Stacy McCarthy ~ Adapting and Thriving: Embracing Technology and Growth in Yoga

Todd McLaughlin interviews Stacy McCarthy, a yoga teacher and kinesiology professor. Stacy shares her journey into yoga, from her first experience in a yoga class to becoming a dedicated practitioner and teacher. She discusses the evolution of her practice and teaching style, emphasizing the importance of adapting to the needs of students and finding a balance between discipline and creativity. Stacy also touches on the impact of technology on the yoga industry and the need for consistent practice and self-reflection. Overall, she emphasizes the transformative power of yoga and the importance of finding one's own path.

Visit Stacy on her website: https://www.yoganamastacy.com/
Follow her on IG here: https://www.instagram.com/yoga_namastacy/

Key Takeaways:

• Stacy McCarthy's yoga philosophy is grounded in welcoming inclusivity, encouraging practitioners to approach the mat regardless of their background.
• Her teaching style has evolved from the strict discipline of Ashtanga to a blend that incorporates alignment, mind-body harmony, and the softer aspects of practices like Viniyoga and Iyengar.
• The practice of yoga, according to McCarthy, is a life-long journey that yields more health and happiness when approached with consistency and authenticity.
• Adaptability is honored as a cornerstone in Stacy's career, illustrated by how she has embraced the technological shifts affecting yoga instruction.

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Transcript

0:33

Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. So happy you are here. My goal with this channel is to bring inspirational speakers to the mic in the field of yoga, massage bodywork and beyond. Follow us @nativeyoga, and check us out at nativeyogacenter.com All right, let's begin. Hello, and welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. My name is Todd McLaughlin. And today I'm excited to introduce you to Stacy McCarthy, Episode 165 here on the show, and follow Stacy on her website www.yoganamastacy.com. A quote from Stacy that I really like is she says "a lot of people find yoga intimidating. My mission is to guide them past that fear, to give them the confidence to get on their mat and live their fullest life." Stacy's a gifted teacher from the Southern California area. And during this conversation, she shares so much inspiration and motivation to continue and maintain yoga practice and insights into the evolution of the yoga sphere over the last several decades. And thank you so much for being here listening. I really hope you enjoy this episode as much as I do the check us out on our website, nativeyogacenter.com. And you'll find us on social channels as well at @Nativeyoga. If you're listening to this and you'd like to watch us on YouTube, check us out@nativeyoga center hit the subscribe button. We'd love that. Thank you so much. All right. Let's go ahead and begin. Oh, what a cool opportunity. I have Stacy McCarthy here. Stacy. How are you doing today? Well, I'm in San Diego and live in San Diego. So that should just answer. Yeah. All right. podcast over thank you now. That's all I needed to know. You're in a good. You're feeling good. Yeah, good point. I love San Diego. Are you? Where are you from originally. So I so this is funny. You're in Florida. I'm now in California. But I grew up in Florida in a beautiful, historic place called St. Augustine. Right the write up the One A from you. And I went to school in Colorado actually on a swimming scholarship. And our swim team would come and train the month of January in California in this beautiful place called La Jolla. We train up at University of San Diego. And I remember driving here, this was way back in the 80s. And getting out of our little van and smelling the ocean air and looking at the mountains. I'm like, Have I come to paradise and I told myself that was my freshman year I told myself when I graduate. This is where I'm moving. I don't care what I do. I am living here. This is paradise. And that's what I did. Right when I graduated. Amazing. And so so then what year is this that you planted yourself in San Diego County? Well, I'm gonna age myself a little bit. I'm you know, I'm you know, I'm nearing 60. And by saying I'm nearing 60 I'm 62 Okay, good. One. All right. Yeah, yeah. So this was in at 1984 is when I moved to San Diego. And actually, yeah, I moved to Del Mar, a friend of mine had a house there. And so I've kind of lived this coastal North County, San Diego area the whole time. And that's been a gotcha. Um, you know, how many years were you know? 2024. So, yeah, it's been a while. 40 years. Nice. And you're in a town called Rancho Santa Fe Currently, I am. Yeah, it's a beautiful kind of equestrian coastal area. So I'm about four miles so from my feet in the sand, the beautiful Pacific Ocean and yet I have some space and horses and Oh, yes. Sweet, sweet area. Amazing. It is beautiful. There. I have an uncle that lives in Rancho Santa Fe. It's a nice spot. That's, that's cool. And so where did yoga come into the journey where it where did you start? Can you remember your first moment that you would call it yoga that you are aware that your practice? Yoga. Yeah, yeah, I can. So my very first time I was actually kind of the manager of actually at the time, it was the world's largest Holistic Health Center, this place called the Center for total health. And a friend of mine, he decided that he was getting into yoga and he said, I want to teach a class. So I let him come into our, our health center there and, and he didn't really know what he was doing. But he's like, all of a sudden, we're sitting there, he's like, put your head foot behind your head. He was like Gumby. He was like super flexible. And I thought halfway through it, I need to go for a run. This is not for me, I just need to go clear my head go for a run, I'm stressed out over this yoga thing. So I really didn't do I kept was not for me, my first experience was not great. And then I went on to run I became the chief operating officer have a chain of health clubs in San Diego and Orange County. And this was in 1991 92. And I was walking by. I was in Encinitas, which is kind of the motherland of yoga in the United States is where you're going now to start Self Realization fellowship is going to beautiful place there. We had the Ashtanga. The Ashtanga center for yoga sluttish of astanga, yoga. And I remember walking by this yoga studio and seeing these people come out. And they had this kind of awakened colonists. To them, there was something there energetically that I felt, and I thought, oh, my gosh, I need to bring this into my to the health clubs. This has got to be something we offer. So I went in, the owner of it was Tim Miller to Miller was the first American ever certified by batavi Joyce. And so not knowing anything, I walked up to Tim and I said, Hi, I'm Stacy McCarthy. And I would love for you to teach yoga, at our health clubs. And he said, wow, because I kind of have my own good going here. So I'm gonna pass on that. However, my assistant director might be interested in talk to him, and it was a guy named Dominic COVID Liano. And at this time, the early 1991 92, there wasn't yoga on every corner. Yoga was still not really that popular. This was the time again of like high low aerobics and the step and all of this kind of when we look at fitness, which is how a lot of people enter into the yoga, the yoga world. So I talked to Dominique and he said, I'll come teach some classes. So I put them on the schedule, and nobody would come and he was very traditional. He knew one way to teach and that was in the lineage of Tabi. Joyce so we started with the opening chin van de gurnam Cha and another Monday, Sandra schita. We're in a health club. And it's like a