June 27, 2024 • 21 mins
This time on Locales Only, we’re picking up Lihi Benisty a breathwork and yoga teacher at the Ope-n Studio after taking one of her eye-opening classes. Lihi is going to walk us through her journey into yoga and breathwork, the way music can guide a class, and a way that all of us can start healing and controlling the stresses that bubble up in life. So buckle up and enjoy the conversation on Locales Only!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, Hi, Lee. He It's Eric from Locals Only. How
are you good? Hey, I'm gonna be pulling up outside
of your Open studio just in two seconds. If you
want to come outside, I'm gonna I'm right here. Hey,
Welcome to Locals Only. I'm Eric Hale And if you
(00:21):
don't know me, I'm the guy that founded Local magazine
fourteen years ago in my garage. It's been my job
for all those years to tell you the coolest places
to eat in all of southern California, fun things to do,
so you have date nights that aren't boring, and we've
talked to some really interesting people. Now we have a podcast,
and we're lucky enough to call this Mercedes Benz EQE
all electric sedan courtesy of Fletcher Jones Motor Cars in
(00:44):
Newport Beach. Our mobile podcasts do do, so sit back,
buckle up, and enjoy the conversation. Welcome to Local Zone
Today on Locals Only. We're in Venice Beach, California, and
we're picking up Leehi, Binesti. She's an instructor at Open.
They're a studio and they also have an app that
(01:06):
reaches people around the world. We were lucky enough to
take her breath work in soundclass today and it was amazing.
So we're going to talk to her about the class,
her upbringing, which included attending a Buddhist school, and also
her real feelings on healing. So sit back, buckle up,
and enjoy Locals Only. Hey, good to see you, Good
(01:32):
to see it. Welcome, there you go. And just so
you know, as we're riding around, there's three different cameras,
one kind of on you, one for both of us. Yeah,
all of them can see. There's over here from me.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
No hiding, I'm here.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, and then you got your podcast mics. This is
our mobile podcast studio, so I'm kind of neat just
checking we're recording on everything. So also just as you
know as we drive around, something that's pretty cool here
on Locales Only. We're really excited about this. I've been
looking forward to this weeks. We met through a mutual
friend who's been on the podcast before, Corey Wilson. Yeah,
(02:07):
and he's he lives here in Venice and we just
picked you up from the open studio in Venice. We're
literally steps away from the Venice Beach boardwalk, so if
you've ever been there to watch skateboarding or watch people
where just steps away from that. I'm actually going to
turn my camera out so you can kind of see.
So we're just pulling away from the Venice Beach boardwalk.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Now it's right around sunset time.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
It is right about there's pond trees and sunsets. There's
the Venice sign right in front of us as we
pull up. But I just want to get into the
conversation Lehi venis d is among a lot of things.
I think an instructor at Open where we just funny
enough took a class and I think not funny enough,
(02:51):
but we planned it. But I think this is one
of the few times on the podcast we've been able
to experience something ye leading up to it, which I
think is really unique. So maybe you could share first
just a little bit about the breathwork and Sound class
that we just took, just to maybe get people a
little bit more familiar.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah, so I teach it Open, which is a mindfulness
studio here in Venice. We're also an app, so we're
really kind of a hybrid model of a studio, but
our flagship studio is here in Venice Beach. I am
a breath work and movement, facilitator, instructor, guide, whatever we
(03:32):
want to call it. Then a yoga teacher for almost
fourteen years now, but breathwork has really become my main
thing or what I say is my why, my why
for showing up, and it's really been open that has
kind of helped cultivate that for me and with me
co created and yeah, we just did breath and Sound,
(03:54):
which is open signature class. So it is an active
breathwork journey. And I say active because sometimes people come
to breathwork and they're like, we're just going to lay
back and just meditate and breathe and just kind of relax,
and it's very very not that, yeah, you know, I
mean it is a meditation and then we are laying back,
but it is an active class. Sometimes people walk out
(04:16):
and they're like that was ten years of therapy, or
that was church, or that was you know, there's something
that happens in that room that is sometimes really undescribable.
But we're going on an active breathwork journey.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
And then this really great sound system. So part of
this is the community, which I think you mentioned several
times while we were doing the class, being around other
people kind of experiencing things together, and then part of
it is the sound. Yeah, maybe I could ask you this.
The music was phenomenal. I felt like I was probably
getting ready to have a drink on the beach in
(04:52):
a visa. How do you find that and how do
you make sure that that goes along with what you do?
