Somatic Healing for Wellness-Focused Women

(#93) Somatic Dance for Healing and Creative Flow, Yoga for Everyday Life & Entrepreneurship with Nikki Haas Yoga

• Rae The Somatic Coach • Episode 93

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In this inspiring episode of Somatic Healing for Wellness-Focused Women, Rae sits down with multi-passionate healer and yoga educator Nikki Haas for a powerful conversation on embodiment, creativity, entrepreneurship, and using somatic movement as a healing tool.

Nikki shares her journey from corporate finance to teaching yoga and somatics at Marist University, guiding Division I athletes in nervous system awareness, and creating her unique movement offering: Somatic Salsa. Together, Rae and Nikki dive deep into how dance can unlock stuck energy, how somatic practices support mental health and emotional regulation, and what it takes to build a soulful wellness business while raising a family.

You'll also hear about their upcoming offerings at Transcend Festival, including Rae’s signature breathwork class and Nikki’s embodiment-based movement and devotional chanting (kirtan).

✨ Whether you're a yoga teacher, holistic entrepreneur, or someone looking to reconnect with your body, this episode is a beautiful invitation to move, feel, and be fully alive.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How Nikki weaves together yoga, Ayurveda, somatics, and energetic healing
  • The origin and power of Somatic Salsa as a playful release practice
  • Why body awareness is crucial for high-performance athletes and everyday people alike
  • How Nikki balances motherhood, entrepreneurship, and teaching with self-care
  • Encouragement for wellness professionals building heart-centered businesses
  • Creative ways to bring more movement, joy, and softness into your life
  • How to trust your body and reclaim your power through movement

Connect with Nikki: Instagram & Facebook

Join us at Transcend Fest!

💌 Join the Somatic Healing Newsletter for access to Rae’s free breathwork library and updates on upcoming events, retreats, and workshops.

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Disclaimer: Please remember that the information shared on this podcast is intended to inspire, educate, and support you on your personal journey. It does not substitute for professional mental health advice. I am not a psychologist or medical professional. If you are experiencing distress, mental health challenges, or medical conditions, please seek help from a qualified professional.

Speaker 1:

Welcome back to the podcast. If you are new here, I'm Rae, I'm a somatic coach and breathwork facilitator, and if you aren't new here, welcome back. I'm so glad that you're tuning in for today's episode. I am super excited to bring you today's episode because it is with our next guest speaker, nikki, and I'm excited to introduce you to her and have this conversation and share it with you. And I will share, before we dive in, how we got connected.

Speaker 1:

So I was looking to fill a retreat, like hosting teaching role, and I was also looking for a private chef, and Nikki and I got connected through a Facebook group originally and we had a conversation and we immediately hit it off. She is so lovely and, coincidentally, we're also teaching at a festival coming up in a few weeks from recording this episode, so I'm excited to share more about that as well. But Nikki is a yoga teacher. She is an athletic trainer at Marist University, a spiritual energetic healer, an Ayurvedic wellness coach and a mentor to entrepreneurs. So, nikki, I'd love to hand it over to you. Just kind of introduce yourself, share how you're doing and a bit about your journey.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much First. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so grateful to be here with all of you who are listening. But hey, I'm Nikki and yeah, I'm just like so thrilled to chat with you. Yeah, yeah, I have other questions. Right, just went whoop right on my head. No-transcript.

Speaker 1:

Right, yeah, but I mean by all means go for day one.

Speaker 2:

It's always so interesting to like hearing it back when I'm like, wow, I do all of those things. Yes. So I started my journey on this holistic wellness path as a yoga teacher, specifically a hot yoga teacher. That was about 10 years ago and, you know, fell in love with yoga. I found it to be such a transformative healing modality for myself to just kind of navigate life you know the good and the bad and that love of hot yoga which, you know, at first was just like a great way to sweat and detox your body. It led me down this really spiritual path of bhakti yoga.

