Inner Strength
Roman pictured here with his daughter.
Roman Szpond, the owner of Inner Strength Studios, claims that what he offers at his Watertown yoga studio is not revolutionary and that he also can’t take credit for it. While I appreciate the modesty, I strongly disagree.
However, his statement is fitting, if you consider that the fundamental belief behind his core ideology of Inner Strength is, everything we need is already within us. Roman believes that every individual is capable of recognizing and cultivating their own strength but for most of us, it requires work.
And while we all may have an inner strength that needs awakening, without Roman’s presence and his persistent, unwavering dedication to the message and the quality of services at his studio, it would just be another heated and powerful vinyasa class.
Inner Strength is where I received my 200 hr. teacher training in 2013, and happens to be a place where I have developed many relationships that I value deeply.
While yoga has seen many trends and fads come and go and with new studios popping up regularly, Inner Strength's membership has continued to grow, through a recession, and also through a fire that once ravaged the studio which closed the studio for many months before re-opening. I recently sat down with Roman to find out how he has managed to be successful after so many years, 15 to be exact.
Q: What do you offer at Inner Strength?
A: What we teach is a derivative of Ashtanga. It’s so invigorating on all levels. We hold the same standard for every class, and I believe that is not something you find at many studios. When I took my first class, I realized that it was the first time in my life that I experienced myself and didn’t need anyone else’s approval. When you practice, there is a knowing, an ability to understand, it felt like a genie had been revealed to me.
Q. Who benefits from this practice?
A. This practice prepares you for anything. I’ve seen and I’ve heard it all. It’s gotten people through divorces, marriages, births, through being fired through starting businesses. It's through the application of what is being taught at Inner Strength and the teachers that facilitate that experience. The most significant part is the messaging. People of all different ages and circumstances, we need good news, we need to be told that its possible, no matter what’s happening in life, that it's necessary that we develop these inner strengths and core competencies of life and of self.
Q: How can holding Warrior 2 posture make me a better partner, sister, coworker?
A. Well, because the very strength you take to keep the eyes focused, to stay focused on your breath, is the exact same thing you pull on when the kids are screaming. And you cannot say that for other forms of exercise. These tools are part of the 4 pillars, emotional fitness, alignment with your purpose, the ability and power to take action, and spirituality.
Q. So, how do you facilitate this work in class?
A. We encourage students that the posture that you assume, whether sitting in your car or anywhere else, that posture is your attitude. At Inner Strength, we offer a narrative to navigate through the challenges in class so that we learn how to communicate through our challenges in life, and so that we are not at the whim of them.
(Roman’s mantra, “It’s not about making it easy, how you do anything is how you do everything”, is one you will fully embody as you transition from one challenging pose to the next, as the heat rises internally and externally, as you feel the mind begin to take you out of the pose both physically and mentally, you will learn to breathe through it and accept the discomfort and see it as an opportunity to grow.)
Q. Does the success of the studio amaze you?
A: This is who I am, an extension of who I really am. When I first started I was so insecure about it. Coming from an abusive household, with a really horrible up-bringing, not really fostering and cultivating the nature of who I was, allowed me to be at the whim of everything, drug abuse, and alcohol. I was a total wreck in my 20s, no direction. It wasn’t until I stepped into a yoga class, that I felt that connection.
When I opened up the doors, there was not a lot of support from those around me. I told my mom, she said to go back to college and that no one opens a yoga studio. I persevered in spite of zero support, nothing from the banks, or small business administration.
What I didn’t know is how this process would change peoples’ lives. And with that comes a huge responsibility. If you want to provide a business, you have got to a businessman or a woman. No shooting from the hip.
Over the 15 years, I’ve immersed myself in business, and understanding that, you really want to define your core ideology, and ensure that everyone on your team is associated to it, to the best of their ability. That’s what I developed with the teacher training. It has got to be codified, which can be a challenge because the yoga industry, led by YogaJournal, by nature, want to take this product, and say let’s go do sail yoga, goat yoga or whatever the latest thing is. One of the biggest challenges was not going with the trend.
Q. Why do you think this approach resonates with so many? What are they seeking when they step into the studios and onto their mats?
A. All of us have a need for certainty. And to meet that need, we have many choices. We can complain all the time, I can choose to find fault with anything or anyone to meet that need. But to promote a healthy needs structure, in a world that is so uncertain, unchanging, and unpredictable, being accountable when you step onto the front of the yoga mat is what we need. You know it’s going to be hard, you know it’s going to be hot, it meets your need for certainty.
After class, a student is able to step into their world in a more resourceful state, because they have met their needs and be a better mom or a better spouse. Fulfilling our needs as individuals allow us to be the best possible versions of ourselves.
You come to yoga, and you have a state change, but the challenge is that it doesn’t happen until we have an increase in our stage of development, a higher stage of awareness.
If you are focused on alignment, then you are focused on alignment and you become aware of where your body is, and then there is this expanded awareness, and that sense, of wow, I am in control. An individual can take that into their lives, and say if I choose to do something, I choose to do this, and it doesn’t control me.
Q: From my personal experience, Inner Strength has brought me so much. Physical and mental health, leadership skills, but more than all of that, a sense of community. I met my fiancé at Inner Strength, I met one of my best friends at teacher training and am now helping her with start her a charitable foundation, and I feel a deep sense of love and appreciation for all the students that practice there. It’s a wonderful community. Why is that?
A: Misery loves company and so does excellence.
Community is an interesting topic. What are we communing for? When people come together, they are coming together because they believe in something.
One of the biggest opportunities for a student is becoming aware of what they stand for and what they believe in. It’s a continuum that every human has access to, from being dependent to independent to interdependent. How do I look, what should I do, where should I go? Not seeking outside approval. So it’s a community of independent people, but if we are just independent than we don’t seek team effort.
We provide a space for them to enter into that continuum, physically and mentally it meets those needs, socially – it does as well.
That’s why we applaud at the end of class, to honor and show gratitude for our community, who make it all possible.
Roman should take a lot of credit for what he has built. With the help of his partner Felicia, he has provided a consistent presence, message, and practice to our community and has impacted many lives. Check the full schedule of yoga classes here, as well as Pre-natal classes offered through OMBirths.
Thank you, Roman, and Inner Strength Studios. )