The Channel - Episode 3 - Bright Light Small City with Johanna Butterworth

In this episode I sit down with Johanna Butterworth, BFA. https://www.instagram.com/joeybutterworth/?hl=en

Johanna is a beautiful (inside and out) bright light who exudes warmth, humor, lightness, grace and joy! A true delight to spend time with. You can find her teaching yoga in and around San Francisco or on Ocean Beach frolicking with friends. 

She is a dancer, teacher, and wellness coach who combines her background in classical ballet and contemporary dance with a passion for holistic health. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy, expanding her practice into psychology and counseling to integrate mind-body approaches into healing and personal growth.

Transcript

Speaker 3 0:11

Hello and welcome to the channel podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in. I'm so grateful that you're here. I am your host, Maia Taub. I created this podcast so that I could talk to artists and creative people about their creative process, where they find and how they access creativity. I'm particularly interested in the idea of where their ideas come from and how the artist becomes a channel for their art. I've heard artists say that something was channeled through them, that they didn't create it, it just came through their vessel, if you will. Or perhaps they didn't create it alone, that there's a co-creative, co-collaborative process at play. I also have my own experience of channeling, which I'm hoping to be able to practice and play with in these conversations. My guest today is Johanna Butterworth. Johanna is a dancer, teacher, and wellness coach who combines her background in classical ballet and contemporary dance with a passion for holistic health. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Boston Conservatory at Berkeley and has taught ballet, yoga, and wellness classes in schools, fitness centers, and community programs. Her work emphasizes movement as both an art form and a tool for building strength, confidence, and well-being. Alongside her dance career, Johanna is certified in yoga, trauma-informed practice, and holistic nutrition. She has led programs for diverse groups, including youth, professionals, and seniors, and enjoys helping people connect to their bodies in supportive and creative ways. Currently, she is pursuing a master's in marriage and family therapy, expanding her practice into psychology and counseling to integrate mind-body approaches into healing and growth. And if that wasn't enough, she is a beautiful, bright light in the world. Johanna shines bright and brings her light wherever she goes. I met Johanna about five years ago. I was trying to think about it, and I remember I had, I was taking another yoga teacher's classes pretty regularly. Her name is Leslie Glesser. Shout out to Leslie Glesser. And Johanna was subbing a class, and I said, you know, have you, do you know this person? And she was like, Oh yeah, take Joey's class. So when I got there, you were at the desk. You were like greeting. And I was like, you know, my name's Maya, and you were just bright and beautiful. And ever since then, I've just been following you and your classes whenever I can. So welcome. Thank you so much for being here.

Speaker 1 3:07

Thank you. Thanks, Maya. I'm so honored to be here. This is gonna be super fun. And yes, I'm so, so deeply honored. So thank you so much.

Speaker 3 3:16

Yeah, thank you. I'm excited. I'm excited to get into it. So, one of the reasons that why I wanted to have you on this podcast was because I remember when I was, we were talking about yoga teacher training, and you were saying, you said something about how challenging it would be for you to teach people how to teach yoga because your creative process is really personal and unique and like maybe hard to teach other people. So I'm curious just like what that looks like and if you could elaborate a little bit on that.

Speaker 1 3:50

Yeah, I I constantly and I'm always thinking about why how and why how like how I teach the way I do and why I teach the way I this is just yoga in particular. I remember like when I first started teaching, I kind of felt self-conscious about talking about how I taught because I don't plan and I don't think of it at all. Like it, it um felt like, yeah, I just felt kind of like, wow, like am I doing it right? Like, am I supposed to be like this? It feels fine, and it so far it's been successful, you know. So I've had like a journey with it and like definitely questioned it a bunch in the beginning. And then I kind of, you know, did some self-reflection and thought deeper into it. And yeah, I I I just noticed that it comes so naturally and flows through me in a way that feels like a dance. Um, and I I have a big background in professional mo dance, and um, I danced since I was young. So it has always felt this like rhythmic flow to it, um, and like kind of like choreography in a way. And um yeah, and I've just always leaned into that and developed an acceptance for it and kind of and it's been really successful and really um felt really truly authentic. And I think that's why it's been successful and why it feels so good because I've just really made sure that it's always felt so authentic because I've had moments where I would like sit down and be like, oh, okay, I'm gonna really try and write out my yoga class like from start to finish. And it worked, but it just doesn't, it just never, I never followed it. I'd have this whole class plan and I would get like, you know, a third of all through, and then I would find myself going completely off of it and like going in completely different directions. So yeah, I just always leaned into it feeling like a dance and feeling like choreography and taking it leading me instead of me leading it in a way. I love that.

Speaker 3 5:51

I love that. So do you literally not plan what you're gonna do?

