This Month, please welcome Trisha Wiles!
Below is a narrative interview I had with Trisha.
I have never done an interview before. I have only been interviewed, and that was usually for job openings and professional reasons. But this time, I was the one asking questions and creating conversation with some of Devotion Yoga’s annual members. I remember seeing Trisha so often that she soon became a warm and welcoming face, but now was my opportunity to talk about her, and her connection to yoga.
We started out a bit awkwardly, neither knowing what role we held, or how to start. I wasn’t a professional who interviewed people regularly, but what I was good at was talking and simply holding a conversation. Thus, my interview with the lovely Trisha Wiles began.
I believe we all carry a story with us, a path or a journey we are walking on, aspirations we are walking (or running) towards, and passions that enlighten us and skills that make us special. Trisha, born and raised in a farm town in Ohio, grew up as the youngest of three. She then later on attended university at Ohio State where she fell deeply for the women’s studies department. It was there, in a classroom, surrounded by like minded people where she found intelligent conversation, deep insightful questions being asked, and a satisfying feeling she had never experienced in any other course.
It was in that classroom that she could make sense of the world around her, bring light to the issues that troubled her as a young woman. Like any woman growing up in today’s society and body culture, Trisha struggled with her weight, school, alcohol, and drugs. Trisha describes her women’s studies class as being on the mat during yoga. “Contextual mindfulness...” Trisha details the mat as her breath and there she is able to connect back to the present moment of her everyday life and bring all her issues and vulnerabilities to the mat where not a single soul can judge her. We all have our own story.
Thankful and grateful, Trisha has been sober since August of 2011. A few months her sobriety Trisha began her yoga adventure where she realized gentle yoga and restorative was just not her thing. It wasn’t until August of this year that Trisha took another shot at yoga, it was in our studio, at Devotion Yoga, that Trisha began to show up to her mat. It was through the diversity of our teachers, between Patrick’s Power Flow to Jocelyn’s Flow and Let Go that Trisha was able to appetize the buffet of classes Devotion offers. It was in Patrick’s class that Trisha had to stay present and determined to attempt the crow stance, but it was in Julie’s class that Trisha is reminded to be peaceful and stay humbled by the many warrior poses.
It was there that I felt Trisha opened up about her experience with yoga and her time on the mat. Through all the struggles, emotionally and physically, Trisha was able to face those demons through the challenges of accepting yourself as who you are. Yoga, “...helps to accept the way you are,” and, “...honor the authenticity of others and recognize you’re worthy.”
Trisha Wiles has come a long way, from Ohio resident to New Jersey bound, from addict and alcoholic to sober, now a student of yoga and ready to face any demon she meets on that mat. Because we all know she can defeat anything that stands in her way.
More About Trisha:
Favorite Yoga Pose: Peaceful Warrior & Humble Warrior
Wants to accomplish: The Crow & A sturdy hand stand
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