September 28, 2024 • 60 mins
In this episode, I’m joined by my dear friend and office roommate, Jodi, who has been a massage therapist for almost 20 years and is also a dedicated yoga teacher. Jodi shares her wisdom on how yoga and massage therapy can help us become more present in our lives, relieve stress, and cultivate a loving relationship with ourselves. Tune in to learn more about how tuning into your breath, body, and mind can support your well-being and lead to a calmer, more balanced life.
We also talk about our upcoming Awaken Retreat with Dr. Debbie Victoria-Seale, happening on Saturday, October 5th, from 1-5 PM in downtown Napa. This half-day retreat is designed to help you rest, restore, and rejuvenate with a restorative yoga practice, guided meditation, and tools for grounding your energy.
You'll hear about:
1. Yoga as a Path to the Present Moment:
Jodi emphasizes the power of yoga in helping you stay connected to the present. By tuning into your breath and body during yoga postures, you learn how to release stress and anxiety, fostering a greater sense of inner peace.
2. The Synergy of Yoga and Massage:
With nearly two decades of experience as a massage therapist, Jodi discusses how understanding the body through massage deepens her yoga teaching. She talks about how combining both practices helps people release tension, strengthen their bodies, and feel more connected to themselves.
3. Meeting Your Body Where It’s At:
Jodi highlights the importance of honoring your body’s current state without judgment. In both yoga and life, meeting yourself with compassion can reduce stress and lead to more meaningful self-care.
4. The Benefits of Restorative Yoga:
Restorative yoga, which Jodi will be teaching at the Awaken Retreat, is a deeply grounding practice that helps calm anxiety and promotes relaxation. Jodi shares how this slower, more supported style of yoga allows your body to open and heal in its own time.
5. Awaken Retreat:
We talk about the upcoming Awaken Retreat on October 5th. Participants will experience a rest-focused workshop, guided meditation, a 45-minute restorative yoga session with Jodi, and an energy-grounding class with Dr. Debbie. It’s the perfect opportunity to reconnect with yourself, reduce stress, and rejuvenate your soul. Click Here To Sign Up!
Mentioned in this Episode:
- Awaken Retreat: Happening on Saturday, October 5th, from 1 to 5 PM in 828 School Street, downtown Napa. A half-day retreat to rest, restore, and rejuvenate with yoga, meditation, and energy work. Limited spots available.
This event has passed Catch us next time!
Check out Mrs-Hard.com for upcoming events.
-Connect with Jodi:
- Yoga Classes: Join Jodi for weekly yoga classes at our studio in downtown Napa or Napa Hot Yoga.
- Private Yoga & Massage Therapy: Book a private session with Jodi for personalized yoga or orthopedic massage therapy.
Click Here To Visit Jodi's Website & Sign Up For Classes
Links:
-Follow Jodi on Instagram: @LibraVitae
- Follow Allesanda on Instagram: @Mrs.Hard_TimesNoMore
Discover how to step off the chaos roller coaster and finally have peace of mind.
Sign up for my free 3-day coaching series—Stepping Off The Chaos Roller Coaster: 3 Simple Steps For Anxiety Relief
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi, I'm Alessandra Tolome Hard, aka Mrs Hard, and
this is Hard Times no More, apodcast for people who are tired
of struggling with boundaries,people-pleasing and relationship
problems.
I have overcome some hard times.
Within three years, I stoppeddrinking, my mom died of cancer
and my house burnt down in aCalifornia wildfire, and those
(00:22):
are just the highlights.
I have a lot of reasons to bemiserable, but I'm not.
The truth is, life was morechallenging before these events
happened.
If you are tired of waiting foryour circumstances to change to
find happiness and peace ofmind, you are in the right place
.
Join me as I share the tools Iuse in love to transform
(00:43):
challenges into assets andinterview others about their
relationship journeys.
Together, let's learn how tohave a happy life full of
healthy, meaningfulrelationships and say goodbye to
hard times for good.
Hey there, I'm AlessandraTolome HardHard, aka Mrs Hard,
(01:03):
wellness and Relationship Coach.
Today, I'm so excited to havemy good friend and work roommate
, jodi Shields, with me on thepodcast.
Jodi is an amazing soul.
She's authentic, real anddeeply caring for her clients
and friends.
As both a skilled yoga teacherand orthopedic massage therapist
(01:25):
, she brings a unique blend ofknowledge and experience to her
practice.
Jodi hosts a weekly yoga classat her studio in downtown Napa,
as well as two weekly classes atNapa Hot Yoga.
Nearly 20 years of experiencein massage therapy.
That gives her a profoundunderstanding of the body, and
(01:47):
she integrates that wisdombeautifully into her yoga
classes.
In this conversation, jodi andI will talk about how yoga
serves as a powerful path to thepresent moment.
She's going to share herinsights about how tuning into
your breath and practicing yogawhile meeting your body exactly
where it's at, not needing to bethe most flexible person in the
(02:10):
room, can have a transformativeimpact on managing your stress
and anxiety.
Whether through yoga ormeditation, jodi believes in
building a more loving andmindful relationship with
yourself.
Before we dive into ourconversation, I also want to
mention that Jodi and I, alongwith Dr Debbie Victoria-Seale,
(02:32):
will be hosting the AwakenRetreat on Saturday, october 5th
, from 1 to 5 pm at our studioin downtown Napa.
There are only a few spotsavailable and only a few days
left to sign up, and so, if it'scalling you, you got to
(02:55):
register.
The link will be in the shownotes and it'll also be on my
website at mrshardcom.
This retreat is all about rest.
It's time and space for you torestore your energy and feel
rejuvenated.
During this event, you'llexperience a rest and refocus
workshop led by yours truly, aswell as a deeply calming guided
(03:15):
meditation.
You'll also experience anamazing restorative yoga
practice led by Jodi and anempowering class with Dr Debbie,
who will share tools for you toground and cleanse your energy
while replenishing your soul.
If you're feeling overwhelmedor stressed, this retreat is
designed to help you take thetime and space you need to
(03:39):
reconnect with yourself and findpeace of mind again.
We would love to see you there.
So, once again, you can findthe link to sign up in the show
notes or on my website atmrshardcom.
Now, without further ado, let'sdive in to today's conversation
with Jodi Shields.
(03:59):
Hi, jodi, hi, how are you Good?
Welcome to the podcast, thankyou.
So I'm really excited to haveyou here on the podcast today
because you and I are very goodfriends and we've been work
roommates since 2018.
And I'm so excited for peoplelistening to get to know you
(04:19):
better.
Oh, well.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Thank you so much.
I can't believe it's been since2018 yeah, do you remember how
we met?
Speaker 1 (04:27):
yes, I totally do.
Will you tell the?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
story, sure, um?
I believe it was one of myclients who came to see me at
one point who told me about you,um, and that you were doing
massage at Whole Foods.
You were doing chair massage atWhole Foods and that's how she
met you.
I don't know if you rememberCrystal.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
I think she saw me at the farmer's market.
Okay, Because I was never atWhole Foods Okay so maybe she
was confused.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
So the farmer's market, but she had told me
about you and asked me if I knewyou and you know, then cut to
like you contacting me forsomething for massage.
Yeah, and I wasn't able to seeyou and suggested that you see
Amber.
Yeah, right.
So you did and that, like Idon't know, a couple of months
went by and then I reached outto you for massage.
(05:15):
Yeah, so I came to see you formassage and I liked you and you
gave an amazing treatment.
And then when I was in thespace on school street with two
rooms uh, I had told thelandlords that when the third,
there was a third roomdownstairs and when that tenant
moved out that I would like toknow about it.
(05:36):
And so they came to me and saidthat they wanted you know that
the tenant was moving out, anddid I want to rent the space?
And I thought of youimmediately that the tenant was
moving out and did I want torent the space?
And I thought of youimmediately and I don't know why
, it was just like I rememberAlessandra.
She has a private practice.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
I think it's thriving , like maybe she's looking for a
change, and I just randomlyreached out and you said yes
that's so awesome and I'm soglad that I had a chance to ask
you what your memory of ourstory was, cause I don't
remember anything about Crystal.
Oh, how funny.
Okay, for me, like, whathappened was I was at Dr
(06:11):
Debbie's office and I waslooking to rent my own room and
I swear to God, it was likewithin a month's time of me,
like wanting to do that andmaking that decision, but not
even looking yet that youreached out and I always thought
it was kind of funny becauseI'd reached out to you for a
massage, but then seeing Amber,I was like why did she remember
me?
And then seeing you for atreatment and I'm so grateful
(06:38):
that you reached out becauseyou've been a dream work
roommate, I feel the same way.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I think, you know, the universe is an amazing thing
and whenever I doubt it, I haveto look back and see the
certain things that I've putenergy into and what has come
back to me.
Yeah, and so you putting outthere that you're looking for a
space and me remembering youknow our brief, you know
encounters in the past and justbeing like you know, I think I'm
(07:07):
going to reach out to this girl.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Yeah, yeah.
And then you got us the spacewe're currently in right now too
.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Love our new space.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Yeah, and for me, my experience of that story, too,
was once again deciding to doin-person workshops instead of
online.
And then, literally within aweek, you were like, hey, that
space above where we used torent is available and it's
really awesome.
You should go look at it.
And you were like my sign fromthe universe to do in-person
(07:36):
things.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
That's so great.
Yeah, that makes me so happy.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Yeah, and if you are listening and you haven't seen
the space yet, jodi has done anamazing job decorating.
All of our clients both of ourclients coaching, massage
therapy and yoga clients commenton how beautiful the space is.
And I'm so grateful that youhave such a talent for interior
design Because, like this blackon the wall, the charcoal I
(08:02):
remember you showing me thiswatch and I was like, ah, that
might be a little bit too much,but you had a vision and it's
all come together so perfectlyand it's just a beautiful space
that everyone feels like reallycalm and at home in this space,
which is perfect for the kind ofwork that you're doing, where
people can really just let goand feel comfortable in this
(08:24):
space.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
People can really just let go and feel comfortable
in this space.
That's exactly the feedbackthat I've gotten from my clients
too is that they just even notnot only the first time, but
their second and third, you know, fourth visits.
They just walk up the stairsand, like God, this space is so
calming.
I feel so easeful when I walkin here and that just starting
out a session whether it's yogaor massage right Imagine a
(08:46):
workshop or retreat just thatinitial feeling of easefulness
makes for a great treatment.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Yeah, I completely agree with that.
So tell us a little bit abouthow you got into massage.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Well, first I want to say thank you for letting me um
use my creative freedom in thespace I love your creative
freedom Not freaking out when Imove stuff all the time.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
That is my favorite thing to come in and like see
that something is moved, becauseI don't just think like, oh,
she thought it was aestheticallybetter this way.
I think that you have likethought about it for a while.
It was like percolating beforeyou even did it and then, like
you were like okay, I'm gonnafeel it out and feel how this
thing feels in this other place,and I just like genuinely feel
(09:31):
that energy whenever I seesomething added or moved, of
like there was some thought putinto this before it appeared or
shifted, and that I love howyou're just like trying things
out too because, like you love,you love the feeling of a space
and I love the feeling ofwalking into a space that
someone created who has thatgreater vision.
(09:51):
But I'm not that's not my likestrongest point by any means,
and so I love that that's yourstrongest point or like strength
.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Well, I just love, like I said, that you permit me
to do that without getting angryor freaking out.
And you know, and I love that,that's the, that's the dynamic
we have and it's worked out sowell.
And again.
I'm so thankful.
But how did I get into massage?
Um, that's a story, let's hearit.
Um, I'll try to keep it brief.
(10:22):
I was in the corporate worldfor a really long time.
I started out working for amoving company doing data entry
when I was in college and it wasjust a part-time job.
And then my mom lost her job,so I started working full-time
and I think I just thought thatwas my path full-time, office
(10:43):
work, climb the ladder, do thethings, because that's kind of
what I saw my mom do.