Speaker 1 5:57

I think about what poses I would like to do in the class, and I think about it like um how challenging I want to make it. Those are two main things I usually will think about. Um, other than that, the transitions, the like add-in add-ons or add-ins, uh yeah, they come to me in moments, the moment. Or um that's incredible.

Speaker 3 6:23

Like that blows my mind because your class flows so smoothly. Like it does like you're kind of making it up as you go along.

Speaker 1 6:33

Yeah, and I I try I've like always tried to put it into words, and like again, like we talked about in this conversation we had where like teaching someone how to do it, I just don't yeah, I just don't think it can because I it comes from this like deep, deep place in me of dance and like having to learn and remember choreography and improvisation was huge in my college career, like dance uh career or college dance time. Um and I've always been drawn to the improvisation of movement, it's just like something that has been so important and so like alive in my life. And yeah, I I don't think about my thought, my class. It sounds so weird to say.

Speaker 3 7:23

So, like when you I'm trying to put this into a question, but so where do you think that the ideas come from? Like when you're up there and you're teaching and you're not thinking about it and you haven't pre-planned it, it sounds to me as though it's being channeled through you. And I don't know, you know, how you feel about that word or um what your relationship is to that word, but I'm curious where where does it come from?

Speaker 1 7:56

Yeah, totally. Um I definitely like it's definitely evolved and morphed and changed so much drastically throughout the five years that I've been, or about I guess about it's been seven years since I've been teaching. Uh, but in the beginning and like the first you know few years, I really, really pulled from teachers that I loved. Like I mean, I used and yeah, I used so much of the inspiration I felt from teachers and um teachers from my training that I did, but also teachers that I would take. Like I remember this moment of when I first started teaching at the at Yoga Flow, um, the studio in San Francisco that we met at. And um I remember I was taking uh a class before I was gonna teach mine. And I was taking, I believe it was a uh this woman, Brittany, she used to teach there. She hasn't done it, doesn't anymore, but she used to teach there a lot a lot. And I was taking her class and I we did something in her class, and I remember I was like, okay, Johanna, you have to remember this sequence. And it was a whole sequence, it was about, you know, like a like a four-minute long float, you know. And I remember going, okay, remember this because you're gonna do it in your class. And I like maybe it's a switch or it's like a part of my brain that just remembers choreography and it like locked into me, and I was like counting it through, and it felt rhythmic. And I remember then I went to teach my class and I was able to access it and I like it was a dance. It was like we're gonna do this, what I just did in Brittany's club. You know, so it was a lot of that in the beginning, like a lot of polling from and like in COVID when I would take you know virtual yoga all the time. I remember like thinking back to that and using so much of the stuff that I was doing then. So definitely pulled from teachers that I love and adore and look up to. And then I think it's channeled in a way of like my dancer in me.

Speaker 3 9:56

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And how old were you when you started dancing? I mean, like I guess, you know, I guess that question could have multiple different kinds of answers, but yeah, however you want to answer it.

Speaker 1 10:10

Yeah, totally. I started dance. Um, I took it was supposed to be like mommy and me classes, um, but it was my dad and I, because my mom was a full-time worker in my family, and my dad was kind of a stay-at-home stay-at-home parent. So I started, you know, dad and me classes when I was, you know, probably five or years old or something. So, but but when I really started dancing, my parents always have this story of me like, I think I was about eight years old. I sat them down. Apparently, I don't really remember doing this, but apparently I sat my parents down and I looked them in the eyes and I said, I don't want to do soccer. I don't want to do baseball. They had me all these, they had me in these, all these um activities. I don't want to do karate. I want to only dance. And they were wow.

Speaker 3 10:58

And did they listen to that?

Speaker 1 11:00

They did. I yeah. Fortunately, I have amazing supportive parents, supportive of the arts.

Speaker 3 11:06

And yeah, that's amazing.

Speaker 1 11:08

Yeah, and so since then, I think about eight years old, I stopped doing all the other you just knew. I just knew, yes, yeah. And um, I studied intense, intense classical ballet from eight years old to eighteen. Um little bits of modern dance here and there. I went to study at the Alvinaly Dance, American Dance Company in New York. Wow. And now when did you do that? I did that, I did it twice. I did it once when I was 16. Yeah, 16 years old. I left for six weeks. I did their six-week program during the summer. Okay, yeah. And I remember arriving there and being like this, you know, little gal from California and strict ballet background. And I remember stepping to the studios there and watching them dance and being like, oh, this is dance. Like I've been missing out. Like this is passion and dance and rhythm, and it was like a huge eye-opening experience for me. Um, and that was my first little tidbits of modern dance, and I just developed a love for modern dance. I still continued my classical dance training, but um ballet training. But um, yeah, I got so into modern. And um, when it come came time to uh uh apply for colleges, my parents were they were very supportive of the arts, but they were very kind of like it would be nice if you were to go and get a degree in dance instead of doing a professional right off the bat. Um, so I applied to colleges that had and were known for their dance degrees. And when I got into the Boston Conservatory, I was it. It was that or Juilliard, and I was like, yeah, I was that's such a great school.

