Help send me to further my education!

Hello and aloha! Over the past couple years I have been on a battle of recovery from the life-threatening illness of Anorexia, anxiety, and depression. With the discovery of yoga and the mind-body connection, I have found a connection to myself, healing, and a way to cope with the struggles life brings me. I have chosen to share my passion and healing with the world through teaching yoga. My next journey is to Calgary, Canada to complete my Forrest Yoga Teacher training.

I began practicing the specific style of Forrest Yoga at The Yoga Room in Conroe about a year ago, and instantly fell in love with the rich, passionate style of this practice. Ana Forrest created this style of yoga to encourage people to get into their bodies and release the emotions that are trapped inside. I have been able to unravel more emotional trauma with this practice than in all the years combined in traditional therapy. Forrest Yoga gives me strength and resilience in a world that is constantly throwing new challenges. It has taught me to release what does not serve me, and also notice where I may still be holding onto parts of the past. When I feel my strength in various challenging postures, and am able to breathe deep and full, I feel capable to work through anything in my life. Yoga is not something practiced solely on my mat, but has become a lifestyle. This daily practice has helped me to discover the darkest parts of myself and learn to accept them, or even merely acknowledge that they are there. Forrest yoga has helped me feel completely ALIVE in my body and recognize that I have the strength within me to live out the passions I hold in life. This style of yoga is about unraveling the layers of tension, stress, anxiety and all the other "stuff" we hold onto in our daily lives. It is a practice designed to help you connect to your truth and live a full life. Forrest yoga has helped me heal wounds I did not even know that I had buried. My personal practice helps me shift from living on auto-pilot into savoring every single moment and breath of this sacred life. I am committed to sharing the practice of Yoga, (specifically Forrest Yoga) and bringing awareness of mental health into local communities and around the world. My dream is to create the opportunity for everyone to develop a healing space in their own mind and body; one that encourages reaching your highest potential without fear. When I teach and notice that my students are able to find and move with their own breath, I have no doubt that the struggles from my past were not only purposeful, but a vital experience I had to go though to be where and who I am today. Teaching yoga gives my past pain and struggles meaning because I can teach people how to bring light into the dark places (just as I am learning to do in my own body and life).

I have experienced anxiety and depression for as long as I can remember. Growing up I did not have a healthy release of difficult emotions, nor a way to cope, therefore I kept what I was feeling inside. At a very young age, I found myself beginning to fuel the negative energy into my exercise and food. It felt as though one day I woke up to an isolated life consumed with a compulsive Eating Disorder. My eating disorder behaviors sucked the life out of me, and just like any other addiction, it was my only source of stability and control.  My illness served as a way to avoid the true issues or anxieties. After two dark years of life with Anorexia, my body became so severely ill that I was faced with the choice of death or treatment.  I ultimately was admitted into Denver's inpatient Eating Recovery Treatment Center where I spent four months restoring my body and mental health. The mindfulness and meditation practices that I learned in treatment planted the seeds for my yoga practice. I expanded my passion for meditation by beginning to practice yoga once I returned back home. This traumatic event began the start of my recovery journey and lead me to my life of yoga.

Yoga has taught me how to slow down and feel/notice my body as it moves, rather than forcing movements as I have done in the past. Movement shifted from being a source of punishment, into feeling like a celebration and an expression of the beautiful life I lead. Slowing down to practice has allowed me to drop into a space where my thoughts are put to the side and I can ground into my true values. My experience with yoga did not become life-changing overnight, however this ancient practice is the main reason I am able to live more fully and passionately today.

My personal battle has helped me realize the lack of mental health awareness in our society. Ironically, there are thousands of people today struggling with mental health disorders, including Eating Disorders, anxiety, OCD, depression, etc., most likely caused by a personal experience of trauma. I am currently studying Psychology at Austin Community College in order to further education. I am pursing a career in yoga and addiction counseling that will help those who suffer from any physical or mental ailment.

This year I have made the goal to pursue my yoga journey and attend the Forrest Yoga Foundation Teacher Training with Ana Forrest and Jose Calarco, hosted in Calgary this upcoming June. It would be a once in a lifetime experience to train underneath such educated and insightful teachers. This opportunity will allow me to dive deeper into my own healing and expand my knowledge as a teacher. This training will provide me with profound healing techniques that I can give back to the world by sharing the practices in every one of my yoga classes.

I would greatly appreciate it if you are able to help me get to this training-
anything helps!

Thank you for reading my story. Feel free to message me and ask me any questions regarding my practice or my journey! Hopefully in the future you can take a Forrest inspired class with me, or we can work together.

Much love,

Kamryn Schneider

If you're interested in knowing more, here’s a link of me chatting with Holistically Curious about my experience with an Eating Disorder. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/38-eating-disorders-a-conversation-with-kamryn-schneider/id1273632189?i=1000436102512