The name Concrete Yoga stemmed from taking the simplest elements to create the strongest foundation. She inverted the more traditional pattern of yoga, teaching her students to build up the heat instead, firing up all the senses and muscles to give room for emotions to release, then quickly calming the body after this active state of being. Speaking to her audience in their language and giving them space to be themselves, she has managed to beat the traditional yogic image in the United States Military community. She has worked with hundreds of soldiers, improving their ability to take ownership of their reality and improve their quality of life after trauma.
After a few years, Angie’s husband, Nick, joined her classes, and she says, “It's incredible to see how this man has changed, healing so many of his wounds from war and from his childhood.” Instead of pushing away the fear and anger, he's choosing to talk about many things and work through them, even though he's a very quiet and introverted person. Angie confirms, "It wasn't easy for him or for me, but putting in the work is absolutely worth it."
Angie and her husband have been in each other’s lives for nearly twenty years. Dating on and off for four years before marrying young, then separating, and divorcing for four years. As a young high school couple, living in Utah, they married when Angie was only eighteen. They did what they felt they were supposed to do; marry, have kids, and live happily ever after ... except that wasn't the case. Nick was not ready for the commitment of marriage. Nearly five years after the couple wed, they separated, and Angie filled out the divorce paperwork, telling Nick she was willing to wait one year to submit the documents, giving him that time to rethink his life and decide what he wanted to do with it. Exactly one year later, Angie asked Nick if he was ready to change. He was not, but he was certainly surprised by her follow-through as she submitted the paperwork to the courts that day.
Immediately following the conversation, Nick started to change. Too little, too late. It wasn't good enough for Angie, and she wanted more. As a single mother, she worked to receive her Bachelors of Fine Arts degree, specializing in photography. She needed a flexible work schedule to take care of her children. She admits that it was very challenging. After graduation, with tremendous emotional and financial stressors, she considered joining the military, which could provide her a steady income. She discussed this with her ex-husband, Nick, and he said he was willing to join the military instead, as a way to provide that stability for Angie and the kids, feeling that if she had joined, he would look like a deadbeat dad.
While in the Army Basic Training Program, he wrote Angie letters every day. She never replied. She found a job as a commercial photographer with Skullcandy. At this point, Nick had been working on himself for nearly three years, trying to better himself and become a trustworthy person, owning up to his actions and dealing with his problems when the most unexpected thing happened....
They got remarried! In everyone’s life, there are moments of truth. It's a matter of trusting your gut and taking a leap. To take a chance on happiness, to love or to pursue your purpose. On the day of his Army graduation, Nick asked Angie to consider remarrying him, and only hours prior she was also notified that she could take the lead photographer position at Skullcandy. Angie agreed to consider blending their lives again. She made an incredibly bold and courageous decision, knowing her children would be separated from their father for years due to the military life if she did not consent. This choice led her through what may be the toughest and most rewarding times of her life.