A Transformative Journey

Being a part of the first YTT at Grateful Hearts Yoga has been absolutely amazing. If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be transformative.

Let me introduce myself first before I dive into this. I am Amanda Coats. I am married to my best friend and we share two kids, two dogs, and two cats. I enjoy a hot cup of coffee while I write, sunshine on my skin, and the little things in life. I want to live and am so grateful to be here today, sharing my story with you.

My family and I moved to Crestview in the fall of 2023, and it was a difficult transition for me as we had lived a pretty isolated, halfway self sustainable life in Arkansas for ten years prior. We went from a nightly coyote chorus to neighborhood noise for a job that didn't work out, after a previous business fell apart back home.

At this point I had done yoga for a couple years at the recommendation of my therapist to help with my experiences of depression. Yogic philosophy is the only spiritual practice that has ever made sense to me. Even before I went to therapy, I did some breathwork and meditation all throughout my life without realizing it until I began my own yoga practice. It's such a natural thing, and it's accessible to literally all of us if we just slow down, pay attention, and do the work. Initially after we moved, I set my practice down. I was drowning mentally due to my life being flipped upside down and backwards.

I had found Grateful Hearts online just before we moved and decided that it would be the most similar to my old studio in Arkansas. I visited the studio maybe twice before enrolling in this training, highly impressed both times. I felt very welcomed and at home there just as I was, a struggling soul. Shortly after my visits, I saw that Grateful Hearts was launching their first ever YTT. I knew because of therapy and my prior yoga practice that this training was something I needed to do for my mental health. 

At no point during this training did I question where I was meant to be. Gracie and the studio and this community that's created here is something that is so much better felt than spoken or written of. This space, these people I've met, this shared practice- it feels like home to me, someone who previously thought home was a place and not something we feel.

At Grateful Hearts, because of the studio and this training, even- I've found peace and connection. I've found my inner light and my practice again. I've accomplished goals. I've learned so much about things I always wanted to know. I've made lifelong friends. I've been welcomed and accepted into the kindest, most genuine community I've ever met. My fellow YTT's, Gracie and the other instructors, the people that show up to classes- they are all a vast wealth of knowledge and compassion.

So I said this was transformative, right? I am not the same woman that moved here just over a year ago. I am so grateful to be alive today. I have discovered so much about myself and about the world around me because of this training. It has been like therapy, in the most beautiful way. It has been transformative, and liberating. Deciding to pursue YTT basically fell into my lap at the time I needed it the most. It's funny how life turned my world around just to plant me exactly where I needed to be, where I belong.

At this studio and through my YTT journey, I have found a collective will to change the world for the better, one grateful heart at a time. We are all here, waiting for you to arrive. 

With love,

Amanda

Read more of Amanda's beautiful writings by connecting with her instagram @poet.treebyac

The "OG" 200hr YTT's March 2024-December 2024