Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:11] Speaker B: Hello, and welcome to Deep in your yoga practice. I'm your host, Lauren Leduc, owner and founder of True love Yoga in Kansas City, Missouri. And today I'm going to introduce you to one of the true love yoga family members who we love so much, Savannah Smith. And Savannah is leading a really special book club at the studio this summer. So we're going to help you get to know Savannah a little bit better, talk about why reading and yoga are such a wonderful pairing, and dive into a lot more juicy topics. So thank you so much for being here, Savannah. Welcome to the podcast.
[00:00:47] Speaker A: Thank you. I listen all the time, so it's really exciting to be here.
[00:00:52] Speaker B: That's awesome. Well, then you must know how I'm going to start off, which is asking you, Savannah, how did you fall in love with yoga?
[00:00:59] Speaker A: I feel like yoga has always kind of been, like, the background music of my life. The first yoga class I took, I was probably 17, and it was, like, at a gym, you know, local gym. I was always the type of person that never really worked out or had, like, a relationship with fitness. And I remember maybe like, five years ago, someone used the word athletic to describe me. And I remember how shocked I felt because that just always felt so outside of the realm of who I am. But fell in love with yoga probably right around when I was graduating high school.
Yeah, it kind of comes and goes throughout my life. You know, I haven't had a steady practice or steady relationship with yoga until the past decade or so.
[00:01:41] Speaker B: Yeah. So I'd love to know a little bit more about your story and how yoga is incorporated into that. So it's been a part of your life for a long time. But I know you've had a bit of a health scare and that as your career, you're in cosmetology. How does this all fit in with your yoga journey?
[00:01:58] Speaker A: Yeah, I pretty much my whole adult life have been a trainer and educator in the cosmetology and, like, hair space. And it was probably eight or nine years ago, I was on a work trip and I was in a horrible car accident. And as I was recovering from the car accident, I actually got really, really, really sick, both mentally and physically.
And yoga was really what helped me get back on track with my mental health. It helped a lot with my depression and a lot of just the mental things I was overcoming from that trauma.
Um, and then I. Even as my mental health was in a good place, my physical health was declining, and I was going to all these doctors for years, and we couldn't Figure out why I was sick or why I was having all these random side effects. And the common thing I was hearing from doctors was, you have to quit your job. You can't be around these chemicals at the salon anymore. And it was such a crisis in my life because it's what I do. It's what I know. It's what I'm good at. And as I thought about, like, if this is taken away from me, what would I want to be doing? And if I had a chance to restart, what would I do? The little whisper in the back of my head was always yoga. Like, I feel like whether it's in the cosmetology space or the teaching space, with yoga, teaching really feels like my purpose and my drive in life. And I always said when I retired, I would teach yoga. And then, you know, all these life challenges came through and I had an opportunity to switch some things up, and I'm really glad I did.
[00:03:25] Speaker B: Well, thank you so much for sharing that. And it's amazing how yoga can be such a companion in our healing and help us connect with ourselves, even if it takes some sort of scare or major life event for that to happen.
And I love that, like, you were talking about, you imagined yourself maybe retiring and teaching yoga. But, you know, what if. What if that is not a part of your future? Like, why not now? So that brings me to talking about you joining our yoga teacher training in 2024. What made you initially take the leap?
[00:03:59] Speaker A: Well, I. Like I said, for a long time, I was feeling the tug, and that was always on a back shelf. Like, someday, you know, when I end my career, I'll do this. But really having to look at my life like, what if I become unattached to this career that I have right now or this job I have? What does that look like? And what does that free up and open up for me? And I was practicing a lot at True Love at the time and really enjoying your classes and some of the other yoga teachers there. And I always felt like True Love was a space where I could, like, show up up with no makeup and dirty feet and dirty hair and a wrinkled T shirt, and. And I was just as loved and accepted as if I came in a cute little set, you know? So I felt from the beginning like, if I was going to do this, this is the place, and that was my home. So I thought about it for a while, and then one day I just clicked go on the registration link.
[00:04:51] Speaker B: I love those moments where you're just like, okay, I'm gonna Do it now. It's time to jump.
[00:04:54] Speaker A: Yeah. I was so giddy. I was like. I just. I just pushed the button. I just did the thing.
[00:04:59] Speaker B: That's awesome. Well, I'm so glad you did. I'd love to know maybe a couple of the highlights from yoga teacher training.
[00:05:06] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. I mean, it seems obvious, but, like, the friendships that you form with people and the way that I was meeting people who were so aligned with my heart and finding all of these new, beautiful relationships. But I think my biggest takeaway from yoga teacher training, like, you. You go into something like this trying to not have an expectation, but you kind of have an idea of what you think it's going to. And the biggest surprise for me was there wasn't this big focus on, like, alignment or what the poses are supposed to look like. Right. Like, I thought I would really nail every pose and know exactly what I was supposed to show and do. And there was really so little emphasis on that and so much emphasis on how it felt in my body and what it did for me. And I started practicing yoga more with my eyes closed and exploring that and not thinking about finding a mirror to check my alignment, but, like, finding that internally. And so I think that was one of the most beautiful things for me was I was able to give myself permission, or maybe, maybe you gave me permission to just feel into my body and not have to show a perfect pose as a yoga teacher. And that gave me so much freedom and joy in my practice.
