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Yoga Keeps You Honest

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silhouette of left human hand

People often tout that yoga keeps them strong and flexible, but have you ever heard how yoga promotes honesty? Many of us approach yoga through an injury or when hunting for something alternative to our exercise regime or when on a quest for inner peace.  When you develop a habit of doing yoga on a regular basis, you begin to realize the deeper, more profound effects of the practice.  How then does yoga specifically, keep you honest?

First, when you step onto your mat, whether for the first time or the hundredth time, you must gently come to terms with where you are in that moment. Do you have pain in your back, neck, or shoulders? Are you anxious, are you tired or full of trepidation about being new to yoga? Acknowledging the truth about where you are beginning, helps you with self-acceptance and growth. It is okay to admit you’re not over the moon about practicing, perhaps you have a list a mile long of things you think you need to do. Once you’ve shaken hands with your present state, you can begin to breathe and work through the challenges, letting them go one breath at a time.

The asanas or poses require honesty. If you are new to yoga, be realistic, like anything novel, it takes time and practice to understand the nuances, to become proficient. You don’t learn a foreign language overnight, it takes years of study, speaking, practicing. The same is true for yoga.  There are many postures that I simply cannot do, even though I’ve been practicing yoga for twenty years. Because of how my body is structurally made; the only way I could sit in full lotus is if my legs were disconnected! You can have a beautiful truthful yoga practice, without mastering each pose. And remember, our bodies are uniquely made, the truth is, not all poses are good for all bodies.  For example, if you have lumbar stenosis or high blood pressure, doing headstands is not recommended.

Don’t be deterred by what you are not able to do, focus on what you can do.  Everyone can breathe. The breath is what differentiates yoga from other forms of exercise. Breath control or pranayama as it is called in Sanskrit calms and quiets the mind from the mayhem of chatter.  Kabir, the 15th-century mystic and poet once said; “In this visible matter is the invisible bird. Pay attention to her, she is singing your song.” You can learn to honestly pay attention through the breath and the flow of energy through the asanas. And if you have one of those days where you can’t squeeze in a practice—simply close your eyes and breathe for ten minutes. You can reconnect to that quiet space within, and that is yoga.

Yoga teachers cannot teach you honesty in your practice, it is through personal persistence and patience that you discover your truth. There are many styles and schools of yoga, find those that speak to you.  Remember a yoga practice is dynamic and ever-changing, just like your body. What you preferred at one point, may give way to something new.  Be honest with what you need from your practice; the calming quality of restorative, the physical opening of Vinyasa, or perhaps the repetition of Kundalini.

Classes are a wonderful place to experience the energy and inspiration of others. The challenge of classes is to keep your competitive or judgmental side at bay. Just because the woman in front of you can touch her toes, doesn’t mean you have to, particularly if your body is not ready. New students often get injured in classes, because they don’t want to modify or use a strap or a block. I always remind my students, this is not a performance, wrap up your ego and pick it up on the way out. Yoga holds space for you, modern society dictates enough of your time, use your yoga practice as a safe-haven to fully express your unique self.

Yoga supports your efforts to live with integrity, to be true, to be honest, and like all things that are worthy, it takes time and practice. It is a platform for mindfulness. When you become mindful, you wake up to the truth, and there is no more looking back at dishonesty as a choice. Yoga doesn’t require you to wear the right clothes or hold a handstand to become honest. All you need to pack with you on this journey is your willingness to let go of pretense in order to embrace your true self.

Finding your voice

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I like to sit quiet in wait like the wise owl , quietly observing my habitat, watching conversations enfolding, Keeping my distance from those whose ego gives rise to nonsense of knowledge. Then again, too often, I can also become the shrinking violet. Fearful my words, and stories are not worthy of attention. Always hiding in the corner, finding myself jealous of others ability to just be, and shine. Then there are those times where I speak from expansion of my own ego, feeding myself or others my own nonsense, and seeking praise or recognition from someone other than myself. There are moments when so much is to be said, but I become frozen in thought, too much thought, a lump forms in my throat, I am mute, silent by my own unconscious choice.

