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Yoga Teacher Talk (YTT) is authenic yoga conversation with your favorite yoga mentors, trend-setting yoga teachers, and wellness experts who are changing the paradym on traditional instruction. YTT invites you add to your 200 or 500-level yoga teacher training and elevate your presence as an instructor. Host Becca Schmidt, E-RYT5000/YACEP, has more than 20 years experience on the lead mat, having taught more than 10,000 classes, workshops and wellness retreats. This show, formerly, The Language of Yoga, offers a fun, engaging platform for yoga teachers of all branches of yoga to gain confidence and continue their YTT for years to come.
Language of Yoga EP 24
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Becca: [00:00:00] two guests today, Emma Coy and. Castiglione of Magnolia Yoga and Wellness Center. We'll be chatting about yoga as a component of a bigger mission of building community and offering whole body wellness.
Magnolia Yoga and Wellness Center is a collective of health practitioners in the fields of mental health, acupuncture, massage therapy, reflexology, sound therapy, and trauma-informed yoga classes. Emma and Lorena, welcome.
Emma: hello, good to be here.
Lorena: Thank you for having us.
Becca: I am so glad you're here. I'm really excited to hear all about sort of the mission and the vision and how this wellness center was created.
So we're gonna start with Lorena. You are the director. You have a background in mental health and mental health counseling. Is that correct?
Lorena: Correct. I am a licensed mental health counselor and I specialize [00:01:00] in the treatment of anxiety disorders and trauma.
Becca: Wow. So take a few moments to share how Magnolia came about and really specifically this overarching mission that you have.
Lorena: Wonderful. So Magnolia Yoga and Wellness Center was actually an idea that began in 2017. I was living in Alexandria, Virginia. I had just finished my grad my graduate degree. I. I was hired as a licensed clinician through a nonprofit organization called Christian Relief Services, non-denominational. One of the things that I was responsible for was running a domestic violence program, and we focused on social services and mental health counseling.
Our work included housing, social services and mental health counseling. Working closely with such a deeply traumatized [00:02:00] population led me to this belief that I. Talk therapy alone sometimes is not enough. I became curious in embodied therapy, specifically how yoga could help my clients. I also was drawn to the role of community and how community can impact traumatized individuals as a whole and empower them to heal and grow. I. so compelled by the research that's out there on yoga and trauma that I just signed myself up for a 200 hour immersion course and was fascinated. I think like every other young teacher, yoga teacher is when they find yoga. I was fascinated by the world of yoga. I immediately brought back those tools to the clients that I was working with and saw big shifts. I couldn't help myself, but go back and I [00:03:00] eventually got certified as a yoga therapist.
.
It was around this time I had this realization. What I wanted to do next in my career life. I had this idea, this vision, this very strong idea that I wanted to create a space that encompassed community and and, and embodied practices. Building community and connection was really important. And collaboration with Christian Relief Services, particularly our CEO Brian Kre, who believed in this vision from the very beginning. We embarked on this journey to create what is known today as Magnolia Yoga and Wellness Center.
Becca: I was there a few months ago for one of the sound therapy programs, and I was, I was just mesmerized with the whole experience, but just from. The moment I pulled up to this beautiful Victorian building, I'm like, wow, this is, this is unique and this is a special place. I knew that literally before I opened the door.
So I'm gonna ask [00:04:00] you if you would just take our listeners on a virtual tour, and listeners, if you are not driving a car, close your eyes and go on tour with us, Lorena.
Lorena: So. Magnolia Building is a very unique building. It's an 8,600 square foot building that we redesigned it completely on the interior. It's a Victorian building. It's located in the historic district of Longwood, Florida. The moment that you walk in, you have this beautiful wrap around porch. You have a sitting area you walk in. And we've created an aesthetically beautiful space that is intentionally created to give our guests a feeling of warm, welcoming,
Becca: I remember it also smelling very nice. And you had a station with tea, and then around the corner you have this cafe. So tell us a little bit more [00:05:00] about what we see on the first floor.
