LOVE PROFILE: MIMI’S YOGA KIDS

by iana velez | Nov 27, 2022 | ARTICLES, Profiles

LOVE PROFILE: MIMI’S YOGA KIDS

Edited by: Tashya Knight

PROFILES

We are so excited to chat with Camelia (Mimi) Felton, the owner of Mimi’s Yoga Kids located in Atlanta, GA. You can see the full interview via our YouTube link, and here is an excerpt of our fun IG live chat we had with her!

Iana
We’re going to chat with Mimi, the founder of Mimi’s Kids Yoga in Atlanta. So you’re a kid’s yoga teacher, I wish there had been yoga when I was a kid!

Mimi
I started teaching yoga with the foundation and core of teaching kids. But I have grown now into teaching everybody. So I say “kids” from newborn to 105. It’s amazing how it has turned into that, and so I’m really thankful. I teach babies all the way to seniors, so it’s a great place to be.

Iana
And how did you get started?

Mimi

I had a yoga practice off and on. I was a stay at home mom, and I would do it in spurts. But then in 2014 something pretty traumatic happened in my life, and yoga was what I turned to. It wasn’t the very first thing that I turned to, but I eventually started doing yoga and I got on the mat and it was just one of those things that really, truly got me through a tough time in my life. And so now it is my goal and mission to introduce that to other people. It’s not a cure all, but it is something with consistency and just making it your practice. Don’t worry about what anybody else is doing, make it your personal practice. I can almost guarantee you that it will change your life. It will impact your life in a way where we’ll make things better. And I’m a living testament to that.

But then in 2014 something pretty traumatic happened in my life, and yoga was what I turned to. It wasn’t the very first thing that I turned to, but I eventually started doing yoga and I got on the mat and it was just one of those things that really, truly got me through a tough time in my life.

Iana
I love that you share that it wasn’t the first thing you turned to, I think that there’s a lot of people who will try a couple of things and eventually, if you land on yoga, you kind of never leave. It’s transformative. And you made it your life’s work! What did you do in your “previous life”?

Mimi
I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur. I’ve done so many different things. I would sell Avon, I sold this, I sold that. I had an organizing business or cleaning business. So I’ve always had that entrepreneurial spirit. I was a stay at home mom, then a single mom, and then I had to go back into the workforce. I worked in the medical field and my last job was in pediatrics so I was around kids all the time. I love kids. And I was in a space where I had a lot of connection with parents. And so that was another thing too, that I knew because I saw kids coming in with anxiety and all these things, and sometimes they just want to give kids a bunch of medication and do different things. And I thought there has to be a different way. I’m not downplaying that in any way because we all need what we need, but in some instances, I think there’s a better way.

And so I just knew that I wanted to do this because I have a grandson. Well, I have four grandchildren now, but at the time I had one grandson and he would do yoga with me, and I saw the benefits that it gave him. So I thought, we need this. They’re our future. And so it just started with one small little party at my house, and then it has turned into this. And we’re thriving and I’m so proud of it. I’m really proud of it because it’s something that’s my purpose and my mission. And when you find that you wake up every day and it doesn’t feel like work, I’m just doing what brings me joy. So it’s a wonderful place to be.

Iana
Did you notice since you were doing this before the pandemic, that during the pandemic, things changed? Did you notice a change in kids and people?

Mimi
The space that I have, I’ve just gotten it, before I was mobile. I was just going everywhere. School, daycare centers, senior citizen facilities, parks, anywhere you can spread a mat out. I would go because I firmly believe yoga is for everybody, and you can do yoga anywhere. So I was mobile, and I still am, because I firmly believe in taking yoga to people. I don’t expect people to come to me. It’s my job and my responsibility to take yoga out into the world.

So when everything shut down, I was like, how am I going to get to my community, to my people, my babies, my kids? And so we pivoted, and we started doing things virtually. I was able to create a little space that I have now, which is in the basement at first, and I did little camps, little mindfulness breaks, all the things. The only ones I had a hard time getting to were my seniors, because they’re like, “We’re not doing virtual, not doing that.” So we would meet in the park with our jackets on, we would take tables out. And we did that for about a year out in the cold, but we would warm our hands up, we would listen to music, and we would move our bodies. And that was their saving grace, because they were able to be in community. They weren’t alone. They were getting fresh air. They were getting vitamin D. And so that was major because seniors, a lot of times, they’re alone. We couldn’t get to people like we normally could. So we said, hey, let’s just meet in the park.