Mountain Ridge Path across the Sierras
Path through the Sierras

I have grown tired of walking this time worn road, I want to speak from my core without trepidation, to not tremble in fear from the sound of my own voice. To speak truths without causing pain, and to be a messenger of inspiration and hope!

I tuned in. Tuned into healing and finding balance in my throat chakra (visshudha in sanskrit), our communication center, our source of expression, gifting us the ability to speaking our highest truths. Chakras are energy centers in our subtle body, radiating from the base of our spine, to the crown of our head. These are the wheels of life circulating energy of uniting matter and consciousness. This energy is our life force, our prana, vital to the wellbeing of our souls expansion, our health,  to remaining vibrant. The throat chakra is one of our emotional centers, some believe the throat area is home to some of our emotions.

There are different ways to bring balance and harmony back to our throat chakra. I have embraced the act of singing, out loud, all day, anywhere, anytime, much to the embarrassment of my husband. I am just humming along, embracing my voice, finding silly tunes or songs popping into my head, one constant being the Indiana Jones theme song. I don’t even know where the tune came from. My husband has said we need to watch the damn movie, so I stop, and find a new tune. I have also embraced returning to our family kirtans, held every month. Kirtan is devotional chanting, and it is absolutely a magical experience every time. I am finding my voice, gentle, soft ,clear, and full of possibilities. Speaking my truths from my heart  without fear or anxiety. I am healing. I am.

Here are some other ways to find balance and healing of our throat chakra.

  1. Singing , of course. A beautiful throat cleanser.
  2. Wearing the color blue.  I love to wear blue jewelry near my throat chakra as well.
  3. Protecting our throats from the cold by wearing a scarf.
  4. Drinking lots of water, staying hydrated, and our throat moist.
  5. In meditation or a moment of stillness, imagine a lovely blue light radiating in your throat area. Inhaling and exhaling through your body!
  6. Crystal healing is wonderful with stones of blue such as, Lapis( a favorite,this stone helps expand our awareness, and self expression.)Turquoise( helps us to express our emotional issues, creative endeavors, finding your true path in life, and harmonizing us with our highest self.) Aquamarine( this beautiful stone has a calming, stress reducing effect, and also stimulates this chakra.)
  7. Certain yoga postures can also be beneficial. I enjoy shoulder stand, baby cobra,supported(with blocks) fish pose, and I love Lions breath.
  8. Journaling, write your heart out!

Some great resources for Chakra healing or general knowledge I recommend reading are:

“Wheels of life”  and “Chakra Yoga” by Anodea Judith, she is my absolute favorite.

“The complete book of chakra healing” by Cyndi Dale.

“Llewellyn’s Complete book of Chakras”, by Cyndi Dale.

“To speak well, and to speak well are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks.”- Unknown

How to Use Yoga to Start Your Day

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Every day is a different day. After practicing yoga for over 6 years, one thing that I’ve learned is to have intention in your actions and thoughts. Each new day is an opportunity for us to start with an intention and purpose that will permeate throughout the day. Here are three ways you can use yoga to be more mindful and purposeful in your life.

#1 Visualize Your Day

Start your day with mindfulness and meditation. Before you get out of bed, take a few minutes to visualize how your morning will look. Prior to leaving the home to head to work or to run errands, try to see how you want that to look. Will you need to make coffee? Freshen up in the restroom? Get dressed? What will you wear? Do you have to walk the dog? Vividly think about how you’re going to start to your morning and then begin your day. If it does not line up, that is OK. Try it again the next day until your mind is aligned with your actions. This quick meditation and mindfulness exercise will allow you to move with intention as you go about your day. Feel free to use it throughout the day (i.e. visualizing how your workday will look, and what your preparing for bed process may look like).

#2 Start with Pranayama

Breath is our life source. It’s important to reconnect with breath on a regular basis, either through yoga or meditation. The practice of pranayama allows us to connect to that life source that flows through us whether we want it to or not. A pranayama technique that I love to use is breath counting.

