Michele Vennard won the Adult 50+ Women’s Division Gold Medal at the 2018 USA Yoga Nationals and went on to win the Gold Medal in the International competition held in Beijing, China. I caught up with this busy studio owner and yoga champion to congratulate her and ask about the future. She is excited to travel to yoga studios and share her knowledge and experience. If interested, please email to Michele at [email protected].
1) Tell us how you prepared for the competition - training both mental and physical, diet, strategy, etc.
I’m so honored to have won the Gold Medal for Women’s Adult 50+ division. Honestly, I was so honored to win the National Title that I did not think much of the International Title as I don’t travel much. But friend and yoga competitor, Lee Dickinson, told me that he would go with me if I wanted to go as he speaks Mandarin and he used to live in Beijing. From that offer, I looked into flights, which were not expensive to my surprise, and off I went, committing to this invitation! My practice has been an everyday practice for 12-15 years now, so my “training” was not much more than what I do everyday except for some additional homework on my spine after class. At BYSJ, we practice the advanced series on Sundays, so that time in those poses helped, along with our group as a team practicing routines each week. Someone asked me recently, how tired I must be now from training so hard for this win. Ironically, this year, I emphasized a lot more on relaxation as after so long your body progresses with relaxation as much as intensity. I love my practice so enhancing it with deeper savasanas was nice and beneficial too.
2) Looking back on this experience, what did you enjoy most?