Speaker 3 13:01

Like growing up in Boston, I just I feel like Boston Conservatory is like that's a big deal.

Speaker 1 13:07

Yeah, it was great. And I just felt like I was one out of 25 kids that got in, and I just felt like so much. Well, I felt a lot of pressure, but I also felt so overjoyed. And like I remember having this feeling of like, wow, like it is so uh awesome, it's so cool, it's so unique that I get to do this, like I get to go to school for dance, and I remember that feeling really like profound and um uh like so personal. It just felt so amazing that I could pick such a personal route to go and be so fortunate to be able to do that.

Speaker 3 13:49

And um yeah, that's when you know like you're really on the right path. Yes. I remember when I first started practicing therapy and I would feel like I cannot believe I'm getting paid to do that. Yes, because it was just it felt like I don't know if fun is the right word, but it felt so aligned and so I was so engaged that it does have a sort of play-like quality to it. Yes. And you know, that quote around like if if I I'm gonna totally butcher this quote, but you know, the thing about like if you find something that you love, it doesn't feel like work, it feels like play. That's not really what it is, but you know, that's yeah, yeah, for sure. Um yeah, I feel like you're lucky to have that in life because not everybody does, not everybody gets to pursue a path that feels so aligned to them and so um just so right.

Speaker 1 14:53

Totally, yeah. And I I like have so many memories of like being in Boston, like in college and stuff, and um, you know, like during the holidays, and I would I would fly home, you know, maybe for Christmas because it was a longer break, but flying to California was, you know, it's a bit of a journey from the East Coast. And so, but I remember like being in school and just being like, I don't want to go back, like I love it here, and like even those feelings of just like this is home. Like I created home and I've I found my art and I found my people and my community, and I just felt so fortunate to be able to feel that, especially at that age and the time and what you're going through and experiencing. And yeah, I just felt so um uh seen and accepted in in that community, in the dance because it's it's small and people don't. I remember feeling like I came from, you know, I grew up in Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz, California, and and yeah, there people don't really understand what it is to go to school for dance. They were like, I remember I was actually I have this crazy memory of being in high school, and there was like one of those uh college fairs where like all these colleges came to, you know, yeah, sell their college to you. And I remember talking to this woman and with I was with my mom, and uh my mom and her were having a conversation, and I was kind of just like looking at the pamphlets and stuff, and I overheard the woman go, Oh, what is your daughter looking to study? And my mom says uh she's looking to go to school for dance, and the woman started to laugh, and she goes, Oh, that is worse than art history. Oh my god. And I look and I remember looking at her and going, You're a college, you know, I was just like, You're a college counselor, like you're supposed to be selling the school. And so that's awful. It was awful. And it was just this goes to show like how I mean, you know, obviously this was a while ago and times have changed, and I do feel like there's a lot more support in the arts nowadays, but it just goes to show that like even when there's people who are questioning you and and you know, coming down on like this isn't the right path for you, whatever. It's like if you feel that passion and that and that like drive, it's just like, oh, that if that can overpower all the other stuff, like absolutely I'm so glad it did for me. Like, I know it's hard to do, but it just like I still had that like need.

Speaker 3 17:14

Yeah, it sounds like there was no stopping you, like there was no one who was gonna come in and say, No, this is not a good idea that you were gonna listen to. Yep, totally, yeah. I yeah, it's amazing to me that people feel that way about art because to me, artists are like the most amazing people in the world. Obviously, you know, I've created this podcast because I'm just so fascinated by people who create art and just how you can create something that is so beautiful and such um such a representation of you, like you're bringing something of yourself out into the world and sharing that with people. What's better than that?

Speaker 1 18:04

I know, I know, and yeah, and I felt like the program I was in in college, like they did such a great job of that, like they kept it such a unique and personal experience. Um, and I always laugh, like friends of mine now, like obviously friends from college understand, but people who I didn't go to college with who I'm really good friends with now, and they're like talking about their college, you know, experience, and they they'll ask me questions about mine, and and I just have such a hard time explaining it sometimes. I'm like, it was so drastically different from a typical college experience. And like we, you know, we had to like get up and like improv for 15 minutes straight to like some random music that my professor would like randomly put on for us, and you know, I'm just like do these crazy exercises and you know, but but it it was just a way to develop this sense of self and the sense of create like true creativity that comes from a personal place, and it was so I felt so held in that way and still do, you know, with with how I'm creative now, but yeah, I I I think it's just so important, and you can kind of tell when it's uh coming from a place of that, a place of personal experience or authenticity.

Speaker 3 19:20

Um I think authenticity is the key. I think when people are authentic, they're so magnetic, and people are drawn to them because of that. That is the reason, or that's sort of what differentiates someone who is successful from someone who's not.

