Dawn Bounds

I started my yoga journey at a studio in Dallas, Texas in October of 2001, right after the tragedy of 9-11. I was distressed by that whole horrible situation; and my best friend, who was a very recent breast cancer survivor at the time, had a doctor who had turned her on to Bikram Yoga as a way to detox, and she convinced me to come to a class.

I wore a giant T-shirt and loose-fitting shorts, and got set up in the back row where I was hoping no one would notice me. I had never exercised a day in my life or ever done a yoga posture…ever. I was 37 years old.

I was told by the instructor that my goal was to stay in the room for the whole 90 minutes. I thought I was going to die, but I managed to stay in the room for the whole 90 minutes, and I tried (I use this word loosely) to do each posture.

I went to that class for three days in a row, and I was completely hooked!   My mind pretty much hated every minute of that class at first, but my body loved it!

It was the best thing I ever did for myself, ever. I knew after about two years of practicing that I wanted to teach; but there was no way I would ever be able to take off time from my life and my full-time job at that point. I had become a mother at 35, so my daughter was only 2 when I started.

Fast-forward to 2008. I convinced my husband to move from his home state of Texas to my home state of Minnesota. I started practicing at Minneapolis Yoga with Martha and Eric and all of their awesome instructors.

When the opportunity arose last year to do teacher training at the studio with Yoga Factory and Martha agreed to sponsor me, I was finally able to become a teacher. I am so grateful, blessed, and happy to be able to teach at this wonderful studio! The best thing about yoga is that it is a never-ending journey. You just improve and change and transform forever.

My heart is just bursting with joy every time I teach!