“I went through a divorce five years ago, and I was devastated,” she said. “After I stopped crying, I brushed myself off, and I thought, ‘If I feel this way, there has to be so many other people that feel this way, and they need help.’”
From this experience, she created Sanara Yoga & Wellness. Sanara is a word that means “healing,” Fullmer said. She said it is her goal not only to help people manage their physical health, but also to help them manage their stress and anxiety through yoga.
In 2018, she received some financial backing and moved into a Southlake studio, where she has been working for the last year and a half to inspire others to find their own healing journey, she said. She is working towards getting her master’s degree in counseling with an emphasis on stress and anxiety.
When she closed her yoga studio March 14 in efforts to encourage social distancing during the novel coronavirus outbreak, she said the parallels between her studies and today’s concerns were rapidly apparent.
“We're so concerned about our physical health, and that's really all that we're thinking about. But I really want to focus on what this does to our mental and emotional health,” Fullmer said.
To help others through their own times of change and pain, Fullmer reached out to her studio’s teachers about broadcasting their classes on Facebook Live. Fullmer said the classes were something the community needed now more than ever, and for that reason, the classes are being offered free of charge.
It is her goal moving forward to use Sanara as a platform to reach as many people as possible and teach them tools and techniques to help them cope with what is going on around them, she said.
The response to the Sanara videos was overwhelming, she said. Commenters from such places as North Carolina and Hawaii wrote in, thanking Sanara and its instructors for their work.
“It just exploded. It was crazy,” Fullmer said. “Even though we are in isolation and in solitude, we can still feel a sense of community and a sense of connection with each other. And we can still really support and strengthen each other in this challenging time.”
Going digital
To join the free Sanara Yoga & Wellness classes, viewers can “Like” the Sanara Yoga & Wellness Facebook page and tune in during regularly scheduled class times for a live feed. Videos will also be posted online for people to watch on their own time.
Sanara Yoga & Wellness
2008 E. Hwy. 114, Southlake
817-329-9268
www.sanarawellness.com
www.facebook.com/sanarawellness/
Instagram @sanarawellness