Speaker 1 19:40

Totally, yeah, totally. And to keep it, you know, to keep your authenticity in your art. I mean, obviously in life, you know, but but yeah, in your in your art form.

Speaker 3 19:54

And when you say improv, like what what did that look like? Because I've taken improv classes for like acting, yeah. It's were you improvisational dancing? Yeah. What did that look like when you were you know doing improv for 15 minutes?

Speaker 1 20:09

Yeah, yeah, totally. Yeah, it was uh improvisation dance. Um and yeah, so with my program, we had to take a certain amount of dance classes, and then we actually also had to take um an acting in like a voice class just because it was a PFA. Um but yeah, I had improv class, I think about twice a week, and I just loved it and I loved how it felt in my body. Um, I came, like I said before, I came from a very intense classical ballet, which is could not be more opposite, you know, ballets have old and like um rigorous and structured program, you know, art form, yeah, dance form. Um, and I think maybe that's why improv felt so new and interesting to me because it was completely opposite of that. But yeah, we would just have all kinds of improvisational exercises, like with props, with uh partners, with our individual selves. We sometimes would go outside and dance or in the studios, or yeah, it was just kind of an hour of um yeah, how how movement would just come to us, and um yeah, I I developed a really, really deep love for it.

Speaker 3 21:29

It sounds very like free. Yes, that just like freedom come, you know, especially with the background in classical ballet, and then to just sort of be given the space to do whatever comes through you that just feels like freedom.

Speaker 1 21:48

Yeah, totally, and like um it's like freedom, and then also it's um like I had you've kind of developed so much um body awareness. There was a exercise we did once. We were in New York. Uh my senior class went to New York for the senior showcase where we kind of like were perform in front of companies and agents and stuff. And one of our exercises while we were there was to go to Times Square and watch how people move through the crowds. And how some people are so aware of how they're moving through crowds and they're going really quick and they're dodging and they're moving. And then some people are completely unaware and they're taking pictures, or they're with the, you know, and it just like it was just an interesting observation to notice people's body awareness. And so I feel like with dance and with improv and with yoga, you know, movement, you really are like honing in on this intense awareness of your body moving through space or moving.

Speaker 3 22:48

Yeah. This is a little bit tangential, but how do you because one of the things I love about your class is the music. I feel like you have music. Yeah, totally. And how do you pick? Does the music come to you in a similar way? Like a similar kind of like you feel it inside you where a song might match. I mean, I know you're a huge Beyoncé fan. And when you always say, like, okay, it's time for abs because it's coming on. But yeah, does the music come through you in a similar way in terms of choosing what you want to play to which sequence of the class?

Speaker 1 23:26

Yeah, totally. I yeah, big Beyonce fan. And um yeah, definitely. Music, I I've always had a very, very deep appreciation and love for music. I grew up in a really musical household and I was introduced to like, you know, a wide range of artists my whole life. And um yeah, and with dance, um I was always so particular and like um like what's the right word? Not really judgmental, but I was very like, I was particular. I was particular on the music with my dancing. Like I was like, I like I knew in like nanosecond when a music would not feel good. Or you know what I mean? Like I I had this like intense awareness of music. And so yes, I definitely feel like that's played into my yoga. And for me, music is so important with movement. Yeah, and I've c I've had some criticism over the years that I play too much lyric, like lyrical or lyrics in my class. And interesting. I know, and I know it's all personal preference, and music is so personal to so many people. So I always keep that in mind, and I know this is my my playlist that I'm creating. So yeah, but it's important to me to keep that authentic, like things that I find that bring me joy and bring me inspiration. Yeah, with music. Um so I've always I've listened to the criticism, but I've I've made sure I kept it authentic to me because yeah, music is a huge part in my development of the, you know, the thought, the thinking, the thinking of the flow and the development of the flow and uh the inspiration with the flow. Um so yeah, music is a huge part.

Speaker 3 25:19

Yeah, that's I that's interesting to me that you've gotten criticism or negative feedback. I mean, I it makes sense because people are always going to have preferences. And I think, you know, people who don't know what a vinyasa flow class is. Like I said to my son the other day when I was talking about you, I said, like, you know, she has really good music. And he's like, What kind of music do you play in yoga? You know, I don't have the association of particular kinds of music with, and that is a huge part of the flow in a vinyasa class. I mean, that's the only kind of yoga I take. So I'm sure there are different styles of yoga that don't have music or that have different kinds of music. But to me, I mean, one of the other teachers at the studio that you teach at that we've talked about is Neil, who does live drumming in his class. And to me, that's that's one of the things that makes his class stand out and be so authentic, which I think really is to me, you know, as I've been doing this podcast, I've sort of honed in on the idea of authenticity because I think it really is, like I said before, what makes someone successful is really being authentic.