How to Count Your Breath:

  1. Sit in a comfortable seat in a chair or on the ground on blocks or a meditation cushion.
  2. Place your hands on your knees or find dhyana (concentration) mudra.
  3. Close your eyes and take your drishti or focus point inwards.
  4. Take three deep breaths and sigh audibly to exhale them out.
  5. After the last breath, take a pause and then begin to slowly inhale as you count up to 4.
  6. Pause at the top of your inhale and then count down from 4.
  7. Repeat by counting up and then counting down one more time.
  8. On the next two rounds, count up to 6, then to 8, then to 10.
  9. Once you’ve completed your last two rounds of counting up to 10, stay in your seat and breathe normally.

#3 Move Your Body

This last tip is what most people think of yoga, as a way of moving your body. While it is important, the yoga poses, or asanas, or only a fraction of what yoga truly is. Yoga is the connection of mind, body, and the present moment. I recommend doing 8 cat and cows, 3-5 sun salutations, and then a child’s pose (balasana) to start your day. Do this every day and reflect on how it makes your body feel. Listen to it, and modify if you need to.

woman in child's pose doing yoga
Yoga practitioner in child’s pose

Guest Contributor Profile: Alex Tran AKA Schimiggy is a Digital Marketing Strategist, fitness fashion, travel, and food-obsessed raconteuse. She currently resides in Seattle and teaches yoga while writing about her favorite topics.  Schimiggy Reviews is a lifestyle blog where Schimiggy shares her passions and interests with the world!

How do you talk to kids of different ages about mindfulness?

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Source: Joyfully Jenna

I think it’s all about framing it correctly. When I talk to kids of all ages, I frame mindfulness as something you can’t do wrong. This way, kids don’t see mindfulness as an obligation, but as something they can do to improve their well-being.

While everyone practices mindfulness differently, a few things that generally work well across the board are:

  • Meeting people where they’re at—look at what state your kids are at; it makes sense to approach kids differently if they’re jumping out of their skins after PE vs. if they’re zoned out after a boring class. Evaluate what your students are doing before approaching them.
  • Games—everyone likes games. Doing things like playing a song and asking students to focus on individual instruments, having students focus on certain elements in a room, or making a mood jar can really help pull them back to a calmer mindset.
  • Group routines—having kids do exercises that make them aware of their bodies and how they feel in the moment can help calm down big groups. This could mean anything from breathing exercises to physically shaking out any anxious energy left over from the class before.
    Checking in individually—kids of all ages can benefit from someone checking in on their state of mind and giving guidance on how to be present.

Working with kids from rough neighborhoods provides another level of complexity. They carry a lot of trauma with them, and their minds are more often in a state of stress. In these cases, it’s important to tell them to acknowledge these burdens as they focus on being in the present moment.

Person holding a jar of water filled with glitter

Prenatal Yoga: Growing with the Flow

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three women practicing prenatal yoga

Yoga at anytime in life is a wonderful and essential practice for wellness. Whether it be for children, the adult beginner, intermediate, or advanced seasoned Yogi. The physical, mental and spiritual benefits that come with regular yoga/meditation are numerous. I myself am a newly certified Yoga Instructor. I can attest to the life changing power of mindfulness coupled along with the poses of the body. Personally, I have recently began focusing on a new approach towards practicing and teaching yoga…Prenatal Yoga. Finding out that I am pregnant has obligated me to evolve my training. I would love to share what I am experiencing and learning thus far.

The first trimester can be filled with many different feelings. Surprise, happiness, fear or reluctance. Every woman is an individual and whatever emotions you experience when you discover you are pregnant are okay and perfectly natural. Doing yoga during this time can be very helpful for mental and emotional sentiments. The conscious breathing along with the asanas (poses) makes the mind steady. If you are considering starting yoga for the first time, the first three months of pregnancy are a great time to begin. Preparing your body and mind for the changes during the months ahead will do wonders for you and even for your baby!

Poses during your first trimester are still very doable and modifications are not quite needed yet for your growing belly. I have been able to still teach my intermediate and advance styles of Vinyasa. Listening to your body is important even when you aren’t pregnant so go at your own comfortable pace and never force any movements that you’re not used to doing regularly. Sun Salutations are good to do if you’re not feeling up to a full 45,60,75 or 90 minute yoga session. At least 10 minutes a day of any exercise is better than waiting until you have enough free time to do full sessions. Hip opening movements like Warrior 1 and 2 , Triangle, Side Angle and Bound Angle will prove to come in handy in all phases of pregnancy. Never too early to start the hip opener moves!

