Jack Westerholt on Bhagavad Gita, Bhakti Yoga, Yamas & Holistic Practice

Jack Westerholt is a dedicated yoga practitioner and instructor based in Dallas, Texas. As a passionate advocate for a holistic yoga practice inclusive of asanas, pranayamas, and meditation, Jack integrates a wealth of knowledge from spiritual texts such as the Bhagavad Gita into his teachings. He has been influenced by renowned teachers like Dharma Mittra and explores various facets of yoga, including Bhakti and Jnana paths. Jack is also actively involved in the vibrant yoga community at YogaZama and brings a rich background in marketing and advertising into his approach to yoga education.

Visit Jack here: https://www.instagram.com/jackwesterholt/

Key Takeaways:

• Integration of Spiritual Study: Jack underscores the role of texts like the Bhagavad Gita in deepening yoga practice, emphasizing the Jnana path or the knowledge path.
• Holistic Practice Approach: Incorporating meditation, pranayama, and asanas, Jack maintains that a balanced practice enhances spiritual and personal growth.
• Power of Devotion: Jack discusses Bhakti Yoga and the joy of serving the divine within and outside us, highlighting how devotion removes ego and expectations.
• Teaching Challenges and Rewards: The episode explores the diverse experiences and growth gleaned from teaching yoga in different environments, emphasizing authenticity and patience.
• Personal Growth and Reflection: Jack shares insights on self-improvement, focusing on the continuous journey of being better each day while letting past challenges serve as lessons.

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Transcript

Todd McLaughlin: 0:33

Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. So happy you are here. My goal with this channel is to bring inspirational speakers to the mic in the field of yoga, massage, bodywork, and beyond. Follow us at @ Native Yoga and check us out nativeyogacenter.com. All right, let's begin. Hello, welcome to Native Yoga Toddc ast. I love doing this show, and it's because I have special guests like Jack Westerholt to bring to you today. Go follow him. Go on his description below Instagram at @ Jack Westerholt, and also he teaches at a studio in Texas called Yogazama. So I want to give a little props to another studio out there. Great work, everybody! You know, let me just say the theme of this

conversation: 1:34

What could I do better tomorrow? Listen all the way to the end where Jack and I mull over a concept of a question of what could I have done better yesterday, and then how we evolve into this understanding of what could I do better tomorrow? And you know, we cover a lot of different topics, but I think what I really appreciate about Jack is just this down to earth, just chill vibe and and relation with yoga and the way he speaks on it. So I hope I'm really glad you're here. If you can share an episode with a friend and or fellow yoga practitioner, I really appreciate it. Send me and Jack a message through any of our platforms and channels just to say whether you enjoyed this episode or not. Any sort of engagement is greatly appreciated, and just thank you so much for being here. I hope you enjoy the show. Let's get started. Jack Westerholt, I feel honored to be here with Jack Westerholt, and Jack, thank you really so much for taking time out of your day to to join and join me and speak with me. How are you feeling today?

Jack Westerholt: 2:37

I'm feeling great. Thank you so much. It's anytime I get to talk about yoga with another yogi, I I love it. I'll make all the time in the world for it. So thank you. I love what you're doing. I love the podcast, as we were saying right before we press record. You know, you're doing such a great thing by capturing all this knowledge for the community. So thank you for doing that.

Todd McLaughlin: 2:59

Oh man, I really appreciate it. Well, it's an honor to have you here, and I agree with you. Any chance we get to talk about yoga and how it's helped us in our life, I think that's part of the motivation here is to keep everybody excited about yoga and stay motivated. Can you tell me a little bit about what currently gets you excited to engage in yoga practice.

Unknown: 3:28

It's a great question. Right now, I am very into self study, svaria. So the I read a lot. I have a library of books I'm constantly reading, and and so I really find it inspiring to read the words of. I mean, I read the Gita every day, of course, but I'm reaching out. I've read a lot of books by Shivananda, and right now I'm into one from his name is A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Prabhupada, and he's a big proponent of the Krishna's Krishna consciousness movement.

Todd McLaughlin: 4:25

Yes, yes,

Unknown: 4:27

and yeah. So reading his books has been very, very inspiring to me. And and I and one time when I was first starting out, I read that you know that you can't achieve the goal just by reading books. It made me laugh because I'm like, well, I like to read.

Todd McLaughlin: 4:43

Yeah, good point. Yeah, you we hear this idea of like you know armchair yoga. Like until you get on your yoga mat, you you know won't really achieve any real depth in yoga. But I I think there's there's got to be concessions there because there's there is some. Going to be said for scholastic study, you know, study whatever we're interested in. So, you know, do you do you feel do you feel now that you could let go of asana and pranayama and read about yoga and actually feel like you're able to achieve a state of yoga? Because I I believe that's possible. I think you can can get pretty deep by mulling over ideas and and you know taking in new information.

Unknown: 5:27

Absolutely, I mean I well the Guiana path where this the study path is is to me just one of the many paths that I like to practice all of them together. So it probably takes the most time in my yoga practice right now, but I feel like it's essential to keep doing pranayama, to keep doing meditation, and I find that my meditation is just growing deeper and deeper. I'm sitting longer naturally, not setting an alarm or anything. Just I'm waking up at four a.m. I want to meditate, and and it's very, it's answers are coming all the time. So if I don't, some days the only thing I do is I read, and that's my yoga practice that day, and I'm okay with it. But I do see the benefit in keeping it part of a holistic approach, where you're you're doing a little bit of asana, you're doing the pranayama, you're doing some mantra, you know, you're reading, and of course, just out in the everyday world, practicing the yamas and yamas, right? That's the, that's the the proof. I think everyday life is the proving ground of you know,

Todd McLaughlin: 6:54

yes,

Unknown: 6:54

how how your practice is going. Can you be kind to people?

