Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Sabratha Thomas.
Hi Dr. Sabratha, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
At 425 lbs., the traditional workout became less of an option for me. I wanted to “work out,” but more than that, I desperately needed something I could connect to, something I could be consistent with.
When I arrived on my mat at 5:45 a.m., after traveling an hour and fifteen minutes every morning to get to Zura in Montclair, it was me, my mat, and Beth.
Beth welcomed me with the warmest embrace, a melodic voice, no judgment, and no pressure, just an invitation for me to be me.
Eventually, I opened myself up to experiencing other teachers and found Dante and “Body Art,” a vinyasa flow on Saturday mornings. He was and still is so poised, and his energy gave me an inner permission to reconnect with the 8-year-old dancer I had once loved being. Dante would invite me to place my mat at the front of the class next to his. Looking back, it was probably because the class was so packed that we had to rearrange the mats—LOL—but that simple invitation infused a confidence in me. Once again, I knew I was in the right space.
Then Rebecca made me a **“Warrior for Life,”** a special recognition given to students selected from across the studio community for a spotlight feature.
It made me visible.
When I walked into Beth’s 5:45 a.m. class one morning and she announced that I had been selected, you would have thought I had been crowned Mrs. America! (Does that pageant even still exist? Oh lawd, I’m dating myself! LOL.)
But that moment meant something deeper. Being recognized as a Warrior for Life affirmed where I was on my journey and the decision I had made to finally put **me** first. I had found the right community, and I was becoming a true student of the practice.
And then came COVID.
When Zura Montclair closed, I realized just how much yoga had become part of my life. Without it, there was a huge void. Yoga was no longer simply my “workout.” It had become connection, movement, confidence, community, and a way of returning to myself.
Then came another invitation.
Beth, Rebecca, and Ilene invited me to partner with them to open Zura Blooms at 71 Washington Street, Washington happens to be my maiden name, by the way. Talk about alignment!
I never imagined becoming part owner of a yoga studio. But when preparation meets opportunity, you don’t have to get ready—you **are** ready.
So I said, **ABSOLUTELY!**
We reopened the doors and welcomed our beautiful community back. But something else was opening too: **me**.
Beth, Rebecca, and Ilene poured into me and encouraged me to become a yoga teacher. And somewhere between being the woman who simply wanted to find a workout she could do at 425 lbs. and becoming the woman standing in front of a room guiding others, I began to understand that my journey had a purpose beyond me.
**That purpose became TriiiYoga.**
TriiiYoga was born from my experience of knowing what it feels like to walk into a wellness space wondering whether your body belongs there. It comes from remembering what it felt like to be offered movement without judgment, to be seen before I fully saw myself, and to have someone make room for me at the front of the class.
I wanted to create that same kind of space for someone else.
TriiiYoga is my way of saying: **There is room for you here.**
You don’t have to already be flexible. You don’t have to look a certain way. You don’t have to know the poses, have the “right” body, or arrive as the best version of yourself.
**Just arrive.**
And as I continued to learn, train, and earn certifications in different areas of movement and wellness, I realized I didn’t want to put myself—or the people I served—into one box. I am a yoga teacher, but what I bring to a room is bigger than yoga alone.
And from that realization, **HIITYOFLOW was born.**
HIITYOFLOW became an **expression of self**—my opportunity to bring all of me into one experience. It allowed me to take the different certifications, training, movement styles, and knowledge I had accumulated along the way and bring them together under one umbrella.
The intensity of HIIT.
The intentionality and flow of yoga.
The freedom of movement.
The rhythm of music.
The power of breath.
The stillness of meditation.
And most importantly, the permission to show up exactly as you are.
**HIITYOFLOW is not simply another yoga class. It is an expression of everything I have become through movement.**
There is a little bit of that 8-year-old dancer in it. There is the woman who walked onto her mat at 425 lbs. looking for something she could actually do. There is the student who learned to trust her body, the teacher who discovered her own voice, and the woman who realized that wellness doesn’t have to look one particular way.
HIITYOFLOW gave me the freedom to stop asking, *“What kind of class am I supposed to teach?”* and instead ask, **“What experience do I want people to have?”**
I want people to move. I want them to sweat. I want them to breathe. I want them to flow. I want them to challenge themselves without judging themselves. And I want them to walk away feeling stronger—not only physically, but in how they see themselves.
That’s HIITYOFLOW.
And that is also the evolution of my own journey: **student to teacher, teacher to creator, and movement becoming an authentic expression of self.**
Because yoga taught me that the practice isn’t about becoming someone else. Sometimes, it’s about finding your way back to the person who was already there.
