Women who Inspire - Pam Teves
About ten years ago, I was introduced to yoga for the first time. I had grown up playing sports, but wasn’t looking to join any adult leagues after college and I was growing bored of my usual fitness routine. A friend asked me to join her for an outdoor class that was being taught right around the corner from my home at Fort Tabor. I really wasn’t sure what to expect but was assured that the instructor accommodated students of all levels and honestly was just looking forward to spending a little time outside! My first class was challenging but in the best way! I wasn’t familiar with any of the poses but was able to follow along pretty easily with the women at the front of the class and couldn’t believe how quickly class went by! I was so glad I had decided to join. It also made me realize how tense I had been. Sometimes you get so used to your stress level that you don’t realize how much better you can feel until after you’ve take the necessary steps!
Not long after, I entered a particularly stressful time in my life. I had just graduated college and just a few months later, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. Cue the panic attacks. I wasn’t sleeping, I lived in an almost constant state of dizziness, I was having vision troubles, basically just making it through the day became a struggle. When I wasn't actually experiencing an attack, I was worried another was on the way, which ultimately leads to another attack. It’s a vicious cycle and the whole time I felt like I needed to hide what I was going through because it was nothing compared to what my mother was experiencing.
By this point, Pam Teves was already back at it again teaching her “Yoga at the Fort” series. I headed back over to the fort and after just a couple classes, I realized what a major role her practice would play in helping me manage my panic attacks. Her realistic approach to a multi-level class, combined with her perfect choice of setting and soothing tone, was just the foundation I needed.
As part of our ongoing “Women who Inspire” series, I’m excited to highlight Pam Teves in our January edition. Keep scrolling to learn about her personal journey through yoga! ~Kate
My yoga journey began back in 2009. I finally landed my first full-time job in finance and was finishing up my master's program. I needed to find an outlet to get moving after sitting at a desk all day but also a way to center myself from all the happenings in life. Yoga was where I was able to find my balance. But the thought crossed my mind: how much better could this have been, had I known about this practice, and could have afforded it, years earlier? I immediately went into a 200-hour teacher training program, learning all I could about the practice and how to bring balance to our day.
After I finished, my goal was to bring this practice to as many people as possible. I begin with small classes, 2-6 people, only charging minimal community price, because health shouldn't have to be a decision between a fitness class or groceries. After a few months inside, I realized we needed to be outside, summer in New England needs to be taken advantage of! So, Yoga at the Fort was born and has been going strong since, we are coming into our 10th year in 2020! (And have always kept the classes just $5.) Over the years it grew and became more than one person could handle, I found myself losing the balance that was the core of this whole journey (working full time, becoming a mom, and finding the ever important 'me-time'.) It was time to expand the one-person company. We now have great teachers who have come out and lead class at the fort (shout out to the amazing women: Andrea, Keri, Karyn, Katie.) And finally after 10 years this path morphed into co-owning 2 yoga studios with a great business partner, Nicole Cleary, who shares the same passion for yoga, wellness and finding balance, and in the process, building the best yoga community around. In our studios, Divine Yoga & Paddle Co, we still offer community classes at community rates to keep the idea that health and your budget can be attained. Along with heated classes and varieties for all levels, we also are thrilled to be able to work with the [amazing, strong, inventive, knowledgeable, fun] teachers in the studios, who offer their best each and every class and opened their arms to Nicole and I when we took over the studios (we are so grateful.) And of course the students that show up to be a part of the community; to learn, to grow, and see what happens when we all find a little 'me-time.’ ~ Pam