fishbowl. There's windows out to the weight room with weights clamp. Date, you know, chanting away, you know, traditional seared namaskar yay, come inhaled way. Exhale. Nobody was coming. And I was like, except me. I absolutely loved it. Yeah, yes, something there that was connecting to me the way he taught. And so I was begging Everyone, please come take this class, my athletic director, the CEO, the, you know, CFO, please, please come take this class. Slowly but surely. Over time, the class started to grow slowly by 1994. class was full. We were opening more clubs. More I was getting more and more teachers. And at that time in our Encinitas and Solana Beach locations, I had some of the best ashong GIS out there teaching classes for me, because that's all we really knew. There was a little bit of Iron Guard going in on that most of it in this area was heavy Ashtanga. So that was my roots. And it was a beautiful, beautiful way to start from my background, being an athlete. It was disciplined. And it was consistent. And it was about practice, practice, practice. And so it was kind of the segue into my teaching as well. And so, one day when Dominique said I'm off to India to go practice with Guru Ji batavi Joyce, and you're going to teach my classes because that was a very loyal student. Yeah, I'm a very disciplined student. And I said no, I'm not I was I was still teaching some fitness because I my background was in fitness my degrees in exercise physiology and kinesiology. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, I'm not doing he goes. Yeah, you're doing it. And so I you don't say no to your teacher when they tell you it's time. And so I began teaching, and I just did exactly what he did and I literally was people like you teach just like DOM and I'm like, Yeah. And that's all I really knew I didn't know anything. And again, think about that this is over, you know, 30, almost 35 years ago, I really didn't know anything better. And the evolution from there is, you know, that's a whole nother a whole nother long diatribe. That's so cool, Stacy. A couple of things I want to point out. So when my wife and I used to live in California and practice with him at his place on Eastery in Encinitas, when he was there before I moved over to the forum in Carlsbad, the was the name of the place that you're running with something frogs, or was there Yeah, was that it was the COO of frog. That's so cool. You know, I had driven tassa all the time, because I was going up that, you know, the main highway, and at that time, everybody's like, yeah, there's an Ashtanga program over there. And so I found that that's so cool that that you were the CEO of that. And then I had met Dominique, initially. And Dominique, in India in 2000, riobel, to hear me through all that, Stacy, because I saw like, pause a little bit. Okay, cool. I see. I see you moving again. All right, awesome. I kept talking the whole time. So I saw it froze. So keep people listening. And I met Dominique in 2004, in India, and when we were practicing over there, and he, funnily enough, I'll tell you a classic Dominique story, because you'll probably agree with this 100%. And I really liked Dominic, he was so friendly to us in my source, so I have really good, I've really good feelings about him. And when we, when we came back, he was teaching a workshop, a second series workshop in La Jolla. And at that time, I was really wanting to learn second series, but you know how it is in Ashtanga like you don't jump ahead, you don't rush ahead, you don't ask for poses, you'd kind of wait for your teacher to tell you and that type of thing. So I was so excited. I'm like, Well, I'm gonna sneak down to La Jolla for the day and take the second series workshop with Dominique. We walk in, there's a bunch of people there. And I say hi. And he kind of remembered me from India. And he was really nice. And he goes, Alright, everybody, what's the first name of the first pose and second series. And I knew it, but I'm a little shy. I didn't want to, like Throw my hand up and say, punch us. And so I was like, holding back. And no one said anything goes, All right. Well, if nobody knows the first name of the second series, we're not doing second series today, because none of you guys are ready for this. So let's back up. And I remember at the time, God, oh, man, I came because of a second series. And now you're not going to do that. But does that sound like Dominic, too? Yes. Yeah. In fact, Todd, I think I was there and probably we were matched to Matt and did not know it at that time. Do you actually remember that? Was that at prana? Yoga? Yeah. Yes. No way. We were there together. Yes. Yes, we were. I have chills. It's a very good friend of mine, too. Well, that is very much Dominique. But it's part of why I love to be loved. And, and because, you know, in the asana method, it is to keep you safe, because it is, you know, such a challenging practice that, look, if you don't know what it is, you probably haven't practiced it enough times to really dive into it. No, yeah. You know, and again, it's not just especially with with a stock, these can be so physical, because it's such a physical practice, that these are little, you know, almost mind games of, you know, we're going to break down your ego a little bit, you think you're ready to go into second series, but you know what? You're not. And I'll tell you another funny story. For some people who don't understand it. They may feel like well, that's mean, that's like you paid money, you should get what you pay for different culture different way. I remember my daughter who's going to be 31 this year, when she was about eight years old. She just reminded me of this story the other day. It taught me joystick. Did you ever go to any of his like world tours when you pop in Encinitas? Yes, so he was doing one of his world tours and he was in. I can't I think it was in Encinitas. It's at the like some recreational center huge class second series class again, I was I was there with you as well. For that one. I was at the YMCA you can probably relate to this. So one of the things that happens patottie joists are struck when you get to the pose and you're practicing in a big room and there's probably 100 people in this room for a second series from all over the world. When you get to let's say it's posh Austin and the first pose of the second series. If you cannot do it, you're gonna get a little tap on your shoulder and this, which means stop. Go to the back of the room. We get so at posh Jyotsna, there's tabs going on back of the room, people not knowing what they're doing. But the time we got to cut the tops enough. There were tasks all over the place. Half the class is in the back of the room. And that's when my daughter walked in. And that's when I was in the back of the room. Oh, yeah. And she said they she and my husband walked in. And she saw me in the back watching this with only, you know, not that many people left. And she said, It was so scary. It seems so mean, what was going on about this. But what's so interesting is, people again, were angry, they're like, I paid like $100 for this class. And I don't even get to finish it. And so what would happen, you'd sit in the back as he is, you may remember. And then when it was time for finishing poses, everyone got to come back up, lay back on their mat, and do their finishing poses ice cloak cold after you've been sitting in the back. So for you know, anyone who is back in the day, like we were, it was a different time, a different place to because you've just changed a lot. But for all of us have been through that, I think what it did for me is it really broke down the ego a lot, and in and allowed us to do our practice, hopefully with a little more grace. And for a lot of people who come to that style of practice. It's like, how far can I get