For me, that was the little girl who loved to dance. The woman who chose herself. The student who became a teacher. And eventually, the teacher who created TriiiYoga and found her own expression through HIITYOFLOW.
I will forever be grateful to Beth, Rebecca, Ilene, Dante, and the community that poured into me. They helped me understand something that now sits at the heart of everything I offer:
**Sometimes one invitation, one mat, one teacher, and one person believing that you belong can change the entire direction of your life.**
I especially like **“HIITYOFLOW gave me the freedom to stop asking, ‘What kind of class am I supposed to teach?’ and instead ask, ‘What experience do I want people to have?’”** That feels like the heart of what you’re describing: HIITYOFLOW isn’t you leaving yoga, t’s you finding your own voice through everything you’ve learned.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
At 425 lbs., the traditional workout became less of an option for me. I wanted to “work out,” but more than that, I desperately needed something I could connect to, something I could commit to consistently.
And consistency had always been the hard part.
When I began this journey, I knew I had a long way to go. Patience was difficult because I wanted change, but I also knew my history. I had lived through the familiar cycle of yo-yo dieting, inconsistent workouts, starting, stopping, recommitting, and starting again. I had to learn how to trust myself enough to trust a process that, in many ways, felt painfully familiar.
**What would make this time different?**
I realized that if I wanted something different, I had to be willing to do something different.
That meant carving out time that belonged to me. At that point in my life, 5:45 a.m. was the only time of day I could protect from everything and everyone else. I knew myself well enough to know that if I waited until later, life would happen. Work would happen. Family would happen. Invitations, obligations, responsibilities, and distractions would happen.
So 5:45 a.m. became mine.
The heavy lift was that I traveled an hour and fifteen minutes every morning to get to Zura in Montclair. Looking back, even I can admit, that was A LOT! But I needed the distance, the discipline, and the routine. I needed to remove as many opportunities as possible to negotiate with myself.
And in the beginning, choosing myself felt incredibly selfish.
I had to say no to invitations. I had to step away from some promises and expectations. I had to make decisions based on whether something aligned with where I was trying to go and what I knew I needed for myself. Not everyone around me understood, accepted, or embraced that change (this was especially hard when you are a people pleaser).
From the outside, it probably looked like it was suddenly **“all about me.”**
And the truth is, it was.
For perhaps the first time in my life, it **needed** to be about me.
Because I understood that if I continued doing things the way I had always done them, I would continue getting what I had always gotten. Something had to be disrupted. I couldn’t keep placing myself at the bottom of my own list and expect my life, my health, or my relationship with myself to change.
And the work wasn’t, and still isn’t, only physical.
Food continues to be one of the most challenging parts of my journey. I have had to become much more intentional about asking myself, **“What am I feeding right now?”**
Am I feeding physical hunger, something my body genuinely needs? Or am I feeding an emotion? Am I trying to soothe a feeling, avoid one, celebrate one, or fight one?
That discernment is something I continue to work through.
For much of my life, food has been a common denominator. Food celebrates. Food comforts. Food connects. Food can feed the soul but it can also become the thing we reach for when we’re trying to fill a void. Recognizing the difference requires me to remain aware of myself and the behaviors I can so easily return to.
This journey has taught me that transformation isn’t one decision that you make once.
**It’s a decision you keep making.**
So when I finally arrived on my mat at 5:45 a.m., after traveling an hour and fifteen minutes, it represented so much more than exercise.
It was me keeping a promise to myself.
And there, in those early mornings, it was me, my mat, and Beth.
Beth welcomed me with the warmest embrace, a melodic voice, no judgment, and no pressure, just an invitation for me to be me.
That mattered because I was already doing the difficult work of learning how to choose myself without apologizing for it.
Eventually, I opened myself up to experiencing other teachers and found Dante and “Body Art,” a vinyasa flow on Saturday mornings. His energy gave me an inner permission to reconnect with the 8-year-old dancer I had once loved being.
And slowly, something began to shift.
I wasn’t just losing weight or learning yoga poses. **I was rebuilding trust with myself.**
Every early morning, every mile traveled, every invitation I declined, every difficult food decision, and every time I chose not to return to an old behavior became evidence that maybe this time really could be different.
And it was.