Part one? Part two? Is it always the same music? Oh?
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I goess It's different every time? Yeah, music is different
every time. There's sometimes repeated songs. Honestly, tonight I did
not repeat one song that I've ever done, no thing,
maybe like the last song, But generally it's a different
playlist every time, a different theme and intention different every time.
There's there's common things that are you know, weaved through
(05:22):
the experience, but it's definitely different every single time. And
music has always been like a love language for me.
I'm not a musician, I'm not a DJ, but I've
always really loved curating playlist and experiences, and so I've
been really making playlists since I was really young, like
I don't know, downloading music on like LimeWire and then
(05:45):
making CDs and giving into friends. I was always like
my way of sharing like what I'm interested in.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
That's an interesting part of it. Now, maybe I could
share a little bit, or maybe Aaron could share because
he's here too. We just took the class. I was
afraid going into it, and I think because I actually,
you know, Coreya told me about it. We were at
Great White having lunch. I ran into a friend, Dave Harper.
(06:12):
Dave goes, oh, you're taking that class. It's amazing, but like,
have you ever done it before? So Aaron, were you
a little bit you were a little bit afraid.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah, we both were nervous. Yeah, we didn't know what
to expect.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Like can we handle it? Can we do your first
breath class? So I would say I think what you
do is pretty unique. Wich. You're probably aware of that
because you know I'm on APPS and I've done breath
work in meditation. But it's it's very tame by comparison,
and it doesn't feel as I'm not saying that yours
(06:44):
is like like planned, but it feels thought out. It
feels intentional in your class.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
So there is a journey or anything with the music
and the space and that people like there's and.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
The sounds like the different sound bowls and the rainstick. Yeah,
and that to me and I don't this isn't a
podcast about me. Here for me enough, but even you know,
something that I experienced was when you got to the rainstick. Yeah,
I was in such a state and receptive to sound
that as you moved around the room, I was just
(07:16):
tingling all over my body. It was incredible.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Sound is really powerful, and I'm glad I pulled out
the rain stick today because that is not an every class.
The rainstick doesn't always come. But tonight I was like,
you know, there was a lot of big release, big screams,
like it was a very emotional class and when that
and it happens every time, but sometimes it's like a
big joyful class, like there's there's a collective energy that's
(07:41):
happening in the room.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
And can you explain that really quick because some people
might think you made people scream, but you did, Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Yeah, So the journey class is like we're breathing for
about thirty five minutes in that active way. So that's
and it's music led, meaning we're breathing to the beat
of the music. So I've curated a playlist often like
pretty high energy, like you know you said of beats
that we've got some kind of dancy, a lot of
like afrobeats that I play or it's giving and yeah
(08:17):
you're going on, I have played on you in class,
but it's a good, good reminder to pay an next time.
And there is a therapeutic aspect of really speaking to
the emotions that are living in the body. And so
we have a lot of emotions that are stored in
the body, and we don't feel all of them, and
we especially love to label them as good and bad.
(08:39):
And that's really what I'm teaching to in the class
is you know, I say this at the very beginning,
and like all of you are welcome here, and meaning
like all of you literally each of you that are
showing up for class, but also every single part of you, right,
so the part of you that is grieving, the part
of you that is angry, the part of you that
is excited, the part of you that you know, all
(08:59):
of it of it is welcome. And we don't often
give ourselves permission to really feel all of it because
we decide what part is worthy and what part is it.
And so the breath is really a direct what I say,
like a direct access point to our truth, the direct
access point to you know, our full self, and there's
really like no hiding from it when we're in that practice.
(09:21):
Obviously you can by repressing and not doing the breath
and swallowing it down, but when you're in this collective
group of everyone really doing the work and doing the
work of breath, then it kind of gives you permission
to go a little bit deeper. You know, when you
hear the person next to you breathing, you're like, okay,
Like it's almost like they're on the You're you're running
(09:42):
a marathon and people are on the finish line like
cheering you on, like we're all in that together. And
then at the end, there's an invitation to really like scream,
to let it go, to move it out, because what
happens is like things are emerging, things are coming up.
Maybe you're up, you know, things that have been stuck
in the body. They start to almost like crawl up
to your neck, your chest, your throat, and if we
(10:04):
were to just stop and just swallow, we just swallow
it back down. But the scream is an invitation to
actually like process and move it out and move it through.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
What I found and I'm glad I took the class
was you're kind of this amazing teacher and you seem
I don't know why is beyond your years and the
words that you said. For me, that audio or was
much more important even than the music or the rainstick
or any of that, because it was almost like a
(10:34):
counseling session. Right, Where does that come from? Where's that motivation?