Right, I lived primarily withmy mom and she was a career
woman and that's what I thought.
Like that's what I'm going todo.
I can't wait to be.
Important is what, like thethought was for me to have to
call my job Because I'm soimportant that I have to check
(11:04):
in when I'm on vacation, tothink that I thought that and to
be here now and like don't evercall me when.
I'm on vacation, yeah um, butit's just funny because that's
what I saw growing up.
Um, so I did just, I stayed inthe corporate world.
I did, um, climbed up theladder, worked hard, uh, at a
(11:27):
young age, uh, was in management, project management, um, people
management, which is a terriblejob.
If you're in people management,you need massage and yoga and
meditation.
Um, but anyhow, I had just beenin this loop and I had switched
(11:48):
jobs, thinking that it was youknow the job, the place I was
working, and then only to findmyself getting into the same
sort of rut, working really hard, being stressed out all the
time, crying every night afterwork, drinking too much after
work, you know, going out withthe work people, because that
(12:09):
was something that I, you did inthe corporate world.
And then I found that gettingout of hand and I just I felt
stuck and randomly a friend ofmine said hey, guess what?
I just signed up for skincareschool.
Hey, guess what I just signedup for, um, skincare school.
She's my age.
I'm like you just signed up forschool.
She's yeah, I'm gonna go toskincare school to be an
(12:30):
esthetician.
I was like well, how are yougonna pay for that?
She's like I got a loan.
I was so blown away by thisconcept right, so you're just
gonna get a loan and go toschool?
She's like, yeah, I'm gonnawork and go to school.
She's like, yeah, I'm going towork and go to school part time
and, you know, pay the loan.
Then the wheels started turning.
I was like, if she can do it, Icould do it.
(12:50):
I could do whatever I want.
And, like the universe speakingto me, an ad came on TV for
National Holistic Institutemassage school and I was like,
oh yeah, I remember I talkedabout wanting to do massage a
long time ago.
Maybe I should look into school.
And I did, and I went to schooland I worked full time and I
got alone and I did all thethings.
(13:12):
And here I am, and that was2007.
I graduated massage school andit was the best thing I've ever
done in my life.
Yeah, it was life changing forme.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Yeah, what did success?
Speaker 2 (13:36):
look like to you with your massage practice.
Initially what?
It meant.
What it still means is theflexibility in my schedule and
to feel good about what I'mdoing.
Again, as I said, in thecorporate world I spent a lot of
(13:59):
time getting yelled at, beingstressed out, doing my best to
make everybody happy, butknowing that in the industries
that I had chosen, like stuffwas going to go wrong and sort
of being a like a punching bagor, you know, like a customer
service person, like they alwaystake the brunt of things Right.
So, um, being in massage I I gotthis genuine feeling of helping
people and then being happy tosee me, and that did something
(14:20):
for me you know, that made myheart happy to be able to offer
something that I ultimatelybecame really good at and like
attuned to and using not using,but you know, providing that
service to people and likechanging their lives a little
bit, making them feel better intheir body, making them feel
better in their brain, and thatlike makes me happy.
(14:44):
I'm a people pleaser from wayback, yeah, so to be in a career
where I am constantly in thatcaretaking, people pleasing
place, but at least this time,or this way, I'm fulfilled.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
It fills my cup as well.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yeah, because it sounds like your idea of success
changed so much, so much Fromwhen you were working in
corporate and what you wereseeing your mom do to like
starting your own practice.
And there's so many challengesthat come up with starting our
own practices, especially ifyou're coming from a different
mindset of what success is andwhat life is supposed to look
(15:27):
like.
And then if you're a peoplepleaser and a helper, it's like
having those healthy boundarieswith your clients and not taking
on.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Yeah, that was the hardest thing for me, I think
even in my office corporateworld I still took on a lot of
other people's stuff you know,and it's hard not to when I'm a
very I'm very susceptible tothat, I guess.
(15:56):
Um, so, taking on that dramafrom work and the coworkers and
the customers and then bringingthat into, okay, I'm going to
channel my energy differentlyand then not taking on stuff
from different places that youwork or different people that
you work on, and especially inmassage, because it's it's such
(16:18):
an intimate business.
And when I say that I don'tjust mean like physically, I
mean like emotionally, becauseyou're really bringing out, you
know, some emotion, some feelingin people's body, whether it's
stress, pain, you know,whatever's going on in their
life translates into what'sgoing on in their body.
(16:41):
Yeah, so it took me a long timeto sort of create healthy
boundaries around that, and it'sjust experience, experience,
practice, practice, practice.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Mm, hmm, what do you currently do to practice If you
see yourself like not havingvery healthy boundaries?
I know for myself, if I becomedepleted and stressed, like my
boundaries will slip then morethan when my cup's full and I'm
feeling good.
What do you do when that startsto happen?
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Um, over the years I've learned that there are
certain things that really dolike refill my cup.
One of them is, um, friend time, and you know just whether it's
just spending time outside ofthe things that you know create
stress in my life and I'm not tosay like there's stress in
(17:36):
everybody's life, but you know,so I'll, I'll look for friend
time, friend time where you canjust talk and be candid, and
that really helps me, like I'llleave a friend if I felt
stressed out after even just a15, 20 minute coffee break and
I'll feel better.
Um, body work wise.
(17:56):
You know, when I'm, when I feellike I've, I will get to a point
, if I don't take care of myself, where I'm working on someone,
and I'll think to myself doesthis even feel good?
Is this even what I should bedoing?
And when I realized that it'slike I'm not in my body.
So I know that that means likeI need to get back into my body
and I'll start like reaching outto you or to other massage
(18:17):
therapists to feel the workagain in my body, and that helps
me a lot to feel better aboutmy work, and then I can see
things more clearly and I'm nottrying to, you know, overbook
myself, because now I'm thinkingabout my body again.
So I think really stepping backinto that headspace that calms
(18:39):
me, and then feeling the work inmy body and take caring, taking
care of my own body, helps meto set those boundaries.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Yeah, yeah, I completely resonate with
everything you just said.
And then also I know that whenI receive from other
practitioners, I learn more andI become inspired about the work
again, totally.
And so if I'm feeling burnt,just like you were saying, like
(19:08):
if I'm feeling burnt out, it'stime for me to receive more body
work.
And I'll never forget I'vebrought this up before, but when
I was starting my practice, drDebbie told me she said, the
more body work you receive, thebusier your practice will become
, and like, what I wanted was asuper busy practice.
And so then I started seeingother massage therapists and it
(19:29):
really did work.
Because, yeah, but it's alsolike the more we take care of
ourselves, the less we have tolike push to make things happen.
It's like things just kind ofmagnetically are drawn to us
instead of there needing to beas much force, which is
counterintuitive to our mind.
Like, sometimes our mind thinkswe really have to work hard, we
(19:50):
have to push, we have to striveand all of those things are
good, but when we're depletedand we're doing that, we lose
the kind of energy that we'retrying to receive.
I don't know, it just createslike more friction in our lives
sometimes, does that?
Speaker 2 (20:06):
make sense.
It does make sense and I thinkabout it in terms of I have a
lot of clients that will ask melike, well, what do you do when
you need a massage?
And if I know it's been a while, it's almost like I feel guilty
saying, oh, I haven't gottenbody work in a while because I'm
telling people you need to takecare of yourself, you need to,
you know, create a schedulewhere you can include body work
(20:28):
in your life, where you caninclude self-care in your life,
and then here I am not doing it.
So it feels more authentic as apractitioner when I'm receiving
work regularly and thenproviding that to other people,
like it feels more of anauthentic exchange, I guess.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Yeah, because you're walking your talk Right exactly
and I feel better in my body.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Yeah, and, like you said, every time I see a
practitioner, I pick up onsomething.
Yeah, even though I try to shutmy brain off and just receive.
That's kind of impossible, yeah, but for the most part you know
I can, I can have that, youknow, turn off the brain a
little bit, just receive thework, and then you know kind of
(21:12):
think back and go like, oh, whatdid she do there?
Speaker 1 (21:14):
What did he do with that?
And you know that's awesome.
And then you took a pivot andcreated a branch for yoga.
I did.
And you took a pivot andcreated a branch for yoga.
I did.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
And so tell us how you got into being a yoga
teacher.
Yoga has been like in myperiphery for probably like more
than half of my life.
You know whether it was.
You know, back in the day Iused to go to the Y for exercise
and we would do um like highimpact aerobics classes and
every once in a while we wouldstumble into a yoga class, uh,
(21:50):
to stretch, quote, unquote toget a good stretch, um.
And then, you know, as Istarted taking different classes
, different places, I would tryyoga and it never made sense to
me.
I couldn't make sense of theclass.
I didn't understand the flow, Ididn't.
The teachers never reallyresonated with me.
I guess, I don't know, I wouldget really frustrated and leave
(22:14):
feeling worse than I did when Iwent in and so that sort of
shied me away from it until, um,I started practicing massage at
a yoga studio and I did anintroductory class.
I was like, all right, I'mgoing to try.
I'm going to try from thebeginning and do this intro
class.
And it made sense for the firsttime, and I was in my 30s.
(22:38):
So for the first time in thatlong it made sense, and actually
I was older than that.
I'd like to skip decades hereand there.
First time in that long it madesense and actually I was, I was
older than that.
Um, I'd like to skip decadeshere and there, Um.
So I just don't think anythingwas ever that long ago, Um, but
(23:00):
anyhow, um.
So, taking this beginner's classand sort of learning like the
foundations, like a little bitof philosophy, a little bit of
the beginning steps and then howthat sort of progresses into
more advanced things, that madesense to me.
So I just sort of startedpracticing regularly and then
having it available to meregularly by working in a studio
(23:20):
, doing massage, having classesright there.
So, as I just did more, I wantedto learn more, and one of my
very good friends and yogateachers we started doing a
trade where she would do privateyoga and I gave her massage and
through the years of us workingtogether, she decided to
(23:41):
develop a teacher trainingcurriculum and then I did her
teacher training and, again,like the different styles that
come into it, the different uhphilosophies that evolved or
have evolved, and the differentum limbs, let's say, of the yoga
(24:01):
practice, um are different toeach practitioner and to each
teacher.
But it was an eye opener for mein that I got to really dive in
to understanding my practiceand why I wanted to do it, Like
what this was doing for me,Cause that's a big people ask
what's your why?
I don't know, I just like it.
But what it's done for me moreso in my head than in my body is
(24:25):
when I practice yoga.
I found that I am fully presentin what I'm doing.
And there aren't many times thatI can say that, yes, I'm
present when I'm doing massage,yes, I'm present with every
client, but the mind wanders and, you know, sometimes I'm
(24:46):
thinking about what I'm going tomake for dinner and then I got
to remind myself to come back tothe body, and I mean, that
happens, you know, wheneveryou're doing something, because
the brain just wants to work ata million miles an hour.
But yoga, to me, gave me what Ineeded to bring that focus back
into my mind and body, becauseI had to.
I had to think about what I wasdoing, and I don't think about
(25:07):
just, hey, we're going intodownward dog.
I think about it as what are myhands doing, what are my arms
doing, what is my core doing,what are my legs doing and
what's my breath doing, and sothat put me right into that
moment that I couldn't reallyachieve without it.
Does that make sense?
Oh, yeah, okay, and you knoweven other forms of exercise.
(25:28):
You know they do that to adegree, but for me, yoga made
sense in that way.
And then after let's see, thatwas in 2019 is when I did my
teacher training, and then I wasteaching for about six months
(25:48):
until everything shut down and Iactually didn't think I'd teach
when I took that teachertraining.
I really did it just for myself, but found that getting in
front of people was reallyintimidating at first.
It still is, I'm not going tolie.
It's still intimidating, but I'meven more so in the moment when
(26:09):
I'm teaching than when I'mtaking a class, so that also
gives something back to me whenI'm teaching.