Speaker 2:

So a couple years after, you know, practicing and becoming a teacher and starting to kind of dip my toe into what it's like to be a teacher, a leader in this industry, I just kind of took this huge leap of faith and decided to travel out to India where I received my advanced training. And that was like a huge thing for me because I quit my job. You know I worked full time in finance and I decided to be like you know what I'm not going to work for corporate America, I'm going to do what I love when it comes to work. And then, you know, going to India was just so incredible, and when I came home, I started teaching in the studios. I managed a few studios and a little few years later, um, I found me at Marist university, where I'm now a yoga professor, which is insane to say, um, so cool to say, but I get to be the first experience of yoga to young adults at such a prestigious institution, so it's such a blessing.

Speaker 1:

Wow, yeah, that's really incredible, so funny how like it all comes like full circle and so nice that you get to do this also professionally. And actually, when I was in my senior year of of undergrad, I had two credits left that I had to fail. So I took yoga, I took a yoga class and I took kickboxing and they were both. They were both great and a lot of fun. Yeah, so that's super cool that you're able to do that at the university. And is that in addition to like being an athletic trainer there, like are you helping athletes with yoga, or those two different things?

Speaker 2:

Well, what's really interesting is that I I started with Marist as a trainer. There is a very prestigious division one women's basketball team there and I came on to work for them and train, train the girls how to stretch their bodies. What's really interesting is at the university I'm working with young adults who have been performing athletically for the majority of their lives. Whichever sport they're in. They've been practicing since they were a kid and it's kind of like the peak for many of them of their athletic performance. But they have absolutely no idea how to be in tune with themselves and listen to their bodies. And what's also I find to be wild is, you know, is a lot of these teams that are well-loved. They have a whole staff of massage therapists, you know, personal trainers, chiropractors, whatever it is people that stretch them or move them in a certain way, but they have no idea how to do that themselves. So I came on to basically teach these athletes something that is so simple but is totally forgotten when it comes to just body awareness, you know.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's so powerful and so needed. I mean, I can relate so much. I played soccer and lacrosse in college, so I was a two-sport athlete in season all year round and I don't think I had really any concept or understanding of how to connect with my body in a different way, not until years after, until I really got into like the somatic worlds. I think a lot of my experience was how can I push my body past its limit and how can I push through you know injury and be as fit as possible, and I was such like a competitor. So it's such a different experience and I'm sure it's incredibly valuable for them to learn you know how to actually tend to their body and how to move their body in a way that they might need it to and just understand themselves on a different level. That's incredible that you're able to do that with them.

Speaker 2:

It's so cool. I think it's so cool that, you know, at a, at a collegiate level, it's now being recognized as something that could be incorporated into athletics. I mean, you know, I feel like it should have been recognized a long time ago, but it's really cool to see. And you know, I, I have to remind myself they're adults. See, and you know, I have to remind myself, they're adults. You know, kids, young adults, ages 18 to 22. I mean, the injuries that I've seen.

Speaker 2:

Women's lacrosse is badass. They have such insane injuries that I've helped a few of the girls navigate. Oh, my goodness, I had a student a couple of semesters ago who seriously injured her spine and was, you know, like post-op six weeks back at lifting and I could not believe it. You know, and sometimes I sit down with these kids and I'm like, do you value your body? Because you have one body your entire life and you really have to take care of it. And I think that at that age you start to understand the fundamentals of what wellness is. And it's not just, you know, being a size four and looking cute, you know, in a picture. It has so much more to do with, you know well, you know, the body-mind connection.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, so I well. So I started. My entryway was through women's basketball and that led to a position within the phys ed department and that has become. I now teach three courses there at the university fundamentals course, meditation and restorative yoga, as well as strength and conditioning yoga. All three very different courses, but I get to, you know, help roughly 120 students a semester and work with the team. So, yeah, I absolutely I love my job. It's so incredibly rewarding and, yeah, it's just like really so exciting to be there.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, all of my favorite yoga classes that you're teaching. That's so fun. Yeah, the last one was actually like my entry point into yoga, like strength and conditioning. We went on like a field trip in high school I think I was like 14 and it was like to a sport time and it was a strength and conditioning class and I was sore after. And I was like such a sport time and it was a strength and conditioning class and I was sore after and I was like such an athlete. So I was like, how am I sore from this class? But I was, and so that was, uh, one of my first experiences with yoga.

