AUGUST 27, 2021
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MELISSA OLAN
MELISSA OLAN: fitness and yoga instructor, creator of the blog/Instagram account Mindfully Activee
Melissa Olan completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training two summers ago in July 2019, alongside myself and four other amazing women, through the Kunga Yoga Teacher Training Program at the Wilmington Yoga Center, led by Jamie Annette and Kristin Cooper-Gulak.
Melissa radiates a passionate energy and it was so much fun to speak with her about her experience in the fitness world thus far; to discuss her account Mindfully Activee; and to learn more about her take on the mind, body, and earth connection and how it interplays with our role as humans in today’s world.
During our conversation, Melissa emphasizes the importance of movement as medicine, and how beneficial movement can be for both the body and mind, regardless of how it looks or what it costs.
If you have a moment, please check out Melissa’s Instagram account called Mindfully Activee, where she discusses her perspective on the fitness world and the many myths and stereotypes found within it, as well as providing inspirational and motivational quotes, thoughts, and feedback for her followers. One of my favorite components of her blog so far is her Monday and Wednesday Affirmations/Mantras - she pulls a card from a deck, reads the affirmation or mantra on it, and then discusses it on her Instagram story. I find the words and her feedback to be enlightening and refreshing.
Scroll down to read excerpts from our talk. To listen to the full interview and to learn more about Melissa and her insightful perspectives on the mind, body, and earth connection, please click the play button on the audio link below. Enjoy!
TO LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH MELISSA, PLEASE UTILIZE THE AUDIO PLAYER BELOW:
Melissa Olan completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training two summers ago in July 2019, alongside myself and four other amazing women, through the Kunga Yoga Teacher Training Program at the Wilmington Yoga Center, led by Jamie Annette and Kristin Cooper-Gulak.
Melissa radiates a passionate energy and it was so much fun to speak with her about her experience in the fitness world thus far; to discuss her account Mindfully Activee; and to learn more about her take on the mind, body, and earth connection and how it interplays with our role as humans in today’s world.
During our conversation, Melissa emphasizes the importance of movement as medicine, and how beneficial movement can be for both the body and mind, regardless of how it looks or what it costs.
If you have a moment, please check out Melissa’s Instagram account called Mindfully Activee, where she discusses her perspective on the fitness world and the many myths and stereotypes found within it, as well as providing inspirational and motivational quotes, thoughts, and feedback for her followers. One of my favorite components of her blog so far is her Monday and Wednesday Affirmations/Mantras - she pulls a card from a deck, reads the affirmation or mantra on it, and then discusses it on her Instagram story. I find the words and her feedback to be enlightening and refreshing.
Scroll down to read excerpts from our talk. To listen to the full interview and to learn more about Melissa and her insightful perspectives on the mind, body, and earth connection, please click the play button on the audio link below. Enjoy!
TO LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH MELISSA, PLEASE UTILIZE THE AUDIO PLAYER BELOW:
QUESTION 1:
Mary Catherine (MC): “Welcome to the interview, thank you again for being willing to do this, I’m so excited to get to know more about you and where you are now in your whole experience… so the first question…if you could please state your name, provide some background information about who you are, where you’re from, and then maybe if you’d like to speak a little bit about your journey in the yoga/fitness/movement world, however you want to define that, how you got to where you are now?”
Melissa (Mel): “Yeah! Well, I’m so delighted to be here and to be here with you, I’m so honored that you even reached out to me in the first place as a perspective, so thank you so much, I really feel so grateful. So, yeah, my name is Melissa [and] I’ve been a part of the fitness industry almost going on three years now. So, I got my Group Fitness Certification back in 2018, and I got it through my university. I was attending UNCW (The University of North Carolina at Wilmington) at the time, and I had this really great opportunity to get it discounted as a student because it is a pretty expensive certification…I had always had a passion for fitness, it’s always been something that’s really important to me, movement in general has been really important to me, and I think at the time I started coming to, I guess this, the way that I can best describe it is like almost this revelation, about how I lived my life…and I guess how I navigated the world, and I became to understand that that was through like tactile, it was through like just touching and being around things and everything being like very physical for me, which I later interpreted that to just become movement, and I have always just navigated the world in avenues of movement.
