Well Wisconsin Radio

Changing Lives through Yoga

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Host: Hello and welcome to Well Wisconsin Radio, a podcast discussing health and wellbeing topics with experts from all around the state of Wisconsin. I’m your host, Renee Fox, and today my guest is Erin Austin. Erin is a board member at large for Abundant Yoga Community, which is a nonprofit organization with a mission to reach people who might have limited access to commercial yoga studios. Due to financial or geographical constraints. Erin is also a high school teacher, a writer, author of educational books, and an educational consultant. She has been actively involved in the nonprofit world, including in leadership roles since 2005. Erin, welcome to our podcast. I’m so happy that you’re joining us as a guest today. The pleasure is all mine. Thank you. Mm. So we are celebrating National Yoga Awareness Month. Um, and today we’re going to be diving into the benefits of yoga and encouraging our audience to be open to giving this practice a try. So, on that note, the Abundant Yoga community has a goal to make yoga available for everyone. So, Erin, can you tell us more about this goal and how it began in River Falls, Wisconsin.

Guest: Yeah, so the background is that Tracy Mortenson founded Inspiring Actions Yoga and Wellness Center in Hudson, Wisconsin. So that’s in St. Craig County in 2008. So, her business since then has steadily grown. She’s opened a second location in River Falls, Wisconsin. That really gave her the opportunity to observe and interact with students from all different walks of life. But she will say that she saw that there were people and groups who were really underrepresented in the yoga community, but present in the community in general. And Tracy was, and still really is super energized by the power of yoga to transform. But as a business owner, she also felt. Pretty acutely aware of the limitations of a for-profit business. And she thought there really are no boundaries to the benefit, but how do we, how do we tackle the boundaries and barriers to access? So, she really wanted to give back to the community, and she realized that the most effective way to do that was via a nonprofit. So along with Lucy Perner, she, the two of them took steps to bring the idea to life and the abundant yoga community was officially registered in the state of Wisconsin in 2019. Tracy Mortenson is our executive director, and Lucy is currently our board president.
Host: Wonderful. I love hearing about the history and how this organization came to life. Can you tell us more about, um, the work that Abundant Yoga community is doing, um, for the entire community? Um, really looking at what that looks like for students attending yoga classes, teachers, yoga studios, and even, healthcare workers.
Guest: Absolutely. We have five main areas that we focus on. The first area is on demand continuing education. So, what we’ve done in that area is we have created our own trauma sensitive yoga teacher training that gives nine continuing education units through the Yoga Alliance. So, anyone anywhere can take that because it’s online and it can help support teachers in creating a more trauma informed yoga class. The second area is offering free yoga and meditation. So, we have what we call karma yoga classes at all our partnering studios. And these classes are free and open to the public. And of course, we take any donations given at those classes and funnel it right back to the abundant yoga community. But those free classes have been integral in getting people introduced to yoga at a price point that is affordable because it’s free. The only real barrier to those is that they are onsite classes, so you’d need, you’d need transportation to get there. The third area that we focus on is personal scholarships. So, anyone can apply for a scholarship for classes or for a, a. Package at any of our partner studios and depending upon, um. What we have in our scholarship fund, we fund those scholarships, uh, to various extents. The fourth area are teacher grants. So, yoga teachers can apply for grants from us to teach a free class or a series of classes that align with our mission. So, for example, we have been working for a few years now with a woman in Polk County, and she has received a few grants from us to teach community-based yoga classes out of the library. So she is in an area, I believe in Luck, Wisconsin, where there just isn’t a lot of access to commercial yoga. So, she is bringing it to a place where people gather anyway, and we are funding that. And then the fifth area is events. So, for example, right now the abundant yoga communities fall into yoga community event, and fundraiser is taking place on Sunday, September 28th from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Inspiring Actions Yoga Studio in Hudson. So those are our big five areas, and we were able to really expand on that a couple years ago because we were the recipient of a $10,000 big ideas grant from the River Falls Community Foundation, and we were able to use that grant to create free classes such as online meditation classes. We offered yoga for teens at a local school, and that went well. And another class we offered through that grant was yoga for those in recovery, which was well received as well.

Host: I love just the multiple approaches and angles that you all are taking, um, to make yoga more available. Can you tell us more now about just some examples of how these services and the reach that you’re making, how that has helped change lives, um, in your community?

