Episode Transcript
[00:00:11] Speaker A: Hello and welcome back to another episode of deep in your practice. I'm Lauren Leduc, the founder of True Love Yoga, and today I have with me a very, very special guest who has been a friend for a long time but also gets to to work with me. She's our media and marketing manager at True Love Yoga. She would be teaching classes too if she lived in Kansas City. She's in Texas, unfortunately. But fortunately for us, she does so much on the digital side. So I want to introduce her to you all, but also dive into a few really juicy topics to get today in marketing, yoga, in attending and leading workshops. And also she has a really cool offering at the studio that we'll get into as well. So welcome to the podcast, Melody Butler. I'm so happy you're here.
[00:01:08] Speaker B: I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for having me.
[00:01:12] Speaker A: You're welcome.
[00:01:13] Speaker B: I love getting to work alongside you all the time.
[00:01:16] Speaker A: It's really the best. Melody and I just a fun fact, we've traveled a few times together now for retreats or for one. We taught at a yoga conference in Greece and we watched I don't know how many episodes of friends together in one week.
Probably probably like 30 episodes of friends throughout this trip.
[00:01:40] Speaker B: Many. And just like snuggled around my teeny tiny tablet, drinking tea and watching friends to wind down every day.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: Yeah, it was like yoga all day, friends all night. So again, welcome, Melody.
Before we get into some of these juicy topics today, let's get to know you a little bit better. I'd love to know, how did you fall in love with yoga?
[00:02:05] Speaker B: Hi.
It's kind of a long story. Not too long.
So I was a dancer growing up, I did competitive dance through all of my childhood and into adolescence and then continued to dance throughout college. But when I was in high school, the dance studio that I took classes at and taught at started offering yoga, and I suckered my mom and my sister into coming to yoga classes with me at the studio, mostly just to prove how flexible and cool I was to them.
It was a really great introduction at a young age to understand the practice. There wasn't a whole lot of philosophy or anything like that behind it. It was definitely more physical, but I really loved it. And then in college, I went to college for theater, for acting and directing, and yoga was actually required for my major. So my second and third years in the program, we had to take yoga, and that was incredibly beneficial. And of course, anyone with a performance background knows that it's really gonna help your performance. We spent a lot of time on breath work. We spent a lot of time on Asana, but we also really did a great deal of meditation. And being able to manage stress in that way was an important part of our program. So that was really, really special to me. And it did. It really kind of deepened a love I didn't know I'd always had for meditation. It was the kind of thing where maybe you've experienced this, where you learn something in a more traditional, technical way and it awakens a memory of being like, oh, I've always done this. This is a practice that I've always had without ever having the language for it or understanding that it was perhaps a technique that is utilized throughout the world. So that was a really lovely experience. And I think that was kind of the first spark of being, I guess, reintroduced to something I had always known in my body, heart and mind. And then suddenly having the language and the understanding that this is a more global practice, that this has a long history and there are people in places out in the world who do this too, was really special when I graduated college and suddenly wasn't, you know, taking five to ten dance classes a week. I really needed a way to move my body.
I was living in Kansas City at the time and the way that I chose and the way that I found was to dive deep into a true yoga practice. So finding studios in KC and really continuing that dedication to an asana and a meditation practice meant a lot for me following college. And then it just kind of snowballed from there, I guess.
[00:05:07] Speaker A: Yeah, I definitely identify with that, especially coming from the dance background. And it's a different way to move in yoga, but there are these similarities in the emotionality behind it. And the thing about yoga is you're channeling your true emotions.
You're not performing right. So it's very cathartic. And there are a lot of people who, former dancers who get really deep into yoga and it's very healing in so many ways.
I'll mention to our listeners, Melody is a really accomplished yoga teacher. And you've been teaching now for probably, what, nine years?
[00:05:43] Speaker B: Nine years, yep. I did my YTT and my first in 2015.
[00:05:47] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah. Because you were doing that while you were visiting our original location for our studio years ago. That's how I got to know you. But since then, Melody is RYT 500.
