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Nearly Enlightened
Join Nearly Enlightened's host Giana Giarrusso and discover the body, mind and spirit connection! The Nearly Enlightened Podcast is for the soul-centered seeker who is on the path of personal growth and spiritual development. This podcast takes a light-hearted approach exploring topics rooted in themes of mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing.
Nearly Enlightened
The Embodied Yogi: Mindful Living, Ancient Wisdom, and Modern Practice
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Giana and Dee are back together, reflecting on their recent 30-day Deepen Your Practice yoga challenge and the lessons that unfolded—on and off the mat. This isn’t just a conversation about yoga postures—it’s about the kind of transformation that starts with intention and ripples into every area of life.
They kick things off by talking about mindful consumption—from collagen to coffee—and how being more intentional with what we buy, eat, and support can become a powerful practice of wellness.
Then, they dive into what made this yoga challenge so impactful, including the unexpected ways it brought them (and nearly 50 participants) back to the heart of the practice. Giana and Dee share how even experienced yoga teachers walked away with brand-new insights, reminding us all that we’re never done learning or growing.
This experience has sparked something new: The Embodied Yogi, a 12-week mentorship for teachers and students who want to live their practice beyond the poses. If you’ve been craving more depth, more connection, and more real-life integration, you’ll want to hear what’s coming.
This episode is for anyone who’s curious about what it means to practic yoga beyond the poses, make conscious choices, and plant seeds of change—starting from the inside out.
✨ Want to deepen your practice?
The 30-Day Challenge is now available as a self-paced journey. Click here to start now!
The Embodied Yogi Mentorship opens for applications soon. Click to join the waitlist and be the first to find out when doors open!
Let’s walk this path—together.
Collagen & Coffee use code "GIANA97872"
Nearly Enlightened Podcast
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Welcome to the Nearly Enlightened Podcast, a high-vibe toolbox designed to help you connect to your body, mind and spirit. I'm your host, gianna Giruso, and I'm here to share tools, conversations and insights to help you on your journey of self-discovery. This podcast is all about exploring what it means to live a conscious, connected and nearly enlightened life, because the truth is, the answers aren't outside of us, they're already within. Let's dive in B welcome back.
Speaker 2:Thank you, thank you, muchas gracias.
Speaker 1:B is joining me today. So we just wrapped up like I guess two weeks almost two weeks ago now we wrapped up our 30 day deepen your practice challenge and we've kind of had time to integrate. And now we're on the other side and we have like tons of news to share. We certainly do. First I just want to say so for any of you who watched my social media earlier I am trying out the carnivore Aurelius coffee and this is like a huge deal for me. Actually it is huge for you.
Speaker 1:I cannot handle caffeine like it. I think I'm already a naturally like high energy person. So when you just like add caffeine to me, it's just like I'm off the wall. But after finishing like that was a pretty big cup Like I think there was like almost two cups in there, and so now I've finished the coffee, I feel steady energy and I don't know if it's because I added the collagen to it, so it had like a little bit of substance, but I don't have that jittery feeling and maybe it's just like yet, maybe it like hasn't hit me yet, but usually by now it would already have like started to affect me.
Speaker 2:I'm happy to report that my palms are dry would you report back to me how you sleep tonight? I?
Speaker 1:know I will, I will um. So no sweaty palms. I don't feel jittery, I don't feel anxious, my heart's not fluttering and like maybe it just like hasn't fully hit yet, but I also had it on an empty stomach. So, whenuttering and like maybe it just like hasn't fully hit yet, but I also had it on an empty stomach. So when I do that, usually it just like it hits me hard. It yeah, um, but yeah. So right now I feel good, I feel like steady, steady energy and I actually like love the smell of coffee and like love the taste of it. So so I'm I'm kind of excited if this works for me.
Speaker 2:I'm excited to hear, and I think I think it is a good idea to put collagen in it, though, especially because I hope you had some water in your belly before.
Speaker 1:Okay, yes, as a gut health person, I'm going to tell you, I hope you had water first yes, uh, this morning I drank probably close to like 30 ounces before that, so I'm definite well, I don't know if I'm well hydrated because I sweat and I had two back-to-back classes this morning, so yeah, it's hot here finally, and then also like just share.
Speaker 2:I loved because I asked you where he gets the beans from and you said I think that's important to share. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I think it's Costa Rica. I'm not 100% sure. I would assume. I would assume, honestly, like I just want him to come on the podcast so bad and he's like very against podcasts. But I want to have him on so bad because I like watched his social media over the last couple of months and he's been at the farms and they're small, family owned farms. It's fair trade, it's organic, it's tested for myotoxins and heavy metals. It's like honestly, one of the best on the market that you could best coffees on the market that you can get. And his collagen is also like I fully stand by by his collagen, um, and I never wanted to be an affiliate for anyone unless I was like like really used their product back to their product. And I've been using his collagen for over a year now. I think over a year, um, like whenever he launched. It is when I started it and like I noticed a difference right away and a lot of it wasn't necessarily like a physical feeling, but like my lips were plumper.
Speaker 2:I was just great hair.
