Mia Shares About Closing Her Studio, Next Yoga Endeavors, and Life Changes!

This week Mia shares about the closing of Flores Street Yoga, the opportunity to teach yoga in school, and all the life changes in between!

Mia's Amazon Wishlist - https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1JVUYUWIZHR8T?ref_=wl_share

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Namaste Yogis, this is Adrienne with How Yoga Changed My Life a podcast. Today I'm sitting down with my favorite co-host, Mia, my only co-host for Yoga Changed. I'm sitting down with Mia because she's got another life update for us. And I am dying to share all of this news with our listeners. Mia has been, you've been all fucking over the place this year. No. I mean, not like I don't mean that in a bad man. I mean like traveling, like you've been on the go, you've had a lot of life changes. Um, so why don't you fill in our listeners on what's been going on with you?

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Yeah, let's think. Um, I closed out my sixth year of teaching.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

Very nice.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

School teaching. School teaching, yes. I mean, which I guess then seventh year of yoga teaching. Yeah. I closed out my sixth year of teaching. I completely packed up my classroom. I did my summer thing. I went to Germany, which was super fun and cool. I went with students. Amazing. I really, really enjoy traveling with youth. I really enjoy traveling with students and seeing them take in the world and take in new experiences is really powerful. I love that. During the summer, uh, Lucas and I made the very hard decision to close the doors of Flora Street Yoga.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

It was awful.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

We, when we first signed our lease, it was a six-month lease with our original landlord. In those six months, she sold the building, which was a huge bummer. We got new landlords that were not from San Antonio, they were not from Texas, and they came in and immediately raised our rent. Um when they raised the rent the first time, there was like big talk of promises and improvements and the Which, by the way, let's just back up for a second.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Your first landlord, when you got that building, the amount of work that needed and the investment.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Oh, yeah, let's go back. When we first got that building, it was a shit. The shit show in Hellbull. It was terrible. It was infested with rats. Oh, yeah. It has no working central AC or heat. It had this terrible carpeting over three layers of peel and stick tiles. Yep. It had no windows. It had like false walls over real walls. I don't even know how else to describe it, like paneling. And it smelled. And we spent three months renovating like ourselves. The only thing we did not do ourselves by hand was install the floating flooring.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

We installed the windows ourselves. My dad helped with that. We renovated ourselves, we painted ourselves, we did wallpaper ourselves, furniture. Furniture, yeah. We thrifted furniture, everything, right? So we did everything in this space and we were willing to because we had a very affordable rent under $1,000. Yeah. Right. And that was necessary for the model that we were interested in running, which was an accessible studio. Yep. Specifically financially, right? Yoga can get very expensive for close to no reason. Yeah. I doubt those studios are paying their teachers that well because I've worked there. Um, right. Um and yeah, we really, really wanted it to be financially accessible. So we were content to do that work ourselves. We did not mind. I think we put around $10,000 in total. Yeah. Um, which was not easy by any means. Both of us being school teachers, Lucas and I.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

Well, not only that, but it was also you were still on the path of Graves' disease, too.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

Oh, yeah. Yeah, amongst a million other things that you guys have heard, right? Yeah. Getting married. Getting married, graves disease. So six months in, the building has been sold. We get a new landlord, and the landlord tries to. I think they wanted I think they wanted to double it at that point. No way in hell. Yeah. Is what I told them. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

It's like, what do you expect?

SPEAKER_00 4:33

And what was sketchy too is they did it a day that I wasn't there and only Lucas was there. And I'm really grateful that he didn't sign because it can be really easy to be pressured and like caved and cave on those moments. But he called me and I was like, let's do a three-way call. And I told her, No way in hell, you're delusional. Um, I didn't say it in such a manner, but I pretty much implied as much. And so we did have an increase in rent, which made things a little bit tougher for us, but it was not a doubling, which I was grateful for. We then went a year later. In that year, they kicked out one of the other tenants because we were in a triplex essentially. They then used that area as storage for their food truck, which invited a lot of more problems back into the building. They rented out the other space to someone who I'm convinced was raising some sort of animal. Oh God. I think chickens or guinea pigs, just based on the noises. Oh my God. Which invited a whole nother host of issues.