Yeah, rat 500. She teaches international yoga retreats and she's a rare unicorn who's a full time yoga professional. So not just teaching yoga and fitness classes, but also doing a lot of like the behind the scenes work that help our studios run, and particularly for our studio, she does a lot of our or all of our social media. She's sort of the mouth of true love yoga, who you may not know. So I wanted to talk a little bit about yoga marketing because it's kind of a tricky topic, in my opinion. I don't think most teachers enjoy it.
It can feel yucky. But at the same time, yoga, within the context of our modern society is also a business. Yogis are not living, or some are living at ashrams. But the majority of us, our householders who work within different businesses to offer yoga, we're not living in an ashram with people offering us food and shelter for our services, right? So it's within this system of capitalism, and we have to figure out how to work within it to be able to reach potential students and to reach the people, to be able to do what we love, right. And to attract the people who are going to benefit from that.
So I guess my question would be, why do you think so many teachers are uncomfortable with marketing and yoga, and how might they overcome this challenge?
[00:07:43] Speaker B: 100% agree with you. It is, and it does feel kind of yucky to market, and I feel that way a lot, often, too. And I would also say that it's not just yoga teachers. Right. Like having worked alongside performers, having worked alongside artists, now, having worked alongside yoga teachers and fitness professionals, I think that it's pretty natural for most people in the world, or most people in the west to not feel particularly confident or at ease doing what we might consider, like bragging about ourselves. Right. I think there's this element of marketing that feels like, oh, I'm just spending all day talking about how great I am.
And of course, that's a part of it, because you are trying to sell a service that you're offering. So you do want to convince people of the value of the services that you're offering.
But it's not a really innate skill or interest. And especially, too, I think when we think about yoga instructors in the west, primarily, a lot of them are women, or a lot of them identify as female. And that is something culturally and societally that we're not really taught. We're not taught to spend a lot of time, I don't want to say valuing ourselves, but, like, a little bit valuing ourselves, but really and truly expressing how good we are at things or expressing how much we love a thing or how passionate we might be about a thing.
And so I do think there's a lot of cultural and societal programming that's ingrained in us to not market ourselves, whether that comes from being told that we need to be humble, or being told that our voices aren't as important as other voices in the world, or simply that sensation or that desire to not call attention to yourself, because that might be dangerous in some way.
So there is just a lot of programming inherently in our society and in our culture, that makes it difficult for you to want to stand up loud and proud and say, hey, I've created this thing. Hey, I can offer this thing, and it is really valuable, and you would gain something by participating in it, and you should give me money in order to participate in it. All of those things just go so deeply against what we've been taught or what we've been exposed to in our worlds and in our societies these days. So I think that that has a big part of it. The flip of that is also when we really start to dive deep into. Into yogic values and yogic philosophies and those learnings. It's not meant to be capitalistic. It's not meant to be, to be a monetary exchange, right? I think that, like the teachings, fully embrace that this is an energetic exchange.
But of course, as this philosophy was created 8000 years ago, plus monetary exchange wasn't really part of it. And like you mentioned, that's just not the reality of the world that you and I live in in the year 2024 in the United States, that's not the case. So we do kind of have to look past some of those teachings. Not to say that we ignore them, and not to say that we push them aside and that they're not valuable in this day and age, because of course they are.
And like you said, most of us are householders. We do have to put gas in our cars in order to get to the studio to teach the class. We do have to make sure that our families are fed, that the lights stay on in our homes. These kinds of things are all also valuable and important. And the way to do that is to be paid for the service that we're providing. So it is a challenge. It can certainly be a challenge, and I don't discredit that at all. And I think it. It does take a lot of unlearning and perhaps a lot of, like, root chakra and solar plexus chakra work to move past that as well. But not to say that it's impossible, and not to say that the two truths can't live side by side and that they can't be integrated into the way that we're practicing, the way that we're marketing, the way that we're selling and getting our services and getting our voices and our gifts out into the world.
[00:12:24] Speaker A: Thank you for that thoughtful and in depth answer. I like that you brought up this idea of energy exchange, and in the end, that's what money is.
It's energy. And I know sometimes that can be a cheesy way that somebody asks for money for something. Like, here's the energy exchange, at least in my opinion.