Speaker 1:Yes, thank you, and so yeah, I really love his collagen. It's tasteless, it dissolves really well.
Speaker 2:And he's actually like I, like. I follow him as well, and I feel like the way he also promotes a lot of his products too is like he's very conscious and I know like the collagen is from like grass finished or grassfed and finished yep paddle it's glyphosate free, which is huge.
Speaker 2:That is huge, um because yeah a lot of the colleges on the market don't even think about those things, or people who consume them won't even think about that being even a thing. And I think even too, like, if the coffee beans are from central america, as you said, like, like if they are from Costa Rica, like we were just talking about, I can tell you from experience because I've spent a lot of time in Costa Rica the Ticos are very, very. They have such incredible environmental education and the farming there. Like I've been to coffee farms there, like I can back up what you're sharing right now from actual experience and then living where I do live. We have tons of coffee farms around here, unfortunately, are they as environmentally conscious as Costa Ricans? I will tell you I don't think so. Are there coffee farms here that exist in Panama that are organic? Yes, but I feel like Costa Rica, just as a population as a whole. I would have my own personal opinion to say that I would trust that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean I love that he tests for heavy metals and his collagen and it's one of the lowest that you can find on the market. That's really important to me and like knowing what I know about cacao, which is very similar to coffee. Yeah, a plant that helps to like clean and cleanse the soil. So like your fruit is going to take on whatever is in the soil, so I think that Any produce, any produce yeah.
Speaker 1:So it's important to like know these things and and to start talking about them. So I'm super excited about it If I find a coffee that I can drink. Like I don't think I'd ever be to the point where I'm like addicted to coffee and like I can't wake up without it, cause like um, I've just never really been that person, even though, like in high school, I probably drank over 32 ounces of coffee a day. It was like kind of insane.
Speaker 2:Oh honey, I was. I was like give me a dunk dunks. I was like I will have an extra large French vanilla with extra, extra, like the things that.
Speaker 1:I used to consume I am.
Speaker 2:So if I could talk to my younger self.
Speaker 1:I know same, but it was like it was these things that we were just conditioned to like, accept and like this is the way society is, and like I mean coffee has, because I'm Italian, like coffee has always been. It's like part of the culture, right, um, and like we started drinking coffee like kind of young. It was like, oh yeah, take a sip of the espresso. Like my grandmother used to literally make us cappuccinos. We were so little, but that was just like. I know it's funny, but it was just. It was like the way we got our milk. Like I don't think I drank milk. I don't think I drank milk.
Speaker 2:I don't think I drank milk, unless it was in something. You didn't have. Chocolate milk, you just had cappuccino.
Speaker 1:I had steamed milk over an espresso.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, that's too good. I love that.
Speaker 1:But it was like it is part of the culture. So when I couldn't drink coffee anymore, I was like I'm very sad about it. So this is this exciting stuff, but I don't think I would be. Like you know, I don't agree Like you should start your day off with the stimulant right away. But there are so many studies about coffee being I mean, it's full of antioxidants Like if you're buying good quality coffee, it actually isn't bad for you.
Speaker 2:No, I don't. I agree with you. I think it just gets abused.
Speaker 1:And that's like we love to do here in the States. We like to take everything and take it to the extreme.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think, even like just with anything and this is like opening a can of worms, we don't really need to go there but with any, with anything really like, especially supplements and stuff, I think at this day and age, like you just have to be careful and you have to like it's an incredible the fact to know where it's actually sourced from and to be able to trust.
Speaker 2:That I think is huge and I think he does a really, I think he does a really good job promoting himself and promoting you know why it's good for you where it comes from and to be able to. You know that's a small business and to be able to support something like that and the fact you're an affiliate to something like that and to share with people is important.
Speaker 1:It is and um like, I believe that we vote with our dollars every single day, and that's why it's important to me to buy the best produce to support the brands that are out here doing the work so like, and the local people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, especially like that's one thing I really miss about being in New England is, like you know, summer and fall, like the harvest, and supporting CSAs and all that kind of stuff. And I think you know where I am and what I do. Like we just tried to run an event yesterday where people come out to the farm where I'm managing a greenhouse and they pick their own produce, you know, cause CSA doesn't really exist here, um, where I am at least, and it just it's to be able to put a face to what is what you're consuming, or well, in his case you can't really put a face to it, but like we can put an instagram account yeah, to be able to like meet the farmer or to know where things come from, I think is huge, especially as a mom, or just you know, or someone who's health conscious.
Speaker 2:I think it's. It's really important at this day and age that people jump on that train, and I will scream that from the mountaintops same because it it makes a difference.
Speaker 1:It really it makes a huge difference and like, like you said, being in new England, I'm really blessed. I have a bunch of cattle farms around and it's really easy to get local meat here and that is such a blessing and it was something that I really take for granted when I was living in Arizona. I like fully knew what I had when I was living there and I loved it because we had multiple growing seasons. Like everyone thinks the desert it's like dry and barren, but that's very far from what it is. And, same thing, we had a lot of farms around us. They actually have like butcher shops there, which I think are few and far between now. Like everyone just thinks we get our meat from the supermarket, um, but going back to that, like oh no, I go to the supermarket or the farmer's market for my produce and then I literally go to the butcher shop for my meat. Like I loved that.
