Vannessa Neubauer

How long have you been practicing yoga?

Off and on for 20 years

How often do you currently practice?

At Yoga Hohm twice a week and at home I try to do it 2 times a week, even though my work schedule doesn’t always allow me that

What was it that made you want to try yoga when you first started?

It wasn’t cardio. I hate running. I was looking for a way to destress without doing cardio. I have a heart condition, so yoga lets me exercise without stressing my heart too much. The older I get the more stressed my heart gets.

Do you remember if you liked your first class?

I must have because I went back. It was time for me away from life’s issues. 20 years ago, my son would have been 5. He is severely ADHD and has turrets and autism. So, things were a little tense at our house and yoga was my time.

Have you gone through periods of time without practicing yoga?

Yes. It was tense. Usually I get burnt out very, very easily. When I’m practicing, I have less stress, which lets me keep doing what I’m doing even though I’m stressed. I suck it up better. I have 3 jobs. I work at Yoga Hohm, I’m a sales manager for North and South America and I have a health and wellness business where I run the nutrition part.

How do you fit a regular yoga practice into your busy schedule?

I don’t sleep (laughs) I get up really, really early and I practice, and then I go to work, and then I leave and go to a different job. Then I leave and go to a yet another job, and if I have time I’ll practice again before I go to bed.

You recently said that yoga helped you connect to your body more. What did you mean by that?

I’m actually paying attention to my body. Normally my mind is racing about 45 other things that are sitting there waiting for me to get to while I’m working on something else. Yoga helps me get out of my head so I can feel things in order to adjust to where I’m supposed to be feeling it. I never felt that lifting weights. I would lift weights, and do what I was supposed to do and hear “Engage this” and think, “Ok… I’m just lifting…” Now I can connect to my body because I’m purposely getting out of my head and focusing on my breath more and feeling things. That is why I try not to pay attention to what’s going on around me in class.

You recently graduated Yoga Hohm’s teacher training program, do you feel like that has helped your practice?

Oh yeah. Now I know where I’m supposed to be feeling things and knowing which way I’m supposed to move instead of looking at a video and saying “Oh yeah, I can half stand like that,” getting no benefit out of it.

And now you teach. Did you plan on teaching when you started the teacher training?

No, not even a little bit

So, what changed for you?

I thought coming into teacher training I was going to have to teach a certain way but I’m not teaching a regular flow class. I’m teaching people how to get out of their heads and into their bodies.