So whether that be…even the little things of just exploring new areas by walking and stuff like that, to even the larger things of exploring the community through the fitness or movement opportunities that the community has given, so like joining local yoga studios, so like yoga studio from yoga studio, or anything like that. I notice that I mesh into spaces through movement, and I notice that every part about me was always movement-based and that was always the thing that I came back to. So, kind of a roundabout way of saying that’s why I chose to do group fitness, and I always thought that people who taught group fitness, I just thought they were so empowering. I thought it was really awesome that you could just have a presence to just like command a group of people in a space and to give them the opportunity to move and feel safe doing that, and I think group fitness [instructors], I think personal [trainers], anyone who teaches fitness, whether that be coaching, personal training, teaching boutique fitness yoga, Pilates, whatever, I think they have this really vulnerable, unique situation where they can be so impressionable to the group that they are teaching…I thought that was really cool because you know, your students or your client or whoever, will really emulate what you believe, and so that’s a really great chance for you to just be ethical and bring that, so I loved the idea of wanting to help people in that area, too. And then through group fitness I got a really awesome opportunity to pursue my yoga teacher training, with you, obviously, great stuff! ”
MC: “That’s right, that was awesome.”
Mel: “Yes, gosh, it was just one of the most transformative, life-changing, beautiful things that I’ve ever done.”
MC: “Same!”
Mel: “And it was just great, and so I had the opportunity to pursue that, pursued that, that went well, and yeah that’s kind of where I am right now, I’m still doing yoga…on my own time, coming to my mat when I can, I’m still active in my own time, too.”
MC: “Excellent, well that is a great summary of where you are now, and it makes sense, I like how you said you had this revolutionary [revelatory] almost awakening maybe, when you realized your interaction with the world, or the way that you prefer for it to be, is in a tactile way, so that’s really cool how you described that.”
Mel: “Yeah, thank you!”
Mary Catherine (MC): “Welcome to the interview, thank you again for being willing to do this, I’m so excited to get to know more about you and where you are now in your whole experience… so the first question…if you could please state your name, provide some background information about who you are, where you’re from, and then maybe if you’d like to speak a little bit about your journey in the yoga/fitness/movement world, however you want to define that, how you got to where you are now?”
Melissa (Mel): “Yeah! Well, I’m so delighted to be here and to be here with you, I’m so honored that you even reached out to me in the first place as a perspective, so thank you so much, I really feel so grateful. So, yeah, my name is Melissa [and] I’ve been a part of the fitness industry almost going on three years now. So, I got my Group Fitness Certification back in 2018, and I got it through my university. I was attending UNCW (The University of North Carolina at Wilmington) at the time, and I had this really great opportunity to get it discounted as a student because it is a pretty expensive certification…I had always had a passion for fitness, it’s always been something that’s really important to me, movement in general has been really important to me, and I think at the time I started coming to, I guess this, the way that I can best describe it is like almost this revelation, about how I lived my life…and I guess how I navigated the world, and I became to understand that that was through like tactile, it was through like just touching and being around things and everything being like very physical for me, which I later interpreted that to just become movement, and I have always just navigated the world in avenues of movement.
So whether that be…even the little things of just exploring new areas by walking and stuff like that, to even the larger things of exploring the community through the fitness or movement opportunities that the community has given, so like joining local yoga studios, so like yoga studio from yoga studio, or anything like that. I notice that I mesh into spaces through movement, and I notice that every part about me was always movement-based and that was always the thing that I came back to. So, kind of a roundabout way of saying that’s why I chose to do group fitness, and I always thought that people who taught group fitness, I just thought they were so empowering. I thought it was really awesome that you could just have a presence to just like command a group of people in a space and to give them the opportunity to move and feel safe doing that, and I think group fitness [instructors], I think personal [trainers], anyone who teaches fitness, whether that be coaching, personal training, teaching boutique fitness yoga, Pilates, whatever, I think they have this really vulnerable, unique situation where they can be so impressionable to the group that they are teaching…I thought that was really cool because you know, your students or your client or whoever, will really emulate what you believe, and so that’s a really great chance for you to just be ethical and bring that, so I loved the idea of wanting to help people in that area, too. And then through group fitness I got a really awesome opportunity to pursue my yoga teacher training, with you, obviously, great stuff! ”
MC: “That’s right, that was awesome.”