Speaker 1:Like, uh, the butcher shop that was near me in Arizona, they would, it was a whole animal butcher shop, so they would get the arizona. They would, it was a whole animal butcher shop, so they would get the whole entire animal in, nose to tail, nose to tail, and they would process every single thing themselves. But they also cut down on their waste because they would make things like stocks and broths and, um, sausages and like very little goes to waste. And I think that that's important because when you do talk about it from the supermarket standpoint, there's a lot of waste there, a lot of that animal is getting tossed.
Speaker 2:It's interesting to hear you say that, because where I am in Panama, we have, when I go to the supermarket, they have cow tongue, heart, feet, anything, anything. You can find cow stomach there. You can find nose to tail in the supermarkets here, because it's part of the culture, they don't waste, because out in the countryside, like here, we like, we see that was it weird for me at first. Oh yeah, um, but like you can go there and I know people who go there to ask for bones for their dogs or whatever, and that's it, you know. So it it really wastes nothing.
Speaker 2:Or like, here out where we live rurally, you know there's people that grow or not grow, but raise, you know, um, pork, pigs and cows, and they'll, you know, call Edgardo and say, hey, like I'm, I'm going to be sacrificing on this date. How many pounds do you want, whatever? And so, like it's also communal, which is really beautiful, you know, and that's something from where we sit, where we live, I'm so grateful for. Um, I don't eat a lot of the things, but the fact that it's here is, it's just interesting to see the difference.
Speaker 1:And it goes to say about energy and um intention, when you are eating something that is like local, like I love, like obviously not sponsored by them or anything but I love. Around here we have this company called Pat's Pasture and the animals never leave their farm like they do everything from raise to process to packaging, right on site. I mean, that's fairly new to them. They got their USDA cert like I think, like last year or the year before Um. But you can taste the intention in their food Like it tastes different because it's not touching a million different hands, it's not going somewhere to be slaughtered and then from there it's being shipped to get processed and then from there it's shipped to be getting um slaughtered and then from there it's being shipped to get processed and then from there it's shipped to be getting packaged and then from there it's going back to the farm. It's like everything is done within a couple mile radius and that the intention is different, the taste is different, it even looks different.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, that's so true when you sit down at the table and you think about how many hands and how many wheels, how many miles, Sometimes flights I was just going to say sometimes planes trains, automobiles To get to your plate. It's like if you have the ability to, like sit down and actually know one person's name, that's huge huge one person a difference to, to local business.
Speaker 1:I mean, we in america it's like a huge problem. We have sold a lot of our farmland to other countries and that is scary. That's scary like smithfield um, which is a big pork company, was bought out by china a couple years ago. So oh, we're not even keeping. I mean, yes, smithfield's huge, you can probably find it in every grocery store in america. But they're huge factory farms and the quality isn't there. Like a lot of those pigs don't ever leave a warehouse, like they're literally living inside of a warehouse on top of each other. Like what is that quality of life? What intention does that?
Speaker 2:you know, it's not difference yeah it does, and it's.
Speaker 1:That's the energy you're eating yes, one of the um like docu-series that changed my life was cooked by michael poland and it was based on.
Speaker 2:I love him, love him. I wrote a paper on him for a certification I did. His book.
Speaker 1:The um is like one of my favorite books yeah, so cooked came a couple years after, but if anyone has time, I think it's still on netflix. Um, it's a four-part series and it was so eye-opening to me and one of the things that he opens with is like we're losing what set us apart from primates. Like what set us apart from primates was we discovered fire, we discovered how to cook our food, and then that like literally changed uh, our digestion, our, our gut microbiome. It changed our teeth, our jaw shape, um. But we have forgotten that because in the 50s we had this push of like canned food, tv dinners, like convenience convenience yes, and it was sold to the moms.
Speaker 2:That's the thing it was sold to the moms. And then, because the moms started working outside of the house and everything was based on convenience, there wasn't even a supermarket. Like you were just saying, you would go to the butcher, you would go to the produce farmer's market, I don't even think. Oh god, I don't want to get myself in trouble here, but supermarkets weren't really a big thing until like the 40s or 50s yeah, yeah, because they were small, like corner stores.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was where you got like salt?
Speaker 1:yeah, it wasn't my great-grandfather was a butcher, um, and he, he like, actually died pretty young because he didn't take care of his diabetes, because he was an italian and couldn't eat anything but pasta, um, so he kind of did it to himself, but he was a butcher and, like, I remember my grandmother talking all the time like they're. They lived outside of providence, in the suburbs, but they were still like in providence, but he basically had a full farm on his property, like in the middle of the city well, that's the thing.
Speaker 2:You would go to your local farm and you would find it was also too like a communal thing. We were in, we were so much more communal and now everything has become convenience-based and fast-paced and no one let's all just slow down. Can we slow down even to like ayurveda? So let's connect this to like a little bit of the yoga, like I know, when I was looking into ayurveda and stuff I this is like ingrained into my head is like low cook low and cook slow with lots of spices and herbs to aid in digestion, and you know, it connected me.
