FEATURED ALUMNI: DRUE MICHAELS

When and how did yoga first grab you? You knew it was for you?

I first began doing yoga when I was in college studying music. I missed using my body the way that I did when I was a dancer years prior. I found an Ashtanga class at my neighborhood gym, and the teacher was really strict, but really compassionate. He believed that I was good at yoga and he helped me to find my practice. He help me to find my connection to my body again. It also helped me immensely with processing all of the stress I had from school.

What was most surprising to you about the Yoga Teacher Training?

I was very surprised by how spiritual the training was at Sonic. It was something that I had been lacking in my life. I’m not a very religious person, but I have at many times felt a connection to something larger and not always been able to articulate what that meant in my life. I was also very surprised by how happy I felt after being in the teacher training program for a few weeks. I was walking down the street one day and was suddenly so surprised that I was just smiling and I didn’t know why I was smiling, but I felt very happy. I attribute that to my teacher training program and all of the yoga we were doing.

Describe a time a yoga teacher said something or a yoga class impacted you and shifted your perspective.

One of my absolute favorite teachers that I practiced with in New York, specifically at Sonic was Elizabeth Rossa. She was just so amazing at holding you in the pose; perfecting every inch of your alignment while simultaneously concocting a brilliant anecdote that at first seemed like a pointless story having nothing to do with what we were practicing. After like five minutes of holding you in the same pose, she would suddenly come to the end of the story, and you were just like, “oh my God, that made perfect sense. I feel so enlightened and I’ve never done such a perfect triangle pose before ever.” She would use storytelling to liberate you from the confines of the physical self.