SPEAKER_03 5:37

Oh my God.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

And they blocked off parking spots for their food truck and some a lot of less than ideal. Inconveniences. Yes. A lot of inconveniences. Inconveniences without communication and without responsiveness when we had issues.

SPEAKER_02 5:56

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Right. And so we had to close our doors multiple times, just for like a one day, up to like four days in a row. We would have to cancel classes because of things that were going on. Wow. Right.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

I didn't know you had to do that for four days in a row.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

Yeah. I mean, due to a number of different issues, right? Which are unsavory and I don't even want to like discuss because they still have an operating business that is there. It's there and it's going to be their difficulty to continue running. Not without me having to say anything at all, right? Right.

SPEAKER_03 6:29

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

And so we in June, I think, hit, or just prior to June, maybe June, we hit our one year following that re-sign of the lease. And this time they wanted $1,500. Um, which is ridiculous. Um, and the first thing that they told us was that it was negotiable and that we could negotiate on that price. And so we came to the table, we said that we'd be willing to pay more than we were currently paying, but we could not do $15. And then on that first phone call, we were told it was no negotiation. Yeah, it was non-negotiable. To which we were like, but you said it was. What can we do? And they pretty much said, no, absolutely not. So we decided not to continue in that space and began looking for other spaces. We found one that was at $1,000, which is what we were willing to pay at our current space, but it was probably half the size, which would be a hit space-wise. Yeah. Not necessarily for the studio, but in terms of having a place to sit, a place to put your shoes, right? Like the actual teachers' atmosphere, right? It would have been a little bit of a hit, but it was worth it in our minds. In order to make that move, we had to be closed for two weeks, just in terms of getting out of one space and getting into the other. I was out of town working camp, and that two weeks ended up being just harder financially than originally anticipated. Yeah. Right. As a business, one third of our income came from memberships, and two thirds came from drop-ins.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

And so when you're closed for two weeks, drop ins, we pretty much lost a third of our income.

SPEAKER_02 8:14

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:15

Um, a third of anticipated income. Um, and so we had some options. We could have not paid teachers, which is illegal. Yes, we agreed. We could have not paid teachers and reopened, or we could pay teachers and have to pay more money out of pocket to reopen. Or pay teachers and don't reopen. So we went, pay teachers, don't reopen. Right. Um, Lucas and I had determined that we, if we were to stay open, needed to make more money than we had previously been making. Yeah. Which is that Lucas and I were not paying ourselves to teach classes. I know. That's not true. I take that back. You just there was a period. There was a little there was a period where we did that.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

Again, to prioritize paying teachers as much as possible.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Which is the problem with a lot of yoga studios is that if you don't pay yourself, then you're not gonna have a successful business plan at the end of the day. Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Or I think it was a little bit also, I mean, if that's what we were relying on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Both of us have full-time jobs.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

Well, and it's not like you were trying to franchise your you know, FSY or anything like that. That's different. Totally. If you're gonna franchise, yeah, you gotta start paying everybody.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

Yeah. And we had numbers that we knew if we hit, we would start making our money back, right? That initial 10,000 investment. Yeah. Those kinds of numbers take two to three years to hit. Yeah. That I know, right? From working at other spaces. And so it could have been possible had our rent stayed reasonable, but a doubling for where we were located was just not realistic.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

No.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

Um, especially a doubling with really no notice. 30-day notice is just not possible.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

I don't know how people think that that's even legal.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

Like, I mean, what's hell? You know, our landlord told us, well, it's comparable to the area and what's fair, and blah, blah, blah. First of all, the area has empty buildings. I don't know what you're talking about. Yeah, exactly. And second of all, it's still empty to this day. Wow. Right? We're now two, three months out. There's no one there. It's empty. That's crazy. You played yourself. Like you could have had rent. Yeah. And you didn't. You played yourself. But I think they needed rent because they had kicked a tenant out. And so they were trying to make up for that. Yeah. And now you have no tenants. So because moving would have required a couple more thousand dollars from Lucas and I. At least. We decided not to. Yeah. Um, that was a really hard decision, but it's where we landed. And I think financially it's the better decision. And so we called it quits. Yeah. Right. Um, it was, I think oddly, weirdly, I was okay. Yeah. I had been anticipating it, truthfully. Like from that first re-signing with the new landlords, I've been anticipating all sort of issues here, right? Yes. I absolutely saw the writing on the wall. I was living with the writing on the wall. Um, not being able to reopen was sad.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

But I mean, I teared up about it at one point.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

It's sad because of the effort, the energy, the people, the community, what you guys had dreamed and what you guys had created.

