WEBVTT - Making Space 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:15.040 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to woke f Daily with 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:18.639 me your girl, Danielle Moody. I want to first thank 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:23.040 you all for rocking with us for our reflection on 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:29.040 twenty twenty one, sadly the year of hate. But as 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:32.800 we wind down this year and this week, on this 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:36.320 New Year's Eve, I want to leave you all with 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:41.560 a much more hopeful conversation which I am so fortunate 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:47.120 to have been able to have with my mother, Yogi 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:51.720 and owner of Essence of Yoga Studios on Long Island, 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:56.600 Shirley Newton. As many of you know, if you've been 0:00:56.640 --> 0:00:59.000 listening to me and rocking with me on woke f 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:02.280 for the Power several years, on different stations and in 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:06.960 different places, you know how my mother has always been 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:12.880 my spiritual guide. I feel so fortunate and I tell 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:16.280 her on a regular basis that I am that our 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:23.280 souls chose each other. And it's because you know, I 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:27.880 chose the profession that isn't for the week, that is 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:32.280 not for the faint of heart, that is about getting 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:37.160 to the truth, regardless of how ugly, how sad, how 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:42.080 cruel it is. But at the same time, it is 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:46.280 incredibly important that as we go through our journey. Wherever 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:51.640 we are in our journey of consciousness, of getting woke, 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:59.120 that we also find balance, that we also create space 0:01:59.840 --> 0:02:06.400 for our trauma, for our healing, for mindfulness, and more importantly, 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:11.560 for rest. So back in April, I invited my mother, 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:15.880 who was very reluctant about joining woke f to come 0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:20.480 on to talk about just that. You know, she would 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:24.600 tell me after she'd listen to a show or watch 0:02:24.720 --> 0:02:29.680 me on the news, that I needed to learn how 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:33.720 to let go, that the work that I was doing 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:38.639 was important and it was necessary, but that I could 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:42.480 not take on the weight of the world on a 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:48.120 cellular level and allow it to consume me, allow it 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:55.600 to cloud my vision to hope and possibility and to joy. 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:58.680 And so in this conversation we talk about the power 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:02.639 of yoga, of what it means to stretch, to breathe, 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:06.360 and to create space in our bodies, which allows us 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:11.160 then to create space in our minds. You know, over 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:16.800 the past two years, at the beginning of the pandemic, 0:03:18.200 --> 0:03:23.760 I finally, you know, after years of pressure from my 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:28.280 mother and my sister, who is also a trained yogi, 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:35.280 began a meditation practice, a daily meditation practice, and I've 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:39.400 talked about this many times, and the fact is it 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:43.440 changed me doesn't mean that I'm any less angry. It 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:47.200 just means that I have found a way to realign 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:50.440 and get back in tune. That also that I have 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:55.240 been able to use my rage as another form of meditation. 