Maybe it's because they're uncomfortable saying this is the price of something.
[00:12:51] Speaker B: I think so.
[00:12:52] Speaker A: Or they make. They want to make it sound more spiritual or something like that. But in the end, it truly is that. Like, it is that exchange of energy. And that's how we have to do it these days. And you're so right about the fear of using one's voice. I think especially a lot of people who identify as women get shamed for putting themselves out there in certain ways.
I was just thinking about this the other day.
I received a decent amount of criticism from other people online. Not usually people I really know, but it's been interesting to read it. And one of them was from many years ago, I think. I was maybe at a retreat, and I had posted a picture of me doing some kind of posture, and I was wearing a swimsuit. And it definitely was not meant to be sexual in any way. It was just like, I happened to be wearing a swimsuit. And I don't know. I've done a lot of work to not feel shame around my body.
And, you know, this man was criticizing it, and I'm like, what's the difference between that and the poster of Dharma Mitra in, like, a freaking diaper doing yoga postures? You know, like, it's like, I have a feeling there is a specific reason why I'm being critiqued for this while other people aren't. Well, I don't typically post a lot of bikini yoga photos at this point in my life. Like, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with it. And I wasn't doing it to even sell anything. It was just, I love yoga.
There's a different era of Instagram, I think.
But anyway, I digress.
It can feel really tricky. I do notice for myself, the more experience I have, the more that I've personally seen results from these classes, the or trainings, whatever it might be, the easier it is to share. And that's what I feel like selling is a lot of times is just sharing. I'm not trying to manipulate, like, I don't want you to come do this training if it's not for you, you know, I'm just trying to share in hopes that I attract the people who are going to benefit the most from it and vibe with it. So that's been. That's been really helpful, but it's definitely taken a lot of inner work to be able to do that. And I think also part of it is taking the ego out. I didn't invent yoga. What I'm offering isn't something I invented. It's coming through me, of course, but I'm simply sharing. So, yeah, no, I agree wholeheartedly.
[00:15:29] Speaker B: And I think that's the thing that changed the game for me. And the thing that I offer as advice most frequently is that if you really, truly believe in what you're offering, if you have faith that your. This service, this gift, this instructional material, whatever it is, if you have faith that that is a value, if you know in your heart that this thing I've created is really special, then it becomes a little easier to sell. Because there's no. There's no deception to it. There's no, like, snake oil salesman aspect of it. Because I know in my heart that the retreat that I'm creating is going to be a healing experience if for no other reason, that the person attending chose to take six days to get, dedicate their time and energy to themselves and to self care in some way.
But I know that I'm capable of holding the container for that, and I know that I'm capable of scheduling and offering and creating an experience that's lovely for people. So again, it doesn't feel like I'm trying to trick anyone into attending the event or the retreat or the training or the workshop or the class. I think if you believe in what you're offering, and if you can be transparent in what the experience is so people's expectations are in alignment with what's actually being offered, then there's no reason to feel disingenuous about it because you know what's being put out there.
[00:17:12] Speaker A: Well, I think you just answered my next question, but it was, if you have any more tips for approaching marketing in a mindful way, and how can yoga professionals maintain a sense of authenticity while promoting themselves?
[00:17:31] Speaker B: Definitely. I mean, definitely those two things. And I think the other, the other really big one. And like we've said, it may take a little while of teaching and learning your voice and a little bit of inner healing alongside that. But I think when you believe in what your purpose is, then that also helps you sit in alignment with your offerings, whatever they may be. It might be the Wednesday evening slow flow at the studio. It might be something much bigger, like a, like a 200 hours training or like a retreat.
It might be an online platform, whatever it is, if you know what your purpose is wholeheartedly. Right? Like if we want to get into like the topic of dharma, like, what my purpose is as a human being on this planet right now, but also what is my purpose for this service?
What is my purpose and intention for offering this workshop, for guiding this class, for even for like, for dropping a ten minute meditation on YouTube, right? What is the purpose of doing that for me? And when you know what that is for yourself and everyone's going to be different, and that's fine. But that's another thing that will help you be in alignment with the how you offer it, when you know the why you offer it.
