Marie Blair teaches yoga at the O’Neal Library on Tuesday mornings. In this interview, she shares how she started practicing yoga and how yoga positively impacts her life.
Q: Tell us a bit about you.
A: I love libraries, and I love teaching yoga at O'Neal Library every Tuesday morning.
I am a retired school librarian and originally from East Tennessee, have lived in Birmingham with my husband and two daughters, now grown and gone since the mid-80s.
Q: What’s best about living/working here?
A: O'Neal Library builds community and stokes curiosity. Teaching yoga, practicing yoga, does the same. We learn how to breathe, move with awareness and practice self-acceptance, not taking ourselves too seriously.
Q: How did you decide to pursue your career?
A: I've always been inclined to service. I never would have expected to become a yoga teacher, but then when my husband was diagnosed with Parkinson's about 20 years ago, I understood how chronic illness can impact movement and I wanted to help.
Photo courtesy of Marie Blair
Marie Blair (third from right) with yoga class members.
Q: What’s something about you people may be surprised to learn?
A: My mother was the first woman elected to city council in Chattanooga, and I have always considered her my sterling example of how to live well and live for others.
Q: If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
A: I am a work in progress. I'd like to think with age comes wisdom, but also a tendency to be set in your ways. I do not want this for myself, but want to be open to other people's perspectives and life experiences. Yoga can help.
