(Replay) Donna Noble: Healing myself with yoga

This week I’ve decided to replay one of my most listened to episodes - Its with the fabulous Donna Noble!

Donna Noble is a master yogic practitioner and founder of Curvesome Yoga, a place for people to enjoy yoga regardless of size, ability or colour. 15 years ago Donna was a very different lady, running herself ragged with a highly stressful job in the City of London that culminated with her contracting Bell's Palsy (Bell's palsy is a temporary weakness or lack of movement affecting 1 side of your face. Symptoms of Bell's palsy include weakness on 1 side of your face, a drooping eyelid or corner of your mouth.

It was through yoga that she initially allowed herself to heal and rebuild her life, on a journey that took her to LA and back to London, where she became a pioneer of the body-positive movement.

I'm replaying this episode from season 2 ( wayyyy back in the summer of 2020) as Donna has a wonderful book out: Teaching Body Positive Yoga: A Guide to Inclusivity, Language and Props. With practical tips, as well as information on social justice and body-positive yoga off the mat, Teaching Body Positive Yoga is a well-rounded resource that gives yoga teachers the confidence to host inclusive and welcoming classes for all. Donna is truly leading the way to ensure that yoga is available to every-BODY, regardless of age, size, ethnicity, ability or gender.

You can check out and purchase her new book here

Follow Donna on Instagram here

Transcript

Speaker A: Hello, hello, my wonderful podcast listeners. Now, before I start today's episode, I really want to talk to you about my brand new newsletter that will be coming out every other Friday for the foreseeable future. Now, this week, I have been talking about the six things that are working for me and my clients right now in ads, and also a few things that I have learned from some amazing ad experts this week. You don't want to miss it. The links will be in my bio as to how you can sign up to get my newsletters. I'd love to see you guys on there. Now, on with the show.

Speaker B: Hello, hello, and welcome to The One Thing, a podcast where I talk to fabulous females about the one thing that made them step out of their comfort zone and change their life for the better. Because it's only by taking brave steps that we truly grow as a person. I'm your host, mum, social media manager and general soul searcher, Vanessa Carlos. And every week, I'll be introducing a small business owner, a blogger or a creative to discuss their One Thing.

Speaker A: This week, I have decided to replay a rather wonderful conversation that I had with Donna Noble back in the summer, I think, of 2020. Donna is a master yogic practitioner and founder of Curvesome Yoga, which you may or may have not seen on Instagram. It's a place for people to enjoy yoga regardless of size, ability or color. 15 years ago, Donna was a very different lady, running herself ragged with a highly stressful job in the city of London that culminated with her contracting Bells palsy. The symptoms in bells palsy include weakness on one side of your face and a drooping eyelid or the corner of your mouth. It was through yoga that she initially allowed herself to heal and rebuild her life on a journey that took her to La and back to London, where she became a pioneer of the body positive movement. Now, Donna has written a book, which is why I'm replaying this episode, which came out in the summer of this year, teaching Body Positive Yoga a guide to inclusivity language and props. And I thought that it would be no better way to celebrate than with this replay. This book is absolutely jam practed with practical tips, as well as information on social justice and the Body Positive Yoga off the mat. Body Positive Yoga is a wellrounded resource that gives yoga teachers the confidence to host inclusive and welcoming classes for all. So if you're a yoga teacher, this is an absolutely vital story for you. If you're not a yoga teacher, it's also a wonderful story of complete transformation. I really, really hope you enjoy it. So before further ado, let me introduce Donna to that one thing.

Speaker B: I'm using computer audio. It's working now. Hello, Donna. Welcome to the month thing.

Speaker C: Hi, Vanessa. Thank you for having me.

Speaker B: I've been wanting to get you on the show for so ****** long now. So this is great. I'm so happy to sit down for a little bit. Right, first things first, I like to get the Covet chat over and done with. How has Lockdown life been for you?

Speaker C: Lockdown life for me is being good. I'm lucky, but I live in my family, so that's not my issue. And secondly, I've been working for out. I was thinking of going online for years and didn't do it. And then Cozy kind of kicked me. The button did it, and then people want my stuff, Vanessa, and I think kind of reaching them, and it allowed me to kind of remodel my business a little bit as well. So, for me, it's been good. I've missed contact with physical people, but Boom has been a lifeline for me, that I've been able to still keep community with my students and meeting some new students. And I never thought that I would say that Zoom could create community. But there's one particular group, we did a 30 day yoga challenge. A lot of them had no experience whatsoever, and we did it live every day. I don't know why I said that, but we did it live every day. 30 minutes.

Speaker B: Wow.

Speaker C: And their journey. And I looked on Instagram and I thought, how come these people know each other from the group? But they changed friendships away from the class, which is so amazing. They become friends now, so we just need to physically get them together physically. And that's the power of Zoom in the community. So, for me, it's been good.

Speaker B: Have you had a bit of Zoom fatigue? Because I have a little bit.

Speaker C: Not today, because this is my third time on the phone and the last few days have been, what's going on? I love it, but it's like a little bit today, I'm I've thinking, been on the screen a little bit too much, but it's in a lifeline for me. I can't do this too much.

Speaker B: I know. Who would have thought, right, that a company like that I mean, they probably never realized either, did they, that it was just coming to its own so much. My God.

Speaker C: And I knew about Zoom years ago, so I used it intermittently. I only have one client on Skype still, but everyone it's Zoom.

Speaker B: I know.

Speaker C: Isn't it?

Speaker B: Isn't it, Justin? It's perfect for this whole thing as well. Absolutely perfect for what I do. Do you reckon there's any habits you're going to keep on during this time?