Speaker 1:

Um, but yeah, so among it sounds like you do I mean so many different things, which is incredible. Um, so we can definitely circle back to that in terms of everything. But yeah, I would love to hear right now if you have like a specific style of yoga that inspires you or that you like to teach. I know you mentioned hot yoga and then bhakti, and there's so many different kinds Like I don't even think I understand or know all of them, but something maybe that like inspires you currently that you're leading in terms of yoga.

Speaker 2:

It's so challenging to pick a favorite right, Because there is like a prescription for whatever you're moving through in your body, right? I just recently had a baby. I just had my third baby, my daughter.

Speaker 1:

Congratulations.

Speaker 2:

Thank you. She's three months old and I'm very much in the season of being kind to myself and slow and embracing the sacred feminine softness which is so polar opposite from my roots in hot yoga, which is like discipline, you know, sitting in the seat of fire and trying to shift and shape. So right now I would say I'm in the season of just being soft, and what that looks like in my practice is, um, a lot of meditation, for sure, a lot of reflective practices, like I love to write, I love to journal, um, I love to write poetry, and that kind of helps me stay creative. And, uh, of course, dancing. That's always my favorite way to shake things up in my body and, you know, move through the emotions that are kind of well, you know, stuck there.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, oh my gosh, so incredible. So it sounds like you've really been able to like blend the practice of yoga into other areas that also like really inspire you and they're not maybe not so much about like the physical asana, like practices, but yeah, that's because I think that a lot of people, like, when they start yoga, they think it's like, oh, I want to do a handstand or I want to, you know, look like a pretzel and, um, you know, shape my body into something crazy.

Speaker 2:

10 years ago, there used to be Instagram challenges where, like, every day, pose a picture, and of you in this asana, which is just one of the ways to practice yoga. It gets more challenging when you actually get further away from the body, when you move into the mind, and then you go even deeper into the spirit. So, um, so, yeah, I, I even though I mean that's my love, like I love to. I am a what is it? I'm like a workout, a holic, I love to move my body. Um, but sometimes, you know, depending on the phase of life that you're in, it's just like not realistic, you know, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely, and it sounds like this somatic dance and somatic salsa. That sounds like something that. How did you end up like finding that?

Speaker 2:

Oh man, so um, you know, I think like well, for everybody who's listening, we navigate life differently, right, the ebbs and flows of sometimes we're in these times of life where we're feeling like so incredible and then sometimes we're really in a hole and that looks different for so many people. And it was at a time in my life where I was kind of looking back like in a hole, not feeling too good about myself, going through a hardship, and I had this huge realization that the one thing that was constant in my life was dancing. Teens, my 20s, my 30s, whether I was celebrating something or I was in a dark dingy club, you know, under the influence of alcohol, I was always dancing. And when I started to get into somatics and understanding that essentially we store these experiences in our body, I realized that, wow, you know, like thinking back to when I was young and in my twenties and experimenting with drugs and alcohol and hanging out with the wrong crap. Cause I've been there. You know I don't like to pretend that like I levitate above people because I've been practicing yoga for so long.

Speaker 2:

You know I moved through real people experiences too and you know I'm noticing like man, I always felt good when I was leaving the club on a Thursday night.

Speaker 2:

Maybe it was what I was drinking, maybe it was what I was partaking in, but I always felt good after dancing and then even like moving. You know, I've been moving through sobriety for years now, so a little bit disconnected from that. But after having my children and going through you know, the baby blues, noticing that I would always dance with my kids in the kitchen, like as babies we would make breakfast pancakes and I'd be dancing, fist pancakes and I'd be dancing. But it was always an experience for me where I could just be for lack of a better term ridiculous. I never was shy on a dance floor, you know, but I know there's a lot of people who are, and there's a lot of people who experience shame or judgment or whatever it is when they're moving their bodies that way. So I just had like an aha moment one day where why I'm a leader, I'm a guide, why can't I guide people to be just as ridiculous as I am? Oh my God, that's incredible.