0:03:56.320 --> 0:03:59.760 But that once it leaves my body, once it enters 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:04.600 the air waves, I let it go. And I think 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:09.840 that that is the really big lesson that I've learned 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:13.080 over the past several years of living through Folks. You know, 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:17.560 we've been through a lot of trauma. It's not just 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:21.640 the pandemic we live through the Trump administration. There's the 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:26.440 possibility of another Trump administration. We've been going through a lot, 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:31.680 and I think that the most important thing is is 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:37.839 to understand it, to reckon with it, to have conversations 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:42.039 about it, to develop tactics in which to battle against it, 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:46.479 but then at the end of each and every day, 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:55.680 to let it go, to breathe it out. We can 0:04:55.800 --> 0:05:01.200 recognize that in many ways the world is is terrifying 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:11.600 right now, from climate change, to white supremacy, to our 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:18.279 addiction to capitalism and greed. In a lot of the 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:23.080 directions that we look in there are bad things happening, 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:31.960 we can acknowledge that we can work to fight against 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:38.640 it and still let it go. You Know, one of 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:43.320 the things that I've learned with my meditation practice, and 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:50.240 my mother will talk about with the yoga, is that 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:54.919 practicing yoga while you move through poses and breath is 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:59.200 really about being grounded in the present. My mother, when 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:02.760 she teaches a classes, she will joke with her yogis 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:06.520 that are in practice and say, you know, don't anticipate 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:11.240 the next pose right because they all think, you know, okay, 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:16.840 I'm going to get it, because they're so indoctrinated into 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:21.680 perfection that they want to get ahead of where she 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:27.880 is in her guided practice, And a lot of times 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:31.719 she will seek to throw people off and go into 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:35.520 a completely different pose because she wants to eliminate that 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:40.039 anticipation that if you were just present and listening and 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:46.240 breathing and stretching right, then what comes next doesn't really matter. 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:56.640 You'll get there. And that's a really profound lesson with 0:06:56.720 --> 0:07:01.159 the uncertain times that we find ourselves in that I 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:04.840 don't think any of us ever could have anticipated or 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:07.720 saw coming. I mean, I love to say that I 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:10.480 knew what would happen when Donald Trump was elected. I 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:13.920 said it on election night, but I could not have 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:19.920 really truly anticipated the depths of criminality and hate and 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:28.000 cruelty that would become ingrained in our body politic. We 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:35.160 have no idea when the clock strikes midnight tonight, what 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:40.160 twenty twenty two will bring us. Many of us are 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:47.720 hoping for a reprieve, a break from the anxiety and 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:56.160 the stress of the last couple of years. All we have, 0:07:56.560 --> 0:08:00.680 dear friends, is right now, That's what we have. That's 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:05.559 what we can be certain of, and that shouldn't send 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:09.560 us running for the hills. It should allow us to 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:14.080 honor and embrace each moment as a gift, because it 0:08:14.160 --> 0:08:20.880 truly is. By the time you hear this, more Americans 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:25.040 will have perished to COVID, More Americans will have died 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:33.640 at the hands of police violence, domestic violence, poverty. There 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:39.160 may be more disastrous storms that will have hit the 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:46.400 headlines and change people's lives forever. What we know for 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:51.080 sure is that in this moment, we are breathing. So 0:08:51.240 --> 0:08:59.720 make that breath deep, Hold it, feel your organs working 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:08.360 and churning, your blood flowing, and exhale it out. Feel 