Guest: Absolutely. So, I think the, the best way to do that is hearing from the people who receive our services and what we fund. So, um, one student. I’ll just read a couple quotes from students. We have a student named Lisa and she said, I’m so very grateful for the scholarship from the abundant yoga community. I have found that having a regular yoga practice has improved my muscle strength and flexibility, but more importantly, it has given me a sense of centeredness and inner peace. I am better able to face the challenges in my life with a calm and accepting perspective, and then a woman named Kelsey. Said, when I started, I didn’t have a goal in mind. I was mostly struggling with my anxiety and trying to find ways to relax and calm the classes I took really helped me find a joy in yoga and start meditating to help find inner peace when my anxiety is out of control. So, I think those two really are indicative of feedback that we get quite often a lot about what the classes we offer and the programs we fund do for bodies and do for minds.

Host: Yeah, those are powerful testimonials and examples. Um, I just, just love hearing that, that the participants have, you know, been able to, to share and give you that direct feedback. That is wonderful to see.

Guest: Absolutely. We love it too.

Host: So, for you personally, I’m curious about your journey, what brought you to yoga and how that has, um, made an impact in your life?

Guest: For sure. So, growing up I had always been in sports and was really active, but then after college I was looking for something different, yet still physical and really, to be honest, I wanted to do something that none of my friends were doing at the time.
So. This was like around 2003-ish, and I took a community education yoga class in St. Paul, and it was taught by a British woman who was a philosophy professor at McAllister College, and she was just absolutely incredible. And she taught yoga through, only through community ed because she had a really strong passion about yoga being accessible and after a couple series that I took with her, I was totally hooked and then went on to learn about and sample many different kinds of yoga and learn that there’s really a wide range. And I’m a high school teacher by day. So, I thought teaching yoga would be a great side job since I already knew how to lead a group of people. So, I went through a couple full yoga teacher trainings, plus several continuing education trainings over the years, and it’s really benefit wise, first of all, it’s been an incredible side job for me, and it has helped me with my health too. So, for example, most of my adulthood, I was running regularly, and yoga really helped me to stay loose and avoid, uh, more injuries and I noticed it certainly supported my strength and helped me really maintain flexibility and mental focus. Strength flexibility and focus really are three things that are very typical for yoga practitioners to notice. And then I think one thing that listeners would be wise to keep in mind is something that one of my yoga teachers told me years ago about yoga’s effects that still resonate with me to this day. She said, if you practice yoga one to two times per week, you’ll change your day. If you practice three to four times a week, you’ll change your body. If you practice five or more times per week, you’ll change your life. And I will say that I found this to be totally true.
Host: Wow. I love that. That is a really interesting, you know, guide to look at towards as you’re, you know, maybe trying to incorporate more yoga in your life and looking at how you can continue to grow. I really love that example and I love just hearing about your personal impacts, um, and how that has benefited your life. And, um, just appreciate you sharing that with our listeners today too. So, what would you say to anyone listening to us today who may be interested in yoga, but maybe they’ve never given it a try? Or maybe with the example you gave, maybe they’ve only been doing it once a week and they’re wanting to, you know, maybe advance in the frequency. What would you say to, to anyone listening in that camp?

Guest: Thank you for that question. Let’s start with people who are brand new. So, if possible, my first recommendation would be talk to someone who does it and who knows you if at all possible and ask them what might be the best style for you and be sure to tell them. What a little bit about what you’re looking for mind and body wise. So, I have found that many people will start off in yoga with a style that just simply isn’t right for them. And then they go on thinking that they don’t like yoga when really it’s just that the style they chose wasn’t the right fit. So, if you can ask someone or even asking at anywhere that has a variety of yoga classes, just say tell them like, I’m brand new. I’m not sure what’s right for me. Here’s kind of who I am and what I’m looking for and let them help guide you. I would also recommend for anyone new to try out a lot of different teachers because we all really do things differently. Uh, it can be helpful, I think for new yoga practitioners to start with some online free classes or like through the abundant yoga community, come to any of our Karma classes at our partner studios because that way you can get a little bit of a sneak peek of what to expect if you want to try something online. A really great resource that I love is Sean KO’s YouTube channel and doing a couple of her practices. She’s got several there that are around 30 minutes. That would be great. And that is, her name is spelled Sean, S-E-A-N-E. And corn just like sweet corn. She is a well-known yoga teacher in the United States, and I think she’s got great things available online. If you are someone who it has been practicing for a while and you’re looking to change up frequency, one thing that I really encourage practitioners to consider is that. We tend to get stuck in thinking I have to do yoga for an hour cause that’s how long a class is at a studio or at community ed or wherever it is that I go. And that can be hard to fit into busy lives. And so. For me, I would recommend shorter, more frequent practices. So if you’re currently practicing once or twice a week for an hour, see if you can do three to four times a week at 30 minutes or 45 minutes, because any amount that you can get in is beneficial and helps create that awesome pattern of wellness.

