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About
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Brenda Burris Drake
Yoga Instructor
My lifelong yoga journey began to influence my everyday life about a decade ago. One of the ways I began to control feelings of anxiety at work was within my cubicle. If I was preparing for a meeting and before possible stressful situations. I would begin to breathe slow and deep, tapping into my parasympathetic nervous system and stimulating my vagus nerve. Instead of thinking of the worst outcome, I began to work on my inner dialogue as well. I worked on affirmations meditations and controlling some of the feelings that I carried around with me from early job related experiences. Over time this process proved effective. I began to change my thinking about being more present, enjoying some of the connections I had at work and trying to stay focused on what I could control and letting go of those things that I could not. I was also growing my yoga practice and teaching yoga twice a week after work. I found that yoga class was where I could create a type of “flow”. Doing something that felt almost as another state of being was helping me to deal with my daily work. Over time I began to see that the stress levels in my job were not worth the strain and stress. With time and commitment to improve my life, I transformed my role from corporate vice president to passionate yoga teacher. I continue this journey through my teacher training and by practicing what I teach.
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