Lorena: So what you see on the first floor when you walk in is a beautiful dropdown chandelier, very calming colors. We intentionally designed the space to be a trauma informed space, so. So I wanted I wanted all the color palettes, everything to be neutral. I wanted the environment to feel that the moment you walked in, you got a sense of a warm hug. I wanted people to feel safe . We have a tea station, as you mentioned.
We have a beautiful cafe. We have 11 office spaces, and we have a beautiful yoga studio.
Becca: So the office spaces are upstairs and there are many different modalities. Tell us about some of those.
Lorena: Upstairs, we host 11 independent professionals. They offer a wide range of services from acupuncture to reflexology, mental health counseling, play therapy aesthetics and integrative medicine. We also offer [00:06:00] scholarships to ensure that yoga is accessible to everyone regardless of their income or background. I also wanted to point out that in addition to the yoga studio, which Emma will shortly talk about one of our main cores here is community. And that goes back to the original vision that we had of Magnolia. We believe that when you create community, you allow people the opportunity to, to, thrive and maybe heal even more. And we do that in a number of ways. So one way that we do that is we collaborate with other local nonprofit organizations. We meet them where they're at and offer tailored services to support them in any way that we can. Something else that we do is. We just recently launched oncology yoga, which offers free yoga classes to survivors or people recovering from cancer and their [00:07:00] caregivers. And we also offer a wellness hour.
Becca: I love that. When I was there, I saw a, a book group, a book gathering. I saw a beautiful library and just the cafe space in general. It's a, a vegan cafe. I. Am I right?
Lorena: So we have a vegan cafe. It's French inspired and it's run by our French chef Amandine by Bert. Our cafe is not only a space where you can come and have a. A delicious, nourishing bite to eat, but it's also a space that promotes, again, community connections and just, it's a beautiful gathering space where people can meet.
Becca: Oh, that's so important, especially in some of the subgroups that you mentioned. It's just really important that they find like-minded. People who are in the same stage, whether it's fighting an illness or new moms or some sort of same stage. So, you know, there are other people out [00:08:00] there who are just in the same boat and that that is just shape shifting, if you will.
Music Transition
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Becca: Let's go over to Emma. So Emma, you're the yoga studio manager and. I want you if you'll take us on a tour of the yoga studio. I loved that ambiance in there. So one of the things that you'll both have been talking about is this safe space and a safe space for people who have experienced trauma. Walk me through how the yoga space does that.
Emma: Yeah, so the yoga space is really an incredible space to walk into. Lorena beautifully designed the space before I was even there, and I had the same feeling everyone does when they walk in, which is just a feeling of peace. Calm. So there are custom stained glass windows built into the room that are created [00:09:00] by a local artist anti teem art glass. And those stained glass windows are of flowers and a tree of life. It's oak floors and calming paint colors on the walls. And we've used sage green and all of the props and gray, so it's really a. You walk in and you feel like I, I would like to spend some time in here and just be in here and sit. We don't have any mirrors in the space and we don't use yoga straps. And, and part of this is to promote these safe ideas. You know, some of these things can be very triggering for some populations. Seeing yoga straps can. Trigger people in, in numerous ways. And so we eliminate that. We eliminate mirrors so that you're not focused on your your visual appearance in these poses, but you're really promoting going inward while you're in yoga class.
Becca: And I imagine that the [00:10:00] teachers who are teaching your, your wide variety of classes, they're also thinking about some triggers. So the poses themselves, the transitions, certainly the language that your teachers use towards students. Do you want to elaborate on that?
Emma: so the language we use is probably the most important aspect of a trauma-informed space. And the idea here is that any student feels a hundred percent empowered to make their own choices in a yo in a yoga class. And so it's our job as teachers to really create an environment and cultivate. An energy and a culture that says you don't have to do anything.
I say,
Becca: Right.
Emma: you can be in this room and breathe, and that's, that's enough. We have, we have vinyasa classes. We have some fast pace classes. We also have meditation classes in yoga nidra, so a wide range. But in any of those classes, the key element , [00:11:00] that we try to promote is that it's always invitational.
Becca: I love that. And you could even use that word invite. . Just giving them choice after choice after choice. I love that.
