Larinda Nichols

Growing up in a small rural town in Southeast Idaho, I was not exposed to much group fitness until after high school graduation. During my first year of college, I promptly began putting on the traditional and dreaded "Freshman Fifteen," meaning I was gaining weight quickly. My sister had moved to Nevada five years prior and told me that she had tried something called "yoga" in Las Vegas. According to her, "all you do is hold poses for a really long time, and you lose weight!" Immediately sold on something that sounded so easy, I decided to give it a try. I purchased a yoga video online, practiced a few times, then like many young people with a new hobby that soon loses its luster...I got bored and stopped altogether. About 6 months later, my life took a complete left turn. A really unfortunate, personal experience left me questioning who I really was and everything I thought I knew. For weeks afterward this experience, I struggled with severe panic attacks and depression - even to the point of seeking medical help. Then one day, for some unknown reason, I suddenly remembered the yoga video and the feeling of peace and calm that would come to me at the end of each practice. I decided it was definitely worth a try. After only a few practices, I began to notice the difference it was making within me. Finding new solace and meaning in this “thing called yoga,” I started practicing daily. Soon I had purchased several more tapes, dvds, cds, and books on yoga and meditation. Yoga became a major part of my life from then on. I practiced on the carpet in my kitchen nightly, then graduated to practicing alone at the local gym, and finally found a yoga class about 30 minutes away from where I was living at the time. This was all very fulfilling until about three years ago when my current yoga instructor took a job elsewhere, and once again I was left without a place to practice with others. Left with no other option, it was then that I felt confident enough to seek out training to become an instructor myself. I completed my first yoga certification in the early fall of 2008. I have been further training and group instructing ever since. Mainly, I focus teaching from a Vinyasa style of hatha yoga. However, I also try to incorporate other techniques when needed in specialized classes. To this day I am amazed by the incredible gift of yoga. It has become such an imperative part of my own life that I am overjoyed to share it with others. My current class consists of over 90 yogis, many of whom, just like me, never even knew what yoga was before attending one of my classes. And although there is an overwhelming amount of knowledge to be obtained about yoga, I still fill much of my time with study, learning workshops, further trainings and various other yoga learning opportunities today. I LOVE YOGA!!!