Lala: the Bodi

Hi all! I’m Laura, affectionately dubbed “Lala” in my younger years. I’m Lala Bodi’s founder and primary yoga teacher. While bringing Lala Bodi into being is a path somewhat apart from how I spent my “work” days in years past, it has felt like a natural extension and weaving together of so many of my life's through lines.

Struggling to pronounce my r's as a child, this Laura started as Lala. We brought it back in the Lala Bodi name in homage to times that felt simple, free-spirited, and fun--which is exactly how we want you to feel on the mat with us. The second part of the name, Bodi, is a play on the Sanskrit "bodhi," or, awakening; more on that another time.

For as long as I can remember, I have loved to move. To run around outside, to play sports, to dance. But, growing up, severe asthma restricted my activity. This felt isolating—I wanted to play soccer and hit around tennis balls and learn jazz dance with my peers. It felt frustrating—every fiber of my being wanted to explode into motion, but the threat of an asthma attack left me feeling tightly caged. It also felt scary—in the throes of more serious attacks, I could not take in the breath needed to sustain any effort. And the harder I tried, the harder it got.

Feeling stifled and sidelined in parts of my own world, I spent a LOT of my youth, and really all the rest of my life, buried in books, in music, in writing. These activities sparked and continue to fan my curiosity and creativity. They offered outlets to manifest and release ideas and moods through story, to engage with my community and the issues impacting it through journalism, to express thoughts and emotions through mix tapes I’d curate for myself, for friends, for crushes, and to let myself get swept away by the music as a years-long violinist.

After growing up with severe asthma, slowly, slowly, I found my breath and started to move. Once I did, no amount of Wisconsin winter snow (or inordinately bright gear) could stop me.

Mercifully, as I grew I learned how to control my breathing. And, with that, the horse that is my love of movement was out of the barn. And, because I’ve always been a sucker for a challenge, it took off at a full canter. In my first year of high school I signed up and completed a mountaineering course in the Rocky Mountains, having never previously camped or climbed anything taller than a knoll. In the latter half of high school I got inspired to train for and successfully completed my first of many marathons. I then joined the cross-country and track teams at university. Given my relatively later start to these more physical endeavors, I wasn't particularly standout at any of them. But whatever I lacked in performance, I made up for with a full heart and grateful spirit.

Yoga first entered my life as a means to stretch amid training for long-distance runs. I loved feeling long, limber, and calm after class, but I didn’t really associate the practice with building physical strength. I dabbled in Bikram in my 20s because I had heard the heat offered more of a physical challenge, and while that was true, it wasn’t really my jam. 

As my physical strength and stamina has expanded, so too has my personality. While I have yet to meet a dance floor I didn't enjoy, when I'm not on my mat or out for a hike I'm still most likely to be found curled up reading a book.

Fast forward through another decade-plus of running, taking somewhat regular yoga classes, and packing yoga DVDs on many a long work trip to places where running wasn't really an option. I was in my 30s, my knees were starting to have some opinions about my running regimen, my professional life was thriving, but with it came significant stress. So it was that one fateful summer morning I found myself with a free day and a desperate need for a stretch. I signed up for a yoga class at a studio near where I was, rolled in, and my life has never been the same. That power vinyasa class was unlike anything I had ever experienced before in yoga. The room was hot, the music was loud, there was so much energy. I didn’t always know what I was doing but it didn’t feel like that mattered. I felt strong, powerful, entirely within my body; working it and working with it alongside a room full of other souls doing the same. I left that class wrung out. My clothes were soaked with sweat. There was not one thing I had not moved. Yet, under the sheath of tired muscles, I felt fantastic. I couldn’t wait to do it again. And again. And so I have in all the years since. Through continued classes and yoga teacher training and workshops and retreats and my own unending explorations on the mat. I still feel that same energy, that same strength, that same endless possibility, every time I roll out my mat.

Lala Bodi Yoga took our first proud steps in 2024, bringing an immersive experience of movement, meaning, music, connection, and FUN to Baltimore and its environs. We're gaining speed, dreaming big, and can't wait to flow with you in the studio or beyond! Photo: K Dulny Imaging

What a dream come true it is to now share a similar offering to others through Lala Bodi Yoga. To create space for those who pop in to the studio, or a pop up yoga party, or schedule a private event, a one-on-one practice, or a small group session to get into their bodies, to connect with their breath, to tap into their strength, and to explore and expand its edges. Whether it’s your first time on the mat or your 500th, your Lala Bodi practice is designed to remind you that you are here, you are powerful, and you are welcome. Exactly as you are.