Emma: Yeah. I think one way to really build a sequence in a class that makes it invitational is to first offer the lowest version, physical
version of the post. Then the next time you come across it, you can say, you can stay here or you can move on to this, to this next version. So everybody has already done the least impactful version and can move on if they
like or stay.
Becca: I think it's wonderful when I see the teacher staying in that least challenging variation
Emma: absolutely. Absolutely.
Becca: if today you feel like flying, then go for it. If that will empower you. I. Enhance your practice, go for it. Talk to me about interaction between teachers and [00:12:00] students in a trauma informed class.
Emma: So in our spaces and in our classes we do, we have a no touch policy. And so while in some situations to keep a student safe, there may be a need for a hand on, hands-on adjustment. But in general, we want students to feel like they can be in their own space and nobody's going to put hands on them unnecessarily. So, I'd say that for some yoga teachers that is a challenge because you really wanna jump in there and sometimes it's easier to put your hands on someone and physically move them. Versus using language that's descriptive enough that they can make those own choices on their own.
Becca: There are so many layers on how to communicate with a student. Sometimes you can just use the most beautiful gesture of your hand.
Emma: Absolutely.
Becca: That might just mean, you know, ground a little bit extra [00:13:00] or even like you take your hands over to the left and they know to sort of shift their energy to the left. There's so many ways before touch.
Emma: Absolutely.
Becca: that you work with your teachers to make that the standard. Emma, we're gonna stay with you. You, you brought your flute today. I don't expect you to play it immediately, but you have a music background. You have quite a music
Emma: quite a music background.
Becca: you're a professional musician. Yay. So I can't wait to talk about this.
And you, you music and dance. Am I correct? Fantastic. So. I want you to just talk about, first of all, sort of your history with music and then how it sort of evolved into mixing it in with yoga.
Emma: Absolutely. So I've been sort of musical my whole life and started playing the piano in private lessons when I was eight, and then [00:14:00] later picked up the flute. And I had a very active band program in my, in my public school system and sort of stuck with that and it became the thing that I identified with. And went on to college to study music as well. But while I was in college, I took a modern dance class and fell in love with being more connected to my body. I had had some dance background in various activities and some gymnastics, but being in a dance class in modern dance was an area that's really focused in somatic understanding and embodiment. It blew my mind. Just being able to feel subtle movements within my body was so healing for me.
Becca: Took a Nagar style class while you were in college,
Emma: Yes.
so part of my degree program required that I take yoga.
Becca: And what was that like? Did you like it? Did you not
Emma: no, I hated it. [00:15:00] So the very first yoga class I took was was through the recreation department at that, that college, at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. And it was a lot of stillness and it was a lot of jumping from one pose to the next.
And it was taught in this old dusty church. And I I really declared I hate yoga and I will never do it again.
Becca: I cannot tell you how many of my guests had that same experience. Nope. Don't like yoga. And then, then they find themselves sort of thinking about it, you know, pausing. And then they circle back to it and like, yeah, I think I do like it after all, but it's a process for most of my guests on this show.
Emma: I think when you're in your young twenties and you're sort of a go go go kind of person. It can be extremely challenging to be alone with your thoughts, and that was the hardest part for me is just being still. But then as part of my degree program, I had to take Iyengar Yoga with Janet Lilly wonderful teacher. And that was more based [00:16:00] in alignment and understanding how props can be beneficial to the practice. And I learned so much more about it so that I could start my own personal practice. And that's what I did. And I became really involved in a personal practice that could warm my body before class. Through an online platform called Yoga Today. It still exists and the teachers on that platform are, are the ones I always recommend when people say, where should I go for online yoga? Yoga today? Really wonderful teaching.
Becca: I am going to shift over to Lorena and ask her the very same question. What was your very first yoga class like? And is it, was it a yay or a na?
Lorena: My first yoga class was when I was 12 years old. However, it wasn't until I went to my, when I completed my 200 hour teacher certification, that I really believe I took my first yoga class and felt this. Wow moment, specifically with learning more about [00:17:00] yoga and the philosophical approach that yoga has. We tend to just assume that yoga is asanas and it's so much more than that. Learning specifically about the yamas and niyamas was so life-changing for me
and for my clients as well, and so transformative.