I was just having this conversation with one of our most recent YTT grads at True Love yoga, specifically around like social media marketing and things like that.
And I was sharing that. At the end of the day, I truly feel like part of my purpose in this world, and most certainly my purpose in teaching and having a career in yoga and wellness is to open the door to yoga for as many people as possible. That is my goal. I don't feel like I need to be anyone's master guru. I don't feel like I need maybe my son.
I don't feel like I need like any kind of like yoga celebrity status by any means, follower counts aren't what motivate me, but when I can have an experience with someone who's new to the practice and they can come to me after class and say like, hey, you really opened my eyes to what is possible within the sphere of a yoga practice, that means the world to me. So when I can approach marketing my classes in that way, when I can approach marketing workshops in that way, but beyond that, when I can approach social media in that way, right? If I can say each and every post is meant to bring someone new to the practice or open the door of what is possible to someone new. And now we live in a world where that can be done in a lot of ways, that can be done through a meme, that can be done through a YouTube video, that can be done through a yoga nidra practice, all of these things are gateways.
But if that's my purpose for doing it, then of course, I don't feel any kind of guilt or any kind of shame around it.
[00:20:48] Speaker A: Yeah, I really love that.
Just like a little peek behind the curtain at Truelove. Melody and I have really intentionally set up the way that we do our social media, and one of our pillars is really about what she just said, like, opening the door for new people to come to yoga or to find, like, you know, our perfect match as far as students go. And we do that in a lot of different, fun ways, but it's not meant to be manipulative or anything like that. It just comes from a true desire to find our people. And, you know, you shared your love story of yoga. I've shared mine for almost everybody. Ask, who loves yoga? They're like, yoga saved my life. And I, you know, in the end, we're providing a service that I believe is extremely valuable. And being able to communicate that and to make it enticing and exciting is really important in 2024 and beyond.
It's what we gotta do.
All right, sorry. I'm gonna move on to a different topic, which I'm sure ties into marketing as well, and will in your upcoming workshop that we'll talk about a little bit later. But I want to talk a bit about yoga workshops. So, essentially, a yoga workshop is something outside of a normal class time. We usually dive deep into a specific topic, and it might not just include asana. Maybe it includes conversation or a lecture or some sort of experiential learning or partner learning. And that's something that you lead a lot of. I love leading yoga workshops. It's been such a. One of my favorite parts of this career, diving deep always is. That's why I have a podcast called deep in your practice.
But for yoga students, why should they consider attending workshops?
[00:22:43] Speaker B: I think a lot of what you just said is so perfectly true. It is. It's a really beautiful opportunity for deeper learning, as much as we can do in an hour long vinyasa or hatha or yin practice. There's also a whole lot that there's just not availability for in a, say, an all levels flow class, but 60 minutes long, there's just not the space for it. It's not the appropriate time to maybe move deeper into one topic or another or one posture or another or those kind of things. Right. As much as I'm sure we would all benefit from a 15 minutes Nadi Shodhana practice every day, there's just, like, not the time for that in your 60 minutes class. Right.
So a workshop's a really great opportunity to have that space for deeper learning, for deeper understanding.
Also, workshops tend to be a little, in my experience, a little more conversational.
So it's less insular on your mat. You're coming in, you're doing your practice. Yes. You're with a group and there's other people in the room. And that energy, I think, really raises the vibration of everybody in this space.
But there's not a whole lot of like, call and response questions. There's not a whole lot of chance to stop mid flow or mid posture and ask some of those deeper questions that you've got on your mind. And workshops tend to be a space where you can do that, not only can do that, but are encouraged to do that where the teacher is ready and available. Everyone's expectations are clearly defined that these are things that they're going to happen. We're going to have conversation, we're going to have discussion. It's going to be a little more of a co creation versus maybe your typical class. So that's always special and important.
Skill enhancement is a really great one, too. And I think when we say that, we automatically think asana enhancement, which is definitely there. Right.
