The Light Inside

During one of my first conversations with Angela, I remember telling her how much I loved Hot Yoga.  I had started practicing at the studio which was just six minutes from our house.  I can’t tell you the exact words we exchanged that day, but I distinctly remember her kindness and her encouragement and these are two things that she has continued to offer throughout the past two years that I’ve known her.

Angela is an amazing teacher and one of the Hot Yoga instructors at my studio.  She is confident and strong and seems to always know the right words to draw her students into their deepest and most pure forms of expressions and practice.  I’ve always said that taking her classes is part yoga and part therapy and joined together they are exactly what I need to release the stress and anxiety that I carry with me throughout my day.

As she teaches, she gently speaks these life truths which she pairs with bits of practical information (did you know for instance that your head weighs as much as a bowling ball?  Which is why you need to fully release it along with all of the thoughts that weigh it down, especially in poses like rag doll).

It’s an honor and privilege to know and love someone like Angela.  She is one of those people that you meet in life, who makes an impact on your heart because of who they are and what they live.

So of course, when Angela asked me if we could shoot a yoga session and capture some sweet portraits with her girls, you know I was good to go.  We decided to meet up last Saturday, because on paper the weather was gorgeous and what better place to go than the beach.  Wouldn’t you know that by the afternoon when we got there, it had cooled down significantly and there were gale force winds to work with (okay, so maybe it wasn’t that dramatic, but it was pretty crazy).  Both of Angela’s girls were troopers!  They didn’t complain one bit and even though the wind was wild, we still caught a few pictures that worked.

From the beach, we drove up to the Main Street because there, it was a bit warmer and the wind was a bit easier to work with.  Again, these girls were so much fun and I was so thankful for their sweet and willing attitudes.

I was also thankful to Angela for taking time to capture some sweet pictures with her girls.  Moms, this is something that we do not do enough of.  We know for fact how quickly our time with our kids goes by and making the effort to capture their beauty at any given moment in time is an investment that you will not regret.

Shortly after this portrait was taken, we finished our session and parted ways.  I could not have been more thankful and thrilled to have worked with these three lovely ladies.

At the end of nearly every hot yoga class, Angela closes by saying, “The light inside of me, honors and respects the light inside of you.”  In a world full of darkness and brokenness, there is nothing better that we can do than to let our lights shine to those around us.  Thank you Angela, for being such an incredible light to myself and to those you teach and thank you for being so amazing in so many ways.