Todd McLaughlin: 7:00

You know, if we imagine that a listener has never taken a yoga class before, and is heard you just say yamas and niyamas, could you, without, I mean, I'm happy to have you list all of them and explain them all in detail, but more from like a very simple perspective. If you had to just explain to an an absolute newbie who's never come across any yoga philosophy theory or history, what that actually means.

Unknown: 7:30

Yes, well, they are sort of the guidelines for the yogi and to follow, as Dharma says, without yama niyama, yoga is like the spaghetti without the sauce, and I love that. So the the very first so yama are restraints, things that you want to try to avoid doing. So the very first yama is non-harming, and all the other yamas fall out of there. There's four other ones, so there's non-stealing, non-lying, non-coveting, non-lusting, or brahmacharya. You know, thinking of God all the time, basically. So yeah, non-harming is the main the main goal, and because if you're not harming, how can you lie or steal or cheat or do anything against somebody else? And then the niyama are things that I like to think it's like cultivating in your own life things that you cultivate like cleanliness, contentment. I love Santosha, just being content in any situation, which in itself is an entire practice. If all you did is spend your whole life working on just trying to be content, not not that you're not striving for something, you don't have goals, but you're okay with where you are right in the moment, is huge. And of course, the last niyama, just self surrender, surrender of the self To to God or the universe or whatever you like, Brahman. There's many names, but so yeah. So I find that reading helps me sort of integrate those practices into my world outside of the yoga mat, because let's face it, 23 and a half hours of the day, 22 and a half hours of the day, you're not on your yoga mat, right? So, good point. The practice really, I think, is off the mat.

Todd McLaughlin: 9:33

Yes, as

Unknown: 9:33

much as

Todd McLaughlin: 9:34

yes, that's cool. And then you also had made mention initially about this word swadhyaya, that means self study or study of the self, and so here we are talking about books and that you are currently reading one by Prabhupad, who Krishna consciousness. Can you explain a little bit about what you're picking up on in relation to the Bhakti Yoga and. How you're weaving that into your existing practices?

Unknown: 10:06

Yeah, he is. He's so amazing. I've read he has these little books he's published, and they're maybe 80 pages, 50 pages. But he also has a he did a a translation of the Gita, which I'm just just this morning really started diving into, and it's fascinating. So his take is he approaches the yoga path really, like you said, from bhakti, from devotion. So it's making we are all basically we have divine within us, and we are the best way to go through life is to serve that divinity within us and with and out there in the universe. So, to make everything that you do an offering to Krishna. So he uses the word Krishna again. Other people use different names, but Krishna and making everything an offering. So, to me, that's very inspiring because it takes the ego out of it. When you take the ego out of it, then expectation is not there. And so, when you have no expectation, you're just doing it out of the joy of doing it as a gift or as a servant, if you will, of the divine, then there's joy. There's this joy, and he talks about it all the time. And so, just trying to practice that is-it's an amazing part of the practice to me. And I've actually been going back and rereading things because it's so dense. The things he's saying, there's so much in there. So right now, that's that's how it's inspiring me to really bring joy and to to be of think of everything you do as being of service.

Todd McLaughlin: 11:55

Yes, great point. I remember hearing Dharma Mitra say, you know when we're practicing a yoga pose to offer it up like it's a prayer or a like a gift or kind of like what you were just saying in relation to not having any ego attached behind it expectation but just to kind of make each shape that we're doing as if it's like an offering. Can you talk a little bit about how you're able to integrate that idea into your practice, or ways that we could say we land in Anjanasana, monkey pose, and and if we were to think in our mind, I want to offer this up to something bigger, larger than myself. How could we continue that line of inquiry, or that sort of feeling or thought. Do you have any insights and ways that we could actually make that real in our yoga practice?

Unknown: 12:52

I love this question. Yeah, I mean, I think for me, most of us approach the yoga practice in the meet. When I say the asana, the actual physical postures, we approach the postures. Usually, they're they're quite difficult in the beginning, and we're very much in our body and in our mind. And we're like, oh, I want to achieve that. Look at that person's doing that, or my body's not doing this. And at least for me, in the beginning, there was a lot of like It was like a struggle, and it was very much about what is my body able to do, what my body not able to do. But when you stop practicing like that and start practicing like I'm making this shape that my body's making today, and this is the shape it takes, and I'm giving this pose to the Lord, to God, to whoever needs it, whoever's out there suffering. Recently, a friend of mine's been having trouble moving. They think it might be Parkinson's, and she's moving very slowly. It's hard for her to balance, and so now when I practice, I'm thinking of her, just thinking,

Todd McLaughlin: 14:00

nice.

Unknown: 14:01

Let me give this movement to her, and you know, I really feel like when you approach it that way, it's very healthy. It makes your practice healthy, and it also frees you up to explore in a way that you might not explore if you're doing it safe just for yourself.

Todd McLaughlin: 14:28

Yeah, that's a really good insight. I like that. Just that when you mentioned like imagining your friend that's having a tough time and like almost like you're you're you're giving it to her, or like even just by meditating on her while you're doing it, like to to wish that she will be able to regain and or have, isn't that a fascinating thing about illness though? And in relation to that ability, like I remember the first time I came across across Ram Dass mentioning that him having a stroke was the. Greatest thing that could have ever happened to him, you know, and that just blew my mind. Like, how could I embrace a physical illness or injury or disease, and and view that as the best thing that God or the universe could have given me, or just my, or if I look at it from just more of like a you know like just an experience I've had, and that's just so so amazing. I try to keep keep that in mind when I when I have little aches and pains, you know. You know that's like a minor test, you know, and and I wonder about the major test that you know we all kind of don't know what's around the corner, right? So I can't help but think like I want to. I hope I could have that type of courage when in it. but that's a beautiful thing to say. I'm thinking about my friend, and she's having this tough time. That's pretty amazing. That also makes me think a little bit about in relation to psychic development and or prayer. That I wonder how much power there is behind that thought. You know, having that thought in that moment, like if she could pick up on that, if that actual energy actually does translate into some sort of situation, any any thoughts based off of all that?