In the second trimester which is where I am now at 14 weeks is where the body really begins to change. More than just the morning sickness of the early months the weight gain starts to be felt and noticed (if not already) here in the fourth month. Keeping your routine of yoga and meditation is helpful here because it becomes easy to overeat and sleep. The baby is growing and depleting all your energy as well. Being mindful of yourself also helps to further gear up for labor and delivery. I now know that a lot of the time when I am feeling hungry and nauseous (even an hour after I just ate!) I am thirsty more than anything. Drink lots of water!

I’m feeling the extra pounds and when I do my yoga whether at home or in class, I still keep up with my normal routine. Although Chaturanga into Cobra pose can be done with more mind toward my belly now. Downward Dog is okay throughout the entire pregnancy journey. However, my breathing is becoming a bit heavy even when I am doing normal choirs. Deep Breathing from now till birthday is what I will be focusing on. Mindful breath actually takes away the feeling of shallow breathing. I worry before I begin to instruct that I will be huffing and puffing a tad bit too much but once I start to flow, inhale equal to exhale, movement with each breath, I become in control of my breathing. I make it through the 60 minutes of practice.

Third Trimester is what I am trying to prepare for. However handling each moment, day and week as it comes is what is important. I’ve been looking ahead and reading about prenatal yoga from my training manuals. Researching online is helping as well. In any trimester and especially now, don’t forget to eat a light snack one hour before and bring one snack with you if needed during a class. Pregnant women do have a higher rate of hyperglycemia during exercise. Focus on creating space for the baby in your movements. A wide stance is best so, as an Instructor, I would encourage legs spread and feet hips distance apart or more for supported ground while standing.

For a nice seated meditation I always stress the use of blocks, bolsters or blankets to sit on and for supporting the knees if necessary. Cat pose is a wonderful prenatal asana for a number of reasons. Being on all fours helps the baby get into optimal position and it releases pressure on the lower back. Engage the pelvis when making the spinal movements for cat. Downward Dog, Warrior 1 and 2 and Goddess Pose are all safe to do even late in pregnancy. Balancing poses like Half Moon and Tree Pose are great too when pregnant. Be sure and use a wall for support. Janu Sirsasana (Head to Knee) is good with the extended leg slightly outward giving more space for the belly. Squatting with your back agaisnt the wall and block between the legs is helpful. Remember… don’t forget to breathe!

Prenatal Yoga is a wonderful addition to the experience of being pregnant. It not only helps your body to prepare for childbirth. It can also prepare your mind and spirit for all the stages of this perfectly natural time called pregnancy. I was a little anxious at finding out that I am pregnant again (Baby #2). I still am nervous because it has been 11 years since my first. Having yoga as a tool for me to use this time around is a godsend I would say now. Everything seems to come at the right times in life. I hope this article can help all who reads it. If you are a first-time mom or a mother of many. Even if you are a dad, friend, or relative that finds this information useful for a loved one. Yoga for all at any time in life is helpful. Yoga for pregnant women is amazing so give it a try!

Call Attention To Your Mental Health

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Originally posted on www.acupofteawithme.com

About two years ago now, I saw a cute post on Pinterest about a daily mood log. It was originally created on the post for bullet journalists as something to log on a daily basis. I decided to put this mood log/tracker in the front of my paper planners to see how I do throughout the year, find my triggers for my anxieties and depression and bring attention to ways I can better my mental health.

mental health word cloud

My main thought with tracking my moods was that your worst day only lasts 24 hours, so if I could get through my “worst day” I can definitely continue to live another day that could be even better. Pain never lasts forever.

As a whole year comes and goes, you can look back and see how well you are doing or if you need to find a way to change your moods. Keeping up with a simple daily task can also help you to feel accomplished. When you think that everything in your life is going “wrong,” at least you did one thing “right” by logging your mood for the day as it comes to a close.

