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By Ren\u00e9e Tillotson<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n <\/i><\/p>\n If you come to yoga classes at Still & Moving Center, chances are high you\u2019ve met an affable chap named Billy. Ever since Billy (aka George aka George William) Essex started showing up at Still & Moving Center, he\u2019s added a certain feeling of groundedness to the place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There is nothing fancy or hifalutin\u2019 about Billy. He arrives at the studio before or after his work at auto body shops as an electrical system mechanic, and happily heads into any one of a number of classes he likes to take with us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Often it\u2019s yoga, sometimes MELT or aerial. Pilates with Murat. He loves our Sound Healing and yoga events. He says he\u2019s working his way up to Turkish Belly Dance! We\u2019re halfway between work and home, and sometimes he plays hooky from work to get in an extra workout. You\u2019ll also find him in the Membership room lifting weights. Nothing flashy, just getting it done.<\/span><\/p>\n His self-mandate is to put in at least 4 classes a week.<\/span><\/p>\n What\u2019s behind Billy\u2019s steady persistence to show up?<\/span><\/p>\n He went for a long while not feeling good at all. He suspects he had long Covid. \u201cI still worked, but I wasn\u2019t very physically active,\u201d he explains. He had been a heavy smoker for a long time. Then 2 or 3 years ago he went on a family vacation to the North Shore and was going into severe coughing fits, almost blacking out. For the life of him, he couldn\u2019t catch his breath.<\/span><\/p>\n Not being able to breathe is scary – as many of us know from personal experience.<\/span><\/p>\n Billy went to the doctor and got lots of X-rays, etc., but they found nothing. He decided not to get caught up in relying on the medical system to make him better. Billy said to himself, \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to put these cigarettes down and get our health back on track.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He looked at his niece\u2019s posts on social media. She hadn\u2019t been able to run a quarter mile, and now she was running regularly. He looked at his wife, Dr. Candy Branson, who had taken up swimming every morning. He thought, \u201cI can do that. I can get back in shape.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n By that time Billy had lost a lot of strength. When he saw himself in a picture his friend had taken, he thought, \u201cWhoa – I\u2019ve gotten pretty big.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n So he started biking again, which he knew had helped him with his weight in the past when he\u2019d bike to work in his slippers, change into his boots, then back into flip flops to ride home at the end of the day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Now his biking took him past Leahi Park, where he saw outdoor yoga classes going on. \u201cI could do that,\u201d he commented to himself. And he did.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I asked him how he happens to be a guy in the trades who is coming to yoga classes. \u201cI was raised by a mom and 2 sisters. I don\u2019t play rugby or football. I just don\u2019t have hangups about needing to act super masculine.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n As he followed yoga women leading the classes in the park, he watched them easily balance all their weight on their hands and bend into all sorts of positions. \u201cThey are so strong in their bodies, they are like goddesses,\u201d he mused. \u201cSince they can be goddess-like, I want to be god-like (with a small g) to reach the full expression of my potential.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At that point he committed himself to a regular exercise practice.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI really enjoyed yoga in the park, but to go as frequently as I wanted to was getting expensive. With the change of season, outside classes would get dark earlier, and there are also the elements to deal with.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Then, early this year, Billy was looking for a yoga strap and happened to find Still & Moving Center. He enrolled in our intro offer, then signed up for a membership. Once he started taking classes, there was no stopping him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI slip in whenever I can. Once in a while I even slip away from work if my body needs it. I really like everyone here and the comradery of the classes.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He continues, \u201cI used to go to 24 Hour Fitness yoga classes. I wanted to get more serious. The level of teachers here at this studio is different than in a gym setting.<\/span><\/p>\n The teachers here at Still & Moving give a lot of personal attention. One day in yoga class, Robin took out a stick from the equipment closet for my plantar fasciitis. She had me roll my foot over it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cStill & Moving has something for everybody. I haven\u2019t even touched the surface, there\u2019s so much. I haven\u2019t done the tai chi, hula, or a lot of the dancing. That\u2019s a goal of mine \u2013 to push myself and do more. I\u2019m getting my endurance up to be able to do Murat\u2019s two classes back to back.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m also learning to listen to my body, and I\u2019m healing my back from reaching down to pick something up. So I\u2019m taking this week off, which I\u2019m bummed about, but I am taking care of myself, which is good.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Billy says he\u2019s started realizing how important the meditation side of yoga is. \u201cIt\u2019s allowed me to pull from a different level of concentration when I\u2019m at work. With this focus, I\u2019m able to get through problems with more ease. I\u2019m overall in a better mood.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLife is very noisy, so I ask myself: What do I know?\u2026 I know that mantras, adages, and scripture, help get me on track.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got a long way to go, but I\u2019m feeling a marked change, both physically and spiritually. Even though I\u2019m still in the beginning phases, I feel like I\u2019m on a journey that the Center is really helping with.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/stillandmovingcenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/billy-essex5-copy.jpg” title_text=”billy essex5 copy” _builder_version=”4.22.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||50px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/stillandmovingcenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Billy-SMC-copy.jpg” title_text=”Billy SMC copy” _builder_version=”4.22.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||50px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/stillandmovingcenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/billyessex5.jpg” title_text=”billyessex5″ _builder_version=”4.22.1″ _module_preset=”default” 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Ever since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":27164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"yes","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[125,143],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-letter-from-the-director","category-magnificence-in-our-ohana"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGet the Still & Moving App<\/h2>\n