Yoga Strong

There is a time for rest in life, but there is also a time to work hard, and to really hustle. As a child I played basketball, and in that sport I always too pride in being the first one down the court—always ready to shoot. I want to be the first one down the court now. If you really want something (and I really want something) there is work involved. I’m ready to work, to put in the effort it ta...

What are you paying attention to? Is it the infinite process of coming to know yourself? Is it the way you might be feeling shame? It’s so easy to take shame on in this life, the feeling of doing “this” wrong, of not belonging. When we feel shame, we feel small. We lose the essence of self and how we express ourselves in this world. We get to be the truest version of ourselves when we show up in b...

How do you leave a thing in a generous way? These four mindset intentions help me navigate the times I say "no" to make more room for a "yes" while still honoring the way the thing changed me.  Having just left a studio that I've taught at for a year and a half, a change that felt hard but right, I lean into abundance, gratitude, listening and ceremony (could also be calle...

There is a fear many of us face when we have to stand up in a crowd or at the front of a room and make ourselves heard. Maybe you ask yourself, “Who am I to be doing this? What right do I have?” The thing about Impostor Syndrome is that it’s just a made up name, something a handful of people decided to call a feeling one day. Everything in this life is something that someone decided to just make u...

Serenity Messner never thought she’d find her way to strength training, much less own her own gym. Lifting weights feels like the direct opposite of Yoga, but the two practices compliment each other, and both exist to make your life outside of the classroom and outside of the gym better. In this conversation with Serenity, we talk about what it’s like to be a beginner at something, enjoying the li...

I’ve been thinking about wellness lately. As someone who works within the wellness “industry” there is so much to discuss around what it means to be well. You might know, I’ve been dealing with a lot of back pain in recent months, and it’s been a lesson in listening to my body, to what my pain is trying to tell me. If living Yoga Strong is all about the practice of paying attention, how have I bee...

I have an offer for you. What if you approached your students without an ask? In situations where someone is walking out during shavasana or following their own flow during your class, instead of looking for an explanation, you talked to your student and simply listened to their experience. When you make people feel seen without demanding anything from them, answers or otherwise, when you listen t...

You’ve heard me say it a lot, we are so much more than just one thing. And on the journey we’re all on to uncover what it means to be human and to find home within ourselves, we have to slow down. We can’t find connection, with others or ourselves, going a million miles a minute. There is SO much contained in your “true” self, and in order to be seen you have to show up as the truest, most authent...

There is no single definition of what yoga is, there is no “right” way to practice, and there is no “wrong” way to be a teacher. Yoga is a practice with real depth and breadth, one that we could truly study for our entire lives and still have more to learn. And if there’s one thing I know to be true in this life, it’s that there is more than one way to be right. So if you, as a teacher, or even as...

There’s something beautiful, especially as a business owner and entrepreneur myself, about watching another business owner out there owning it, finding success, and redefining who yoga and movement is for (and thats means everyone). Rachel Brooks was a bartender and worked in the service industry for 18 years. After finding yoga, she wanted to create a space for others with late-night and non-trad...

I did something recently for the very first time—I walked out of a yoga class. And I remember the first time it happened in a class I was teaching, too. We might jump to conclusions and start telling ourselves stories of all the things we’re doing “wrong” or how we might be “failing,” but truly, it’s never about us. When I left, it was because of the low-back pain I’ve been dealing with, not how t...

It’s a brand new year, and everyone is talking about resolutions and intentions for 2023. I wanted to share a little bit about a word that has been coming up for me, one that I’m choosing to focus on this year: trust. To me, “trust” is a reminder to step into my joy. It’s the opposite of fear and anxiety. And even when the stress of being a business owner and a mother and a provider for my family...

This podcast is called Yoga Strong—but what does it mean to BE yoga strong, to fully embody what that means? If yoga is the practice of paying attention, what are we paying attention to?  Paying attention is all about presence, how we show up in the world and bringing all of us wherever we go. We carry the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of who we are in every room we walk into, and tho...