Everybody loves to go do a handstand workshop or an inversion workshop and practice those things with an instructor alongside you. But the same is true for meditation, the same is true for philosophy, for pranayama, for those kinds of things which kind of just circles back into that, not just a deeper intellectual understanding, but you're going to gain a deeper physical understanding or emotional understanding of these practices.
I have found sometimes that a workshop can really kind of reinspire you if you feel like maybe you're in a little bit of a rut with your practices, if you're feeling like it's harder to convince yourself to go to class, to roll out your mat, to do those kinds of things, that sometimes a workshop or a community event can really kind of reignite your passion in that way because it is going to open your eyes to some new things.
And in addition to it being conversational with your teacher, I think another big part of it is community connection because it will be a greater opportunity for conversation alongside your peers and alongside other students at the studio and things like that. So, yeah, I think there's. There's so many benefits, there's so many ways that it can, can take your practice to the next level, whatever that practice might be.
[00:26:19] Speaker A: Yeah, I love that answer. And I'll add that if you do a teacher training, it's like that on steroids.
We're really, really diving deep and the community aspect is so huge.
So similar question, but for yoga teachers, I know for my first workshop I had to kind of get a little push to do it from the studio owner that I worked for at the time.
And I was a little nervous. I was like, oh, do I know enough to teach a workshop? Like, what am I going to teach it on? I ended up doing a vinyasa alignment essentials workshop and it was great and super fun. We got to go really deep into like chaturanga, for instance, which is still something I love to dive deeply into and teach because to me, if you are able to get aligned in that, it really helps so many different aspects of the asana practice.
But yeah, I had to get that little push. And I know there's a lot of self questioning. It's kind of funny that keeps coming up in this conversation when it comes to yoga and marketing, but it can be the same for yoga and workshops. But even a 200 hours teacher has dived deep into so many topics within just that training that, yeah, in a 60 minutes class, we cannot possibly, like, nobody wants to sit in chair, pose and listen to the sutras, you know, like, yeah, it's great of an idea of a class that sounds, you know, we have to be realistic about what we're offering and what's going to be most beneficial to people as a regular practice.
So for yoga teachers, we can need that little extra push to get us into doing workshops, or maybe if we've done them already, maybe that extra, like, creative push. Like, what do I really feel passionate about sharing right now?
That being said, what do you think are some of the benefits of hosting workshops for yoga teachers, maybe including expanding their offerings or engaging more deeply with your community, that sort of thing?
[00:28:21] Speaker B: Most definitely, yeah. Having a chance to expand your offerings in that way is really a beautiful exercise. And I would say both personal and professional growth and development. Because one, like you said, you're going to kind of, kind of face your fears a little bit.
We're going to tap into all of those kind of egocentric things we've already talked about in marketing of maybe a sensation of unworthiness or maybe a sensation of not feeling super confident, trusting what you know, trusting your knowledge, trusting your value, trusting your expertise.
And so having a practice where you're purposely putting yourself in a position to really use your voice in that way, to really allow yourself to share your knowledge and share your passions in that way is going to help you grow personally. But it's also really going to help you grow professionally. I think there's an element of trust that can be created between you and your students when you're offering something a little more intense than or something a little more in depth than a typical class on the schedule. And not to say that you can't build trust with your students that way, because you certainly can. And it's a really important thing to do as a teacher. And there's lots of. Lots of different things that that can mean, right? Building trust between yourself and your student and offering workshops, offering community events, things like that are just one more way to help deepen that connection and that relationship with your students. Same within the students of that being a really conversational situation can help you as a teacher because you're going to get to hear these questions that you've been wanting to hear, the things that maybe people aren't saying in studio. I know you and I have had this conversation before, but it's hard to get feedback as a teacher sometimes because often your students are just like, that was lovely. Thanks. Bye. At the end of class and you might be craving or seeking a better understanding of what their experience is. And putting yourself in situations where you can have these kinds of conversations with your students is only going to bring that out and it's going to help you. And I'm sure you noticed, say, in your chaturanga and in your alignment workshops, the questions your students were asking can then influence the way you're teaching your weekly classes because now you know what their experience is. You have a better understanding of that. And then again, I know we don't love to mention, like, the financial aspects of things, but it is real and true in our lives today.
