My name is Koya Webb and while there are many things wrapped up in my identity, the one that resonates with me the most is that I am Love. For better or worse, I’m an all-in, passionate and consistent person, and I strive to make the world a better place.
I grew up in Humboldt, Tennessee and spent much of my early life striving to achieve. Back in Tennessee, I poured my heart into my grades in the classroom and my performance on the track. That dedication eventually afforded me a Track and Field scholarship to continue pursuing my dream to win an Olympic Gold Medal.
However, the Universe had other plans for me.
One day, while walking home from class I experienced an excruciating pain in my lower back. Turns out that what I was experiencing was a stress fracture, which temporarily sidelined me physically and almost took me out emotionally and mentally.
However, this was the life challenge that led me to yoga. After I broke down sobbing in class one time too many, my teacher sent me to a counselor. While I don’t remember her name, what I do remember is that she suggested I try yoga. Having been raised in a traditional Southern Baptist household, I was skeptical. In my mind, yoga was all about worshipping deities or something.
During my first yoga class, I was a fish out of water. My muscles were tight; my body far from graceful. But eventually, I followed the instructor’s directions to take deep inhales and exhales with her. This was a game changer for me: Learning to connect with my breath changed my life, and yoga became my best friend.
After I healed, it took me a few more years to get back into a consistent yoga practice (what can I say, I can be stubborn). After graduating college, I found myself facing another tough track injury. Spirit brought me back to my yoga practice and I’ve never left it since.
I could no longer deny the transformative power yoga had on my life and I deeply wanted to share its magic with the world.
After getting my yoga teacher training certification in 2008 I vowed to share the healing powers of yoga with anyone who would listen. In 2017, I started Get Loved Up Yoga School, a multidisciplinary holistic health and yoga teacher training school. Feeling like most yoga teacher trainings were leaving out spirituality, I intentionally made it an integral component of GLU. Additionally, I worked to go beyond asana and ensure we were hitting on key pillars of a yogic lifestyle, such as plant-based eating and social justice (which both align with ahimsa/nonviolence).
As a wellness leader and practitioner, I have experienced, learned, and taught that we are all creators who have the power to take a traumatic experience and use it to become stronger. When something hurts you – whether physically or emotionally – you can still use that pain and turn it into something beautiful.
Practicing Breathwork, Meditation and Yoga helped me heal from trauma, anxiety and depression. I love empowering my community to live in alignment with love even in life’s darkest hours.
I believe breath is spirit and the more we tune into our breath the more we will be divinely guided. I’m looking forward to meeting more people within the Glo community to hear their stories and serve as one of their guides to connect more intentionally with their breath.
