User of the Month: Penny Wood, Nurse Practitioner
🧘 penny wood
🏥 nurse practitioner
🌳 benton, kentucky
As a mom and nurse practitioner in rural Kentucky, Penny Wood has made lifelong friendships all over the world in her past five years on Alo Moves. Read on to learn more about how our October User of the Month found connection to herself and to others through yoga.
When did you start practicing yoga?
I had tried yoga years before but was intimidated a little bit by it. I had videos, and then I began to buy DVDs. Then I was on the internet one day on Instagram, and that was how I ran across the Alo Moves app. Nervously, I made my little page and logged my first workout.
I didn't, at first, know what I was doing, really. I just followed whatever was being shown. I just continued to work at it. At first, I used it as an exercise, but before long, it changed into a daily thing. I craved it, looked for it, watched for it, searched the internet for anything that was yoga-related. I've been on Alo Moves for five years.
how do you use alo moves?
Being a working mom, as soon as you get off work, you are going to go to a soccer game, maybe. Something’s always going on with the children. You need to make time for yourself. Take care of yourself.
It is very rural, where we're from. This is a farming area. Things aren't that close. I drive 30 minutes to work every day. There is a studio close to where I work, but it's easier for me to practice at home. It's easy to turn your phone on, roll your mat out, and just get on the mat and practice. I think Alo Moves has been somewhat of a platform for me to be creative and express myself openly, not to be afraid of being judged. I'm thankful to have it now at 50 years old. I wish I were a little younger to do some things, but I could have totally missed it all.
you’ve made friends all over the world through alo moves. how did you create those friendships?
I would always invite someone to try to be part of the community. The people who are actually practicing, they will post information on what they did to get the asana, or maybe where they practice, or what feelings it brought out of them. The community is a very big thing to me. It's like they're family to me.
We have a little group on there. Our hashtag is #TogetherIsBetter. I really believe in that. The whole Alo community shows “together is better,” in my opinion, because we help one another. Like I said, no one tries to be a teacher on there, but if someone asks, we all try to help.
There are three other ladies that practice on there. One is from Bosnia, one is from Thailand, and one is from Venezuela. We have made a connection outside of the community. We text almost every day. We send stupid pictures, send stupid videos, and we laugh, and we cry, and talk about the practice. Usually talk more about personal lives, some struggles we are going through. When we FaceTime, that's kind of cool, too, because you actually get to see these people that you only see their pictures on Alo Moves, but then you hear their voice.
You find common things, even though you're from different countries. You find that common love, talking about your children and your cooking, your family life. Those are things that bond us. I may never see them, you know, actually get to touch them or sit close to them. What we're sharing right now is wonderful. I wouldn't change it for anything. Without Alo Moves, I would have never had the opportunities I've had, especially being from a little, small town in the South. In the end, we all are alike, no matter where you're from. It seems like in five years time, I have been all over the world, right here in my own home.
Being part of the community, you get to maybe express your feelings about something that you thought you were the only one going through. Sometimes there's advice. Sometimes there's just kindness, encouragement, and understanding. When you hear other people's stories, you begin to step back and say, "Hey. I'm not the only one in this world." Sometimes I think other people need to hear your story so that they realize they're not alone.
how has yoga changed your life?
That platform itself has healed me in more ways than I can say. Yoga became a medicine for me. I didn't know at first that I would get that from yoga. Like I said, at first it was just this movement, but it was comfortable. Intimidating, but it intrigued me. Then the more I practiced it, the more I knew I had to have it in my life.
Sometimes it's powerful. Sometimes it's heartbreaking. I've had some practices where, I don't know why, I just cry at the end. It pulls different feelings out of me. There are some days, you know, if I'm able to touch my foot to my head, it's like, awesome, I finally did it. Then, there's that realization about yoga that it's not about just the asana. It's a freedom. It's just opening up, feeling the breeze, letting my body move however it wants. It's a release. It's such a holistic feeling, for me, to let go.
The mat gives me healing, which, in turn, I'm able to help others. Patrick Beach, that's who I learned that from. I can almost go to the class where he says that we want to take our practice off of the mat to be kind to ourself, kind to other people, and take it into the world.
What advice do you have for creating a daily yoga practice?
I think yoga is already within us. We just don't know it's there until we begin to practice it. It is a practice. If you can't do it every day, begin to add it to your life in little bits and pieces. Then it's like brushing your teeth. You're not going to miss it. I tell my patients this a lot: make time for yourself.
Check out Penny’s favorite classes on Alo Moves here.