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I ran long distances in track in high school simply because I wanted to run faster to be a good soccer player. After I graduated in 1990, I joined the Army and continued with running while serving, and that’s when I really began to enjoy running. I remember running in the Bavarian Forest in Germany and how beautiful it was.
Fast forward to when the pandemic hit Minnesota around March 2020, I scribbled on a piece of paper that yoga is the only thing that makes me feel good. And so I decided to become a yoga teacher. The Native Strength Revolution—a yoga and wellness nonprofit focused on healing indigenous communities through yoga workshops, classes, and teacher trainings—gave me that opportunity by training me to teach yoga.
Native Strength Revolution also helped me reconnect to my indigenous spirituality, which kept me strong while working through the pandemic. I didn’t realize it at the time, but becoming a yoga teacher would also kickoff my return to running. I’m a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe tribe, and my community supported me so much during the pandemic.
As an intensive care unit respiratory therapist, the pandemic was an incredibly challenging time. I worked without breaks and often stayed past my shift to help care for COVID patients. In order to not carry that energy of the sickness home, I turned to yoga to ground myself prior, during, and after caring for my patients. I also shared yoga breathing techniques with my patients when they were sick. I would tell them to breathe in the good things and exhale the bad, and exhale the COVID. It helped to calm patients who were scared and short of breath.
I witnessed more sickness and death than anyone should ever have to witness during the pandemic. I heard family members cry via video over their loved ones because the hospitals couldn’t let them in to visit.  I ran long distances in track in high school simply because I wanted to run faster to be a good soccer player. After I graduated in 1990, I joined the Army and continued with running while serving, and that’s when I really began to enjoy running. I remember running in the Bavarian Forest in Germany and how beautiful it was.
Fast forward to when the pandemic hit Minnesota around March 2020, I scribbled on a piece of paper that yoga is the only thing that makes me feel good. And so I decided to become a yoga teacher. The Native Strength Revolution—a yoga and wellness nonprofit focused on healing indigenous communities through yoga workshops, classes, and teacher trainings—gave me that opportunity by training me to teach yoga.
Native Strength Revolution also helped me reconnect to my indigenous spirituality, which kept me strong while working through the pandemic. I didn’t realize it at the time, but becoming a yoga teacher would also kickoff my return to running. I’m a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe tribe, and my community supported me so much during the pandemic.
As an intensive care unit respiratory therapist, the pandemic was an incredibly challenging time. I worked without breaks and often stayed past my shift to help care for COVID patients. In order to not carry that energy of the sickness home, I turned to yoga to ground myself prior, during, and after caring for my patients. I also shared yoga breathing techniques with my patients when they were sick. I would tell them to breathe in the good things and exhale the bad, and exhale the COVID. It helped to calm patients who were scared and short of breath.
I witnessed more sickness and death than anyone should ever have to witness during the pandemic. I heard family members cry via video over their loved ones because the hospitals couldn’t let them in to visit. |
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| Ready for another exciting World Marathon Major? Over 50,000 runners are set to start in Staten Island. |
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| From actors to former pro athletes, there are quite a few notable people running the Big Apple’s big race on November 6. |
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| One writer, a registered dietitian and marathoner, explains what she’s learned from keeping daily tabs on her glucose levels. |
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| It doesn’t take much time to fire up every muscle of the body. |
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| This little known but serious problem, known as compartment syndrome, can be the cause of your lower leg pain. |
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The Latest from the RW Collection |
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