Meet Erica A: Lifelong Yogi and Learner (Part 1)
“I just have so much love for this yoga and this practice and teaching. It’s my favorite thing to do in the world.”
Every month, Thrive Hot Yoga features a staff member to help our growing community get to know each other better—and perhaps gain some new insights about your own yoga practice, potential, and life.
Erica Applequist Mueller, or as many of us call her, Erica A, is one of our most beloved teachers. She has been with us for many years and for good reason.
One of our Senior Instructors at Thrive, Erica is passionate about practicing and teaching Original Hot Yoga as well as leading Workshops and Master Classes. You can find her most weekday mornings in Troy (click here to sign up!), where so many students love to take her classes and learn from her unique approach to yoga.
I had so much fun talking with Erica, that we actually decided to split up her interview into two parts. This week, we start with her journey into practicing and eventually teaching Original Hot Yoga, her advice for those just getting started, and why no matter how long you’ve been practicing—you should just keep coming.
Erica shares her love of yoga in a very compelling way in this interview—I hope you enjoy reading it and connecting with her truly powerful story as much as I did.
ERICA A. INSTRUCTOR PROFILE: PART 1
Ian: Erica, thank you for taking the time today to chat.
Erica A: Glad to be here.
Ian: Do you recall your initial introduction to yoga?
Erica A: I had done some basic yoga classes when I was in college at UW Madison. The classes didn't really pique my interest. One of my roommates at the time had gone to a hot Bikram yoga class, but at a studio that wasn’t certified. So I looked up hot yoga, or Bikram Yoga at the time, and found a studio right in Madison. I called and called the studio, and they never answered their phone! I wanted to know what I was getting into. Finally, I just went in and started with my first class.
I don't remember the first class, really, but I remember I loved it. Then I woke up the next morning and my spine just hurt. I thought I was sick. I was walking around like a 100-year-old person. I couldn't stand up straight. So I waited a week, and when I felt better, I went back, and then I just never stopped.
Knowing what I know now, that pain in my back from the first class was likely a healing crisis, like a detoxifying, and I just didn't know at the time that it’s ok to go back right away.
So from there, I kept going 3 to 5 days a week. I remember not sweating very much because I would wear the same clothes that I did yoga in and be able to go to Whole Foods after and not be sweaty. (laughing)
Ian: Do you recall what you felt in your body or mind that motivated you to practice so consistently after that second class?
Erica A: Yeah, my body just felt really good, but I also felt really strong. Within the first couple of weeks of practicing regularly, I had muscles popping out of my arms where I didn't even know you could have muscles because I was not a very strong person before that. I was relatively flexible, but I wasn't strong. And I remember looking in the mirror one day, and I thought, ‘gosh, I have new thighs!’ My thighs looked really strong and defined.
What I needed from the practice was strength and a way to shut off my mind. And that's immediately what I got. I was going through some challenging stuff, and the Camel Pose was so important to me in every class, even though I didn't know why. I just needed to do Camel Pose, open my heart, and work through whatever I was going through at the time, and it just cleared out my mind. And it's been that way ever since; from my practice, I feel strong, I feel healthy.
And I feel that when I go in and practice, no matter what's going on in my life, it just clears out my head. And I come out with answers that I didn't even know I was looking for.
“Within the first couple of weeks of practicing regularly, I had muscles popping out of my arms where I didn’t even know you could have muscles”
Ian: Love it. What year was that when you were in college?
Erica A: That was 2004. I think it would have been January 2004.
Ian: It must have been cold and snowy in Wisconsin in January.
Erica A: Yeah, it was cold, and I had to trek over to the studio, but it was totally worth it.
Ian: I remember the summer I started hot yoga. It was August 2000, 100 degrees outside, and it was just a super hot and muggy Michigan summer. I’d go into the studio, and it was over 100 degrees and super humid, even hotter next to the furnace on the wall. I remember thinking, ‘what am I doing here?’. But my body felt so good from the yoga. I just kept coming.
Back to you. So it’s 2004, and you are off to a strong start, practicing 3-5 times a week. When did the thought hit you that you wanted to become a teacher?
Erica A: Yes, I recall. The thought didn't hit me. It was 2006. I had been practicing for about a year and a half. It was the studio owner who came up to me and said, ‘Have you ever thought about going to training? You would be a great teacher.’ And I was like, ‘What? You think I could do this?’ I was just totally shocked that she would think that I was a good candidate. That made me feel so good that she thought I could do this. I was so honored. I knew nothing about teacher training or “the dialogue.”
Note for readers: the ‘dialogue’ is the name of the 90-minute script all Certified Bikram Teachers learn at Training.
My parents wanted me to check it out before signing up, so we went out to California. My brother was living in Santa Monica at the time. I checked out Bikram headquarters and talked to Shelly at the desk. I signed up right then and there. That was maybe two months before training. And then I went off to see my friend in France for a couple of weeks. And when I came back, I went right to training. And I had still never looked at the ‘dialogue.’ I had never done 2 classes a day before. I didn't really know what I was getting into.
Ian: I remember at my 2002 training, no one had looked at ‘the dialogue’ before.
Erica A: At my training, some people knew about it ahead of time and had their whole dialogue memorized. I was like, ‘oh, jeez.’ But I knew the practice, and I knew that I wanted to do it. I was there to work hard and become a teacher because that's what I wanted to do.
