Dreams can come true, or at least this one did.
In 2016, while working my side hustle as a bartender, I learned about Breathe for Change, empowering educators to earn their 200 hour yoga certificate. I immediately registered for the summer cohort. That fall, as my new batch of 8th graders walked into my classroom, I implemented mindfulness practices into our daily instruction. Witnessing the radical change in my students' engagement with learning, we created a daily mindfulness routine. Eventually, I introduced “yoga naps” or body scans, which my middle schoolers took to like a duck to water. It was not hard to see that our youth crave time to sit and breathe. Wanting to reach more youth, I collaborated with MSCR afternoon staff to offer mindfulness in afterschool clubs, GSA Leadership, and Madison Cello Ensemble. I was gaining traction, so naturally the next step was to form an LLC. I needed a name, so I turned to my seven-year-old son to ask him what he thought was a good name for a yoga company. Knowing I wanted love at the center, and he had a fondness for rainbows, Awesomely Radical Love was his answer. In 2017, Awesomely Radical Love LLC was created.
In the Spring of 2018, my wife and I chose to blend our families. Blending families is similar to blending a smoothie. Some days it's creamy and delicious, and other days it's chunky and gross. ARL transitioned to the back burner, and the fire went out in March of 2020 when the world shut down.
For the next four years, my wife and I weathered the darkness that life can bring. A piece of darkness was when my childhood trauma of being an Adult Child of an Alcoholic could no longer be stuffed down and ignored. Bound and determined not to raise my children in an angry, violent home, I found a certified trauma therapist who specialized in EMDR and started attending ACA meetings at the Fitchburg Serenity Club. My journey to emotional recovery began. After meetings, I asked where people mediated or practiced yoga because the studio I attended for a decade did not make it through the pandemic. I needed a place to practice joining my mind with my body. I learned my fellow ACAers did not have answers. They too were looking for such a place. It does not matter which 12-step program a person is working on; the eleventh step is a mindfulness practice.
As I began my journey of emotional recovery, I needed to figure out how I wanted to walk in the world. During my 200-hour yoga training, we were tasked to write a personal mission statement. I attempted to write a flowery statement using words like compassion, empathy, and serenity, but what came out was, “don’t be a dick.” Simple and to the point. My personal mission statement. I am a compassionate person who believes in the power of kindness, and my daily goal is not to be a dick.
Still searching, my wife encouraged me to participate in the mindfulness-based stress reduction class offered through UW Health, which supported my journey. But once the class came to an end, so did my regular mindfulness practice. Life gets in the way of living.
As restrictions were lifted, I attempted to find a new studio to practice. Wherever I went, I was uncomfortable for a variety of different reasons. The top two reasons were being consistently stared at like a unicorn in a zoo, and the lack of modifications offered for a variety of bodies in the class. I’m menopausal and had knee replacement surgery in 2023, which altered my yoga practice. Attending classes that were able-bodied-centric and not trauma-informed drove me nuts. Returning home, post-class, I vented my frustrations to my wife, who would kindly ask me, “Shouldn’t you be more relaxed after yoga?” Eventually growing tired of my complaining, she stated, “Why don’t you build the studio you want to attend?” She then messaged me an application to American Family Dream Bank: Dream Camp, a camp for entrepreneurs that received three days of dedicated support from business coaches, mentors, and inspirational speakers to jump-start our dream. In the Fall of 2024, I became a Dreamer, and Awesomely Radical Love began to take shape. It took a year to find the right space to create a studio for misfits. And good things come to those who wait.