TARA (BECKY) ESCHENROEDER— A 500 HOUR E-RYT, 200 HOUR E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, CERTIFIED COACH AND MENTOR, AND SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHOR —IS AN ACCOMPLISHED YOGI WHO WAS VOTED AS ONE OF THE TOP THREE YOGA INSTRUCTORS BY RICHMOND MAGAZINE IN 2015

With some teachers, the lessons are planned. They are practiced. They are rehearsed. And they are perfected to a tee. But Tara Eschenroeder offers a different experience. Teaching was Tara’s dharma long before she realized it. She grew up with a bow and arrow in her hands, learning to pull back with just enough aim and control to send her arrow into the abyss, knowing and trusting it would hit its intended mark. And so she enters each class, each workshop, each lesson.. Having prepared her body and mind to become that bow – that vessel – that let’s her lesson go.. Weaving its way into the provided space and landing wherever it is intended.

Tara felt that call in 2007 when she first felt the spark of a tiny flame. And instead of approaching that flame fearing the heat, she chose to approach it with love, stoking the fire that was burning within for her passion of yoga. By the end of 2009, she received her 200 hour RYT under Arlene Bjork and Grace Yoga Training Systems. She continued to follow what she knew and trusted her path to be, and she obtained her 500 hour RYT through Om On Yoga under the guidance and wisdom of Jennifer Elliott.

Inside the studio, no two classes or workshops are ever the same. Students are not told what to do, they are empowered to listen to their own bodies. And while there are general cues throughout of “warrior” and “downward dog” (almost always accompanied by their sanskrit name), one is also just as likely to hear cues of “listen to the animal within,” “move through honey, “ride the wave of your breath,” or, simply, just an encouragement to “dance.” Her mentoring sessions follow a similar pattern. Mentees are not told what to do but instead empowered to listen within with offered guidance- never forced, and always an open-minded invitation to explore. Tara’s Psychology degree from James Madison University and Elementary Education License from Mary Baldwin College give her a studied foundation for helping others, but it’s her natural instincts and open heart that help students see the best in themselves.

Traveling is Tara’s home, as she spends much of her time around the country holding workshops, retreats, and classes. She has also received additional teaching credentials with Project Yoga Richmond and YoKid Stretch Your Limits, as well as serving as a proud Ambassador for Lululemon Athletica. Yet, so much of her teaching is done off of the yoga mat. Tara openly and outwardly lives the teachings has been inspired to share. Just as she would encourage a student falling out of a pose to take themselves lightly, she does the same as she navigates through challenges. And just as she would encourage a student to trust themselves as they spread their wings into something new on the mat, she is a living example of trusting what she knew was her calling as she spread her own wings. She approaches life with that same love that she used to approach that initial flame, and she encourages each person with whom is comes in contact to do the same. And by doing so, she is living out her truth and her drishti of being a vessel of blessing.

Namaste.