Another advantage to tracking your moods is that it can be used as a cheap way for your own personal therapy, since you are actively acknowledging what you are feeling like on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. This helps you draw attention to your ups and downs and how you can pinpoint how to fix your extreme lows.

You also can use this tracker as an active way to recall everything that has happened over the year. It is a great way to keep a detailed personal history of your mental state. With this active history log, you can thus see your patterns and time when you might drop into your lower moods.

I have done this for two consistent years thus far and the results are amazing. Sure, I’ve had some bad streaks or bad months. But seeing all the days that I did have a positive mood feels good because I know that I did right by staying on task and it allows me to connect to my mental health.

Here is a tip though. Plan colors that you will have consistent access to. Seeing a change in shades of red or blue can throw off the whole tracker and become confusing. Also, keep a pencil with your tracker for the days you can’t color in your moods. Simply writing a “P” for pink or a “G” for green can suffice until you have the opportunity to go back and fill in your color.

All of this seems trivial and minor, but I guarantee, it will make you feel better when you see your progress and you are able to call attention to your mental state. You can use my example of a mood log/tracker with my personal two years of tracking in the featured blog post image. It’s still the beginning of the year so it’s not too late to start!

Track Your Mood

Healing through stillness

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Have you ever stepped into the darkness, the space you’re afraid to enter? The cosmic unknown? It calls to you the breathe of your spirit, gently whispering for you to step inside. Waiting for your arrival with an open embrace.  I have, and in this space is where my true healing began.

burning candle for meditation
Burning a candle during meditation can be calming.

For me I thought meditation was never going to happen. Easy , soft, gentle, uncomplicated. I wanted to just close my eyes, focus on the dance of my breathe, and float away into bliss. I was struggling, my mind always racing, my breathe short, and shallow, always fidgeting, never able to fully embrace the space. Then it happened, The breakdown. The physical and mental kind of breaking that shuts you down, and you feel as though you can no longer go on this way.  I had so much going on in my body and mind. I was having multiple surgeries, health issues, nursing my mom who didn’t have much time left, as she was battling stage five lung cancer, going to school, and working as a preschool teacher. I also suffer from mild depression, ptsd, and fibromyalgia.  My soul said enough! You need to make some changes, I listened.

This is when I found the silence, the stillness I had been turning away from. I was finally ready to listen to spirit, and free myself from my own self destruction. I was ready to begin the journey to freedom. Freedom from the confines of my own negative thoughts and patterns. I knew deep down I needed to greet, and embrace meditation without any expectations,  to just ebb and flow with the river of my mind and see where spirit guides me.

Meditation and I became best friends, we are now inseparable. No, it was not easy, I had to make it accessible and simple for me. I made it a ritual. I wake every morning with the birds signaling me to rise and embody the day full of joy, curiosity, and compassion. I light my candles, the soft glow warming the space.I brew my tea or coffee, sit in the lovely space I created as my altar welcomes me with objects that move me towards my highest self, and bring me love. These are pictures, poems, crystals, candles, my journals, fresh herbs or flowers from my garden. I burn some sage, get comfortable in my seat, close my eyes, and I begin to focus on my breath. Slow, gentle, deep, and expansive, I begin to explore and bear witness to my body and mind. My heartbeat slows with each inhale, and my body becomes soft with each exhale. I am at peace. I made it

I can’t say this was an easy habit to embrace. Patience and I were strangers, we needed to welcome and hold each other on this journey together. Allowing myself that 10 minutes, some days twenty minutes without  the pressure of doing, just being in the present. Yes, thoughts would float their way in, I would acknowledge them , greet them with grace and acceptance, then watch them float away in contentment.  I would allow my body to feel any sensation that would arise, and not fight it. I would embrace , receive, and let go. In time this meditation, {sometimes silent, sometimes guided} not only connected me with source, but with my most authentic self. In these moments of stillness and quite magic happens for me, I feel alive, I feel love, I feel spirit. I see clearly, and with clarity. I know that I am home, and the door to peace is always open.