But what I was going to say is,during the pandemic, I took a.
I furthered my yoga educationby taking another 300-hour
online course 300 hour onlinecourse and that really changed
(26:38):
the way that I practice and theway that I understand the
practice.
So now I feel more confident inmy teacher, in my teaching, I
feel more at ease in my teachingand it's becoming more and more
enjoyable.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
That's so awesome.
Yeah, I love your yoga classes,thank you.
I've taken a couple and Ireally do experience the synergy
between, like you, having somuch experience as a body worker
meshing with yoga, because yourawareness about what people's
(27:18):
bodies are doing in myexperience is different than
other yoga classes that I'vetaken Other yoga classes.
My body is very mobile andsometimes it gets aggravated
with a lot of twisting orcertain movements, but my body
has never gotten aggravated inany of your classes and for me
(27:40):
that's a big deal because I'mmore of a flexible person.
So, like strength training is alot better for my body on a
daily basis or like a morefrequent basis, but your classes
have always been something thatI've walked away from, where
I'm like I feel better.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Thank you that makes me really happy.
Yeah.
Um, it makes me happy and I Ilike that feedback of I feel
better, like that's all I canhope for when someone takes a
class, when someone's you knowon my massage tables that you're
going to feel better, likethat's all I can hope for when
someone takes a class, whensomeone's you know on my massage
tables that you're going tofeel better than when you got
here you know, um, whether it'sin your body or in your brain.
(28:19):
Um, but what I've learned aboutyoga and what's hard, I think,
is that people yoga's evolving,ever evolving.
So when, when you think aboutwhat yoga was, you know, a
hundred years ago versus what itis now, when you think about
(28:39):
the traditions that you knowthat the texts speak of, you
know yoga wasn't about, you know, sun salutations and moving
into, you know downward dog fromplank pose.
You know yoga was aboutcentering your mind and
basically like ceasing allthought.
Right.
(29:01):
And so the way that it's evolvedis yoga as a union of body,
breath and mind.
Yoga as a union of body, breathand mind, and that's what makes
sense and that's whatcontemporary yoga is more of is
is bringing that movement aspect, moving with your breath,
focusing the mind, um, and it'snot for flex, it's not only for
(29:24):
flexible people you don't haveto be bendy to do yoga.
I am not the bendiest person inmy classes.
You know.
I laugh at myself sometimeswhen I call.
You know if I, if I say to getinto a pose, and there's someone
in the class who's likehyperflexible and is, like you
know, pancake style and I'm likebarely touching my toes.
But the work isn't from beinghyperflexible or just getting
(29:49):
into the posture.
The work is getting into theposture, working to get into the
posture, and it's also engagingthe muscles and strengthening
the muscles.
And every body is not the sameand I think that's where the
bodywork background kind ofcomes in a little bit, Because I
(30:10):
know every body is not the same.
Everybody's body doesn't movethe same way.
Everyone doesn't have the samerange of motion.
That doesn't mean they can't dosomething in a yoga class, it
just means they have to do itdifferently.
They have to do what works intheir body.
Um, the most confusing thingfor me in yoga is I have, I
(30:30):
hyperextend my knees right.
So when I, when I straighten mylegs, I automatically
hyperextend.
So I would have, I would takeyoga classes before I knew what
any of that meant.
And they would say okay,straighten your legs.
No, bend your knees a little bit.
No, straighten your legs butdon't lock your knees.
And I'm like I don't understandwhat you're telling me to do.
(30:51):
This is the way my knees go.
They're locked, Like I don'tknow how to not lock my knees
and have them be straight at thesame time I'm leaving and I
feel like some people get thatway and it's not black and white
.
Yoga is very much not black andwhite and it's what works in
(31:12):
your body, for your body, and asa teacher, I try to convey that
to the students, to the peoplein my class, because it's not
going to look like everybodyelse's practice.
It's not going to look.
If you want to look at yourneighbor to see what they're
doing and make sure youunderstand the, the terminology,
or maybe I said something.
They didn't catch the word thatI meant, that's one thing, but
(31:34):
don't expect to look exactlylike they do.
You know, um, and so in a sense, that whole experience was also
humbling for me.
Um, to learn that my body mightnever, ever do certain things,
um, but I like that, I like thatI was able to kind of come to
that on my own.
(31:55):
Learn that it's okay for yourshoulders to be in a certain
position, even though, like someyoga teachers you know in the
past, will say like no, you haveto be in this position, like
this is what it says in the book, like this is how your posture
is supposed to look.
That might not work in yourbody.
So you have to make adjustmentsand you have to do what feels
good.
(32:15):
And I do feel like having thebody work background and then
taking all the classes that I'vetaken and like honoring my own
body in my practice has allowedme to be able to like verbally
cue that to people who take myclass.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Yeah, Cause, like as you were talking about this, I
just love your perspective onlike accepting the body like
where it's at and meeting itthere instead of like forcing it
to do something that's out ofits natural realm.
And then like where you'reputting success in terms of like
your yoga practice.
That is, it being like thepancake person, right?
(32:50):
Or is it just?
showing up and doing your bestand like exploring what
movements feel good for yourbody and like where your range
is and connecting with yourbreath and your mind.
And connecting with your bodyinstead of being goal oriented
because I so often with exercise, become so goal oriented like
wanting to do it right, likemaking sure it's a good workout,
(33:11):
you know.
Quote unquote good workoutinstead of like.
This is just time to spend timewith my body and myself in a
check in with like where I'm at,because all of our minds, like
you said, are going a millionmiles an hour and it's sacred
space when you're just takingthat time for self care, and
sometimes people have a hardtime doing it on their own and
(33:32):
so going to a class and beingfacilitated by somebody,
especially somebody who's goingto be realistic about where
their body can go and what theirgoals could look like, like
that brings so much peace andlike creates a space for so much
peace and connection within,rather than it being like an
outcome based practice.
(33:54):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
I think you know as humans and and in our life,
everything is is a goal oriented.
One of your goals.
Where do you see yourself infive years?
You know it's it's like well.
So in a an exercise practice,your goals become like what
building muscle, bulking up orlosing weight, getting down to a
size four doing you know,whatever the goal is, and all of
(34:17):
that's great, right, but it'sand how many times have we heard
it it's not the destination,it's the journey, journey.
And the same holds true in your, in any exercise routine, um,
in any, you know, whether it'syoga, or you know whether any
career path, um, I think aboutwhat you said about you know the
(34:38):
goals and like wanting to, todo the things and having goals,
whether it's in yoga or exercise, that's great.
But you know, I, I, over thepandemic, I decided I was going
to learn, teach myself, how topress into handstand.
Okay, that's very difficult andI'm not a gymnast and I think,
(35:03):
um, maybe, if I started tryingto press into handstand in my
twenties, that maybe I could doit, but it was.
It was an unreasonableexpectation in my body, right,
and it's twofold, like I don'thave the upper body strength or
the wrist strength anymore.
And when I noticed what I wasdoing, practicing handstand
every day, trying to press intoit, I was creating more harm in
my body than good and I had tosay you know what?
(35:28):
It's fun to try and get intohandstand every once in a while.
It's fun to use a wall and kickinto handstand.
I don't have to press.
I don't have the core strength.
I might never have the corestrength, um, but it's fun to
play with it and every once in awhile I teach it.
You know, and people like toplay a little bit and I found
(35:49):
that that was more fun thanactually getting into the
posture that I thought I neededto like get into.
Just, you know, goals changeand that's okay, yeah, right.
And, and I think, getting moreflexible, feeling better.
When I say more flexible, Imean getting either maybe it's
stronger, maybe it's moreflexible, maybe it's being able
(36:11):
to touch your toes, maybe it'sbeing able to move without
discomfort right, all thosethings are good goals and you
work towards them every time youpractice.
At least, that's how I feel.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Yeah, but it sounds like the philosophy is more like
show up for yourself, meet yourbody where it's at, and then
the fruits of your showing upand continuous practice are that
you are more flexible or youfeel better in your body or you
notice something's changed, andthat is a different way to
(36:47):
practice, rather than likecomparing yourself to someone
else, right, or continuing topush for handstand when it's
injuring you Right, and justthinking you know, I just need
to be tougher or stronger orwhatever your negative self-talk
is telling you.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Exactly, and there's a lot of that.
Self-negative, negativethoughts are so easy for us.
Mm-hmm.
And it's like part of how we'rewired.
Our brains are wired to justlike trust.
The negative, you know, but yousaid it spot on.
Showing up for yourself andenjoying that work, enjoying the
(37:25):
class, enjoying whatever it isthat you're doing when you're
doing something for yourself,eventually will show you the
results that you were hoping for, and those results might be
different than what you thoughtyou were going to get.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
Yeah, and that's what I've seen happen in so many
areas of life, like inrelationships.
Sometimes you want a veryspecific outcome For me with my
dad.
Like I really wanted him toshow up as like a father in my
life but he's just not capableof that because he's a sick
person.
He's had a chronic illness hiswhole life.
And like when I was able torelease that idea of like he
(38:00):
needed to be the dad in my life,he needed to do dad things like
fix my car and like tell meabout financial things and
decisions I should make you know, when I released that idea and
just met a relationship where itwas like we have a very
different relationship than Ithought we would ever have today
, but it's peaceful and it'sfulfilling and we laugh together
(38:20):
and like that was the secret.
There was like releasing what Iwanted so badly and like,
beneath all of that, I wantedconnection with him.
I wanted love with him.
Right, I wanted love for him.
I wanted to look forward totalking to him instead of
dreading his phone calls andlike I got all of those things.
The package just looksdifferent, Right.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
Yeah, and the same holds true in relationships,
whether it's friends, or in allrelationships, whether it's
friends or significant others.
I mean, I have the same orsimilar struggle with my husband
and it's not a struggle Ishouldn't call it a struggle,
but it's like.
You know, you always want yourspouse to be a certain way, or
you know your significant otherto be the dream person, right,
(39:07):
and I've had to realize, I think, that the pandemic I said was
either going to make or break us.
But it actually made.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
I feel like a lot of people feel that way.
Speaker 2 (39:15):
Right.
But I feel like, without thedistraction of so many other
things and I was afraid of thatdistraction, like that time like
kind of blowing up in our faceswhat it did was give me a
chance to like kind ofreevaluate what I think I, what
I thought I wanted as far as ourconnection goes Right and I
realized that, like we speakvery different love languages
(39:39):
Right, and I'm obviously acts ofservice, you know, and and when
I realized that it doesn't haveto look exactly like I thought
my fairy tale life, it wouldlook and like meet him where
he's at.
Then he started meeting me whereI was at as well, you know,
(39:59):
yeah, and letting go, like yousaid, letting go of that
expectation and just letting itbe.
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
Yeah, and I love the quote like it only takes one
person to change a relationshipand that's how that works.
Like I feel like people cansubconsciously feel it when,
like you have acceptance forthem, it like releases a level
of tension or like a wall that'sthere between two people.
When you genuinely are able toaccept them, when you're not
just like praying to haveacceptance, to have acceptance
(40:30):
right, like be struck into you,when you genuinely work some
sort of program or path or dosome internal work or a practice
it could even be a yogapractice like showing up for
yourself and showing yourself-acceptance that can trickle
into your relationships.
But when you genuinely havethat, other people feel it and
then their walls come down andyou stop fighting about things
(40:54):
or nitpicking each other aboutthings that you used to nitpick
each other about, and thenyou're able to create a
different kind of relationshipMaybe not the ideal one, like
we've been saying, but the oneit ends up feeding your soul so
much more.
Speaker 2 (41:12):
Right and ideal changes over time.
Yeah, Needs change over time,whether it's experience, age,
situation, you know what youmight have thought ideal at one
point shifts and you focus onthings that are important in
your now, and I think that's oneof the things that um yoga has
(41:36):
helped me with.
Is that now part?
