I met Michelle Vigen Ralston through a shared love of yoga and of IPY when she still lived in Northern Virginia. Michelle has a beautiful yoga practice, is a wonderful yoga teacher. She’s simultaneously bubbly and calming and a bringer-together of people. She now lives, works, and practices yoga in Berkeley, CA, and her East Coast yoga fam misses her dearly. I love all that she shares below, most especially what she says about using yoga in the art of self-acceptance.
In Edition 2, Michelle reminds us to “do yoga because it feels good.”
Name & Age
Michelle Vigen Ralston, 34
Hometown & Current City
Hometown: Moorhead, MN | Current City: Berkeley, CA
Check out the full People Who Practice series here!
When did you start practicing yoga?
I took up a practice for the first time in 2010, but then stopped after less than a year when I had more excuses than wisdom to continue it!
How many years have you consistently practiced yoga?
I returned to my mat in early 2014, and I can’t imagine a life without a practice.
How long have you been teaching?
I started teaching right after finishing my RYT-200 teacher training in February 2016.
Why did you start to practice?
When I started practicing in 2014, it was because I was starting a new, exciting, and demanding job, and I knew it was a good opportunity to “reset” my life, habits, and health. I thought yoga might help bring my best self to my new job and other parts of my life.
What other kinds of physical exercise or activity did you do regularly before yoga? Have those activities been affected by yoga, and if yes, how?
Yoga brought me back to all my other forms of exercise. Gaining new capability in my body has given me the strength and confidence to take up running, and I’ve also returned to the ice — I used to competitively figure skate as a teen, and it’s been great to put skates back on.
What does daily or weekly home practice look like for you? What style(s)?
I strive for an almost-daily practice. At home, it’s often a short form of Ashtanga by myself or with friends. Or, sometimes I just need to put a sequence that I’m teaching in my body. It’s not always a full-length practice, and I’ve learned to accept that some time on the mat is better than none.
Do you also practice in a studio? What style(s)?
At the studio, I practice a power vinyasa style with all my best yogi pals! It’s truly a privilege to practice within such a great community.
Is there anything you find challenging about either a consistent home practice or just practice in general?
Life events, changing schedules, the ebbs and flows of work, other exercise (like a beautiful day that’s worth a walk or run), travel…pretty much everything that isn’t yoga seems to challenge a consistent practice in one way or another. 🙂 But these are also the areas of my life that benefit most from a consistent practice, so I just keep coming back to my mat.
For someone who’s just getting started with yoga (or a home practice), what advice would you offer?
Often when I start something new, I go all-in. 110%. And I have a tendency to think that if I can’t give it my all, I should find something else to put my time and energy into. Yoga has taught me something new: that my yoga practice accepts me, wherever I’m at, with whatever time I can offer.
My advice: Do yoga because it feels good. And let go of trying to be ‘good’ at it.”
What’s the biggest change — physical or otherwise — you’ve noticed since you started to practice yoga?
Physically, I feel great, confident, capable, and strong. Overwhelmingly, the biggest changes has been non-physical: the amount of self-awareness, acceptance, gratitude, openness, and curiosity that I’ve gained from my practice has opened up entirely new ways to approach and appreciate life.
What’s your favorite yoga pose…or poses?
I love “heart-opening” yoga poses: those that undo all the downward-grind of the day. And I also love postures that allow you to “rest into the edge” — whether a standing posture or maybe a seated pose. And if it’s in yin or a restorative style, all the better!
What benefits does yoga offer to you, off the mat?
The breathing, the balance, the exploration of tension and ease…all of these practices are so useful in my day-to-day.
How do you find your ‘om’ when you’re not on the mat?
I’ll often take seated meditation, just take a few deep breaths. Or get outside. I find a similar sense of energized centered-ness when I’m in nature.
There’s something so naturally balancing in the way our natural environment exists. A bendy and strong tree, a quietly confident stream, or the consistent breeze on a cloudy day, is such a compelling example of the clarity of mind that yoga offers.
Follow Michelle Vigen Ralston on IG — @cedarchelle — to see her beautiful practice & follow her on her many adventures.
Originally published as part of the People Who Practice Series in November 2016
