YOGI OF THE MONTH

November 2024 - Deb Beutel

What first brought you to yoga and how long have you been practicing?

Being that I’m a type A, high energy person, I found yoga to be a great way to calm myself, attain clarity of mind, and get rid of “monkey brain.”  I’ve been practicing on and off for over 40 years.  I practiced yoga in the early ‘80’s while in college but, when I joined the Marine Corps in 1986, I was running a lot and foolishly stopped doing yoga. (It wasn’t painful enough and the USMC motto of no pain, no gain was overriding my common sense!) After I retired from active duty in 2007, I had numerous medical issues and was literally over-medicated and broken. I picked up yoga again in 2013 when a dear friend of mine was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, and she was practicing Gentle Somatic Yoga. I went on several retreats in Mexico with her, studying with a Yogi from San Diego.  She gave me and another girlfriend the book, How Yoga Works by Geshe Michael Roche for Christmas, and the book literally changed my life! I started going to wellness conferences, yoga retreats and to yoga classes 5-6 days a week.  It was my happy place both physically and mentally, so much so that I took a 200-hour teacher training just to improve my personal practice.  I am so happy to have found InsideOut Yoga and a place to practice with other like-minded individuals in the NNK.

What is/are your intention(s) for your yoga practice?

Health, wellbeing, mental clarity, a sense of honoring my body and now that my body has healed a bit, I’m enjoying working on achieving upper body strength once again. I want to be able to do a five-minute plank!

What is your favorite pose and why?

I absolutely LOVE Supta Baddha Konasana, probably because it was often practiced in many of the restorative and hip opener classes that I took and I found hip openers extremely beneficial for dealing with PTSD.

What is your favorite class at InsideOut Yoga?

I LOVE Slow Flow currently because my husband joins me and, since I had originally learned Hatha, I’m finding that it’s helping me get into the rhythm of Vinyasa without the frustration (or self judgement) that might happen in a really fast Vinyasa class.  

How has the practice of yoga influenced your life?

in addition to maintaining fitness, flexibility and movement as I age, it’s really helped me to focus, breathe, slow down and meditate. The book I mentioned above wasn’t a posture or asana tutorial but rather a book that used the story about a young girl and her dog, “Long-life” to illustrate how practicing the eight limbs of yoga can change anyone’s life for the better.

What advice would you have for a beginning yoga student?

Just go! Stick with it! Make an achievable goal, maybe just to take two classes a week. 

What is your occupation?

I’m a retired LtCol of the Marines and recently retired as a Civil Servant working for the Marine Corps as a Software Analyst.

What activities do you enjoy?

I LOVE yoga, reading, cooking, sewing, crafting, sailing, kayaking, travel (especially mission trips and yoga retreats), and spending time with family and friends.

What is your favorite thing about living in the Northern Neck or Middle Peninsula?

The people are my favorite thing, followed closely by the natural beauty we are surrounded by and all the fresh seafood.

Is there anything you want to add?

I really appreciate Susan’s teaching style and the fact that there are men in her classes.  Her cuing is fantastic, and I love that my husband likes it and goes with me!