Speaker 2:

That was kind of my like that would be so much fun yeah, that's amazing.

Speaker 1:

That's, oh my gosh, so incredible. And absolutely like, after dancing, you feel so good. Yeah, um, you just feel so. You feel so great, um, yeah. For those people that might feel like maybe dancing isn't like accessible or like how do they bring more into their like everyday life, what would maybe like some creative ways to do that? And then also like, for some of those people that you mentioned that probably feel shy around like moving their bodies in an outrageous way, what might be like a fun way to empower people to just kind of move their body?

Speaker 2:

Well, I think everybody has experiences with dance. I mean, I'm of Puerto Rican descent, so I was definitely part of. You know, we would dance in my grandmother's living room from the time we could walk, but that doesn't mean that dance was more accessible to me. I definitely had, you know, aunts and uncles who were like, oh my God, you're a terrible dancer From the beginning. That's Puerto Rican love, by the way, is judgment For anybody who was wondering.

Speaker 1:

It's amazing. I don't know if there's other cultures out there that are the same way, but the ones that love it.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I'm sure. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But I would say, like, whatever idea you have of dance, it doesn't have to be that. It could be something that is so simple, that could bring an emotion, a feeling, invoke something in you shaking, just shaking in total stillness. While that might feel silly and you might notice your body jiggling, think about what that brings up for you. Think about what that brings up for you like just the sensation of like your body jiggling. You know there's a lot of.

Speaker 2:

I think a lot of people have this idea of how they look and how they're perceived and because of that they just kind of put themselves in a shell. So I would say, like you can close your eyes and you notice like a sensation, a feeling. What would it look like to exert that in your body? Shaking, stomping your heels, throwing your fists, all of that, all movements that are so beautiful for release. If you want to dance, put on your favorite song and just sway. That could be how you start. But yeah, I mean, or you can come and take my somatic self a class, yeah, and I'll help you.

Speaker 1:

I love it. No, that's incredible and you know it's so true. Like I can really relate to how sometimes maybe we overthink things. Like it can be simple, it can be like putting on your favorite song swaying. I love that idea and I can even share for myself. I went to a retreat in like earlier this year I think, yeah, in March of this year and there was like a dancing part. There was a lot of dancing at the retreat, but this one part where it was like the most like a highlight of my trip of this like dance, it must have been similar to kind of like what you teach, in some sense Like it was like a class and I was in I think it was like an hour and at the end of it I was so clear, I was so creative, I think I wrote like a few poems, like I was just so much more open and light and I had so much fun doing it. But it was definitely outside of my comfort zone. I wasn't the instructor by any means, like you know but it was.

Speaker 1:

It was just such a great time. So yeah, definitely. If you're interested, check out the somatic salsa class at Transcend.

Speaker 2:

Oh my gosh, even as your instructor, I feel crazy teaching it. Just in case anybody was wondering, because there's times where I'm asking you to do like I said. I'm ridiculous, so I'm asking you to do ridiculous things. I encourage people to, you know, be soft with themselves. Of course, like I've already mentioned, latin dance is a very sexy dance. When you're shaking your hips and moving, I might feel comfortable there, but sometimes a lot of people have a hard time. You know, we store a lot of trauma in our hips, so finding that type of rhythm could be challenging and it's just so much fun and it's just so much fun. I.

Speaker 1:

I just you know my hope for whoever is is into whether it's my, my class, somatic or any somatic movement is that they walk away? Like you said, writing, creating, inspiring, you know, because you know, like that's the whole point. What else are we here for? Yeah, yeah, it's such an incredible feeling, um, yeah. So I'm curious, you know, in this balancing like everything that you have on your plate, you know, you're like at the university, you're teaching, you're doing workshops and retreats, momming, entrepreneuring, um yeah, like, how do you, how do you balance all of it? And maybe, like in the times that it does feel overwhelming, like what are some practices that you really enjoy, that you really find grounding?

Speaker 2:

You know, I have to be honest with you. I sometimes ask myself how I handle it all myself, because it does feel like a lot Well you're killing it, you're killing it. Thank you, you're doing a phenomenal job.

