This week we are highlighting Denise and Beth. The thing that these two yoga teachers have in common is that I met them in very unlikely places. You just never know where you’re going to meet your next yoga teacher.
Denise’s journey at BL began at Island Yoga 2 summers ago. I happened to be there to help Brie with the event and got to chatting with Denise and her friends after the class. She shared with me that she was Yoga Sculpt certified, had just moved back to Michigan from Chicago and was interested in teaching. We set a date for a demo class and I immediately fell in love with the Yoga Sculpt format as well as Denise’s style of teaching and thought it would be a great addition to the BL yoga schedule. Denise’s classes embody what BL is all about…mixing it up…strength and flexibility…only difference is that she does it all in one class. You can find this class on our schedule Wednesday mornings at 8:45 and Thursday nights at 5:45. In Denise’s words…”I love how this format targets everything, gets your sweaty and feeling strong.” Some things you might not know about Denise are that she graduated from Western and worked in the Hospitality Industry for over 18 years and is currently a Recruiter. After college she moved out of state for 12 years before returning to MI in the middle of Covid. She and her husband of 19 years have 2 children, ages 8 and 6 and fun fact is that she met her husband on a camping trip on a 4th of July weekend!! Her hobbies include running, hiking, and paddleboarding. She says staying active is what makes her happy. To know Denise is to know that “friends and family are her world.” Denise we are so glad that you have expanded your world to include Body Language and we sincerely love having you a part of our Team BL!!
The first time I met Beth was at Great Harvest Bread. She was working there and I had stopped by to grab my weeks worth of healthy carbs!! She knew I was the owner of BL and she had just completed yoga teacher training with Jonny Kest. I knew right away during Beth’s feedback audition that she was going to be a great fit for BL. I loved her casual style and heartfelt messages. She fast became a BL favorite and asked for as many classes as I could give her. She said she instantly fell in love with our BL community!! Beth taught for many years at BL until she had her first daughter and moved to Royal Oak. It then became too far to drive to teach at BL but when she bought a house last year that was closer to BL we were so excited to welcome her back on staff!! Although we would love to have more Beth classes, she stays super busy being a mom of two daughters AND running her own business called Barefoot & Free. Barefoot started as a Yoga Festival (which is actually coming up in the woods of Proud Lake August 4-6th), but it’s now become a community where she takes people and yoga retreats all around the world several times a year. Beth also offers many smaller events throughout the year in the area as well. One thing Beth and I have in common is that we’ve taken things we are passionate about and made them our livelihood. Beth has very successfully combined her love for travel and her love for yoga for the past 9 years as she has led yoga retreats all over the world. Beth describes herself as a barefoot lux type person. She shared with me that…”I can sleep outside and be dirty but I love a good pour over coffee and only settle for Italian wine and organic food. I would rather be outdoors than indoors any day and yes my preference IS TO BE BAREFOOT!!
Love your spunk Beth and all that you do to serve our BL as well as our surrounding yoga community!!