Speaker 1 (41:41):
Hmm, yeah, that's big , that's really big Is that big.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
Well, it's true.
I mean, yeah, I guess it's bigand it's hard.
It's a hard one to be inbecause you know you're always
thinking about well, I, not you.
I I'm always thinking aboutwhat I should have said, what I
could have said, what did I sayI shouldn't have said that, I
shouldn't have done that, Icould have done that differently
(42:11):
.
What am I gonna make for dinnertomorrow?
What am I gonna do with my life?
What you know, and it's likethis, always this past sort of
reflection in in a negative way,right in this future, like
almost dread right, and likewhen you put that out, there
you're, you're asking for forthe negativity to come back to
you, you know.
(42:31):
And so I feel like acceptingthings as it comes.
Yeah, the past is the past, ithappened.
No one else is thinking aboutthat anymore, and if they are,
then they need to work on stufftoo.
Right, I mean, and we all do,but um, I think that's when I
say, like, being in the now,it's, it's not easy.
It's not easy to put the paststuff away and to put the future
(42:52):
thoughts away, but just whenyou can, in that moment, find
yourself in the now and realize,like, what do I have, what do I
need right in this moment?
Right now.
Yeah, I love that, I love that.
And then what kind of yoga?
Speaker 1 (43:17):
do you practice?
Speaker 2 (43:19):
So the type of yoga that I teach is more of a flow
class.
So when I say flow, one breath,one movement, it's called
vinyasa or hatha style.
It's not specifically a certainset of postures every time I
teach, but it depends on whatpart of the body that I'm
working on.
Typically I'll do acomprehensive practice, which
(43:41):
means you're going to feeleverything everywhere, but maybe
we'll focus on like a hipopening class to get deeper into
the hip flexors and then mypostures will vary based on that
and usually it's like abuild-up.
So we'll start like a littlesofter, a little gentler,
building into a more challengingpractice and then taking it
(44:05):
down to a restful state, alwaysoffering like modifications for
people.
I like to try and includedifferent options for people.
Typically you're going to get alot of flow, which is a lot of
movement, a lot of lengtheningtissue, and I also really focus
on strengthening.
That's awesome.
(44:27):
It's not all about being like Isaid.
It's not all about being like Isaid.
It's not all about being bend,bendable yeah, it's not about
being gumby it's about beingdefinitely not it's about being
human.
It's about you know, we said,sometimes you don't feel like
pushing yourself and you meetyour body where it's at right
and you just accept that this iswhere you're at and this is
where your body feels good rightnow and you stay there.
(44:48):
And then there are thosemornings where you wake up and
you're in class and you're tiredand you don't think you want to
do anything, but you startfeeling good and you're like you
know what?
I'm going to take this posturea little bit deeper.
I'm going to try the moreadvanced style and see how that
feels in your body.
And, like I said, more often Ihave people coming up to me
telling me that they feel somuch better than they did when
(45:09):
they walked in, and again thatjust makes my heart happy.
Yeah, did that explain whatkind of yoga I?
Speaker 1 (45:15):
teach.
Oh yeah, you did a great jobexplaining that, Thanks.
That was very clear.
I don't know a whole lot aboutyoga and I was 100% able to
follow.
Okay, good.
Speaker 2 (45:26):
Yeah, because I started teaching or I started
taking an Ashtanga protocol,which Ashtanga yoga is very
strict in its protocol, as isBikram style yoga, which I teach
at the Hot Yoga Studio in Napa,and so that's 26 postures.
(45:47):
You practice the same 26postures every time you do it.
Ashtanga you practice the samepostures, adding on as you get
more advanced.
I like those things in thesense that your body gets used
to being in certain postures andthat you can see the results as
far as being able to getfurther into a posture, hold
(46:08):
something longer because you'restronger.
So I have an element ofrepetitiveness in the way I
teach, but not in the posturesthat I teach.
Does that make?
Speaker 1 (46:17):
sense?
Yeah, it does.
It does Like you're not doingthe same 26 postures over and
over again, but you do tend tohang out with certain postures,
right or a certain, but you dotend to hang out with certain
postures, right or a certain.
Speaker 2 (46:29):
There's a certain element to my flow which you
know.
We do the same sort of almostwarmups, but you know you're
used to the way that if you, ifyou continue to take the classes
like you, get used to the way,like the format that I lead it
in, so it's not completelyforeign.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
I love that.
I love that.
I love that so that you canlike build in terms of like your
practice and your knowledge andbeing familiar with certain
poses.
Speaker 2 (46:55):
but it's a million styles and there's a million
teachers and each teacher hastheir own style, Um, but there
are people who are morecomfortable with that.
(47:17):
I do these postures.
I'm really good at those youknow and that's great, and they
work in their body.
For me, I felt like I needed alittle bit more, and I love the
flexibility of being able tochange things up a little bit
and get a little bit morecreative in the sequence, While
again having a little bit offamiliarity in the way that I
(47:37):
teach.
Speaker 1 (47:38):
Yeah, I would be drawn to what you're saying like
the second option in terms ofhaving more creative flow,
because for me, I lose thepresent moment if it's too
predictable, like I need to havechange.
And that's why I love likehaving my own practice and being
(47:58):
massage therapist and thendoing coaching and workshops,
because, like that helps mybrain stay like very engaged,
where if I do too much of thesame thing it becomes mundane
and then I check out a loteasier.
Speaker 2 (48:11):
Yeah, I get that.
I feel the same way.
Since incorporating teachingyoga and also training in the
new modality, body work modality, it's kept me more on point and
aware of my body and mypractice.
Speaker 1 (48:29):
Yeah, what is that new modality?
Speaker 2 (48:33):
Well, I've been studying the Hendrickson method.
After experiencing such amazingbody work from my roommate, I
continue to bring theHendrickson method into my
practice and I have had a littlebit of training.
I've had the first level oftraining as it's taught through
(48:56):
the official modality, but thelittle bit that I've learned and
we've talked about this makes ahuge difference in my clients'
bodies.
So whether or not I do a fullHendrickson session on someone
or whether I incorporate it intomy more traditional body work
style, I'm getting better,longer lasting results with my
(49:20):
clients and I think I've saidthis to you before.
The second yoga teachertraining that I did Um and the
Hendrickson method had so manysimilarities in um how the body
works and how the the well, howyoga is taught and practiced and
(49:41):
how body work is taught inpractice Like there were so many
connections that it just madeso much sense to me and has
deepened my practice and lovefor both body work and yeah, I'm
totally nerding out on anatomyright now.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (49:55):
And I can see how they both feed each other so
strongly.
And the Hendrickson method is aform of orthopedic massage and
both Jodi and I practice it andwe ask clients to leave their
clothes on during the session.
It's similar to physicaltherapy in the sense of like,
like we're having you do certainmotions while lying down on a
massage table, but thatactivates certain muscles and
(50:18):
can turn muscles on that go tosleep.
Like people don't realize thattheir glutes often go to sleep,
even if they're a runner, andthat can cause like sciatica, it
can cause hip pain, it cancause low back pain.
And so when you get the musclesfiring in the proper order and
then you do these certainmovements where you have a
client resist against you andthen release, and that tricks
(50:41):
the nervous system into lettinggo on a deeper level and so that
you're not forcing as a massagetherapist, trying to like force
the muscle into submission,you're more allowing the body to
release neurologically andrelease the tightness in the
muscles and then get theappropriate muscles backfired
(51:02):
and wired.
And so people after thesessions they feel very much in
their body.
Some of my clients feel likereally pumped afterwards, they
like have a lot of energy andsome clients feel like very
relaxed.
And it's neat because you canactually check in with a client
during the session and be like,oh, does this still hurt?
Like, for example, the easiestis when somebody comes in and
(51:24):
they can't experience full rangeof motion in their neck and
after doing the work you cancheck in and be like, oh, can
you turn now?
And like, usually by the end ofa session a person has full
range of motion depending onwhat their injury is Like.
If it's a sleep injury, it'susually you can get it done in
one session, right.
If it's something else, then itcan take more sessions.
(51:46):
But people feel improvementimmediately, immediately.
Speaker 2 (51:49):
I mean, yeah, with chronic injury they're
definitely going to need to comeback regularly and have that
same work done to help releasethat tissue.
But there's always an immediatefeel good afterwards and what
I've found with the Hendricksonmethod is that it lasts longer
than traditional massage.
I love traditional massage, Ilove to give massage, I love to
(52:12):
receive massage, but it neverlasted with me and my body Like
I feel great getting a massageand by the time I get home I'm
like, oh, my neck still hurts ormy shoulders still hurt.
With the Hendrickson method.
My body genuinely feels betterfor days and I think that that's
(52:33):
what my body craves.
My body craves more of that,like for heat for that purpose,
more of that.
You know, firing the musclesthat should be doing the work,
relaxing the muscles thatshouldn't work so hard to assist
um strengthening, assist umstrengthening muscles that have
(52:54):
gotten weak, uh yeah it justlasts in my body a lot more but,
I, still love a traditionalmassage.
Speaker 1 (52:58):
Yeah, I agree, and I feel like that's why there's so
many different modalities outthere, because it's like what
does your body need?
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (53:05):
And that's why I mean that's that mind muscle
connection as well in theHendrickson method, because
you're touching the muscle right.
You're telling the client, thisis the muscle that I'm going to
work on and you're getting themto think about the action that
they're doing that causes thatmuscle to fire right.
And then they can also feel therelease that antagonist muscle
(53:26):
like letting go.
And.
I feel like that also allows,that also makes more the
connection reality between whatI teach in yoga and what I do on
my massage table.
Speaker 1 (53:39):
Yeah, definitely, definitely.
And then if people want to takea yoga class with you and
they're in the Napa area, wherecan they find you?
They can find me at Napa hotyoga.
Speaker 2 (53:50):
It's on Silverado trail and Lincoln and I teach
their Mondays.
I teach a power of vinyasaclass, which sounds more
intimidating than it is, um, atnine o'clock Monday morning, and
then a deep stretch andmeditation class, uh, at seven
30 on Monday evenings.
I also have a small group classhere and I'm lovely downtown
(54:10):
Napa studio on.
Sunday mornings at 10 30.
Speaker 1 (54:14):
Yeah, and I'll put the address in the show notes.
Speaker 2 (54:16):
Okay, yeah, it's you just go to my website, which is
Libra Vitaecom, and it has allthat information.
Speaker 1 (54:23):
And then you're doing private one-on-ones too, right.
Speaker 2 (54:25):
I am yes, yeah, yeah, I've done that here in the
studio.
I've gone to people's homes andyou know, I think a lot of
people that do feel thatintimidation level with, like,
going into a yoga class find thebenefit of having the
personalized, you know,in-person yoga one-on-one.
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (54:47):
Yeah, and then are you taking new clients for
massage therapy Um.
Speaker 2 (54:53):
I, I will yes.
Yeah, just a couple of, just acouple of slots.
Um, if you mentioned that youheard on the podcast or through
Alessandra, uh, absolutely, youknow I like to um accommodate
referrals.
So any any of my clients thatrefer their friends, colleagues,
like I try to get them in.
(55:15):
So if we have anyone that'sinterested then I will
absolutely do my best to see you.
Speaker 1 (55:20):
That's awesome.
And then, if you want to hangout with both of us in person,
on Saturday, october 5th, from 1to 5 pm, jodi and I will be
part of the Awaken Retreat,which is our theme for the
Awaken Retreat is rest, restore,rejuvenate, and I'm going to
host a workshop that's going tohelp you rest and refocus,
(55:44):
followed by a deeply restorativeguided meditation, and then
Jodi is going to be teaching arestorative yoga practice.
Speaker 2 (55:53):
Yes, so stepping away from that sort of flow class
style, restorative yoga is more.
It's more.
It's slower, it's more hangingout in postures that are fully
supported.
So we have blocks and blanketsand bolsters and we'll be
resting in postures that arefully supported.
