Leadership and Yoga

In this sixth roundtable, yoga teachers from across the country and around the world share what teaching yoga means to them, lessons learned on the mat, bits of wisdom they've carried on from their own teachers, and their own “billboard messages.” See the link below if you're a yoga teacher and would like to participate in the next roundtable!

⁠Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list⁠

Thank you so much to the participating yoga teachers! Links to connect with them:

Simone Marie-Elise - @ripplesinthematrix, www.ripplesinthematrix.com

Grace Gribble - @gracesgallivant, https://www.youtube.com/@practicegracefully

Ashley Simonis - @Ashleysimonisyoga; @homeyogamo, Homeyogamo.com; Substack.com/ashleysimonisyoga.com

Katie Farinas - @katie.farinas, https://katiefarinas.com ; https://substack.com/@katiefarinas, Katie’s Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2R3MeaPOtqgBUpngAzxCN0?si=4ae2fc1b329d4ccb

Mikaela Millington - @mikmill; @evolve.yoga.retreats, evolveyogaretreats.com

Veronica Drenth - @veronicasue_, https://www.theyogalens

Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below. 
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru 

Find Shawna on instagram: ⁠@shawnakru ⁠

⁠Shawna’s website⁠

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

Join YogaTrade Council & take workshops with me (Try it free) And check out jobs on https://yogatrade.com/ (My sponsor)

⁠Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND ⁠(My sponsor) 

Time Stamps: 
00:00 intro
02:00 teaching with humility (Mikaela)
05:19 we are always planting seeds (Veronica)
07:41 you never know who you'll lead to yoga (Grace)
08:54 teaching authentically & honestly (Katie)
10:32 yoga doesn’t choose the qualified… (Ashley)
12:56 finding your own voice as a teacher (Simone)
19:12 Sri Dharma Mittra’s first studio
25:23 Grace’s story
26:55 Katie’s story
29:01 Veronica's story
30:52 Simone’s story
33:07 Ashley’s story
36:49 Mikaela’s story
42:11 closing thoughts

It’s time for Leadership and Yoga CLUB. Because your dreams are meant for people like you, and you meet your true friends on the mountain. 
Founding CLUB member special pricing is available until MAY 31, 2026. 
To support my work on this podcast, to meet fellow listeners, and more…
Join below. See ya on the inside?? :) 
https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru 

Time stamps:
00:00 intro
01:00 find your community
3:00 CLUB tour
10:40 the time is now 
13:00 you meet your true friends on the mountain
16:00 my billboard message
20:50 yoga can change the world

In this episode, yoga teacher Nicole Wild shares what she's learned about life and yoga from confronting death: both in the cadaver lab and through working in hospice, being with people in their last moments. She shares how sitting with grief and impermanence are part of her yoga practice, bringing in a deeper reverence for life. This conversation is about fear, discomfort, embodiment, gratitude, and embracing your life (and teaching) as you are, today.

"Allowing space for letting go, allowing space for endings, allowing space for deaths in all forms, whether that's actual human lives or just the little things we have to let go of on a day-to-day basis…doing that work is absolutely a part of the yoga practice." - Nicole Wild

Quote on the fires of the heart mentioned is by Edmund Wilson. View full quote here

Death as a Surprise Party poem from Make Believe by Victoria Hutchins 

Nicole’s Website and offerings 

Nicole’s Instagram: @nicolewildcollective

Book mentioned: Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande

Find Shawna on instagram: ⁠@shawnakru ⁠

⁠Shawna’s website⁠

⁠Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list⁠

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

Join YogaTrade Council & take workshops with me (Try it free) And check out jobs on https://yogatrade.com/ (My sponsor)

⁠Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND ⁠(My sponsor) 

Time Stamps:
00:00 intro
08:38 the cadaver lab
13:01 fear around discussing death
17:30 griefwork
19:59 what got you into this work?
25:34 hospice work: there is nothing to be afraid of
27:26 being with people in their last moments
30:07 how does yoga help us approach our fears?
32:45 addressing the body and mind as a whole
35:35 the therapeutic process
38:15 yoga can be both confronting & comforting
42:36 yoga and creativity
45:38 what you look for you will find
48:01 you don't just teach what you know, you teach who you are
50:48 how can yoga shape our values?
55:20 rapid fire questions
59:56 the billboard question