Unknown: 16:12

Oh, I absolutely 100% believe in psychic transmission, no doubt about it. So whether or not you know me doing a posture comes into her mind, I do believe that the thought of being helpful can be transmitted psychically. Again, when when I first met Dharma, one of the things on his flyer said there are some things that can only be imparted psychically, and it made sense to me, and I was like, "Yeah, that makes sense to me. But I absolutely believe in the power of prayer, of psychic transmission. Dharma's teacher wrote a whole book about it, which I have here. It's hard to find, but it's it's yoga, yoga, and yogic powers, but he talks about setting the psychic alarm. You know, and you'll wake yourself up when you want to wake yourself up, and so and and it goes way beyond that. But I absolutely believe that thoughts are things, and that prayer definitely makes a difference. Prayer, meditation, psychic transmission. There's many, again, many names that it goes by. But I feel like I've found it to be a powerful practice for me. You know, to if I can't help somebody by either seeing them or being there for them, and I'll transmit it psychically. Here's a little bit of help for me today, and I really believe it. I there's a book that I read a long time ago where Bruce Lee broke his leg somehow, and the doctor said it's going to take 12 weeks to recover. And Bruce Lee is like, "Well, I don't have 12 weeks, you know. So he he started meditating and he started sending energy and thought, and he would visualize the power of visualization. I think is very powerful. He would visualize his leg healing, and he sent all this energy and all this time, and he went in for a midweek, you know, a six-week checkup, and the doctor's like,"Oh my gosh, your bone's completely healed, but it's actually over-healed. So then he went back and he imagined sculptors tipping away and sculpting at it just to make the bone the perfect way that it needed to be, and it it it worked, you know. So the power of visualization, athletes do it all the time. You know, if you want to win something, you visualize yourself winning it over and over and over. Alex Honnold, I believe the climber, is a big you know proponent of visualization. Now, if you're gonna climb a 3000 foot rock face. You first have to visualize it in your mind, and make it happen. And so, the power of thoughts, I think, not only help you internally, but can be transmitted across the ether. So I absolutely-that's my belief. That's it. I feel like it's proven to be, at least to me, something that is it is real.

Todd McLaughlin: 19:28

Yeah, I mean that we

Unknown: 19:29

can't see it or touch

Todd McLaughlin: 19:31

it. I hear you, and I mean, if anything, just the shifting the mind frame from you know, if you're sitting in meditation. You you made mention that you like to wake up early, and you know answers can come, and maybe you have a memory of somebody who did harm to you, and so therefore the mind could go down this whole staircase of like reliving it, thinking about it. You know, you get all. Meshed in this whole, almost like you're in the same feeling that happened, and the same conversation, or the same, and just processing, processing, and to to then spin that into, all right, I'm going to put light on that, or I just want to try to shine a little light on that. It is pretty amazing, isn't it? Because it can completely transform that repetitive mulling through the mud over and over again, like I don't know. It's just fascinating to me too. I've been trying to do that lately. Just you know, as soon as I'm catching myself going into that, like there's that negative thing again that I just can't stop thinking about. Just keeps bugging me. Keep you know that relationship issue or that whatever issue, and to just be like, I'm sending it light right now, like I'm I'm thinking about love right now on that particular thing, and try to rewire it somehow. Are are you having any luck with that as well?

Unknown: 20:52

Yeah, absolutely. No, I love it. I love that you're doing that. I want to I want to interview you and hear more about what you're doing and how you're doing it, so maybe we could talk about. We can share all these, yeah,

Todd McLaughlin: 21:04

share ideas. I hear you. That's what we're, yeah, man.

Unknown: 21:07

Yeah, you know, I absolutely. I feel like someone gave me a mug, and it just was like let that shit go.

Todd McLaughlin: 21:21

That's what was a mug. can say it. You can say it. I'm gonna. I'm gonna list this as an explicit interview, and don't worry about the kids, 18 and under. No, I'm kidding, dude. It's okay. No, dude, it's fine. I'm, I'm having fun with you. I've been actually getting into listing all of my podcasts as explicit, whether they are or not, just because I feel like nowadays, just don't don't lead a kid in unless they, you know, unless they're I don't know anyway. That's a whole nother story. Well, well, tell me more about what what you were thinking with that mug in terms of like well, let that crap go. Yeah,

Unknown: 21:54

let it go. Yeah, let it go. And and it's again, I read a lot. So there's the the story of the monks. You know, I'm sure many of the listeners have heard it. You've probably heard it many times, but I'll just say it out loud again. Yeah, tell me. They're walking along a road and it's raining, and it's muddy. It's not paved, and you know they have to cross a stream. And there's a woman there, and she's got nice clothes on. She can't cross the stream without. She's worried about you know maybe falling or she's having trouble getting across. So one of the monks just instinctively just picks her up, carries her across the stream, and puts her down on the other side. And they're walking back to the monastery, and the younger monk is just fuming the whole time and fuming. And finally, they get back to the monastery, and the young monk says, "I just don't get it. How could you? How could you have helped that woman? You know, we've taken strict vows not to even look at women, much less to pick them up and carry them across. And how could you do that? And the older monk turned to the younger monk and said, "You know, I left the women down there by the river. Are you still carrying her? And I love that because the younger monk couldn't let it go.

Todd McLaughlin: 23:07

Yeah, I have not heard that story.

Unknown: 23:09

And I, and I feel like that's a lot of the pain and the suffering that we feel in our life is not being able to just let it go, let it put it in the river and just watch it while go down the river and let it go.