Speaker C: Yeah, definitely. A lot of my students, like, say that you're still going to keep the classes, so, yeah, definitely online, and that's the way to go. And I think it's allowing me to do different things. So definitely quite a few habits to do. But I still want that external connection. So I may do a few of those cards, but I think a lot of my time now will be online. So I might look at another way, a smarter way, maybe, but then that can evolve in time, but for now, it'll be zoom centric.

Speaker B: Wow. Yeah. I think that's happened with a lot of businesses, hasn't it? If you've kind of grasped it really early on and just thought, you know what, I can make the most of this. And I think the fitness industry is actually, if they haven't got on board quickly, then they've fallen by the wayside to left behind.

Speaker C: Yeah. Because I think the whole world suddenly went on to zoom and then you could see how it kind of sorted itself out. And now we're going for another kind of phase, because with the gyms opening now, you know, some are going back and to getting zoomed, some are doing both. So it's nice to see, I suppose this is going to be forming the new normal in terms of how we engage with exercise or movement, because a lot of my friends who are teachers are going to stay online, because the fact that for me vanessa. I can go downstairs, switch on my zoom, and I'm doing the classroom, I can be cleaning my house vanessa. Whereas before I'd be getting on public application or driving to get back and all that dead time, but now it's made me so much more efficient that I can implement more self care for me as well.

Speaker B: Wow. Yes. I never thought of it like that either. Yeah, exactly. There's no downtime, is there? You can literally just go from a zoom to, I don't know, going outside.

Speaker C: For walking or whatever you want to do. It's very, very good in that. Or go back to bed, you know, get up teaching.

Speaker B: Yeah, I know. Right now, I first came across you in Tamu's wonderful, everyday, joy group, which has just been a massive lifeline for both of us, I'm sure. And you did this Master class, this life changing master class of nourishing movement. Seriously. And one of the things that you said was that you died on that mat, on that yoga mat, and you were reborn. Holy moly. What a phrase. What does yoga mean to you?

Speaker C: Yoga means everything. It's transformed my life. It's healed me. It's a lifestyle. It's everything to me. I can't imagine not doing yoga, but now, so very innocently. It's become an integral part of my life, even like, I don't do it so much now, but I could talk about so much. My friends were being sick of it and I think now they can see the change in me, they get it. So, I don't know, people see the change unless it's somewhere I'm in an environment where that's my thing. I'm talking about yoga. Well, they're there to hear about it. But in terms of my everyday life, I try not to because I love it so much. And my father you always go to yoga, but it's everything. It's changed to me. It's made me a better human being. It's let me see life from a different perspective, let me see that what I was doing wasn't for me. It let me come home to myself to really resonate with what I like, what I don't like, and able to feel it and change it. It's really my graph, it's really my power, and that what I was doing. Vanessa wasn't right for me. Yoga actually on that map, you know, it really does send to me. It really does. It might sound a cliche, but it really does. If I'm out of sync quite a kilter. I know. When I haven't done the yoga, I just get on the mat and just stretch out. I've got time just to really connect my mind with my body and just really move away from the external distractions that may be going on and come back to feeling myself from the inside out.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yes. It kind of keeps you centered, right? Absolutely. I think one of the main things I took from it is that I've always had a bit of a weird feeling towards exercise. It's always been a punishment for me.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: And you kind of changed my mind in that it can actually be a nurturing thing for your body rather than a punishment. And yeah. I mean, I'm a runner, so I'm always like, right, I'm going to run this off. I'm going to run off all these bad feelings. And it was like a punishment. But I think just being able to move and move well, it's actually a form of self care.

Speaker C: Indeed.

Speaker B: That was revolutionary. Seriously.

Speaker C: No, people don't realize that, Vanessa, because movement seems to be embraced by the well being. Well, not well being, the fitness industry. And you're doing it to achieve something, but move because you want to. We're born to move. We're either moving not to be prey or moving to get our fundamental existence is to move. You stop a child from moving, Vanessa, what happens?

Speaker B: Oh, holy this is not even funny. Seriously.

Speaker C: And that's what I meant to do. But then we've got a very sensory lifestyle now, and we're moving because we hate it, so I don't like it. So all we become then, Vanessa, is an automobile just to move our head, because we move it. So that's what we're doing. We're just transporting our head around, you know, if we don't tune into it. And movement can be so it can be just dancing because you want to. It can be anything. I remember when I worked in my corporate life, I used to be stressed very quickly, and I thought, how come if I did, that what I was doing? Friday, straight afterward, I was going to Zumba classes.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: So the movement and content on the dance step just cleared my brain, like, reset me to forget the week. I very quickly was able to unwind, and I didn't realize that was happening at that time, and I loved it. That the joy of just dancing and you're just feeling my body. And then yoga was, for me, what really was key to me slowing down and really connecting with my body, feeling the body. In the beginning, it wasn't like that at all. I used to like everyone else after class. Sebastiana new line there. Didn't want to be afraid to connect with myself. Yoga mat up, rushed to work. But now I try and have those two minutes there on the map just to let everything that I've done dream that class, just have time to step in my body. Yeah, and it's just slowing down. That's what it makes you do. And it's unlike any other form of movement or exercise because it's the only real one. I think we actually connect the mind and body, if you like yourself.

Speaker B: Yeah, I suppose so. I suppose so. I have a weird thing with yoga, but we'll talk about that later. We're going to slowly ease into your one thing now. So take us back to Donna pre yoga. What was Corporate Donna like?