Becca: That's interesting because when I first met you and we started talking about this, I thought, oh, well, it must have been all the physical and the breathing, but not the philosophy. I find that sort of an interesting t.
Lorena: Yeah.
Yeah.
Becca: it. So let's talk about how you came together. How did you meet each other?
How did you decide that Emma was your girl? Tell me that story.
Lorena: I actually one of our tenants at the Wellness Center, Dr. Huang made a connection with the two of us. I met Emma. And immediately fell in love with her. I [00:18:00] just, I learned about her unique gifts. I learned about her, and I just knew, I knew that I had found my person. I knew that she was going to help me take Magnolia to the next level.
And we've been on this journey ever since.
Becca: Do you remember those first few days?
Emma: Absolutely. So I was in a place in my life where my kids were going back to school full time for the first time and since I started having children and I have two kids, and I was looking for a part-time job. And then this opportunity came up to meet with Lorena and I walked into the space and immediately fell in love and she said. Would you like a full-time job? And so I took it and we've been working collaboratively ever since and really building and allowing this, this collaboration to transform and become such an amazing, amazing space for our community.
Becca: It's wonderful. I'm gonna put you on the spot for just a second. You mentioned that the [00:19:00] word or the, the flower magnolia symbolizes what?
Lorena: So the flower symbolizes resilience, which is what we wanna encourage our community.
Becca: You're doing it. You too are really doing that. You're, you're exemplifying that. . So we have the yoga classes, the trauma informed yoga classes, all the, the good stuff there. But then another layer is the sound healing sessions. Talk to me a little bit about that and how it is specific to healing and this transformation we just talked about, this transformative experience.
Emma: as somebody who's made a career as a professional musician, I. I I have always been drawn to sound and as somebody who's studied movement as well, I'm always interested in the intersection between these two worlds. So naturally sound healing has been very interesting to me as an addition to my yoga teaching [00:20:00] practice. I've only recently dived into a training in, in sound healing, but with my musical background, it's coming, it's coming naturally. But it's different. Sound healing is more about promoting a calming of the nervous system on a physiological level, and so by using various instruments, traditionally it was always Himalayan bowls. That would go on for hours and hours and hours. Now more modern instruments are coming into the practice of sound healing, and it's really about creating a space where the nervous system can calm down. And so by using these instruments, our bodies receive vibration and the the vagus nerve is being calmed to calm the systems of the body.
Becca: You have a lunch break sound healing mini session on Fridays.
Emma: Yeah.
Becca: I love
Emma: Yes,
Becca: So who is that geared toward?
Emma: it's geared toward anybody, but [00:21:00] essentially if you have a, a lunch break for 30 minutes, we wanted to make this sound bath meditation available easy to come and experience anytime you need, and it's free for the community. So it's Fridays at noon and. minutes in and out, and I'm very punctual.
So I start at 12, I end at 1230 so that I can get you back to where you need to be.
Becca: What a way to spend your lunch hour. Ah. Wonderful. So I have always enjoyed these submersive sound experiences, but when I came to yours, I felt like it was really leveled up and I think first and foremost, I noticed there were a lot of different instruments being played in including your flute, and that was such a surprise.
The rains stick. First of all, I'm very jealous 'cause I have a rains stick and I cannot. So I, it's in a corner in my, in my studio. So walk [00:22:00] me or walk our listeners through maybe the progression of instruments and why.
Emma: Okay. Well, all of our instruments that we can bring into these experiences. Have a different purpose or bring up a different feeling within us. For example, the flute is very connected to the human voice, and so I always end a sound bath with the flute because it helps us bring us back into consciousness and helps us bring, bring us back into the world.
After we've been in this very meditative state. It's also traditionally really connected to the spirit in a lot of indigenous cultures. The flute is.
I play a modern flute, made of metal. But the flute is an instrument that goes back, you know, forever. It's one of the very first instruments ever created, and so it's really connected to being human. So I always end with that.
Becca: I do want you to play it in just a moment, but, but I also am very [00:23:00] curious about the rains stick and some of the, the ones, the other instruments, maybe what they are connected to.