Aren’t we all looking for that feeling of energy of waking up happy to be alive? That’s what it feels like when we learn to flirt with our life, to romanticize things enough to pay attention to the details. Flirting with your life is about patience, rather than convenience and instant gratification. It’s about being ornate, not ikea. And when we do this, we overcome numbness and feeling stuck and replace it with creative flow, and freshness. Flirting is about freshness, about putting flowers on our wall even though we know they will wilt. Freshness reminds us that we must allow for constant evolution and change in our lives. We wish to hold onto our inspired, high on life states once we have them, but they must be constantly refreshed. 
This episode speaks to the way that presence itself is a sensual thing, it’s what allows us to connect to the natural magnetism that exists in everything. Let’s talk rituals, solo-dates, exploration and reconnecting with the magic of life.

Substack I mention: How to flirt with your life by Le Secret Club 
Poem by Victoria Hutchins from MAKE BELIEVE
Find Shawna on instagram: ⁠@shawnakru ⁠
⁠Shawna’s website⁠
⁠Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list⁠
⁠Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND ⁠(My sponsor) 

Time stamps:
00:00 intro 
01:00 romantic. 
03:50 substack: flirt with life. 
07:00 dating myself changed my creative outlet 
08:00 ornate vs ikea
12:30 newness vs freshness
14:15 pain is caused by a lack of love
15:15 the grass is already under your feet
16:30 presence is a sensual thing
18:30 it’s either gorgeous or devastating - Victoria Hutchins
20:50 moods are internal weather patterns
22:00 entropy, Gene Keys 
24:00 vacuum state: black hole to white hole 
26:30 list of ways to flirt with life
29:30 my inspiration bath ritual
32:00 change lighting & levels of energy
34:30 eating slower & savoring 
37:00 TEND - ayurvedic guidance 
39:30 other ways to flirt with your life
42:00 musical poetry on creative urge

5 steps to let go of your embarrassment whether that’s in life, teaching yoga, or creating. Let’s talk embarrassment, fear, perfectionism, how to be confident, self-compassion, awkward people, self-conscious people, and why highly embarrassed people are also often highly judgmental people. Public speaking is a major part of teaching yoga, so let’s dissect in thrilling detail how we can confidently share what we know. 
“The minute that we stop overstating our own self-importance, the embarrassment and tightness of trying to uphold some image of yourself, starts to fade away.” 
Included: Gene key 26 by Richard Rudd: moving from pride to artfulness to invisibility. 

Find Shawna on instagram: ⁠@shawnakru ⁠
⁠Shawna’s website⁠
⁠Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing list⁠
Try OfferingTree for free⁠ ⁠with my link here⁠⁠ (My sponsor) 
Join YogaTrade Council & take workshops with me (Try it free) And check out jobs on https://yogatrade.com/ (My sponsor)
⁠Ayurvedic consultation with Art, TEND ⁠(My sponsor) 
TEND spring sale code for 25% off: SPRING25
Gene keys profile I mention: https://genekeys.com/free-profile/ 
Adam Sandler interview with David Letterman: https://www.netflix.com/title/82014002 

Time stamps:
00:00 intro 
01:00 tulip story
06:30 Myke Towers tomato face embarrassment 
10:00 confidence teaching yoga
12:00 don’t “just jump”
13:00 your best is not good enough yet
15:00 the art of getting over embarrassment 
16:15 freestyle sponsors:
18:50 OfferingTree
20:25 Yoga Trade
22:30 TEND
24:30 5 steps to overcome embarrassment 
26:00 Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff
30:30 defense vs offense in embarrassment 
34:00 step 1: be seen as dumb
36:30 Adam Sandler and David Letterman 
42:00 judgmental people
43:50 step 2: play with contrast
48:00 step 3: face physical fear
49:00 teaching yoga embarrassing stories
55:00 pre-teaching tangible action to take
56:30 step 4: stop restraining yourself
59:00 decisiveness
1:02:00 step 5: turn pride into art, and become invisible 
1:06:00 artfulness quote
1:11:00 invisible, why do we want to disappear
1:12:45 when you make yourself self-important
1:15:00 you don’t need a life ring