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:16.680 your feet, grounding, if your bare feet, into the floor, 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:25.160 into the soil, into the ground. Just sit still and 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:28.600 listen to the sounds of your home or the outdoors, 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:35.440 the wind, and take it in. If there is no 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:38.560 other lesson that we've gotten, that we've taken in over 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:42.760 the past couple of years, it's to slow down. It's 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:46.360 to not be in such a hurry to rush through 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:53.600 your life. What are we rushing towards the end? Take 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:57.680 the time today, of all days, on New Year's Eve, 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:04.880 if not every day, but take the time today to 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:12.439 take a couple of really nice, big, full, deep breaths, 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:18.480 the breaths that allow us to remember that we are alive. 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:27.559 Close your eyes, see and feel with your other senses, 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:44.760 take in the space around you. Slow down, Breathe in, 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:55.400 breathe out. The world has sadly seen darker times than 0:10:55.440 --> 0:10:59.520 the ones we are in now. That doesn't make the 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:09.200 experience variance anymore any less. It's just a fact. But 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:16.600 we win no prizes by rushing to the future, by 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:20.880 holding on to the anger and to the hate, by 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:26.880 not giving ourselves grace and the ability to rest, the 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:30.360 ability to experience joy, to laugh, to take in music, 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:41.360 to dance, to paint, to observe, or to sit. I 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:48.400 don't know what twenty twenty two has to offer us, 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:52.760 but I know that we can walk in to this 0:11:52.840 --> 0:11:57.719 new year with clear eyes and a grounding and a 0:11:57.840 --> 0:12:02.680 shared desire that whatever it is that comes our way, 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:08.640 that we are going to center joy, that on top 0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:17.080 of our rage, our righteous rage, will be revolutionary joy. 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:20.480 That we will not allow those who want to exist 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:25.320 in a place of hate to rob us of that. 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:29.560 My mother says it all the time. She texts me 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:36.920 all the time, don't let them steal your joy. You're 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:43.439 doing good work. Keep going, but you can do so 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:48.920 in your breath, with a smile on your face. Be 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:57.320 a happy warrior. That doesn't mean that we dismiss what 0:12:57.520 --> 0:12:59.679 is in front of us. It doesn't mean that we 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:05.840 don't remember what is behind us. Just means that we 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:12.720 are choosing to move forward in a consciousness that isn't 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:21.560 just rooted in pain. Those are just some of the 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:26.480 many lessons that I have been fortunate to learn throughout 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:33.679 my many, many, many many years with my mother, who 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:39.000 in this conversation, I hope as you close out this year, 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.199 whatever it is that you plan to do for your 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:46.120 New Year's if it's saging your space, if it is 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:51.280 connecting safely, God willing with friends and family, if it's 0:13:51.480 --> 0:13:54.360 creating a big meal or going out or whatever it 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:57.199 is that you're doing or that you plan to do, 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:04.680 that you take a moment to just sit still, that 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:07.959 you take a moment to pat yourself, to hug yourself, 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:15.160 to congratulate yourself. Regardless of what shape you think you 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:19.400 should have ended the year in, how much you should 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:22.520 have had by the end, the fact that you made 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:27.440 it here means that you made it period, and that 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:34.240 