My first yoga class was in New York City around 2003. I'll admit I didn't get it at first. We did some chanting to open the class, and it took strength of will not to laugh out loud. At one point, there was headstand practice with little direction. I felt ridiculous and out of place for most of it. However, despite this, my body felt incredible afterward. I felt open and rejuvenated in a way I hadn't previously experienced. A seed was planted.
 
Over the next decade, I took a class or two here and there. A part of me was being pulled toward yoga. I knew it would make me feel better and would benefit my body. At that time, I wasn't really thinking at all about what the impact might be on my internal state of mind and overall well-being. I was focused on what my physical body would look like based on certain 'workouts' I did.

Then in 2015, my daughter came down suddenly with a life-threatening illness. She was one minute a healthy six-year-old, and then fighting for her life in the ICU at Cincinnati's Children's Hospital. Needless to say, this was my greatest life difficulty. Seeing her in that state was debilitating. My husband and I kept it together for her sake.
 
During that period, I was dabbling with Olympic weightlifting. I did love it, and I loved the challenge. But it was very demanding on my body. When my daughter was sick, I couldn't lift a thing. Even as she recovered, I would try to work out, get a few minutes in feeling exhausted, and crave to get on my yoga mat. So I finally asked myself, why not just do yoga and forget the rest? That is what I did. Yoga got me through that challenging time. I could stretch, breathe, and move through the stress and sadness that had accumulated because of that experience.  
 
After that, I was officially hooked on yoga. I have had a consistent, almost daily practice for the last six years. I have taken hundreds of yoga classes and loved every minute. I have had other incredibly difficult times since my daughter was sick...some to do with her ongoing challenges related to the illness, some completely of my own doing, and some not. Each day I get on my mat and I can reconnect with my body and recommit to my own healing and evolution.

I was ultimately led to make yoga more than my practice. Looking for a new career challenge, I decided to embark on Yoga Therapy training. I have completed Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy's Foundations and Advanced Program. The Advanced Program includes more than 875-hours of training, and is a International Association of Yoga Therapists certified course, considered the gold standard of Yoga Therapy training. It provides the top level of certification (C-IAYT) which I received at the end of 2023. This helps ensure I am providing my clients with a high level of acumen.

I also have a Level 1 certificate from Precision Nutrition and a certificate in the Buteyko Clinic Method Training for breathing re-education for respiratory conditions, sleep, and mental health. I have also completed the Postural Restoration Institute's "Postural Respiration" home study course. 

I want to bring my love of yoga and my understanding of its powerful healing capabilities to others. I want to be of service, which is why I created Infinite Breath Yoga Therapy.

For more information and to speak with me directly, please email me at lalbarella.yt@gmail.com.

With love and gratitude,
Lauren