SPEAKER_02 11:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

And making that even bigger and better in the future. Well, yeah, that's sad. But that wasn't a failure.

SPEAKER_00 11:40

No. And I think um I am not sad on my behalf on any means.

SPEAKER_02 11:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:47

Right? Like I have no embarrassment. I have no shame. I have no um regrets. I am very sad for the community.

SPEAKER_02 11:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Right. I was very proud of what we built. I loved being in community with everyone who walked through those doors. Teachers, students, strangers, right?

SPEAKER_01 12:06

Even just the small businesses that they're tiny little businesses that were around you. Oh my God. Yeah. Like I love.

SPEAKER_00 12:11

I'm gonna miss you, Rios Barbacoa. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Not that I can't go there anymore. But um, you know, Dubai Cafe shout out, right? Like the other business owners were really great, really supportive. Alley Cat.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Hey, I haven't killed those two plants yet, even. Oh, that's fabulous.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Yes, I think it's Texas Green Emporiums. Yes. I'm pretty sure. And so um I am very sad just for the community, right? Um, and I think we've left a hole. Um, we were providing very affordable yoga, we were providing CEUs, we were providing training to our teachers. Um, we were providing community meetups.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Like some of the coolest things that you did too. Like you did the yoga swap, clothes swap, you know, you did a lot of like you had shirts made. You had like you made something out of nothing.

SPEAKER_00 13:02

Yeah. And I think it's so, oh man. I mean, it's a relief. Yeah. It was a relief after years of teaching for other people to be able to do something that 100% aligned with my personal vision of values. There's nothing like that.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 13:19

Holy shit.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

Do it, people.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

Um, you know, be an entrepreneur, right? Follow it.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

And that is so powerful and so exhilarating that it's hard to then be like, now what? Yeah. Right. And I can talk to that a little bit because I have figured out some things, but that's where I think my sadness lies that that community and that space is gone, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:45

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

And then that iteration will never exist again.

SPEAKER_01 13:49

Well, yeah. And even if you think about it, like any of the yoga studios that we've worked at that have closed in San Antonio or that did not, you know, um, did not survive COVID, all of those places and spaces spaces are it leaves a hole in the community and it leaves a space. Even like when our last place that we worked at together closed, I people were scattering trying to find yoga, and that's that's heartbreaking. That's heartbreaking.

SPEAKER_00 14:15

Yeah. Well, and it's sad too, because for some people, they might do not do yoga for a couple years now.

SPEAKER_01 14:22

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 14:23

Right? Because this was their hub, this was their space, and now there's a hole. Um I do think I have learned a few things that you know, if you're ever thinking about owning a yoga studio or a small business, whatever it may be. I Lucas and I started at a scale that was doable, but I think was sometimes tough in terms of if because we were not doing this full time, yeah, difficult. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. I think if I were to do this again, one, I would own the building. Fuck landlords. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

Sorry, landlords, but you're out.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

Yeah, uh sorry, not sorry. Yeah. One, if I were to do this again, I would have to own the building. Yeah. Um, that's like a non-negotiable for me. I could see that in the next 10 years. That's very possible. And 10 years is nothing in the grand scheme of things. And then two, I would probably start at a smaller scale for a small yoga studio for a small business. I really need teachers that are gonna give it their all. Yeah. Right. And I know that's a big ask. I know that's not for everyone. And I think I would have really transparent conversations of like, what are you gonna do to build community? What are you gonna do to fill classes? Because that is so, so different than turnkey, show up, teach, and leave.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Yeah. Right. Absolutely. And I think that that is one of the things that continuing education of teachers is super important because, like we talked about before, 200-hour yoga certifications have a small amount of business of yoga. That's it, a tiny little bit. And so until you go out and experience it and see that, like, oh wow, I can't just unlock the door, walk in, teach a class, and leave. I actually have to show up a little bit more. There's more to it if you're in a situation that is based around building community.

SPEAKER_00 16:23

Yeah. And I think there are studios and spaces where you can do that. My studio probably will never be one of them.