“… I firmly believe in taking yoga to people. I don’t expect people to come to me. It’s my job and my responsibility to take yoga out into the world.”

Iana
You are actually one of the teachers we are featuring in our Atlanta spotlight in our upcoming LOVE issue launching this June. So thank you for that and thank you for joining that shoot. We spotlight at least three cities in each issue and in this issue, we spotlight Atlanta, Tokyo, and Boston. The shoot looked like so much fun. What was that area that you were you did the shoot?

Mimi
Ponce City Market. It’s a really cool space in downtown Atlanta. And so we decided to do it there because it’s just one of those places that it’s nice and open and you get that city feel or vibe, I should say. It was a lot of fun. I was so happy to be in the space again with those other two teachers because we did another event together. And so it was really nice to have that opportunity. Did you know we had Peace Week here in Atlanta? We did yoga with the mayor. I had picked up the magazine in New York and I was like, oh, my God, this is so nice. I would love to be in this magazine. And here I am, so super excited. I have to shout out Melissa Honkanen for making that possible.

Iana
Melissa is from our team, and she lived in New York for many years and recently moved to the Atlanta area. And that’s how we choose which areas to spotlight, it has to have meaning, and significance to us. Where did you get the issue of Yoga Love Magazine?

Mimi
My friend Michelle, founder of Yoga Mazia in the Philadelphia area. She invited me to go to SOULFest last October and that was amazing, and I picked up the magazine.. I was also able to meet Dianne Bondy and it was an amazing opportunity. And Shari from Karma Kids yoga, I love her music. I’ve been playing her music since day one. It’s just amazing how life works, right? Everything is just kind of full circle. So I know that this is what I’m supposed to do.

Iana
And that’s such a great feeling when it does! This is why I love talking to yoga teachers and studio owners, and anyone that works in the wellness space. And I say this all the time, people don’t work in wellness because they have to. They do it because they want to and they can’t imagine doing anything else. And there’s so much excitement and so much passion for it and it’s still work.

You make it work, you figure it out and you’re constantly on your toes and there’s so much community and passion amongst the people that you just do it. You do it in the cold in the park and you do it in the rain…

Mimi
And the power of community. The power of community, it was beautiful. It was beautiful to connect and to be in that space.

Iana
So what’s in the future for you?

Mimi
There’s so much that I want to do. I have a vision board that I just put things down and I firmly believe if it’s meant to be, it will be. So I would love to travel the country and travel the world, teaching mindfulness and meditation and yoga to kids. But my biggest thing is we have to do it here first. We have to take care of our home. I’m big on once I feel like home is good and then I want to go out into the world and just keep providing light and hope and love because this world is a crazy place. It’s a crazy place, but there’s so much love and there’s so much community and there’s so much light that we can still gravitate towards. And so I strive every day to be that light.

Having the community yoga space, just offering yoga free or very low cost for people that otherwise may not be able to afford it or the opportunity. So that’s very important to me. And then my last thing, I need to get into the correctional facilities, that’s part of what I want to do. I wasn’t incarcerated, but my oldest daughter was for a crime she didn’t commit. And so yoga was what kind of kept me going. It kept me in a mental state to be able to not only take care of myself, but to take care of my children, my grandson, and even her at that time. I will always give kudos to yoga. I firmly believe healed people, heal people. And through my own healing, and I’m healing every day, I’m able to create a space for others to heal too. That’s it.

“I will always give kudos to yoga. I firmly believe healed people, heal people. And through my own healing, and I’m healing every day, I’m able to create a space for others to heal too. That’s it.”

Iana
I love that! I want to connect you with Bre Scullark. I don’t know if you’ve ever met her. She goes into the correctional facilities, and she teaches yoga as well. And so there’s a big network of people that are doing that here in New York. She is an amazing person. The work it’s so beautiful and it’s so needed. Everyone needs yoga. We all need it. We’re all going through something. But when I see it there in those spaces, it’s just my heart is so full, and it breaks a little.