Because none of that was scripted. That was from the heart, right, Yeah,
that is how do you develop that?
Speaker 2 (10:46):
I wish I could tell you. I mean channeling, it's
kind of channels through. Yeah, it's not because I don't
plan my class, right, I'm not like tonight we're going
to talk about I might have like a like a
thing that's like, oh, it would be cool, and it
never happens. If I try to plan, it doesn't work, right,
even like I'll spend like eight hours making playlists on
Monday and then like five minutes before my class, I'll
(11:08):
like rechange it. I'm like, oh, and then I'll make
a new playlist, like it'll be completely different. So the
planning never works for me. And I think I'm like
often reading energy in the room. I have like the
capacity to kind of like really listen and tune into
what's happening. So a lot of what I'm saying is
in direct relationship to what's happening in the room, right
(11:30):
and a lot of it, yeah, a lot of it
is channeled. It just like comes out, and I think,
I mean, I've been teaching for a long time and
I've done a lot of different types of work, whether
it's yoga or breath work or body work or different
types of therapy and self inquiry things in her child work,
a lot of different things, and I'm definitely a seeker
(11:53):
in like knowledge, and I think all of that.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Knowledge definitely does stack. And we've got a lot of
guests on the show, and that's something that I think
is important. A lot of people want to get to
a place very quickly, and rarely is there overnight success
in anything. Everything takes knowledge, and that's why wisdom is
so great and why you know, if you listen to
an older person talk, you're like, Wow, how do you
(12:17):
know all that? It's like because I failed and succeeded
and tried, and I've done all of these different things.
So I would think that you're probably under the impression
that this is very early in your journey, so you're
going to be able to progress a long.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Way as you can. Yeah, I'm always growing and learning
and excited to kind of take on more and fill
my cup. And I also recognize that that can also
be an addiction. Like there's a lot of people that
are like just constantly taking workshops in this and reading
all the things, and I'm definitely I took a little
bit of a break of that and I'm starting to
dive into two new things and that feels good to
(12:53):
fill my cup to keep integrating and evolving my own
practice in my own teaching. But yeah, I love the
therapeutic aspect. I feel really connected to helping to creating
a space where people feel safe to feel like, yeah,
they feel safe to feel or they're they're given permission
to feel. And yeah, what I've really like come to
(13:15):
realize is so much so I mean me included, But
we we associate feelings or emotions with with with weakness,
even if like we think we don't like or we'd
be like, oh I didn't get I didn't I wasn't
taught that. But when we were young, like maybe there
was a time, like when our kids, maybe there was
a time that we felt an emotion or we were
sad or we were angry, and then our parents or
(13:37):
someone told us like be strong, right, and that can't
usually yeah, like just be strong that I usually meant
like swallow it down, like don't do anything, because if
you show your feeling like that's a weakness. And so
even if our parents or friends or whoever didn't mean
it in a harmful way, it created a lot of
harm within us because it perpetuates this definition that feeling
(14:02):
is a weakness and being strong is not feeling. And
so we've gone through life like that being strong means
not feeling.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
But it's not always in the way that you want
to get through something right. Because one of the reasons
I started the company Own Now and even this podcast
was I find myself given challenges to always want to
run through the wall. Right. You put a wall, you
go through the wall, and resilience is hitting your head
(14:31):
on the wall until eventually it'll break down and then
you get through. But there's also the idea of you
can get around the wall. Right. So the river sometimes
doesn't go through an island, it'll go around an island
and it will carry things with it. So I think
there is something to being vulnerable not only to yourself,
(14:52):
but maybe to what is out there for you, and
sometimes that presents in different ways.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Yeah, I think. I mean, sometimes people are like, I
don't want to go through it. It's too painful to
go through it. I don't want to process this thing.
And I'm like, well, you actually have to go through
it for me, Like I think you actually have to
go through it in order to you can go through it,
not at least in this work. And like you say
the same, yeah, because you're trying to avoid it. Going
(15:18):
around is like I don't want to avoid the obstacle,
and it's like, well, the obstacle is not going away.
It's still there, so you're just going to keep avoiding, avoiding, avoiding,
and likely that obstacle is probably going to grow. Like
all of a sudden, I'm in Cambridge, Massachusetts. There's no
way I'm going to get into a cold pool or
a pool, you know. Yeah, and someone that's like, find
me heat. So I started doing hot yoga and then
(15:40):
like I don't know, something clicked. I was like, it
is not even about the workout here, it's not even
about the heat. Like I feel like really connected to
my body. I feel really like at home in my body.