is something to be proud of. Friends. I am so 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:38.720 excited to bring it to you my very special feel 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:43.280 Good Friday guest, which is my mother, Shirley Newton, who 0:14:43.480 --> 0:14:47.760 is the owner and founder of Essence of Yoga Studio 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:53.440 on Long Island, also now virtually thanks to COVID. You 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:57.120 guys know that if I talk about my mother, probably 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:00.280 I am either in the midst of a meltdown or 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:02.280 she has just coached me out of one. So I 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:05.480 figure why not bring her on to speak to you 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:16.960 all directly. Hello Mother, Hello Danielle, No, not so, Mom, 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:20.240 I want to talk to you about your journey in yoga. 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:25.240 Many people right now are seeking out different forms of 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:30.320 self care because of the anxiety, the trauma of living 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:34.880 through this pandemic, the uprisings, all of these things, and 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:38.280 they're looking for a way to get involved in yoga 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:41.280 or better connect. So tell us a bit about your 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:45.240 own journey. It's a long journey. Do you have all 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:48.040 the time you can? You can give us an a 0:15:48.080 --> 0:15:52.800 bridge and a bridge version the reader's digest version of 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:59.400 ye my journey to Yoga. Well, how I started practicing yoga? 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:04.920 Always been into fitness in some form. I've always been 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:08.680 on the move because you know, the whole premise here 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:12.600 we have to move. Mobility is really important to maintain 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:16.520 a healthy lifestyle. So I've always been into some type 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:21.440 of fitness step. I was a spin instructor for many 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:26.960 years before I opened the studio. And how I started yoga, actually, 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:31.080 I must say it wasn't you would think that I 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:37.400 started this, but actually Danielle's sister Nicole was one in 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:40.560 our family that started yoga when she was a teenager 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:43.840 and she said, Mom, you know, I think you should 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:46.680 try it. But I was always into more of the 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:52.640 hardcore movement, so I was teaching spinning, and you know, 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:57.480 I was in my thirties then, and my hip started 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:00.560 wearing out and I would get on bed and couldn't 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:02.880 stand on one leg because of the wear and tear 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:07.760 of the continuous motion of spinning. One of the teachers said, 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:11.040 why don't you try yoga class, and Nicole Kip said, 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:14.040 Mommy used to try the yoga too, And I did it. 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:17.560 I tried it and that was it. I fell in love. 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:23.480 And most, I would say, most of us now probably 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:27.440 start a yoga practice from the physical perspective. But if 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:31.679 you continuously, if you consistently work with it through the 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:36.879 physical part of it, the journey becomes a completely different journey. 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:40.200 It's more so, instead of thinking of your yoga practice 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:43.920 as a workout, because that's the way that I thought 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:48.280 of it, it actually is a working inward because we're 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:53.120 made of all these layers. You know, when we show 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:55.840 up in a room with different people, we show up 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:59.480 at different people of who we are. And you ask 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:02.760 yourself one day, I wonder if anyone, if all the 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:07.200 people that I knew, was in one room, who would 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:13.000 I be. Because we pretend to be different people, we 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:16.720 have different personalities with our families, with our friends, with 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:21.560 our work coworkers. We are different. So what yoga really 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:26.560 teaches you to do is penetrate those layers, the layers below, 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:31.520 layer below, layer layer above, layer above layer, And what 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:35.879 are we looking for or true self or true authentic self? 