Speaker 1:So when I was learning a little bit about Ayurveda, it was eye opening for me because I feel like every culture kind of has this but we've lost it.
Speaker 1:And you know, like the funny joke on the internet is like white people don't use spices or like like they don't use a lot of flavors. That's so funny because, obviously, like I grew up very Italian, my dad's from Italy, his whole family was right from Italy, so my grandparents were very, very Italian. So that was never a thing for me. Like I didn't, I didn't realize that, especially because I grew up in such an Italian little space in New England that like, like I just thought the way we were eating was like normal, until I started like going out in the world, like meeting more people and like finding more diversity, and I was like, oh, this isn't a thing everywhere, like so when I was connecting it to Ayurveda, I was like, oh, like, italians use spices like this in a very similar way. Like I was saying, uh, the other day we put bay leaf in. Like Italians put bay leaf in like everything when they're cooking beans like anything. My grandmother used to say it like takes the gas out.
Speaker 2:No, it does, it's the real. I do that too, and everyone here thinks I'm crazy, because here we eat rice and beans every day. So I have like all the tricks and I will tell you, it is the truth Baking soda or bay leaf.
Speaker 1:Oh, bay leaf went in. Bay leaf went in every, like you said, every soup in stock and then like lentil soup is a big thing in Italian culture, especially like it was kind of like the poor people food and like bay leaf goes in there because that's what takes the gas out. And it's funny if you cook it with and without like if you cook the one without, you do notice a difference and not taste wise, but it is gassier.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and there's ways to prepare things that take time. Like even if we're going to continue this bean talk, like I, if I'm cooking them and I know I'm going to cook them for the next day like I leave them in water the night before with sprinkled with a little bit of baking soda, because that helps you with the digestion and the cooking. It's's like there's a method to the madness, and I think we've just forgotten the method.
Speaker 1:all we care about is now convenience, and so I think we just need to slow down and slow down, yeah, and prepare things intentionally, and I think that is like bringing it back to our challenge. I think that was like it was not a lot of work for us, but posting every day was like kind of, that was like a big deal for me.
Speaker 2:I don't post a lot there Me either. It has to be something, and so like to be able to pump a post out every day with a, you know, with the caption, and like have thought and be in the challenge with the participants. You know, we weren't just hosting this, we were also living this experience with as part of hosting it too, and it was definitely a challenge for me and letting go of like, oh my gosh, you can see my belly rolls in this video or like we talked about that a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know what I mean. Like it doesn't matter, like we are human and this is the experiencing, the experience we're having, and like that's one of the reasons too. I feel like when you Google search yoga, you're going to see a white girl in Lululemon pants and a sports bra, and I think part of the reason why, one of the main reasons we did this challenge, is to honor the roots of the practice and to share with people ways they can actually involve what those concepts are into their everyday life, and so to be able to post all of that was like it was an audacious goal, but we did it did it and it was.
Speaker 2:it was fun.
Speaker 1:It was fun and, honestly, like I know I'm coming off of an episode where I was like I was like a negative Nancy and just like basically crying about it being my birthday soon and by the time this comes out it will have already passed, but I think it was a great way to wrap up 33 because it forced me to be present. I mean it's funny posting every day and like going through those concepts every day, even though we we slowed down, may flew by like from beginning to end, and we're already in mid-june. I was like holy shit, like how did this happen? But it was a great reflection period for me, a great like recalibration, and I've heard from so many people, so many of my students and then also like fellow yoga teachers who just like couldn't believe what an amazing 30 days it was, like everyone kept saying, oh my God.
Speaker 1:I was like looking forward to the emails every day, like I couldn't wait to go into my inbox and read and I mean there were yoga teachers who have 500 hours of yoga teacher training, have been teaching for multiple years, and they were like some of the things that you talked about I've never even heard of before.
Speaker 1:Like I love that you're bringing this to the forefront and it was really inspiring to me because I helped formulate all of those emails and it was really seamless to bring that into my classes and we talked about some of those concepts in my classes, which is like hot power yoga, so it's like a fitness workout. So you wouldn't think that you would bring those discussions there, but they ended up being such powerful classes and really shaped the way that I showed up in May and that was exciting for me because my classes did. They felt different because I was talking about the true essence of the practice and I think, like we've said on this podcast at some point, if we're not acknowledging these concepts like now, we're just like kind of appropriating culture.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's. I think that that makes me feel squirmy, because that's definitely that's. That's like definitely not what I would ever want to be admitting into my class, or even my character as a person. You know, I feel like being able to know these concepts and, like, for me you know I don't have a lot of I do more private teaching, and so it was an even more intimate thing, you know, in that way where I could actually have one on one discussions with people, which was really really interesting saying but I think, you know, bringing all of these concepts back into the forefront of my mind, aside from being a teacher, just being a human and walking this earth and living those and being, you know, embodying what actually I'm teaching and what yoga is into our everyday lives, and to be able to share that, it's like it's just an honor to be able to share it, and I think that that's like when you do get your certification and your training, like I, just that's what I wish for. I wish for people to do the same.