Mimi
Trust me, I know how it can be both because it’s a population that people just don’t really think about, but at the end of the day, they’re human too, and they deserve peace, and they deserve light in the midst of all that darkness. Because at the end of the day, for whatever reason, that’s not for me to judge. That’s not for me. For me, I just want to provide some love and some light and some joy, even if it’s just for 30 minutes, that can change somebody’s life, somebody’s day. So that’s very near to my heart, and the universe is just working. So I’m just like, do what you do, universe.

Iana
It was so great chatting with you. And I have to say, this morning I was feeling a little tired and just speaking with you and just feeling your enthusiasm and your love and your light. I feel replenished just speaking to you. Thank you for that and we’re so excited to feature you and your amazing work in our next issue, which will launch in June.

LIVING LIFE IN BOLD BRIGHT COLORS

by iana velez | Nov 9, 2022 | ARTICLES, Profiles

LIVING LIFE IN BOLD BRIGHT COLORS

Shay Moraga Interview

By iana velez

PROFILES

Shay Moraga is the founder of Shay’s Warriors, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was formed in the Coachella Valley to help women who have gone through breast and other reproductive cancers. Shay was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in 2016, and after her own struggles searching for local resources, she had a passion to do more. So with that, Shay’s Warriors was brought to life in hopes of providing a healthy, inspiring and safe space for survivors to thrive in life after cancer. Shay’s Warriors helps build community, connection and authentic conversation around what life is like after cancer so that fellow warriors live “hope in color.”

How has your yoga practice and teaching changed through your cancer diagnosis, treatment and healing?

I originally taught kids yoga because my daughter, Jalen, has done yoga since she was inside my belly. As she got older, and I got stronger with my practice, I became a power yoga teacher, then a yoga sculpt teacher. When I was diagnosed with cancer, I remember the very first thing that happened to me in the doctor’s office as soon as she told me was I clenched my fists, and held my breath. I wasn’t able to find the natural rhythm of my breath, I don’t even know how I was breathing, to be honest. I was just gasping, and what yogi doesn’t know how to breathe?

One of my friends who owned a yoga studio called me and said, “Shay, come and get on your mat.” I said I couldn’t because I was too scared. “Just come and be in Savasana,” she offered, that was probably the thing that I was most scared of. The moment I was still, was the moment I would have to think that I had breast cancer and I didn’t know yet if I would lose my breast, or if I was going to die.

She walked me through a class with a ton of modifications. I couldn’t do a Chaturanga, because they had just put my port in my chest for chemo, but I could do a high plank. I could no longer go down on my breasts after my surgery, but I could do a tabletop. It was really learning how to be able to navigate the poses, to let go, to give my body grace to be able to heal.

Learning how to redo yoga all over again was a big deal for me. Your balance changes after you have surgery, especially breast cancer. Luckily, yoga allowed me to get full mobility back fast. I now teach yoga for cancer at a cancer center, in Rancho Mirage, CA. I went from power yogi, to teaching what I call “move to heal.” It is the practice of movement and healing at the same time, mind-body connection work. It’s also about challenging yourself, and pushing yourself past fear to live.

Tell us what inspired you to create your website, shayswarriors.org. I was particularly struck by the great illustrations and design.

After I was done with chemo, I was just kind of like, “This sucks.” There’s no support locally after you are done with active treatment. I didn’t know who to talk to because everyone went back to their normal lives except for me. I went through all of this stuff, and I couldn’t teach yoga. I had major fatigue, no hair, I was so bloated from all the chemo and radiation. I was looking to connect with others like me, so as I continued to write a blog about my life after cancer struggles, I realized a need to do more. I wanted to create a community and connect with those who also were going through these same emotions and after cancer feelings.