Host: I love that it’s a really good recommendation because I do think sometimes the time, you know, people might think I have to do this for an hour and that could be a barrier. So, I love that approach of adding more frequency with shorter amounts of time. And, and I appreciate the references that you recommended and just want to let our listeners know that. Um, you can also look at our episode show notes page and, um, find links to, um, all of those great resources that Erin shared, um, in that space.
Guest: Perfect. And I can give you a couple more too to put in those show notes.
Host: Wonderful. Thank you, Erin. And what are some of the potential benefits? So, let’s say we’re trying yoga for the first time, or maybe we’re just trying to, um, work towards increasing the frequency that you mentioned. What are some, you know, I love that you talked about kind of understanding your goal and what you’re wanting to get out of it. Could you talk a little bit more about what those potential benefits are, and I think that could maybe help our listeners form that goal and find that style that will work best for them.

Guest: For sure. I think it’s important to understand that yoga is an ancient practice that has been used, uh, for an incredibly long time. For physical and mental wellness. So, we need to look at both to start. So, physical benefits that are really typical are having increased strength and flexibility in our bodies so that increased strength and flexibility can have trickle down effects in other areas of our lives too. Um. I think about flexibility, really helping people who have some other physical activity that they do. So, for example, cyclists or runners or golfers ha. Maintaining flexibility in particular as we age, can really help prevent injury in the other areas of our life and lives, those other activities that we do. Increased strength is so important as we age as well. Uh, so many styles of yoga have, uh. Just a lot of weight bearing exercises, so that can help increase bone density, which is particularly important for women as we age. And I always remember, I had a student years ago who actually now has become an instructor, and she was talking in a class that we had about her increased strength and she has horses, so she’s always out with horses on, on her land and she was doing something. I don’t know if it was feeding horses or doing something, but she was out in the fields and the fields were muddy. And since she was around horses, like it wasn’t just mud, and so she had slipped and was able to catch herself like on a fence and pull herself up. And she said, before I started yoga, I never would’ve been able to do that. I would have absolutely fallen and ended up in the mess of the horses and the field. And she said it was at that point that she realized that she was really getting stronger, which felt awesome. Couple other physical benefits that are really typical are better posture, and I will often see in and around yoga spaces, people just carry themselves differently. They, they look taller, their shoulders are back, they’re not slouching, and this is something that really happens over time that we as instructors really see, which is super cool. And the last physical benefit I’ll mention that’s common is increased lung capacity. In yoga, we do a lot of very specific breath work, and a result of that over time is better lung capacity, which kind of infiltrates throughout our body when we have that benefit. Then there’s the mental aspect, what practitioners report over and over and over, and I would agree with this in my own life, is yoga can really help increase focus and reduce stress. And it’s one of those things that it’s like, how does it do that? And it’s the practice and it’s almost better to just not try to pick it apart, but just to go experience it in your own body and see like, oh, it does, I’m a little calmer. I can focus a little better. It’s a pretty cool benefit.

Host: I love it. All of those, many, many benefits. I appreciate you just walking through and sharing some examples. I think that’s really helpful. Um, especially for those of us wanting to maybe get, get more into yoga and, and really experience those things for ourselves. And now we’ll just take a quick break to hear about some of the well Wisconsin program offerings interested in trying yoga. The Well Wisconsin program is offering two options for virtual yoga classes in September. Slow flow yoga classes, focus on the meditative and calming effects of yoga while adding strength and flexibility exercises. This four week series starts September 10th and meets on Wednesdays at 4:00 PM Central time. Yin classes are a gratifying, restorative, and body changing form of yoga. This four-week series starts September 22nd and meets on Mondays at 4:00 PM Central time. Log into the Well Wisconsin portal@webmdhealth.com slash Well Wisconsin. Click on the Well Wisconsin Events card or visit etf.wi.gov/well Wisconsin Events to register for these yoga classes today. WebMD Health Coaching connects you with a real person who cares about your wellbeing. Aside from supporting you with goals related to nutrition, sleep, physical activity, and stress, we also offer specialty coaching that is more tailored to your individual needs than ever before. Learn about coaching by calling 1 808 2 1 6 5 9 1. You’ll get connected with programs that will be most impactful for you. Here’s a fellow, well, Wisconsin coaching participant said about their experience.

Coaching Participant: Hi. Um, I think the WebMD coaching program is really one of the best for people who are, um, really encouraged to meet their goals by having that every other month check in. I think it creates a successful environment for people to achieve their goals, whether it’s improvement in your asthma or improvement in weight loss, or um, whatever other. Areas you may identify as your area for improvement. I think the health coaches are extremely knowledgeable. They’re really, um, supportive. They help you create realistic goals. They help you to recognize trends in your improvement and pro and progress towards those goals. So, to me, this program has been essential for
me to, um, maintain and achieve my health goals, um, throughout the past several years. So, I appreciate this program. I think it’s a great addition to our healthcare benefits and can really help people on their journey to get more healthy.

