How A Traveling Instructor Makes Yoga Feel Less Intimidating - Lisa Molendini

Yoga shouldn’t feel like a test you can fail, yet that’s exactly how many people experience their first class. We sit down with Northeast PA yoga teacher Lisa Molandini, better known as Lisa Mo, to talk about what happens when you stop treating yoga like a performance and start treating it like something you do for yourself. If you’ve ever tried yoga once and walked away thinking “not for me,” this conversation opens a much kinder second door.

Lisa shares how she built a freelance yoga business without a brick-and-mortar studio by meeting people where they already are. Think pop-up yoga in art galleries, at wineries, on farms, and even in a flower-filled greenhouse where students practice among the blooms and leave with a planter. We dig into why non-traditional yoga spaces can make yoga for beginners feel safer, lighter, and more welcoming, especially for anyone who finds gyms or studios intimidating.

We also get practical about the business side: how she uses social media marketing on Facebook and Instagram, grows an email community, and relies on word of mouth across multiple locations. Lisa closes with a message she truly lives by: yoga is for everyone, including students who need adaptive and accessible yoga. She talks about working with neurodiverse students and continuing training to better serve wheelchair users and people with limited mobility.

If you enjoyed this, subscribe for more local business stories, share the episode with a friend who’s yoga-curious, and leave a review so more neighbors can find the show. What’s the most welcoming place you can imagine for a first yoga class?

Transcript

Welcome To Good Neighbor

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Joe Longo.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Good Neighbor Podcast Live. Are you maybe someone that had tried yoga and hated it? Well, I've got something for you today. We've got an instructor that might be able to change that for you. So today, I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Lisa Lisa Molandini, or Lisa Mo to keep it nice and easy. And she's here. We're going to chat about yoga and all the things. Lisa, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_03 0:40

Hello, I'm doing okay. Thanks so much for having me here. This is fun.

Meet Lisa Mo And Her Work

SPEAKER_01 0:44

I'm so happy that you're here, that you're with us. And we really jump into things here on the Good Neighbor podcast. I would love it if you could tell us about your business, about what you do, and um anything you feel the listeners should know.

SPEAKER_03 0:59

All the things. Yeah, awesome. Um, well, I guess first and foremost, um, I'm a yoga teacher. Um, I teach, I don't have a brick and mortar. I'm kind of freelance. I can be found anywhere in Northeast PA, I feel at this point, right? You can find me probably anywhere from Clark Summit to northern School County at this point. Um so um I love that about where I'm at right now um is that I have all these awesome little micro communities all over the place. Um and with that, um I do teach in some traditional, more traditional yoga spaces and gyms and whatnot, but I also like to bring what I offer to non-traditional yoga spaces like art galleries or um wineries or you know, any kind of experience, right? So I'll have to collaborate with that. Um yeah, virtual.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

So it sounds like you're really bringing yoga experiences to the people, which is very interesting.

SPEAKER_03 2:06

I think it is very um intimidating for people to walk into a gym or yoga studio for any multitude of reasons. Um, and sometimes meeting them where they're at is a really great way to make it, you know, a little more fun, a little more palatable, a little more of an experience, and maybe they become a student at like a regular good old-fashioned yoga class. And you know, maybe they take the Instagram picture and check it off their bingo card, and and that's that, but like either way, I think that's that's a good thing.

From Yoga Club To Teaching

SPEAKER_01 2:39

That's awesome. So, how did you first get into yoga? And then how did you get into bringing it this way, the way that you bring it?

