Student Spotlight

If you’ve spent any time at the Breathing Room, chances are you’ve seen Michelle Carnahan. Michelle is one of the most dedicated members of our yoga community — practicing yoga in the studio six days a week.

Lest you think Michelle has been a yogi most of her adult life, you might be surprised to learn she was approaching middle age when back pain led her to yoga. She began taking yoga classes at Total Woman Gym in Alameda and started feeling the results. In 2013, she followed several of the Total Woman teachers to Leela Yoga (now the Breathing Room).

Yoga became much more than a way to alleviate back pain, says Michelle. She gained strength, balance, coordination and was better able to manage stress. In addition, Michelle claims that yoga has boosted her confidence. Although Michelle appears to be an accomplished yogi, she claims that her self-image was very different in her twenties and thirties.

Through yoga, Michelle became more self-aware and self-assured. Even if she couldn’t do a pose perfectly, just trying something new lifted her spirits. And, according to Michelle, being surrounded by like-minded people who were also trying their best helped her feel more connected to community.

When Michelle isn’t at the Breathing Room, she is co-directing Kiddie Kampus Cooperative Pre-School — a parent participation school. As busy as she’s been as a co-director these past 20 years and a parent of two now-grown children, she has prioritized yoga as a joyful practice. Almost every day, Michelle carves out time at the studio —nurturing her present and future self.