Yoga studio a shared vision of three friends

WHEN GOOD FRIENDS come together on a vision they all share, they thrive. That’s the case with three yoga instructors who pooled their talents and commitment to making yoga accessible to all in Texarkana at a studio called Thrive Yoga. Brittany Carder, Venus Lillis and Amber Samuelson have come together to thrive with one another and their students.

Former teachers at a different studio, they realized they wanted to establish a bigger role in the yoga community here

“We created a vision for a new studio. And when the opportunity to make it happen came around, we took it,” Brittany said. They focus on wellness in a variety of ways with more than 30 classes a week, plus workshops.

“We hoped to be successful and have been really humbled by how people have embraced us and supported us,” Brittany said. “We believe that yoga should be accessible to everyone, that all body types can do yoga, that self-acceptance and self-care are so important.”

At the thriveyogatxk.com website, they express their vision this way: “Thrive Yoga brings wellness to the Texarkana community through intentional and high quality yoga experiences. We utilize breath, heat, focus, stability, and mindful movement to encourage vulnerability, peace and connection.”

That may sound like a lot to wrap up into practicing yoga, but they see tangible, practical benefits to yoga and their way of doing it.

“I think something a little bit different about ours is we like to keep our yoga very approachable and very functional fitness,” Amber said. “Everything we do in a class is going to help you in your daily life.”

She said everyone will feel welcome on the yoga mat at Thrive. “We’re not going to throw something at you that’s advanced,” Amber said. “We’re going to give you the opportunity to approach it many different ways.”

It’s for everyone — that’s the message central to their philosophy.

They offer many classes with a wide range of instructors — women and men from their 20s on up to their 50s. They aim to have a variety of teachers so students can find someone with whom to connect.

“I think a lot of people have a certain idea of what yoga is, but we want to kind of let people know that it can be whatever you need it to be,” Brittany said. “Whether you’re looking for fitness or relaxation or meditation or help with stress or anxiety, it can work for you in any way that you need it to.”

The focus at Thrive is on mentorship, Venus said. “We really try to develop close relationships with our members so that we can provide them with an experience that meets their needs and fit them with an experience that they’re looking for.”

Students may come for flexibility, but then they stay for the self-love, peace of mind and resiliency.

“It helps to improve your overall quality of life,” Venus said. It all starts with a good stretch, she said.

Meditation and mindfulness is part of all this. Yoga quiets the mind so people tap into their own needs and intuition.

In power yoga, for example, holding poses for a long time brings the body to a calm state.

“We always tell students that they’re building equanimity and they’re conditioning their nervous system,” Venus said. Life is stressful? “You have the ability to calm down your own storm just being able to use your breath.”

Brittany points out she’s trained on trauma sensitive yoga, which taught her that stress can cause illnesses. She said meditation can make us healthier.

“Our bodies start to function better, and so that’s one of my favorite things. I say it a lot in class. This is a moving mediation.

We’re focusing on our breath, we’re focusing on the movement of our body,” she said. “And when you do that, you can’t be in your head. You can’t have that running commentary in your head that’s telling you all these things that you’ve been telling yourself for years and years that aren’t very nice.”

To Amber, yoga is about community. It’s a place where you’ll meet your best friend, she believes. After all, she met her best friends, Brittany and Venus, this way.

“I came to yoga for the community, and I think that’s what really sets our studio apart,” she said.

A genuine love for teaching yoga and explaining it to students forged a common bond between the three of them. Their goals were aligned, Venus said

“We all found friends in one another, as well, and then we wanted to take that and create it and make it something bigger …” she said, noting yoga can be a vulnerable place to be.

It’s an environment where you can 100% be yourself without judgment.

“You are trusting people that you know or don’t know in a class with some of the most intimate spaces that you have, which is that in your own mind,” Venus said.

But that trust and sense of community can bring rewards and breakthroughs. When students leave the yoga room, they often give each other high fives to acknowledge these moments — “because,” as Venus said, “they just did something they didn’t know that they could do.”

(To learn more about Thrive Yoga, 2916 Pleasant Grove Road in Texarkana, and the classes offered, check out thriveyogatxk.com