A Force of Nature
Early in life, April Megginson—yoga therapist and life coach—knew that one day, she wanted to teach people who aspired to learn. In fact, she considered becoming a professor. While she didn’t choose that route, April has remained true to her original vision, teaching in various settings. For a decade, she taught high school history and English. However, from the time she was a teenager, her goal was to teach adult learners. Today, she is doing just that, having left behind the high school classroom and traditional studies for working with adults, instructing them in yoga therapy and providing life coaching.
It was early in the 2000s when April took her first yoga class. By the end of the course, she intuitively knew her work as a teacher would eventually move in that direction, even though she didn’t know what it would look like. However, she imagined it would integrate the mind, body and spirit, a connection which April feels might better be understood simply as accessing all the layers of ourselves. She says, “When you access the mind, you also access the body. When you access the spirit, you access the mind. That’s all one thing. The layers ripple through and there is a lot of wholeness there.” April discusses this further in a book she is co-authoring that is due out this summer.
While she took part in her first teacher training for yoga in 2011, she found she wasn’t drawn to teaching it. However, she had an interest in yoga therapy, which was a relatively new field. She focused on learning it instead. When she completed her studies, she was one of the first 500 certified yoga therapists in the world. She felt ready to offer yoga therapy to the people who wanted and needed it.
When the time came for her to transition away from teaching high school to making yoga therapy her primary work, April approached the process in her usual way. She went with the flow. She explains, “It was like I was in a current and it just moved me.” She says it’s been that way for her all her life, she trusts that inner feeling, allowing it to guide her forward. In creating her own practice, April explains the feeling like this: “It was a force of nature that moved me on.” She says she hasn’t really faced much resistance from others for her life decisions. She explains, “I’m a red-headed Aires.” Once she decides what she’s going to do, she just does it. Like the inner feeling that guides her, April too is a force of nature.
Today, her work attracts people from various backgrounds and experiences. From the beginning, she knew if she wanted her business to succeed and grow, if she wanted to welcome everyone in, she would need to create a simple, universal language that anyone could understand. Doing this, she says, helps her find a connection with those who come to work with her. Interestingly, April doesn’t describe her work these days as teaching as much as guiding others in the right direction. She explains, “I point the way to the inner-strength that they have. I point the way how aligning posture deepens breath.” She wants others to dive deep into that quiet place within.
It’s no surprise that with her work, April lets it take her where it wants to go. All she needs to do is jump in the river and go with the flow. “The work is energizing,” she says. “When you get free, I get free. When I get free, you get free. We do it for all sentient beings.” She feels it’s important for people to have permission to be themselves, to be human. She says, “If we’re called to be nothing else in this world, we’re called to be human.” She believes that is why we are here. We must learn to embrace and love being human. We have to clear our limiting beliefs and recognize our own limitless potential.
All her life, April has gone with the flow, moving forward where the current has taken her. Along the way, she gathered many tools from various modalities that she brings together in her work. She’s a true force of nature, pointing the way to the stillness and clarity within.
By Karen H. Lizone
