Lisa Wilson, one of Bella Prana’s most unique yoga instructors, a real guru! Lisa teaches everything from prenatal to power yoga. She has created a beautiful community within the prenatal population and she works closely with mothers-to-be. Lisa continues to work with women after birth in her baby + me class! Learn more about her yoga journey below.
When/how did you discover yoga?
In 1999 I began practicing a very gentle form of Hatha yoga through a program offered by the city of Tampa Parks and Recreation department as well as Bikram Yoga taught by best friend and associate Annie Okerlin. Very soon after discovering my love of the yoga practice I experienced the tragic loss of my stepfather who played a huge roll in the areas of creativity, humor, adventure and passion for life over my lifetime. I was deeply crushed. It was the first devastating loss I had ever experienced. It was unexpected. It was a very dark time. Yoga offered me a place of ease and space away from the heartache. It gave me perspective, took me out the thinking grieving mind and allowed me to become immersed instead in movement and creativity. Still today when I land on my mat, no matter what the climate of my life at the time, the world always appears a bit brighter, a bit lighter and I am able to find that same place of peace that was needed during that time of challenge and change so many years ago.
What do you love about teaching yoga?
I love being able to share the gift of yoga described in my discovery of the practice over 18 years ago. The space, ease and peace it offers the body, heart and mind when something seems unimaginably difficult or when life’s challenges feel way too tough to endure. I love how helping others helps me move more gracefully through my own challenges and the way that service to others heals the hearts of those who give and those who receive. I love how community and connection and the interdependence of all things are at the very heart of the teaching. Yoga “to yoke, to connect” to the divine force, to the prana “the breath” that is each of our birthright is what I share, love and celebrate about the practice. I am blessed to have yoga and meditation in my life.
How has yoga and meditation changed your life?
It has given me the tools to keep steady and centered in some of the most challenging moments I could have ever imagined going through. It has given me compassion and a deep desire to experience the power of awareness that lies latent unless we are brave enough to acknowledge that the true nature of this life is about acceptance, loss and letting go. This is the sweetness of the gift and why I have chosen this as my life path.