Today’s guest is a pretty damn special person that I am lucky enough to have met through Instagram, and you need to know him, too. Nick Harris is here to bring positivity through the world. He doesn’t look like your traditional yoga teacher, and that’s what makes him so relatable and influential to the youth he mentors. Nick leads by example in everything he does, always showing up unapologeticall...

If you’ve ever felt that you weren’t enough, or that you’re too much, this episode is for you. There are times when I catch myself feeling one way or the other, but it has never helped my joy. Focusing on what doesn’t exist only takes away from my happiness and leaves me feeling stuck. Here is what I know is true: you are neither too little, nor too much. Focus on what IS, and what you ARE, and yo...

Cecily Milne is a disruptor of movement within the yoga community. Becoming a teacher of yoga doesn’t begin at your 200 hour trainings, you begin when you show up in the room. And when you show up in the room, you’ll find it filled with different people who all experience different things; it’s a place full of in-betweens. Traditional asana practice can often become a rigid structure without any r...

This is for the yoga teachers: those already teaching, and those who feel the call, but may be too afraid to start. If you’re not sure if you belong, let me assure you right now, you do. You don’t have to know everything, and you certainly don’t have to be the best, you just have to start. You’re going to to the damn thing, even if you’re afraid. You’re going to do the damn thing, and everything w...

I don’t know about you, but I often struggle with this season, and can find myself stuck, in need of a shift. If that’s you too, or if you’re struggling for any reason at all, maybe you’re in a rut, you feel you’re lacking creativity, or maybe you just find yourself not wanting to do anything at all… this episode is for you. This is to help you get unstuck and move forward, because you are so need...

In all experiences, good and “bad,” there is something to be learned. What if, even in those harder times, we treated the moment as if it was a Holy guest? And what if, especially in those times, we treated ourselves as a Holy guest? Holiness is something that takes your breath away, inspires awe, makes you pause… So what if that Holy thing was you? How would you treat yourself, and how would you...

Making friends is hard, but the profound meaning that true connection brings to your life is immeasurable. And as much as making friends is difficult for you, it is just as hard for everyone else, so why not make the first move? Have the courage to share your vulnerability first, and you may be surprised by what you find. It will take time, it will be difficult, but it will be worth it. Enter my g...

Today I am joined by Rocky Heron to talk about something near and dear to him, and something I hope you’ll find a little curiosity for within yourself—Human Design. Rocky turned to Human Design as a sort of instruction manual on how to be, and it’s a tool we should all be using to better understand ourselves and how best to operate within our own designs. Human design is not just “woo,” but where...

In so much of life, we could lean into the scarcity of things, the feelings of not enough-ness and lack… or we can choose abundance. We can find the good, find the wins, and celebrate that. Because I have, and I’m sure you have too, leaned into the “I’m not enough” feelings, and it’s just not productive. So what happens instead when we decide we are winners, right from the beginning? You are not a...

This podcast is called Yoga Strong for a reason. Strength training is made better by incorporating yoga, just as yoga is made better when we work on building strength. All movement has inherent risk of injury, but when we combine flexibility and strength, we protect our bodies for years to come, whatever comes our way. It’s a perfect symbiotic relationship. Each is improved by incorporating the ot...

There are infinite opportunities to learn from the things we do in this life, but today I wanted to share just 5 things I have learned from running a studio with a team. I think about yoga and leadership a lot, about the intersection and interplay between the two. Because any time you put yourself at the front of a class to teach and to share, you are a leader. Whether you are a yoga teacher or no...

Hey, you. Happy birthday! Maybe it isn’t the actual day you were born but here’s something wonderful: every day you wake up, you are a brand new person. Even if you can’t quite tell what’s different about you, something is new. Isn’t that amazing? Every single day we get to wake up new, and find something new to look for and focus on, because where your attention goes, your energy flows. So today,...