Yoga Saved Me from Alchoholism | Brianna Georgeson | YogaScussion Preview

[00:00:00] I think my path to yoga might look a little different, especially to owning a studio. So I am excited to kind of share, share that I found yoga in my life. Oh my gosh, like maybe 12 years ago. I think that's probably a fair assessment. [00:00:17] And it was because I was actually a high functioning alcoholic and I had a good friend that said, hey, I think yoga could do some good for you. And my exact words were, oh, I'm not flexible, I'm not, I'm not going to that. [00:00:31] And she said, it has nothing to do with that, just let's go. [00:00:35] So I went to my very first yoga class and I remember literally from that first class being like, oh my gosh, I have a body. [00:00:44] You know, it was in my head so much and it was like, oh, I totally forgot I have a body. And in that class it was so gentle. I don't even think we got off the floor, which is fantastic. So yes, I just kept going. I was like, I want to just, I want to keep going, I want to keep experiencing this. [00:01:01] But on the flip side, I was also still drinking and working a really high stress job. [00:01:07] And this went on for about a year. And then a year in, I, I woke up. I literally woke up one morning and looked at my husband and said something has to give here because I feel like I'm living two different lives. [00:01:20] And that's the best way I can describe it. It was like there was this yoga, Brianna. And then there was this like high stress, just not coping well, Brianna. And he said, so what do you want to do? And I said, I think I'm just going to quit drinking. And I did. And I would not recommend the way I did it. I kind of just went cold turkey. I didn't do a lot of like, help. I just did it. However, the aftermath of that and the things that started to happen, I like to explain as I didn't have any control in all the best ways. [00:01:54] It was like yoga just started showing up. The universe started showing up and it was like, here are all these things that are now available around you because you decided to stop drinking. So I was practicing fairly regularly and I had found wild root at this point in time. [00:02:12] I had only been practicing there about six, six months and the owner moved to Montana and I was like, wait, what? [00:02:21] Like my yoga studio can't go anywhere. This is my safe space. I need this. Like, this is, this is now part of me. [00:02:30] And I will never forget. I left a relaxation class. It was 8 o' clock at night. I pulled into the Hy vee parking lot to buy groceries. And I'm like, I'm just gonna call her. And I did. I called her and I said, I have a weird question. What's happening to Wild Root? And she was like, oh, my gosh, I've been waiting for the right person. [00:02:47] You're going to take over ownership. And I was like, no, no, that's not happening. [00:02:55] And I gave her all the reasons why. The biggest one being, I mean, I'd only really been practicing at this point for a couple of years. [00:03:06] It didn't make sense. But even more so, I. I wasn't a teacher. I didn't teach yoga. And I'm like, I can't own a studio. And she said, and this. This is very profound to me. She said, you understand business. [00:03:21] And sometimes people forget that piece when they decide to open a business. They just. They want to go with their passion. And she goes, I see your passion on the mat, but more importantly, you know, business. [00:03:33] You could run this business. You don't have to be a certified teacher to run the business. And so I spent some time mulling that over. [00:03:40] And long story short, I mean, it's not a secret, because here we are. [00:03:44] I ended up, yes, taking over ownership. However, I did get my 200 hour before I took over. I did, like, the fastest track I could. [00:03:54] But a fascinating piece of this is that I took over in July of 2020. [00:04:00] So I took over a yoga studio when we couldn't practice in person and was just like, I don't know. I'm gonna figure out how to pay the rent and keep this place open because it feels sacred and special to me. [00:04:13] And again, I don't feel like I was making decisions. I feel like there was a bigger thing at play. [00:04:19] And here we are, almost six years later, and Wilder Yoga is still doing what it's doing.