Todd McLaughlin: 23:22

Yeah, it's such

Unknown: 23:24

a simple thing, but it's so hard because we want to hold on to stuff, memories, things that hurt us, relationships, and to kind of go back to what you were saying. I have found it helpful to, as I'm meditating, and if a memory does come up to watch it, like I'm watching it in a movie theater, like a disinterested third party. Like it didn't happen to me. You know what I'm saying?

Todd McLaughlin: 23:50

Yeah. It's

Unknown: 23:51

like I'm just watching this memory replay on the screen. I'm seeing the younger version of myself. I'm seeing the other person usually who's involved, and I'm just watching it. There's no judgment. It's just watch it. You know, it can't hurt you because it's you're just watching it from afar as like a witness. And I find it very helpful to be able to let go, to forgive, to move on, to do that practice. So that's another

Todd McLaughlin: 24:21

amazing

Unknown: 24:21

practice. I find helpful.

Todd McLaughlin: 24:22

Yeah, very cool, man. I like these ideas. Have you been Have you been

Unknown: 24:25

able to do something like that? You're kind of yeah,

Todd McLaughlin: 24:27

I am. But I like the way that I love hearing how each of us have how we can relate to it. I mean, a couple of tricks now. I'm thinking visualization of a river, letting it go down the river, and also like you're saying, becoming even more third partyish. Maybe I'm getting, I'm rewatching, but still, still in the emotionalness of it. So I guess maybe having that trick of third partying a little further out. Possibly, maybe that that could be a good a good bit of advice. I appreciate that because that makes sense. I like what you're saying. Watching it without the from a place of dispassion where we're not still in it, still in it, still in it, still in it. And

Unknown: 25:14

when I have those moments, and I have them all the time, we all do. It's, but who's mad? Who's sad? Who's hurt? Who is really hurt? It's the ego. It's this sense of myself that's hurt. I, me, my. But who is really hurt? You know, it's the ego that's hurt.

Todd McLaughlin: 25:36

Yeah, the true

Unknown: 25:36

you that's shining in your heart is not hurt at all. It's just merely a witness. So when we're trapped, that's why there's a lot of talk about letting the ego go, and you read it in the Yoga Sutras that the ego is one of the obstacles. And of course, the ego gets hurt; it gets bruised. There's a lot of times there's physical trauma that that whether you broke your leg or other kinds of trauma. You were in a burning house. Who knows? I don't know. We all have trauma, but the body I find can heal sometimes quicker than the mind, and it's because we're holding on. So this idea of letting go is a big part of my practice, you know, because I, I like all of us tend to hold on to ideas and things, and but I found it very beneficial to let go.

Todd McLaughlin: 26:32

I hear you, man. That's awesome, Jack. Can you? Thank you. Can you tell me a little bit about a day in the life of a yoga teacher in Texas. I believe you live in Texas. Am I correct? You live in Texas. Yeah. Where in Texas are you?

Unknown: 26:51

I'm in Dallas. All right.

Todd McLaughlin: 26:52

Cool. Well, you know, is it? Are you finding it easy to be a yoga teacher? And I mean, the Texas part, wherever we are in the world, I mean, each place does have a certain flavor to it. There's a certain amount of like acceptance for yoga or lack of acceptance. There's all those different variables that come into play. But I'd just love to hear a little bit about what you're finding as a yoga teacher. You know, some of the challenges you are facing, and also some of the things that have really opened up for you because you are practicing teaching and being involved in leading others in yoga practice. This

Unknown: 28:09

is a great question. I wish I could. I'm I'm speaking as I would say. I I teach once a week now. I used to teach many times a week, but over the years, as I've my day job, so to speak, has grown more and more. There's a lot more that I'm dealing with and responsible for, so I'm finding it's taking a lot of my time. So I'm teaching once a week. First of all, Dallas is an amazing community, not only just in Dallas but in the cities all around Dallas. One of my favorite studios is up in Richardson, run by Yasi Maje. She's amazing. It's a hot yoga studio. That's I started in the hot yoga world, but I absolutely love Yoga Zama, where I'm at right now. It's such a vibrant, warm, welcoming community. Such a wide variety of teachers. So I think the opportunity in Dallas to take classes, to learn from great teachers, it's everywhere. There's such a vibrant community all over, all different kinds of yoga too. Some small mom and pop shops. Some are more franchised and spread out. For me personally, I just feel like there's all kinds of opportunity in Dallas to teach, and I happen to fall into the community of Yoga Zama Ali is the owner, and he was very welcoming and very supportive. And I absolutely love it. I think the students are receptive in a bigger city like Dallas. I'm sure in New York and LA, and and you're in Florida, right? You're in correct South Florida, so I'm I'm sure like in the bigger you get all kinds of students who walk through the door. You know, some some students are really interested in the very the physical practice. They want to sweat and they want to work hard and feel the physicalness of the of the postures. And but there's such a wide variety. Other students are really interested in yoga nidra or pranayama practice, or you know, if I do a chant or two at the beginning of class, they're very curious about that, you know. And so they're, it's they're, you know, it's some people maybe not so much, but other people. The people who are really into it make a point to tell me about it afterwards and say thank you. That really was special to to have that today, and so I try to you know honor my teacher and the lineage that I'm teaching in the Dharma lineage and and teach it the way that he's taught us and you know I'm finding that maybe not a lot of yoga teachers do the mantra at the beginning of class or I really like to have a 10 minute shavasana you know and that's another thing that I really it to me it's like sacred time so I try to spend those times on that, but yeah, I think Dallas is a vibrant community. I think there's all different kinds of great teachers out there, and I feel blessed to be able to share it.

Todd McLaughlin: 31:37

That's cool.

Unknown: 31:39

Yeah,

Todd McLaughlin: 31:39

nice. Where Where are you from originally?

