Today we’d like to introduce you to Grace LeFlore.
Hi Grace, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hello! I am Grace, originally from Greensboro NC! I love music, movies, and yoga, haha! I started practicing yoga while living in Atlanta in 2016. A friend talked me into trying yoga without explaining what “hot yoga” was. Geesh…the confusion of the heat and not knowing what to do! Needless to say in the end, I loved it. Practicing yoga aided me through divorce, job loss, and while becoming a caretaker for my mother. After moving to Raleigh, NC, my son was hospitalized and diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis in summer of 2020. I then again turned to yoga, finding Midtown Yoga Studios in North Hills Raleigh. It was there I obtained my certification and began teaching at Midtown Yoga in Durham. Recieving certification, friends and family members requested my teaching back in my hometown Greensboro. The feeling of coming home, and bringing this with me… I simply cannot explain it! It was there during the summer of 2022 I decided to leave my corporate career in property management and pursue Yoga Instruction full-time. The people that I have been able to connect with in a way that is unimaginable. When asked why I wanted to be a yoga teacher, I remember my response being, “I want to make someone feel about yoga the way my first yoga teacher made me feel.” I wanted to create a more comfortable and consistent space for people to practice yoga. That lead to founding Embodhi Yoga studio and finally opening in March of 2023!
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think on the outside, looking in, it may have seemed that way. When we are creating something within ourselves, we are revamping, creating a map that we have never seen before. Takes an extreme amount of faith in God, or with whomever you believe, and within yourself. Deciding to leave my corporate job, making a more than decent salary, to pursue an “imaginary” salary,” was hands down one of the scariest things I have ever done. Not knowing when your next “payday” is coming, you are constantly questioning yourself, and if you did the right thing. Also, the thought or pursuance of owning a business?!? Your belief has to power through everything that is currently showing your “reality.” The constant day-to-day, knowing you are not where you want to be, but trusting you will end up exactly where you’re supposed to be. I remember thinking, “This is going to work; I know this is going to work.” Looking back, I now realize the struggle was more internal than anything. Everything on the outside was working out for me in the right direction. It just seemed slower than I would have liked it to be. Of course, right?!? We’re in a society where we want quick rewards, instant progress. Reality is all the hard nights, the constant reassuring yourself; those little steps you take every day prepare you, set the foundation for where you are headed. I can appreciate the road that I built, that I can look back on.
We’ve been impressed with Embodhi Yoga Studio, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Embodhi Yoga Studio is based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Embodhi practices “meditation, movement, and reflection.” Yoga has so many forms; we teach our students to embrace or “embody” their own practice of yoga. Embracing, we are all different in body structure, spirituality, and in our own practice. And that’s OK! Embodhi specializes in Vinyasa Flow or linking breath to movement. We teach a variety of poses and create a sequence, placing them together based on the theme of the week/month. We are a warm power vinyasa studio, so temperatures in the studio gauge from 75-85 degrees. The heat produces ease into the movement in muscles, but not so much so as a traditional “hot” yoga studio.
Yoga can seem intimidating at times for both new yogis and yogis that are currently in their practice. There can be a feeling of “prerequisites” or a level that one needs to be to practice yoga. I am proud that Embodhi really aims to create a comfortable space for all to practice yoga. We teach to everyone in the room, creating a foundation of poses first, then working from that. This allows a newer yogi to flow throughout class while allowing an advanced yogi still feel challenged and empowered to do more!
Embodhi Yoga Studio offers classes every day throughout the week except Tuesdays and Wednesdays (for now)! These classes vary between “Get Me Bodhied,” a core flow focusing on strengthening through our core poses. We also offer Happy Hour on Fridays, offering mimosas after class, HipHop flow on Saturday mornings, flowing to Hip-hop favorites, Embodhi Unplug on Sunday afternoons, offering restorative yoga followed by CBD oil shoulder massage.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Wow, what a great question! What’s that saying? The bigger the risk, bigger the reward?!? At one point, I was perfectly fine with my job, home, and life. And then life became uncomfortable through my son’s sickness, my divorce, etc. I had a choice to make… to resist and try to stay in the comfort of what I knew or venture out. I guess you could say working through those things taught me life is short and I deserve to be happy! Took what felt like the biggest risk of my life less than a year ago because not trying at all felt way worse. I wanted to know what it would feel like to put 100% of my energy into my purpose/passion, just to see what would happen. What if?!? Seeing the end result, I would definitely do it all over again, and I am doing it every day. More importantly, this experience has taught me I am more than capable of achieving my dreams. It may take time, but I am well within my means… I am my own competition.
Pricing:
- Currently offering 11 Days for $25
- Drop in $20
- Unlimited monthly membership $109
- Student Monthly discount $90
- Weekly membership (7 days) $74
Contact Info:
- Website: www.yogabygracie.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/embodhiyogastudios/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/people/Grace-L/100080282319935/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/embodhi-yoga-studio-greensboro
Image Credits
Katrina Wize Photography