Speaker 1:Yes, and you just hit the nail on the head there with the word embodied it's, it's, um. It's so easy to get caught up in the asana and like think that this is it and maybe like a little bit of breath, just because we're vinyasa-ing all over the place.
Speaker 2:Yes, we're just slamming sun salutations down your throat and onto your mat and there's, there's not much more to it and I love that.
Speaker 1:this challenge really highlighted like great, the asana isn't for you, but these are all the ways that you can practice yoga. So I am happy to report that we are keeping the challenge live. So it is going to be a $27.99 commitment or investment and you get the 30-day journey at your own pace. So every day it'll come right to your inbox. You don't have to post anything on social media. But now, yeah, it lives there and you can take yourself through the 30 days to deepen your practice and it's great for anyone who is a beginner. It's great for anyone who has been practicing for a while, teachers, people who are just curious about yoga. It's really for everybody. And I know like every business mentor is probably cringing and being like you have to get your audience, your demographic. But like, seriously, if you are just curious about anything spiritual or wanting to connect with yourself, this is for you.
Speaker 2:Totally, it's definitely and that's part of what you know. I think yoga is is the self-study which we talked about a lot and we even tapped into in during the challenge, and I think yoga is is the self-study which we talked about a lot and we even tapped into in during the challenge, and I think that's important. I think, yeah, I think it's just an important. It will be a huge reflection for you and so it's funny this actually brings me.
Speaker 1:I'm so glad you just said that, because I've been wanting to talk about this. This is a little bit of pop culture, but hold on, let me just bring.
Speaker 2:I love it. I don't, I might not know it. Um no, this is going to be very niche, okay, if it doesn't have to do with Bad Bunny then I will not know um.
Speaker 1:So this is funny. If you are in the Bravo universe, you'll know what I'm about to say. But Bethany Frankel was just on um, she was just. She did um sports, illustrated swimsuit, runway, and joy bear ripped her to shreds. Basically, I don't know. She said something about like her boobs being saggy or something, or like something about her fake boobs. And so now these are two women who are roughly around the same age. They're like probably in their 50s, maybe even 60s, um, and so I have to give it to Bethany because, like, she went out there, she fucking killed it, she rocked it. I think she really showed like we can ate. I mean, yes, she's had a lot of work done, but like also, we can age in this healthy way, we can be sexy still. And to see another woman tear her down, like I was just like so disgusted by it. But Bethany's response to her was like I think it's like what kind of like what we're talking about? Let me see if I can, let me see if I can find it for me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think too, like I'll just quickly say, while you look for this, I think one thing too for me it wasn't a challenge. I think it was just something that really I was so grateful for working with you on this as, like two women in this industry in the West, I feel like sometimes there can be competition or, you know, one upping, and I have never felt that working with you, it always felt like just even just the participants too. I really feel like it was such a beautiful community of lifting each other up, and I think that that is also a part of yoga yes, I totally agree, agree, um so let me see when did this, when did this?
Speaker 2:um runway thing happen?
Speaker 1:this happened within like the last like week or so. Oh, okay, um, okay. So this is according to people magazine, so it's funny that I'm using them as a source. But here we go. So on sunday, june 8th, the real housewives of new york city, alum, who is 54, took to tiktok to discuss joy bear's comments about her appearance on the sports illustrated swimsuit. Um, sports illustrated swimsuit runway during my miami swim week.
Speaker 1:Joy bear took a jab at her on the view. Um, whoopi goldberg mentioned that she was on, or like involved in this show. Um, saying that none of us looked the way that they did two hours prior, so they were basically just like talking nonsense. So it's kind of like what we were experiencing about showing up and like I've talked a lot about this, about not using filters, and like I've talked about it with cat a bunch, like just aging naturally, like Botox is not something I'm going to be injecting in my face and like I'm just going to allow myself to age gracefully and it's so.
Speaker 1:Joy took a swipe at her and said, like, about her fake boobs, and she was saying like I don't know something. She said, uh, that her boobs were fake and like saggy or something like that, um, and then uh, frankel just went on to say like, yeah, so this is the direct quote from her. She said women my age and older women of any certain age can live their lives freely with happiness and joy and that we're not washed up. Miserable older women, she continued I actually feel sorry for joy, that she hasn't lived her life or doesn't seem to be living her life with any joy. You have to be really miserable to take a swipe at something that is literally self-deprecating and literally leveling the playing field, saying yeah, we all look like this, but we had a lot of work that day.
Speaker 1:I guess they were like making fun of them for like I don't know having their makeup done and and like whatever. It's not like what normal women do. Um, she had to kick somebody when they were already saying that they're down. Frank frankle concluded by saying, sadly, joy is painting a picture of the older, seemingly miserable, washed up women that all of us are trying to show that we aren't, and it's like your life doesn't have to end, and I just thought that this was like it was a really good she had a really good response to joy bear and, like I have a hate, hate relationship with the view, I think it's like absolutely toxic.