Host: And now we’ll head back to the Well Wisconsin Radio interview. So I know, um, you mentioned earlier the, um, trauma sensitive yoga classes and certifications that you offer. We’re interested in just learning a little bit more about this. Um, maybe for anyone who is listening who is a yoga teacher looking to pursue a training like this and incorporate this into their practice, or even, um, our listeners who maybe are curious about, you know, this type of yoga, could you tell us more, um, about this style of yoga and who might find value in in attending classes like this.

Guest: Certainly, our training that we offer is trauma sensitive yoga training that can be. Used in any style of yoga. So, it’s not its own style per se. It’s techniques and things to be aware of for yoga instructors to use it in their classes. So, we do at the Abundant Yoga community, for the teachers who come to us and receive grants, we do require that they have some training in trauma sensitive practices because. Often when you are working with populations that have reduced access because of physical and or geographical barriers, they’re also like, it’s like a Venn diagram. There are people who have geographic and financial barriers, and there are people who are coming from a lot of different marginalized communities and marginalized backgrounds, and there’s a pretty big intersection of those two groups. And what we have seen is a lot by no means all, but a lot of people who take our classes or who come to us applying for personal scholarships, have had some difficult things that they’ve dealt with. Some of it is physical body related, some of it is mental health related, and for many people it’s both. And so, we want to create spaces in yoga that where people can feel safe and supported, not activated by prior difficult experiences in their life. So, this trauma sensitive yoga class was created and put together by a couple of people. I was actually one of them, and we did a lot of work looking at equity and how do we get yoga to people who haven’t traditionally had access to it. Who are those people? What are their lives like and what might they need from a class? My co-creator is a mental health therapist and she has an extensive training and degrees in mental health, in trauma and trauma responses in the body. So, we do a lot of work in the training, teaching the yoga instructors who take it about trauma response in the body and what might that look like in a yoga class? And what can we do as instructors to make people feel welcome and safe in our spaces?

Host: I love just the intentionality there with this approach and just hearing about the development and how you partnered with someone in the mental health field, um, to develop this. Erin, this is wonderful and just great that you guys are offering this training. Hopefully we can see that showing up at more yoga studios across the state too.

Guest: Yeah, and we, we made that training available online. So, we hope that that removes barriers and increases access for instructors as well. And I think it is worth noting. Um, so my co-creator, Lucy, she is a mental health therapist and has degrees to back that up and years and years of experience. And I am coming to this from an angle of education and best practice in leading groups of people. And then we both have extensive 500 hour plus training in yoga. So, there’s a lot really that goes into it and a lot of research. So, we hope it can be beneficial to the people who take it. We also have for that training, we have an equity based fee scale. So, yoga instructors who want the training can kind of look at where they fall on the equity based scale to determine how much they pay for the course.

Host: And as we wrap up our interview today, Erin, do you have any additional ideas or tips that you would like to share with our audience to consider embracing yoga and celebrating national Yoga Awareness month?

Guest: Yes. So, here’s the tip I’ll leave you with. If you are a yoga practitioner, invite a friend. Invite a friend to come do yoga with you wherever it is that you do it. Maybe it’s a class you attended at a specific site or maybe it’s a video that you watch together in your living room. It’s all good. Invite a friend, introduce somebody to the practice.
Host: I love that. Thank you so much. Great tip I’m going to follow that. I just appreciate your time and the wonderful discussion today, Erin.

Guest: Yes. Thank you so much. We love getting the word about what we’re doing with the Abundant Yoga community and hope we continue to build as we have since we started in 2019.

Host: Thank you for listening to Well Wisconsin Radio. I hope you enjoyed this show. You can find a survey in the well Wisconsin Portal and our transcripts and previous episodes, all at webmdhealthservices.com forward slash Well Wisconsin Radio. If you’re listening to this podcast on your platform of choice, be sure to subscribe so you’ll never miss an episode.

• Abundant Yoga Community Resources: Abundant Yoga Community; Fall Into Yoga event in Hudson, WI, September 28; On-Demand Trauma-Sensitive Continuing Ed Training
• Well Wisconsin Resources: Well Wisconsin On-Demand Fitness Library; Register for virtual Slow Flow series through Well Wisconsin, starts September 10; Register for virtual Yin Yoga series through Well Wisconsin, starts September 22; Connect with a WebMD Health Coaching at webmdhealth.com/wellwisconsin or by calling 1-800-821-6591

• Yoga Resources Recommended by Erin: Seane Corn; Dianne Bondy; Susanna Barkataki; Lizzie Lasater