So we have blocks and blanketsand bolsters and we'll be
resting in postures that are,you know, very good for for your
(56:16):
body and you'll be holdingpostures for a longer time but
fully supported.
So you're really not effortingmuch in each posture and it's
more to support your body toopen on its time.
Um, and it's deeply relaxing.
It's amazing for calminganxiety.
Um, bringing that like feelingof happiness back into your body
(56:41):
.
Uh, I love a good restorativeclass.
Um, again, it's totallydifferent than a flow class
where you know you're notgetting up and down, you're not
switching from posture toposture with each breath, but
you're resting in fullysupported postures, whether it
be for hip opening or heartopening or feeling some shoulder
relief.
(57:01):
But it's definitely a slower,more grounding practice.
Speaker 1 (57:07):
I'm so excited for that.
I love teaching restorativeyoga.
Yeah, that's going to be agreat class.
It's sleepy yoga, I love sleepy.
Excited for that.
I love teaching restorativeyoga.
Yeah, that's going to be agreat class.
It's sleepy yoga.
I love sleepy yoga Me too.
Well, thank you so much, jodi,for being on the show today.
Thank you for having me.
I loved being able to ask youthese interview type questions,
because when we hang out, wejust chat.
(57:28):
And so I feel like I got toknow so much more about you.
Speaker 2 (57:32):
Thank you, and thank you for making me feel at ease,
because I was definitely nervousto talk about myself.
You did a great job, so thankyou.
Speaker 1 (57:39):
You're welcome and everyone out there listening.
We'll talk to you soon.
Thanks for tuning in, Take care.
Hi, I'm Alessandra Tolome Hard, aka Mrs Hard, and
this is Hard Times no More, apodcast for people who are tired
of struggling with boundaries,people-pleasing and relationship
problems.
I have overcome some hard times.
Within three years, I stoppeddrinking, my mom died of cancer
and my house burnt down in aCalifornia wildfire, and those
(00:22):
are just the highlights.
I have a lot of reasons to bemiserable, but I'm not.
The truth is, life was morechallenging before these events
happened.
If you are tired of waiting foryour circumstances to change to
find happiness and peace ofmind, you are in the right place
.
Join me as I share the tools Iuse in love to transform
(00:43):
challenges into assets andinterview others about their
relationship journeys.
Together, let's learn how tohave a happy life full of
healthy, meaningfulrelationships and say goodbye to
hard times for good.
Hey there, I'm AlessandraTolome HardHard, aka Mrs Hard,
(01:03):
wellness and Relationship Coach.
Today, I'm so excited to havemy good friend and work roommate
, jodi Shields, with me on thepodcast.
Jodi is an amazing soul.
She's authentic, real anddeeply caring for her clients
and friends.
As both a skilled yoga teacherand orthopedic massage therapist
(01:25):
, she brings a unique blend ofknowledge and experience to her
practice.
Jodi hosts a weekly yoga classat her studio in downtown Napa,
as well as two weekly classes atNapa Hot Yoga.
Nearly 20 years of experiencein massage therapy.
That gives her a profoundunderstanding of the body, and
(01:47):
she integrates that wisdombeautifully into her yoga
classes.
In this conversation, jodi andI will talk about how yoga
serves as a powerful path to thepresent moment.
She's going to share herinsights about how tuning into
your breath and practicing yogawhile meeting your body exactly
where it's at, not needing to bethe most flexible person in the
(02:10):
room, can have a transformativeimpact on managing your stress
and anxiety.
Whether through yoga ormeditation, jodi believes in
building a more loving andmindful relationship with
yourself.
Before we dive into ourconversation, I also want to
mention that Jodi and I, alongwith Dr Debbie Victoria-Seale,
(02:32):
will be hosting the AwakenRetreat on Saturday, october 5th
, from 1 to 5 pm at our studioin downtown Napa.
There are only a few spotsavailable and only a few days
left to sign up, and so, if it'scalling you, you got to
(02:55):
register.
The link will be in the shownotes and it'll also be on my
website at mrshardcom.
This retreat is all about rest.
It's time and space for you torestore your energy and feel
rejuvenated.
During this event, you'llexperience a rest and refocus
workshop led by yours truly, aswell as a deeply calming guided
(03:15):
meditation.
You'll also experience anamazing restorative yoga
practice led by Jodi and anempowering class with Dr Debbie,
who will share tools for you toground and cleanse your energy
while replenishing your soul.
If you're feeling overwhelmedor stressed, this retreat is
designed to help you take thetime and space you need to
(03:39):
reconnect with yourself and findpeace of mind again.
We would love to see you there.
So, once again, you can findthe link to sign up in the show
notes or on my website atmrshardcom.
Now, without further ado, let'sdive in to today's conversation
with Jodi Shields.
(03:59):
Hi, jodi, hi, how are you Good?
Welcome to the podcast, thankyou.
So I'm really excited to haveyou here on the podcast today
because you and I are very goodfriends and we've been work
roommates since 2018.
And I'm so excited for peoplelistening to get to know you
(04:19):
better.
Oh, well.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Thank you so much.
I can't believe it's been since2018 yeah, do you remember how
we met?
Speaker 1 (04:27):
yes, I totally do.
Will you tell the?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
story, sure, um?
I believe it was one of myclients who came to see me at
one point who told me about you,um, and that you were doing
massage at Whole Foods.
You were doing chair massage atWhole Foods and that's how she
met you.
I don't know if you rememberCrystal.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
I think she saw me at the farmer's market.
Okay, Because I was never atWhole Foods Okay so maybe she
was confused.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
So the farmer's market, but she had told me
about you and asked me if I knewyou and you know, then cut to
like you contacting me forsomething for massage.
Yeah, and I wasn't able to seeyou and suggested that you see
Amber.
Yeah, right.
So you did and that, like Idon't know, a couple of months
went by and then I reached outto you for massage.
(05:15):
Yeah, so I came to see you formassage and I liked you and you
gave an amazing treatment.
And then when I was in thespace on school street with two
rooms uh, I had told thelandlords that when the third,
there was a third roomdownstairs and when that tenant
moved out that I would like toknow about it.
(05:36):
And so they came to me and saidthat they wanted you know that
the tenant was moving out, anddid I want to rent the space?
And I thought of youimmediately that the tenant was
moving out and did I want torent the space?
And I thought of youimmediately and I don't know why
, it was just like I rememberAlessandra.
She has a private practice.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
I think it's thriving , like maybe she's looking for a
change, and I just randomlyreached out and you said yes
that's so awesome and I'm soglad that I had a chance to ask
you what your memory of ourstory was, cause I don't
remember anything about Crystal.
Oh, how funny.
Okay, for me, like, whathappened was I was at Dr
(06:11):
Debbie's office and I waslooking to rent my own room and
I swear to God, it was likewithin a month's time of me,
like wanting to do that andmaking that decision, but not
even looking yet that youreached out and I always thought
it was kind of funny becauseI'd reached out to you for a
massage, but then seeing Amber,I was like why did she remember
me?
And then seeing you for atreatment and I'm so grateful
(06:38):
that you reached out becauseyou've been a dream work
roommate, I feel the same way.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I think, you know, the universe is an amazing thing
and whenever I doubt it, I haveto look back and see the
certain things that I've putenergy into and what has come
back to me.
Yeah, and so you putting outthere that you're looking for a
space and me remembering youknow our brief, you know
encounters in the past and justbeing like you know, I think I'm
(07:07):
going to reach out to this girl.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Yeah, yeah.
And then you got us the spacewe're currently in right now too
.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Love our new space.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Yeah, and for me, my experience of that story, too,
was once again deciding to doin-person workshops instead of
online.
And then, literally within aweek, you were like, hey, that
space above where we used torent is available and it's
really awesome.
You should go look at it.
And you were like my sign fromthe universe to do in-person
(07:36):
things.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
That's so great.
Yeah, that makes me so happy.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Yeah, and if you are listening and you haven't seen
the space yet, jodi has done anamazing job decorating.
All of our clients both of ourclients coaching, massage
therapy and yoga clients commenton how beautiful the space is.
And I'm so grateful that youhave such a talent for interior
design Because, like this blackon the wall, the charcoal I
(08:02):
remember you showing me thiswatch and I was like, ah, that
might be a little bit too much,but you had a vision and it's
all come together so perfectlyand it's just a beautiful space
that everyone feels like reallycalm and at home in this space,
which is perfect for the kind ofwork that you're doing, where
people can really just let goand feel comfortable in this
(08:24):
space.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
People can really just let go and feel comfortable
in this space.
That's exactly the feedbackthat I've gotten from my clients
too is that they just even notnot only the first time, but
their second and third, you know, fourth visits.
They just walk up the stairsand, like God, this space is so
calming.
I feel so easeful when I walkin here and that just starting
out a session whether it's yogaor massage right Imagine a
(08:46):
workshop or retreat just thatinitial feeling of easefulness
makes for a great treatment.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Yeah, I completely agree with that.
So tell us a little bit abouthow you got into massage.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Well, first I want to say thank you for letting me um
use my creative freedom in thespace I love your creative
freedom Not freaking out when Imove stuff all the time.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
That is my favorite thing to come in and like see
that something is moved, becauseI don't just think like, oh,
she thought it was aestheticallybetter this way.
I think that you have likethought about it for a while.
It was like percolating beforeyou even did it and then, like
you were like okay, I'm gonnafeel it out and feel how this
thing feels in this other place,and I just like genuinely feel
(09:31):
that energy whenever I seesomething added or moved, of
like there was some thought putinto this before it appeared or
shifted, and that I love howyou're just like trying things
out too because, like you love,you love the feeling of a space
and I love the feeling ofwalking into a space that
someone created who has thatgreater vision.
(09:51):
But I'm not that's not my likestrongest point by any means,
and so I love that that's yourstrongest point or like strength
.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Well, I just love, like I said, that you permit me
to do that without getting angryor freaking out.
And you know, and I love that,that's the, that's the dynamic
we have and it's worked out sowell.
And again.
I'm so thankful.
But how did I get into massage?
Um, that's a story, let's hearit.
Um, I'll try to keep it brief.
(10:22):
I was in the corporate worldfor a really long time.
I started out working for amoving company doing data entry
when I was in college and it wasjust a part-time job.
And then my mom lost her job,so I started working full-time
and I think I just thought thatwas my path full-time, office
(10:43):
work, climb the ladder, do thethings, because that's kind of
what I saw my mom do.
Right, I lived primarily withmy mom and she was a career
woman and that's what I thought.
Like that's what I'm going todo.
I can't wait to be.
Important is what, like thethought was for me to have to
call my job Because I'm soimportant that I have to check
(11:04):
in when I'm on vacation, tothink that I thought that and to
be here now and like don't evercall me when.
I'm on vacation, yeah um, butit's just funny because that's
what I saw growing up.
Um, so I did just, I stayed inthe corporate world.
I did, um, climbed up theladder, worked hard, uh, at a
(11:27):
young age, uh, was in management, project management, um, people
management, which is a terriblejob.
If you're in people management,you need massage and yoga and
meditation.
Um, but anyhow, I had just beenin this loop and I had switched
(11:48):
jobs, thinking that it was youknow the job, the place I was
working, and then only to findmyself getting into the same
sort of rut, working really hard, being stressed out all the
time, crying every night afterwork, drinking too much after
work, you know, going out withthe work people, because that
(12:09):
was something that I, you did inthe corporate world.
And then I found that gettingout of hand and I just I felt
stuck and randomly a friend ofmine said hey, guess what?
I just signed up for skincareschool.
Hey, guess what I just signedup for, um, skincare school.
She's my age.
I'm like you just signed up forschool.
She's yeah, I'm gonna go toskincare school to be an
(12:30):
esthetician.
I was like well, how are yougonna pay for that?
She's like I got a loan.
I was so blown away by thisconcept right, so you're just
gonna get a loan and go toschool?
She's like, yeah, I'm gonnawork and go to school.