Speaker C: Corporate Donna was to begin with, I was very much I didn't care. I flew by the seat of my pants. If I didn't like a job, I'd leave the job. And my leaving didn't get a phone call. That job, you went, well, you got it. Okay, fine. I saw a Monday. So then I think I was already going with the flow, but didn't realize it. But everyone was like, don't, you can't keep doing that. You can't live in your car. He's going to pay for a house. And then I started to conform to what my family and society was telling me to do. So I then went through the management route. I came from a computer background computing. So I became very logical. So I think the creative one just went because of the job I was doing. It was very logical. There's a problem I did in a very logical sense. So that was me. Apparently. I was very stern. It's like, I've got to do this club management. You've got to do it. I was very stern, very fair, but very stern in terms of job. Very good at my job. I saw my friend every day, said, if you were sitting in corporate, you'd be an It head now or something like that. Really? But you have to give that up because of your illness. But so it was very good. I had a very quick brain. You could give me anything, Vanessa, and I could learn it. And if I ever did a job, it wasn't like if I was a PA. It wasn't just doing a PA role. I'd have more like writing. I'd do basic copywriting, or the job will be more because I could do so much more if I like the job. If I was bored, I conversed. It to stay, then be really bad at. I remember someone saying someone to sack me because I was just typing documents in a construction company, Temping, and I hated it and apparently my work was riddled with Erica. I was chatting to my mate and then, but this one leaves on her alone and I didn't know that years after, it's like, leave her alone, because he obviously liked me and protected me in that respect. So it was so nice to know that my personality saved me in a number of jobs, but I was very cheeky teaching my friends as well. They'll tell you when I first started my career, I didn't care, Vanessa. I was out all the time with the job, I'd be on the phone, my boss would come out after you on the phone, it's like, that was me. It wasn't like until it became serious and I had fun advertising, very fun industry, so I've been in a number of industries, so very, very different. But when I went to work in the city, I think that's when it became a little bit soldier strand, where you have to conform to particular way and not want to stand out. So I began to assimilate a little bit more and not really be true to me.

Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. And being a woman in a predominantly man's world, you do kind of get that masculine energy constantly, don't you?

Speaker C: And I think maybe I started not to be deliberately, you know, you have to be very strong, so you kind of then lose that femininity to fit in, to be strong, for sure. You're a manager of men as well, just to understand your ground as well, so, yeah, I believe that very much, yeah.

Speaker B: Now, I always have this thing where I try and work out what people are, whether they're a head or a heart or a gut person. And part of me reckons that you used to be head, totally head, and now you're more heart, maybe. Do you think yoga has made you a heart person?

Speaker C: Yeah, I think heart and intuition and very pro and pro. Because of my journey, I didn't plan it, it was organic, so I had to go. That's why I go with the flow a lot, because going with the heart and yoga allowed me to do it and I think I had it a little bit, but it was squashed out of me and I became very hard. But then I've been able to come back to that, so very much so. You're right. Yes.

Speaker B: Love a heart person. So do you reckon it was the stress of your job? Because it sounds like massively stressful, but bought on the Bell's palsy.

Speaker C: Yes. At the time, I would have said no way. I did say it was viral because I think there was the option it was stress or viral, I said it was viral many years later, I believe. Now, looking back at how I am now, how I was then, and the stress I was under. Yeah, I believe it was definitely stress. I think it was the wake up call. I needed to see that where I was was unsustainable. So I think that was my body's message to me that you have to slow down.

Speaker B: So what is Bell's Palsy for people that don't know what exactly happened to you? Because at the moment, I can just see a lovely face.

Speaker C: Basically what happened is went to bed one night, woke up and discovered that the right foot of my face was drooping. So I thought I had stroke. The people I spoke to, and she said, no, it's not a stroke, because it would be the entire right for the body. And then I rang my boss, I'm not coming, and told him what I had, and he said, I think you've got Bills forces. So he diagnosed it. So I went on the Internet and actually Googled it and he was right. All the symptoms, he told me that it was attributed to it. I was displaying them. So I actually went to a doctor who confirmed that it was both Pause I had it for about five years. It was five years where it was dormant because at that time, no one knew very much about it.

Speaker B: And the man I know, I had no idea.

Speaker C: Yeah. And it was yoga again that allowed me to heal. I think my body did. And that's why I'm so body positive now, because my body, the face was dormant. And through holistic treatments and with yoga, my face started to come back by having that break and leaving that environment. Then the change happens and my body almost like, shut itself down because I was feeling that environment for a while. And then when I started my yoga journey properly, that's when the healing started to come back. And my voice changed and come back.

Speaker B: Well, because I had a little Google myself, because I had no idea what it was. And it says that it's stress that weakens your immune system and damages the 7th cranial nerve or the facial nerve. So it actually causes a paralysis in your face?

Speaker C: It does, yeah. And there's varying degrees of it. And I look back on the doctor's notes, I think I've got the paperwork and my case was very severe. When I thought I was blinking my eye, it was just my people going back up. When it took, people told me that when you blink, it wasn't entirely closing because the muscles basically just attropied. They just, like, died. So there was no movement in my space. It was really acupuncture as well. Okay, help me to get back, because somebody said to me, do you want to heal? And I said, of course I want to heal. And it's like, well, try acupuncture. I said, I've tried it before. I tried it with somebody. I think they were a physio, and they did, like a weekend course, so nothing happened. They said, no, go to this individual, and it's Lola, and she's a certified Acupuncture. I went to her and I remember and I went there not even really about the face. I think I really did. You know, it's about my knee, because I issued my knee in cheaper me in the face of the canon. She said, Donald, you've been dominant for some time. I can't promise that won't make any change or anything with the face. I said, okay, let's give it a go. And the very next morning after treatment, I got tingling in my face. So I knew whatever she done, it had an impact. I got that treatment and she said if I come to her, like, instantly, my recovery would have been sooner. But because it had been dormant for so long, it was just getting the signals, like the nerves to regenerate and stuff like that.

Speaker B: Wow, that's incredible. So you think, okay, so your body was kind of working against you at that time, and it's only through those alternative things that actually worked for you. Wow.

Speaker C: Definitely.

Speaker B: Why do you think we place such high expectations on ourselves? And it's almost like there's a tick list that we need to be happy. Why do you think that is?

