Meet David Weiland and Marissa Soto of Arlington Yoga Center in Arlington

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Weiland and Marissa Soto.

Thanks for sharing your story with us David and Marissa. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started teaching yoga in 2010, after having practiced for about four years and then getting a teaching certification from Dharma Mittra in New York. I am very passionate about yoga and all of its benefits, and for the next four years, I taught at the Arlington Yoga Center and around town. During that time, I met Marissa, who is now my wife, and attended classes in philosophy at UTA.

Right around the same time as graduation, the owner of the yoga center, Marinda Diesslin, was getting ready to retire, so she offered to pass ownership along to me. I accepted and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2014. The next year, I proposed to Marissa, who had just graduated with a bachelor’s degree and completed a teaching certification from Dharma Mittra, herself. She accepted and we were married in 2016. From then to now we’ve been running the center and teaching classes full time, though she still bartends on the side!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
All in all, the road has been pretty smooth, but there have certainly been some bumps along the way! Running a yoga center in Arlington, Texas is hard. I’m lucky to have taken over a business that already had a great client base, but there are still a lot of people around here who think yoga is weird or that it somehow goes against their religion.

However, with yoga becoming more popular all around and its benefits being more widely recognized, people are definitely starting to be more open-minded about it!

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Arlington Yoga Center – what should we know?
Yoga is the practice of quieting the mind. That’s our focus at the Arlington Yoga Center. Yoga isn’t just a physical exercise regimen – it also involves focusing the mind and learning how to control the mental fluctuations. For example, when you’re in a pose that is difficult to hold, like a deep lunge or a headstand, you experience discomfort and that discomfort affects your state of mind.

This is similar to other uncomfortable situations, like when you’re angry or anxious about something. The mind tends to become impatient or agitated, and the breath and the heart start to quicken. Learning how to breathe deeply and be calm and patient when you’re practicing yoga makes it much easier to do the same thing in those other situations. So, the physical exercise and the inner practice work together to help us develop not only greater strength and flexibility, but also a deeper level of both self-awareness and self-control.

At AYC, we help people learn the techniques that lead to self-improvement – just like our teachers have done for us.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
The previous owner and founder of the Arlington Yoga Center, Marinda Diesslin. Without her, there would be no yoga center, and I would certainly be in a very different place right now. She supported and encouraged me, she found me jobs teaching, and she trusted me with taking over the business when she was done. I really can’t thank her enough.

Of course, Dharma Mittra deserves just as much gratitude. His commitment to the true meaning of yoga and peace is a daily inspiration, and his teachings have absolutely changed my life and the lives of so many others.

Along with them are all of the friends, family, and community who have loved and supported Marissa and me along this journey. Especially our parents: our first teachers.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1011 W. Abrams Arlington Tx 76013
• Website: www.arlingtonyogacenter.com
• Phone: 817 808 6327
• Email: arlingtonyogacentertx@gmail.com
• Instagram: @arlingtonyogacenter
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArlingtonYogaCenter/
• Twitter: @aycyoga
• Yelp: Arlington Yoga Center

Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.