She's like, yeah, I'm going towork and go to school part time
and, you know, pay the loan.
Then the wheels started turning.
I was like, if she can do it, Icould do it.
(12:50):
I could do whatever I want.
And, like the universe speakingto me, an ad came on TV for
National Holistic Institutemassage school and I was like,
oh yeah, I remember I talkedabout wanting to do massage a
long time ago.
Maybe I should look into school.
And I did, and I went to schooland I worked full time and I
got alone and I did all thethings.
(13:12):
And here I am, and that was2007.
I graduated massage school andit was the best thing I've ever
done in my life.
Yeah, it was life changing forme.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Yeah, what did success?
Speaker 2 (13:36):
look like to you with your massage practice.
Initially what?
It meant.
What it still means is theflexibility in my schedule and
to feel good about what I'mdoing.
Again, as I said, in thecorporate world I spent a lot of
(13:59):
time getting yelled at, beingstressed out, doing my best to
make everybody happy, butknowing that in the industries
that I had chosen, like stuffwas going to go wrong and sort
of being a like a punching bagor, you know, like a customer
service person, like they alwaystake the brunt of things Right.
So, um, being in massage I I gotthis genuine feeling of helping
people and then being happy tosee me, and that did something
(14:20):
for me you know, that made myheart happy to be able to offer
something that I ultimatelybecame really good at and like
attuned to and using not using,but you know, providing that
service to people and likechanging their lives a little
bit, making them feel better intheir body, making them feel
better in their brain, and thatlike makes me happy.
(14:44):
I'm a people pleaser from wayback, yeah, so to be in a career
where I am constantly in thatcaretaking, people pleasing
place, but at least this time,or this way, I'm fulfilled.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
It fills my cup as well.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Yeah, because it sounds like your idea of success
changed so much, so much Fromwhen you were working in
corporate and what you wereseeing your mom do to like
starting your own practice.
And there's so many challengesthat come up with starting our
own practices, especially ifyou're coming from a different
mindset of what success is andwhat life is supposed to look
(15:27):
like.
And then if you're a peoplepleaser and a helper, it's like
having those healthy boundarieswith your clients and not taking
on.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Yeah, that was the hardest thing for me, I think
even in my office corporateworld I still took on a lot of
other people's stuff you know,and it's hard not to when I'm a
very I'm very susceptible tothat, I guess.
(15:56):
Um, so, taking on that dramafrom work and the coworkers and
the customers and then bringingthat into, okay, I'm going to
channel my energy differentlyand then not taking on stuff
from different places that youwork or different people that
you work on, and especially inmassage, because it's it's such
(16:18):
an intimate business.
And when I say that I don'tjust mean like physically, I
mean like emotionally, becauseyou're really bringing out, you
know, some emotion, some feelingin people's body, whether it's
stress, pain, you know,whatever's going on in their
life translates into what'sgoing on in their body.
(16:41):
Yeah, so it took me a long timeto sort of create healthy
boundaries around that, and it'sjust experience, experience,
practice, practice, practice.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Mm, hmm, what do you currently do to practice If you
see yourself like not havingvery healthy boundaries?
I know for myself, if I becomedepleted and stressed, like my
boundaries will slip then morethan when my cup's full and I'm
feeling good.
What do you do when that startsto happen?
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Um, over the years I've learned that there are
certain things that really dolike refill my cup.
One of them is, um, friend time, and you know just whether it's
just spending time outside ofthe things that you know create
stress in my life and I'm not tosay like there's stress in
(17:36):
everybody's life, but you know,so I'll, I'll look for friend
time, friend time where you canjust talk and be candid, and
that really helps me, like I'llleave a friend if I felt
stressed out after even just a15, 20 minute coffee break and
I'll feel better.
Um, body work wise.
(17:56):
You know, when I'm, when I feellike I've, I will get to a point
, if I don't take care of myself, where I'm working on someone,
and I'll think to myself doesthis even feel good?
Is this even what I should bedoing?
And when I realized that it'slike I'm not in my body.
So I know that that means likeI need to get back into my body
and I'll start like reaching outto you or to other massage
(18:17):
therapists to feel the workagain in my body, and that helps
me a lot to feel better aboutmy work, and then I can see
things more clearly and I'm nottrying to, you know, overbook
myself, because now I'm thinkingabout my body again.
So I think really stepping backinto that headspace that calms
(18:39):
me, and then feeling the work inmy body and take caring, taking
care of my own body, helps meto set those boundaries.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Yeah, yeah, I completely resonate with
everything you just said.
And then also I know that whenI receive from other
practitioners, I learn more andI become inspired about the work
again, totally.
And so if I'm feeling burnt,just like you were saying, like
(19:08):
if I'm feeling burnt out, it'stime for me to receive more body
work.
And I'll never forget I'vebrought this up before, but when
I was starting my practice, drDebbie told me she said, the
more body work you receive, thebusier your practice will become
, and like, what I wanted was asuper busy practice.
And so then I started seeingother massage therapists and it
(19:29):
really did work.
Because, yeah, but it's alsolike the more we take care of
ourselves, the less we have tolike push to make things happen.
It's like things just kind ofmagnetically are drawn to us
instead of there needing to beas much force, which is
counterintuitive to our mind.
Like, sometimes our mind thinkswe really have to work hard, we
(19:50):
have to push, we have to striveand all of those things are
good, but when we're depletedand we're doing that, we lose
the kind of energy that we'retrying to receive.
I don't know, it just createslike more friction in our lives
sometimes, does that?
Speaker 2 (20:06):
make sense.
It does make sense and I thinkabout it in terms of I have a
lot of clients that will ask melike, well, what do you do when
you need a massage?
And if I know it's been a while, it's almost like I feel guilty
saying, oh, I haven't gottenbody work in a while because I'm
telling people you need to takecare of yourself, you need to,
you know, create a schedulewhere you can include body work
(20:28):
in your life, where you caninclude self-care in your life,
and then here I am not doing it.
So it feels more authentic as apractitioner when I'm receiving
work regularly and thenproviding that to other people,
like it feels more of anauthentic exchange, I guess.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Yeah, because you're walking your talk Right exactly
and I feel better in my body.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Yeah, and, like you said, every time I see a
practitioner, I pick up onsomething.
Yeah, even though I try to shutmy brain off and just receive.
That's kind of impossible, yeah, but for the most part you know
I can, I can have that, youknow, turn off the brain a
little bit, just receive thework, and then you know kind of
(21:12):
think back and go like, oh, whatdid she do there?
Speaker 1 (21:14):
What did he do with that?
And you know that's awesome.
And then you took a pivot andcreated a branch for yoga.
I did.
And you took a pivot andcreated a branch for yoga.
I did.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
And so tell us how you got into being a yoga
teacher.
Yoga has been like in myperiphery for probably like more
than half of my life.
You know whether it was.
You know, back in the day Iused to go to the Y for exercise
and we would do um like highimpact aerobics classes and
every once in a while we wouldstumble into a yoga class, uh,
(21:50):
to stretch, quote, unquote toget a good stretch, um.
And then, you know, as Istarted taking different classes
, different places, I would tryyoga and it never made sense to
me.
I couldn't make sense of theclass.
I didn't understand the flow, Ididn't.
The teachers never reallyresonated with me.
I guess, I don't know, I wouldget really frustrated and leave
(22:14):
feeling worse than I did when Iwent in and so that sort of
shied me away from it until, um,I started practicing massage at
a yoga studio and I did anintroductory class.
I was like, all right, I'mgoing to try.
I'm going to try from thebeginning and do this intro
class.
And it made sense for the firsttime, and I was in my 30s.
(22:38):
So for the first time in thatlong it made sense, and actually
I was older than that.
I'd like to skip decades hereand there.
First time in that long it madesense and actually I was, I was
older than that.
Um, I'd like to skip decadeshere and there, Um.
So I just don't think anythingwas ever that long ago, Um, but
(23:00):
anyhow, um.
So, taking this beginner's classand sort of learning like the
foundations, like a little bitof philosophy, a little bit of
the beginning steps and then howthat sort of progresses into
more advanced things, that madesense to me.
So I just sort of startedpracticing regularly and then
having it available to meregularly by working in a studio
(23:20):
, doing massage, having classesright there.
So, as I just did more, I wantedto learn more, and one of my
very good friends and yogateachers we started doing a
trade where she would do privateyoga and I gave her massage and
through the years of us workingtogether, she decided to
(23:41):
develop a teacher trainingcurriculum and then I did her
teacher training and, again,like the different styles that
come into it, the different uhphilosophies that evolved or
have evolved, and the differentum limbs, let's say, of the yoga
(24:01):
practice, um are different toeach practitioner and to each
teacher.
But it was an eye opener for mein that I got to really dive in
to understanding my practiceand why I wanted to do it, Like
what this was doing for me,Cause that's a big people ask
what's your why?
I don't know, I just like it.
But what it's done for me moreso in my head than in my body is
(24:25):
when I practice yoga.
I found that I am fully presentin what I'm doing.
And there aren't many times thatI can say that, yes, I'm
present when I'm doing massage,yes, I'm present with every
client, but the mind wanders and, you know, sometimes I'm
(24:46):
thinking about what I'm going tomake for dinner and then I got
to remind myself to come back tothe body, and I mean, that
happens, you know, wheneveryou're doing something, because
the brain just wants to work ata million miles an hour.
But yoga, to me, gave me what Ineeded to bring that focus back
into my mind and body, becauseI had to.
I had to think about what I wasdoing, and I don't think about
(25:07):
just, hey, we're going intodownward dog.
I think about it as what are myhands doing, what are my arms
doing, what is my core doing,what are my legs doing and
what's my breath doing, and sothat put me right into that
moment that I couldn't reallyachieve without it.
Does that make sense?
Oh, yeah, okay, and you knoweven other forms of exercise.
(25:28):
You know they do that to adegree, but for me, yoga made
sense in that way.
And then after let's see, thatwas in 2019 is when I did my
teacher training, and then I wasteaching for about six months
(25:48):
until everything shut down and Iactually didn't think I'd teach
when I took that teachertraining.
I really did it just for myself, but found that getting in
front of people was reallyintimidating at first.
It still is, I'm not going tolie.
It's still intimidating, but I'meven more so in the moment when
(26:09):
I'm teaching than when I'mtaking a class, so that also
gives something back to me whenI'm teaching.
But what I was going to say is,during the pandemic, I took a.
I furthered my yoga educationby taking another 300-hour
online course 300 hour onlinecourse and that really changed
(26:38):
the way that I practice and theway that I understand the
practice.
So now I feel more confident inmy teacher, in my teaching, I
feel more at ease in my teachingand it's becoming more and more
enjoyable.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
That's so awesome.
Yeah, I love your yoga classes,thank you.
I've taken a couple and Ireally do experience the synergy
between, like you, having somuch experience as a body worker
meshing with yoga, because yourawareness about what people's
(27:18):
bodies are doing in myexperience is different than
other yoga classes that I'vetaken Other yoga classes.
My body is very mobile andsometimes it gets aggravated
with a lot of twisting orcertain movements, but my body
has never gotten aggravated inany of your classes and for me
(27:40):
that's a big deal because I'mmore of a flexible person.
So, like strength training is alot better for my body on a
daily basis or like a morefrequent basis, but your classes
have always been something thatI've walked away from, where
I'm like I feel better.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Thank you that makes me really happy.
Yeah.
Um, it makes me happy and I Ilike that feedback of I feel
better, like that's all I canhope for when someone takes a
class, when someone's you knowon my massage tables that you're
going to feel better, likethat's all I can hope for when
someone takes a class, whensomeone's you know on my massage
tables that you're going tofeel better than when you got
here you know, um, whether it'sin your body or in your brain.
(28:19):
Um, but what I've learned aboutyoga and what's hard, I think,
is that people yoga's evolving,ever evolving.