SPEAKER_03 2:53

Well, uh, this is actually one of my favorite stories. So I um when I was a sophomore in college, my roommate and I saw a flyer for yoga club, and it happened to be downstairs in the building that we lived in. And I perhaps in order to procrastinate homework, we decided we were going to go to yoga club. Um, and I I think it was just like another student that liked yoga, you know, she maybe watched a DVD at YouTube wasn't really a thing at that point, and um I kind of liked it. And my brain said, Oh, this is I like this, right? And like, you know, whatever, kept it in my back pocket. And then um I graduated into the recession, so I moved back home to Northeast PA, um, which was not necessarily the plan at first, um, but that led me to a bunch of random jobs that I high uh stress, low reward jobs, and which found me going to yoga afterwards. Um yeah, I mean, one thing led to another. And you know, after a while it becomes you should do teacher training, and then it becomes oh, I like this. And then it's like, oh, you should do another one. And yeah, so that's that's the that's the nutshell of how that happened. Um yeah, and then um I guess starting, I mean, first starting, I that's where I I kind of I think the first place I really taught was was at an art gallery um at the at the art center in Hazelton, um, just really like needing up needing a venue. Right. Um and through kind of being in that non, right, like that non-traditional gym or exercise or yoga space, um, I I kind of noticed that like a lot of the people that were coming probably wouldn't show up on the doorstep of of a place like that for any right, for any multiple reason. Um, and then it just kind of became a thing and just took off from there.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

That's awesome. That's awesome. I I think it's great to uh you know try something, be like, oh, there's something here, and then create it and bring it and make it your own. And you really do do that from everything that I see you putting out there. You looks like you have taught yoga in a little bit of everywhere, like you said, from farms to art galleries to uh, I believe a flower show store.

SPEAKER_03 5:28

Yes, that one's actually coming up, and we do still have room. I'm very excited for that. Um, it's uh at Smith Floral, so we do um our yoga in the aisles of the greenhouse, like amongst the flowers. It's very special. And then after class, um we get to make a a planter to take home as well. Last year it was an herb garden, so you could take home for your kitchen.

Fear Of Doing Yoga Wrong

SPEAKER_01 5:49

That's awesome. Yeah, that's awesome. So what have you maybe found in doing this that are some misconceptions about, and I don't even want to say yoga, but maybe some misconceptions about the way that you're bringing it to the world.

SPEAKER_03 6:05

Um yeah, I mean, I uh and I'm I'm sure you could say this with any industry, right? Sometimes people try something one time, it's not the right person, then the right place, the right time for them, right? And and they are maybe a little put off, right? Um but I mean, there's always the opportunity to you can always give something a second chance, right? Um, I I kind of joke, you know, that people people get nervous, they're gonna like do things wrong. Like, I'm not a militant, like you know what I mean. Like, I'm not like that. Like the yoga police are not coming, like nothing bad's gonna happen today. Like, we will do our best to like keep this as authentic as we can, but at the end of the day, like you're doing something for yourself and therefore you win. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

I love I love reminding my students as well that the yoga police are not here and they will not be showing up today.

SPEAKER_03 6:55

They would have taken me away long ago and like put me in a sack and taken me to wherever bad yoga teachers go, right? Like they're it'll be all right. It's gonna be fine.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

So, with with every business, right? Brick and mortar or just floating around freelancing, creating these events, you know, marketing is really the heart of the business. So, what are you doing to target your customers and how are you attracting them?

SPEAKER_03 7:19

It's a bear. And I mean, and and uh people, you know, not to be some sort of way, but people often say, Oh, you're so I see you everywhere, like you're so good at this. And like I'm just blessed that like I have a communications major. I studied PR in school advertising. Like, if I did not already bring that piece to the table, I would be dead in the water. Um, unfortunately, that's just how it is. However, I will say that I mean, when I was in school, Facebook was a baby, right? It was get off Facebook and do your homework. And now you could probably major in the thing, right? Um so and they changed it all the time. And you can find out what works, and two weeks later it's you log in and it's different. Um, so yeah, I'm just kind of out there trying my best to scream into the void, if you will, of social media. I mean, I uh I you know when I get someone new, you know, I I kind of ask, like, I how did they hear about me? And nine times out of ten it is Facebook, um, Instagram, some. Um, and I do, you know, I have an email community and you know, all the things, but and and word of mouth, like honestly, it's like people bring a friend a lot of the times, and and I think an advantage of being at many like multiple different locations is like sometimes people, you know, will get introduced to you somewhere and like all of a sudden you see them over here, or or vice versa, or like, oh, this girl teaches here. I see that she's doing something at the florist, like maybe right. It just it's it's just a big, you know, a bunch of everything, right? And so, yeah, it's like a cycle.

