Katie Chapin teaches the Wednesday night yoga for stress reduction class. Katie is originally from Jacksonville, Florida. She studied Family, Youth, and Community Sciences at the University of Florida, and then came to Athens while her husband was enrolled in the Warnell School of Forestry’s Master program. While in Athens, Katie attended a power yoga class without realizing the impact it would have on her life. Katie, as she said, “got my butt kicked” in this power yoga class and was enthralled in the savasana pose. It was the first time Katie felt still. Her thoughts were quiet.
Savasana or corpse pose is usually done at the end of a yoga class. It is a pose where you lie flat on your back in stillness. It is a restorative pose that allows the body to return its resting heart rate. It is essential to the practice of yoga as it allows your body to take in all the benefits of your yoga class.
Katie moved to Tampa to receive her master’s degree in Social Work at the University of South Florida. She continued practicing yoga and started
yoga teacher training classes for accessible and trauma-informed yoga. This was when she fell in love with the integration of yoga and therapy.
Katie started teaching with Revolution Therapy and Yoga in April 2020. You might recall this was when COVID-19 became a serious issue in the US. Since then, Katie has been teaching online. Now, Katie will be teaching yoga for stress reduction in person. Katie is fully vaccinated and eager to see people in person again.
For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure to take Katie’s class yet, her advice is to come in with an open mind. You don’t have to look a certain way or be a certain age. Yoga is not just for people who are flexible or young. Your body can continue practicing yoga for as long as you wish.
Yoga is not meant to make you uncomfortable according to Katie. It’s about approaching your mind and body with openness. Katie’s says to “come in with zero expectations.”
Katie’s class and yoga teaching focus on stress and anxiety reduction. There are two ways to practice yoga for stress reduction: top-down processing and bottom-up processing. Top-down processing works with the thoughts and how they affect your body’s movements. Bottom-up processing focuses on the sensations of the body and how your body is storing or coping with anxiety and stress. According to Katie, learning about the body and getting in touch with your own body helps you learn how to cope. It helps you make an informed reaction to the stressors in your life.
Katie loves how you can talk and laugh during yoga but always return to savasana. She supports the fact that yoga is one of the best ways to quiet your mind and find a stillness that’s difficult to accomplish in our day-to-day lives.
Outside of teaching at Revolution, Katie works at Serenity Grove where she is the clinic coordinator and lead therapist. She also teaches yoga a few days a week at Serenity Grove. Katie is big into overall fitness and is currently training to hike a section of the Appalachian Trail. Katie also picked up crocheting as a hobby during quarantine and says it’s wonderful for stress reduction.
We hope you are able to take one of Katie’s classes at Revolution. She teaches Yoga for Stress Reduction on Wednesday evenings in the studio. Space is limited to five students so sign up ahead of time!
Author: Isabel Weber