I went online, but I just couldn’t find anything that spoke to me. All the websites were so doctor-like and sterile. I’d go to these websites, and it felt like I was sitting in the freaking hospital again. I have a creative imagination and background, so I called my talented girlfriend Lindsey, and asked her to help create a website that stood out and was full of color. Happy big bold and beautiful colors. Because I see things differently now, I live life with new meaning. The flowers are brighter. The birds chirp louder. The music hits my soul more. Cancer was a stop sign that shouted stop and start living! Let shit go, you only live once.

When I was little, my dad would always say, “After a storm, look up in the sky there’s a rainbow. That’s the sign of hope.” That became this palette of colors that we resonated with, which is also somewhat like my personality.

The theme of this issue is inspiration. How did you stay inspired during this time? What was the light that kept you going through?

The light that always kept me going was my faith and my daughter.No matter what, at the end of the day, I was going to live for her. She was my will to live.

The second will to live was the connections to the people I met when I went every Thursday to the chemo room. I would see the same people every visit, and it’s important you get to know those people. The one thing that was the common denominator among us was that we were there so that we could live. None of us wanted to die.

What was the thing that surprised you the most about going through this process?

People are so much more resilient than they give themselves credit for, and your mind is such a powerful tool in healing. Focus on the present moment and do stuff that fills you up — it makes it that much easier to get through things. Get rid of drama. Give yourself permission that while you are going through the hardest thing in your life, to be selfish. When you are sick, let people show up for you so you can take the back seat for once. Allow yourself the time to heal.

You think that some of the people you have known all your life will show up for you and be there by your side, but that doesn’t always happen. Then there’s people that come out of the woodwork, they are perfect strangers that will bend over backwards to help you with whatever you need. When people find out you have cancer they go through their own journey, because they are also faced with their own mortality. Easier said than done, but try not to hold it against them. If it hurts you, try hard to let it go for you, not for them.

The power in community is incredible when people ask for it, and you have to be willing to be vulnerable to ask for it. That’s where the resiliency comes in. It takes a lot of courage to ask, and when you do ask, it’s like your heart is ripped open and the love just starts pouring in those bold, bright beautiful colors.

Learn more: www.shayswarriors.org

Spotlight Festival: Sedona Yoga Festival

by iana velez | Oct 21, 2022 | ARTICLES, Festivals, Festivals 2023, Profiles

Spotlight Festival: Sedona Yoga Festival

PROFILES

FESTIVALS

Looking for something to do next Spring? We are thrilled yoga festivals are back and can’t wait to check out all the amazing events taking place around the world. This week we had a chance to connect with Heather Shereé Sanders, Producer of Sedona Yoga Festival who we are thrilled to partner with next April!

What inspired you to create a yoga festival?
I am passionate about Yoga, and after decades of creating events around community, sustainability, and the arts I found myself ready to retire from production work to practice and teach yoga. I was burnt out! Yoga was healing me and it was a very personal journey I was on. When I was invited to co-produce SYF in its inaugural year my original answer was “No”! I am so grateful to have agreed, as I discovered that production does not take away energy when it is matched with passion. Working in the yoga community is always interesting and not without its challenges. Moving through these challenges with grace and ease is supported by the knowing that each who is practicing yoga is seeking peace, practicing to the best of their ability non-harming, and believes in equanimity. So we move forward with that assumption and beautiful things happen. I learned as I began to produce SYF on my own in 2014 and ever since, that marrying passion (yoga) with purpose (gathering people to collaborate and co-create) is the magic formula of my life purpose. My dharma, if you will.

What makes your festival unique?
Sedona, of course! It is a powerful landscape for practice and transformation. In addition, SYF has long been known for offering a diverse range of deep-dive classes and workshops. We offer CEUs, we have so many presenters that no one gets to be the “rock Star” yogi. Over the years we have cultivated an audience of highly educated attendees, two-thirds of which are yoga professionals. So, it is a great place for conversation about the industry itself, and also a great place to discover your unique yoga as a practitioner, with such a wide array of offerings.

