From her easy, calm teaching style, you’d never guess that Shannon McLaughlin taught her first yoga class at BYUV only one month ago! Read about her yoga journey, and then come try out her BYUV Flow class.
Shannon’s yoga practice spans 20 years. Just after graduating from college, she walked into a yoga studio not knowing what to expect – only knowing that she wanted to move with other people. After that, she was hooked, trying many different styles of yoga and seeing the benefits of her practice in her daily life. Because of her yoga practice, she feels stronger and calmer, even and especially when life becomes hard. And, she appreciates the sense of connection she feels with her fellow yogis at BYUV. For Shannon, one of the most important things she’s learned about her practice over the years is “that growth does not happen overnight, and it is not meant to. It comes from practice over time. And everyone’s journey is different, and unique, and just for them.”
Though she’s been a yoga teacher for just a short time, Shannon is already invigorated by the learning process associated with forming and fostering relationships with her students. She loves working with students to help facilitate and witness growth, and she specifically looks forward to growing with her students. She is especially excited about teaching BYUV Flow because it combines elements of all the classes she loves at BYUV, and because of the special balance that it strikes between strength, focus, awareness, and flow. She hopes students will leave her classes having reached places on their mats that they did not believe possible, and that the transformation that they experience extends beyond class into their daily lives and the lives of those around them.
If you’re a new yogi reading this, Shannon has advice for you, too: “Just keep coming back to your mat, show up for your practice, show up for yourself just as you are. It is always enough.”