“Through yoga, I have increased my strength, my balance, and my mindfulness.”
I’m always happy to see Randy & Regina coming into the studio when I teach in Troy.
This husband and wife team has something special.
They are often in the same class; yoga mats are usually next to each other. They have great energy and an even better sense of humor.
Randy keeps me in check with my playlists, especially if I stray too far into the “yoga-music zone.” And Regina keeps Randy in check with his alignment, sometimes even daring to give some well-timed coaching to her husband, mid-class (until Ian kindly reprimands them for talking).
Randy uses yoga to help maintain flexibility for daily life (and golf!) and to restore his strength, flexibility, and balance after hip and knee surgeries. Regina appreciates the physical challenge of hot yoga and how the practice brings her into the moment.
Part of what makes them so remarkable is their sincere approach and dedication to their practice. I love the spirit of warmth, welcome, and humor they bring to the studio and community.
My husband Ian and I always say it’s the people at Thrive that keep us inspired all these years of running the studios, and it’s overwhelmingly true with the Goodmans.
Find out for yourself in the transcript of my conversation with them below.
Jenny: So, Randy and Regina, when did you both start practicing?
Randy: 12 years. It was April, and I think you opened in January 2011 in Troy.
Regina: My office is right across the street. I saw the sign, Bikram Yoga. I googled it and was like, ‘Yeah, I think we need to try this’.
Jenny: And were you doing other kinds of exercise at that time?
Randy: We were doing regular yoga for a couple of years, vinyasa. We were also doing stairmaster and treadmills and walking.
Regina: I remember the aerobic classes that Randy would follow me to. We still have those Richard Simmons shorts.
Jenny: Nice. Gonna bring them out to yoga one day?
Regina: I think we should do that. We've been pretty much physical fitness people our whole lives.
Jenny: What made you stick with hot yoga?
Randy: Sweating. I like the heat and sweating.
Regina: For me, I had some lower back issues, and the pose where you pull on your heels and make a ham sandwich at the beginning of class?
Jenny: Hands To Feet Pose, Pada-Hastasana?
“The other day, Ian asked me, ‘Is Regina coming?’. I said ‘No.’ He said, ‘Well then, who is going to give you personal instruction in class?’”
Regina: Yes! All of a sudden, it was like, oh, that released it! And ever since then, I've been a believer. If I ever get lower back pain, that’s the posture I really work on.
Randy: When I started, I could barely grab my feet. I have such tight hamstrings. In the second to last posture, where you sit on the floor and hold your feet, I remember needing a towel to do it.
Jenny: That’s Head to Knee with Stretching Pose, Janushirasana with Paschimotthanasana
Randy: That’s the one. Now I can reach my feet! It took me a while, years, to get there. But also I've had two hip and two knee surgeries too. So I got that going.
Jenny: Sometimes, the joint has a limitation that will prevent you from doing certain things, but the muscles gain flexibility over time.
Randy: It's been really good for me, for both of us. I have trouble walking sometimes, just because of stiffness. I can only imagine what it would be like if we weren't doing this! I don’t know how we would do it.
Regina: Yes, we talk about that all the time. And for me, it’s physical but also mental to help me be in the moment.
Randy: Yeah, it's cleansing with the sweating and the heat. We were just talking about this last night. I was right by the thermostat, and the room had just gotten to 105 degrees and 40% humidity. People were struggling in class, and I was like, ‘this is no big deal’. I think your body gets used to it. Even when we are not doing yoga, when I’m exercising, I sweat quickly, and my body is ready for it. I don’t mind the sweat at all.
Jenny: It’s amazing how your body develops a tolerance for it. And it's funny because most people, when they are beginners, think, “oh my gosh, the heat. I can't handle the heat”. But once you start practicing, the number one complaint we get at the studios is that it doesn't feel hot enough!
Regina: I love watching the new students because I can see at first the anxiety on them like, ‘oh my god, it's so hot, how am I going to do this?’. And then when they get through it, you compliment them, ‘you guys made it through; that was awesome!’ and they're just beaming. I just love watching the new students make it through a class.
Jenny: So sweet. I know.
Regina: I get the chills thinking about it. I remember my first class and how afraid and intimidated I was. And we did it, and it's just like climbing a mountain!
Jenny: Randy, would you talk about how yoga has helped your knees and hips?
Randy: Well, with the first hip surgery, they cleared me for hot yoga after five weeks. I remember telling instructor Erica A about it, and she had this look of shock on her face that I was back to yoga. The first class I returned to, she went right next to me to keep an eye on me. And when I had the second one, we just got back from the COVID shutdowns, and you were teaching. With hip surgeries, they cut into your glutes, and they get really weak. So you’ve got to build those back up. One of the things they have you do in Physical Therapy is stand on a soft cushion and try to balance on one leg to help build up your strength—all the glute strengthening in yoga has helped me a ton. You know the postures where you are laying on your stomach and lifting one leg up on each side, then both legs up. That has helped a ton.