Speaker 1:

I admire everything that you've created and everything that you're doing and, yeah, you're doing a phenomenal job.

Speaker 2:

So keep doing. Whatever you're doing, I am just, I just feel so blessed to have work that I love. I really, at the bottom of all these roles or positions, or you know the names, that is Nikki. I just love helping people. So I think, as an entrepreneur, you have to remind yourself that you know you have to fill your own cup up as well. If you don't do that, then you really can't um extend out, you know, to, to anybody else. So, um, I just try to really work, uh, by being mindful of the season of life that I'm in right now. Um, you know, I'm taking some time away from the university cause I, like I said, I just had a baby, but, um, I am gearing up to run my own retreat next year, um, next April.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I take people um yearly to Vieques, puerto Rico, and, um, yeah, it's just my favorite place in the world. It's just so beautiful. It's so beautiful, it's epic, you know, wild horses and just like paradise. And when you're in paradise and you have everything taken care of for you, then you can really focus on yourself and do the work. But I guess I'm a planner, so for me, when it comes to my jobs and doing all the things.

Speaker 2:

I just look at my calendar, make sure I have a day where I'm doing nothing. That's so important self-care day, so that I could go take a class, be a student and fill up my cup so I can give to everybody else. And then things that make me feel grounded. You know, if it's not dancing and it's not writing it's it's really being with my family. I just love my kids so much and just being home. You know, having a big family meal always makes me feel better, um, or you know, going to the park and always makes me feel better. Or you know, going to the park and pretending I'm a kid like my kids.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. That sounds so nice. Yeah, and I know that you also mentioned that you mentor entrepreneurs and you know the entrepreneur journey is so unique, it's like so different. I guess like what would be if someone was maybe just starting out, or maybe even like the middle of their journey or something you know what might be, something that you would share with them in terms of like encouragement or what to expect, because I feel like the beginning can be like so challenging, um, and then it doesn't necessarily get like easier, but it gets more interesting because you learn more as you go, sure and essentially, like every day could be a beginning, you know, depending on where you're at.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love that that's a fun perspective too in itself, like yeah, just treat every day like day one and like you're solid.

Speaker 2:

You treat every day like day one and you're never bored. Right, I love it, I I. If I was to talk to anybody who wants to be an entrepreneur, who wants to be an entrepreneur specifically with wellness or yoga or any type of holistic practice, I would say to, first of all, like, rewrite the book. You don't have to do what everybody else is doing. You know, for years I was told that I wasn't going to make a lot of money because yoga teachers work at yoga studios and that's the end of that, and I just was not having that. Personally, I didn't want to. You know, I didn't want to think like man. So I have to either be broke and love my job or, you know, be financially supported and hate walking into work every day. It was just. It didn't make sense to me. So I started writing manuals, I started mentoring, because so many people are, you know, they really need empowerment when it comes to using their voice and teaching and if and just a side note when it comes to the work that is being an entrepreneur. Another bit of advice is if you can do something every single day for your business, you will succeed. It could be something so small, but every single day to dedicate something to your goal. Keep making new goals, because the dream just gets bigger.

Speaker 2:

I'm sure everybody who's an entrepreneur knows what I'm talking about. Yeah, yeah, and always come back to like I. Like I said I like to write. So I have this little issue where I keep most of my journals and I look back and I'm always like, I'm always shocked that I have completed the goals that I thought weren't attainable. You know, like, if you have like one year goal or I did this one exercise I facilitate yoga nidra and there's this one exercise about just what you believe is attainable within your mind and one of the questions is what do you think is 90% never going to happen in your life? And I look back at what I wrote down five years ago and I already done all of those things. Wow, that's incredible. Well, it's not just me like snaps to everybody listening, because it's just the limits that we put within our mind. You know, go far, forget your mind, shake it out and go out there. What is it? Smack yourself in the butt, go out there and do it.

Speaker 1:

Yes, Just dance your way through the whole thing. I love that. Yes, yeah, I'm going to like that whole everything that you just said, like yes, yes.

