Tobey Gifford, yoga teacher-plus, has book, speaking tour

Chronicle Managing Editor Cathy DeDe writes: Tobey Gifford is a Glens Falls native with a story to tell: A promising child gymnast sidelined by injury, she went on as an adult to become a three-time winner of the National Aerobics Championships, 1996 to 2000.

For a time she was personal trainer to star athletes and politicos in Washington D.C. She’s been a local gymnastics coach, long-time physical education instructor and now Wellness Coordinator at ACC-SUNY Adirondack.

Finding a new discipline, she opened Lemon Tree Yoga Studio in the Shirt Factory of Glens Falls more than 20 years ago, with daughter Missy Higley.

Now, Ms. Gifford has published a book — Live Limitless. Part memoir, part self-help, part hands-on workbook for spiritual and physical centering, it combines the paths her life and career have followed: Athlete, wellness instructor, teacher, guide, parent, leader.

She tells the other side of her story, too, as a recovering alcoholic, a struggling mom who at age 19 reached a rock bottom moment, entered rehab and has been sober for more than 36 years, the continuing struggles with self-doubt and adversity she says every person faces.

She’s adding a new role, having founded TG Unlimited, aiming to return to a larger stage, offering speaking engagements, workshops and retreats along the message of the new book: “Wellness, personal growth, recovery and unleashing human potential.”

Ms. Gifford’s mission: “To reach over one million individuals” with “an inspiring message of reslience, hope and an unshakeable belief that every person has the power to overcome adversity and create an extraordinary life.”

“When I started the book originally,” Ms. Gifford tells The Chronicle, “I was writing to try to just tell my story a little bit, not just the part about substance use, although that part is important, but what happened afterwards.”

“I felt like that was the piece — these three parts of me, who I was before or when I was drinking, going through sobriety, working through my recovery, the competitive time in my life when I got back into doing that, and just moving on now, continually.”

“The most important part is that I wanted people to know that there’s hope, no matter where you are.”

She won her three national championships after recovery, as a 30-something mother of two. The videos still online show her almost shockingly high-power routines, alongside commentators’ surprise at her success against much younger athletes.

Live Limitless, she says, “came about as part of my speaking and talking about motivating people and trying to help people out.”

“I believe my journey and my life is worth talking about,” Ms. Gifford says. In the three years it took to write, she says she was waylaid at times with “stuff that came up” — “self doubt, imposter syndrome, things like that.”

“I’ve got more work to do, myself, too.”

Her message: “You have a chance every time to choose the same ideas or thoughts, or you can reroute and you can start to make different choices.”

She advocates “passion and purpose” — “the idea that service and being helpful can make most any job feel fulfilling. Do it because it needs to be done or for the greater good, which we are all a part of.”

She’s doing book signings, talks and workshops, and Live Limitless is available on Amazon.

Ms. Gifford says her hope, talking about recovery and “overcoming adversity,” is to also find a way to get the book out to others who are struggling with addiction, ideally at no cost to them.

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