Jenny: From an outsider's perspective, seeing you a year ago and seeing you now—I could tell you that you were in a lot of pain—but you kept coming to yoga. In the last couple of months (I keep an eye on you), your postures have looked so flexible, strong, and stable.
Randy: My standing bow has gotten better. I can tell differences in flexibility or weaknesses on one side of my body from the other. You're only as good as the weakest part of your body. And so if I can't do it on both sides, I just do the lesser one of the two because I don't want one side to do it better. That symmetry is really important.
Jenny: I'm so glad you brought that up because it is vital. Yoga brings balance to both sides of the body. Everything you do to the right, you do to the left. Everything you do backward, you do forwards. It's all a process. You can be practicing for 20 years, and there's no end to how you can refine what you're doing.
Randy: And what you guys say, one day your body's one way, and it’s different another day. It's like with golf, one day, I think I got it, and then all of a sudden, I don't. In yoga, some days, I think I’m a superstar yogi, and then the next day, I can't stand up on one leg. The other thing is in the 90-minute classes, there is more instruction; we kind of blow through the 60-minute classes. So I always try to come to at least one 90-minute class a week; it’s more relaxed.
Jenny: It is more relaxed! I'm glad you brought that up too. For any new people who read this. The 90-minute class is the foundational practice.
Regina: It's more informative in the 90-minute classes. You're getting more instruction. You are learning the poses.
Randy: The calorie burn is not that much different. I track my calories. In that 60-minute class, I can burn 575 calories. With a good 90-minute class, I can burn 750 calories. The 60-minute class is so fast my heart rate stays up there even after class.
Jenny: That’s the afterburn. So you have the calories that you burn in a workout. And then the calories that you burn in the afterburn time. As your body cools down and comes back to homeostasis.
Regina: There are such great people at the studio, and we've gotten to know some of them, and it's that's always a benefit in addition to the yoga activities. We both talk about how having a full room of students helps to motivate you
“It’s been really good for both of us. I have trouble walking sometimes, just because of stiffness. I can only imagine what it would be like if we weren’t doing this! I don’t know how we would do it.”
Jenny: Well, you guys are a big part of this yoga family. I love the sense of humor you always bring when you come in. You gotta laugh at things sometimes—it makes it easier.
Randy: The other day, Ian asked me, ‘Is Regina coming?’. I said ‘No.’ He said, ‘Well then, who is going to give you personal instruction in class?’.
Jenny: So Regina’s giving you some personal coaching?
Randy: Yeah, sometimes I listen. These days I'm trying to grab my foot in Standing Head To Knee; you know I’ve got short arms and belly, so it’s hard for me. I'm not pushing myself, I don’t want to get injured, and I know one day it will hit, and I’ll be able to do it. Even now, I can see things happening in class, even small things changing in my posture. It used to be big things as a beginner, but now they are smaller. It’s like a light bulb in class when I can do something new.
Jenny: Little things are big things. Sometimes when you make a small adjustment, it doesn't look like much difference on the outside, but the way you feel it is different on the inside. That's practicing with integrity.
Randy: I make goals in my head for my yoga practice, but I’m not like, ‘It’s gotta get done.’ I know now it will happen when it happens. And so you just keep doing the yoga.
Regina: So even I got injured. When I first started, I was extending too much in some postures. I wasn't doing it right. And oh my god, it hurt so bad.
Jenny: Sometimes, flexible people are more likely to hurt themselves because you can use your flexibility without engaging your strength. It’s an important topic, strength versus flexibility. Because everybody thinks they want to be more flexible. And, of course, it's good for your body to be supple. But that's not the goal of yoga. The goal is to be in a state of balance.
Randy: I don't know where we'd be without you guys. When things were shut down with COVID, we tried things at home. But there's no heat, and it’s not the same at home. I know you tried hard to keep things going online. Honestly, I don’t know what we’d do, especially in the winter!
Jenny: I know! I still don’t know how I’d survive Michigan winters without the hot room.
Regina: My final thought is that yoga has increased my strength, balance, and mindfulness.
Jenny: Oh, that's so lovely. Well, I love seeing you both at the studios. It makes me happy when I see you come in. When Randy and Regina come in, I know it's going to be a good day.
PRACTICE LIKE THE GOODMANS
On average, Randy and Regina practice 3-5 times per week. They want to give a shout-out to the Tuesday 4:30 pm 90-minute class in Troy. “Victoria, Liz, and Carrie are such great teachers—I want more people to come!” Discover what works best for you by checking out the various options in our class schedule. And be sure to click on the new student special if you’re new or haven't been to Thrive in 12 months or more.
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