in the series, what's the next thing how far and it's very, it may not, it's almost like an inner competition. And coming from a competitive athletic background, that's the last thing I need it. In fact, I used to have a mantra when I first started, do not compete, do my head over and over do not compete, because I see people next to me stronger, more flexible. And I'd have to just go into my mind to not compete. So for me, it was really, really great for my mind, to have to work through all of that conditioning of competitiveness and type A and go go go and find a little more inner peace. So for me, it was a really great experience. I agree 100%. I feel the same way in the funny transition that has occurred for me and me. And I'd like to hear what you have to say and what how it's evolved for you is that now that I'm a little bit older, and I have a couple of different parts that are moving as well as they used to different misalignments and things like that, I'm practicing in a way more chill fashion and and I've had to remove the competitiveness to the point of like, I'm still going to try to do that posed by might lay on a wheel instead of do COPPA, toss it and try to grab my ankles, I'm just going to just bend where I can bend and not work doesn't work anymore. And so I'm really thankful that I had that conditioning initially. But now if I went into it like that, I just don't think it would work for me. So how have you evolved your understanding approach and in teaching with your own kind of body experience? Now? Yeah, yeah, that's a great question. I think that's true for many, for many, many people. We got this beautiful foundation through the Ashtanga method. And typically, you know, it's a much younger, younger demographic that starting off there, and it gives us this great discipline and devotion. But then we have to find our way. And so for me, you know, I did practice Ashtanga for many, many years actually, when Tommy Joyce passed away I that was kind of the the end of my, my really disciplined Ashtanga, I teach still online, something called a stronger over 40, which has the breath, the bondas you know, the basic rhythm to the practice with some caveats taking out some of the crazy, but what I found I began doing more ion gar more Vini yoga. So really getting very, very aligned both the bone structure with the stability of the muscles and that really, I like that, because I already had kind of this rhythm and flow to find more of that and I come from a kinesiology, the science of body movement. I'm a kinesiology professor. And so I have that understanding really well of the body. And it makes sense to me. And then I studied a lot of Desica char as well of how do we meet students where they're at. And so, you know, I really and then I brought in a little bit of inter Debbie and um, these are like four of the most prominent students of the Krishnamacharya lineage. So I brought him a little bit of that femininity, of Indra Debbie and that's really my style. It's a more of a lineman based, you know, type of vinyasa that meets students where they're at who's here today, and what do I have to address today to meet everyone where they're at? And, and that's what's kept me going, I have to say, at this point, I have never felt better. My practice has never been better. And it's so much more enjoyable. And in the next three hours, just explain this to my online classes today and that is someone said you How did you know exactly what to hit? When I told you what was bothering me they How did you know exactly how to adapt the practice and I said, experience, experience experience. And yield is one of the few things I think in our lives that hopefully will continue to honor the wisdom that comes from practicing yoga for a lifetime. And in fact, my teachers in general have always like, I didn't start practicing with batavi Joyce till he was in my age, my teachers are always much older, because that's where all the wisdom is of going through all of these decades, you can't teach what you know, at 60 when you're 40, when you're 30, because you haven't been through all of that experience, on your mat in and out and there's nothing that can replace that. Oh, my gosh. Amazing. The next question I have for you, I saw that you offer teacher training down at the soul of yoga, or at a studio called Soul of yoga in Encinitas. Do you know, Tom Kelly. So Tom is the founder, Tom and Trish Kelly are the founders their self realization fellowship, yogi's, and they found at the soul of yoga, oh, gosh, many, many moons ago. And, and then they actually this, you know, it's like many yoga studios. They do well for a while, and then the pandemic hit. And it was even before the pandemic that this studio actually started struggling a little bit. Tom and Trish had moved back to the south. They don't even live in Encinitas anymore. And it was, it was bought out by a couple of yoga students actually two very low loyal yoga students, one of them great business background, and he's been able to turn Seoul of yoga around into really an international amazing school complete two locations. One is only for training, the soul of Yoga Institute, where we do all our trainings, most beautiful spot, and then a completely remodeled practice studio with multiple rooms, and welcoming to many, many styles of yoga and I finally found a home there. I I have a huge background in the physical part of yoga, especially when it comes to exercise physiology, kinesiology, the science of movement, I've got a really deep background when it comes to personal development. And the mind work. Like some very, very deep I mean, Tony Robbins, the you know, most people know who Tony Robbins is, at that point, was the groomsmen mind wedding. And I've known Tony since 1987. Good friend. Many, many. So I have a very deep mind part that this spirituality for me, was something that I was craving, and I was looking for that home. I grew up maybe like many of the listeners that, you know, I grew up, I went to an Episcopal High School, very organized religion, it never really connected to me. But there was something that I felt that was missing. And so the soul of yoga, what I love about it is it's exactly what it is the soul of yoga. And so it is there, you can tell the people who are coming there. They're looking for something a little deeper. Yes. I mean, I always say to my students, look, if I can't keep you safe in your body, why would you ever trust me with your mind. So first and foremost, I need to make sure my classes are safe and effective, from the physiological standpoint, and then working with the mind because if your mind, you know, the mind becomes the body, the body becomes the mind. And if you can't find some inner peace within the mind, and it's much more difficult to tap into that deep part of your inner self, where you find lasting peace. So yoga is so vast and so deep. And we have all of these beautiful techniques to help us really find harmony, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. And that is, you know, part of the reason I love teaching and doing many of my trainings there. It doesn't mean though, that that's I've given up on the other places, I still teach at a club, a health club. And I'll tell you a funny story. One time I was teaching there, when I someone that came down from San Francisco from a very well known group of yoga studios there that are, you know, kind of known for being super authentic. And it's pretty well known a lot of, you know, big name teachers and stuff. And he came to my class and at the end of the class, he came up to me, he goes, Oh, my gosh, that was a phenomenal class. Because I you know, I just love how you blend so seamlessly, you know, body, mind and soul, but I have a question for you. And I said, What? And he goes, Why are you teaching here? It's such a waste. Why