SPEAKER_01 16:29

I don't think I would want to teach at a yoga studio that was like that. That feels very stale. It feels very um um non just like generic or like cold, right? Like I don't want to show up, teach up, teach, and leave. Like I want to go practice. I want to be inspired. I want to learn.

SPEAKER_00 16:47

And I don't think people think that that's necessarily what they're doing. And I, and maybe that's not even what I'm trying to speak to, but I think there are studios that let's say have a model or a following where no matter what, you're gonna have double digits. Yeah, you're gonna have people in classes, butts on double digits is so different than I mean, yeah. Oh, I have two people. Right. Oh, I have one person. That apprehension and that feeling and that realization that I now have to be alone with one other person is hard for some people.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

Yeah, 100%. And I get it. It does you were uh hit the nail on the head. That's a big deal because there are so many people out there that don't have the self-confidence in their teaching to be able to do that one-on-one or two-on-one or tiny little classes and learning how to grow someone else's practice. It's not about the teacher in these kind of spaces, right? It's about community and building community. And I think I told you this early on. I was like, you know, one thing that I have seen work in small spaces is less teachers. You guys didn't have that ability to just have it be you and Lucas teaching all of the classes because you both had full-time jobs.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Yeah. You know, but even still, I mean, if we had moved, Lucas and I were each gonna pick up like two more classes. Yeah, you would have to. We had to just because we needed that consistency, we needed that investment of why who cares more than us, no one, right? Right. Right. And then I think um the third thing that I've learned that's not necessarily related to running the business itself is and this was really sad. I think this was probably the saddest part is I see certain people differently. Um how people treat you when you're high versus low is shocking.

SPEAKER_02 18:40

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

Um, people who wanted things from me from the studio, who benefited from me from the studio versus changed the moment we closed our doors. Right? Um never heard from again, ghosted or were upset about a charge from February. Like something they purchased in February, all of a sudden they weren't refunded. Um, you know, things of that nature. And and to do that to a small business, and I had experienced this once before we closed, um, someone who I knew and I had considered a friend ultimately like canceled their membership over it was just shocking. Or I guess long story short, had a membership, they asked for a pause and said they would be back in the new year. And so I paused their membership until the new year. And it started again in January, which is the new year.

SPEAKER_01 19:37

Which is the new year, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:38

And then when they got charged, they were pissed and wanted a refund. And I offered a cash refund or a cash app. I could do cash or cash app, but when you give a refund through MBO, which is our booking system, there are fees. Like I think we do refund and 25%. Like it's high. It's high, it is. They make a lot of money. And she refused it, and she was so mad she's refused it. She canceled her membership, which was fine. Like anyone who operates in that manner and treats someone who, again, I thought was a friend and also treats a small business this way. Yeah, I cannot understand it. I'm baffled.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

I don't get that at all.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

And I will say, like, I've been on the other side where a business charged me when they weren't supposed to. I sent an email asking they chose to refund it and so be it.

SPEAKER_01 20:24

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 20:25

Right? Or if they had said no, come have a free whatever, I would have, you know, whatever. So, anyways, I experienced that once before. In closing, I've experienced this a few times with people that I've known for years. Yeah. Um, people who I've worked with for years, and I'm shocked. Like, I mean, just that is so sad. And people that operate in small businesses, yeah, people that own small businesses, people that are yoga teachers. Yeah, exactly. Right. And like that is such a like I'm shocked. I've that I've never dealt with before. Yeah. Right. So the member was a member who I considered a friend, but I guess wasn't, right? But these are I mean, I'm just blown away. I really don't have words for it to treat two people, myself and Lucas, yeah, like we're somehow getting away with your $39 a month, mind you, $39 a month. Right. That's what some of our members were paying because we did a founder's rate. Yeah. $39, $49, $59. If you think we took your $39 a month from two months ago and are making it big, right, right. What the fuck? I know. You know, and so it's it's things like that, or someone who spent $100 on a 15 or a 14 class pack, that hundred dollars is needed back. You know, like yeah, and I say all that to say I know a hundred dollars is something to someone, right? And maybe thirty nine dollars is also something to someone. Yeah. And if I were Amazon or Walmart, sure, get your fucking refund. Yeah, exactly. But from a small business, I mean, that has now caused issues in us closing. Yeah. Um, and we're trying to remedy those issues. So that's all, and that's how I personally feel. Yeah. Maybe someone who owns a small business feels differently. But I was shocked.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

Well, it's it's like you know it has a lot to do with the fact that you're a very loyal person. You won't you have loyalty is something very important to you as it is to me, you know? And so when we have those kind of relationships with people, and then it's like something happens that's beyond your control, and that there's nothing you can do about it, and you've lived up to your end of the bargain.