Unknown: 31:43

Originally, I've lived all over. I lived, was born in Chicago, Illinois, and then I left when I was about seven or eight. Moved to Wilmington, Delaware, and then I grew up. I say I grew up in Atlanta. I spent my teenage, like my formative years there.

Todd McLaughlin: 32:00

Nice to

Unknown: 32:01

school in Florida. Been in Texas 30 years, but we lived in Nashville for a while, and

Todd McLaughlin: 32:06

cool.

Unknown: 32:06

So, yeah, I've been all over.

Todd McLaughlin: 32:09

Nice, nice, and I've I've only been through Dallas, but I hear it has like what you said of super vibrant yoga community and a ton of restaurants and food and cult, you know, all sorts of different cuisine and like it's just like a really pretty really fun city. That's cool, man. I'd like to visit. I haven't. I've only been through.

Unknown: 32:29

Yeah, yeah. Well, if you come, you have a place to stay. Well, thank you. And there really is a vibrant Dallas has put a lot of emphasis into the city and the infrastructure. Really trying to like create city parks, and the restaurant scene is amazing. Any kind of food you could ever want is here, but there's plenty of art and music. And if you can get over the triple degree heat for three months, yes, then it then it's yeah, it's a beautiful place to be.

Todd McLaughlin: 33:02

That's funny that you say that because the the driving through included a flat tire and being stuck on the side of a freeway in Dallas in the middle of summer, and it was so freaking hot. So so I'm with you on that part. I was like kind of like I don't know about this old Texas thing, but you know a flat tire on the side of the road anywhere is not fun when you're just waiting for some assistance to, to help you out.

Unknown: 33:27

Oh man, I don't envy you. Classic man,

Todd McLaughlin: 33:30

I hear you. Well, um, you know, and then in relation to Dharma Yoga, and like you said, like I want to hold true to that tradition, and and you made mention coming up in the hot yoga world, and in that scene, there's very little. Like I feel like there's maybe Sanskrit used for posture names, but there's not a lot of discourse about philosophy and or some of those other components. And so, like adding a mantra in is a kind of a big deal. Is that something that you find the longer you're with the yoga, it's easy for you to convey that type of passion for those things that maybe other people might be like, "Oh, that's a little weird. What is that? What's he doing over there? Like, you know, should I or shouldn't I? That type of thing. Are you finding that's getting a little easier the more you kind of put a little time into it? Because I know sometimes I'll hear questions from newer teachers that are are wanting to bring that into their teaching and practice, but feel nervous. So I would get. I guess I'm looking for advice, maybe that you could share for newer teachers on how to integrate some of the things that they're passionate about, but also feel a little bit wondering if people are going to receive it well.

Unknown: 34:41

Yeah, I would say if it comes from a place of authenticity, then it will. I would say most of the time the students are receptive to it. So if you have your own practice where you're chanting or doing your mantras, I would say definitely share it, and you know, don't be afraid to share that part of the practice because you never know there might be a student in there that really, really benefits. You know, lately I've been starting my classes off with pranayama and doing the color breathing, which where we do different sounds to the chakras and go up the spine, and afterwards, people it because it they really respond to it, and it feels there's a visceral feeling, you know, in the body, and they feel it, and you know I think if you're doing it from a place that's genuine and you have your own. Practice where you're chanting Om, or you have a mantra. Don't be afraid to share it. You don't have to necessarily dwell on it. Sometimes I'll just say the mantra and move on. Other times, you know, we'll repeat it three times, and then by the third time, people are chanting along. Sometimes I'll explain like Om is the sound, the original sound, the first sound. It contains all the other sounds, and you know there's a vibrational thing that warms your body up and sort of wakes up your cells. Like the the vibration, everybody knows the power of music. Well, that's really what a mantra is is just a vibration, and so it's a nice way to start class because it kind of signals to all your cells in your body, like, "Hey, let's get going. It's time to be here, be be here now. So I have found that there's some people are less receptive to it, and I'm just okay with it, you know, because I think most people are receptive to it, and and that's okay. If the people who aren't receptive to it, that's okay. There's plenty of other places where they don't have to chant and still get a great yoga class. Yeah,

Todd McLaughlin: 36:59

great point. And what's the worst thing that has ever happened to you because you shared something you loved and someone didn't like it. Not no one, no one toilet papered your car or anything out the parking lot. Yeah, yeah. No tomatoes were thrown. Yeah, no

Unknown: 37:15

tomatoes were thrown. Yeah.

Todd McLaughlin: 37:18

Good point. All right. I suppose the

Unknown: 37:20

worst thing is they didn't come back. Yeah, that's fine.

Todd McLaughlin: 37:24

I know that's a really interesting thing too, though, isn't it? In terms of honoring that there is something for everybody and not being attached to me not being that everybody for them, like isn't that a pretty amazing process too as a teacher to like let go of like, oh, they came once and I really don't know if they like liked it or not. I mean, in the whole marketing world of yoga, like sometimes you'll see people then like, okay, well, let me check up with them with a text message, or let me email them right after, or let me call and check in with them. And sometimes that just seems like too much. You know, it's like give people. I feel like I just want to give people a little bit of space, and maybe they just you know who knows what's going on. Some some other thing has come around. I'm just curious. What what are your feelings or thoughts on that sort of how do I say this the right way? Like like just dominant kind of marketing versus just space giving space because like in the business world we're taught to you know you got to do better. You could get more. You're gonna get more if you push. You know, if you really follow up, all that kind of stuff. I feel like there's something about yoga where it's just nice to give a little space. And I don't know what. Where? How do you feel about all that?