And then I kept showing up. I was like going
once a day, twice a day, three times, like I
was really going wild, Like it feels like that's all
I cared about to practice. I want to practice, and yeah.
(16:03):
Then I quit my job and I was like, I
want to move back to California, and I think I
want to do my yoga teacher training. But the funny
thing is that I did not want to teach. There
was no part of me that was like I want
to teach yoga. I just wanted to learn about yoga,
just wanted to do yo. I love learning, and so
(16:24):
there was but there was nothing. There was no There
was not like yoga school that did not mean you
had to teach. It was only like yoga teacher training.
There was like yoga practice, which I really think there
should be, of course.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Just practice as long as you want to, of course.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
But I was like, really, I looked at all these
yoga teacher trainings. I loved the framework. I was like, oh,
I get to learn the philosophy, I get to learn
the poses. I get to learn this and meditation and
breath work and the history and and then I have
to learn how to sequence and teach, and I'm like, well,
what if I just like only do the first part
and not and skip out the sequence and teach. I
(17:03):
literally was calling every yoga studio in San Francisco trying
to negotiate, like what am I pay less? What am
I pay less to not get certified because the certificate?
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Is there a discount? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (17:16):
And they're like, no, I sold my car and I yeah,
And then I did and I did my teacher training
and the day I finished, I got offered like a
subbing opportunity because I was working at this point, just
like I just moved to San Francisco. I was working
at a yoga studio and like a gym, and they
(17:38):
were like the teacher didn't show up, can you teach?
And I was like, I guess technically I can't. And
I did, and it was a terrible class. I mean
there was like three people there and and but shout
out to those people still listening, Dennis still still a
standing and and yeah, I mean then I just kept
(18:02):
doing it. I don't know, and then something switched. I
really don't remember the switch, Like I don't remember the
moment where I was like I can do this or
I like to do this, but I definitely think that.
I mean, I'm thirty three, this is like early twenties.
I mean, I think the past four years is where
(18:23):
I really found my voice, even though I've been teaching
for much longer. Yeah, I think I've really like found it,
like whatever is channeling through that you guys witnessed tonight
in past Like I think that that happened a few
years ago. And it takes a lot of practice and
a lot of teaching and a lot of falling over
and messing up and people not showing up to class
and you know, And I think coming down to LA
(18:46):
and connecting with open and being a part of this
like founding teacher team, I've really been able to find
my voice and find what I love to do. And
I think breath work and this kind of self inquiry
work almost like therapy work through the breath has been
the most profound. I still teach, you guys, still teach
a movement. It's still a big piece of what I do.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
So let me ask you this. If somebody and we're
getting close to back to the studio, yeah, I'm going
to say this, And I'm not like a big proponent
of coming out and say you need to do this,
but people need to take your class, right, they need
to experience this. No, so can you share with us
the different ways that people can experience what you do.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Yeah, so if you're local to LA, you can come
to the Open Studio which is in Venice, and I
teach throughout the week breathwork, movement that definitely come to
the breathwork class breath and Sound. Yes, you can also
practice me on the Open App because we have an
app and I can also give you so.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
They could be with you, like you can follow along
to your breathwork class. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Well it's not going to be this you know, a
live but it's not speakersion, but it's a mini version.
We have this same style of breath and also doesn't
have to be just active like we have meditation on
there and and movement and if you need if you
have anxiety, I have like breathwork to help you with
anxiety or needing to go to bed or There's a
lot of different things on the Open App. And then
(20:15):
personally outside of Open I mean I do one on
one sessions, I do coaching and mentorship. I work with
a lot of teachers to help them find their own
thing and help find their own voice. So yeah, you
can find me on social media and on my website
and all the things, and yeah, awesome.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Well so we're getting ready to do a U turn
here and get back to the studio to drop you off. Great,
but I just want to say that was phenomenal, Aaron.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Oh it was. Yeah, it was profound. I'm so happy.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
I really enjoyed spending time with you. Leg I want
to thank my beautiful wife for taking the class with
me and also joining us along on the drive today.
I want to thank everyone on the straw Hut Media team,
including executive producer Ryan Tillotson and our editor and producer
Parker Jay Hicks. And as always, a big thank you
to Fletcher Jones Motor Cars in Newport Beach for providing
(21:16):
this beautiful Mercedes Benz EQE to be our rolling podcast studio.