Speaker 1:I don't know how the fuck it is still on air, um, but I think this is like part of what we were talking about, it's like part of what we all experience and I have to give it to her to be like 54, to love your body, to show up and just like strut your stuff. I feel like it is just it's showing up, it's like it's being a powerful woman and like I felt really empowered by this. Bravo, star, um, and I really wanted to talk about this, so I'm like glad that it kind of seamlessly came up. She was like in um, like a one-piece leopard print bikini and like I thought she was killing it. So it's funny that, like, like women of her age, were so quick to tear her down From behind their desks, and I think it should have been Celebrated more.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think Ageism is that the right word Is like Obviously, I think it's scarier as a woman or for women, because it's like there's this like need to stay young or whatever. But like I know women who have transitioned naturally and beautifully into this incredible crone persona like you're wise, like once you pass, you know your menopause or this, that and the other thing, and you become this, like wise woman, like why are we trying to run from that? Whether you get Botox or not, that's your own, that is your own thing. You know what I mean. Like how, why is it difficult for us to honor? Like the ages as we as we go? Yeah, like the ages as we as we go? Yeah, some of my, a lot of my friends here are old, are like 60 and up, and they're some of the most incredible people that I've ever met yeah.
Speaker 1:So I think, I don't know, it should be celebrated like you're gonna step out of your comfort zone, like that. Like I'm sure that wasn't comfortable for her. Like yeah, she had professional makeup artists and and all of these people that were like working on her and I don't know. I just thought it was a very interesting um piece of pop culture that came across my desk this morning and I was just like actually proud of the response for her to be like I'm unapologetic about this. Like yeah, I had my boobs lifted 20 years ago and I'm like not gonna apologize for that.
Speaker 1:But like let's celebrate that this woman who is 54, like loves on her body, takes care of her body, works out, eats right and is strutting her stuff on the miami swim week fashion show. Like I think that's fucking awesome. It's something to celebrate. Cancel the view. Cancel the view, um, but anyway. So another little announcement about our challenge. So something that was born out of the challenge was this need to continue further. So, without further ado, we will be launching a 12-week mentorship program based on the Deepen your Practice Challenge.
Speaker 2:So that will be launching in September. Yeah, so stay tuned. And there's a link for you to sign up on the to be on the waiting list. We're still plugging out details, of course, but we're you know save, save the date, keep on listening. It's going to be a 12 week program. It's going to be. Should I talk a little bit about it? Yeah, sure, go ahead, all right.
Speaker 2:So it's going to be for the yoga teacher ready to rise into leadership, or for a soul seeker longing to deepen their practice off of the mat, or just for anyone, like we were saying, with the challenge in yoga in general, you know craving real integration of this sacred practice into your everyday life. It's going to be rooted in eight limbs of yoga and nourished by modern wellness, ritual, self-inquiry and community. So, whether you're guide, you know guiding others or guiding yourself, this is an invitation to ground your practice, expand your voice and remember who you are. And then I'll just read a little bit more about some of the details just to give you a little little bit of insight. So he said it's gonna be 12 weeks.
Speaker 2:We're going to have weekly live group calls, so in 60 minute live sessions every week. We'll have optional bi-weekly movement and meditation circles. Two to one support. So you're going to be able to have check-ins with me and Deanna together as we flow through this a few times and then also have additional chances to have more two-on-ones with us if that's something that's interesting to you. We'll provide tons of resources, reflection prompts, meditations, ritual guides, recipes, etc. Etc. And then, of course, a community um of of people who join into this mentorship program. So I am so excited.
Speaker 1:I am so excited too and I think think, like in the student space and also the teacher space, this is really necessary because I think, like in a modern yoga class, we are only touching on these few things and I have definitely noticed a shift, like post COVID in the yoga world where, like you know, classes used to be 90 minutes, now they're 60 minutes and we've like watered down the practice. I've talked about this a lot, so I think this is a great way for teachers to refresh, and even you know, I was. I was talking to a lot of teachers who participated in the deep in your practice challenge and they were, like I've been through multiple teacher trainings and I haven't talked about some of these concepts before, some of these practices that literally come right from patent, like we took everything right from patent jolly's yoga sutras, um, so it's like not something that we were making up. We like systemically, strategically, took everything and like made it step by step and how it was supposed to be practiced, like through that ancient text.
Speaker 2:And um, like I was just so surprised at how many teachers came to me and said I never knew that before well, even too, just as, like a teacher, a training teacher, like you know, that's like, that's like, that's a whole, nother whole nother can of worms.
Speaker 2:But I think, yeah. So this, this mentorship, it would be incredible to have both teachers and students together and to get insight from both sides Not even both sides as collectively, like what you know, know, I think that that would be such. I think it's going to be such a beautiful container to hold and to support and to host. Um, you know, I think I've never seen something like this before. I think it's new, I think it's different. Um, it's called the embodied yogi. That's what we're calling it. So if that, if you feel called to learn more, reach out to either Gianna or to me. Please keep an eye out, sign up for the wait list, um, through your email. We'll slowly start trickling in some emails. We'll probably start talking about it in a few weeks on social media as well. So, you know, keep us posted with any questions you might have. But we're both, you know, really excited to begin this.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I won't speak for you, but I know like something like this would have benefited me so greatly coming out of a yoga teacher training. Because when you do a 200 hour we've talked about this before on this podcast like you run to the wolves, you're thrown to the walls, you don't? I mean you learn a lot during a 200 hour. Like your brain is literally mashed potatoes by the time you're done.
