Originally from the small rural town of Cardwell, Missouri, Victoria Wood always saw Memphis as her “big city.” Just an hour and a half away, it was the place she and her friends would escape to after high school for nights out and new experiences. Over time, that weekend getaway spot became something much deeper. “Memphis quickly became a second home,” she says. After meeting her partner here in 2017, she officially moved in February 2019, a decision she describes as life changing.

As a lifelong athlete who played softball, volleyball, and cheered, Victoria always leaned on movement to manage stress. After college, she became a self-described “gym rat,” seeking community and structure through fitness. In early 2017, searching YouTube for a guided stretch routine, she stumbled across Yoga with Adriene. “It started as just a good stretch,” she recalls. “No one in my small town really did yoga, so I was totally unfamiliar with it, but I recognized how good it felt,” she remembers.

When she moved to Memphis, Victoria couldn’t find a gym that had the small-town sense of connection. Instead, she spent more time on her mat, which became her primary form of physical and mental exercise. Then came the pandemic. “During COVID, my mat became a place of solace,” she says.

A pivotal moment came in 2021, when Victoria walked into her first in-person class at mind/body HAUS, taught by Mary Patrick, now one of Victoria’s closest friends and yoga mentors. “There were 40 people in the room,” she remembers. “I sobbed like a baby afterward. That class changed me.” A week later, she put down her deposit for yoga teacher training.

Her training coincided with some of the most challenging months of her life — her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis and the pressure of traveling home to care for her while also looking to transition out of a demanding career in healthcare. Victoria says, “Breathwork, meditation, and community helped me cope.”

Though she never planned to teach, sharing the tools she learned in teacher training became a natural next step. Her teaching philosophy is simple but profound: “Yoga isn’t about perfection, it’s about presence. And it is for ANY and EVERY body.” She’s passionate about creating truly inclusive, all-levels experiences where every student feels seen and supported, and she emphasizes the importance of listening to your body and taking the postures and rest that you need.

Victoria completed her 500-hour yoga teacher training through Dwi-Pada and mind/body HAUS in Fall 2023. “I felt it was pertinent as a teacher who didn’t have a lot of public class experience to continue my studies so my students would feel they could trust my guidance,” she says. At mind/body HAUS, she sees yoga as a practice of vulnerability and connection. “It’s like holding a mirror up to yourself, while also realizing everyone else in the room is doing the same thing,” she says. “That shared energy builds something beautiful.”

Her advice for anyone just starting? “Be kind to yourself and know that yoga doesn’t require flexibility of the body, just flexibility of the mind.”

Check out Victoria’s teaching schedule at mindbodyhaus.com or follow the HAUS on Instagram @mindbodyhaus.

By Zoe Harrison
Photo by Tindall Stephens