Leadership and Yoga

So you want to host a yoga retreat. Behind every beautiful retreat is a human like you. A yoga teacher navigating money, nerves, imposter syndrome, leadership decisions, and pivots... so I have some yoga retreat planning tips for ya.
In this episode, I’m sharing the real story of hosting my last retreat, the shaky anxiety before it began, the moments where the experience didn’t match my expectations, the double-booked shala, the breakfast pivot, the unexpected abundance, and the leadership lessons that no one talks about.
This is more than “how to host a yoga retreat.” This is about the energetics of hosting, and some stories that will keep you company. :)

Find Shawna on instagram: ⁠@shawnakru ⁠
⁠Shawna’s website⁠

GIVEAWAY: 1 YEAR OF OFFERINGTREE. Enter here by March 5th. 
Try OfferingTree for free⁠ ⁠with my link here⁠⁠ (My sponsor) 

⁠Join Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list⁠

Time stamps
00:00 intro
03:00 bold! year of the firehorse 
04:30 7 steps to getting ready to host your retreat
08:30 backstory 
13:50 giveaway!! 1 year free of offeringtree
15:50 number 1 nothing to hide, nothing to prove
20:55 taxi driver wisdom, don’t fixate on pain
24:30 number 2 carving from edge to edge
31:00 100 points allocation theory 
33:00 number 3 leading is recognizing talent in others
36:40 number 4 abundance and budgeting
38:50 money as appreciation 
43:40 number 5 see the people
45:30 notes advice
48:20 scholarship programs
50:00 number 6 how to be decisive 
51:00 my first time driving in latin america
54:50 number 7 on the other side of that dream
57:00 regret & the magic gardener

In this episode, Carling Harps shares her journey through 15 years of teaching yoga and how her practice has evolved over time. She reflects on cueing, identity, accessibility, and learning to trust the different seasons of practice. Carling speaks to the importance of yoga community, joy and play in a movement practice, and why there is no self-liberation without collective liberation. 

Carling’s Instagram: ⁠@carlingnicole⁠
⁠Carling’s Website⁠
Find Shawna on instagram: ⁠@shawnakru ⁠
⁠Shawna’s website⁠
GIVEAWAY: 1 YEAR OF OFFERINGTREE. Enter here by March 5th. 
Try OfferingTree for free⁠ ⁠with my link here⁠⁠ (My sponsor) 
⁠Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND ⁠(My sponsor) 
⁠Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list⁠

Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
01:10 offering tree 
04:02 when you think about yoga, what do you see?
06:25 consistency in yoga practice 
08:00 trusting the different seasons of your practice
11:00 identity in yoga
12:25 the misconception that yoga will heal you
14:41 hyper-individualism in yoga
16:51 self-realization vs self-obsession
18:00 “there is no self-liberation without collective-liberation”
20:14 fostering yoga community 
26:00 walking alongside your students
28:55 cueing, alignment, & injuries 
36:38 diversifying your movement practice 
40:36 weightlifting & energy
46:23 play & joy in movement as an adult
48:37 as yoga teachers, what is our responsibility to address what’s going on in the world?
52:27 do you think yoga can change the world?
56:10 both systemic change and individual change
01:00:00 yoga is political
01:02:22 expand your yoga worldview
01:08:00 billboard question

It’s here!! The 2 hour special with Victoria Hutchins, aka the daily victorian, to ask her everything about life, creating, writing, poetry, fears, breakthroughs and her new book. Victoria is a handstanding poet. She is the woman behind the iconic poetry and yoga flow that feels like a dose of big sister reassurance mixed with a level of depth that reminds us what it means to be human. She brings us a sincere reminder to have hope. Her words are raw, moving, ironic at times, and hard to feel the same after hearing. Victoria is the author of Make Believe, host of the Soul Gum podcast, a yoga instructor, and a corporate lawyer turned content creator.

If you enjoyed this episode with Victoria, please drop me a rating and subscribe. THANK YOU. :) 

Get a copy of MAKE BELIEVE
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/755776/make-believe-by-victoria-hutchins/ 

Find Victoria on instagram:
@thedailyvictorian 

Find Shawna on instagram:
@shawnakru

Victoria’s podcast, Soul Gum

Try OfferingTree for free with my link ⁠here⁠ (My sponsor)

Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND ⁠https://www.tend.eco/collections/consultations⁠ 