Speaker C: Because we're looking for happiness. And we're told by society that happiness is the house, the car, the job, and the only way you can achieve that, according to society, is through the hustle. So it's working hard, and then you're in a job, there's pressures in a job, there's a redundancy. So you start working on the hours. It could be the management, because unfortunately, your output is measured by the time you're there. They don't deem that I could do my work in half a day and go home. You have to sit there. And the looks you get, Vanessa, if you get up to go home on time, it's like you're leaving early. And it's like, I'm just doing my hours. It's the pressure. It's the pressure of work, and it's just our society. And for me, what also changed was the introduction of us being given mobile phones and the BlackBerry. A little red light would come on. You say, I'm not going to tell you. Come on automatically. And you get that email and it upset you. And then your weekend was ruined because you wanted to respond to it. And then people then thought they had more access to you because they gave you that device, which I never wanted, but it's like, oh, you're managing. You have to have it. And it became another issue because it's like, you know, your management, you need to be accessible all the time, needs access to you, and then your work life starts to increase and the work life balance diminishes.

Speaker B: I think that's been another good thing about Lockdown, is that everybody that has been in a job like that has actually been forced to work from home.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: I mean, I don't know whether those email stop. You know that tyranny of the Friday night email when you're like, oh, for God's sake, seriously, could you have left that till Monday morning, please?

Speaker C: But I think listening to the news that in some instances people are working longer because they were starting work earlier and finishing later again, because again, the threat of jobs, because the uncertainty yeah, I know they're working, so I don't know, but I know that there have been some reports of that.

Speaker B: Yeah. I have to admit, I've spoken to my brother who works in the City of London and he hasn't stopped at all. Essentially got worse for him, if anything. So, yeah, stuff still needs to change, right? Oh, my goodness. Anyway, we're going to completely leave the City of London now and we are going to go to La baby.

Speaker C: La baby.

Speaker B: I'm really interested in your time in La. Tell me all about it. Start from the beginning. What?

Speaker C: Basically, I didn't plan to become a yogi, but what happened at the time Redundancy was being offered. So even though I've been ill excuse me. I still hadn't got the message to leave because I was very comfortable as you get in your job. And then eventually my turn. I think there were three iterations of Redundancy, and the last time we were going into the big auditorium and we knew it was coming again, and then clearing line, they put the old chart up and then a new one, and my job was no longer there, so I knew I was up Redundancy. Yeah, that's the way they did it. Very crucial. But the time before there was the X Factor moment. We went into one room, make sure you went into the right rooms. So one room was your job was safe, one was your job may not be safe and one, your job wasn't. The way they refined it, but those are the sort of ways they did it. So when that was happening, I still was going to go back into corporate life because that's what I knew. And yoga was something I was going to do when I retired because my family aren't very fit and then they sit in front of the team and I can't imagine myself doing that. So my kind of plan B was yoga when I retired, but the universal whatever. Vanessa had different plans for me. I came at that time and I was doing a master NLP practitioner course for the trainers. And she said, what's going on with you? I said, I thought not to do I'm in this dilemma with the job. She said, you actually do not want to? I said no, I don't. Unconscious that you do when you talk about yoga, you light up. And then in that second, it was almost like, okay, well, I'll do I'll finish the course I'm doing right now. And Bicker yoga was the hot yoga at the time, no pun intended. So I thought, I don't want to go out and stuff on my own, but what I can do is go to La, finish what I'm doing now, go to La and study for nine weeks. So the nine weeks training and come back to London, because they were all students all over London, but I could just come back and teach, so that was my plan. The redundancy happens in September. I took the rest of the year off and then we're just working towards going to La in the apostles. It was total dump, wasn't planned, it was like in that window of pursuit, that's when it came out. So I planned. So I went Vanessa on my own on this plane. If you said to me that before I'd be even going to yoga training, like, no, I'm going on my own on a plane. Really not hurt of. So I got there. Vanessa loved the training, was in this yoga bubbled, 430 plus other yogis from about different countries, and loved the yoga experience. There were times when I died, but it made me an experience I would never regret. And I remember I was going to go off to a couple of the places Americans and go, so I was going to teach for two weeks and then come back so you can get some training experience out there. It's going to be easy and come back here, all your friends want to come to your first class, but it puts you off. I said, I can't do that. And the Dow was graduating. The girl that I was going to work with said, I'm not going to go anymore. She blew me out. I thought, I'm not going to go to this remote country and do it. So my friends said, Donna, just enjoy yourself. And then they said, well done. And you had that opportunity in New York and they want you for three months. But he said, no, you weren't going to stay that long. And it's like, why are you going to go back to London? Why not ring them back up as you can go? And I just said, yeah, I rang them up. As long you can come down on Monday, change your flight. And I did that. So watched it being a twelve week experience. Vanessa told me for six months. So I went to New York, then I went to Dallas and I went to Texas and taught there and my family would have dragged me back. My visa ran out. That's the reason why I came up. My house was here, empty. I didn't even let it out because it shows that it was so it was unsigned. So I went there. I loved it. And that's why I really think I found my love of yoga, because you teach, there's so many different bodies. There and they were so welcome, especially Texas. Texas. Everything's huge. Yeah, everybody's so leveraged you're in a car and it's like they're over there and it's like, oh my God, I meet up in London. But I really loved it. And they embraced me. I remember they teased me, but I loved it. I have to go back because they mentored me. I've made some lifelong friends that I actually loved it. And it gave me this a biblical that I would never maybe have had in my life. Just going there for that time and just starting to find my way in this new career. And I came back and I was able to find work straight away. But then it was like after about a year, it's like, well, I like the Yogi lifestyle, but I got the corporate deals and lifestyle, and it's like I was maybe thinking of going back, but then fortunately curse. I never kind of started to come through a little bit because I read an article about a Kirby journalist, Deborah Kochlin, read about experience that she was stared at because of her size and ignored by the teacher. And I thought, that's not the only kept talking about it, Vanessa. My friends are like, well, shut up or do something about it. And it was like, well, what can I do? And I had a coach at the time, and she could see that I was passionate about this. What you can do then is find a name. And I like the word wholesome. I thought wholesome yoga is something that people know. It's slightly different. I thought it's like bread. It's like wholesome yoga bread. So I thought then what I'd done was deal with every permutation of curvy. I like the word curvy. And Kirby girl. Kirby yogurt gone. I thought, oh, I love the **** when you put curb and then some together.

