Tona Williams

Yoga is an old friend, and we keep growing together. I remember as a child seeing my dad practice inversions in the living room. I admired his strength and balance but never thought it was for me. 

There were no yoga studios in rural Oregon in the 1970s. Twenty years later I found classes sporadically in college and when I first moved to Madison, and then much more consistently as I discovered east-side studios that I loved. 

Every style has brought movements and insights that I appreciate, though I was more drawn then to the original hot yoga and yin yoga. I see that as a time in my life when I felt more stressed and unsettled overall, so I intuitively welcomed practices that brought stillness. 

Yoga helped me develop the habit of relaxing into my innate tranquility within, no matter what chaos was swirling around outside. 

Then I shifted towards other movement forms for a decade or so. I love to dance, hike, and get out on the lakes. Around eight years ago I started playing at aerial dance. For me, activities combining movement, music, dance, art, close friendships and community are pretty much the best. 

Throughout all this, that ability to relax into inner stillness remained with me, with conscious breath and a natural embodiment of mindfulness at the core. I would occasionally use yoga poses to stretch out during the day, but it had been a while since I practiced in a focused and consistent way with others. 

Finally it was time to change things up again. My core relationships and livelihood upended in 2022 and it was excruciating. By the end of the year I was picking myself up, releasing and allowing, embracing whatever could bring light back in. I started a new job that was great but way more sedentary than what I’m used to, and a part of my mind was still rehashing that recent pain. 

That’s when I remembered that yoga studio practice was a thing I could do. In mid-February I took my first lovely, intense class from Anne at Inner Fire Yoga. My body and mind remembered more than I expected and it felt great to just pick it back up. I’ve been going most weekdays since, especially Power Flow or Inner Fire Flow with Tony, Sandra, Jane and Marit. 

This has been the perfect counterbalance to computer-based work and, finally, my mind lets go, allowing me truly to embrace my new beginnings. My relationship with yoga now feels more like a celebration, a joyful dance, that I can feel within all the cells of my body. 

I still like to return occasionally to that original hot style, but practicing with music and flow is absolutely my favorite. I have no real goal other than tuning into what I need, having fun, playing with the edge of balance and maybe falling right onto my mat (which makes me laugh, thus increasing the fun). I’m so fortunate to have this now almost every day. 

Thank you all for being here. Shout out to Brenda who teaches here and was my first lyra (aerial hoop) teacher, and organized the uv light glow party that I’m being very silly at in this photo.