And workshops and trainings and retreats and all of these additional offerings are just another way to diversify your income stream and expand your income stream. And that's important because we got to live, we got to eat, we got to have clothes on our backs. And so, yeah, anything that we can do to kind of diversify the money that's coming into our bank accounts and then is then serving our families and our loved ones is important. And this is just another way to do that.
[00:31:39] Speaker A: Yeah. And I don't think there's anything bad or wrong about mentioning that aspect of it whatsoever.
Workshops typically have a higher ticket price than a drop in class because of the amount of preparation it takes to do one. Because of the expertise you're bringing into it, students are just going to get a deeper experience. That's how a workshop is designed and you deserve to get paid for that. And for us, like at our studio, just to be really transparent, we do like a commission split, essentially. So the teacher and melody and myself, we all work together to get the word out there and to create the best experience possible for our students. And hopefully the return is really good for the studio, for the teacher. It's really a win win for everybody, in my opinion. There's something I really love to offer.
I want to get into your upcoming workshop. So it's an online workshop. It's specifically for yoga teachers. So anyone can take it anywhere. You can do it live or you can receive the recording afterward. So this is as accessible as it's going to get. It's December 14, 2024, and it's how to create and sell a great yoga workshop. And there are continuing education credits available for attending this workshop as well. So I'd love to just get a little overview of what you're going to be offering.
[00:33:07] Speaker B: Of course. Yeah.
So I'm really excited about this. It's something I'm passionate about and I love teaching teachers. It means a lot to me. And, and being able to have teachers feel confident and comfortable using their voice, feeling good about the value that they offer into the world means a lot to me. So being able to kind of starting off the bat with the workshop, it is. It's three continuing education hours if you're a yoga alliance registered yoga teacher.
But what we do is we really, we start at the bottom of the pyramid and we work all the way up by the end of the workshop or by the end of this continuing education program, you can theoretically have a fully fleshed out workshop ready to go with marketing materials, with a lesson plan of sorts, ready to go. All of these things are kind of built in to the way that I'm offering this workshop. Workshop for lack of a better, lack of a better title.
So we start by really defining what a workshop is, which I know you and I have already done here, thinking about the what makes it different than, say, a typical weekly class, and then the value adds of it, what's and why it's important for teachers to lead them, why it's important for students to attend them. And then we start with each yoga teacher in attendance really thinking about the aspects of their practice, of their career, of their teaching, of their experience in this world that could be brought into a workshop.
So taking some time to brainstorm what you're passionate about, what it is that you feel knowledgeable about, what it is that you feel confident speaking towards or teaching towards. And then from there we're able to pull out maybe what is, what's the best offering for you right now? And then we go step by step through what it means to create a workshop, what elements need to be included, elements of lecture, elements of discussion, elements of physical experience or mental experience, elements of integration, all of these things needing to be included. We go through step by step sequencing or lesson planning what your workshop's going to be. And then we move into, okay, now it's created, we have this incredible product that we feel confident in. How do we market it? How do we get it so that the world sees it and people can be in attendance to it. So we break down what it means to say social media market versus a little more kind of guerrilla marketing or what might be offered from studio to studio. We go into the value of paid marketing versus free marketing. Those kinds of things. We work on event descriptions, we work on marketing copy, what people are tend to look for when it comes to what they're seeing and reading online, when it comes to selling specific events and services.
We'll write out your full event description and we'll start putting marketing copy together before we even have finished our 3 hours together.
After that, we also talk about things like follow up and student retention. So what it means to then capitalize or use the momentum that you've gained from this one event to help you create and sell future events. So how can we keep the momentum going from workshop to workshop? Now, I've offered this program before. It's been really beautiful. It's a fun thing to do. And what I found is the experience is different based on the teachers that are in the room. So some occasions it's teachers who are just like, I just want to do this thing, but I don't even know where to start. And we spend a lot of our time kind of brainstorming what they have to offer. And then there are other times where I've had teachers come in and be like, hey, I know this is exactly what I want to do. This is where I feel really, really proficient and really proud of my expertise, but I don't know how to sell it, I don't know how to put it together and I don't know how to get it into the world. And so then we spend a little more time on the logistics, the how to get this created and out into the world.