Speaker B: Yes, I love that word.

Speaker C: And that's how it came about. And I still didn't even know if what I was doing was needed. And so and for years, my friends were like, Donna really good at what you do. You need to go and have get a stand of the option. If I went, I'd go, and I'd be looking at the close majority. I wouldn't be looking at the training course, anything like that. And I first got it all the material. But this year, that year, actually, I got started bringing them up and find out the cost of the stand. And I had no budget for this. I must fill up my chair with the cost. And it was like, oh, you know. So weeks later, I was driving. I had to park it, and I had an epitome, and it was like, Why don't you crowdfund it? Isn't it?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: So I had a friend in America that was kind of doing a similar thing or something, and I messaged her and said, do you think I can do this. And she said, what's crowdfunding? Because they call it something different, something else. And I told you, inspire me. And I think that one word was like, I let her down. I would have gone home and dismissed the idea, but I went home and I set the page up straight away when I was at the time of liaison with Lisa Riley, because I was looking for ambassadors for cursing yoga to say, because I'm not curvy. And I thought the best way is to have people that are Kirby to Kirby students, that can attract people to say, look, I can do this too. And she gave me, I think, like £200. She donated straight away. And I told her, cause I want to just share it. And I got the money within two weeks.

Speaker B: Wow, that's incredible. Just reminds me who Lisa Riley is again.

Speaker C: She's back in emmerdale. She was an Emerald years ago, back in now, and she did Strictly Come Dancing, one of those programs with the biggest the funny videos. I think.

Speaker B: You'Ve been praying types.

Speaker C: Yes, I think she did it for a while, so I'm not sure. Don't quit me. That yes, she did that, but that's when Lisa Riley is the actress.

Speaker B: Okay, well, we'll have to find a link for people to can't remember who later.

Speaker C: She's currently on Emmel right now.

Speaker B: Okay, most people do.

Speaker C: I mean, I'm going back. And then basically, I went to the other show. I signed up so late that I wasn't even in the program, and I was in Alexandria Palace. So you had to walk the entire Circumference to find me. And the response I got, Vanessa, was hugs, tears, any person here that's dealing catering to anyone over size twelve. And I kind of knew in that moment that what I was doing was needed in the UK.

Speaker B: There you go. Because you were a pioneer of this stuff before the Body posey movement, obviously there was people crying out. And I think, you know what, for me, yoga has always seemed quite an elitist thing. Especially, I mean, I've seen the Netflix show, I've seen the La girls and boys and they're amazing bodies and what they can do with them. And for me, who's just like an average shape, I look at that and I think, there's no way I could I could do that, let alone for someone who's maybe like a size 2022. So, yeah, for you to kind of say, yes, you can, is incredible.

Speaker C: And that was back in 2015, and I got a lot of pushback initially because no one knew I was behind Curse on Yoga initially was hiding, and it was like, whoa, how can you teach the curb the women if you're not Kirby? And then it wasn't until someone actually said, well, you'd have to be gay to advocate gay rights, and then that was it. And it's like you're trying to pigeonhole me that I can only teach to certain people because of the way I looked. And I thought, that's really silly, but I did it. Yes. We've been around now since 2015, and now my students are finding me, even though anyone can come to my class, but the students can come. And there are students that size 20, and they can do things I can't do because there are people on Instagram like Jessamine Stanley, Dana, Salsai, and they can do wonderful things with their bodies. And it just proves and I use their imagery. I teach my students look like looking me like, well, whatever. I showed them the imagery, and they just come on the map. Vanessa and a display. And then they are really and not only mentally, but physically, because what they are able to do, what I try to do is show that the real yoga from you take it off your mat in your everyday life. And I say to them, they call it Donna isms. They said, you cannot visit. But what can you do to leave behind your head? A party trick, maybe you know how to control your breath or become aware of your breath. You can then tell you're being stressed, and you can slow it down and calm it down. You stop the body from going into the flight or flight mode. Flight mode. And that's what you can learn from the yoga. The fact that if you go on your mat and you want to just lie there, you know, your body's, you're tired. You start listening to your body. You start cultivating my body connection, and you start coming home, like me to yourself, because then you begin to realize, oh, I'm around Vanessa. I don't like, what's that? You know, and I can go back and say, oh, wait a minute, Vanessa, she's negative.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker C: Then I become negative because I start getting into whatever you're talking about, and you bring me down. And then you can start to let go. You keep saying letting go of things, and it's people things that aren't serving you well, but you begin to realize what those things are. You don't belong. You go through life just existing, not realizing, why am I continue to upset or not happy or depressed? You begin to realize that. And the thing for me is that it's all about mindset as well. And if you can change the mindset I tell my kids all the time the fact that you can be in a traffic jam, and you're like, how the horn trying to get from A to B and you'll get your stress, and then you can just think, you know what? I've had the chance to really relax this thing. Let me just turn the music on and just be here saying, situation, nothing's changed in your mindset about it and what you're doing with it. And that shows that whatever we need, Vanessa is already in USA.

Speaker B: Yeah, that's lovely. Yes, it is. It's already in us. And you're just getting movement into that too, right?