Join us next time on locales only, where you can
buckle up and go for a ride in our mobile
podcast studio with some of the coolest people in Southern California.
Hello, Hi, Lee. He It's Eric from Locals Only. How
are you good? Hey, I'm gonna be pulling up outside
of your Open studio just in two seconds. If you
want to come outside, I'm gonna I'm right here. Hey,
Welcome to Locals Only. I'm Eric Hale And if you
(00:21):
don't know me, I'm the guy that founded Local magazine
fourteen years ago in my garage. It's been my job
for all those years to tell you the coolest places
to eat in all of southern California, fun things to do,
so you have date nights that aren't boring, and we've
talked to some really interesting people. Now we have a podcast,
and we're lucky enough to call this Mercedes Benz EQE
all electric sedan courtesy of Fletcher Jones Motor Cars in
(00:44):
Newport Beach. Our mobile podcasts do do, so sit back,
buckle up, and enjoy the conversation. Welcome to Local Zone
Today on Locals Only. We're in Venice Beach, California, and
we're picking up Leehi, Binesti. She's an instructor at Open.
They're a studio and they also have an app that
(01:06):
reaches people around the world. We were lucky enough to
take her breath work in soundclass today and it was amazing.
So we're going to talk to her about the class,
her upbringing, which included attending a Buddhist school, and also
her real feelings on healing. So sit back, buckle up,
and enjoy Locals Only. Hey, good to see you, Good
(01:32):
to see it. Welcome, there you go. And just so
you know, as we're riding around, there's three different cameras,
one kind of on you, one for both of us. Yeah,
all of them can see. There's over here from me.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
No hiding, I'm here.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, and then you got your podcast mics. This is
our mobile podcast studio, so I'm kind of neat just
checking we're recording on everything. So also just as you
know as we drive around, something that's pretty cool here
on Locales Only. We're really excited about this. I've been
looking forward to this weeks. We met through a mutual
friend who's been on the podcast before, Corey Wilson. Yeah,
(02:07):
and he's he lives here in Venice and we just
picked you up from the open studio in Venice. We're
literally steps away from the Venice Beach boardwalk, so if
you've ever been there to watch skateboarding or watch people
where just steps away from that. I'm actually going to
turn my camera out so you can kind of see.
So we're just pulling away from the Venice Beach boardwalk.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Now it's right around sunset time.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
It is right about there's pond trees and sunsets. There's
the Venice sign right in front of us as we
pull up. But I just want to get into the
conversation Lehi venis d is among a lot of things.
I think an instructor at Open where we just funny
enough took a class and I think not funny enough,
(02:51):
but we planned it. But I think this is one
of the few times on the podcast we've been able
to experience something ye leading up to it, which I
think is really unique. So maybe you could share first
just a little bit about the breathwork and Sound class
that we just took, just to maybe get people a
little bit more familiar.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah, so I teach it Open, which is a mindfulness
studio here in Venice. We're also an app, so we're
really kind of a hybrid model of a studio, but
our flagship studio is here in Venice Beach. I am
a breath work and movement, facilitator, instructor, guide, whatever we
(03:32):
want to call it. Then a yoga teacher for almost
fourteen years now, but breathwork has really become my main
thing or what I say is my why, my why
for showing up, and it's really been open that has
kind of helped cultivate that for me and with me
co created and yeah, we just did breath and Sound,
(03:54):
which is open signature class. So it is an active
breathwork journey. And I say active because sometimes people come
to breathwork and they're like, we're just going to lay
back and just meditate and breathe and just kind of relax,
and it's very very not that, yeah, you know, I
mean it is a meditation and then we are laying back,
but it is an active class. Sometimes people walk out
(04:16):
and they're like that was ten years of therapy, or
that was church, or that was you know, there's something
that happens in that room that is sometimes really undescribable.
But we're going on an active breathwork journey.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
And then this really great sound system. So part of
this is the community, which I think you mentioned several
times while we were doing the class, being around other
people kind of experiencing things together, and then part of
it is the sound. Yeah, maybe I could ask you this.
The music was phenomenal. I felt like I was probably
getting ready to have a drink on the beach in
(04:52):
a visa. How do you find that and how do
you make sure that that goes along with what you do?
Part one? Part two? Is it always the same music? Oh?
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I goess It's different every time? Yeah, music is different
every time. There's sometimes repeated songs. Honestly, tonight I did
not repeat one song that I've ever done, no thing,
maybe like the last song, But generally it's a different
playlist every time, a different theme and intention different every time.