SPEAKER_00 22:40

Yeah. And I get so I mean, what happened is that we had people who were charged June 1st and we closed like June 2nd, something of that nature, right? Or we closed also June 1st and we thought we were reopening June 15th.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

Right. Right.

SPEAKER_00 22:53

And we didn't. Right. But on June 1st, I thought we were reopening on June 15th. Exactly. And, you know, I feel bad in that regard. It was not intentional, it was not purposeful.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

No, but you're not talking about a mass quantity of people either. You're talking about a handful.

SPEAKER_00 23:08

And especially I've had some people, you know, on the flip, be so kind, so generous, and extend so much grace. That has been extremely heartwarming. And I'm extremely grateful for all those people. Yeah. Right. And I've had people now already follow me to other teaching spaces and I'm grateful and be kind and offer help and offer trucks and do whatever they can to help in this process. Yeah. Um, but the it's tough because it's like one sour grape spoils the box.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

Right. Well, and and as humans, what do we focus on? The negative. Always it's so hard to remember. And that's where I think that where you have the opportunity to hold on to those little wins, right? Like celebrate those in ways to know that, like, hey, I know we can do it. It's feasible, it's plausible. Were there things some things that I would change in the future? Absolutely. But now this has given you kind of an understanding and and hopefully some confidence to know that you can do it.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Um, and I think another thing timing-wise, this is back to the good news, right? Yeah. Part of why I was content to close our doors is that I'm about to pick up take on a brand new giant yoga endeavor, which is that I have the opportunity to teach yoga in a K-12 school. So huge. Yeah. So huge.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

Dream come true.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

Yeah. Dream come true. Um, I had to stop dreaming, right?

SPEAKER_02 24:41

Yeah, yeah, you did.

SPEAKER_00 24:42

Something that I didn't think was feasible, something that I had seen very few people accomplish. And it just was the luck of the draw, genuinely. Um I will start by teaching twice a week. Again, K 12. Those classes will be a kinder to second grade, a third to fifth, a sixth through eighth, and a ninth through twelfth. That's awesome. My high schoolers, I really only have ninth and tenth graders. I don't have many juniors and seniors, but four different groups. I'm gonna see them twice a week after lunch. So fucking cool. I'm over the moon. I've checked out so many books from the library to use with my my littles. Um, I'm so grateful that I did my kids' yoga teacher training, you know, five years ago now. Maybe six years ago, because I did in 2020, I did during COVID.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

What's cool though, too, is that because you've been teaching kids for six, seven years now. How many years did you say? I've done six years of teaching. So six years of teaching and having the yoga knowledge and the yoga experience. I think now you can even see greater uh ways of moving yoga into the schools.

SPEAKER_00 25:54

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

It's exciting. It's really exciting.

SPEAKER_00 25:57

Yeah, I have two classrooms that I have to set up. Um actually, the day that this comes out will be my first day of school. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So that's so exciting. I have my classroom set up. I don't have my yoga studio set up yet. I have the mats, like I have the things, but the first week of school are all half days, and there will not be yoga those days. But then the second week, once we get into full days, we have yoga after lunch.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

That's gonna be so cool.

SPEAKER_00 26:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:26

I loved, I loved teaching yoga during school when I was in Chicago. That was my favorite because kids, especially like I remember the little conversations that we would have. Now, mind you, now some of these kids have just graduated college. Wow. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 26:41

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

But my whole thing was always if you can bring yoga to a kid that never would have experienced yoga before, and then maybe 20 years from now, he's sitting at a kitchen table talking to his family, and he goes, Remember that time I took yoga and I learned how to breathe? Like that was really valuable. Yeah, something I used now. That was really cool. Yeah, that was really cool. Or, mom, like I fell asleep in yoga class for an hour, you know what I mean? Like I got to rest, or I remembered this feeling. I remember this weirdo, you know, doing this X, Y, or Z craft or something. But it's like there is something to be said about bringing yoga to kids early on to help them understand that they're in control.