Speaker C: Yeah, because what we find because movement and even today I found someone on even I need to try their class, ashro Beats Yoga and the movement class, it's like, I need to try this. If I'd be like, no, it's all about yoga. Very rigid. But now it's all about movement, about bluity. Because with making my classes accessible, I have to be creative with how I break those postures down. That when someone comes to my class that they can do the posture in whatever way they can, but I can assist them with telling them what they can do to help make the posture more accessible for their body.

Speaker B: OK, right. So that would mean that it wouldn't necessarily be a slow movement. You would also get a bit more kind of into it.

Speaker C: It's still conventional in most sense. But what I do, I challenge my students at the moment, allowing my students to try crow pose, which is an arm balance in posture. And they were like in the beginning, no, we can't do that. But they're starting to work towards it and they've seen how their body is changing, how their body is getting stronger. So they're trusting their body more. They trusted me. The first thing they did when they got on to the map or came to my car, they trusted me. And I told them that I could trust their body because I'll let them do a backbend and they'll see how deep their back ben is making. Oh, I didn't do that. They could just see if they come and play and explore how they I couldn't deep drink Kobe, but what I normally would just go behind them, just put my hand behind them. I'll be nowhere near them. They didn't know that. But having that safe in it or thinking that safe and it was there, they'd come back. And then you can really tell when they go deep because they come and they're like windy and, you know, okay, they've really opened the front slide. They've opened their heart, they've opened their throat. We don't want to do that. Then it's because they're hunched over a desk or computer to enclose our heart, because we feel vulnerable. But when they start embracing that, you can see they start to embrace their body and embrace who they are.

Speaker B: So you'd feel winded, really.

Speaker C: You go back so deep and then you actually and you can either go, yeah, it's not enough, and they go, yeah. And they come up again and they really opened up. Or you can just they say that exer when they come up because they hold their breath, because they did the other they're tight and they what they believe. And then after a while, Vanessa, they're doing it on their own. They're going deeper. And I said, do you see the floor this time on the back? And they say, yeah, they're seams further because their body is opening more.

Speaker B: Wow, I need to try now. I said.

Speaker C: You do. Can you welcome to come along? But yeah, and then what I do as well, because I found that still a lot of people wouldn't come to class because this body, yoga body that people see, and people think, if you don't see someone looking like you, why are you going to try it? You know, representation for me really does matter, really is key. And then what I've done or do as I say, it's a complete beginners classified to sort of say. And I think I'd want no yoga experience required. So I took it right down, you don't have anything to come into my class. And I even actually then put out a class who still weren't coming, especially during Kobe, still weren't coming. I knew they were out there wanting to come to yoga, but they still fearful. And I actually said, if you're oversized, 16, and then everyone's back to come again.

Speaker B: There you go. There you go. Yeah. Because I think the first and only time I went to yoga, first and only time I remember going and just thinking, oh, my God, everybody knows what they're doing and I don't. So that's obviously my fear of failure.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: So, God, I should have been in your career.

Speaker C: But failure is feedback.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker C: It's not failure. So you need to change your thinking. It's feedback because we're all going to fall out. And I tell them that from the first class. I say, you're going to fall out. It's okay. Getting back is being yogi. And then they'll hold the cross for longer. And then after a few weeks and I'll say and they came with all the excuse. And I say, who's. So they couldn't balance. Who said they couldn't do this? And they start smiling because they're doing all the things they say they couldn't do. Because yoga for me, allows you to realize your body's true and full potential. Because how are you going to know when it's what your body can do if you don't do anything? If you're just moving around every single day, you won't know. You can maybe do a deep back then, or touch your toes, unless you do this. You shoelaces up, but then come in to the class, or even balancing one leg. I can't balance. I can't balance because I sincerely believe that we're born yogis. You know, children or babies are doing moderate in the womb. You know, happy baby pose. When they want a baby on their back with their big toe in their mouth, happy baby pose. So that shows us where bone yoga is our environment and the way we are. We're sitting at desk all the time, so our hips start to become tighter. We can't spot anymore. So our body is starting to change. If anyone's got children, get them, let them move, because they're going to lose it. I say if you don't use it you lose it and that's the same with children. They start to lose it after I'm not quite sure what age but maybe 910 the body starts to form and start to get title ridden and that's why I was really shocked now that there are teenagers that are really quite stiff because they're not moving as much no they're not.

Speaker B: Are they?

Speaker C: Yeah exactly.

Speaker B: Computer games will take over their life completely right.

Speaker C: So we've seen that more.

Speaker B: And more now yeah absolutely. Do you think your NLP really helps with your yoga too because you're bringing an extra dimension to this?

Speaker C: Yeah definitely I've gone away from the NLP, I may still bring it in.

Speaker B: There but I know I can see.

Speaker C: You are I'm a bit more when I say woo woo I go sort of beyond that now.

Speaker B: Nice.

Speaker C: What I do Vanessa and that's why because of my bills palsy and I had the very visible illness I realized how powerful and strong my body is and I realize that your body is you know we take our body for grateful born with this we don't realize it's true potential but through yoga I bring you back to that and I bring that in class because a lot of people come on some and they hate their bodies for whatever reason and I say appreciate your body for what it is and you're perfect as you are let go of any thoughts. Any part of your body they're stopping you from believing you're perfect.

Speaker B: Oh my goodness that's wonderful. I'm going to be putting the curves from yoga in all the podcast notes so everybody will be able to click on there and see what you're up to. You've got a twelve week yoga program starting when?

Speaker C: Well if I get the information that I'm registered I'm putting it oh don't.

Speaker B: Worry because this might not go out for a bit.