So when, when you think aboutwhat yoga was, you know, a
hundred years ago versus what itis now, when you think about
(28:39):
the traditions that you knowthat the texts speak of, you
know yoga wasn't about, you know, sun salutations and moving
into, you know downward dog fromplank pose.
You know yoga was aboutcentering your mind and
basically like ceasing allthought.
Right.
(29:01):
And so the way that it's evolvedis yoga as a union of body,
breath and mind.
Yoga as a union of body, breathand mind, and that's what makes
sense and that's whatcontemporary yoga is more of is
is bringing that movement aspect, moving with your breath,
focusing the mind, um, and it'snot for flex, it's not only for
(29:24):
flexible people you don't haveto be bendy to do yoga.
I am not the bendiest person inmy classes.
You know.
I laugh at myself sometimeswhen I call.
You know if I, if I say to getinto a pose, and there's someone
in the class who's likehyperflexible and is, like you
know, pancake style and I'm likebarely touching my toes.
But the work isn't from beinghyperflexible or just getting
(29:49):
into the posture.
The work is getting into theposture, working to get into the
posture, and it's also engagingthe muscles and strengthening
the muscles.
And every body is not the sameand I think that's where the
bodywork background kind ofcomes in a little bit, Because I
(30:10):
know every body is not the same.
Everybody's body doesn't movethe same way.
Everyone doesn't have the samerange of motion.
That doesn't mean they can't dosomething in a yoga class, it
just means they have to do itdifferently.
They have to do what works intheir body.
Um, the most confusing thingfor me in yoga is I have, I
(30:30):
hyperextend my knees right.
So when I, when I straighten mylegs, I automatically
hyperextend.
So I would have, I would takeyoga classes before I knew what
any of that meant.
And they would say okay,straighten your legs.
No, bend your knees a little bit.
No, straighten your legs butdon't lock your knees.
And I'm like I don't understandwhat you're telling me to do.
(30:51):
This is the way my knees go.
They're locked, Like I don'tknow how to not lock my knees
and have them be straight at thesame time I'm leaving and I
feel like some people get thatway and it's not black and white
.
Yoga is very much not black andwhite and it's what works in
(31:12):
your body, for your body, and asa teacher, I try to convey that
to the students, to the peoplein my class, because it's not
going to look like everybodyelse's practice.
It's not going to look.
If you want to look at yourneighbor to see what they're
doing and make sure youunderstand the, the terminology,
or maybe I said something.
They didn't catch the word thatI meant, that's one thing, but
(31:34):
don't expect to look exactlylike they do.
You know, um, and so in a sense, that whole experience was also
humbling for me.
Um, to learn that my body mightnever, ever do certain things,
um, but I like that, I like thatI was able to kind of come to
that on my own.
(31:55):
Learn that it's okay for yourshoulders to be in a certain
position, even though, like someyoga teachers you know in the
past, will say like no, you haveto be in this position, like
this is what it says in the book, like this is how your posture
is supposed to look.
That might not work in yourbody.
So you have to make adjustmentsand you have to do what feels
good.
(32:15):
And I do feel like having thebody work background and then
taking all the classes that I'vetaken and like honoring my own
body in my practice has allowedme to be able to like verbally
cue that to people who take myclass.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Yeah, Cause, like as you were talking about this, I
just love your perspective onlike accepting the body like
where it's at and meeting itthere instead of like forcing it
to do something that's out ofits natural realm.
And then like where you'reputting success in terms of like
your yoga practice.
That is, it being like thepancake person, right?
(32:50):
Or is it just?
showing up and doing your bestand like exploring what
movements feel good for yourbody and like where your range
is and connecting with yourbreath and your mind.
And connecting with your bodyinstead of being goal oriented
because I so often with exercise, become so goal oriented like
wanting to do it right, likemaking sure it's a good workout,
(33:11):
you know.
Quote unquote good workoutinstead of like.
This is just time to spend timewith my body and myself in a
check in with like where I'm at,because all of our minds, like
you said, are going a millionmiles an hour and it's sacred
space when you're just takingthat time for self care, and
sometimes people have a hardtime doing it on their own and
(33:32):
so going to a class and beingfacilitated by somebody,
especially somebody who's goingto be realistic about where
their body can go and what theirgoals could look like, like
that brings so much peace andlike creates a space for so much
peace and connection within,rather than it being like an
outcome based practice.
(33:54):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
I think you know as humans and and in our life,
everything is is a goal oriented.
One of your goals.
Where do you see yourself infive years?
You know it's it's like well.
So in a an exercise practice,your goals become like what
building muscle, bulking up orlosing weight, getting down to a
size four doing you know,whatever the goal is, and all of
(34:17):
that's great, right, but it'sand how many times have we heard
it it's not the destination,it's the journey, journey.
And the same holds true in your, in any exercise routine, um,
in any, you know, whether it'syoga, or you know whether any
career path, um, I think aboutwhat you said about you know the
(34:38):
goals and like wanting to, todo the things and having goals,
whether it's in yoga or exercise, that's great.
But you know, I, I, over thepandemic, I decided I was going
to learn, teach myself, how topress into handstand.
Okay, that's very difficult andI'm not a gymnast and I think,
(35:03):
um, maybe, if I started tryingto press into handstand in my
twenties, that maybe I could doit, but it was.
It was an unreasonableexpectation in my body, right,
and it's twofold, like I don'thave the upper body strength or
the wrist strength anymore.
And when I noticed what I wasdoing, practicing handstand
every day, trying to press intoit, I was creating more harm in
my body than good and I had tosay you know what?
(35:28):
It's fun to try and get intohandstand every once in a while.
It's fun to use a wall and kickinto handstand.
I don't have to press.
I don't have the core strength.
I might never have the corestrength, um, but it's fun to
play with it and every once in awhile I teach it.
You know, and people like toplay a little bit and I found
(35:49):
that that was more fun thanactually getting into the
posture that I thought I neededto like get into.
Just, you know, goals changeand that's okay, yeah, right.
And, and I think, getting moreflexible, feeling better.
When I say more flexible, Imean getting either maybe it's
stronger, maybe it's moreflexible, maybe it's being able
(36:11):
to touch your toes, maybe it'sbeing able to move without
discomfort right, all thosethings are good goals and you
work towards them every time youpractice.
At least, that's how I feel.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Yeah, but it sounds like the philosophy is more like
show up for yourself, meet yourbody where it's at, and then
the fruits of your showing upand continuous practice are that
you are more flexible or youfeel better in your body or you
notice something's changed, andthat is a different way to
(36:47):
practice, rather than likecomparing yourself to someone
else, right, or continuing topush for handstand when it's
injuring you Right, and justthinking you know, I just need
to be tougher or stronger orwhatever your negative self-talk
is telling you.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Exactly, and there's a lot of that.
Self-negative, negativethoughts are so easy for us.
Mm-hmm.
And it's like part of how we'rewired.
Our brains are wired to justlike trust.
The negative, you know, but yousaid it spot on.
Showing up for yourself andenjoying that work, enjoying the
(37:25):
class, enjoying whatever it isthat you're doing when you're
doing something for yourself,eventually will show you the
results that you were hoping for, and those results might be
different than what you thoughtyou were going to get.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
Yeah, and that's what I've seen happen in so many
areas of life, like inrelationships.
Sometimes you want a veryspecific outcome For me with my
dad.
Like I really wanted him toshow up as like a father in my
life but he's just not capableof that because he's a sick
person.
He's had a chronic illness hiswhole life.
And like when I was able torelease that idea of like he
(38:00):
needed to be the dad in my life,he needed to do dad things like
fix my car and like tell meabout financial things and
decisions I should make you know, when I released that idea and
just met a relationship where itwas like we have a very
different relationship than Ithought we would ever have today
, but it's peaceful and it'sfulfilling and we laugh together
(38:20):
and like that was the secret.
There was like releasing what Iwanted so badly and like,
beneath all of that, I wantedconnection with him.
I wanted love with him.
Right, I wanted love for him.
I wanted to look forward totalking to him instead of
dreading his phone calls andlike I got all of those things.
The package just looksdifferent, Right.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
Yeah, and the same holds true in relationships,
whether it's friends, or in allrelationships, whether it's
friends or significant others.
I mean, I have the same orsimilar struggle with my husband
and it's not a struggle Ishouldn't call it a struggle,
but it's like.
You know, you always want yourspouse to be a certain way, or
you know your significant otherto be the dream person, right,
(39:07):
and I've had to realize, I think, that the pandemic I said was
either going to make or break us.
But it actually made.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
I feel like a lot of people feel that way.
Speaker 2 (39:15):
Right.
But I feel like, without thedistraction of so many other
things and I was afraid of thatdistraction, like that time like
kind of blowing up in our faceswhat it did was give me a
chance to like kind ofreevaluate what I think I, what
I thought I wanted as far as ourconnection goes Right and I
realized that, like we speakvery different love languages
(39:39):
Right, and I'm obviously acts ofservice, you know, and and when
I realized that it doesn't haveto look exactly like I thought
my fairy tale life, it wouldlook and like meet him where
he's at.
Then he started meeting me whereI was at as well, you know,
(39:59):
yeah, and letting go, like yousaid, letting go of that
expectation and just letting itbe.
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
Yeah, and I love the quote like it only takes one
person to change a relationshipand that's how that works.
Like I feel like people cansubconsciously feel it when,
like you have acceptance forthem, it like releases a level
of tension or like a wall that'sthere between two people.
When you genuinely are able toaccept them, when you're not
just like praying to haveacceptance, to have acceptance
(40:30):
right, like be struck into you,when you genuinely work some
sort of program or path or dosome internal work or a practice
it could even be a yogapractice like showing up for
yourself and showing yourself-acceptance that can trickle
into your relationships.
But when you genuinely havethat, other people feel it and
then their walls come down andyou stop fighting about things
(40:54):
or nitpicking each other aboutthings that you used to nitpick
each other about, and thenyou're able to create a
different kind of relationshipMaybe not the ideal one, like
we've been saying, but the oneit ends up feeding your soul so
much more.
Speaker 2 (41:12):
Right and ideal changes over time.
Yeah, Needs change over time,whether it's experience, age,
situation, you know what youmight have thought ideal at one
point shifts and you focus onthings that are important in
your now, and I think that's oneof the things that um yoga has
(41:36):
helped me with.
Is that now part?
Speaker 1 (41:41):
Hmm, yeah, that's big , that's really big Is that big.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
Well, it's true.
I mean, yeah, I guess it's bigand it's hard.
It's a hard one to be inbecause you know you're always
thinking about well, I, not you.
I I'm always thinking aboutwhat I should have said, what I
could have said, what did I sayI shouldn't have said that, I
shouldn't have done that, Icould have done that differently
(42:11):
.
What am I gonna make for dinnertomorrow?
What am I gonna do with my life?
What you know, and it's likethis, always this past sort of
reflection in in a negative way,right in this future, like
almost dread right, and likewhen you put that out, there
you're, you're asking for forthe negativity to come back to
you, you know.
(42:31):
And so I feel like acceptingthings as it comes.
Yeah, the past is the past, ithappened.
No one else is thinking aboutthat anymore, and if they are,
then they need to work on stufftoo.
Right, I mean, and we all do,but um, I think that's when I
say, like, being in the now,it's, it's not easy.
It's not easy to put the paststuff away and to put the future
(42:52):
thoughts away, but just whenyou can, in that moment, find
yourself in the now and realize,like, what do I have, what do I
need right in this moment?
Right now.
Yeah, I love that, I love that.
And then what kind of yoga?
Speaker 1 (43:17):
do you practice?
Speaker 2 (43:19):
So the type of yoga that I teach is more of a flow
class.
So when I say flow, one breath,one movement, it's called
vinyasa or hatha style.
It's not specifically a certainset of postures every time I
teach, but it depends on whatpart of the body that I'm
working on.