What offering/presenter or class are you most excited about for this year’s event?
We haven’t announced any of the presenters yet this year but one thing we are very excited about is the expansion of our team to include a programming team. The proposals that come in through SYF’s application process are now being reviewed by a team of yoga professionals from a diverse range of backgrounds and styles. We pride ourselves in finding amazing teachers that are not always drawn to the festival circuit and curating a program unlike any other, where each attendee may choose their own adventure from the numerous offerings available on the schedule. We always have a huge roster of teachers so that none is deemed more important than the other. It is all the parts that make up the whole, as is acknowledged in this year’s theme: Emerge to Imagine. Our aim with the offerings this year is to support those who show up with the tools to increase awareness of how each unique way of being, each independent action, intention, and thought is responsible to the whole, is interdependent in that we each affect the outcome for humanity. As we all emerge from what has proven to be a time of deep introspection – shadow work, even – and increased self-awareness, we are anticipating that “self” care begins to take the shape of community care.

SOCIAL LINKS
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Linkedin

TICKETS
sedonayogafestival.com/purchase-tickets/

Frances Hunt chats with Reggie Hubbard from the SYF programming team.
Learn more and get your tickets: www.sedonayogafestival.com

Spotlight Festival: Kentucky Yoga Festival

by iana velez | Oct 18, 2022 | ARTICLES, Festivals, Festivals 2023, Profiles

Spotlight Festival: Kentucky Yoga Festival

PROFILES

FESTIVALS

Looking for something to do in May? We are thrilled yoga festivals are back and can’t wait to check out all the amazing events taking place around the world. This week we had a chance to connect with Emma Swendsen, the event manager of Kentucky Yoga Festival who we are thrilled to partner with in May 2023. Check out this amazing festival and make sure you pick up your free copy of Yoga Love Magazine while you are there!

What inspired the creation of the festival?

The Kentucky Yoga Festival was inspired by the desire for community connection and co-creating a space for radical transformations. We saw our Kentucky yoga community wanting more opportunities to immerse in soulful connections and deepen their yogic practices. We believe that when you change yourself, you change the world so we set out to co-create this space with the kentucky yoga community and bring forth the opportunities for growth and change our community needs.

What makes your festival unique?

We like to say that the Kentucky Yoga Festival has the heart of a retreat with the soul of a festival. It is a place for beginner and advanced practitioners alike to come to learn, connect, and heal. We are a family friendly event with kids yoga and playshops in the Sprout Garden and something for every age and phase of the journey. We lean into all branches of yoga and seek to have something for every family member to enjoy even if they didn’t come for the yoga itself.

What offering/presenter or class are you most excited about for this year’s event?

There is too much to be excited for! Something that has me buzzing going into our 5th year though is welcoming new instructors who began their yoga teacher journeys at the very first Festival in 2019. There are many returning instructors with new offerings that we are excited to be sharing as well in addition to phenomenal vendors, artists, and musicians.

Instagram: @kyyogafest
Website: kyyogafest.com
Ticket Link: kyyogafest.com/get-tickets

LOVE PROFILE: Zen Yoga Garage

by iana velez | Oct 16, 2022 | ARTICLES, Profiles

LOVE PROFILE: Zen Yoga Garage

PROFILES

We are so excited to chat with Melissa Talleda, the owners of Zen Yoga Garage, our first studio partner in Chicago! You can see the full interview via our YouTube link, and here is an excerpt of our fun IG live chat we had about what it was like taking over a studio ownership right before the pandemic hit, inspiration, and exciting things coming up for the studio!

Iana: Melissa can you share with us, how long has your studio been open?

Melissa: We have been open as a studio since 2013. I’ve been involved in the studio since 2015 and I became the owner on March 1 of 2020. The previous owner had the opportunity to move to Prague, when I went to sign the paperwork that day, we were like, okay, so we should maybe order some extra Clorox wipes!

Once we opened, we never officially closed our doors for even one day. We learned how to use Zoom really quickly and we started Zooming from the studio and from people’s houses. Then the other iterations we went through, because we have garage doors in our space, we were able to open the garage doors and qualify as an outdoor space. So we did that in January of one year, and had folks practicing in full parkas.

Now, there are no restrictions, which is awesome. We do still offer Zoom classes, which has been nice because a lot of our students have moved during the pandemic and we are able to keep our members connected.

Iana: There are definitely a lot of things we learned to do quickly, like zoom classes, that made some things better. Thank goodness.