Speaker C: I think it's going to be maybe middle to end of August is the launch date that we're going to try and do it's a twelve week program and what's going to be vanessa it's going to be one week of yoga and one week of coaching so it's bringing the two together. Nice small groups you just come with whatever but life spraying at you we can discuss it there as well and hopefully I'll be able to impart like my journey how I like to go with the flow and how I just play at life but I'm invariably now frame the dice doesn't always give me sixes but it's like that's life but at least I play at life because if I plan the life that I thought I deserve I want to be doing what I'm doing now and I.

Speaker B: Used to be stuck in an office.

Speaker C: My new wealth is my health and that's what you showed me and smaller things that you have I've got more time with my family. My friends. I'm in more control of my life. And that's what I want to show anyone out there that's thinking of they're afraid to make that change. It's just trusting. Because I believe our path, Vanessa, already mapped out for us. And when we get in our own, we believe that in six months, I want a big house. The house may come anyway, but the fact that you put a timeline on it, if you don't achieve it, it's going to make you upset. You're going to believe that you're a failure for that set. So those are the things, the pressure we put on ourselves, we don't have to. And I do something called the Free Principles, and I'm bringing that in there. The three P's believes this. It's about your mind, your thoughts on your consciousness. Your mind is like the sky burnesses always there, like our mind is always there. And some days you get nice fluffy clouds that come and go and those are your thoughts. And you got dark clouds, but we never attached to the light, fluffy clouds. When we're happy, it's the dark clouds and we start going down whatever else unravels there. And our consciousness like a Star Wars movie. Our thoughts make up our reality.

Speaker B: Yes. Yes, absolutely.

Speaker C: If we believe that we can control our thoughts, and we can Vanessa, we can change our reality. We do have that power, but not a lot of us know it or believe it and attach to that. It's like me. I've had so many times now where things have happened for a reason and I doubt it sometimes it's a silly thing. Sometimes. Like one day, my car wasn't working proper enough to get to the hairdressers very quickly and I thought, I shouldn't drive the car, I'm going to test it. So I said, I asked you not to my way and helped the sun. It was like, no, don't drive the car. I wasn't happy. The answer, let me fix the coin. The coin was like, no, best for free. It was like rent and drove the car. Vanessa car broke down. Oh, my God. I said, you told me what to do and I ignored it. And I just had to laugh because I knew I trust the person that was in a hurry and I wasted more time. So what I was trying to say never happened because I spent more time having to wait for the AA to pick me up and bring me back home or whatever. So it was more hassle than it was. So I really do trust the process. And that's why with Kobe, I embraced what was happening. And my business is changing because it's the waste mint of them. I know whatever I'm doing when necessary in my heart. And I'm just maybe not teachers much, but I'm teaching teachers now how to be body positive, because everyone's now trying to make their classes more accessible, and that without me planning that. I don't really set goals. I have kind of little plans that.

Speaker B: I was going to ask you. Do you set goals anymore?

Speaker C: Not really.

Speaker B: Nice.

Speaker C: But if I did, Vanessa, then things wouldn't happen, if that makes sense. I want you to see what I want to do. I'm not saying, like, next year, I have dreams where I want to be, and it's really happening right now because it's like this and all these things and I'm like, stunned, but all my friends have gone to me. You put the foundations down. So now those rewards are starting to come now, and I think I'm being more visible, which is something I keep hiding. And it's like, share what you need to share more of myself. And I'm starting to do that. And that's why I'm here today. And that taught me more and more because everyone said, oh, my God, you've got a story to tell, a really inspirational story to tell. And someone told me if you wrote a book, I'd buy that book. Because my path and my journey and just how I've recovered and how I love life now, I play with life now and with the free principle, it shows me that I believe that I am part of something bigger than me, in me. And if I trust whatever it is, then I'm not going to be lost or come to any harm in that respect. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be the illness or the illness for me. And I don't think I would change the illness, because without the illness, Vanessa, I wouldn't have changed that path. I'd still be maybe now doing what I was still doing. So it gave me that wake up call, and I look in a way that I could have gone to bed that night and died, Vanessa, but I had a second chance.

Speaker B: There you go.

Speaker C: We only have one life. It's not just rehearsal. So we need to play at life. Nothing to lose. Nothing to lose, but so much more to gain. And we have these comforts and that's why even on the yoga math, when they won't try so they'll tell you they won't try certain postures, but I just give a gun. They give a gun. They're stunned. And I say, so whenever you're out in your everyday life and an opportunity comes to you, think, no going to dismiss it, don't dismiss it, give it a go. Because what have you got to lose?

Speaker B: Yes, what have you got to lose? You've got to tell us actually these three principles, because I'm sure there's going to be people that are going to be pausing this podcast to write them down. So tell us now, what those people?

Speaker C: It's like a mindset thing, but basically it's a way that I live your mind, your thought and your consciousness, right? So basically, for me, the way I tune into myself and I believe that in our brains. We got, like, this band going on all the time. This band? Band bang.

Speaker B: Oh, yeah.

Speaker C: With yoga and with the free principles as well. There's a cello in the background, but the noise is too much. And every once in a while, when you stop the noise and connect to the silence, you hear the cello. And then it's when you come up with an inspired idea. Where the hell does that come from? It's always in you. You have this innate wisdom that's always there, but we don't connect. And that's why yoga can do so. And with the free principles, the reason I love it and now, where I got to Cosign was they had a program called Create the Impossible in 90 Days. And it was like, it didn't matter what it was. It could be something impossible. Mine was like, tripling my income. And there's a deep backBed in yoga I want to do, and I come with what the third thing is. But during that time, because I thought I'd lost my creativity, because I thought, I just can't function or do anything but in that curve. And yoga started. And my coach at the time noticed I kept talking about cursing, with, dismissing. She's donna the universe is giving me stuff. She goes, you're living the free principle. I love you because you have an idea, you just do it. You don't care. You just get out there and do it.