Typically I'll do acomprehensive practice, which
(43:41):
means you're going to feeleverything everywhere, but maybe
we'll focus on like a hipopening class to get deeper into
the hip flexors and then mypostures will vary based on that
and usually it's like abuild-up.
So we'll start like a littlesofter, a little gentler,
building into a more challengingpractice and then taking it
(44:05):
down to a restful state, alwaysoffering like modifications for
people.
I like to try and includedifferent options for people.
Typically you're going to get alot of flow, which is a lot of
movement, a lot of lengtheningtissue, and I also really focus
on strengthening.
That's awesome.
(44:27):
It's not all about being like Isaid.
It's not all about being like Isaid.
It's not all about being bend,bendable yeah, it's not about
being gumby it's about beingdefinitely not it's about being
human.
It's about you know, we said,sometimes you don't feel like
pushing yourself and you meetyour body where it's at right
and you just accept that this iswhere you're at and this is
where your body feels good rightnow and you stay there.
(44:48):
And then there are thosemornings where you wake up and
you're in class and you're tiredand you don't think you want to
do anything, but you startfeeling good and you're like you
know what?
I'm going to take this posturea little bit deeper.
I'm going to try the moreadvanced style and see how that
feels in your body.
And, like I said, more often Ihave people coming up to me
telling me that they feel somuch better than they did when
(45:09):
they walked in, and again thatjust makes my heart happy.
Yeah, did that explain whatkind of yoga I?
Speaker 1 (45:15):
teach.
Oh yeah, you did a great jobexplaining that, Thanks.
That was very clear.
I don't know a whole lot aboutyoga and I was 100% able to
follow.
Okay, good.
Speaker 2 (45:26):
Yeah, because I started teaching or I started
taking an Ashtanga protocol,which Ashtanga yoga is very
strict in its protocol, as isBikram style yoga, which I teach
at the Hot Yoga Studio in Napa,and so that's 26 postures.
(45:47):
You practice the same 26postures every time you do it.
Ashtanga you practice the samepostures, adding on as you get
more advanced.
I like those things in thesense that your body gets used
to being in certain postures andthat you can see the results as
far as being able to getfurther into a posture, hold
(46:08):
something longer because you'restronger.
So I have an element ofrepetitiveness in the way I
teach, but not in the posturesthat I teach.
Does that make?
Speaker 1 (46:17):
sense?
Yeah, it does.
It does Like you're not doingthe same 26 postures over and
over again, but you do tend tohang out with certain postures,
right or a certain, but you dotend to hang out with certain
postures, right or a certain.
Speaker 2 (46:29):
There's a certain element to my flow which you
know.
We do the same sort of almostwarmups, but you know you're
used to the way that if you, ifyou continue to take the classes
like you, get used to the way,like the format that I lead it
in, so it's not completelyforeign.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
I love that.
I love that.
I love that so that you canlike build in terms of like your
practice and your knowledge andbeing familiar with certain
poses.
Speaker 2 (46:55):
but it's a million styles and there's a million
teachers and each teacher hastheir own style, Um, but there
are people who are morecomfortable with that.
(47:17):
I do these postures.
I'm really good at those youknow and that's great, and they
work in their body.
For me, I felt like I needed alittle bit more, and I love the
flexibility of being able tochange things up a little bit
and get a little bit morecreative in the sequence, While
again having a little bit offamiliarity in the way that I
(47:37):
teach.
Speaker 1 (47:38):
Yeah, I would be drawn to what you're saying like
the second option in terms ofhaving more creative flow,
because for me, I lose thepresent moment if it's too
predictable, like I need to havechange.
And that's why I love likehaving my own practice and being
(47:58):
massage therapist and thendoing coaching and workshops,
because, like that helps mybrain stay like very engaged,
where if I do too much of thesame thing it becomes mundane
and then I check out a loteasier.
Speaker 2 (48:11):
Yeah, I get that.
I feel the same way.
Since incorporating teachingyoga and also training in the
new modality, body work modality, it's kept me more on point and
aware of my body and mypractice.
Speaker 1 (48:29):
Yeah, what is that new modality?
Speaker 2 (48:33):
Well, I've been studying the Hendrickson method.
After experiencing such amazingbody work from my roommate, I
continue to bring theHendrickson method into my
practice and I have had a littlebit of training.
I've had the first level oftraining as it's taught through
(48:56):
the official modality, but thelittle bit that I've learned and
we've talked about this makes ahuge difference in my clients'
bodies.
So whether or not I do a fullHendrickson session on someone
or whether I incorporate it intomy more traditional body work
style, I'm getting better,longer lasting results with my
(49:20):
clients and I think I've saidthis to you before.
The second yoga teachertraining that I did Um and the
Hendrickson method had so manysimilarities in um how the body
works and how the the well, howyoga is taught and practiced and
(49:41):
how body work is taught inpractice Like there were so many
connections that it just madeso much sense to me and has
deepened my practice and lovefor both body work and yeah, I'm
totally nerding out on anatomyright now.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (49:55):
And I can see how they both feed each other so
strongly.
And the Hendrickson method is aform of orthopedic massage and
both Jodi and I practice it andwe ask clients to leave their
clothes on during the session.
It's similar to physicaltherapy in the sense of like,
like we're having you do certainmotions while lying down on a
massage table, but thatactivates certain muscles and
(50:18):
can turn muscles on that go tosleep.
Like people don't realize thattheir glutes often go to sleep,
even if they're a runner, andthat can cause like sciatica, it
can cause hip pain, it cancause low back pain.
And so when you get the musclesfiring in the proper order and
then you do these certainmovements where you have a
client resist against you andthen release, and that tricks
(50:41):
the nervous system into lettinggo on a deeper level and so that
you're not forcing as a massagetherapist, trying to like force
the muscle into submission,you're more allowing the body to
release neurologically andrelease the tightness in the
muscles and then get theappropriate muscles backfired
(51:02):
and wired.
And so people after thesessions they feel very much in
their body.
Some of my clients feel likereally pumped afterwards, they
like have a lot of energy andsome clients feel like very
relaxed.
And it's neat because you canactually check in with a client
during the session and be like,oh, does this still hurt?
Like, for example, the easiestis when somebody comes in and
(51:24):
they can't experience full rangeof motion in their neck and
after doing the work you cancheck in and be like, oh, can
you turn now?
And like, usually by the end ofa session a person has full
range of motion depending onwhat their injury is Like.
If it's a sleep injury, it'susually you can get it done in
one session, right.
If it's something else, then itcan take more sessions.
(51:46):
But people feel improvementimmediately, immediately.
Speaker 2 (51:49):
I mean, yeah, with chronic injury they're
definitely going to need to comeback regularly and have that
same work done to help releasethat tissue.
But there's always an immediatefeel good afterwards and what
I've found with the Hendricksonmethod is that it lasts longer
than traditional massage.
I love traditional massage, Ilove to give massage, I love to
(52:12):
receive massage, but it neverlasted with me and my body Like
I feel great getting a massageand by the time I get home I'm
like, oh, my neck still hurts ormy shoulders still hurt.
With the Hendrickson method.
My body genuinely feels betterfor days and I think that that's
(52:33):
what my body craves.
My body craves more of that,like for heat for that purpose,
more of that.
You know, firing the musclesthat should be doing the work,
relaxing the muscles thatshouldn't work so hard to assist
um strengthening, assist umstrengthening muscles that have
(52:54):
gotten weak, uh yeah it justlasts in my body a lot more but,
I, still love a traditionalmassage.
Speaker 1 (52:58):
Yeah, I agree, and I feel like that's why there's so
many different modalities outthere, because it's like what
does your body need?
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (53:05):
And that's why I mean that's that mind muscle
connection as well in theHendrickson method, because
you're touching the muscle right.
You're telling the client, thisis the muscle that I'm going to
work on and you're getting themto think about the action that
they're doing that causes thatmuscle to fire right.
And then they can also feel therelease that antagonist muscle
(53:26):
like letting go.
And.
I feel like that also allows,that also makes more the
connection reality between whatI teach in yoga and what I do on
my massage table.
Speaker 1 (53:39):
Yeah, definitely, definitely.
And then if people want to takea yoga class with you and
they're in the Napa area, wherecan they find you?
They can find me at Napa hotyoga.
Speaker 2 (53:50):
It's on Silverado trail and Lincoln and I teach
their Mondays.
I teach a power of vinyasaclass, which sounds more
intimidating than it is, um, atnine o'clock Monday morning, and
then a deep stretch andmeditation class, uh, at seven
30 on Monday evenings.
I also have a small group classhere and I'm lovely downtown
(54:10):
Napa studio on.
Sunday mornings at 10 30.
Speaker 1 (54:14):
Yeah, and I'll put the address in the show notes.
Speaker 2 (54:16):
Okay, yeah, it's you just go to my website, which is
Libra Vitaecom, and it has allthat information.
Speaker 1 (54:23):
And then you're doing private one-on-ones too, right.
Speaker 2 (54:25):
I am yes, yeah, yeah, I've done that here in the
studio.
I've gone to people's homes andyou know, I think a lot of
people that do feel thatintimidation level with, like,
going into a yoga class find thebenefit of having the
personalized, you know,in-person yoga one-on-one.
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (54:47):
Yeah, and then are you taking new clients for
massage therapy Um.
Speaker 2 (54:53):
I, I will yes.
Yeah, just a couple of, just acouple of slots.
Um, if you mentioned that youheard on the podcast or through
Alessandra, uh, absolutely, youknow I like to um accommodate
referrals.
So any any of my clients thatrefer their friends, colleagues,
like I try to get them in.
(55:15):
So if we have anyone that'sinterested then I will
absolutely do my best to see you.
Speaker 1 (55:20):
That's awesome.
And then, if you want to hangout with both of us in person,
on Saturday, october 5th, from 1to 5 pm, jodi and I will be
part of the Awaken Retreat,which is our theme for the
Awaken Retreat is rest, restore,rejuvenate, and I'm going to
host a workshop that's going tohelp you rest and refocus,
(55:44):
followed by a deeply restorativeguided meditation, and then
Jodi is going to be teaching arestorative yoga practice.
Speaker 2 (55:53):
Yes, so stepping away from that sort of flow class
style, restorative yoga is more.
It's more.
It's slower, it's more hangingout in postures that are fully
supported.
So we have blocks and blanketsand bolsters and we'll be
resting in postures that arefully supported.
So we have blocks and blanketsand bolsters and we'll be
resting in postures that are,you know, very good for for your
(56:16):
body and you'll be holdingpostures for a longer time but
fully supported.
So you're really not effortingmuch in each posture and it's
more to support your body toopen on its time.
Um, and it's deeply relaxing.
It's amazing for calminganxiety.
Um, bringing that like feelingof happiness back into your body
(56:41):
.
Uh, I love a good restorativeclass.
Um, again, it's totallydifferent than a flow class
where you know you're notgetting up and down, you're not
switching from posture toposture with each breath, but
you're resting in fullysupported postures, whether it
be for hip opening or heartopening or feeling some shoulder
relief.
(57:01):
But it's definitely a slower,more grounding practice.
Speaker 1 (57:07):
I'm so excited for that.
I love teaching restorativeyoga.
Yeah, that's going to be agreat class.
It's sleepy yoga, I love sleepy.
Excited for that.
I love teaching restorativeyoga.
Yeah, that's going to be agreat class.
It's sleepy yoga.
I love sleepy yoga Me too.
Well, thank you so much, jodi,for being on the show today.
Thank you for having me.
I loved being able to ask youthese interview type questions,
because when we hang out, wejust chat.
(57:28):
And so I feel like I got toknow so much more about you.
Speaker 2 (57:32):
Thank you, and thank you for making me feel at ease,
because I was definitely nervousto talk about myself.
You did a great job, so thankyou.
Speaker 1 (57:39):
You're welcome and everyone out there listening.
We'll talk to you soon.
Thanks for tuning in, Take care.
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