Ask yourself, How often do I tend to my own garden, get in the dirt, dig in the soil of my beautiful life, muddle around, soak in the sunshine, water my soul, and watch my journey bloom? When we take the time to sit in stillness, and bear witness  to our souls calling, to walk into the space of unknown, and open our hearts, we can heal. We can love and feel gratitude for the gift of life. In turn, we can radiate this love, and peace to all beings everywhere.

If you are in need of resources to help guide you in your meditation practice, I highly recommend the Namafit website. They are great resource for finding experienced meditation and yoga teachers. I also love guided meditations by Tara Brach, and an awesome read that really helped my meditation practice is “Bliss More”, by “Light Watkins.”

Photo credit George Becker

Meditating In Meetings

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Meditation in a studio can be difficult. Sometimes the person next to you is breathing healthy, we hear a door close or are interrupted by someone moving in their cushion. Meditation itself is difficult – it’s a practice, almost like training for a marathon.

on, some days you run with ease, other days you can’t get through 3 miles and the training never stops. It’s a continuous effort for the rest of your life, if you are willing to embark on it. And we all do it for the positive side effects including increased health. You can say while running is for the body, meditation is for the mind.

The goal is of course, to be at peace with your thoughts and feelings and to regard them with no judgement. Its effects should reach outside of that studio with the heavy breathing person. So how does this work? If its hard enough in a studio, how could it possibly work in every day life? I may practice meditation for the rest of my days, but how can I increase its effects in my daily business? Luckily there are some exercises you can introduce into your life, without having to be in the studio –  which is what I will share with you.

meditating while in office meeting

One of my favourite exercises is tracing your fingers. I do this in meetings when people overwhelm me or I notice I am getting agitated: Under the table, with your left had, trace up each one of your fingers. Breath in as you trace up, and breathe out when you get to the palm of your hand. Do that for each finger. Focus on how you breathe as you trace your fingers. This shifts your focus from the content, by moving it inward and diverting your attention from the meeting to your breathing. So many times in life we forget to breathe, and just focusing on breathing in and out is not enough – this action drives your focus and makes you take a step back. It’s ok if you zone out for a bit – the exercise takes no longer than a couple of minutes and has stopped me from letting people know my true emotional state or even better – has stopped me for letting it out on them.

Another one I like to do is under the table. I concentrate on breathing in as I roll my feet to the balls of my feet, and breathe out as a move to the heel of my feet. I usually do one foot at a time. It has helped me deal with my anxiety by focusing on the movement and the breathing a long with it. If you find yourself the type of person that often shifts around or fidgets easily, this is a great way to feel grounded and focuses. Plus its not a large movement so people wont notice and it allows you to still take notes and seem present. No one will know you are taking a moment to step back from the challenging elements of the world.

Life is beautiful, but sometimes it can get hard and then on top of that, we tend to throw meetings and deadlines to make it more challenging. Meditation can help with that. It takes little things and little steps, but the benefit you’ll get cannot be compared to the little training you have to put in.

Simple Mindfulness for School Teachers

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What are some mindfulness tools that could work for teachers?

I think one of the most effective ways teachers can bring mindfulness into their classrooms is to integrate it into things they already do. Mindfulness is about being present, so think about ways you can get kids to be grounded in a moment.

Are you walking through the hallway after lunch? Try to get your students to notice 3 things in the hallway. Is your class in the middle of having a snack? Have your students think about what flavors they taste in their food. When you’re doing this, leave room for silence, but call things out. Guide them in noticing the details around them and what’s going on in their heads.

Another important concept to remember when practicing mindfulness is to hold space for resistance and discomfort. Acknowledge that there are stressful factors around you and create space for them as you ground your mind and body in the present moment. Be aware that the tension between your mind and body might be uncomfortable. Not doing this would be disingenuous, and being honest with what is in your head is part of being mindful.

cairn of rocks by the ocean

The Journey Begins. How Namafit Got Started.

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How I Solved My Own Staffing Problems At My New Fitness Studio

handstand

When I opened a yoga, fitness and dance studio in 2010 I was embarking on a journey very new to my family and me. Prior to opening our new studio, I had been a software engineer for over 16 years, a husband and a father of 3 boys. As you can imagine, my wife and I were very busy — on top of being an awesome mother to our boys, she owns and operates a busy local restaurant.