Everyone who attends is going to receive a really beautiful, in my opinion, manual. It's about 50 pages long, it's got journal prompts, it's got different techniques and tips and tricks and tools throughout, but also the availability for you to keep all of your notes and things like that throughout. So you'll have this manual with you at the end of your 3 hours to head out into the world and hopefully continue to create these events with a blueprint to keep you steady moving forward.
[00:38:22] Speaker A: Thank you for explaining that. That's really exciting that you're not just offering this so that you can create one workshop, but truly you can use these skills over and over again. And because of that, I definitely recommend this not just to brand new teachers who are brand new to workshops, but to experienced teachers as well. Because I think we can all use more tips when it comes to marketing and selling, it's usually not our forte and it's something you're clearly really, really good at while maintaining integrity and authenticity. Otherwise you would not be working for true love yoga.
No. You do such a great job with it and I'm always super impressed and I'm excited for our teachers to learn from you, but to open this up to any teachers who want to dive more deeply and in the end, it can only benefit our students more and open the door for more people to dive deep into their practice. And that being said, I'd love to know one tip for our listeners to deepen their practice.
[00:39:28] Speaker B: Oh, man. Only having one is hard, I would say, to follow the breadcrumbs of your intuition.
If there is a particular area of your practice that you're feeling really inspired by right now, and that might change in a couple months or a couple years, but if there's an area of your practice that you're feeling really inspired by right now, then give yourself permission to immerse yourself in that. Whether it's, whether it's reading philosophy texts, whether it's breath work, whether it is working on your handstand or your inversions, all of those things are valuable. And if it's lighting you up in this moment, then, then, yeah, immerse yourself in it. Really, really dive into it as best you can.
[00:40:18] Speaker A: Yeah, I love that. It really takes people out of what I should be doing, quote unquote, into, like, what is my heart desiring? Like, where is my soul leading me right now? I can be that way sometimes because I will get hyper focused on something and I'm like, well, maybe I should be teaching more mudras right now. And I'm like, well, but that's not what I'm excited about and I'm focusing on at the moment. And so really whatever.
As a teacher I'm excited about is probably what I'm going to be teaching on and then it's going to be extremely authentic and effective.
And for any students know, a lot of what Melody's talking about is part of the yogic philosophy at Swadiya. Self study and being immersed in and what brings you joy and what you love and diving deep is a way to practice yoga. So it's. I love that answer. Thank you.
Well, I would like to encourage everyone to check out Melody's workshop. It's going to be so great.
I don't need to convince you of that because you just heard her talk about it. But I will tell you if you message or if you dm. True love on Instagram. Truelove Yogacasey it is Melody on the other side. If you. So if you do want to reach her, that's one way to do so. But Melody, what is the best way for our listeners to connect with you?
[00:41:48] Speaker B: Well, outside of Tree Love Yoga's Instagram, I have my own Instagram social media platform. It's melody butler yoga on all the things Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube. I can't tell you I've ever tweeted, but it's there in the ethers.
[00:42:07] Speaker A: It's x now.
[00:42:08] Speaker B: It's x now. That's south.
You're right.
But yeah, please feel free to connect with me on social media. I've got a YouTube channel if you ever want to practice together. I love to practice with you worldwide, wherever you may be.
I also run international retreats. You can check those out on a Instagram called the Getaway Yogis. Hegettaway Yogis on Instagram and I run a virtual yogi book club called a well read yogi. You can find that on my handles as well as on my website. Melody butler yoga. This month we're reading the Bhagavad Gita. You're welcome to come hang out with me online free. We practice and discuss a new book each month. But yeah, lots of ways to connect and I'd love to get to spend some time with you virtually or in person.
[00:42:58] Speaker A: Thank you so much, Melody. This has been so nice being able to dive really deep into this topic today. And thank you listeners for being a part of this podcast experience.
Lots of love to everybody. We'll chat soon. Om Shanti om peace.
[00:43:15] Speaker B: Bjorndev.