Speaker 2:It's like drinking from a fire hydrant, and then you're, and then it's like, okay, go teach, you practice once, probably teaching your group that you're in training with, and then you just are, you know, thrown to the world. And so I think you're right, like being able to have something like this, whether it's been a year, a couple years or even 10 years, and you want to just get a refresh, like I think that this would take your practice as a teacher to the next level and if you're a student, it will also take your practice to the next level. I think that it's an awesome opportunity and I would just be so grateful and honored to guide whoever comes in to this.
Speaker 1:Yes, I'm so excited. I feel like I feel like this offering came from my past self, like this is what my past self would have needed or wanted. And, um, I'm so glad that we're that we're putting this offer out into the world, because me too.
Speaker 1:I would like to see the yoga community step up as a whole, like, let's stop appropriating. It's not a fitness class, it's not something that you learn at the gym. This is like a lifestyle, it's a way. It is a way of life. I mean, I talk about this to like the yoga. Everyone's looking for a guidebook to life. Everyone's looking for direction and looking at themselves deeper, like wanting to better themselves. Like, okay, you want to do that. Drop all of the self help books that you have, all the self limit. Yes, live it. And like the yoga sutras. Literally, it is the way.
Speaker 2:It is the way and I just I will say this we don't need to go into details because, honestly, they're not important and they will come later, but I can I know I can speak for both of us and I'll just leave it at that, where you and I both showed up for this, not just as hosts, but as ourselves, and for ourselves individually, for each other, but also individually, and we both have had so many blessings and and synchronicities and things happen for us, because we showed up every single day, being an embodied yogi.
Speaker 1:Yes, and it's funny because we kept saying like this oh, we realized like less than halfway through the challenge. We were like, oh, this was for us. We had almost 50 people signed up, but this is for us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you can be this like, quote, unquote, advanced teacher, but if you're not bringing it back to the simple, actual, like text and ancient practices, I'm gonna, I'm gonna what are you doing? I'm gonna have a bone to pick with you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what are you even doing?
Speaker 2:yeah, so I think it was. It definitely challenged me in a ways that I didn't even know I was going to be challenged. That I'm so grateful for, and it brought blessings with that.
Speaker 1:Same.
Speaker 2:And I think you know we've spoken to enough people where I know that that's also the case and that makes me feel really good and warms my heart.
Speaker 1:Same and it's like why Nearly Enlightened was born and it's the work that I know that I was here to do, so just to be able to be an embodied teacher myself and to step into this practice and in a more meaningful way and really be reminded. It brought it back to the forefront of my teaching and I think, like in the last month, like people have definitely like noticed a shift in my classes and in the conversations that were happening in my classes and I was just so blessed, humbled, blown away by how many people in the studios that I teach at were talking about the email journey and like how much they learned from it and that's what it's about, and I think one thing I will say really quickly too, because I'm sure this is going to be a question but we're working on making this embodied yogi count as continued education.
Speaker 2:So if you are a teacher, listening to this and that's something that, if you think it's something you're interested in or you're teetering on, we're working on it becoming continued ed. So stay posted for that as well, because that's important, as we're talking about living this and continuing to grow and being a forever student. As teachers, that is something as if you were a nurse you also have to have continued education, same at same with teaching yoga, if you are with under yoga alliance it is to throw that in there.
Speaker 1:As a baby yoga teacher, it was one of the best pieces of advice that I got was like never stop being a student, never stop practicing yourself. Like if, if you do like, students will notice like your teaching will suffer. Students will notice like your teaching will suffer. Yeah, and not to be negative, like you can just have a 200 hour and go out there and be completely fine. But like never stop being a student of the practice. Like if you're not practicing these concepts yourself, like how are you going out there and leading other people? So it's, it's something to think about and it's it is what sets it apart from like your aerobics class. Like it, it's, it's just it's different.
Speaker 2:It is different, and I mean no shade.
Speaker 1:No no. But like look at that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're just here holding up a mirror, yeah, and you can take it or leave. It 's the thing like, if you know, but I think that this is an offering that I'm so excited to just bring into the world. Like birth, this baby, it feels like a baby it does feel like a baby, doesn't it?
Speaker 1:this, honestly, like nearly enlightened kind of like, has been my baby and just seeing how the podcast is growing and it's just, it's incredible.
Speaker 1:It's like you know, I just came up on five years of really like focusing on this and like leaving a steady job and pursuing this and it is it's scary sometimes, like being an entrepreneur is a wild ride and I I see how I can use the yoga practices in being an entrepreneur and just like not taking things personally and just constantly like, like you said, holding up that mirror, reflecting, and I think, like the last two weeks, I have been a little bit more quiet on here, but everything is still growing.
