Matthew Cahan/ Private Session
I began my return to yoga after several years off due to multiple injuries. In 2020 was diagnosed with a degenerative hip joint that had begun to collapse, and a spinal cord injury at C4-C7 that left my right arm and hand without 80-85% function and range of motion. Being right arm dominant, I’ve was and have been unable to do basic tasks as simple as shaking hands with someone. In addition, I was also diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy. Effectively my abilities to walk, talk, and use my dominant arm/hand were dramatically impacted.
I have been an athlete my entire life. Soccer, basketball, baseball, distance running, triathlons and marathons into my early 40s. I found yoga in 2000, and it very quickly became an integral part of my life. However, in 2016-17 I started having hip issues, and my practice fell off. The pain and restrictions that came along with it were too much. Fast forwarding to 2022 and after having a hip replacement, I was able to begin looking at options to restore my body to health.
Having relocated to St. Louis, I was searching for someone who had experience teaching students individually with many types of injuries. Fortunately, I was able to locate, and reach out to Christy at Yoga DeMun. I immediately felt very encouraged and excited after having initial conversations. We scheduled the first session. At that time, I had a new hip replacement, and was dealing with the lack of use in my right arm.
Christy provided exceptional guidance and instruction right from the get go. I was able to set new intentions again, and following her guidance, begin the slow, difficult process of re-engaging with my body, mind and spirit. We worked together for several months, as I was concurrently doing physical therapy, in the hopes there would be some recovery in the arm/shoulder. With each passing day, little by little at first, I began to feel the pains in my joints fading, my muscles waking up, and my spirit responding. As the weeks passed, I sensed considerable improvements.
I was then able to increase my workload and attend hot yoga classes. After the physical therapy did not yield the recovery results, I was hoping for, I opted for surgery. An ACDF 3 - Level Spinal Fusion. Yes, it was very scary to be staring at that one down. In preparation, and only after having started with Christy and following her guidance of essential principles of her yoga teaching, was I able to take 95 hot yoga classes leading up to my surgery.
I arrived in excellent shape, and thankfully the surgery went well. It was a true gift to have met Christy and worked with her, and could not recommend her as teacher and guide enough! She is extremely knowledgeable, inspiring, and kind.
I am now practicing hot yoga almost daily, having completed 150 classes in the last year!
Sincerely and in a new light,
Matthew Cahan, Nov, 2024
Will Kiburz/ Private Session
Private sessions on a monthly basis since 2020
While growing up I observed the effect that depression and anxiety can have on a family, and my initial way of dealing with it. At the age of 12 my reaction was to run from it. I stayed away as much as I could. I was confused and as I got older and experimented with altering my consciousness, I quickly realized I had found another avenue of escape, and I continued to add various weapons to my arsenal that kept me from facing things that made me uncomfortable. Simply put, I couldn’t deal with the pain. Although I continued to function and filled my life with external things: People, clothes, cars, trips, endless social events, and kept my calendar full to keep myself occupied, and to fill what at that time felt like an endless void. I became dependent on substances and people. When those things were taken away, I descended into the worst kind of depression and anxiety - I had become what I ran from as a child. What followed were 30 more years of dependency on substances which only made my messages and path more chaotic and confusing.
Finally, at the suggestion of a friend, I wrote to Christy to see if I could start a yoga session with her. I had just gotten free from substance dependency, and I had never done any kind of yoga nor physical activity with the exception of walking between the office and my car. I figured that Christy could help me become more physically healthy. She immediately made me feel safe and welcome, unjudged. This was just the beginning of Covid, and I was freshly clean with nothing to do for several months, and this period was marked by constant discomfort and anxiety about my future. I signed up for a weekly private session with her and knew right away that I had found the right place- still at that time, I was just thinking about my physical condition. Christy helped me embrace the pain in my life and the real change occurred when we started working on my spiritual condition. Over time, she helped me find love FOR MYSELF which is something that I was missing until this point.
There were many weeks that I wanted to walk out with “the answer” and what became clear was that this journey and the things to come out of it had to be my own- they could not come from her or anyone else, they definitely couldn’t come from a pill. This was going to take time and dedication, and my Friday mornings with Christy became the highlight of my week.
We work on grounding and awareness, and with these new tools she helped me find, entire histories of chaos and sadness fell away. She never told me what to do so much as she took the time to get to know me and work with me, and soon I began to hear my true voice. One that I had not heard nor believed in for decades. I came to Christy to find some peace and do some stretching, but what I got was a completely new perspective on life and my role in it. I feel like I can do anything, and I am no longer confused nor scared of pain. There is no question or confusion anymore as to what I need to do. It’s the most peaceful and liberating feeling I’ve witnessed, and it’s inside of me!!
Finally, and remarkably, I’ve stayed clean from any kind of substances and I never imagined I could live without some kind of pharmaceutical crutch, and it’s the most liberating and pride filled feeling of my life. Simply put, Christy helped me recognize my true heart and voice, and what followed was an annihilation of the ghosts that haunted my past. I feel like I’m just beginning my new journey, and I’m endlessly excited about life and my place in it, and most crucially, I have a soft place in my heart for the pain that life brings.
Tom Littlepage/ Private Session
Since March, 2023
I heard a friend of mine on multiple occasions talk about working privately with Christy, and how she helped him navigate and resolve some of the challenges in his life. Hearing him speak so highly about his experience working with her, and seeing first hand the positive results he was achieving, well that really caught my attention and curiosity. For quite some time there had been some aspects of my life I wanted to address and improve upon, but I lacked the tools and knowledge to make the changes on my own. My friend introduced me to Christy nearly two years ago and I’ve been attending her private sessions on a regular basis ever since. It’s not an exaggeration to say that working with her has had a positive and profound impact on my life and I’m so grateful to know her and I’m excited to continue collaborating with Christy into the future! I think people who know me and those I encounter, can sense something positive going on with me. They might not be able to put their finger on exactly what it is, but they feel it, and most importantly, so do I!
Natalie Sprung/ Private Session
Since March, 2023
Yoga in DeMun has become one of the greatest gifts I have ever received in my 27 years. Meeting Christy has had an unimaginable and profound impact on my life that a Google review could never fully articulate to those reading this. She brings me more peace, clarity, and happiness each time I see her. If I could rate her with all of the stars in the universe I would! Five stars is simply not enough to represent my satisfaction with my experience.