There's there's common things that are you know, weaved through
(05:22):
the experience, but it's definitely different every single time. And
music has always been like a love language for me.
I'm not a musician, I'm not a DJ, but I've
always really loved curating playlist and experiences, and so I've
been really making playlists since I was really young, like
I don't know, downloading music on like LimeWire and then
(05:45):
making CDs and giving into friends. I was always like
my way of sharing like what I'm interested in.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
That's an interesting part of it. Now, maybe I could
share a little bit, or maybe Aaron could share because
he's here too. We just took the class. I was
afraid going into it, and I think because I actually,
you know, Coreya told me about it. We were at
Great White having lunch. I ran into a friend, Dave Harper.
(06:12):
Dave goes, oh, you're taking that class. It's amazing, but like,
have you ever done it before? So Aaron, were you
a little bit you were a little bit afraid.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah, we both were nervous. Yeah, we didn't know what
to expect.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Like can we handle it? Can we do your first
breath class? So I would say I think what you
do is pretty unique. Wich. You're probably aware of that
because you know I'm on APPS and I've done breath
work in meditation. But it's it's very tame by comparison,
and it doesn't feel as I'm not saying that yours
(06:44):
is like like planned, but it feels thought out. It
feels intentional in your class.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
So there is a journey or anything with the music
and the space and that people like there's and.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
The sounds like the different sound bowls and the rainstick. Yeah,
and that to me and I don't this isn't a
podcast about me. Here for me enough, but even you know,
something that I experienced was when you got to the rainstick. Yeah,
I was in such a state and receptive to sound
that as you moved around the room, I was just
(07:16):
tingling all over my body. It was incredible.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Sound is really powerful, and I'm glad I pulled out
the rain stick today because that is not an every class.
The rainstick doesn't always come. But tonight I was like,
you know, there was a lot of big release, big screams,
like it was a very emotional class and when that
and it happens every time, but sometimes it's like a
big joyful class, like there's there's a collective energy that's
(07:41):
happening in the room.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
And can you explain that really quick because some people
might think you made people scream, but you did, Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Yeah, So the journey class is like we're breathing for
about thirty five minutes in that active way. So that's
and it's music led, meaning we're breathing to the beat
of the music. So I've curated a playlist often like
pretty high energy, like you know you said of beats
that we've got some kind of dancy, a lot of
like afrobeats that I play or it's giving and yeah
(08:17):
you're going on, I have played on you in class,
but it's a good, good reminder to pay an next time.
And there is a therapeutic aspect of really speaking to
the emotions that are living in the body. And so
we have a lot of emotions that are stored in
the body, and we don't feel all of them, and
we especially love to label them as good and bad.
(08:39):
And that's really what I'm teaching to in the class
is you know, I say this at the very beginning,
and like all of you are welcome here, and meaning
like all of you literally each of you that are
showing up for class, but also every single part of you, right,
so the part of you that is grieving, the part
of you that is angry, the part of you that
is excited, the part of you that you know, all
(08:59):
of it of it is welcome. And we don't often
give ourselves permission to really feel all of it because
we decide what part is worthy and what part is it.
And so the breath is really a direct what I say,
like a direct access point to our truth, the direct
access point to you know, our full self, and there's
really like no hiding from it when we're in that practice.
(09:21):
Obviously you can by repressing and not doing the breath
and swallowing it down, but when you're in this collective
group of everyone really doing the work and doing the
work of breath, then it kind of gives you permission
to go a little bit deeper. You know, when you
hear the person next to you breathing, you're like, okay,
Like it's almost like they're on the You're you're running
(09:42):
a marathon and people are on the finish line like
cheering you on, like we're all in that together. And
then at the end, there's an invitation to really like scream,
to let it go, to move it out, because what
happens is like things are emerging, things are coming up.
Maybe you're up, you know, things that have been stuck
in the body. They start to almost like crawl up
to your neck, your chest, your throat, and if we
(10:04):
were to just stop and just swallow, we just swallow
it back down. But the scream is an invitation to
actually like process and move it out and move it through.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
What I found and I'm glad I took the class
was you're kind of this amazing teacher and you seem
I don't know why is beyond your years and the
words that you said. For me, that audio or was
much more important even than the music or the rainstick
or any of that, because it was almost like a
(10:34):
counseling session. Right, Where does that come from? Where's that motivation?
Because none of that was scripted. That was from the heart, right, Yeah,
that is how do you develop that?