[00:06:16] Speaker B: I love that. Practicing yoga with my eyes closed is one of my very favorite things in the whole world.
[00:06:23] Speaker A: So juicy.
[00:06:24] Speaker B: Yeah, it's so good. And especially when life is feeling overwhelming or crazy, being able to go inward and do that is just one of the most nourishing things that I can personally think of doing for myself. So I'm really glad to have been able to pass that down to you. And I love, as a teacher, kind of making it my goal to teach in such a specific way that students are able to follow with their eyes closed. They don't have to, but. But I want to be so specific and directive. When I say directive, I don't mean, like, you must do it a specific way, but just like, you know exactly what's happening without having to see the visual. That's. That's my main goal or one of my main goals when I'm teaching, for sure.
Well, that is really.
[00:07:05] Speaker A: I can feel that.
[00:07:06] Speaker B: And you. You are still in your career and you're teaching yoga. Did yoga teacher training maybe change or Enhance the way that you approach your career?
[00:07:15] Speaker A: Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, we always talk about, as yoga teachers, we talk with our students how yoga is more than the physical asanas and it's the way you live your life. But it was so cool for me to exercise this muscle of creativity. As I was learning how to be a yoga teacher, my gears were always turning, like, how can I bring this in to my students at the hair school I teach at or when I travel and do, like, workshops or seminars with my job? I started, like, beginning with breath work or asking permission. Could we bring like, a little grounding into the space before we learn this haircut? And, like, how could that maybe help steady our hands or steady our nerves? You know, like, a lot of the skills I learned in yoga teacher training have allowed me to work with my future professionals, My cosmetology students, when they're really nervous for their first highlight ever, we just take a couple deep breaths together. Or I think about what I would tell someone as a yoga student. And there's so much crossover and so much translation there. And it's been really joyful to find those little connections and feel like these aren't two separate careers. But yoga really is just the way that I move through the world or live my life.
[00:08:26] Speaker B: That is really cool. How have your students responded to it?
[00:08:29] Speaker A: They love it. I thought they would think it was weird.
Sometimes I'm teaching a class and I have 40 students who are in cosmetology school, and I'm like, okay, let's all sit on the ground and start with breathwork. And they started asking for it. They're like, hey, are you our teacher this week? Can we do a little meditation together? So it was so well received and it felt so good that everything started to align for me in that way.
[00:08:55] Speaker B: That is really cool. Let's talk a little bit about your approach to teaching yoga. So you've had, you know, a good few months under your belt now. I know it's really important to you to create an inclusive and welcoming space. How do you blend this love of movement and mindfulness and education into your teaching?
[00:09:14] Speaker A: I think for me, especially with a background teaching fundamentals to hair school students, I really have this big passion for how can we make yoga feel super accessible to someone who's never practiced or people of all body types, people of all backgrounds? And that's something the training at True Love really focused a lot on that and that inclusivity and that trauma informed yoga teaching approach. And so I think as a teacher, like, as I'M finding my own voice. I really connect with starting so simple, keeping it so basic, and then starting to offer modifications. How do we make it more spicy? How do we make it a little deeper? Because I think that a yoga practice is so not linear. For a long time, I was like, the more I show up at yoga, the better I'll get. Especially as women, our bodies are so different every day and week to week and month to month. So I try to stay grounded in the approach of where are you right now and today? And if you let go of judgment of yourself and let go of expectation, how does yoga show up in your body?
So I think that's kind of what you could expect from a yoga class with me, Something that's approachable and accessible and really good playlist that's important to me. I know this isn't sustainable forever, but so far I've made a brand new playlist for every single yoga class I've ever taught. And that is something that just personally brings me so much joy and that I really look forward to doing every week. So.
[00:10:40] Speaker B: Well. That's really fun.
[00:10:42] Speaker A: Yeah, it's so fun.
[00:10:43] Speaker B: I wish I could do that. After 10, 11, 12 years of teaching, I find, like, I just played droning music.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: I love your music. It's always perfect.
[00:10:56] Speaker B: I think, because I'm a mom and I'm really busy. Like, I almost just need, like, the most ambient music I can possibly find to practice too. That comes out in my teaching. So I definitely admire people who take the time and energy to cultivate these really, like, badass playlists.
[00:11:15] Speaker A: Well, and it's funny that you say that, like, where you know, where you're at in your life. That's how music shows up for you.
Music has been like, such a. Such a forefront of, like, every phase of my life, but I really want my yoga classes to feel super just fun and invite play and invite curiosity. And so I think that can be really provoked or encouraged by the music that you choose, you know, and then some days you're like, man, I just want to lie on the floor for the whole hour. And the playlist is a little different on those days.
[00:11:42] Speaker B: I'd like to get into your summer series here and ask you what inspired this book club. It's called get lit, your summer book club.
And to me, it seems like it's such a wonderful pairing with what you already do as an educator, because you're not just teaching movement. You are really inviting in inner inquiry, allowing students probably to develop this sense of swadhyaya. Which is one of the niyamas of self study and to go deep within, inside the container of a really welcoming community. So I'd love to know what your inspiration.