**The sacrifices of yesterday have absolutely impacted my today.**
They taught me something that remains at the center of my journey, my teaching, TriiiYoga, and ultimately HIITYOFLOW:
**Choosing yourself isn’t selfish when choosing yourself is what allows you to become who you were always capable of being.**
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am the Senior Director of Nursing Services at a prestigious university in New Jersey, where one of my greatest responsibilities is helping to fill the pipeline of healthcare institutions with competently prepared nurses. It is work that I take tremendous pride in because I understand that we are not simply preparing students to graduate, we are preparing nurses who will ultimately be entrusted with the care of others.
I am known for bringing **light into a room**, connecting with people, and motivating, inspiring, and encouraging others. I believe strongly in leading by example. Whether professionally or personally, I try to make sure that my walk reflects the things I ask and expect of others.
Some of my proudest moments come when students tell me that seeing an African-American woman in my position helped them see what was possible for themselves. Representation matters. If my presence, my journey, or my leadership allows someone else to envision themselves in a space they may not have previously imagined, that is an accomplishment I will never take lightly.
I am equally proud of the villages that surround me, at home, at work, and within my yoga community. My journey has reinforced over and over again that we do not accomplish meaningful things alone or in a vacuum. **It takes a village**, and I honor and respect mine. The people who support us, challenge us, pour into us, and sometimes simply stand beside us are part of every success.
One of my most meaningful personal milestones was bringing free yoga and movement to my community through **eight weeks of classes at Watsessing Park in East Orange**. A year earlier, it was simply a goal I had written down for myself. Then I put action behind the intention. Week after week, I showed up in the park and created an opportunity for people of different ages, abilities, and levels of experience to move, breathe, connect, and experience wellness without cost being a barrier.
For me, completing those eight weeks represented much more than teaching yoga in a park. **It was a promise I had made to myself, and a goal that I met with action.** It reminded me that purpose requires more than intention. At some point, you have to show up and do the work.
I believe what sets me apart is my genuine interest in making the experience better for the people around me. That doesn’t mean removing accountability. I believe we can hold people accountable without being judgmental. We can have high expectations while still encouraging people. We can lead without asking others to carry work that we are unwilling to carry ourselves.
Most importantly, I believe in creating opportunities for others and pouring into people so that they, in turn, can pour into someone else.
Whether I am helping prepare the next generation of nurses, supporting my family, standing beside my team, or meeting a community on a yoga mat in the park, the purpose is remarkably similar:
**Create the opportunity. Make people feel seen. Lead by example. And leave the space, and the people in it, better than you found them.**
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I started **TriiiYoga** last year with a very simple mission: **to help people move.**
That movement may be physical, but it doesn’t have to be. Movement can mean taking the first step toward better health, making a career change, taking a deeper look at a relationship, working through something emotionally, or simply deciding that where you are today doesn’t have to be where you stay. By sharing my own story and journey, I hope to inspire someone else to begin theirs.
I am naturally very independent. When I make up my mind to do something, I tend to move quickly from the idea to action. I’m not afraid of the outcome, and I’m certainly not afraid of failing. I’ve learned that if something doesn’t work, I can pivot. I can regroup, refresh, recharge, and begin again from wherever I am.
One of the greatest lessons of my journey has been learning to **meet myself where I am while still understanding that the assignment is to keep moving forward.** Growth requires me to be honest about my current reality while refusing to allow it to become my permanent destination.
As independent as I am, I also recognize the value of inviting others into my space. Collaboration for me works best when there is shared energy, authenticity, action, and a genuine desire to create something meaningful. I love opportunities that allow us to pour into one another and, ultimately, pour something positive back into the community.
Supporting me and TriiiYoga can be as tangible as coming to a class, purchasing merchandise, sharing my work, or collaborating on a wellness or community initiative. But support can also be much simpler, and sometimes much more powerful.
**Say my name in rooms I’m not in.**
Mention TriiiYoga when an opportunity arises and I’m not there to represent myself. Share what I’m doing with someone who might benefit from it. Pour into me when I need an ear. Show up when you can.
And sometimes, simply check on me.
Ask, *“How’s it going?”* or *“Is there anything I can do for you?”*
Chances are, my answer will be, *“It’s going fine. Thank you for checking. There’s really nothing I need right now.”* That’s just who I am. But please know that the fact that you thought enough to ask speaks volumes to me.
I’m learning that being independent doesn’t mean I have to do everything alone. **There is room in my journey for community, collaboration, and support.**
So, how can you work with me?
**Move with me. Create with me. Collaborate with me. Show up for me. Speak my name when I’m not in the room. And, most importantly, help me create opportunities that inspire someone else to move, too.**
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.whytriyoga@gmail.com
- Instagram: whytriyoga
- Facebook: Triyoga Sabratha
- Youtube: @whytiryoga