Speaker 2 (10:46):
I wish I could tell you. I mean channeling, it's
kind of channels through. Yeah, it's not because I don't
plan my class, right, I'm not like tonight we're going
to talk about I might have like a like a
thing that's like, oh, it would be cool, and it
never happens. If I try to plan, it doesn't work, right,
even like I'll spend like eight hours making playlists on
Monday and then like five minutes before my class, I'll
(11:08):
like rechange it. I'm like, oh, and then I'll make
a new playlist, like it'll be completely different. So the
planning never works for me. And I think I'm like
often reading energy in the room. I have like the
capacity to kind of like really listen and tune into
what's happening. So a lot of what I'm saying is
in direct relationship to what's happening in the room, right
(11:30):
and a lot of it, yeah, a lot of it
is channeled. It just like comes out, and I think,
I mean, I've been teaching for a long time and
I've done a lot of different types of work, whether
it's yoga or breath work or body work or different
types of therapy and self inquiry things in her child work,
a lot of different things, and I'm definitely a seeker
(11:53):
in like knowledge, and I think all of that.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Knowledge definitely does stack. And we've got a lot of
guests on the show, and that's something that I think
is important. A lot of people want to get to
a place very quickly, and rarely is there overnight success
in anything. Everything takes knowledge, and that's why wisdom is
so great and why you know, if you listen to
an older person talk, you're like, Wow, how do you
(12:17):
know all that? It's like because I failed and succeeded
and tried, and I've done all of these different things.
So I would think that you're probably under the impression
that this is very early in your journey, so you're
going to be able to progress a long.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Way as you can. Yeah, I'm always growing and learning
and excited to kind of take on more and fill
my cup. And I also recognize that that can also
be an addiction. Like there's a lot of people that
are like just constantly taking workshops in this and reading
all the things, and I'm definitely I took a little
bit of a break of that and I'm starting to
dive into two new things and that feels good to
(12:53):
fill my cup to keep integrating and evolving my own
practice in my own teaching. But yeah, I love the
therapeutic aspect. I feel really connected to helping to creating
a space where people feel safe to feel like, yeah,
they feel safe to feel or they're they're given permission
to feel. And yeah, what I've really like come to
(13:15):
realize is so much so I mean me included, But
we we associate feelings or emotions with with with weakness,
even if like we think we don't like or we'd
be like, oh I didn't get I didn't I wasn't
taught that. But when we were young, like maybe there
was a time, like when our kids, maybe there was
a time that we felt an emotion or we were
sad or we were angry, and then our parents or
(13:37):
someone told us like be strong, right, and that can't
usually yeah, like just be strong that I usually meant
like swallow it down, like don't do anything, because if
you show your feeling like that's a weakness. And so
even if our parents or friends or whoever didn't mean
it in a harmful way, it created a lot of
harm within us because it perpetuates this definition that feeling
(14:02):
is a weakness and being strong is not feeling. And
so we've gone through life like that being strong means
not feeling.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
But it's not always in the way that you want
to get through something right. Because one of the reasons
I started the company Own Now and even this podcast
was I find myself given challenges to always want to
run through the wall. Right. You put a wall, you
go through the wall, and resilience is hitting your head
(14:31):
on the wall until eventually it'll break down and then
you get through. But there's also the idea of you
can get around the wall. Right. So the river sometimes
doesn't go through an island, it'll go around an island
and it will carry things with it. So I think
there is something to being vulnerable not only to yourself,
(14:52):
but maybe to what is out there for you, and
sometimes that presents in different ways.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Yeah, I think. I mean, sometimes people are like, I
don't want to go through it. It's too painful to
go through it. I don't want to process this thing.
And I'm like, well, you actually have to go through
it for me, Like I think you actually have to
go through it in order to you can go through it,
not at least in this work. And like you say
the same, yeah, because you're trying to avoid it. Going
(15:18):
around is like I don't want to avoid the obstacle,
and it's like, well, the obstacle is not going away.
It's still there, so you're just going to keep avoiding, avoiding, avoiding,
and likely that obstacle is probably going to grow. Like
all of a sudden, I'm in Cambridge, Massachusetts. There's no
way I'm going to get into a cold pool or
a pool, you know. Yeah, and someone that's like, find
me heat. So I started doing hot yoga and then
(15:40):
like I don't know, something clicked. I was like, it
is not even about the workout here, it's not even
about the heat. Like I feel like really connected to
my body. I feel really like at home in my body.
