Connect
To Top

Meet Adrienne Whelan of Bee Humble Studio in Historic Dallas

Avatar photo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Adrienne Whelan.

Adrienne, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Most of my life, I was surrounded by addiction, violence and sickness and for as long as I can remember I struggled with anxiety and depression. As a teenager the absence of self-acceptance and self-love led me down some dark unhealthy paths. As a young adult I found myself keeping toxic relationships with my family members as well as intimate relationships. In my late 20’s something inside of me wanted to change. I moved away from my hometown (Dallas GA), away from all that was familiar and ended up in Hawaii. I started spending all of my free time in a Buddhist temple learning about and practicing meditation. After about six months I noticed even more about myself changing. I no longer needed medication to enjoy social events. I no longer self-medicated to help me sleep. Slowly my mind, my body and my emotions began changing. The stillness I was practicing daily was allowing my whole self to begin healing from the inside out. My heart was filled with gratitude. Instead of holding anger for my past it was being replaced with compassion. In 2010 I moved to Charlotte NC and began studying more into holistic healing, alternative medicine as well as yoga. I acquired my holistic drug less practitioner license and started helping others privately on an individual basis. Using all the tools and methods I have learned to encourage healing on many different levels. Teaching others the understanding of the whole being and how it is all connected. Holistic medicine is the belief that the body will heal itself if we allow it the time and space to do so.

For years, I was traveling from Charlotte to Atlanta to take care of my very sick mother. January of 2019 My mother passed away. This need to heal people grew. The need to heal in the community that raised me was all I could think about. This is when I first started looking into properties in Dallas GA. My mother had lost her very long and painful battle with Multiple sclerosis. I already lost my father to cirrhosis of the liver in 2007. After the loss of both my parents a huge void appeared inside of me. The urge to impact more lives and to change more hearts was overbearing. There was no denying that this was my purpose. The only question was where would I even start? A few of my close friends were yoga teachers in or around Dallas. One day I asked them to meet me at the dirty, vacant mechanic shop in downtown Dallas, walking distance from my old elementary school. I asked them if they would be willing to help me clean this place up and turn it into a Yoga studio where we would include holistic wellness. Of course, they thought I was crazy. this building was in bad shape. I don’t know if they could see or feel my passion but they agreed to help. For the next three months we dedicated our nights and weekends to cleaning the building and painting and exterminating. My friends brought their spouses and children to help. People from the community began noticing and stopping and asking if they could help. The amount of love and support I received during the project was overwhelming. There was not a day that I did not sit in the middle of that dirty floor and cry because of how much gratitude was pouring out of my heart for the sweet souls that showed up to help me. little old me. just a person. with a vision and a passion. It ended up just taking us shy of four months to get the doors open.

We chose the name Bee Humble as a reminder to ourselves of the journey we have all taken to be here now. To remind us of our intention here. To cultivate a space of love and understanding no matter who you are or where you are in life you belong here. I believe that the power of yoga and meditation can heal an individual, a family as well as an entire community. We want to encourage people to be their own health and happiness advocate. To honor your journey no matter how icky it might get sometimes. The one thing that I know for sure that connects us all. Is our struggles, our grief, our pain and our anger. By connecting and sharing our stories, we are healing one heart at a time.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Of course there were many ups and downs during my journey. Having a mother and father who were unwell most of my upbringing. It felt as if my siblings and I had to grow up a bit faster so that we could take care of them and at the same time delayed our own journey and experiences in life. I am a mom now of two teenage boys, they are and will always be my greatest teachers in life. I am fortunate to have good friends that I could never repay for the times they have held my hand and jumped off the cliff into the unknown with me. Truly it’s hard to notice the bad times when you are surrounded by good friends keeping you laughing and hyping you up the whole way.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
By Feb of 2019, I found an old vacant building and invited my partner, friends and family to come take a look. Even though everyone agreed the building was in terrible shape, they all offered up their help and support. After three months of dedicating their nights and weekends to cleaning, painting we opened up. The community around us has been so welcoming. Though we can appreciate that not everyone knows or understands yoga and meditation, so far everyone we meet has been open to learning.

Our studio has held up the intention behind our name. Bee Humble. We will never forget what brought us here. Everyone has a journey, has a past in this studio. We honor whatever path brought you into our classroom. No matter what it looked like along the way. In this space you will feel seen, heard and cared for. A yoga studio can be a totally inclusive space. No social status, no sex, religion or race will matter. Is only concern being, are you healing? Do you feel loved? How can we help?

What were you like growing up?
I was the youngest of three, I have an older brother and sister. When I was a child I was teased for being really shy and quiet. I felt like I was just watching and observing life going on around me more than I was participating in it. It wasn’t until my early teens that I finally found my voice but l would disassociate myself in stressful times in my household. I always felt so sensitive to people’s hurt and anger, I knew I wanted to help but I didn’t know how. I feel fortunate to have found my path in life even if it took me a while to get here. God put all the right people in my life along the way ( good and bad) to get me here, I am eternally grateful.

Pricing:

  • Virtual $10 drop in & In-studio $12
  • 30 day Unlimited $99
  • 60 minute private $65 (yoga, nutrition, counseling, meditation and holistic wellness)

Contact Info:

Suggest a story: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.

Related Items

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in