Emma: Yeah. So anytime we use drums. We are really connecting to rhythm. We're really feeling more grounded. The drums really symbolize our heartbeat and can bring us back into the rhythms that happen within our own bodies. When we're using crystal bowls or bells, it's more of an of feeling of ether or air or bringing us into a spacious element. The human voice is also extremely powerful, and it's something that we all have. We can use, you know, anybody can sing. I know some people think they can't sing, but anybody can sing and use their own voice to create a sound experience.
Becca: You are gonna think, I'm obsessed with the rains stick rain, but the rain is like water. Is that an element? It's one of the elements. You have the air of the bowls. Absolutely.
Emma: So we, yes. The rain stick is amazing because it creates this wash of sound, and [00:24:00] it's called a rains stick because it sounds like rain
when you play it. And depending on how big the rains stick is, the sound can really last for a long time. And so when you play it over people as they're resting, it feels very immersive as you're experiencing it.
Becca: Thank you. Next time we'll bring the rain stick. I'll bring you back. Would you mind playing a little bit?
Emma: So I'm gonna play a little bit of the alto flute. So this flute is pitched a fourth below the traditional flute, so it's a bit lower.
Becca: That was [00:25:00] beautiful. Emma one more question about sound therapy. For some people it is too intense. How do we. I would say somebody who was maybe learning sound therapy. There are a lot of programs now that you can learn how to play the bells or the bulls.
What are some of the tips you have for somebody who's beginning this process?
Emma: One thing to
always keep in mind is that what you hear when you're playing an instrument is completely different than what a listener hears from the other side of the room. I. So it's really important and really crucial that you practice with others in the room who can provide feedback for you. That you say, I'm gonna play these bowls at the full volume that I can play, and I want you to tell me from the other side of the room how you experience that.
So that's how we can be aware of when we strike the instruments. How are listeners perceiving them? Because [00:26:00] you're right, some people have a very strong. Nervous reaction to loud sounds and if I can say anything, it's that we have a job to play more with silence than we do with actual sound. So as you're striking a bowl, we need to hear it completely dissipate.
We rather than hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, make lots of noise, the silence is what makes the sound important. And so we need to use both.
Becca: I love that you said that because I see such an analogy with language when we speak. We need to allow that silence for what we've just said to land.
Emma: it's something I always come back to the importance of rest. The importance of rest can be translated to any area of our lives on a very small level, in terms of learning something, it's important that we give our brains a chance to process that information
and [00:27:00] on a larger level of if we go, go, go, go, go, we're gonna burn ourselves out. And from a music standpoint, sound is nothing if it doesn't have its contrast, which is silence.
Becca: Thank you, Emma. That was brilliant. Back to Lorena. Our last couple questions. Talk to me about your, your client, your customer, your student. And when you say trauma, define that.
Lorena: So, I would like to start off with trauma can happen to anyone. Trauma can happen to your friends, to your family, to your colleagues. It really can happen to anyone. It has no boundaries. And it also, I. Does not discriminate against your age, your gender, your ethnicity, or sexual orientation. 70% of the US adults have at some point in their lives experienced a traumatic event. And I suspect that number is probably [00:28:00] higher with people maybe not reporting it. But we also know Heartbreakingly, and this is according to the CDC, that suicide is actually the second, leading cause of death among young people, ages 10 and 34, which is heartbreaking. The way I would describe trauma is it's an internal wound. It's a reaction to something horrible that happened. And sometimes the analogy I would give my clients is, when you have a wound, a physical wound, what do you do with it? You tend to it. You don't rub it, you don't run. You don't do things that aggravated,
and that is why incorporating yoga for emotional healing was so important for me at Magnolia Yoga and Wellness Center because its practices aimed at slowing down practices that activate your parasympathetic nervous system that are going to aid in that recovery and [00:29:00] promote health and healing.
Becca: A few podcasts ago, we talked about trauma being this invisible injury. If somebody walks into your class and they're limping, you know, we start guessing, well, you know, is it foot, knee, hip? And usually they're pretty clairvoyant. Oh, well, you know, I had knee surgery and you, you can talk about it and you start, talk, start thinking about your own contraindications.