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:38.679 And that's what the physical part of it. Once you 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:42.160 take off the peelow of the layers of the eagle 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:46.360 and get into the different layers of your being, not 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:49.280 just the physical part of it, but the energetic, the 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:52.600 spiritual part of it. We're trying to find our true 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:56.399 authentic self. And basically that's the journey of yoga. There's 0:18:56.440 --> 0:18:59.560 no perfection, it is and that is why they quality 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:03.720 a practice. We're always practicing, practicing, practicing. And one of 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:06.240 the famous yoga goora, I think it was Yoga Budging, 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:10.199 that says, practice practice and it will come, so you 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:13.919 will find your true self. I love that, And I 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:16.920 love one of the things that you always say before 0:19:17.200 --> 0:19:20.160 we start a yoga practice, which is like, there's no 0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:23.639 judgment on your yoga mat And I think that we're often, 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:29.640 even within our context of social media likes and cliques 0:19:29.720 --> 0:19:34.080 and all of these things, we're conditioned to believe that 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:38.320 we should be in competition with one another. And I 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:42.359 think that the beauty of yoga and of starting into 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:45.200 this practice is this idea that it is a practice 0:19:45.320 --> 0:19:49.600 that you shouldn't have any judgment of yourself, but people do. 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:52.639 And so what is some advice that you give to people? 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:55.720 Because I hear this from my friends that say, well, 0:19:55.760 --> 0:19:58.720 I don't like to do yoga, I'm not good at it, right, 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:01.200 And I always think that that's such a bizarre thing 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:04.440 to say, like, if you're not quote unquote good at something, 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:07.200 how do you get good? But what do you say 0:20:07.200 --> 0:20:10.320 to people that come in and they are concerned with 0:20:10.359 --> 0:20:14.479 other people looking at them, or they're concerned with, you know, 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:18.719 their value of how they're presenting on their maps. And 0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:21.159 that's a really good question because I get that a lot, 0:20:21.280 --> 0:20:25.760 and I get that a lot of times from clients 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:28.239 that may want to start with me to do a 0:20:28.280 --> 0:20:33.040 private lesson and a couple of privates. And one of 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:35.720 my first questions to them when I meet them before 0:20:35.720 --> 0:20:38.920 we start, why are you choosing to do a private 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:42.159 as opposed to going into a group class? Why what 0:20:42.359 --> 0:20:44.200 is the reason for that? And most of the time 0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:47.200 is that they're self conscious. They think that someone is 0:20:47.240 --> 0:20:49.720 going to be looking at them on their map. They're 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:53.160 not flexible enough, I said, But that is the true 0:20:53.240 --> 0:20:56.520 reason why you come to yoga. It's not because you're 0:20:56.520 --> 0:20:59.359 flexible why you come there. That's just the physical part 0:20:59.359 --> 0:21:02.159 of it. Come to yoga if you're coming from that 0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:06.360 physical perspective to gain flexibility. So if you're not flexible enough, 0:21:06.400 --> 0:21:09.520 that's the reason why you would do that. And one 0:21:09.520 --> 0:21:13.200 of the great things about yoga when you truly get 0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:16.600 into your practice and when you unroll your mat. And 0:21:16.640 --> 0:21:21.200 I've seen that so many times where students will they 0:21:21.240 --> 0:21:24.920 will come into the studio and someone will be next 0:21:24.960 --> 0:21:28.359 to them practicing and they didn't realize they knew that 0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:31.639 