Speaker 1 26:35

Yes, absolutely. And yeah, completely agree. And also when you were talking, this also came to mind that I remember getting the critic, the feedback of the criticism, whatever you want to call it. And um I remember thinking like, I I I couldn't, I can't remember what song it was, but I remember it was like a I want to say I do play a lot like older, so I have play like Fleet Back, I play a lot of Beyonce, I play a lot of um, I have like Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Kale. So I have this like older influence. I remember being like an older song, and I remember leaving thinking, I think I love playing songs that I think most people will know because I want it to bring a smile to your face. I want you to like have a good time. And for me, I I know like this is a big opinion on my end, but yoga for me, my opinion on it, is a place where it should be fun, it should be not serious, it should be an hour or an hour and a half where you're moving in your body and you just feel good and you can bring in whatever is in your mind, you can take it out, whatever's in your mind, and the music to match that. Like, who doesn't want to have a good flow to like fun up being music that maybe brings memories to you? You know, like that's that's what I was thinking.

Speaker 3 28:04

Yeah, and we were talking about older music.

Speaker 1 28:06

Yes, I've had so many people come after class and be like, gosh, like that was my dad's favorite song when he was, you know, and that to me is what yoga is all about, you know. Like I know a lot of people have opinions and thoughts and personal, you know, things with yoga. And so I know this is a personal thing, but yeah, I just I I want to blast Silver Springs by Stevie Nicks and like think about me driving in my old Volkswagen BMW van, you know, like like that is what I want to think about in yoga because it brings me joy and it makes me feel lighter and happier.

Speaker 3 28:40

So yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Like I've I've never heard you talk about it, but when you articulate that, you bring that, like you do bring that. Like as someone who takes your class, yeah, you do bring that sense of fun and flow and not so serious because there are yoga classes, and I think it, you know, there are people also who take yoga classes who are just like so serious, and you know, there is a certain um attention required, right? And the poses are specific and particular, but within that structure, there has to be room to move and flow and create, you know, be creative and have fun. Yes, and have fun.

Speaker 1 29:34

Like I remember in the early days of teaching, I would constantly say, like, you know, if you it's just yoga, like it's just we're here and it's just yoga. If you fall out of the pose, like so be it. Get back into it, you know. So I just feel like I've just noticed over the years of teaching that you know, we take life so seriously. And of course, there's moments where yes, seriousness is huge and it and it plays a huge key component in life. Absolutely. But there's also moments where it doesn't, and it doesn't have to be. Yeah. And I just feel like, you know, as you get over, as you get older, the fun and the uh playfulness, you know, it dims and you know, with with maturity and with time. But I do feel like yoga for my classes, I hope it's a space where people can access the playfulness and the fun.

Speaker 3 30:23

Yeah. Well, you definitely bring that. And I think that's you know, among the many things that make your class, you know, someone said the other day, they were like, I think the secret's gonna get out soon. That, you know, because we were talking about because you're new to the nine o'clock spot, which is the time that I take yoga, it's 9 a.m. And um someone was like, Yeah, I think the secret's gonna get out about her, and these classes are gonna be really full. Because right now they're full, but they're not like packed.

Speaker 30:53

Yes, totally.

Speaker 3 30:54

Totally. You're after this podcast, you're no longer the best kept secret. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally.

Speaker 1 31:00

Secrets out, yeah.

Speaker 3 31:01

No, yeah. And so do you like where is your dance? I mean, obviously, you bring that to your yoga classes, but it's not a dance class. Like, where is dance in your life right now, today?

Speaker 1 31:14

Yeah, great, yeah, great question. Um, it's morphed and changed so drastically throughout my life. Um, but right now it is I teach senior dance classes. I go to senior centers in San Francisco and I teach movement classes and chairs for them. It is the joy of my life. They're all sitting in their chairs. They're all sitting in chairs. Yep. Wow. So are they, is it like mostly upper body movement? Upper body, yeah. But I try and get, we definitely move our legs a lot. I'm trying to get as much movement as I can in the chair. Um and um yeah, we do, yeah, we have like call combinations to all kinds of different songs. Right now, I'm teaching a song, I'm teaching a dance to somewhere over the rainbow. Um, and yeah, it's it's been it's amazing. I I worked at the San Francisco Ballet, and um well, while I was there, I uh worked really closely with Cecilia Beam, who runs their adult ballet programs and all the senior programs that at the ballet. And she I left I left the ballet uh due to going back to grad school. And um, but I kept my relationship with Cecilia because I was like, I don't want to stop teaching these classes. They're just like, you know, the best, the best things that happen in my life right now. And you know, so she was really, really sweet and helped me um keep keep the teaching. So I teach uh through the through the Samsko Ballet, um, these movement classes in that's amazing.

Speaker 3 32:44

And did you say I wasn't sure how you um did you say senior classes?