Mel: “Yes, gosh, it was just one of the most transformative, life-changing, beautiful things that I’ve ever done.”
MC: “Same!”
Mel: “And it was just great, and so I had the opportunity to pursue that, pursued that, that went well, and yeah that’s kind of where I am right now, I’m still doing yoga…on my own time, coming to my mat when I can, I’m still active in my own time, too.”
MC: “Excellent, well that is a great summary of where you are now, and it makes sense, I like how you said you had this revolutionary [revelatory] almost awakening maybe, when you realized your interaction with the world, or the way that you prefer for it to be, is in a tactile way, so that’s really cool how you described that.”
Mel: “Yeah, thank you!”
QUESTION 2:
MC: "Awesome, ok, well moving into the next question...what inspired you to create your blog, Mindfully Activee?"
Mel: “So…I was coming into the new year, I think I made it in December of 2020...or maybe even before that, it was like closing to the end of 2020, and I had decided that I wanted to stop ranting to my friends about fitness myths, or like movement myths, or, I think, discrepancies or issues in the fitness industry that I felt really bother me, and I wanted to, like not that my friends, my friends would always listen to me, but like I wanted to take that a step further and really put my thoughts on pen to paper so that they were out there and people could read it, and if it resonated then it resonated and if it didn’t, you know, then it didn’t, but I wanted to take that jump and I knew that it would be a lot of work and it is, but it’s just so, it really is rewarding to just have that platform in general…yeah, that’s kind of where it stemmed from…aside from just like the fitness myths, the myth-busting of fitness and talking about these issues in a deeper sense, like I wanted to bring nuances to movement, and what we’ve deemed exercise as, because…I have a background in Group Fitness first, and…I’ve always had a passion for fitness, and yoga just happened to now become my life, but prior to that like yoga was just this tack-on to my fitness, I guess [fitness] repertoire, so it was just something that kind of came, something I would do but it was just on the side, and so I wanted to kind of explore [that]…let me take a step back actually, "through finding yoga, I found kind of another deeper sense of why I enjoy moving, and that it really is holistic," and that people go to the gym because that’s their medicine, and they prefer to, I mean movement is medicine, but I feel like when I became a group fitness instructor, I would have a lot of people who would come to my classes when I was just teaching regular fitness classes, who were just like, ‘I, like being in the gym, like in this physical space, like is just, it’s meditative for me, like it’s a movement,’ and I think that’s really easy to make that draw in comparison with yoga because yoga is a moving meditation, but like lifting weights, like walking around the gym, like how is that meditation? It’s like super stimulating…”
MC: “Right!”
Mel: “So...I thought that was interesting because it really is drawing these parallels because everything is really interconnected, about how like fitness and exercise and movement is spiritual, if we’re doing that and drawing that with yoga, we can do that with anything, anything that helps us like really be present and I think exercise is that for a lot of people because you have to tune in to what you’re doing when you’re exercising. It’s like the one thing that always makes you tune in, and so I wanted to really discuss that, and so, the whole point of Mindfully Activee was to conceptualize movement to heal mind, body, spirit, because I think people have the body part down, or the assumptions of what they have of like how movement can heal our body, and of how movement can help our mind or heal our mind, but truly it is this whole spiritual concept that I think a lot of people kind of are disengaged from, and I wanted to bring an understanding to that too without getting too complex…”
MC: “That’s great, I think that’s really enlightening drawing that comparison to how like going into a gym and lifting weights could be meditative for somebody in the same way that rolling out your yoga mat and doing, you know, poses could be…I like that way, that perspective of looking at it, I’ve never thought about it like that…I feel like that one thing that really caught my eye when I first saw your blog, I think there was a post where you were just talking about going for a walk in the park and just like how taking a few minutes out of your day to do something like that and being present within it can make such a difference.”
