This weeks story is about Tali Koziol, from Denver, Colorado. A courageous woman who discovered a new world through yoga.

I always wanted to love yoga.  However, until my thirties, I didn’t.  I went to various teachers with personalities that weren’t quite my cup of tea. I went to classes that were too hard or too easy. I was like Goldilocks, always looking for what was “just right.”

Then everything changed when I went to work for my father, leaving behind a career in event planning and marketing to help run his auto repair shop.  One of our clients happened to be a yoga instructor. My father thought it would be a nice company benefit for us to go to yoga once a week. What started out as my father, my cousin, and me attending classes eventually became  me attending alone.

I kept going because I finally loved yoga. My instructor, Shelly, always gave me the right instructions and meeting in private lesson my progress was quick. I began to notice that everything in life felt easier. I had been managing depression for over 15 years and yoga seemed to be the missing piece.  It gave me the awareness of the connection that already exists between the mind, body, and spirit so that I could recognize when I was off-balance. Being able to recognize this and tend to it keeps me from spiraling downward.

 I eventually wanted to share the gift of yoga with others but new I wanted to attend a school that would be different than Shelly’s so I branched away from the style that Shelly teaches (similar to Iyengar) and found Shannon Paige . What drew me most to Shannon’s Vinyasa and Prana Flow classes wasn’t just the style of yoga but how she taught and that everyone felt like a tribe there. Her classes never tell you that yoga makes everything better or that everything will be fine. I loved that.  She teaches from a way that makes you feel understood and appreciated. I knew that’s who I wanted to study with.

So into my 200 hour program I went keeping up my studies with Shelly the whole time. I really learned more about myself than I ever could have managed. Yoga has taught me that I cannot always control how the world treats me or what happens to me. What I can control is how I respond. That is where I teach from.

I now teach Vinyasa Flow, Anjali Restorative Yoga, and Bhava Vinyasa (Flow and Restore for Depression and Anxiety). As I work with my students I try to give them what my teachers give me, an empowered  sense of strength and the willingness to rest and be rejuvenated. I am now in my advanced teacher training program working to hone my skills and I teach Social Media and prepare website for yoga instructors and other wellness professionals. 

I never would have thought that making the shift to work for my dad and give back to him for all that he's done for me would be the push I needed. I not only grew to love yoga but have found a whole new world that I am passionate about.  It's funny what happens when you least expect it. 

To find out more about Tali, visit her blog My Cupcake Mafia or her yoga site Urban Asana Denver.


Namasté,