And then I kept showing up. I was like going
once a day, twice a day, three times, like I
was really going wild, Like it feels like that's all
I cared about to practice. I want to practice, and yeah.
(16:03):
Then I quit my job and I was like, I
want to move back to California, and I think I
want to do my yoga teacher training. But the funny
thing is that I did not want to teach. There
was no part of me that was like I want
to teach yoga. I just wanted to learn about yoga,
just wanted to do yo. I love learning, and so
(16:24):
there was but there was nothing. There was no There
was not like yoga school that did not mean you
had to teach. It was only like yoga teacher training.
There was like yoga practice, which I really think there
should be, of course.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Just practice as long as you want to, of course.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
But I was like, really, I looked at all these
yoga teacher trainings. I loved the framework. I was like, oh,
I get to learn the philosophy, I get to learn
the poses. I get to learn this and meditation and
breath work and the history and and then I have
to learn how to sequence and teach, and I'm like, well,
what if I just like only do the first part
and not and skip out the sequence and teach. I
(17:03):
literally was calling every yoga studio in San Francisco trying
to negotiate, like what am I pay less? What am
I pay less to not get certified because the certificate?
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Is there a discount? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (17:16):
And they're like, no, I sold my car and I yeah,
And then I did and I did my teacher training
and the day I finished, I got offered like a
subbing opportunity because I was working at this point, just
like I just moved to San Francisco. I was working
at a yoga studio and like a gym, and they
(17:38):
were like the teacher didn't show up, can you teach?
And I was like, I guess technically I can't. And
I did, and it was a terrible class. I mean
there was like three people there and and but shout
out to those people still listening, Dennis still still a
standing and and yeah, I mean then I just kept
(18:02):
doing it. I don't know, and then something switched. I
really don't remember the switch, Like I don't remember the
moment where I was like I can do this or
I like to do this, but I definitely think that.
I mean, I'm thirty three, this is like early twenties.
I mean, I think the past four years is where
(18:23):
I really found my voice, even though I've been teaching
for much longer. Yeah, I think I've really like found it,
like whatever is channeling through that you guys witnessed tonight
in past Like I think that that happened a few
years ago. And it takes a lot of practice and
a lot of teaching and a lot of falling over
and messing up and people not showing up to class
and you know, And I think coming down to LA
(18:46):
and connecting with open and being a part of this
like founding teacher team, I've really been able to find
my voice and find what I love to do. And
I think breath work and this kind of self inquiry
work almost like therapy work through the breath has been
the most profound. I still teach, you guys, still teach
a movement. It's still a big piece of what I do.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
So let me ask you this. If somebody and we're
getting close to back to the studio, yeah, I'm going
to say this, And I'm not like a big proponent
of coming out and say you need to do this,
but people need to take your class, right, they need
to experience this. No, so can you share with us
the different ways that people can experience what you do.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Yeah, so if you're local to LA, you can come
to the Open Studio which is in Venice, and I
teach throughout the week breathwork, movement that definitely come to
the breathwork class breath and Sound. Yes, you can also
practice me on the Open App because we have an
app and I can also give you so.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
They could be with you, like you can follow along
to your breathwork class. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Well it's not going to be this you know, a
live but it's not speakersion, but it's a mini version.
We have this same style of breath and also doesn't
have to be just active like we have meditation on
there and and movement and if you need if you
have anxiety, I have like breathwork to help you with
anxiety or needing to go to bed or There's a
lot of different things on the Open App. And then
(20:15):
personally outside of Open I mean I do one on
one sessions, I do coaching and mentorship. I work with
a lot of teachers to help them find their own
thing and help find their own voice. So yeah, you
can find me on social media and on my website
and all the things, and yeah, awesome.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Well so we're getting ready to do a U turn
here and get back to the studio to drop you off. Great,
but I just want to say that was phenomenal, Aaron.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Oh it was. Yeah, it was profound. I'm so happy.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
I really enjoyed spending time with you. Leg I want
to thank my beautiful wife for taking the class with
me and also joining us along on the drive today.
I want to thank everyone on the straw Hut Media team,
including executive producer Ryan Tillotson and our editor and producer
Parker Jay Hicks. And as always, a big thank you
to Fletcher Jones Motor Cars in Newport Beach for providing
(21:16):
this beautiful Mercedes Benz EQE to be our rolling podcast studio.
Join us next time on locales only, where you can
buckle up and go for a ride in our mobile
podcast studio with some of the coolest people in Southern California.
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