[00:12:19] Speaker A: Well, I was in a workshop with Melody, who's one of our behind the scenes facilitators at True Love. And it was an excellent workshop. And she invited us to break up into small groups and really look at our own practice and our own life and what feels authentic to us when we're talking about offerings as yoga teachers. And the first thing I thought of was books. I think last year I read 69 books or something crazy. I love reading. I just can't get enough of that relationship with books. And so, so it feels really authentic to me to marry those two things together. Combining yoga and then reading books that help to deepen the practice just felt really authentic and really exciting to me. And Melody reached out a couple weeks later and was like, hey, I know you threw that out as an idea, but do you want to do that? So I'm so excited to bring some people together that want to talk about books and move in our bodies and just build that community of people with all these common interests.
[00:13:17] Speaker B: So your book club integrates yoga, meditation and discussion.
Can you go over the format, a little bit of what people can expect when they attend?
[00:13:27] Speaker A: Yeah. So of course we'll all kind of read the book at our own pace before we gather together. But if you haven't read the book or didn't make it all the way through, everyone is still totally welcome. We'll talk about some takeaways from the books, how they connect with our yoga practice, what they meant for each of us. And then we'll spend some time in some breath work and meditation and a little bit of a flow inspired by the things that we learned or the things that we felt reading that book together.
[00:13:56] Speaker B: I love that. So people are able to really embody what they're learning rather than just keeping it in their head and discussing it. You can like really feel it out in the way that you're, you're moving through your practice. So that's super creative and I'm sure everyone's going to love it so much. What else do you want to share about this workshop or about this summer series?
[00:14:16] Speaker A: I think it's, it's going to be a great place to start. If you have never tried yoga before, maybe you're finding this just because you like to read and you like spirituality and those types of discussions. So please know that you're so welcome. Like, I Mentioned earlier, even if you just want to lay on your mat the whole hour. That's. That's lovely. And we would love to have you.
[00:14:35] Speaker B: That's so great. So the book club dates are June 21, July 19, and August 23. Do they need to read before they show up to the first one?
[00:14:45] Speaker A: Yeah. So we will announce the books ahead of time. You'll see that announcement coming soon. But like I mentioned, if you don't read the book or you don't finish it or you don't like it, that's okay. We would still love for you to come hang out.
[00:14:56] Speaker B: Okay. I love that. Well, thank you so much for sharing a little bit of your story and your experience with True Love Yoga and for announcing this awesome summer series. We're really excited to have it at the studio. I'd love to know your thoughts on how can our listeners deepen their yoga practice.
[00:15:14] Speaker A: The first thought that comes for me with this question, the thing that feels most authentic to me is just dance more. And that's totally where I'm at in my life. You know, whether it's dancing in the kitchen or dancing in my living room in the dark or dancing at a club or a concert or just like getting all my friends at a bonfire to stand up and dance with me, I think it's such a beautiful way to understand how your body wants to flow and understand what your needs are. And I found so much connection on my yoga mat because I live in flow and I live in play with all the dancing that I'm doing. So if you're not someone that dances a lot, my challenge for you is let that flow happen, even if you're alone, and see how that translates and shows up for you when you do visit your mat. And I think that you might be surprised at how much self awareness that you build and how much more joyful your yoga practice becomes.
[00:16:11] Speaker B: That's so much fun. So be sure to find one of Savannah's playlists. Are they all on Spotify?
[00:16:17] Speaker A: They are, yeah. Or DM me on Instagram, and I'll send you more playlists than you could ever even fit in your brain.
[00:16:23] Speaker B: Dance and then hop on your mat, close your eyes, and just flow.
[00:16:26] Speaker A: Absolutely. Yeah. Follow that intuition just like you would when you're dancing. You know, your yoga teacher is here to give you ideas and modifications and guide you, but you really have so much autonomy on your mat, and it's so wonderful to just open up and listen to your body.
[00:16:44] Speaker B: Absolutely. Savannah, how can our listeners connect with.
[00:16:47] Speaker A: You further on Instagram. I'm Savannah in Reverie, and my name's S A V A N N A no. 8.
[00:16:54] Speaker B: All right, thank you so much for sharing, Savannah. We're so happy to have you as part of the True Love Yoga Fam. And we're so excited about this summer series with you. So for those of us in kc, Come join. We'd love to have you. And if not, make sure that you're diving into reading in your yoga practice, because reading and dancing, I'll say, based on what Savannah is sharing, because it really does open up this whole world of. Of inner inquiry that allows you to approach yoga as a lifestyle rather than just something that you do on your mat a few times a week. So, Savannah, again, thank you so much. It was so great having you today. Everyone who's listening, we really appreciate you. Is there anything else you want to share before we go?
[00:17:34] Speaker A: Thank you so much for having me, and thank you for creating such a beautiful community and beautiful space that so many of us call home.
[00:17:42] Speaker B: Well, thank you so much, Savannah, everyone. Thank you so much. Have a wonderful week. Hope you get lit this summer. Om Shanti Om. Peace.