“I feel that when I go in and practice, no matter what’s going on in my life, it just clears out my head. And I come out with answers that I didn’t even know I was looking for.”
Ian: Let’s fast forward. It’s 2023, 17 years after your training! You are one of our most experienced teachers at Thrive. You've seen thousands of students come through your classes over the years.
Can you share some of your perspectives as a teacher? What is teaching like now compared to when you started teaching 17 years ago?
Erica A: Well, it’s so different. You go through so many growth spurts and phases as a teacher. When I started, even just coming back from training, I still didn't feel like I had the dialogue. I really put a lot of time in, just saying my dialogue after training to feel comfortable. I could put the class together, and I felt like I could teach a decent class from the beginning, but it wasn’t dialogue.
Toe Stand Pose (Padangusthasana)
I was in Minnesota with studio owner Martha, and she was very particular about everything. There were a lot of rules for what the class was going to be like, temperature-wise, how long the postures are held, everything had to be i's dotted…t's crossed. Exact. Textbook.
So I spent a lot of time really working on my dialogue, a lot of time making sure my postures were long enough, and getting a lot of feedback from Martha. It felt like forever, but it was at least 10 classes before she was comfortable with me teaching on my own.
Being a person who's very perfectionist and particular, and then having someone mentor you who's also such a perfectionist and particular, it was challenging. It was tough, to begin with, to really get everything just right.
And I think that comes out a lot in my teaching now. You know, with my detail to everything and my holding of postures, and I think it was a great learning experience. I grew a lot during that time. It really helped prepare me for teaching large classes of people who have no idea what they are doing, which happened a lot in the early days for me.
When I was teaching for three years, I felt like I knew everything. At about five years. I realized I knew nothing. And I think it took me 10 years to feel like I was growing as a teacher. It definitely is a growing process. We grow as humans and teachers. Over time we realize that there's so much more to know. We never stop learning.
Ian: Some of the things I know students love about your class is how you pay attention to detail, how you hold the postures, and how you teach a focused, disciplined class and yet do it with a smile. You also give a lot of information that people love to hear about why they are doing yoga, mainly the healing benefits of yoga, and that can really help to motivate people.
Erica A: Exactly. I do give them lots of information, and I do it for that reason. In my own practice, I'm a rule follower. So I will do whatever the teacher says anyway. But when I know why I'm doing it, and I'm doing it for my health, and I'm working on my kidneys or my liver or my spleen, when I know why I'm doing it, I want to put so much more into it.
So I feel like that translates for other people as well. When they know why they're doing it, not just because I said so, but because it's really transforming them inside and out.
I just have so much love for this yoga and this practice and teaching. It's my favorite thing to do in the world.
“When I was teaching for three years, I felt like I knew everything. At about five years. I realized I knew nothing. And I think it took me 10 years to feel like I was growing as a teacher. It definitely is a growing process. We grow as humans and teachers. Over time we realize that there’s so much more to know. We never stop learning.”
Ian: We know that hot yoga is intimidating to so many people. Over 16 years of talking with so many new student inquiries in my role at the studio, I’ve heard all the reasons and excuses why people feel they can’t do hot yoga, for example, worries about not being flexible enough, or worries they won’t be good at it, or feel afraid to exercise around other people, that they might be embarrassed, or they think they are too old, or too stressed, or out of shape or broken, or they are afraid of sweating or the heat, etc.
Is there anything that you'd like to say directly to new students looking into hot yoga who might need a little encouragement to jump in?
Erica A: Just come in and try it because all of those reasons and excuses, all the negative self-talk, all of the things that hold people back from coming in are exactly why they need to come in! In my opinion, there's nothing that this yoga can't help. You know, if everyone did yoga of some kind, it would be such an easier world to live in.
Ian: Well said. Now the next step in a new student journey, they’ve made it into the studio and their first class. Some people hit the ground running, but most feel a little overwhelmed and can feel discouraged.
What would you like to say directly to people also in this situation?
Erica A: Yes. Just keep doing it. I mean it. No matter how challenging it is some days, it's so worth it. Even when you feel really challenged in the room, you always feel better when you're done. We're not doing this yoga to have perfect postures. We are doing this yoga because it really affects our lives in so many amazing ways. So, just keep coming.
Everybody has days that are tough. It's just like anything else you do. Whether it's playing piano, playing tennis, or playing golf, some days, you just have a little less to give, and those days might feel more challenging to do anything. And some days, you have a little more to give.
So you just need to give yourself a little grace and a little space on those challenging days to just be there and get through it. And then, when you have those days that you feel amazing, you remember why you're doing it.
Check back next week when we continue our conversation with Erica and explore how she still learns something new with every hot yoga class—even after almost 20 years of practicing.
Meet the wonderful Erica A in person and grow with her during one of her Original Hot Yoga classes.
Erica teaches both Original Hot 90 and Hot 60 Music most weekdays in Troy. You can book a class with her by heading to our class schedule.
You can also look forward to new Hot Yoga Workshops and Master Classes with Erica A a little later in the year.
If you’re ready to take action—subscribe to our newsletter here
and never miss another Thrive post.
As a thank you for subscribing, we’ll send you 3 challenges that will help you get started on getting into the best shape of your life no matter what your age is.