Hilary Drake

I was first introduced to yoga twenty years ago in seventh-grade gym class. I can still access with clarity my memory of standing in Vrksasana – Tree Pose – and feeling a sensation of centeredness, power, and beauty wash over me. Over the years, movement and the practice of yoga have helped to guide me through many of life’s challenges – rehabilitation from sports injuries, as well as recovery from disillusionment, loss, and grief – and back toward a feeling of wholeness. Yoga and yoga therapy have allowed me to access physical and emotional balance, profound joy, perspective, confidence, and the potential for long-lasting health. 

Following graduation from college and six years of work in nonprofit management, I began a process of self and career evaluation, guided by a new awareness cultivated through my yoga practice. This shift enabled me to discover that my work in the world needed to be centered in holistic health and wellness, movement, and healing – that this was my true vocational love. While working as a rehabilitation technician at Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, I learned about the blossoming field of yoga therapy and the ever-growing recognition of yoga as medicine.  So after almost twenty years of informal practice, I immersed myself in formal study, graduating from the Black Mountain Yoga Teacher and Yoga Therapy Training program in July 2011. I incorporated Thrive Yoga Therapy & Instruction in Spring 2011, and am a registered yoga teacher through Yoga Alliance as well as a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Thrive Yoga Therapy and Instruction is a healing art practice built around the principle that virtually anything is possible if we align physically, spiritually, and energetically – if we allow ourselves to thrive.

My personal study continues on a daily basis. I currently work one-on-one with clients in my own studio space and teach "Good Morning Flow" and "Mindful Flow" classes at Black Mountain Yoga in Black Mountain, NC.