Speaker 2:

It's hard, like it's hard to stay creative, inspired and I know like personally, I struggle so much with like inspired and I know personally I've struggled so much with. I feel like I'm not good with social media I can get better at that because it just feels like a platform of look at me and it's yeah, you know, but also as a business owner and entrepreneur, like you need to get yourself out there. So can you find a way in the middle?

Speaker 1:

This is something I'm navigating right now you know, yeah, you know, and I think I think it lands for a lot of entrepreneurs. You know, social media in itself is like we could talk about it for a long time. It's like finding that balance of like, like how do you show up authentically, and also being mindful of your capacity, but also like going outside of your comfort zone. It's like so many different things and I and I I agree there can be a bit of like, uh, like see me, energy, and so it's hard to find like, like you do need to be seen as an entrepreneur, but like, what feels like authentic for you, where you're showing up in a way where you feel like you know, embodied in what you're doing and it's not just for like, you know, likes or virality or something else, a thousand percent. Yeah, it's definitely a journey and what's interesting, I can even share like a little bit about my, my journey with it.

Speaker 1:

Um, in the beginning, like when I first started my business, it was, it was super. Now it was easy for me to show up in a different way than what I mean by easy, but in ways, it was easier for me to show up, um, maybe because I was more excited about it. I think that's what it was. It was like new and I was like, you know, making all these like I was having as much fun with it as possible, and it was fun.

Speaker 1:

And then I hit a point where it was just like I wanted to stop kind of posting as much as I could, kind of, and so I pivoted and I, in that pivot, found a way that I can incorporate social media, incorporate my podcast, incorporate my newsletter in a way that like feels so much more authentic to what I'm doing and it there's no way I would have figured that out without going through all the ups and downs and it might change again. Like right now I feel like I'm in a really good flow, but that that might happen again, where I'm like, okay, something needs to be changed, something needs to be changed and something needs to be tweaked, and it's not landing for me. In the same way, and for me, I'm finding that on that entrepreneur journey, it's so much about pivoting and not judging yourself for the pivot and not judging yourself for making another change, another iteration, and it's like that's just kind of part of the journey of like figuring out your way and being fluid with all those changes.

Speaker 2:

Well, you're so right Cause I think we all just like piggyback off that. We all struggle with this perfectionism within our business. Right, like I'm not going to post, I'm not going to send out my newsletter unless it's like exactly the way I envision it. But I think I was just reading this thing about artists and how they create, and it's like can you create in chaos? Like if you can take the chaos and just put something out there, you're more authentic, you're more vulnerable, right, and you'll find your true audience in that way. At least, that's what I like to believe.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. I love that and it's true. It'll come out, yeah, like authentic, like just create in the chaos, like, oh, that's so good. So I know that we're both teaching at Transcend Fest coming up, so that's in a few weeks from when we're recording. So that is a for anyone that's listening. That's a festival, a yoga festival, that's taking place in Connecticut, in Middlefield, connecticut. It's three days the 12th, 13th and 14th, if I'm remembering that correctly. Yes, days the 12th, 13th and 14th if I'm remembering that correctly. And there's different performers. There's like musicians that perform at night. There's food, so many different yoga classes, so many different somatic classes, nervous system regulation, meditation, sound healing, art, hula hooping I mean they have like a little bit of everything.

Speaker 2:

So I'm really excited. Favorite festival of the year. Personally I went to. I tend to teach through. Like the festival market, it's my favorite one. I think we get the best weather. It's such a cool group of people. Yes, I'm so excited.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'm excited too, so we're both teaching there. I think we're actually teaching on the same day, at the same time.

Speaker 2:

Oh man, that stinks.

Speaker 1:

Isn't that funny. So like I was gonna go to your class, but now we can't go to each other's class. It's like kind of ironic, but go to one of our classes. If you come, doesn't matter either one, they're both gonna be wonderful, so come hang out with us.

Speaker 2:

Oh my gosh, apologies if you can hear me wherever you are, cause, like I said, I get a little crazy on the microphone.

Speaker 1:

Oh, my God, I don't know, I don't know like the venue that well, but I'm going to be in outer space, which I'm, like, so excited, and I love being able to say that like, come breathe with me in outer space.

