“Pam” I Am

About Me: Pamela Walsh

Hiking & Handstands at Garner State Park ~ October 2006

Finding the Mat

I began practicing yoga in July 2006 at the age of 44 at YogaYoga Studios in Austin, Texas. While I had tried a few yoga classes several years earlier, it hadn’t resonated with me, and I didn’t sustain an ongoing practice. But, when I returned to the mat the summer of 2006, I was immediately awed by the profound experience. I came home from my second class in the Beginner’s Series with Erin Lewis and told my husband, “I have found what I’m suppose to do & I KNOW I am suppose to teach this!”

I began a diligent practice attending classes at YogaYoga, rarely missing a day. In January 2007, I enrolled in the YogaYoga Hatha Teacher Training program, a 9-month intensive study to obtain my 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher certification. I graduated in August 2007, and I’m now a Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance at the 200-hour level. In January 2008, I attended a Relax & Renew Restorative Yoga training with Judith Lasater. I am working to complete the requirements for certification in her training.

In late 2006, following my completion of the Level II Radiant Child Yoga Training with Shakta Kaur Khalsa, I offered my first series of yoga classes, Yoga for Girls, a 10-session weekly class for girls in the fourth an fifth grades. Simultaneously, I was encouraged by some coworkers to lead a class for them, and began teaching weekly after-school sessions for our staff. This beautiful group of willing and lovely ladies were quick to forgive my inexperience and generously opened their hearts to my limited ability to lead them with any certainty. I will forever remain in their debt for launching me on my yoga teaching path.

My primary studies focus on the Anusara Yoga methodology and philosophy as defined by its founder John Friend. I am blessed to study under the guidance and direction of an extraordinary teacher Christina Sell who constantly challenges and inspires me in my practice and my life. I have completed the 108-hour Anusara Immersion and an additional 50 hours of Level I teacher training with Christina as I work towards achieving the Anusara Yoga Inspired Teacher designation.

* * * * *

Dear Diary,

Journals and diaries have been a part of my life almost as long as I can remember. I have old-fashioned key & lock diaries going back to my childhood and spiral notebooks, date books, and ‘blank’ books now chalked full of my musings, reflections, inner struggles, and dream work. I have made notes on everything from what I wore to high school each day to the boyfriends that broke my heart to the yoga teachers whose classes I attended. But more than a daily chronicle of my life, the pen and page offered me an important refuge, the place I go to sort through my thoughts and develop an action plan.

In the early 1990’s, I began to study the process of reflective writing with more of an academic orientation. Specifically, I was interested in the therapeutic and creative benefits of journal writing, and how it could be used as a tool for personal growth. For a general overview, read Uses and Benefits of Journal Writing.

Through my own experience, I knew its power and I wanted to learn more. I searched for books and articles investigating the therapeutic efficacy of journal writing. I completed the Ira Progoff Intensive Journal Program. I participated in one of the first national conferences on journaling in San Diego in 1993, attended panel discussions, and engaged in in-depth writing retreats. I was a voracious reader of any materials I could find on the subject of reflective writing.

Based on my studies, I created a journaling program to share my passion. I began to teach adult continuing education courses at our local community center, as well as at the continuing ed department for the joint campuses of Indiana University and Purdue University in Indianapolis (IUPUI). I conducted therapeutic trainings for alcohol and drug addiction counselors, gave lectures at the Jungian Society, taught reflective writing for seniors, and spoke at writers’ conferences. I had experienced the transformative effects of journaling in my own life, and I began to witness it in others. It is truly a magical process.

* * * * *

I officially incorporated in March 2007. Potential Within (PW Incorporated) arises from my initials and, more significantly, my belief of the innate and unrealized potential within each one of us waiting to be revealed. It is my desire to help others realize their potential through yoga practice, reflective writing and constructive methods of self-exploration. In the words of motivational speaker Brian Tracy:

The potential of the average person is like a huge ocean unsailed, a new continent unexplored, a world of possibilities waiting to be released and channeled toward some great good.

Along with teaching classes, I enjoy conducting presentations for scouts and other organizations on the benefits of a yoga practice and therapeutic journal writing. For class schedules, private lessons, journaling workshops, or other information, please email me.

* * * * *

Off the Mat

I am SUPER blessed to have a family which has supported my yoga endeavors, especially during the 9 months of teacher training which took a lot time away from them. It would be impossible for me to overstate what their love & encouragement has meant to me. Here’s to my guys: Brian, Austin, Bobby & Daniel!

My, oh so Beautiful Support Team

In May 2007

And in November 2007

One Last Acknowledgment … Bri, you teach me every day about discipline and dedication. Thank you for allowing me, for helping me, to soar & still somehow managing to keep me grounded. You are the string to my kite; without you, I’d spin in circles and crash. I love you, Babe!

*Photo below taken by my friend, San Antonio photographer Jan Busby

It’s the way you love me
It’s a feeling like this
It’s centrifugal motion
It’s perpetual bliss

It’s that pivotal moment
It’s impossible
This kiss, this kiss (Unstoppable)
This kiss, this kiss

~ Faith Hill