Valerie Patenotte first found HYA all the way back in 2011, thanks to a Groupon that bought her 10 classes for $39. Val was a single mom at the time, squeezing a few classes into her busy schedule. But her sister, Amanda Blair, had already started practicing at HYA and drew her in. “I follow my big sister everywhere,” Val said, laughing.
From that humble start, Val later dove into a regular practice and now, she’s not only a dedicated student, but one of the foundations of our rock star front desk crew. It’s hard to imagine HYA without Val and Amanda, who is now a teacher and who also helped lure Val over from her Hot 26 practice into Flow classes as well.
“I had done yoga in other places, at the Y and did some at home, but this is the only place that’s been consistent for me,” Val said. “There’s something about the community, something about the hot room. The heat really helps. And the teachers and classes I think are world class.”
Val and Amanda are also avid runners, and yoga offers Val a great contrast to the impact that running has on her body. It’s no coincidence her serious practice kicked in just as she decided to begin training seriously for marathons.
“After my first marathon, I went from being really limber to being a tin man in like 26 miles,” she said. “Like I had never felt cramps or pain like that. It was soon after that I said I really need a mobility practice. I’ve always liked Hot Yoga Asheville. Even when all we did here was Bikram yoga, I could go run a marathon and come do yoga the next day and it was so alleviating for the muscle soreness. I think that’s what got me hooked. I could go do some really intense running and then come in here and for 90 minutes, hand my brain over to someone else. I didn’t have to think. I didn’t have to measure. I just had to do. And the doing brought a lot of relief to the soreness.”
Joining our front desk crew has given Val a front row seat to the yoga journey of so many others, a job she loves for that reason.
The best part is definitely the people,” Val said. “We have a great community here at Hot Yoga Asheville. I love the people who come in that I know really well. I love getting to know the new people. I love to see people who come in and try it for the first time that are ecstatic when they leave the room. I guess I like being here for all of it. There’s days when people are stoked and there’s days when they’re not but whatever people come into this building with, they leave with something different. It’s just fun to be a part of that.”
Here’s more of Val’s story:
HYA: How does yoga complement your other activities?
Val: I’ve always been an athlete. I did sports from the time I was 7 years old. Got into running in high school and loved the individual personal aspect of it. It was just me and my shoes and my watch and I didn’t need a whole lot of other things to make it happen. I just fell in love with running and it stuck with me my whole life. In 2016, I decided I was going to commit to running and try to qualify for the Boston Marathon.
Running has given me a lot but it’s also taken a lot. I’ve had months and weeks where I can’t do it. I’ve had some really minor injuries and some really severe ones but yoga can be constant no matter what’s happening as long as you take modifications. I can still show up in the room. I can still show up and do this practice even if one or two things in my body aren’t working.
HYA: How has your practice evolved?
Val: I didn’t take a lot of flow classes until Amanda started teaching. Hot 26 was really best for me at the time. And then I found that all of the Blast classes really underpinned all the strength you need not just for running and athletic endeavors but for functional strength. It doesn’t just make you better at yoga, it makes you better at life. Always been a big fan of Inferno Core. There’s no one that doesn’t need to do more core. It was a really good fit for my life.
HYA: What else about your practice has changed?
Val: It has helped me in all areas of my life. And in the past two years, I’ve started to reap some of the non-physical benefits, some of the spiritual/emotional/mental health benefits. I don’t get that in anything else. Some people say running is a moving meditation, and I can kind of agree with that but there’s something about being in the room, being on your mat and it’s almost like I’m in a container where I can process and I can let my mind be free. Because the practice of yoga is connected to a more spiritual way of living, there’s a connection there that I don’t find in other things.
HYA: What advice would you give to new students?
Val: The thing I would say to our community at large is, try it all. Last year people were so energized by the challenge we did in March because they were doing things they’ve never done before and it was really cool to see. Not just in our studio, but in your life. Try it all. Try it twice. You may think you won’t like it but you never know. We have only this one life to live, so try it all twice.