SPEAKER_01 8:57

And speaking of the bunch, the bunch of everything, have you ever thought thought about this sitting behind the microphone and talking about yoga?

SPEAKER_03 9:04

Um, I I did radio uh for a while in college, actually. Uh uh different, but you know, usually there's no one talking back to you on the radio, hopefully. Um I wouldn't hate it, right? I I I'm I never run out of things to say, that's for sure.

Reading Dogs And Festival Weekends

SPEAKER_01 9:22

So yeah, it's it's definitely one of those things, you know. There's this a new outlet again for the the business owner, the entrepreneur to get themselves out there and you know, in in multiple ways. Um, how about outside of or off the yoga map? What are you doing for fun when you're not jumping from studio to studio from venue to venue? What in the car?

SPEAKER_03 9:48

Um, I just I love to read. I know that's like one of those nerdy things, and not in like the like aesthetic, like book talk Gen Z. I like to read just like I'm a nerd, and I'm like, um, yeah, I love to just be outdoors, hang out with my dog. I don't know. I'm just kind of low-key. I feel like I'm a what do they call it? Like a an it extroverted introvert, right? So like I'm out in the world, like doing all the things, and then like I'm like, okay, I'm in for the day. This is awesome, right? Yeah. So I mean, I also love to, I mean, it's kind of like yoga adjacent, but I like to um my idea of like going on a vacation or for the weekend. I do a lot of festivals, um, yoga slash you know, blah blah blah, fill in the blank festival. So that's kind of fun for me as well. And that's about to start for the season. So out there, Connecticut, Delaware, Vermont, all the places, several in in Nepah. So yeah, it's the season.

Adaptive Accessible Yoga For Everyone

SPEAKER_01 10:49

It is definitely rolling into uh to festival season as well. So if you can tell our listeners one thing that they should remember about Lisa Moe and her yoga.

SPEAKER_03 11:04

Um this is for everyone.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

This is for everyone.

SPEAKER_03 11:11

Yoga is for everyone. And and I I do believe that if you've if you have tried it and you thought it wasn't for you, you just try it again. A different style, a different teacher, a different place. Um yeah, um, I am also a huge advocate for um adaptive and accessible yoga. Um, so I teach a lot um of people with neurodiverse needs, um, both in person and online. And I recently finished um a course in um presenting the practice to wheelchair users and folks with limited mobility. Um, so if that is you, or if you work with that population and you would like to add that as a piece, um definitely I would love to connect.

How To Find Lisa Online

SPEAKER_01 11:59

Yes. And you led right into our next question. Where can our listeners find you, learn more about you, connect with you?

SPEAKER_03 12:07

Sure. Um, well, I'm Lisa M-O-Yoga on all the things on your your favorite social media. Um, and I have like that link tree and bio thing. Um, and if you go to that, it brings up everything. You can join my email community um and just kind of see what I'm up to. I I always tell people follow me on Instagram if for nothing more than you get to see my dog.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 12:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

And and as we chat about your dog, what is your dog's name?

SPEAKER_03 12:37

Stella. Um I'm a Stella too. Yeah. She's sleeping right now, so we're gonna try not to say it super loud because this will become her Broadway debut.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 12:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Oh, Lisa. This this has been great. And from my Stella to your Stella and all of us at the Good Neighbor Podcast, we wish you and your business the best moving forward.

SPEAKER_03 13:04

Oh, thanks so much, Joe. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 13:08

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show. Go to gmpmpa.com. That's gmpnpa.com. Or call.