do you teach at this place? And I found it I, you know, it took me aback a little bit and I'm thinking who, why, why not? Why shouldn't everyone regardless of where you're practicing, feel the depth of yoga. And you know, so for me, that's, you know, I don't need to keep preaching to the choir that already gets it. You know, I want to bring more people into that depth of yoga that is not just a glorified Eastern calisthenics class, that there's something much deeper to it. So I truly enjoy helping to be that bridge between fitness and the depth of yoga, because honestly, most people are coming to the practice through the body. Yeah. And when your body feels good, it starts to help liberate the mind. I mean, think of Asana, you know, Asana, everyone's coming to practice for, you know, their Asana. But Austin is just, it's a body awareness technique aimed at liberating the consciousness of your old ways of being doing an acting, so we come to it through the body, but it's for the liberation of the mind. And so I've really enjoyed being a bit of that bridge. And a much of my career has been on helping people come in and find more of that, in a way that's maybe not so intimidating as my when I first came to you. Okay? That's so cool, Stacy. I love that I love that you're embracing and learning and willing to go deep but not becoming a yoga snob and and now separating yourself from people that could really benefit from it by putting yourself into a smaller little area where then everybody's like, on the super high place. And I love that sounds like you're no let me teach at the gym, let me go down to someone invites me to teach at a wedding party or something, and I'll bring yoga and sure I can do it with anybody, everybody, I can get it. That's amazing. That's a real skill. You, it truly isn't. And I'll share something with you. And obviously, I'm you know, I teach advanced courses in yoga philosophy at the college. I mean, I'm deep into, you know, all the ancient texts and the the Vedas and the apana shots. And, you know, all of these ancient texts, however, you know, who wants to be, you know, yogi or than thou that all of a sudden, you know, you're up here. And, you know, if everyone's not talking Sanskrit and like on your level, then you're not, you're not welcoming to them. And so, I do a lot of speaking, also, in addition to my teaching, and like, last week, I was speaking at the Arizona entrepreneurs conference. And, you know, I bring in energy energy through this system of yoga to people who probably have never stepped on a yoga mat. And yet, it's waking them up, and they're loving it. I've spoken Florida, in Miami at huge crypto conferences coming in, and teaching people you know about energy and you know, how to move their energy and capture and direct and regulate their energy without having to talk about, you know, the noddies and the bondas. And, you know, and moving it up through the chakra system, and I can't do that. But I want to get them excited and experience it so that maybe they want to look a little bit deeper. Well, how do I get a crypto conference? To? To? In what way did you explain energy to the cryptocurrency folks because obviously, cryptocurrency is a energy movement transfer money is like a flow of energy, it's moving, it's like, it's, you could look at like electricity or some sort of form of, so how did you then relate it? What what type of tactic would you take in that department? Well, if you think, you know, everything is energy, I mean, Albert Einstein said it not me, everything is energy. And so when you understand that, and then you learn within your body, you know, I start people in their body, I start them, you know, with their physiology because of your physiology. Your physiology is going to affect your psychology. Basically, the bottom body becomes the mind, the mind becomes the body. So I teach people like something as basic as how do you align your bones? How do you stabilize your muscles, so you can find more elongation more space in the body? So like a host events kinked, right? If you're kinked up, then guess what? The energy is not going to flow. And so I start with a body I help people learn how to optimally align their body stabilize their muscles, so they find the elongation now I teach them how to move that energy up. How do you learn to start moving the energy? Where are your eyes? Where is your Where are your shoulders? What is your breath? So we're doing it it's all yoga. All of this is Yoga for all of its yoga. I just explain it in a way that super assessable that's not trying to show off how much I know, I'm more concerned, I'm more concerned of, can I make transformation and people and make them want to learn more? And when you do that, then people will say, Oh, well, how can I learn more about this? I'm really fascinated, or I've heard this before, and I want to go deeper. Can you show me and that's really where my passion has been. And my purpose has been and you know, I've been teaching for almost 40 years now, has been to help people practice yoga for a lifetime. And I don't make any promises. I'm not a teacher who goes, Hey, if you practice yoga is going to fix your back. If you practice yoga, your migraines are gone. I don't make those promises to people. But what I do, what I do promise people is that if you practice yoga, properly, you do this practice properly, for a lifetime, you're going to have more health and happiness than if you don't practice yoga. It's that simple. Yes. But you got to practice it properly. Because if you master it in properly, then you're just mastering something that's improper. Oh, man, it's so important to understand how do you do this properly? Well, great point. And the background that you had was one that no, you don't get to just jump ahead, you need to sit here for a while for maybe a couple of years and work on this for a little while before we're going to move you along. Fast forward to today, where, no, we're not even going to make it a five minute video, it's got to be 60 seconds. You know, it's it's you got to get your point across, it's got to be quick, you got to make it into video. And people aren't really reading the way. Maybe you enjoy reading. I enjoy reading, you know, because I have children, I have young children. So I'm just curious now that we're seeing this sort of evolution of like, let me just hurry up, or I'm gonna learn everything on YouTube and not take the time to learn. Are you seeing that? Or do you feel? Am I just am I off? Is is it? Is it that there still is a lot of learning going on? It's just that it's evolving? What do you think about the current learning models versus what the way you learned? Yeah, it's, it's interesting, you know, we all have a way of learning and we're all different generations. And I actually am very, very excited about how people can learn now because people have access, because of technology. People have access for all of this information, the challenges, and it's exciting, you can get to you can learn about anything, you can fact check anything, you can learn about anything like this. The challenge is, though, yoga, the benefits of it are through the practice. And so even though you can learn, like all of this information, you have got to practice. So it's like, if you want to learn how to swim, you can watch all the YouTube videos you want, you can learn, you can read all the things on social media, but you gotta get in the water. And you gotta practice. And it's the same thing with yoga, because the teachings are embodied in us, right? It's from the inside out. So it's getting people to practice, that's, that's the key, how do we get people to practice and stick with it? Stay with it. Because, you know, we're in a, like, there's always a new trend. And having been in this industry for a very long time, I have, you