Speaker B: I see that, yeah.

Speaker C: And she said, you're living the free principle. We have to learn that. But you're doing it. And at the time, she could see, she said, Donald, it's like you have a garden and you throw a bunch of seeds out there and some will whither. They're like ideas, but some will come free and becomes clear which one it is. And my one at the time becoming cursed on yoga, but I didn't see at the time, I like shiny things, so it's like I've gone off to the new thing and I want to forget that.

Speaker B: Get the shiny thing.

Speaker C: And I'm so glad that she did that because it came through and I'm able to help people in ways that I couldn't do. Vanessa I always wanted to change the world and I couldn't understand what to say. Be the change you want to see in the world. And I still understand that now. I still say to my friends, you're not little lodon. I'm a little loadonna from southwest London who's just doing things to help where I can see that it's needed. Yeah. And I get called certain names now. It's like, when did I become that? But obviously, I suppose by doing I'm getting these labels, but I'm still I'm not saying, look at them. I'm still donna just in this world to try and make it more accessible, more diverse for everybody, because I think everyone deserves to be seen. Everyone should love their body because their body is an amazing, amazing tool and we need to appreciate that. We need to move because we love our bodies. And once you do that, touch your body and it's an everyday joy. It's even to go deeper, like to dance and get out of my head. But the yoga path has allowed me to do that in that respect. Even like now the Afraid Beat, if I'd be like, you can't mix these yogas up, but now it's like, you know, if it makes me move, whatever. And I can bring it into my students so they can get out of their head and allow them to do things they wouldn't do. And that's what I do. Vanessa, I challenge myself that I won't say, Vanessa, come to my class. And I know you find it struggle because I won't be that hypocrite. Because I do things to challenge myself that I can then emphasize and empathy with you and understand what you're going through. I'm in your shoes as well. Because I'm putting myself out of my comfort and I still do it. Because I don't understand when that person come onto the class or that students come to the class for the very first time that I understand what they're going through, I can meet them where.

Speaker B: They are changing the world one backbend at a time. Donna, use that one.

Speaker C: I felt like that one.

Speaker B: Yes. God, I need to even just try a backbend to be fair.

Speaker C: We were doing wheel and is it crab?

Speaker B: Yeah, that's it. That's it. Now, something else you've been involved in is the UK's first black fitness festival. Tell us when this is happening and what are you doing in this?

Speaker C: What we're doing, basically it's a fitness festival that's going to highlight black fitness festivals. Anyone can turn up hope. It's going to be taking place on the 19 September. It's going to be online. It was going to be in a physical space, but because of COVID we've had to put that part that's on one side for next year. But that's going to try and do this all wellbeing events, wellbeing classes and also being to encourage the black community because we're finding they're not getting on the mats or getting into classes to encourage them to come and experience wellness and fitness. Because with COVID is what it's highlighted, that they're a high percentage of the black community that are more prone.

Speaker B: Yes, I know. Absolutely.

Speaker C: This will help us to address that as well.

Speaker B: Absolutely. I mean, I can't believe this is the first one, if I'm honest with you, that this is the first one that's actually happening.

Speaker C: I don't think anyone challenged us on that, but I think it is going to be the first one. Yeah.

Speaker B: Wow. Well, that's going to also be in the podcast notes. My God, Donna, I have completely changed my mind about yoga. I just feel like I need to go right now and I'm. Sure everybody else is going to be feeling the same. And I can't believe we got to the end already. This is mental. Thank you so much for all your wonderful words of wisdom and your wonderful story. It's incredible. Now we always have this one question that I ask people, and if there was anything that you'd wish you'd done or you still wish to do, but you've just got overcome the fear of it, and your answer was brilliant. Of course I wish I trusted the process of life sooner, stop my beating heart.

Speaker C: But then I believe as well that things happen for a reason. But I got there in the end, so, you know, and I'm glad I had people that said that trust the process and being like, what do you mean, trust the process? But I very much know what it means now. So, yes. So that's my one thing.

Speaker B: Yes. And the process is working for you one backbend at a time, and I'm.

Speaker C: Going to go and try a backbend.

Speaker B: I know exactly. There's another hashtag for you, if there ever was. My goodness. Right, Donna, I'm going to let you get on because this is your third zoom of the day and I think that's more than enough.

Speaker C: Thank you. Thank you for having me. It's an absolute pleasure.

Speaker B: Oh, I've loved it, I've loved it, I've loved it. I'll see you very, very soon on it.

Speaker C: Yeah. I hope you've seen the max soon, Vanessa.

Speaker B: Oh, my God. Yeah, you're going to get me in there. I'm going to sign up.

Speaker C: Excellent. Thank you, Vanessa.

Speaker B: Take care of my darling. Bye now.

Speaker C: Bye bye.

Speaker A: Hello. Welcome back. You've made it to the end. I really, really hope you enjoyed that conversation with Donna. As usual, everything that we spoke about in this conversation will be in the podcast notes, including her new book, which I spoke about at the beginning of our conversation. Please go along and have a look at those and enjoy them. If you're listening to this and it's half term, I'm giving you the warmest virtual hug that I possibly can. I hope you're managing okay. I hope it's all going smoothly. And remember, it's just a week and they'll be back in school before you know it. Now, next week, I'm going to do a bite size episode and this episode is going to be super, super useful. If you are either running ads at the moment and they're not quite working how you want them to, or you're thinking about running ads maybe in the next few months or so and you just need a few pointers because I'm going to be talking about my five strategies for Facebook ad success. So tune in next week and I really, really hope you enjoy the episode, but for now, I will see you again. And bye bye.

Speaker B: Thank you so much for listening to that one thing. And please don't forget to rate review and subscribe. It really helps to get my little podcast into the universe. And I'll be forever grateful.