Time stamps
00:00 Intro
06:00 Victoria’s process of believing any of this was possible.
14:00 Roots of childhood creation.
15:30 Writing poetry.
20:15 Understanding her own personality.
23:49 Pressure to know who we are and how things turn out is exhausting.
28:50 Thinking about your audience first as a creator. Rick Rubin?
32:10 Starting route to Taco Bell!!
37:30 Being able to process before creating.
41:00 Victoria’s routine vs. being fully consumed by one thing.
43:00 Feeling like you’re on an island can be a good thing.
47:50 Where does confidence come from?
53:00 How Victoria finds her words. A courtship.
56:30 (Creative) Fire just needs room to breathe.
1:00:00 How to follow a massive success.
1:06:00 Abundance mindset.
1:10:00 Jealousy: the people you are most jealous of show you it’s possible for you. 
1:12:00 God, spirituality, death, heaven, Trust.
1:19:00 Questions to ponder with friends that you can’t answer. 
1:21:00 Make Believe and after life.
1:24:00 Being taught that parts of us are “bad”
1:29:30 After you take the purity ring off. 
1:36:00 Vulnerable, holy shit moments.
1:40:39 Let me let you go.
1:42:12 The process of writing a book. 
1:43:30 Publishing a book
1:49:20 Victoria’s hope for all who read. 
1:55:00 Weekday morning routine and structure.
1:57:45 An exceptional leader. 
2:00:00 Victoria’s Billboard Message

In this episode of Leadership and Yoga, I sit down with Rey Cardenas, Austin-based yoga teacher, and co-studio owner of Practice Yoga Austin, to explore what it means to teach yoga in rhythm with the seasons. We talk astrology in the yoga class, the relationship between the sun and our bodies,consciousness, Ayurveda and seasonal practice, burnout and sustainability for yoga teachers, and how presence, sound, and language shape a truly transformational yoga experience. Rey also shares insights from Rudolf Steiner, yoga therapy, and his philosophy on teaching yoga as a co-created experience rather than a performance.

Practice with Rey at Practice Yoga Austin:
​​https://practiceyogaaustin.com/ 
Yoga Therapy program: 
https://practiceyogaaustin.com/yoga-teacher-training/practice-yoga-therapy-training/ 
Rey’s instagram: @reys.awareness
https://www.instagram.com/reys.awareness/ 
Rey on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@reysawareness 
Find Shawna on instagram: 
@shawnakru - https://www.instagram.com/shawnakru 
Try OfferingTree for free with my link here (My sponsor)
Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND https://www.tend.eco/collections/consultations 
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list:
https://www.shawnakru.com/fam 
Time stamps:
00:00 Intro
03:53 Welcome back & why Rey’s teaching stands out
05:38 When astrology entered Rey’s yoga teaching
07:23 Scientific materialism, burnout, and losing rhythm
08:38 Rudolf Steiner, cultural ages, and the zodiac
10:38 Western vs Vedic astrology: personality vs karma
13:08 Why astrology belongs in a yoga class
14:48 Capricorn season, liminal time, and seasonal support
17:23 Teaching with the seasons instead of against them
19:58 Forward bends, backbends, and seasonal consciousness
21:58 Fall energy, overthinking, and teaching to what students feel
23:08 Introducing new ideas without alienating students
24:13 Going against trends and trusting your teaching path
26:58 Living and teaching yoga in rhythm at Practice Yoga Austin
27:59 Ayurveda and seasonal yoga practices
29:00 Summer vs winter yoga: heat, yin, and balance
30:08 The three gunas: tamas, rajas, and sattva
31:43 Cycles of life, injury, aging, and sustainable practice
34:38 Karma, grace, and trusting the unfolding path
36:28 Making mistakes before and after 35
39:28 Ascension, service, and responsibility on the spiritual path
43:18 What makes an exceptional yoga class
45:28 Presence, attention, and co-creating experience
48:33 Advanced cueing and anchoring awareness beyond the body
51:38 Sound, mantra, and the meaning behind language
54:28 Poetry, tone, and shaping the mood of a class
56:13 Mantra yoga, Sanskrit, and sound consciousness
58:13 Yoga therapy as “grad school for yoga”
1:00:13 Science, yoga therapy, and medical integration
1:03:13 Billboard question & Rey’s message to the world

This episode is exactly what is sounds like. Me checking in, telling you some updates, like a little nonsensical voice note update from me to a friend (you, dear listener). Yet, this nonsense episode is oddly motivational and also somewhat historical if you've ever been curious about when I started teaching yoga and how I decided to host a retreat after only teaching for a year and why it actually worked.... and lead to me hosting my 5th (not 4th like I said in the pod) yoga retreat in Costa Rica right now, as we speak!

Find Shawna on instagram: 
@shawnakru - https://www.instagram.com/shawnakru 

Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list:
https://www.shawnakru.com/fam 

Own a copy of the guided journal I created, code POD for $33.
https://www.ritualofwritingjournal.com/