Mel: “Yeah, absolutely. ”
MC: "Awesome, ok, well moving into the next question...what inspired you to create your blog, Mindfully Activee?"
Mel: “So…I was coming into the new year, I think I made it in December of 2020...or maybe even before that, it was like closing to the end of 2020, and I had decided that I wanted to stop ranting to my friends about fitness myths, or like movement myths, or, I think, discrepancies or issues in the fitness industry that I felt really bother me, and I wanted to, like not that my friends, my friends would always listen to me, but like I wanted to take that a step further and really put my thoughts on pen to paper so that they were out there and people could read it, and if it resonated then it resonated and if it didn’t, you know, then it didn’t, but I wanted to take that jump and I knew that it would be a lot of work and it is, but it’s just so, it really is rewarding to just have that platform in general…yeah, that’s kind of where it stemmed from…aside from just like the fitness myths, the myth-busting of fitness and talking about these issues in a deeper sense, like I wanted to bring nuances to movement, and what we’ve deemed exercise as, because…I have a background in Group Fitness first, and…I’ve always had a passion for fitness, and yoga just happened to now become my life, but prior to that like yoga was just this tack-on to my fitness, I guess [fitness] repertoire, so it was just something that kind of came, something I would do but it was just on the side, and so I wanted to kind of explore [that]…let me take a step back actually, "through finding yoga, I found kind of another deeper sense of why I enjoy moving, and that it really is holistic," and that people go to the gym because that’s their medicine, and they prefer to, I mean movement is medicine, but I feel like when I became a group fitness instructor, I would have a lot of people who would come to my classes when I was just teaching regular fitness classes, who were just like, ‘I, like being in the gym, like in this physical space, like is just, it’s meditative for me, like it’s a movement,’ and I think that’s really easy to make that draw in comparison with yoga because yoga is a moving meditation, but like lifting weights, like walking around the gym, like how is that meditation? It’s like super stimulating…”
MC: “Right!”
Mel: “So...I thought that was interesting because it really is drawing these parallels because everything is really interconnected, about how like fitness and exercise and movement is spiritual, if we’re doing that and drawing that with yoga, we can do that with anything, anything that helps us like really be present and I think exercise is that for a lot of people because you have to tune in to what you’re doing when you’re exercising. It’s like the one thing that always makes you tune in, and so I wanted to really discuss that, and so, the whole point of Mindfully Activee was to conceptualize movement to heal mind, body, spirit, because I think people have the body part down, or the assumptions of what they have of like how movement can heal our body, and of how movement can help our mind or heal our mind, but truly it is this whole spiritual concept that I think a lot of people kind of are disengaged from, and I wanted to bring an understanding to that too without getting too complex…”
MC: “That’s great, I think that’s really enlightening drawing that comparison to how like going into a gym and lifting weights could be meditative for somebody in the same way that rolling out your yoga mat and doing, you know, poses could be…I like that way, that perspective of looking at it, I’ve never thought about it like that…I feel like that one thing that really caught my eye when I first saw your blog, I think there was a post where you were just talking about going for a walk in the park and just like how taking a few minutes out of your day to do something like that and being present within it can make such a difference.”
Mel: “Yeah, absolutely. ”
QUESTION 3:
MC: “Cool, well thank you! Moving from that, how do you define/view the connection between the mind and body within the movement/fitness world?”