person until the end of class, because once you unroll 0:21:31.720 --> 0:21:35.680 your matt, you are in that space, and if you're practicing, 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:40.200 you are so connected and you're starting that journey inward 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:43.920 that you don't see the peripheral stuff that's going on. 0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:48.720 And you start off with that, eliminating all that physical 0:21:50.040 --> 0:21:53.880 distraction and begin the journey inward so that you can 0:21:53.960 --> 0:21:57.800 then begin to eliminate the distractions in your head, the 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:01.280 stories that you're starting to tell yourself while you're sitting 0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:04.600 there and connecting, starting to connect with your breath, and 0:22:04.640 --> 0:22:08.119 that's when the true journey really begins. It's not so 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:12.679 much the physical, the physical aspect of yoga, the postures 0:22:12.720 --> 0:22:15.960 that you're getting into, whether you're taking hot yoga, vinyasa 0:22:16.040 --> 0:22:21.160 or hota yoga class, whichever option you're choosing to do. 0:22:21.520 --> 0:22:25.359 It's about breaking through the physical layer so that we 0:22:25.400 --> 0:22:29.760 can release all the toxicity that's going on around us, 0:22:29.840 --> 0:22:33.400 like for example, the pandemic and all the stress that 0:22:33.440 --> 0:22:38.280 everyone is speaking right now, because we need all of us. 0:22:38.400 --> 0:22:43.040 We need to create a sentuary within ourselves. And that's 0:22:43.040 --> 0:22:45.520 the journey of yoga. You are trying to find your 0:22:45.520 --> 0:22:49.480 true authentic self. And when you begin the physical practice, 0:22:50.000 --> 0:22:53.679 the sweating, the movement of your muscles and joints, and 0:22:53.800 --> 0:22:57.760 you clear out those blockages that we talk about in yoga, 0:22:57.840 --> 0:23:03.560 not necessarily physical blockage times and feel it as physical blockages, 0:23:04.040 --> 0:23:08.919 but you know energetic blockages that you have within you, 0:23:09.640 --> 0:23:11.960 the issues I and I say this to my students 0:23:12.000 --> 0:23:16.160 a lot. We come to release the issues from our tissues. 0:23:17.240 --> 0:23:19.639 That's my thing. That's say it again, mom, that's my 0:23:19.680 --> 0:23:23.200 favorite past. The issues from our tissues. And that's when 0:23:23.240 --> 0:23:28.880 we work in and when you're feeling that discomfort, learn 0:23:29.040 --> 0:23:31.520 you learn this from your yoga mat to take it 0:23:31.600 --> 0:23:35.480 out into your daily life. Sit in the discomfort, don't 0:23:35.560 --> 0:23:40.720 run away from it, Sit, feel it, taste it, and 0:23:40.760 --> 0:23:43.680 then we get the breakthrough and then you can move 0:23:43.880 --> 0:23:48.840 through from the physical layer to the energetic layer and 0:23:48.960 --> 0:23:52.479 the spiritual layer. And why at the end, what are 0:23:52.520 --> 0:23:55.800 we looking for or true self? I think that a 0:23:55.840 --> 0:23:58.320 lot of people And you tell me if this is 0:23:58.359 --> 0:24:00.879 true with the students that you've seen throughout the years, 0:24:02.000 --> 0:24:05.680 which is that people are afraid I think of their 0:24:05.720 --> 0:24:11.240 authentic selves and people are afraid of quiet. I know 0:24:11.320 --> 0:24:14.560 that I was before the pandemic. You used to tell 0:24:14.600 --> 0:24:16.560 me that I was on a hamster wheel all the 0:24:16.600 --> 0:24:19.280 time and that I needed I needed to stop doing 0:24:19.359 --> 0:24:26.080 such aggressive cardio and really needed to breathe and sit. 0:24:26.720 --> 0:24:30.760 Why do you think that people are afraid of the quiet? 0:24:31.280 --> 0:24:33.960 And what do you say to people who are afraid 0:24:34.520 --> 0:24:38.080 of the quiet? So what do we do when we're afraid? 0:24:38.560 --> 0:24:42.880 We try to run away and physically run away, emotionally runaway, 0:24:42.960 --> 0:24:46.200 spiritually runaway because we don't want to face what the 0:24:46.320 --> 0:24:49.160 quiet is going to bring to us. So when you're 0:24:49.200 --> 0:24:52.400 in a yoga class or one of the most challenging 0:24:52.520 --> 0:24:56.600 poses I find for students is say Shavasna, which is 0:24:57.080 --> 0:25:00.199 the rest pose. When you have to lay there for 0:25:00.320 --> 0:25:05.440 five or ten minutes in stillness. It becomes really uncomfortable 0:25:05.520 --> 0:25:08.919 for some students because when you sit there, there's no 0:25:08.960 --> 0:25:11.520 place for you to go. You have to be still. 0:25:12.160 --> 0:25:17.840 And when the stillness comes, then like everything reveals itself 0:25:17.880 --> 0:25:21.360 to you. Maybe you are dealing with something and you 0:25:21.440 --> 0:25:23.760 really do not want to face it, but when you're 0:25:23.840 --> 0:25:28.960 still with yourself on your yoga mat, it reveals itself 0:25:29.000 --> 0:25:31.160 to h to you. There's no place for you to run, 0:25:31.480 --> 0:25:34.280 so you have to face it. So it's important, and 0:25:34.440 --> 0:25:38.480 I say to my students it's important when you're in 0:25:38.720 --> 0:25:42.120 a pose and you're starting to feel a little bit 0:25:42.119 --> 0:25:46.280 of discomfort, as long as you're not feeling pain, but 0:25:46.400 --> 0:25:49.080 it's discomfort. And what I qual it I put little 0:25:49.119 --> 0:25:52.160 words on it. I qual it heighten awareness. When your 0:25:52.240 --> 0:25:57.560 awareness of the