But when somebody has this I like to think about even, you know, trauma as like this. Sheah the grooves that just, they stay and they stay and they reappear and they reappear more vocally perhaps in Shavasana or someplace where there is silence. We talked a little bit about that. So for your teachers not only just in the yoga platform, but your other modalities there to [00:30:00] recognize that that's already there
Lorena: Absolutely.
Becca: is, is brilliant.
It's beautiful. I wish you so much so much success with that. Well, I think the last question is about the human voice. And I'm only asking for a friend here. I, I've, it's so funny because I, I host the language of yoga, so I'm talking about language and voices and, and I'm probably, I have, my traumas are actually around my voice.
When I was a child, I was told not to sing a couple times, two different musical productions. I was told to go in the back and mouth, the words I cannot sing. Well, what does that translate to? A 15-year-old, you have no voice. So it took me a long time to create a voice for myself and I, you know, I would, was a writer.
So that was my voice. But I've [00:31:00] also had a really long road with becoming comfortable with my own voice. I don't even sing in the shower. So again, asking for a friend help us out. And some of the newer yoga teachers out there with chanting ohm.
Emma: Hmm. So the first thing to remember is that when you're a teacher, your job is not to be a performer. Your job is to facilitate an experience for your students. I. For you to first facilitate for that, that for your students, you have to have your own practice of it as well. So I encourage you to go home in your shower.
Becca: Will do.
Emma: and once you have a relationship with your own voice, it becomes much easier to model that for your students. . Well, we have to really let go of self-judgment as teachers, which is sometimes the most difficult thing to do. You're always thinking, well, what do they think of me? And what is my class like? [00:32:00] And when we're using the voice, which may feel uncomfortable, the the reason to do it is not actually to receive judgment. The reason to do it is to feel what it feels like and meditate on the sound of it. So, one thing to focus on maybe is that om actually is a three syllable
word, ah, om. And so it helps us to give some place to place our mind as we're chanting. But once you build your own, your own practice with chanting and you have a reason behind doing it, you can then express that to your students as well and be brave and. Allow the space to be a place where they could do it as well if they're interested.
Becca: I appreciate that you. You reminded everybody that it's a vibration too, and you feel it in different levels of the, of the chest and the mouth and the nose. You feel it in the face. [00:33:00] So it's, it's this vibration and what a wonderful, you know, feeling is to have this vibration in the body. We're made of water, so we love that.
Right.
Emma: Yeah, and it's so much bigger than a word. The, you know, you could read pages and pages and about what the meaning of OM is and how important it is for us to feel connected to the universe as a whole.
Becca: Thank you. What are some of the plans for the next six months to a year? I. For Magnolia.
Lorena: That's a big question. So our plans for Magnolia for the next couple of months to a year is Emma and I are collaborating. One of the things we wanna do is put together our own teacher training utilizing both of our gifts. And coming up with a a training for students that encompasses trauma training sound healing, and just overall practices that will support [00:34:00] our teachers in mental wellbeing.
Becca: Do you want that to be a training program for the other modalities as well, or just for yoga teachers?
Lorena: So we actually already have a trauma training that we've implemented, that we've designed in-house that we utilize with nonprofit organizations and other, and other organizations that work with marginalized communities.
Becca: That's wonderful. Well, I'll have to have you both on again, maybe in six months or a year from now, I asked you to, to suggest some books, but I'm going to put that in the show notes so because I think both of you obviously are on, on the path of.
Discovery and learning. So I'm sure that books are some of the resources that are really important and, and you have this gorgeous little mini library at Magnolia Center. I noticed that. Like, bring a book. Take a book. So I appreciate that. I love books. Thank you very much [00:35:00] for being here. Is there anything you need to add or want to add at this point?
Emma: We just invite, if you're local, we invite you to come and experience the community that we've created at at Magnolia. It's really a space where we want everyone to feel welcome to just be
Becca: We'll make sure that not only the address and the website link is on is in the show notes, but also some contact information of somebody who's across country from where we are, wants to reach out to you for a resource or maybe they're beginning something very similar in their market or are interested in your teacher training program.
They can contact you.
Lorena: Absolutely. I, we believe that there should be a magnolia in every community, and this could be replicated.
Becca: Ah, let's go. Thank you.