Speaker 2:

Like that sounds sick. Outer space is so cute it's. It's got trees, like it's surrounded by trees in the back ends of the festival. I know exactly where you're going to be.

Speaker 1:

So will I hear you from across the way.

Speaker 2:

Oh, it's possible. I can't say yes or no. Honestly, I feel like I can hear my voice echo through the mountain, so you'll have to let afterwards. We'll have to meet up and you'll have to tell me yeah.

Speaker 1:

I feel like I really liked that song that you played. Yeah, I feel like I really like that song that you play. Oh my gosh, yeah, okay. So for anyone that's listening, that wants to stay connected with you, get in your world. What's a way for them to do that? Where are you most online?

Speaker 2:

Oh man, well, if you want to stay connected with me. Well, really quick. Actually, I just wanted to say about Transcend, right? Oh yeah, what are you teaching at Transcend?

Speaker 1:

I am teaching it's called Inhale, exhale and Let that Shit Go, and it's a somatic breath work and sound healing and we'll end with like some journaling. But it's all around harvest season and this season that we're going to be moving into it's really based around letting go. So that's what the intention of the practice is going to be, whether that's, you know, grief, anger, resentment, sadness, just really clearing out our system so that you know, after our session and absolutely after the retreat, you are going to feel just like so clear. It's going to be such a boost into the rest of the year, so I'm super excited for it.

Speaker 2:

I love that, yeah, cause I think festivals feel like a retreat personally, because you get to basically take whatever you want. You know, with so many amazing, amazing teachers. So wish I could take that, but it's okay.

Speaker 1:

I know, I know that to yeah, to just like elaborate on what you shared. It's so true. There are like there might be over a hundred classes Like I don't even know the quantity, but there are so many incredible teachers. Festivals is really where my whole journey in this world started, because that's where I discovered breathwork. About nine years ago, I went to a, like my version of Christmas, because it was like that weekend where I got to like check in with myself and like reflect on the last time I was at the yoga festival and meet people and meet facilitators and just like be in it. So as excited as I am to teach, I'm also excited to be an attendee. I will be going to so many classes and like it's going to be great.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, oh, my gosh, same. I'm bringing my daughter, so I hope that we get to bump into each other while we're there. I'll be, wearing the baby.

Speaker 1:

Amazing, that's like goals right there. Yoga festival with the baby wearing the baby about it. You're just killing it. You're killing it.

Speaker 2:

You're so sweet. I'm actually teaching both days I teach, so Saturday I'm teaching at one 30, I believe it is either one or one 30.

Speaker 1:

So that's the class at the same time that I'm teaching, so maybe I can come on Sunday then, okay.

Speaker 2:

Well, saturday is somatic salsa, that one I'm in the main pavilion so we're in the shade, but for anybody who's interested in taking it, I always call it salsa. Some people think it's because they're going to learn salsa. I actually like the version of, like the salsa you eat. It's different every place you go. So, as an energetic healer, I like to feel the group before I move them in a specific way but expect, like you know, high energy, um, tribal dance, latin dance, uh, we listened to you know, house music, hip hop, all types of things to shake our body and let go of. You know whatever's in there, um, and I always end it with chanting and um meditation.

Speaker 2:

So that's Saturday, somatic salsa and Sunday I don't know where I'm teaching it, but I'll be leading kirtan with my dear friend, josh Kane, and that is devotional chanting. So I know that sometimes that freaks people out and they don't really know how to even participate with that. I would say just show up, you're going to be listening to ancient mantras that are repetitive and, in a sense, another meditation for transcendental, you know, moving into different parts of your mind. So, yeah, come see me and Josh, if you'd like, sunday morning for that, and that's a Kirtan class. Yes, it's Kirtan. It's one hour. I think it's at 10 am. I just don't know where it is. Last year we were on top of the mountain. I don't think we're on top of the mountain this year. It's somewhere else.

Speaker 1:

Okay, yeah, kirtan I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly is so interesting because you get to sing. I don't necessarily know what I'm singing, but it creates like a response, like there's been classes where I've gone to Curtan at festivals and I'm like crying and I'm like why am I crying? I feel like amazing and I get like this, like it's an experience in itself. So it's definitely something cool, such a welcoming setting to check out too.