Melissa: I mean, truly, the impact was huge. We have some folks who have been consistently taking our classes from other countries and it’s been really lovely to connect in that capacity. It’s really cool to see this practice that brings everyone together, but still has these really nuanced differences.

Iana: Tell me about your name, Zen Yoga Garage, it’s not just a clever name right?

Melissa: The studio started as one location with two studios and it was previously a Jiffy Lube and we put up some walls and put down some flooring. Then we acquired this space, which is directly across the street from the main studio. Our intention with this space that we call the Annex, was supposed to be a temporary location. Then we really liked it, so we kept it. While we were planning an expansion upwards, next door to the main studio was a car wash. For years and years and years, people would come in, they’d go and get their cars washed while they took class and it was such a beautiful relationship. That car wash just ended up shutting its doors after 20 years, so we were able to get that space which is directly connected to our main studio space. So that is a full size drive through car wash that we cleaned up, reconstructed, and now it’s a studio that can hold 100 mats comfortably.

It’s wild! We try to stagger classes the best we can, so at least there aren’t classes loading in, and coming out at the same time. But there are times where the studio across the street will have between 150 to 200 hundred people all practicing at the same time. Now we’re also running teacher training, so that just brings in new energy and life. We have an amazing staff of volunteers to make sure that the studio stays looking good while everyone’s coming in and out. Because while we’re really fortunate to have a really large lovely communal lobby space, we’re still in the middle of Chicago.

Iana: Tell me, are you from Chicago?

Melissa: I’m actually from the east coast. I grew up in Philly and then I spent most of my young adulthood in Baltimore and traveling up and down the coast. I was a professional dancer for a while, so Baltimore, DC, New York, Philly were my trek often. I moved to Chicago about ten years ago and it’s a really cool city.

Iana: The theme of our next issue is LOVE, and to own your own business you really have to love what you’re doing, because let’s be honest it’s not always easy…

Melissa: I kind of had to giggle at that because when I meet somebody new and they ask, “Oh, what do you do for work?” and I tell them I own a yoga studio, they say “That must be so relaxing.”

Iana: What is one word you would use to describe what it’s like being a yoga studio owner?

Melissa: Hats. Lots of hats. I think the biggest challenge in owning a studio, is you have to go from fully holding space, leading classes, spreading that passion and inspiration that you have…to then stepping off of your mat and responding to emails about mixed up retail orders and the internet that’s been out, and learning how to manipulate and set up sound boards and your visual equipment. So there’s this constant, push and pull of energy. The challenge that I find, and that I find with a few studio owners who I connect with often is, how to go from giving, giving and then can you receive? Can you find that inspiration piece?

Iana: Replenishing your well, that’s the only way you’re able to do it! It’s funny because I did a teacher training 15 years ago thinking I want to own a studio and be a teacher, but I couldn’t figure out how to do that shift that you just talked about from receiving and giving without being exhausted. So I chose a different path…

Melissa: I think that’s something that yoga teachers in general face. I think many yoga teachers aren’t solely yoga teachers. The nature of the industry is you tend to teach a few classes at a few studios, and you’re either a constant gig worker trying to pick up shifts, or you’re a nine to fiver who needs the fulfillment of teaching yoga and you have something to give there. But I think that regardless of where you are in the industry, it is a push and pull and like that old saying goes…”do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” or “do what you love and you’ll work every single moment of every day.”

Iana: Can you share with us before you go what you’re most excited about coming up? Is it a YTT? Is it a retreat? Is it some kind of class that is new to your schedule?

Melissa: We just started two teacher trainings, we have a 200 hour teacher training that just began and we are halfway through our 85 hours prenatal yoga teacher training. Big things that are coming up, is the annex is about to be transformed into a training space. So we are close to debuting our 300 hours teacher training. Through the pandemic most of our yoga teachers, if they didn’t already have their 300 hours, used the time for professional development. So we now have some of the most highly skilled, highly compassionate, most inclusive, diverse staff of any studio that I’ve seen. We made it a goal as a studio to put that out there because we want to keep bringing the industry up.

Iana: Thank you for your support.

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