SPEAKER_00 27:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:24

That they get to control how they react and they respond and they can show up in their best ways.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:30

You know.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

Yeah. And I'm really grateful because so many pro athletes have made yoga cool. Yeah, that's true. That's true. And singers and oh yeah, you know, performers. Yeah, Madonna, right?

SPEAKER_01 27:42

Adam Levy.

SPEAKER_00 27:43

Brandon always talks about how Madonna did yoga first. Right. Madonna brought yoga to America. So yeah, absolutely. I think it's um very, very exciting. And I have taught some kids yoga. I'm excited for the littles, right? So I'm thinking like K through five because there's a lot of storytelling in those yoga classes and a lot of creativity. Um that's there's a lot of storytelling, there's a lot of creativity. That's something I'm very, very excited about because I haven't gotten to do as much of that.

SPEAKER_02 28:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:16

I've done maybe like 10 or so classes of that style.

SPEAKER_02 28:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:21

And then what's really cool is like middle and high school, you can teach a yoga class like you would adults. Yeah. And it's funny because I've taught a good number of yoga classes to middle schoolers, and it's really easy to want to take it slow and explain and give these details, kind of like you do when you're a brand new yoga teacher, right? They don't care. I no, they don't care. Yeah. And and because middle schoolers have not the same decorum as adults, they start talking because you're not moving them fast enough. Right. And then the second that and I was like, oh crap, they're talking over me. I gotta move.

SPEAKER_02 28:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:57

And so as soon as I actually started flowing them, like doing a vinyasa style class, yeah, they locked in. Yeah, right. That's what they would say now. They locked in. Um they're flowing, they're moving, they're doing everything. It's like I didn't have to break it down for them.

SPEAKER_01 29:10

No, you don't.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

I'm talking to little adults right now. Exactly. Exactly. Not to give them so much credit, but they are so capable. And I think we think because they're children that they're not capable. Oh my God, I had this one boy, miss, watch this. Miss, watch this, miss, miss. And I was funny because you know, his football coach had left the gym while we were doing this. He's like, Well, the football, the tracks, he's the everything coach. Right, right, right. The coach had left, and I'm doing yoga with the it was all boys. And then when he came back, he was like, sir, watch this coach, watch this, watch this. And he was showing him everything we had done in class and then was like, what else can I do? And so he had done crow. Yeah, he had done splits, he had done probably wheel. Yeah, wheel. Yes, all of these things that are, you know, relatively tough poses. Advanced poses. Advanced poses. And one kids, kids are kind of one of two ways. They either have so much mobility in their body still, yeah, or they're like just as stiff as an old person. It's so funny.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

But they're more open. Oh my god, and they have no fear. No fear. Right, right, right, right. No fear.

SPEAKER_00 30:10

And so it's just uh it's really easy to want to like go slow with kids, but honestly, once you are you it's you are more afraid than they are.

SPEAKER_01 30:19

Exactly. And they're the coolest thing too about teaching kids yoga is that you will see change so much faster. Oh, yeah. So much faster, not only in their body, but in the way that they carry themselves, the way that they speak about themselves, the way that they interact with others. It's like it really does bleed into their life in such a beautiful way.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

Yeah. So I'm thrilled.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

Oh my God, I'm so excited for you. And just that I remember just the little things, like we would do little creative expressions at the end of a meditation and like watching their little drawings, and like I have one drawing of a kid that we were doing like food, like um like a pyramid, or not a pyramid, it was like a peace sign, and it was like different types of things, and they drew something that looked like a penis. Oh my god. And I was like, what is that? And they're like, that's a turkey leg. I was like, oh, okay, you know, but like some of the little things that they would say and they would do, and they're just so open, and and you have the opportunity to give them the gift of self-regulation and connection. How cool is that? Yeah, it's major. That's a teacher. Yeah, that's a school teacher.

SPEAKER_00 31:28

So that's new. Um, my husband and I just bought a new house. That's new.

SPEAKER_01 31:33

Which is amazing.

SPEAKER_00 31:34

We're in the process of getting certified to be foster parents. That's new.