Speaker 1 32:49

Yeah, yeah, they call them senior, like uh there, so it's senior movement classes or sometimes like older adult classes. Um uh yeah, I'm trying to think if there's some yeah.

Speaker 3 33:01

I was just curious, like what are the ages of these people?

Speaker 1 33:04

Yeah, yeah. So they're in senior centers. Um we go to oh wow, yeah, yeah. So it's whoever's living in these facilities.

Speaker 3 33:14

That is incredible because I feel like seniors don't get a lot of love. Just society does not honor them or um just like they don't get a lot of love, they don't get a lot of attention, they don't get a lot of respect. Yep, and so I love that you do that. And I'm sure they are so delighted to have it's uh the best.

Speaker 1 33:42

Like I know all their names. I know yeah, it's so wow, it's so much fun. And also, I mean, tying it all back to music, I play we have live pianists in our class there.

Speaker 3 33:54

Um is that someone who is at the senior center that plays for them regularly, or is that someone that you bring in?

Speaker 1 34:02

I bring them in, yeah. So through the San Francisco Ballet, they have hired a big group of piano players, and um, so they hire them. And so me and my pianists will come to the scene. I know it's very, very sweet. That is so personalized.

Speaker 3 34:19

Like you're it's amazing, pianist that can come to you. Yes, and you guys get to collab around music.

Speaker 1 34:25

Collab, yeah. And I will play, I'll ask my her name's Mana. I'll ask Mana to play um kind of certain songs like older I I would imagine, you know, that they would know or sing along to. And I was I had a combination to um Somewhere Over the Rainbow, and then I also have a combination to um Love by Nat King Cole, the classic is for the, you know, and this guy who comes to my class, he's 99 years old. Oh man. He stayed after, and he had tears in his eyes, and he goes, I haven't thought of this in, you know, 50 years, but that was the song that I would constantly sing to my wife, you know, who's past. And I'm so grateful you played that song in class today. It brought me back to when I lived in New York with her, and and he was like accessing all these memories of her and and his wife to this song. And and it was just I like our conversation. It goes to show how you know beautiful music can connect us all. And yeah, so that's how that's how dance is showing up in my life now. And then I also have a couple just like personal projects that I'll do, and um um, I'll take dance classes here and there. I have a good friend who has a company here that I'll dance with every once in a while. And yeah, it's very, very freelance right now. And yeah.

Speaker 3 35:48

And when you're teaching the dance classes at the senior center, is it a similar process to what you described with the yoga, like where it's just sort of coming to you, or is that one more? I mean, that's a very specific kind of dance. I actually have to kind of think about that more. Yeah, great question.

Speaker 1 36:08

Great question, because I actually plan that class. I sit down and I write out most of that class. Wow, okay. Yeah, I I think because it's so particular, yeah, and I have to make sure that it's really, really comfortable in their bodies and like really have a lot of awareness around their mobility and their how they move in the chair. You have to be able to do that.

Speaker 3 36:38

Yeah, so I think that's why sensitive. Yes. I also wondered if maybe because you didn't do, I mean, I assume you didn't do chair dancing, maybe in one of your improv classes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because that's not in your bones or like in, you know, that's not a part of what you did. It's it doesn't have the same quality of flow that maybe other things have. And it it makes sense to me that you would have to be more thoughtful about it because it isn't in you in the same way.

Speaker 1 37:13

Totally. Yep, exactly. It was like a new style I had to learn pretty much. You know, like I knew the movements, but sitting it sitting down while doing it was a whole new practice I had to learn and develop. And yeah.

Speaker 3 37:27

Yeah, yeah, I love that. Um, okay, so I want to kind of pivot into your therapy because you went back to school to be a therapist or you didn't, I mean you're done with the actual schooling and now you're just getting your hours, not just. I don't mean to say just because for those who don't know, you have to get 3,000 hours of clinical training in order to be able to sit for the license in California. So it is no small feat. So I don't mean to say just getting your hours, but you have finished the sort of more traditional school part and now you're getting your hours. So how did that come? I mean, I know your mom is a therapist, but I'm curious how that, because I'm sure, you know, as I read in your bio, you're combining that with the movement and the dance. And I I think what you want to ultimately do is dance therapy or some form of that or weave that in. So I'm curious how that all came to be.

