Ally Parker is a high-achiever in all aspects — from growing up as a competitive dancer to achieving a career as a successful accountant while raising two young children. However, Ally once got to the point of feeling overworked and burnt out. Now, working part-time in accounting and as a yoga instructor, Ally’s life feels more balanced and centered. 

Ally began dancing at three and spent 20 years growing as a dancer, eventually becoming a dance instructor. Towards the end of high school and into college, she started incorporating yoga for cross-training and injury prevention purposes and found it was the missing piece for her wellness practice. 

While in graduate school, Ally recognized that she missed moving and teaching, as she had done for many years through her dance community. She then decided to embark on her 200- hour yoga teacher training, and she was immediately fulfilled by the ability to teach movement again. “Between school and dance, my teachers have positively impacted my life,” Ally says. “I feel the responsibility to give back and show up for other people the way teachers in my life have given to me.” 

After years of teaching yoga in person, Ally had no choice but to switch to virtual teaching during COVID-19 in 2020 and began to foster a virtual yoga community on Facebook where she could record and post her own classes. She was also pregnant with her first son during this time and found yoga and strength training helped her feel her best throughout her pregnancy and post-partum. “I found out quickly that if I wasn’t prioritizing myself and taking time to heal through breathing, deep core work, and exercise, then I had less energy to keep up with the demands of being a new mom,” Ally remembers. 

Now, with a five- and three-year-old, Ally has adjusted her schedule and decided to shift to working part-time as an accountant and a yoga instructor at YogaSix to spend more time with her family. “When I went part-time in accounting, that was the first time I said out loud that I didn’t want to miss this part of my kids’ lives. I can have a family and still do what I love while being high-achieving,” Ally says. 

While balancing her many passions is not always easy, Ally preaches that prioritization and finding time for activities you love is key. She schedules her days and sticks to them, blocking off her calendar and making herself unreachable to outsider stressors if necessary. Ally truly appreciates her amazing and supportive family and yoga family for helping her do so. “Being able to teach yoga does not feel like work for me, and I can bring my kids to practice and play while I practice,” she says. “By dedicating an hour daily to myself through yoga, I can stay in good spirits and feel the best I can.” 

Keep up with Ally’s yoga schedule by following her on Instagram @allypyoga. 

By Zoe Harrison

Photo by Tindall Stephens