Mel: “…So, I think that the way, I mean even through our yoga teacher training, I remember Jamie [Annette] said this one thing...that really resonated with me, about talking about students that she had and how they didn’t know that they had a body, and that has always just stuck with me, stayed with me, just because…so coming and working after I got my yoga [training], after we finished our training, I was a senior in college, so I was teaching college students, and…I was a college student myself, so I then began to notice, obviously like coming out of that training your mind just shifts, like you just become another person, truly, so the way I viewed yoga and fitness completely transformed, like completely 180 [degrees] totally different, and so I began to notice the hyper-stimulation, I guess like the side effects of hyper-stimulation in people, and because I worked so often with college students, and college bodies, you just notice how stress and how stimulation just sticks in the body and how it just manifests, and how that in general will just completely detach you from your mind and your body. So it really was just like people, like obviously you know this too, just like teaching yoga, [some] people literally live their whole lives on auto-pilot, and come to class, maybe they come to class because that’s the only time they can have the space to tune in, that it’s like maybe they can only give themselves an hour to tune in, because like ‘life is just too much, like I’d rather live my life on autopilot, I’d rather disengage, it’s easier for me to do it that way,’ and I see that a lot in fitness, and I know in yoga classes I think it’s the most prevalent, when, with fitness as an industry in general or even in yoga studios where spirituality isn’t a focus for the students and the class, and it’s not branded as such, like it’s not branded to keep the cultural integrity of yoga, you see that a lot. You see this separation of the mind and the body, it’s this idea that like, our temples, sure they’re impermanent but we have to alter it, we have to do these things and I think that’s a whole thing why in fitness it’s a huge thing, it comes with a variety of issues like body dysmorphia and fat-phobia, [and it’s] obviously affected in yoga as well, yoga is a huge part of that as well, and how it’s been westernized, but I think a lot of people are incredibly detached from that, that our body is the only thing we have presently, and that [how] we just forget about the soul and the mind is beyond me.
***
But it took me to go through 200 hours of [yoga teacher] training to have someone drill that [mind-body connection] into my head, to have it really stick, so the mind-body connection in fitness, it’s hard to describe because I don’t think a lot of people make or want to make that connection. Like when you go to that hot intense power yoga class, and...a yoga teacher at Wilmington Yoga [Center] – Noelle [Whittington], I was taking a class from her, and it was actually a hot power class, and...she was assisting me at the time, but before she did I came over to drink some water, and I had heard her say this in other classes, but she had just said it to me at the time, ‘Are you drinking water because you’re trying to mentally disengage, or are you drinking water because you’re thirsty?’ And I was like ‘That’s a really good point’, obviously we’re in a hot yoga class, you know whatever drink your water, you need to stay hydrated obviously, but it was a really great point because we do this subconscious disengagement from our mind, because being in our mind is too much, that’s also why a lot of people don’t like yoga for that whole reason. So, I do think, to answer your question in an offset way, I think the mind-body connection in fitness is lacking greatly, I don’t think a lot of people and trainers and coaches talk about mental health or the mentality aspect with their clients or with their students, and I think a lot of yoga teachers do the same thing. I don’t think that’s brought in, and so I think it’s lacking. I think some people who do that, and it’s a part of their practice, not just yoga but also fitness, however they exercise or however they move, it’s always done in a very spiritual way, honoring our body and mind as one, because when the separation comes into play, it’s really easy to just want to alter your body or doing things just for the sole being of it physically feeling good, rather than it having the emotional or mental benefits that exercise and movement can have. So, yes, a lot of people say that the mind and body are two different things and I think in a lot of ways they are, but as far as like…how they are, in regards to movement, I think they’re always just considered one, and I think they should be, they work in unison, from like an anatomical perspective, like our mind and our body need to work in unison for us to even move and do things and so I think just honoring that, and I think the conversations that we have with ourselves while we’re moving when things are difficult like, when I’m holding a plank for two minutes I’m unhappy, I mean I’m happy because I’m able to move and I feel good and all this stuff, but obviously my mind has to become involved to tell me I can do this, or maybe I can’t, like maybe I need a break, so, I hope that answered your question.”
MC: “Oh, definitely, in so many ways, and in your unique way, and I think like you said, you know, there’s definitely some people who are trying to just do a workout so their body feels good, and maybe it is trying to do something so you look a certain way, and it's like at the same time, your mind is still always going to be there, so creating that awareness of like, ‘Hey, these [the mind and body] are connected by the way, so don’t forget.’ That’s thought-provoking too what you said Noelle said about like are you drinking the water because you’re just thirsty or are you trying to mentally disengage? That's a good point."
