Shellie Metin

Shellie Metin

Yoga Instructor

I was born and raised in the U.S. after my parents migrated from Kandahar Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion. Growing up money was tight. My parents made just enough to put food on the table for me and my 3 siblings. I started working at the age of 15 bagging groceries at the local grocery store to save up money for school. At the age of 18 I left my home to attend the University of Mary Washington. I worked 3 jobs during my time at the University just to make ends meet all while being a full-time student. I graduated with a degree in Computer Science and now work as a Technical Account Manager for a BI Software company. During my time at the University I became very overwhelmed with life and was soon diagnosed with depression. I was put on medication and was also seeing a counselor twice a week for anger management. As life played its course this gradually worsened. I lost interest in life and naturally I became detached from everyone; family and friends. I attended my first Bikram class after a coworker of mine suggested it would help me control my anger and give me a peace of mind. I decided to try it and attended my first class at Tyson right down the street from my job. I fainted in my very first class to the point where I became unconscious and was carried out of the room. Soon after I went back in and finished my class. I went back two days later and have not stopped practicing since then. This yoga became my life to the point where I did 2 or 3 classes a day every day and still do. At one point my daily routine included practice at 6am, go to work 8 hours, take the 8pm class and go to sleep then wake up and do it all over again. Yoga was the only thing that would get me out of bed on weekends. It was the only thing I had to look forward to after work. It was the only thing that made me smile. It made me happy and most of all it made me love myself again. For this I am forever indebted to this practice. I hope to motivate and inspire others on their journey through life through this practice.