SPEAKER_01 31:40

That is so cool. There's so many kids out there that need it.

SPEAKER_00 31:43

We lost my cat. That's right, Dad. She knows that that's so now I'm down to just three cats.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

So if there's a fourth looking for a home.

SPEAKER_00 31:56

No, I had a dream that we got a dog. I was like, what the we got a good fenced in backyard for it. Oh, yeah. I think that's everything that's new. Am I forgetting anything?

SPEAKER_01 32:05

I'm trying to think. No, I think that's it.

SPEAKER_00 32:09

Those are all the things. Usually, when I tell people about being a teacher and especially moving campuses and big change of this nature, they usually ask a way that they can help. If you're interested in helping, I will link my Amazon wishlist the uh show notes. That would be greatly appreciated. I have a lot of stuff. I'm I'm really, really grateful. But this new campus, you know, it's just like different things. Like I don't have air purifiers. And my schools for the last six years have had them since COVID. Oh. And now I don't have one. I'm like, where the hell is my air purifier? I'm like, I know that I don't know if that's like bougie or but I'm like, I feel like we need the clean air. Come on.

SPEAKER_01 32:47

Hashtag white people problems.

SPEAKER_00 32:49

Yeah, but I'm like, uh, purify the air. And then, you know. So it's it's kind of um things that I think are necessities. And I was told we're kind of in this funky shared campus situation where we only have janitors for like four hours a day or something like that, which is not an FPS. And so like I had to buy my own broom so that my kids can sweep the room. Yeah. And so there's some like cleaning products on there that would be helpful. Um, I've done a lot of grants, so I have my yoga mats. Um, Adrian has a lot of supplies for me, which is super helpful. And they did give me a little budget. Turns out I okay, I ordered an anatomy skeleton. I got two.

SPEAKER_01 33:29

Oh no way. I've been wanting one for so long. What does it look like?

SPEAKER_00 33:33

Is it um I haven't set it up? Yeah, it's like one that hangs and like.

SPEAKER_01 33:36

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 33:37

But somehow I got two by X.

SPEAKER_01 33:39

Oh my God, that's awesome. That's so funny.

SPEAKER_00 33:41

That's awesome. Um, yeah. So my campus did give me some money, which is really nice. So the things that are on my wish list, I would find very helpful. I just don't have the money to invest in, you know, first thing from the jump. And because I'm switching districts, I'm gonna go essentially, I need to make one paycheck work for 45 days versus 30, which sucks. I hate that. Yeah, I hate that. Which is one of those like gaps. Um so whatever, say Livvy. Um, but that's it. That's what's new with me. Help is always appreciated and wanted and loved. Um, I will definitely be posting about this. Yeah. Um, I'm so, so excited. Um, I have a teacher Instagram called Made for the Middle Years and a teacher TikTok called Made for the Middle Years. I will definitely be posting if you care about teacher content or want to see what I'm doing in my new yoga classroom. I'm so, so excited.

SPEAKER_01 34:31

I'm excited for you. And I can't wait to see kind of what you're gonna bring to the table, what these kids, the interactions that you're gonna have are gonna be so profound for them and for you that it's like it's just exciting to see that this is finally coming into your wheelhouse.

SPEAKER_00 34:46

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 34:48

Cool. Uh well, thank you for giving us your update. And I'm glad that you know, we're still here, we're still podcasting four years later. Yes. Thank you so much to our listeners for supporting us. You know, rate review, subscribe, all of those fun things.

SPEAKER_00 35:03

Yeah, and I know I've been gone, but you are gonna hear from me and from Adrian for at least the next six weeks. Absolutely. Um, and we're gonna get on a nice good schedule and yoga changed. You'll hear from us. I don't know. I don't know where I was going with that.

SPEAKER_01 35:19

No, but you well, and the listeners know, you know, there's been a lot of change, and you know, this past year of your changes in your life and the changes that I've had in my life, and then kind of using this podcast as a way to evolve content and situations, you know, we didn't plan for this, and in case of emergency press play, those have been, you know, really well received, and we'll continue to do those through the year and see how it goes. And we're gonna, you know, kind of regroup and find ways to keep the content going in whatever way that looks like. But yoga changed is here to stay.

SPEAKER_00 35:57

Bye, Yokis.

SPEAKER_01 35:58

Bye.