Yoga with Andrea Clary

Andrea Clary is a yoga instructor, meditation teacher, mental health specialist, and holistic wellness expert. She began yoga while she was in graduate school in 2014. Not knowing what she was getting into  (it was one of the HARDEST workouts she had ever done) she went to her first class. As her personal practice grew, she enrolled in a 200-hour teacher training in 2017.

A major life shift happened in August of 2018, taking her world and family by storm. She was teaching yoga, working a new job, in the best shape of her life, and ready for more. She went into Washington Hospital Center on a Thursday evening after experiencing constant shortness of breath, fatigue, headaches, elevated heart rate, and feeling too afraid to go to sleep. Over the course of 18 hours, she received blood and platelet transfusions. Andrea was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and she began chemotherapy immediately. She endured bone marrow biopsies, countless procedures, transfusions, hair loss, painful side effects, sleepless nights, dramatic weight loss, skin changes and so much more. The physical things we often connect our identities with were temporarily stripped from her. She initially struggled with this sense of “loss.” Andrea then realized, the biggest challenge of her life also made way for the greatest blessings of her life—-healing, loving myself through it, and sharing the process.

Throughout treatment and recovery, there were limited conversations, programs, or safe spaces geared towards emotional recovery. No one teaches you about what you may face after you are back on your feet. Therapy wasn’t enough and silence was no longer an option! Andrea started creating my own methods to adjust back to the “real world. She shared her breakthroughs & personal practices on social media, leading me to create Saging Grace.

The link between her career path in mental health, yoga, and her journey was her saving grace (part of the inspiration behind the name!) She saw a need, as a black woman, a teacher, and a survivor. She teaches from a space of grace to elevate the mind, ground the body, and nourish the soul. This is Andrea's work.