Speaker 1 38:31

Oh, yeah, it's been a it's been a long ride, but um I was dancing professionally after college for a little bit, and I got to a point of feeling burnt out, and yeah, my body, my mind, emotionally, physically, you know, all the things. So um I stopped dancing for the time being. And also, uh, it was also around COVID, too. Honestly, the dynamic was interesting. Um and I was teaching yoga full-time, and then I had a moment of like, wow, maybe I should try a typical nine to five job. Like I've never, ever in my whole life worked a nine to five health insurance is included job, you know, like I was I've been hustling my entire life, you know. So I had this moment, this like big realization, like, and and I think also maybe uh age and you know, time of life where I was like, okay, I'm gonna try this, I'm gonna give this a go. I'm gonna apply and see. So I applied to, you know, a plethora of of jobs, all in the sense of art and wellness and nonprofit kind of world. Um and one of the jobs being a um uh uh academic, what was my role, what was my title? Um academic assistant at the San Francisco Ballet. I might be butchering that a little bit, but something like that. And um I got in, I got the job, and so I started a 8:30 to 5 o'clock in the office every day. San Francisco uh San Francisco Ballet is downtown, uh right by Civic Center, and um I took Muni every day to the office and I worked in the school office. So San Francisco Ballet has obviously the company, the famous company, and then they also have the San Francisco Ballet School. So it's like kids who don't do the college route and want to come and dance kind of pre-professionally before you go to the company as a channel. And so they come from all over the world. We have we had like, you know, ages like 15 to 20-ish, um, try out and try and get into the ballet school. Um, and I worked in the office, so my job was very, very complex. I mean, I would I uh did scheduling for the students. I would take students to the ER who like rolled their ankle in rehearsal. I would call students' parents who are homesick and they need to talk to them or I need to get their health insurance card. It was a I take attendance, it was a very, very wide range of what I was doing there. But one of the things was I worked closely with scheduling the kids with our psychologist on staff. I remember during the job thinking like, wow, like this is so amazing that they have access to psychologists. Like and they would use the psychologist and they would have come to the appointments and they were like so into it and like loved it.

Speaker 3 41:35

That's incredible.

Speaker 1 41:36

And yeah, and I just had a moment, like a big realization and self-reflection of like, wow, like if I would have had something like this when I was their age, because I did this route. I was, you know, going to Alvin Ailey, I was doing all these big, you know. I just had a yeah, I just had a big moment of like, wow, this is incredible and such important work.

Speaker 3 41:57

Absolutely.

Speaker 1 41:58

Um and I talked to a couple people, I talked to the psychologist on staff there, I talked to um a couple people who I knew that were dancers and now therapists, and my mom was a therapist. So I had a lot of community that I kind of, you know, talked to and supported me in the decision to going back to school for it. And yeah, so I I decided to go back a couple two years ago and get my license in marriage filming therapy with an emphasis, I would love to specialize in movement somatic work.

Speaker 42:28

Yeah.

Speaker 1 42:28

Um and yeah, it's been it's been amazing. I've learned, you know, I just learned a ton about human behavior and um and yeah, so I just started my practicum. So I'm now taking clients, I'm seeing clients on my own, and I'm doing my practicum at a nonprofit. It's called the Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Speaker 3 42:51

And that's the population that you're also really interested in as kids.

Speaker 1 42:55

Yes, kids and teens and young, young adults, and yeah, and I've just, I mean, like you said in the beginning, like I do this work and I'm like, gosh, I get paid. I like this is work to me. Like I just I love it. And I've developed such an intense like um passion for learning how to help this generation of youth. Um, there's so many, you know, new avenues and you know, media and um yeah, and uh COVID and all these, you know, these new things that we've impacting them and have impacted them. Exactly. Yeah. So yeah, and so it's been great. It's been definitely, you know, a new, a whole new learning curve. And I was telling someone the other day that I feel like I um am working out, like I'm working muscles that aren't strong yet, but they're getting, you know what I mean? Like it's like it's like this developing this like inner strength to do this work because this work can be. Really difficult and really um hard at times emotionally.

Speaker 3 44:04

Um so yeah, it's been it's been yeah, and it's new for you in you know, in a way that dance sort of never was. I mean, maybe before you were eight, but you know, dance was like in your bones and something that you've always done. And yeah, so you're having to really learn a new skill and new theories, and with with the expertise that you have around the body, like I just feel like that lends so much, and somatic work is so big right now, and it's so important, and you know, we know so much more about the ways that we store trauma in our bodies than we did when I did my training, you know.

Speaker 1 44:50

Yeah, it's ever evolving, and yeah, and I think also something that I keep coming back to and been talking about so much is the somatic side, or even just like the um like I feel like when you s hear people like, oh, I do, I do, you know, movement therapy or I do somatic therapy, it's kind of like this, like, you know, bit of a broad kind of like, what is that? You know, yeah, what does that look like? I've tried to been kind of like narrowing it down to like even like when I'm in session with I don't know, a 17-year-old boy, I'm like, you're not gonna sit in front of me, look me in the eyes, and tell me about your like what you're going through. Like that's just exactly I mean, it's hard for me to do that, and I'm a 30-year-old woman, you know, like yeah. So I'm like, even if it's us going for a walk and we're walking outside and you can just talk and walk at any pace you want, or we're sitting on the floor. I have an eight-year-old, and you know, we got eight HDM sitting on the floor with them, we're passing a ball back and forth, or you know, like that in itself is movement or somatic, or you're just you know what I mean. So it's kind of like keeping it, you know, and not simple, but the these like more simple aspects of like movement can be so many different things and can be accessed. I have a boy who's obsessed with basketball, and I have a hoop on the back of my office door, and he'll just shoot hoops the entire session, and he'll be talking to me and he'll you know what I mean, because I see that like he needs to access that in order to access the emotions that he's been feeling, or you know, so yeah, it's a great, it's it's such a you know, ever-evolving thing, but movement is so prominent in our everyday life and can be and yeah, and gives us access to things that we wouldn't just know through our minds, exactly, exactly.