know, I have seen all the latest crazes, and some of them worked, and some of them didn't, and people are on to the next craze. So it's really how can we help people fall in love with this practice and, and want to do it every single day doesn't mean you have to do an hour practice. But you got to connect to it every single day till it becomes you know, we have there's always that analogy that's used all the time with yoga, it's like brushing your teeth, we use it all the time. It's got to come like that's true of any any practice that you do, it's just going to be a part of you where you feel off. So I think it you know, to wrap that up, I would say that technology is a beautiful thing when it's used correctly. And there's nothing that can really replace in many ways, a really great teacher that you connect to, that can help you go further. I think that is that's something we'll always need. Well said. Have you noticed in teacher trainings that folks just want to come to the teacher training sessions but don't want to actually practice every day? Well, I think you probably know that answer is as yoga has exploded. One there's teacher trainings all over they're out now around Under now I have it all the time where, you know, in I don't let like for example, I have a training this weekend, and I don't let people come to and listen for this training, especially because it's aligned, Assistant adjust and where you're going to get hands on touch, you have to have a solid practice for at least three years. Because people will just pop in, they're like, I want to learn more. And they've been, you know, on their map 10 times. And they're just, you know, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, maybe not ready for that you've got to do some practice, you got to get that under your belt and and feel it in your body and body it a little bit. Great point. Thank you. Thanks for acknowledging are you what what is your select today? Did you get a chance to practice? What what type of routine do groove on the most now and I'm gathering you've been exposed to, like you said, your teaching philosophy. So you've probably been exposed to all the branches and different techniques and styles in terms of mantra and visualization and asana and pranayama and bhakti and devotion? Is there something that you keep a consistent every single day? Or do you flow and move from different practices? I don't, I don't flow to a lot of different practices, because I think consistency is key. So I have really, I know my body so well of what it needs, and where my points of whether it's weakness in the body, or whether it's tightness in the body, I know exactly what it needs. I practice six days a week, you know, my the Ashtanga roots, they the, those tracks were laid pretty deep. And you know, in this jungle, we practice six days a week with a day of rest. So I still practice Asana six days a week and my personal practice. Now is it always really long No, some days, it's, you know, 30 minutes, 20 minutes, but I can always get in 20 minutes. And then I meditate twice a day, every morning, every evening, not seven days a week. So I you know, my mind needs it every day, twice a day. And then my Asana is six days a week, and for the teachers out there, because I'm imagining you had some teachers on here, you know, a lot of people when they begin teaching us their teaching times as their practice time. And that's the fastest route to burnout. Your your practice time is, that's why you started this whole thing. And so for me, my practice time is a sacred ritual that I do not miss. I would rather not teach a class then miss my assignment. Again, you know, I'm busy like everyone else. And my, my practice time is sacred time. Do you do that in private? Yes, I do my own practice. And, and that's just, it's my time. Yeah, I have specific things that I know I need. And, and I do this consistently, at, you know, with the aging process. And again, this is where wisdom comes in. I remember, you know, and again, we go back to our roots, it's kind of like we go back to our childhood home many times that lays our, our groundwork with your yoga journey for many of you, you'll go back to that first teacher that first, you know, style or lineage you started with and what you learned and you think that's it until you grow maybe. But, you know, I go back to, to the, the practice itself, and I remember in the in the Ashtanga primary series, which I did for so long, so long, it's all this forward bending, but for my body, what I needed was back bending them because I was in this like, do you do it this way? I was constantly forward bending and I wasn't doing extension. So I get to the second series and not you know, my extension is all jacked up. So then I'm working on that really hard going through a lot of injuries, quite honestly. So I know that that's where it's really messed up. I you know, the okay to the second series, I was practicing the first half of third series. And one day I'm practicing and I'm really struggling. And I thought to myself, Why am I doing this body body has what it needs right now. I'm just doing this for my ego. Trying to get further every my mind just wants to be don't compete. And that's when I really kind of stopped the Ashtanga and went back into my practice now is a lot of extension that spine because the forward flexion the twist that seems to come from my personal body a little bit easier. None of it's been easy, by the way, but the extension the spine has been very difficult. And as we age, that becomes even more pronounced because of all the slumping and slouching that we do, we need an antidote to that. So a lot of my teaching is helping people with posture and extension in the practice. Nice, very cool. Now when you made mention of two times set per day, morning and night, are you have a pasta meditator and the Glencoe lineage? Yes, so, so my meditation, so I've studied many, many types of meditation. So mine is pretty specific. So first, I always do a metta meditation, the loving kindness, just kind of set my head. Right, then I sit, I do foot paths and and just observe the breath. Observe the thoughts. I do that you know the Vipassana I really love the foot pasta meditation, because in the yoga practice itself, we can get, you know, our thoughts can get pretty crazy, you know, I can't do this, or I don't want to do this. Last thing I want to do is get on my mat. And those are very aggressive thoughts. When you think about it, it's pretty aggressive on us. So the Vipassana meditation gives us a chance to sit, notice those thoughts, and I try to become rather than making the thoughts the enemy, I try to befriend those thoughts, and soften into it a little bit more, and then bring that into the practice. So I do have a pasta sitting with my breath. And then I end it with kind of a combination of a mantra manifestation where my mind now is in a place, you know, uh, you know, a lot of this product POC Shabaab and I'm of canceling the negative thoughts and replacing them with more positive optimum thoughts and using that time, and then just kind of being like, almost an imagination stage of, you know, what do I want to create? I mean, I believe we're all creators. And what do I want to create in this life? What do I you want to use all of this energy that I have now captured? Where do I want to direct that energy? And so I use that final part of my meditation. And you know, a lot of people call it vision visualization. I call it more imagination, like imagining what exactly do I want to create in this world? Because when you think about it, when we're capturing all this prana all this chi, all this lifeforce energy. We're capturing it so that we can go out in the world and use our unique talents at their highest purpose. And that's truly self actualization. When we take our