sensations in your body is heightened, Sit 0:25:57.680 --> 0:25:59.800 in it, feel it because you're going to learn this 0:26:00.080 --> 0:26:03.320 technique on your yoga mat that you don't get out 0:26:03.320 --> 0:26:07.680 of her pose just because I'm feeling some burning sensation here, 0:26:07.760 --> 0:26:10.400 not pain. If you're feeling pain, get out of it, 0:26:11.080 --> 0:26:14.399 that's important. But when you're feeling that discomfort, sit in 0:26:14.440 --> 0:26:17.040 it because this is where you're going to learn the 0:26:17.080 --> 0:26:19.639 tools on your yoga mat to take in your daily life. 0:26:19.920 --> 0:26:24.879 So when you're feeling uncomfortably in an uncomfortable situation with 0:26:24.920 --> 0:26:29.680 a cowork or the family member, set face set because 0:26:29.760 --> 0:26:35.720 it communicate. It's really important because it's hard. Yeah, mart 0:26:35.840 --> 0:26:38.440 doesn't mean it just means which hard do you want 0:26:38.480 --> 0:26:41.560 to deal with? Ignoring your feelings is hard too, because 0:26:41.600 --> 0:26:44.880 it's going to manifest someplace else. Yes, So ask yourself 0:26:45.000 --> 0:26:46.879 which of the heart do I want to deal with? 0:26:47.200 --> 0:26:50.080 Do I want to deal with the hard communication and 0:26:50.200 --> 0:26:53.360 the hard sensations that I'm feeling right now in my 0:26:53.440 --> 0:26:59.040 muscles so that I can build strength and release physical 0:26:59.359 --> 0:27:02.040 toxic it? Do I want to deal with that hard? 0:27:02.200 --> 0:27:04.119 Or do I just want to run away and be 0:27:04.200 --> 0:27:08.639 a hamster on that wheel with no tools to help me? 0:27:08.960 --> 0:27:11.880 How do you deal and stress? We all know how 0:27:11.960 --> 0:27:16.440 stress reads ABOc on your immune system, and that's what 0:27:16.440 --> 0:27:19.840 we're all trying to do to reduce the stress hormones. 0:27:20.320 --> 0:27:24.480 So sleep is another key important part of our well 0:27:24.520 --> 0:27:30.080 being and our wellness, so sleep, movement, movement, and I 0:27:30.119 --> 0:27:36.119 think it is so underestimated about movement, physical movement, mental movement, 0:27:36.240 --> 0:27:39.879 spiritual movement really important because if we don't move our 0:27:39.960 --> 0:27:44.840 physical body, all the systems eventually starts breaking down. So 0:27:44.920 --> 0:27:48.440 you're either going to pay attention take care of your 0:27:48.560 --> 0:27:52.760 wellness so that if you don't, you know, you will 0:27:52.800 --> 0:27:55.320 be forced to take care of your illnets or for 0:27:55.359 --> 0:27:58.880 your illness. So take the time, make time to take 0:27:58.920 --> 0:28:02.720 care of your wellness so you're not forced to take 0:28:02.760 --> 0:28:07.119 care to make time for your illness. And there's a 0:28:07.200 --> 0:28:11.760 quote out there like that, it's really really important that 0:28:11.800 --> 0:28:15.600 we move. And there is no perfection in yoga. There's 0:28:15.640 --> 0:28:20.480 no perfect pose because there's always another level, so we're all. 0:28:20.520 --> 0:28:24.760 I approach my practice and I share this with my students, 0:28:24.800 --> 0:28:27.959 Always approach my practice as a beginner, so that you 0:28:28.040 --> 0:28:32.200 have this open space that you can just receive because 0:28:32.200 --> 0:28:35.919 there's so much for us to learn about ourselves. And 0:28:36.040 --> 0:28:41.680 we may get stock and those energetic layers, and you know, 0:28:41.880 --> 0:28:46.680 set and examine and assess why am I stuck here? 0:28:47.160 --> 0:28:50.360 What lessons do I need to learn so that I 0:28:50.400 --> 0:28:54.640 can move on? One of the things mom is I 0:28:54.680 --> 0:28:57.760 think that for me, and I always offered this on 0:28:57.800 --> 0:29:01.840 the show, I've been sharing more of my journey into 0:29:01.920 --> 0:29:06.960 wellness right into fullness over the past year, and I 0:29:07.000 --> 0:29:11.400 think that for a lot of ambitious people, you get 0:29:11.520 --> 0:29:15.480 sucked into what we refer to as grind culture, right 0:29:15.600 --> 0:29:18.360 where you are just continually grinding. We talk about the 0:29:18.360 --> 0:29:22.520 hamster wheel, where you're continually moving, but when you're talking 0:29:22.520 --> 0:29:28.880 about movement, you're talking about purposeful, connected, mindful movement as 0:29:28.880 --> 0:29:33.520 opposed to just busying yourself with moving. So I just 0:29:33.560 --> 0:29:36.600 want you to talk about the like just a little 0:29:36.600 --> 0:29:40.480 bit of the difference between moving to be busy and 0:29:40.840 --> 0:29:46.400 mindful movement. Yeah, so moving to be busy, it's like 0:29:46.760 --> 0:29:51.760 trying to use that constant. My calendar is fall. I 0:29:51.800 --> 0:29:54.360 don't have time for this. I don't have time to 0:29:54.400 --> 0:29:58.280 take care of myself. So everyone has to work, and 0:29:58.600 --> 0:30:01.560 you know, because you work to make the money so 0:30:01.600 --> 0:30:04.840 that you can take the yoga class or whatever. Ill 0:30:04.880 --> 0:30:09.400 unless you're but there's a thing called balance, and you 0:30:10.040 --> 0:30:13.080 can't have a take a look at your calendar and 0:30:13.120 --> 0:30:16.200 if there's no empty spaces there, then something is missing. 0:30:16.560 --> 0:30:20.840 Our whole life is built around balance. So one of 0:30:21.200 --> 0:30:25.120 the things I was having a conversation with the students 0:30:25.360 --> 0:30:28.160 because we have a twenty one day challenge of yoga 0:30:28.280 --> 0:30:31.600 going on right now, and I say to them, ask yourself. 0:30:31.640 --> 0:30:35.160