I always knew that I wanted to open a small business close to our home — something that would help contribute to the overall wellbeing of our community. After living in our area for several years, we realized that there was a need for an awesome local dance/fitness studio. We had lamented the fact that there was nowhere in Menlo Park to take good fitness and yoga classes. We also noticed that the dance studios where our boys were taking classes were packed with kids. We have both been active and into athletics our whole lives, and as parents, that segment of our lives had definitely been neglected for years! So, looking back, I guess opening a yoga, fitness and dance studio was a pretty natural thing to do.

Getting the business systems setup, finding a space to rent and getting ready to open was time consuming but all fairly straightforward. I called a contractor to help with the interior build out. They took care of the details. I opened bank accounts. I signed up for MindbodyOnline to handle reservations and payments. Making a schedule of classes was actually pretty difficult because it meant taking into account the demographics in the neighborhood and neighboring cities, figuring out what types of classes were appropriate at which time of day. The initial goal was to offer youth classes, mostly dance, in the afternoons, so factoring in the times that schools let out was important. But in the end, it was all set in place. This was all in motion leading up to an opening date.

Staffing for a new fitness, yoga and dance business

Staffing (hiring professionals who were going to instruct my classes, not to mention represent my business to the public) was something of an unknown. After doing some research online, Craigslist quickly became my go-to resource for posting job ads to find teachers. Being a new business, I had a budget for marketing and advertising, which helped cover the cost of the $75 each job post cost with Craigslist. Everyone knows Craigslist — you write up a job title and description, pay $75 and submit. The job loads into the “fitness/spa/salon” category search results and you wait. At some point for most Craigslist posts, just like anyone else who posts on Craigslist, I received emails from people interested in my open positions. Sometimes I would get an email with a nice paragraph about the person, along with their name, email, phone number and resume attached. Sometimes, I would receive a quick request to be hired, with a name and nothing else. The rest of the responses I saw fell somewhere in between those two extremes.

When I did receive enough information about a person applying, my next step was to google their name and hopefully find out more about their background, where else they teach, how long they’ve been teaching, etc. After several email and phone call chains, followed by onsite interviews, ultimately, I was able to hire enough professionals to fill my staff sufficiently to run thebusiness.

Connections

A big part of running a business that relies on independent contractors for its staff is the maintaining and building of professional connections. I found out very quickly that my day-to-day staffing needs relied heavily on my ability to search my rolodex in an efficient manner for not only “great instructors”, but “great instructors” that could teach the types of yoga/fitness that we were filling classes for. (I don’t actually have a rolodex, as I’m sure you may have surmised, but instead have several email lists that I am constantly curating.)

Basically, this is how my current “networking” efforts have gone:

  1. Post to Craigslist
  1. Email/phone back and forth
  1. Invite potential instructor for an onsite chat
  1. HIRE them for a class
  1. After hearing feedback from those who participated in the class, add the instructor to my list.
  2. Repeat steps 1–5 next time an instructor bails on a class (which happens more often than you’d think)

After going through this process more times than I can count, I started to think that there had to be a better way. After doing a bunch of research, and interviewing a bunch of my instructors and many similar businesses, I came to realize that there wasn’t anything available that suited my needs. As it turns out, the fitness/yoga industry is very word-of-mouth driven when it comes to staffing. Most other studios and gyms follow the same pattern of Craigslist and email lists to fulfill their staffing needs.

Enter Namafit

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been a Software Engineer for years, for startups all over the Silicon Valley. After experiencing the above issues for months in my own business, I decided that enough was enough! I hooked back up with a buddy of mine that I’d worked with for years on other projects and we built namafit.com.

Namafit is a platform that completely solves my fitness instructor staffing problems. I’m able to quickly post opportunities, which are then automatically broadcast to all of Namafit’s extensive database of instructors. Instructors have the ability to create their own profile, which includes information such as their qualifications, styles/levels they teach, and even their resumé. We have been hard at work building a product that will replace the dreaded email list, and will give businesses such as myself a tool to find quality instructors quickly. And it’s a tool to for fitness instructors and trainers to find more work, and more importantly, have more work find them.