Unknown: 38:35

I love that. I love giving space. I think we all need more space, especially today. So many things are coming at us. How many blips and bleeps are on our phone? How many red circles with numbers in them are on our phones right now? Right, and we feel we feel like we need to answer that, or there's a sense of anxiety around it. So I love the space idea. I think it's amazing. And you know, by day I'm in marketing and advertising, so we're you know there's always trying to reach consumers and do things like that, but I do think that it's refreshing, and I think we all need a little bit of space and quiet. And I, I'm, how do I say not so involved in marketing myself as a yoga teacher? So because I do it all day, every day for everyone else, I feel like at the end of the day, the last thing I want to do is like market myself out there. So if you visit my Instagram page, it's pretty thin, but my wife has to say, "Please get on Instagram and look at the messages I've sent you today. So I'm learning to use it more, but I do feel like there's I can understand that there's a sense of pressure that teachers might feel to do more, make more, and I think that's where the practices of space or contentment. Going back to what we said earlier, you know, can you be content with, you know, at one point I went to my, I was having a conversation with Ali, and he was the owner of the studio, and I was like, you know, there's, I know there's not a lot of students coming, you know, I know we need more, and he's like they'll come and it was I was like good that's how I feel I just hope you're okay with that

Todd McLaughlin: 40:27

yeah and

Unknown: 40:27

so sure enough it's been growing but it takes that space and that patience so I love that you're doing that

Todd McLaughlin: 40:35

well it does take time can you talk a little bit about that like I mean I you know it's I think probably all of. Us have this like expectation slash hope that we're going to start teaching in our classes. Like we see pictures of studios where there's like really large attendants and and you know and then there's that humility that comes when one person shows up and you know we teach that one person and and we have an incredible class, incredible experience with them, like even if the mind is a little like, oh no, I'm going in, I got one, and the studio owner is going to be bummed that my I'm not doing my job with my marketing and blah blah blah. But then you have this really great connection. I I'm a big fan that it begins with one, and one is one is the same as having 20 or five or 25 or 35, you know what I mean. Like in terms of if you can really get into the moment with that one person, can you talk a little bit about some of the experiences you've had in relation to that? I mean, you kind of just oh

Unknown: 41:34

my gosh, yes, yes. So you know, I yeah, I've taught 4050, people classes before, and it's amazing. The energy coming at you is amazing. The energy in the room, the focus, and but I've also taught those one people classes, and it becomes gets to be almost like a private class. Basically, it is a private class because it's you and the student. And I've had several times where nobody showed up, and so I would just do the practice myself. Like, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna create, I'm gonna plant the seeds and create the energy that people will come. And I'll maybe it's not an hour long practice, right? Maybe it's a 30 minute practice or something. But I do the practice to honor that space and that time, so that when people are ready to come and receive it, they will, and so yeah, I've had the zero people, and it is humbling. And one person, and two people, and three people, but I, you know, I love both of them for different reasons. Obviously, when you have more people, it's good for the studio. There's a financial aspect to it, and the energy is can be really nice. On the other hand, when you have one or two people, they can ask questions. We can stop. I can say, "Hey, are you interested in mantra? Do you have any questions about yoga philosophy or breathing practices? And we can take time and talk about things, and I do think that everything is happening perfectly, and and it gets it it it's hard practice because, man, I just saw something on Instagram. They had 70 people in the park, you know, and I had one person on Saturday morning, but that person is the is right. That's the person I'm supposed to have right here, right now.

Todd McLaughlin: 43:23

Yeah, yeah,

Unknown: 43:24

and vice versa, and so it is humbling. But I say a dose of humble pie is always good. It's always good to eat some humble pie. Yes, because humility is our best, one of our best teachers.

Todd McLaughlin: 43:38

That's I hear you, man. And I, you know, it's funny when I was looking through, when I prior to our conversation today, I noticed that you are also that you are friends with Francisco Morales and Salim, who I was so happy to have a chance to have them on the podcast here. They're through the organization Synergy Yoga, and I was really excited to see that you're also friends with them, and that it's a small, what a small world the yoga world kind of is. Can you talk a little bit about? Have you been able to go on retreat, and or what are your feelings about yoga retreats and traveling and and practicing in different locations and or leading them.

Unknown: 44:55

Oh well, I've never led a retreat, but I would love to do it. So there's that. I think a retreat is a great way to practice yoga because you're out of your normal bubble, your normal day-to-day family, nine-to-five, whatever you're doing, and you're in this place to to to be there for yourself. And whether it's an all-day yoga retreat type situation, or whether yoga is just part of it, and there's other excursions within the within the area that you're learning about new cultures and new things. I think, I think it's a fantastic way to to practice yoga. One of the books I'm reading by Vishnu Devananta. He was he was big on yoga vacations. He called them back in the day. I think he was one of the first people to do them back in the 60s or 50s. But yeah, I I think it's a great experience for you as a yoga. Whether you're a yoga teacher, you're a first time practitioner, or you've been doing it a long time to change up your routine and explore your practice in a different way in a different culture. I think is always really really healthy. Francisco and Saleem are amazing. I'm I've known Francisco 20 years, 25 years. Oh, nice,

Todd McLaughlin: 46:18

nice. Yeah, we've

Unknown: 46:19

been in the hot yoga community, and we've just been friends, and we've partnered on projects over the years. And he's just a really dear friend, and so yeah, I I would love to lead a retreat, as we talked about before. I had plans to do it, and it didn't work out this year. But it's all happening when it's supposed to happen. And I think as a teacher, there's an opportunity to get to share things on a retreat that you might not be able to share in 60 minutes, you know, on a Saturday, or you might get to know your students a little bit better, and maybe share some of the knowledge you have that might be beneficial to them, because you never know who's walking through that door,

Todd McLaughlin: 47:13

yeah, yeah. Like

Unknown: 47:14

you never know what's going on in their life, in their body, in their mind. So I think a retreat is a special experience. That I've only been on one or two of them, and I really enjoyed them both. Actually, I think it's just one. Yeah,

Todd McLaughlin: 47:28

nice. I hear you. I hear you, Jack. You know, this morning I have a little diary called the Sunrise Manifesto, and it's just a real simple thing to just kind of think of some gratitude and maybe just write a little bit about whatever thoughts are going on. And so there's the same question every single day, and it's one of the harder questions that I stumble on. So I'm going to ask you this question and just see what your answer? Yeah, I know, right? I know. I mean, I really wrestle with this one every morning, and it's like it slows me down. What could you have done better yesterday?