Speaker 1:Like I told you, in the last three days the podcast has had over 300 downloads and that is so insane to me. I literally thought it was a glitch. I thought there was like something wrong with the app that I use, that I get my analytics from. I was on the computer so late last night like no, no, no, this has to be a mistake, but I'm in this integration period, like post challenge and just like observing, looking. I think I'm in an integration period in my life, like this is the last few days as a 33 year old before I step into 34.
Speaker 2:year olds before I step into 30. So we're celebrating you for finishing the challenge, for having you know, gaining this momentum with your podcast. And if you, what's the actual date?
Speaker 1:the 14th right, the 14th is my birthday, yeah.
Speaker 2:If you're listening, don't forget, reach out and just give Chi a happy birthday.
Speaker 1:Oh, thank you. I think this is going to go up on Tuesday.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, well, you better have said happy birthday, you can wish me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I celebrate all month long. It's fine.
Speaker 2:So it's, you know, I, just as your friend, as your I don't know colleague, I guess you could say I'm celebrating you because I think both of us too. Like I start I think that's like how we found each other was, too, was like I had just started my business in Panama, just opened up the yoga studio and all this stuff, and then now now look at us.
Speaker 1:I know and those were COVID times Like I was literally just showing up online talking about this like everyone's bored's bored. It's 2020. We're all sitting at home like not knowing what the fuck is going on um yeah, online.
Speaker 2:I was like pregnant teaching online. Like it was wild times it was wild now we're here.
Speaker 1:We had to go through all that yeah, and I had zero people listening to the podcast at that time, and one.
Speaker 2:I was listening, and that that's probably why I'm here today oh, I love that.
Speaker 1:I appreciate and thank you for all of your support and just like showing up and and also helping, nearly enlightened, to become what it has become, and so I'm super excited to to do this 12-week mentorship with you and to lead people through, and I'm excited for people to sign up and even if you're not a teacher, I promise you this is going to ripple out into your life. This book that I've talked about in the past I think I talked about it with Crystal Serrato and I've talked about it with Mikayla when she was on the podcast but there was a book that really changed my perspective on things and it's a fictional book, so it's called how yoga works and I loved it. Um, this woman yoga teacher in ancient times like went to this village and she had an original copy of the yoga sutras, and so the police chief there was like well, you must have stolen this, because nobody would give this to a woman. Um, and threw her in jail and he was like, well, if you're really a yoga teacher, then then teach me yoga, and if you successfully teach me yoga, then I will let you go free. And she taught the police chief yoga and it rippled out and had an effect on the entire village and changed the village forever and changed the way that, uh, the village was run and, um, she talks about it. It's like planting a seed. So you're like planting the seed and you're letting it grow and flourish and it's such a great story.
Speaker 1:So if you're interested in, like, yogic concepts and you're a reader, like that's a really great book to just highlight the practice beyond the asana and how, like you use the asana as we've talked about on this podcast as the gateway in and then we like introduce all of these other amazing concepts that really are. It literally is the guidebook to life. Like you want to make your life a little bit more stress-free, a little bit more peaceful, a little bit more embodied, like practice yoga and it doesn't mean you have to get on your mat yeah, and it doesn't have to be perfect and it doesn't have you have to get on your mat, yeah, and it doesn't have to be perfect and it doesn't have to be serious.
Speaker 2:You know you can have fun with it and I, you know, like some of the reels we did and stuff, like I was like I need to do something funny today.
Speaker 1:Your reels with the Theo Vaughn audios were so funny, they were so relatable, so perfect. Audios were so funny, they were so relatable, so perfect. Like, if you want, you could just literally scroll through our posts for from the last like 30 days or so and and kind of get a taste of what the challenge was.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a good idea. Yeah, because it doesn't. Yeah, it doesn't need to be serious, you can make it your own. You know it's different for everyone and that's why it was so beautiful to, to see and to share, even like with you. I was like, oh, what you're gonna post today, like you know, it was really fun. So I think that that you know, even in this mentorship container, creating community and having it be this, like lifting each other up, especially right now, the collective, like we need that. So, if you are at all interested, I would highly recommend getting on the waiting list.
Speaker 1:Yes, I will put the link to the wait list in the show notes so if you're curious you can pop in there and it's zero commitment. Like you can sign up for the wait list and then just like see what comes up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And that's a great place to wrap. Do you have anything else?
Speaker 2:I don't think so. I think we covered from.
Speaker 1:We literally covered everything.
Speaker 2:Covered coffee beans to Bethany Frankel, to the embodied Yogi. And here we are, I think we've landed back or coming back down to earth. So thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Thank you for being here and thank you all for listening. Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of the nearly enlightened podcast. If this conversation resonated with you, I would love it if you would share it, leave a review or reach out and let me know your thoughts. And if you're looking for more ways to deepen your connection to body, mind and spirit, check out the meditate to elevate guided meditation portal or visit nearly enlightenedcom for more resources. Until next time, stay curious, stay connected and remember the answers already lie within.