Speaker 3 46:34

Yeah, yeah, that's really cool. That's awesome. I love that. Yeah, I feel like we've covered a lot. I um so part of this podcast is also me like trying to tap into my own experience of channeling, which you know, I'm still I'm still figuring this whole thing out. But the question, so I've I've been asking all of my guests to give me a question beforehand that I then tap into. And so your um question was how do I keep my creativity fresh, new, and inspiring? Is that accurate? Yes. Okay. So I get my the answers to these questions from many different sources. But the first um idea that I got, which I don't know, as you were talking, I feel like you're already doing this, but perhaps, you know, because you asked the question, there's obviously some part of you that is struggling with keeping it fresh and new and inspiring. And the message, the first message that I got was to let your creativity knock you off your feet and to like approach it um almost like you're falling in love with your creativity again, in a similar way to how you might when you first found it, like when you first found dance, or when you first found yoga, or even like maybe when you first met Nick, who is Johanna's fiance. She was engaged. Yes, and Nick is also an artist. Yes. It was like the feeling that I got was of falling in love with your creativity again as a beginner, like with beginner's mind and like making your creativity your muse. And just um not just, because none of that is adjust, but being vulnerable, trying something new that you don't have expertise in, which is what you were just talking about with you know, therapy. Yeah, right, um, but really to bring the something from the beginning, like beginner's mind or newness, or um, like that experience of first falling in love with something.

Speaker 1 49:02

Yes.

Speaker 3 49:02

That is what will keep your creativity new and inspiring and alive.

Speaker 1 49:08

Yes. Oh, that is so, yes, gosh, that is you just hit the nail on the head. I just feel like yeah, I love when you the knocking you off your feet because I feel like there's also I don't want to say fear, but like this kind of hesitation, maybe that's a better way of saying it. This hesitation sometimes when it comes with when it comes to create creating things or being creative, where it's like a little bit of you kind of you're kind of questioning yourself. You're like, hmm, I don't know. Like it's you know, but I feel like that sentence, that thing where it's like not let it knock you off your feet, let it be this unknown, let it be this nuance, this weird, whatever it is. Like, I think that is so helpful to remember and to come back to when you have these creative ideas or thoughts, or you know what I mean?

Speaker 3 50:01

Like that is, yeah, that really reminds me of what you said about yoga. Like, if you fall out of a pose, like you get back into it, you know what I mean? You get knocked off your feet and you fall down, like you get back up, like that's what it's all about.

Speaker 2 50:18

It's all about in order to learn.

Speaker 1 50:21

That's how we learn. Absolutely. Gosh, it comes, and now I'm thinking about resilience.

Speaker 50:27

A hundred percent.

Speaker 1 50:28

Yeah, yeah, and I'm constantly talking about this with my young clients too, you know, building resilience, like building and and learning from the moments that you get knocked down or you make a mistake, or you create something that didn't really work or didn't really, you know, come across as whatever, whatever. You know, like yeah, it's those moments where we really just build our resilience and build our build on to our self and our creativity. And yeah, that's great. I love, I love that.

Speaker 2 51:00

I'm gonna constantly be able to do that. I'm so bad. I'm so resonated and landed so well. For sure.

Speaker 3 51:09

Um, this was a delight. This is so fun. I'm so lucky. And I love getting to know you better. I feel like when we took that walk at the beach, I sort of thought that's where we were gonna go in this podcast. You know, you talk more about your childhood and and I learned a lot about you then. But I love this is exactly what I want for these podcasts, is for them to be fresh and just like in the moment. And I feel like that's exactly what this was.

Speaker 1 51:38

So thank you so much. Thank you, Maya. Oh, I'm so honored and happy, and yeah, this is great. Thank you so, so much. You're so welcome. All right, great to see you. Great to see you. I'll see you probably on birthday in class.

Speaker 3 51:55

Perfect. All right, okay, bye. Bye. I would like to thank my editor and original music maker, Luca Zeisati, my technical support friend Kalisha Gardeen, and everyone who loved, encouraged, and supported me in creating this podcast. And thank you, the listener, for listening.