Speaker 2:

if it's like something you're new to and if you have obviously done it before, like myself, I will totally be checking it out because I just like I really, and you don't have to be another thing like hey, dance ridiculously, come and sing, like all these things, right, right, oh my gosh, I don't want to do any of that in public. Um, but use your voice really is such a a vessel to you. Know, when we talk about the chakras, it's the connection from the heart and the third eye, so the heart, love all the way up to your visionary. You have to open this up. So, even if you're a terrible singer a terrible and I'm air quoting it singer, come, show up, just hum. If you feel shy, I'm sure eventually you'll sing and once you do, you really go somewhere else. Yeah, you really do.

Speaker 2:

Okay, so if you would like to find me, of course you can check me out on Instagram. I promise I'll be posting more after our inspiring conversation. That's Nikki Haas Yoga N-I-K-K-I-H-A-A-S Yoga. That's me on the IG. You can also reach out to me on my website, nikkihaascom. And yeah, those are pretty much my two, you know, without giving you my cell phone.

Speaker 1:

Right, amazing, yeah, and I'll put all of Nikki's information in the show notes as well, so you'll be able to find it there. And one question that I love to just end with and close with that we ask all of our guests is what is one thing right now that is really lighting you up, something that is inspiring you, and this could be anything. This could be a book, a teacher, an artist, a person, just anything in your life right now that you feel like you're really receiving something from.

Speaker 2:

So I mean there's something really special about this time of year. This, I mean I know we're not in September just yet, we're almost, we're about to be um, and I really love this season of like right before it gets really cold, uh, so just being outside this time of year is so inspiring and something that I spend a lot of time doing. And outside of that, I love to read. It's just hard because, like you said, I have a lot going on with work and books that give me a little bit of like a blip every single day. Or an example of that I'm constantly reading the book of awakening by Mark Nepo.

Speaker 2:

I love that book. If you open it up, you just look at the date and it's usually like a page or two and at the end of it it gives you a little meditation. So I love philosophy and it really fills my cup up with that. Another book that I love is Remember by Rochelle Penn, who is an amazing, amazing person. That's a book that I ask a question and then I open the page and usually it gives me an answer. So that one's a lot of fun. And you know, always just maybe the question seems silly, but it keeps me playful. And then the daily reading keeps me accountable the daily reading keeps me accountable.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, both of those sound amazing. I would definitely check them out. I really, yeah, enjoy those kind of like snippet philosophy moments where you can like shift your perspective or feel inspired or maybe you receive like an insight related to something that's going on. It's like very kismet. So that's really. That sounds really really nice.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, get that book of awakening. It's like I probably read it continuously for three years just because I get to open it up. And it's always so funny because there's certain times you start to notice certain times of the year that, like you read, or for myself, where I'm reading it, I'm like'm like man. I never know what's going on. In January, for example, because that's usually when I take on, like my, I'm going to read a book this year. So, um, I definitely would check it out. Both of them are are just great reads.

Speaker 1:

I love it. I love it. Well, nikki, this has been an awesome conversation, um, like I said. I said, I just admire so much of what you've created and everything that you're up to, and I'm super excited to hang at Transcend Fest.

Speaker 2:

Thank you. Thank you again for having me. I'm so grateful for you and I'm so excited for all of the collaborations that we have coming up this fall. So thank you for having me.

Speaker 1:

Collaborations that we have, you know, coming up this fall. So thank you for having me. Thank you for being here and tuning in to somatic healing for wellness focused women podcast. If you were moved or inspired by today's episode, please take a moment to leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts. It truly helps the podcast grow and helps more people find me on their healing journey. Make sure to check out the show notes, to sign up for the monthly newsletter, links to more resources, opportunities to work with me and ways that we can stay connected. If we aren't already connected on social media, head over to Instagram to follow me at raythesomaticcoach. Send me a DM. I'd love to connect with you and I answer each note that comes in. I am so happy you're here and I cannot wait to talk with you on our next episode of the podcast.