unique talents, and we use them out in the world to make the world better now, we're self actualizing. So I do that part to you know, really raise up my own self actualization so that, you know, I can be of more service in the world. Amazing. Well said, Do you with the with Yogananda or the Self Realization fellowship fellowship Institute, they're in Encinitas. And you're, you're close to that. You've been around it for many, many, many years ago. Oh, I lost. Yeah. All right. Well, Stacy's internet must have crashed. So I'm gonna keep chatting, and wait for Stacy to come back on and see if I can keep the ball rolling here. So where I was gonna go, and probably I'm gonna have to repeat is yay, she's back. And so can you hear me Stacy? Okay. Sorry about that. Oh, don't worry. I kept the ball rolling, and I'm going to keep it wrong or roll it back over into your court. You you've been in the around the SRF for the Self Realization fellowship for a long time. Had that excess or access or exposure? Is that something that you've delved into is the teachings of Yogananda? Or is that there's so much right there's so many angles, we can go like you mentioned that it seems like you gravitate a little bit more toward perhaps Buddha teachings of upasana as opposed to no SRF I'm curious what you where you lay? Yeah, I'm pretty fluid to tell you the truth. I take teachings from a lot of different areas in my spirituality, and I think my biggest teaching is really just this connection of the inner self believing in something bigger than ourselves and you know, calling people and call it what you like, and there's many personifications that people use but you know, something bigger than yourself. And so what I love about SRS Self Realization fellowship near me is actually there medics that the most beautiful meditation guards you may find in the entire world overlooking, we're on top of amazing Cliffs overlooking the ocean with the monks maintain this garden impeccably with koi ponds and beautiful flowers and benches and places to sit and that is, in fact, I take my teacher trainings on when we're in person on a meditation on a meditation field trip and a That's, that's one of the greatest gifts of having that there. But no, I'm fairly fluid in my beliefs, I pull a lot of the wisdom from Buddhism, pull a lot of the wisdom from the ancient text as well. So can I take you down a slightly controversial path? Sure. All right. I recently read a book called the trauma of cast by thin Maury son, the Rajan, have you heard of it? No, I haven't. She lays down the theory that the Brahmanism. And the caste system is like one of the earliest systems of oppression, which is really interesting. And so now that I've read that, and I'm going back to books, like Vedas, Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana, I can't help but look at them from this angle now of this idea that one segment of society holds the key to spiritual realization. And if you're born into a body, or a caste, or something that doesn't, isn't in that Brahma Brahmin caste, that you can never touch it, and we can't look at you, and you can't look at us and which is just so crazy to me, and so heavy. But so now when I'm reading these older texts, which I initially just didn't really see any of that I didn't, I wasn't scouring them looking for, where's the social injustice in these texts? And now I'm going back into some of the older texts. And then she kind of positions that Buddha teachings really that Buddha was very anti Brahmin tradition. And I don't want to I'm not trying to like, say anything against Brahmanism. Right now, other than what is what does that mean to you? When you hear that? Does that make you think about anything? I haven't read the book. So you know, I'm not I don't feel qualified to really understand it, my feedback on it, because I've never read it understood that what I would say is, you know, the practice of yoga is a personal practice. And it is a practice of one you your beliefs, with whatever you believe in. And, and so, you know, when it comes to that, I think that if we can feel the connection of oneness that we're one with all that is that, what is the route that you're taking? And I don't think it's for anyone else to tell you which path to take. I think that's, you know, your path and, and your research. And what do you want to study, because we're all we're all impacted part of the challenges with this info, obesity, all of this information. It's so confusing. So now you hear this and then hear another person's. And so it's almost too much of a bombardment of this external stimuli of all of this media noise and pings and rings, and everyone's telling you what to believe in. And my belief is that we have to learn how to move away from the external stimuli that's bombarding us and into our own inner body wisdom. And whichever path people are finding that and what is the path and what do they believe, because there's just honestly, you can find a pro and a con to everything, everything. So you know, I tend to stay away from finding going too far to one side and too far to the other side. And I just come back in, what do I feel in my heart? When I connect to my heart? What do I feel, and really just connecting to that oneness of, you know, all things everywhere? Beautifully said Great answer. Thank you for letting me anytime someone asks you like, are you ready to go controversial? And you're willing, and you answered that wonderfully. Thank you. So what what I mean, you're, I mean, you're right where you live, is kind of like the hotbed of yoga in the country in Encinitas is considered one of like, the yoga capitals of, of at least North America and I don't know if it comes in behind Russia cash, but I the yoga capital of the world, but it might be somewhere on that trail somewhere in the top 10 cities around the world. Um, what what else do you see? That is trending right now? In in your area? Is there anything that's like, for good or for bad or for worse, but what are you observing in your community? Well, I think not just in the community here, I think across the board, what what's happened is that, you know, the Western world has come on, and we've commercialized yoga, unfortunately, you know, in many ways to the point where it's barely tapping its true intent through just, you know, getting people in on the other hand, though, people I hope, and I, I see a little bit more of, are looking for something deeper. So they come in through the body, whatever it takes, I mean, there's all those things, you know, so many things out there. But they're, they're finding like, it's, there's got to be something deeper here. And they want to go deeper. And we're finding that also, you know, all these techniques with yoga that, you know, yogi's have known for a century, all the prana, Yama techweek techniques are now all the breathwork Is it a very hip and cool and meditation, you know, it's meditation is where yoga was, you know, 30 years ago. And so all of these things that are yoga, that are, you know, truly yoga, we're getting the science data behind it, where it's, it's starting to go out to help more people in the world. So if the worst thing that happens, if you know that yoga is getting, you know, spread to this very thin layer of its real intent, hopefully, it's going to come back, it's going to come back in and people are going to dig deeper and deeper. And the fact that people are stopping, pausing using words like mindfulness and breathing, taking deep breaths, and children are doing it, that's a beautiful place for us to be, it really is. And we're always going to have this ebb and flow. And the more people that we can bring in and learn more, you know, the better the world is gonna be, the more people practicing yoga, the better the world's gonna be. Level. Practice, yes. You