in Iowa City, Iowa, and it took me a while to find a studio home. Much of it was due to the fact that I didn't have much money to afford classes. But whenever I could, I did start going to classes at a couple different studios. One studio catered toward older adults, but I still had a lot of fun. I still felt challenged at that studio. And then another studio that I went to was more like a regular yoga flow type studio that offered some really good classes as well.
What was really weird is there was a studio about three minutes from where I lived, but I had no desire to step foot into it for the longest time. It was a hot yoga studio and I was just not interested in hot yoga. And then one day, I remember it was 2018, I had just started a new job. I noticed a new sign at that studio and it was called Muddy Feet Yoga and that got my attention. So I took that as a sign that I should at least try a hot class. One hot yoga class. So I came in and I told the instructor that I'd done yoga before but never a heated class. And it also happened to be the most intense class there was at the studio. I did not realize that at the time. It was jam packed, and it was fast, and it was hot. I wore a t shirt. I don't remember if I brought water with me, but I survived it. I remember the instructor telling me she was keeping an eye on me, and she thought I did well. I felt very encouraged by that, and so I thought, 'okay, let's sign up for another class.' The second class was still intense, but less than the first class, but it was still hard. And I survived that class.
Then I signed up for their third class. which was called Hot 26. I had this really intense frame of mind that I was going to go hard again, only to realize that that class had a much slower tempo to it. And I fell in love with Hot 26. I have done it many times. I've also taught it. Then my yoga journey took a turn in a way I secretly hoped it would, which was going through teacher training.
So in 2022, I did yoga teacher training through that studio, Muddy Feet Yoga initially just signing up because I wanted to improve my practice. A few of my teachers believed in me before I did when it came to deciding to teach yoga. Doing yoga is really hard, I think, but I'm still enjoying it. Teaching yoga, I think, is also hard. I look for opportunities to improve when I can. But I'm having fun and learning more with every opportunity. I'm grateful to my teachers, past and present, as well as my fellow trainees and yogis who are always inspiring me to be better.
And as with many things in life, yoga has not been a linear journey. There's a lot of starting and stopping thrown in with some self doubt and low self confidence. Now I love the practice and I love sharing about it, especially for people just dipping their toes into it for the first time, and maybe even for the first time in a long time. And that's really fun.
So I hope you join me on this learning and relearning journey as I discover more and learn about the practice from other yogis and also just share some nuggets of experience along the way that I hope will help you. Thanks so much for joining me and we will talk later.