Mel: "Yeah, it's a great point, it sticks with me a lot, even when I'm practicing by myself, like it really is just give and take, what you can handle versus what you can't handle, and knowing that and honoring that about yourself, I think is a huge lesson that we all have to learn, especially for people who are so movement-based, like myself, like learning when to step back is really difficult, and so honoring that inner voice, the intuition, is important but I can only have that if I choose to make that connection with my mind."
MC: “Cool, well thank you! Moving from that, how do you define/view the connection between the mind and body within the movement/fitness world?”
Mel: “…So, I think that the way, I mean even through our yoga teacher training, I remember Jamie [Annette] said this one thing...that really resonated with me, about talking about students that she had and how they didn’t know that they had a body, and that has always just stuck with me, stayed with me, just because…so coming and working after I got my yoga [training], after we finished our training, I was a senior in college, so I was teaching college students, and…I was a college student myself, so I then began to notice, obviously like coming out of that training your mind just shifts, like you just become another person, truly, so the way I viewed yoga and fitness completely transformed, like completely 180 [degrees] totally different, and so I began to notice the hyper-stimulation, I guess like the side effects of hyper-stimulation in people, and because I worked so often with college students, and college bodies, you just notice how stress and how stimulation just sticks in the body and how it just manifests, and how that in general will just completely detach you from your mind and your body. So it really was just like people, like obviously you know this too, just like teaching yoga, [some] people literally live their whole lives on auto-pilot, and come to class, maybe they come to class because that’s the only time they can have the space to tune in, that it’s like maybe they can only give themselves an hour to tune in, because like ‘life is just too much, like I’d rather live my life on autopilot, I’d rather disengage, it’s easier for me to do it that way,’ and I see that a lot in fitness, and I know in yoga classes I think it’s the most prevalent, when, with fitness as an industry in general or even in yoga studios where spirituality isn’t a focus for the students and the class, and it’s not branded as such, like it’s not branded to keep the cultural integrity of yoga, you see that a lot. You see this separation of the mind and the body, it’s this idea that like, our temples, sure they’re impermanent but we have to alter it, we have to do these things and I think that’s a whole thing why in fitness it’s a huge thing, it comes with a variety of issues like body dysmorphia and fat-phobia, [and it’s] obviously affected in yoga as well, yoga is a huge part of that as well, and how it’s been westernized, but I think a lot of people are incredibly detached from that, that our body is the only thing we have presently, and that [how] we just forget about the soul and the mind is beyond me.
***
But it took me to go through 200 hours of [yoga teacher] training to have someone drill that [mind-body connection] into my head, to have it really stick, so the mind-body connection in fitness, it’s hard to describe because I don’t think a lot of people make or want to make that connection. Like when you go to that hot intense power yoga class, and...a yoga teacher at Wilmington Yoga [Center] – Noelle [Whittington], I was taking a class from her, and it was actually a hot power class, and...she was assisting me at the time, but before she did I came over to drink some water, and I had heard her say this in other classes, but she had just said it to me at the time, ‘Are you drinking water because you’re trying to mentally disengage, or are you drinking water because you’re thirsty?’ And I was like ‘That’s a really good point’, obviously we’re in a hot yoga class, you know whatever drink your water, you need to stay hydrated obviously, but it was a really great point because we do this subconscious disengagement from our mind, because being in our mind is too much, that’s also why a lot of people don’t like yoga for that whole reason. So, I do think, to answer your question in an offset way, I think the mind-body connection in fitness is lacking greatly, I don’t think a lot of people and trainers and coaches talk about mental health or the mentality aspect with their clients or with their students, and I think a lot of yoga teachers do the same thing. I don’t think that’s brought in, and so I think it’s lacking. I think some people who do that, and it’s a part of their practice, not just yoga but also fitness, however they exercise or however they move, it’s always done in a very spiritual way, honoring our body and mind as one, because when the separation comes into play, it’s really easy to just want to alter your body or doing things just for the sole being of it physically feeling good, rather than it having the emotional or mental benefits that exercise and movement can have. So, yes, a lot of people say that the mind and body are two different things and I think in a lot of ways they are, but as far as like…how they are, in regards to movement, I think they’re always just considered one, and I think they should be, they work in unison, from like an anatomical perspective, like our mind and our body need to work in unison for us to even move and do things and so I think just honoring that, and I think the conversations that we have with ourselves while we’re moving when things are difficult like, when I’m holding a plank for two minutes I’m unhappy, I mean I’m happy because I’m able to move and I feel good and all this stuff, but obviously my mind has to become involved to tell me I can do this, or maybe I can’t, like maybe I need a break, so, I hope that answered your question.”