You're, you're busy, you're teaching how many classes a week do you do teach, if you add up like, say, teacher training sessions I'm gonna be doing this weekend and you're doing online teaching as well. Correct, you're teaching Thank you, I have a very, you know, one of the things that's helped me really thrive and sustain. In in this, this work that I do is that it is very diverse. So my schedule is consistent, yet diverse. So play, you know, I teach and all the different venues, outdoors, very large classes, outdoors, 70 people or so a couple times a week, indoors, you know, smaller classes, when I say smaller, you know, 2030 people, where I'm both online and in person. And then I have straight online with Zoom. So I'm just straight online. And then during the week, I'm teaching teacher trainings, both at the college level, and then also in traditional studios. And then I also do, you know, as I said, speaking, and retreats, I mean, to be a yoga teacher, and really thrive, if you don't own your own studio, like you do, but you are an independent yoga studio, you really have to kind of find those niches of what you really love and, and diversify within it. So that you don't get injured, so that you're growing and learning. I mean, look, four years ago, most teachers out there and most practitioners, we were all in a class, talking to someone, you know, learning and then bam, all of a sudden, here we are 40 years later, and everybody knows what Zoom is everybody knows how to put their mic on. Every you know, we're learning and growing in a different way. And, and I tried to be as adaptable as possible to all the different growth, and we're going to have a whole nother growth. I mean, AI is going to blast us into a whole new world. And are you going to be ready to grow with that and to adapt to it, and to be able to share your gifts again in a new way? Unfortunately, you know, I see so many wonderful teachers with so much knowledge and so much to share that the pandemic hit or even before that was social medias explosion. You know, they went to the graveyard of Assamese to kawaii and no, there's no more teaching, they went up to the hills of Santa Cruz, you know, no more teaching, just doing their practice and to me, can we adapt and grow so all of this wisdom continues to the next generation. And we don't lose all of this that we've worked so hard through all these years to to spread and have more people and getting more joy in their lives. I, I agree I love your positivity and you obviously have embraced technology so that you're not you know, maybe at one point I think we all were a little scared like could I do this? This seems so hard and would I be able to do it at techie people seem to be able to do it? I'm not techie Would I be able to catch up? i And you've been able to do that. And it sounds like you're having fun with it. Do you? Are you having fun with it? You know, I have had look, the reality is is you know, is yoga supposed to be fun? You know, out sharing our drifts we're rebuilding our careers is always supposed to be fun. No, it's not always fun. However, you can always have the right mind with whatever's going on. So like with, with the technology, look, I'm not super techy, however, I had to learn it. And where are those those places of being completely frustrated with it, where you're trying to start a class or I'm, you know, in Asia presenting something, and it's like, you know, I just love it at night here. I'm trying to get on Zoom. I don't even know how to use it when the pandemic restarted, because the you know, the conference now isn't like, all of those things look, frustration. The one thing I learned is frustration in Asana. Right, this is why often is so important. We're totally frustrated in the asana, you know, why doesn't my hand touch the ground? Why doesn't this happen? And frustration is that combination of three emotions, you know, embarrassment, disappointment and anger. It's not a place you want to stay in your mind. And what I love about yoga sutras and much of the yoga wisdom is there's these beautiful gems, and I just said, like, the proto Pasha, baba, baba Nam, you know, cancel that thought, cancel that thought, it's not a place you want to rest in your mind and replace it, replace it with something more powerful, more optimum. And when you notice, okay, I got this crazy frustrated thought, in my head, I'm getting angry, disappointed and embarrassed that I can't do this. Can you cancel it? Can you bring in something better, and go from that place. And so then it's like, okay, I'm completely frustrated. But you know what's fascinating, it's so fascinating that I'm learning this new skill that I'm growing, this is so amazing. And so we shift our thought, and so we have the power, we have the power to change, and you're under no obligation to be the same person right now that you were five minutes ago. You have the power to change it. And it's all up here. And that's what yoga teaches us. That's why we've got to practice for a lifetime. Because this is always evolving. And so has I feel very fortunate to have worked hard and been adaptable, and gone through all those ebbs and flows of yoga throughout the years. And I'm hoping, you know, there may be a lot of miles on this body, but there's also miles of smiles. I'm hoping that the next 30 years that I'm still that people still want to highlight my work, and that I'm still able to do this and share yoga is awesome, Stacy, you know, I love it, you. So I heard recently somebody say that routine, it excuse me routine is essential. So but then we can and this is basically what you're just saying, you get on a routine where you have say I teach these outdoor classes per week, I have this couple zoom sessions per week. And so you got a good little workflow going where you can maintain it all. And then somebody mentioned the 8020 rule where 80% should be routine, but then we should designate 20% to try trying something new. Try like moving out of our comfort zone, being willing to try using zoom or whatever it is. What would your 20% be right now that's taking you slightly out of your comfort zone? Or if you are you thinking I would like to also add this into my routine? What direction are you thinking about are heading in? That's great question. So I look at it maybe a little bit differently. I've heard the 8020. And I think that's a great, that is a great rule. I look at it. And again, because so much of my life is centered around teaching and sharing, yoga that I look at kind of as bookends that, you know, we need. We need consistency, I believe at the beginning and the ending of class because for our minds, I would do so much work with the mind. And then in the middle, we need some creativity, something that kind of keeps us going and grow and growing, learning and growing. And that's true of our lives as well. So we you know if we can have these kind of bookends in our lives where we have consistency overall, but then we need to something creative. You know, we're creators, all of us are creators, what can we do to create? So for me, some of the things I'm doing right now is, I'm in the process of writing a book. And I've written lots of certifications and manuals and, and yoga teaching books, this one's a little bit different. And so that's taking a lot of creative juice that I'm really enjoying, and what tracking what, what track are you taking this book down, if it's different from your typical teacher, it's a very interesting one. So I was a caregiver. For both my parents for seven years, they lived with me, my mom just recently passed away in October, she had Alzheimer's towards the end, she was also in a wheelchair, my dad had some diabetes and heart some different things. So I was their primary care gave good living with me, and I was, you know, in, you know, for every burden, there's