Unknown: 48:03

Oh gosh!

Todd McLaughlin: 48:05

Right? I don't know why. It's a great question, and and I I struggle with it every morning because the other the things that are like okay something you're grateful for in relation to something you've been given or you earned that's not so hard I'm happy I have a cup of coffee great I was I guess I earned this cup you know whatever it is like that's not but when it when it comes to this one question what could I have done yesterday better you know and I I just I just want to hear your how you mold this out in your own mind. I just like to kind of see like maybe I'm missing something. I mean, I I can always think of things that I could have done better, but then I also don't want to be so hard on myself that I should have like I should be judging myself that like, wow, I really could have done that better. But I think it's a very valuable thing to look back and and and kind of think about. I'm just not so sure about it. At the same time, I'm like wondering whoever wrote this question in this journal if they if they had some like really deeper reason why they're probing all of us every day on this one, because I I don't know the psychology of looking back and you know now obviously, if I created harm on someone, that would be something I could, I could, you know, if ahimsa is our underpinning alignment that we want to base a lot of our yogic practice off of, then you know, if I harm someone, that would be somewhere where I'd say, okay, I could have, I could have done better. So then, if I start going through my day and thinking about, well, who did I harm? Who did I harm? Who did I harm? And then you start like analyzing a little bit more. Like, well, if there was a lesson in the experience of the interaction, right? Like, if I have, like, if I just pick, say, a family member, and I think I harmed him by yelling at him that he didn't do his dishes. Yeah, but at the same time, I needed to teach him that you got to do the dishes, dude. Like you got to put just put the dish from the sink into the dishwasher. Like, why are you thinking you, me, and your mom are just here to do? You know what I mean? So, um, I don't know. It's it's a funny thing because I think almost every interaction happens for a certain reason, but at the same time, I think it's valuable. Okay, I'll let you go now. I've talked a lot. Now that you've had a little bit of time. No, I

Unknown: 50:21

love it. I love it. I want to just keep hear you keep talking about it. Well, I guess I would say. I guess I would say I could probably have done almost everything better.

Todd McLaughlin: 50:34

Oh, good answer! Good answer. However, but how? So how then? How could you? Yeah,

Unknown: 50:41

I've done my best that day. I try to do my best every day, right? We all try to do our best. That's all we can do. And it is a bit of a tricky question because inherent in the question is the statement that you didn't do something good yesterday? Yeah, which may, which as I said, there's probably just about everything I did probably could have done better. However, I wonder if the better question is, how can I be better tomorrow? Which is a more positive sort of spin on the same. Question.

Todd McLaughlin: 51:12

Yes, and

Unknown: 51:13

it takes me to something that I was just telling my daughter the other day. This is good because now we're

Todd McLaughlin: 51:19

getting into parenting stuff, which is like this is the this is the real meat and potato, the real solid stuff right here. The real yoga practice. Being

Unknown: 51:27

a parent, absolutely. I will tell you, you really know if you're a yogi, when you're dealing with kids, that will

just really show you: 51:34

Are you patient? Can you be kind? Are you content? So, yeah, it was something I ran across. I think on Instagram, even though I don't get on it very often, but I, I found this. It was a quote, and I'm going to misquote who said it, but I think it was an athlete, and I want to say they. It was something they had learned from maybe another athlete, like maybe Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan or somebody, and it was this idea of, you know, trying to do one thing better each day, just one thing better each day. And if you really try to do one thing better each day, then after seven days, I mean, you're seven times better maybe than you were seven days ago. You know, and then a month and a year from now, 365, trying to be a little bit better. And what does that mean? Well, that's up to you as an individual to decide. You know, maybe it's just being a little bit nicer. Maybe it's listening a little bit more. Maybe it's just cleaning the counter. You know, telling your son or your daughter to clean their dishes. And that was you being a better parent, right? Like, so I think trying to this this process of constantly, I think it's helpful that question to go back and look at what could I even done. But I, being a word person, I the construction of that question is a little tricky, and it kind of takes you down this negative path, forcing you to give sort of a negative answer in a way.

Todd McLaughlin: 53:10

Thank you, Jack.

Unknown: 53:11

I wonder if you flipped

Todd McLaughlin: 53:13

it, I'm gonna write this down. Maybe

Unknown: 53:14

that's the better way to go. You know, what can

Todd McLaughlin: 53:16

I do better? Either today or tomorrow, right? Yeah, I think that's how you found it. Like, how

Unknown: 53:21

can I improve a little bit? And it doesn't. The thing is, it's a small thing.

Todd McLaughlin: 53:26

Yeah, it

Unknown: 53:27

should not be a big thing. It's like, oh, I watered my plants today.

Todd McLaughlin: 53:31

Yeah,

Unknown: 53:32

a day early.