a blessing. And so was it hard work? Yes, did I have to, you know, do a lot of things that probably, you know, are wonderful to do. Yes. However, I also had the blessing up into their final breath, being there through everything single stage, and it has transformed everything that I knew intellectually and practicing, of the pose of Shavasana. And, and I have so many insights, and so much that I want to share in this book, and I don't want to give too much away, but on, if there's like, one pose that's going to transform our lives, I believe that is the pose. And I just have some beautiful things. And it brings in very much. You know, all the elements and with that we are made up of and all of the oneness, and just the privilege of of really being with someone in that final breath is, is very profound. And I got to do it twice. And very different experiences and the energy. So yeah, that's coming up. And that's, that's going to be a lot a lot of fun with it. My husband, and I think my co author and my husband's his latest book was the breakthrough code, and it's much on energy. And, and the same with this podcast. So we do a lot of work with energy, and different energy, because everything again, is energy. So yeah, I'm excited about that. But that is, you know, helping with the creativity, and I never would have been ready for this. Had I not had this experience over the last seven years. These things would not have happened for me. So that's exciting. That is so cool. Well, educate. Educate me about I'm looking for my panning. So I'm gonna write it down. But oh, here it is. What is your husband's name? Tom McCarthy? Yeah. And his book is called Breakthrough code. Breakthrough code. Yeah. So he's so like an energy worker, or he's, I believe it or not, he's an author and speaker and trainer. He does a lot on on speaking and stuff. But this is he also has a pretty fascinating story. And this is a it's, it's a very interesting story. It's a parable. And so, yeah, it's, it's on, like, you know, it's moving energy, but it's very different. It's a story of really learning how to, it's got three, like big ideas in it that I'll let him share. But it's a story of a guy who's having a very rough time and how he is kind of managing his way through life. And it's very fascinating. Yeah. Oh, my gosh, that's so cool. I didn't I didn't know that. I didn't, I didn't. I didn't know anything about your other half. So excited. So is that where the connection is then with Tony Robbins, and in your husband is a motivational speakers that is? So he does that he does do a lot of that. So he we met actually. Tom was running Tony's company. I mean, we're all in our 20s we're all very young. And he he moved to California to help run Tony Robbins company. And I was actually up at Tony's house for a Super Bowl party, a very small Super Bowl party. And Tony introduced us and yeah, that's how you guys met. Very cool. We met Yeah. And when we met, he has a podcast as well, your husband? He does. It's called the breakthrough coach. Yeah, check it out. How cool is that? Well, I love the idea of your book. I mean, I want you to keep the secrets because then we can read it and we'll be surprised but my talk about that would be that would be amazing. Oh my gosh, you're right because we're So we're actually past the hour mark right now. I don't want to get off Stacy you're so fun to talk to. Thank you. So thank you so much for taking time to share with me and I'm so thankful to windy heart because I She's a listener of the of our of our podcast and she said, I asked her who can I interview and she said he gotta reach out to Stacey. So thank you so much Wendy for introducing us. Yes. Is there anything, Stace that we could possibly add to this to try to wrap in toward our conclusion? Is there anything you feel like either you you want to leave us on a note you want to leave a sound or any sort of, I think to kind of wrap it up and kind of wrap up you know, my thoughts on sharing yoga in the world and and doing our best to welcome everybody into the practice of yoga I'll share a funny story it's also you know, my my, my company name is yoga nama Stasi, which I didn't make up a group of front rowers at the end of the class when I say Namaste, they go yoga nama Stasi, and then we websites were first starting there, like you gotta name it that and I thought it was all for fun. I had no idea. This is where the world was gonna go. But that word Namaste. It's always it's always meant something to me from the first time I heard it. And I remember I was teaching a class at the at the gym, because I told you, I you know, I teach at a variety of places. And it was a Tuesday Thursday at 12 o'clock, jam packed, jam packed and I had one lady who was always got there early, she had her same spot, back, right corner wall on one side wall in the back. In fact, if she came and someone had her spot, she would ask them to move because that was her spot. Talk about you know, not practicing a party Graha COVID-19 attachment, she was very attached to that spot. And he would date one day she came classes Pat, there is no space between the mat, she couldn't go back there and ask anyone to move no space. She's standing at the door. I'm ready to start. I used to teach on a stage in the front of the room. And she's looking at me and I said, Well, you can come up on the stage with me if you want to. She said, okay, so she came up on stage, we have a beautiful practice. And the practice we're coming out we're sitting facing the class bringing my hands together, and I say Namaste in the classes, namaste. Classes rolling up their mouths getting ready to leave, and she looks at me. And she goes, What did you say? And I said, Well, I said, NAMA stage, because now a stage because what's Namaste? And I'm thinking, this lady has been taking my class for years. And I said, Well, Namaste the Divine Light knee bows, honors and sees the Divine Light new. And when you are in that place, and I am in that place, we are one. And she looks at me and she goes, hmm. All this time, I thought you were saying, Have a nice day. And so my point of this is, we've got to welcome people and meet people where they're at without this, like judgey yogi or than thou, because we don't know where they're gonna go. We don't know if they're going to be the next person that transforms millions of lives. And so, yoga, you know, each of us who gets up and practices yoga, who teaches a yoga class, who does whatever they can to learn a little bit more about about yoga is creating a ripple effect. And so it's important for us, I think, to be very welcoming, and have people come as they are. Oh, man, you're good. You're good. You're good. You're good speaker. You got some skills. Stacey, I really enjoyed this. I I really appreciate it. You're super fun, great vibe so positive, and so consistent over such a long period of time. And that was a great closing statement. I love it. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you for watching this long. Yes, I all of our listeners are endurance listeners. I can't do I can't do less than an hour. It's just not possible. It's not possible. So thank you, everybody for being endurance orientated. Thank you, Stacy. I can't wait to catch up with you next time in California. I'm going to come come visit you. Native yoga Todd cast is produced by myself. The theme music is dreamed up by Bryce Allen. If you liked this show, let me know if there's room for improvement. I want to hear that too. We are curious to know what you think and what you want more of what I can improve and if you have ideas for future guests or topics Please send us your thoughts to info at Native yoga center. You can find us at Native yoga center.com And hey, if you did like this episode, share it with your friends, rate it and review and join us next time