Todd McLaughlin: 53:34

Good point. Yeah, I'm

Unknown: 53:35

done. Okay, they're happy. Just to pick

Todd McLaughlin: 53:36

one little thing and then be consistent with it, right? To be consistent with it, like that's the real. And I guess from a yoga perspective, if we analyze our yoga practice, you know, what could I do? How could I do my yoga practice better? What? What? How could I improve my yoga practice? And then wow! I mean, there's so much. There's so many ways we could go. I could read a little bit. I could try to breathe a little slower in that pose. I mean, it's like endless, right? There's endless little things we could pick up on. Endless

Unknown: 54:07

little things, and it becomes this canvas for you to paint on. And yeah, you're right. Like, oh my gosh, I've been doing this posture for 10 years this way. But what if I approached it this way as a offering, or what if I, you know, maybe struggled a little bit less in this posture and just kind of settled into it, or, you know, what if I, yeah, right, you know, on and on. What if I breathed and a little bit more consciously. What if I just sat up straighter, you know, just for five minutes, you know, or whatever? And I think it's a powerful practice. That he was a very successful athlete. Forgive me, I don't remember who it was, but I think it's a practice that people who find success and joy-they, I think-they kind of naturally, a little bit each day, they try to-and sometimes that means going backwards, right? Like sometimes it's like, oh my gosh, today was muddy. I was in the mud all day. There was nothing good about today, but you know what? That thing that I screwed up, I learned. That's a lesson.

Todd McLaughlin: 55:18

Yeah,

Unknown: 55:19

you know, there's never really any. There's never really anything bad that happens. It's just a lesson. Like, yeah,

Todd McLaughlin: 55:26

yeah. Oh, that thing happened. That's now

Unknown: 55:28

smarter.

Todd McLaughlin: 55:29

Yeah, yeah. It's a huge realization, isn't it? Like learning, being able to see those tough challenges as like, oh my gosh, I'm stronger, better, I grew, I learned. That's huge, Jack. That's huge. It's huge. Well, tomorrow, tomorrow morning, when I get to that question, I'm going to reframe it the way that we propose. What could I do better today or tomorrow? And then I'm gonna get back to you and and let you know what kind of feed, what kind of how that changed from because it's been funny for for a whole for about six months now. I've been doing this one each morning. I'm just like, and today I wrote this question just slows me down, man. I'm like on a roll here, and I get to this one, and I'm like, I gotta get going here, and like you know, I. So anyway, I'm going to see if this works for me. I really appreciate that. You know, I enjoyed this so much, Jack. I love getting to just have a nice, cool, a casual conversation and hear about how yoga is inspiring you and moving you forward in life. And you know, I really appreciate you taking time. And you know, I want to let everybody know that they can find you in the description or little buttons they can click, and your Instagram is there at Jack Westerholt, and I'm also going to include at Yogazama for the studio that you teach at. Is there anything you'd like to? Thank you

Unknown: 56:44

so much.

Todd McLaughlin: 56:45

Oh man, of course. Is there anything you'd like to leave us with today? In conclusion of our conversation, any thoughts or feelings that you want to just kind of share with us for us to to exit on.

Unknown: 56:57

Well, I just like to say you live very close to my family in Florida, not too far away. Where are they? So I'm I'm hoping that when I'm there, we can visit and have a conversation. Whether we have another one of these or we just kind of hang out, it'd be great.

Todd McLaughlin: 57:11

That'd be awesome, Jack. What general area are they in? You don't have

Unknown: 57:16

to. My my brother's in like Fort Fort Lauderdale, Lighthouse Point.

Todd McLaughlin: 57:20

Oh, cool.

Unknown: 57:20

And then my parents are in Wellington. Oh

Todd McLaughlin: 57:22

man, super close. 30 minutes Wellington.

Unknown: 57:25

Yeah, 30 minutes. Yeah,

Todd McLaughlin: 57:26

30 minutes. Oh, definitely let me know when you're when you're in this area, and we'll we'll get something organized.

Unknown: 57:32

Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, I will for sure, for sure, for sure. A final parting thought. Oh my gosh,

Todd McLaughlin: 57:41

I know, right? I know. I should prepare you for this at the beginning. Like at the end, I'm going to ask you for a final. But I try not to give you any. You know, I try not to give any of my guests any idea where we're going? Because I feel like organic is my favorite, but um, I love organic. So we'll see what what comes out here organically.

Unknown: 57:58

Organic food. I'm thinking organic food. Eat organic food.

Todd McLaughlin: 58:03

Yeah, there you

Unknown: 58:04

go. It's probably not one thought. It's probably several thoughts. You know, I would say continue to. your yoga all hours of the day. It's a it's a way of life for me. It's a way of life, and you have the opportunity to do that. Whether you're just being kind or being content, be receptive to what the universe is showing you at the moment, I think everything and everyone is a teacher, and the biggest teacher is right there in your heart. So go go in your heart when you have doubts or you're not sure. Try to find a place to get quiet. If you can't get quiet, be patient until you can't get quiet. Often in nature is the best, and keep up the good work. I know that we're all trying our best, so keep up the good work. Be receptive. Be kind.

Todd McLaughlin: 59:02

Yes, Jack. Awesome, man. Thank you so much.

Unknown: 59:06

Thank you.

Todd McLaughlin: 59:07

Thank you.

Unknown: 59:09

Should we do some mantra at the end?

Todd McLaughlin: 59:11

Yeah, let's do it. You got one for me.

Unknown: 59:14

Should we just do an om?

Todd McLaughlin: 59:15

Yeah, that's that's a reasonable one. Ready?

Unknown: 59:18

Okay. Just do a nice exhale. Nice inhale. Oh.

Todd McLaughlin: 59:37

Yeah, man. Thank you, Jack.

Unknown: 59:40

Great day. Thank you.

Todd McLaughlin: 59:47

Native Yoga Todd Cast is produced by myself. The theme music is Dreamed Up by Bryce Allen. If you like this show, let me know. If there's room for improvement, I want to hear that too. We are curious to know what you think and what you want more of, what I can improve, and if you have ideas for future guests or topics, please send us your thoughts to info at Native Yoga Center. You can find us@nativeyogacenter.com. And hey, if you did like this episode, share it with your friends, rate it, and review, and join us next time.

Unknown: 1:00:34

Well, yeah, know you.