MC: “Oh, definitely, in so many ways, and in your unique way, and I think like you said, you know, there’s definitely some people who are trying to just do a workout so their body feels good, and maybe it is trying to do something so you look a certain way, and it's like at the same time, your mind is still always going to be there, so creating that awareness of like, ‘Hey, these [the mind and body] are connected by the way, so don’t forget.’ That’s thought-provoking too what you said Noelle said about like are you drinking the water because you’re just thirsty or are you trying to mentally disengage? That's a good point."
Mel: "Yeah, it's a great point, it sticks with me a lot, even when I'm practicing by myself, like it really is just give and take, what you can handle versus what you can't handle, and knowing that and honoring that about yourself, I think is a huge lesson that we all have to learn, especially for people who are so movement-based, like myself, like learning when to step back is really difficult, and so honoring that inner voice, the intuition, is important but I can only have that if I choose to make that connection with my mind."
QUESTION 4:
MC: "Yeah, having that awareness for sure. Well, thank you so much! So...what is one of the most surprising things that you have learned about the mind and body connection? Or something that has spoken to you or stood out?"
Mel: “I think my connection and reflection about my body has been one of the most, I don’t even know, it’s just been super impactful, I think…the way that bodies are talked about in society is incredibly taboo, and if it is talked about, I mean I think now we're just seeing a new wave of having discussions about solely just body neutrality and honoring that, and that’s just become a very recent thing like within the past year maybe, but I think through yoga, it started with yoga first, and like really reading yogic texts that really drilled into my mind about my body’s impermanence. And that was something that I've always known, I think we all know that our bodies are gonna change over time...just like our bodies, our minds age as well, we get wiser with time, and so I guess the concept of time and body just like has come to really shift my perspective about how not only I see yoga, because that is like a very spiritual, it is a spiritual concept of yoga in a way, of just like our body’s impermanence, and you look at it in a lot of ways…when I just think about yogic texts, I always just think about that, and I think about the Bhagavad Gita too because it’s kind of prefaced in that as well, but yeah, through our teacher training, and through having other teachers talk about it and seeing it on their Instagram and on their blogs, and really just drilling the impermanence solely to just step away from like the physical and the tangible, not only of our body but just of the material goods, and all these other things, that has really been something that's kind of been...it's honestly kind of been overwhelming...I think it’s really easy to get super-existential, [but] that’s what spirituality is, like you have to have these conversations with yourself...I mean that's just the work, like that is just the work that has to be done when engaging in those spiritual conversations with yourself.
***
And sometimes it just takes the right time on your mat to just click, and then everything, it just feels like the floodgates have opened, and it's like things have not made sense in this way before, and it's just like now I just have this whole new perspective on life, and I think it really like tuned that perspective, [it] has absolutely changed the way that I practice [yoga] now, it’s changed the way of how I choose to honor my body and how I can find flexibility and the adaptability, and when I need to push and when I need to rest, and honoring the times I need to rest and honoring my intuition, and how I choose to teach yoga to students too, and really being wary of that and also just with fitness as well. But it’s also been such a relief, because my body isn’t always going to be this way and I think honoring it through a yoga practice that is, it’s movement-based to how I want it to be and it gives me space to meditate - is great and I’m glad that I have that resource, and...just being taught that fact through yoga in a peaceful way. Because I think that thought is a little too much for a lot of people, I think it’s really stressful, I mean I think our whole world revolves around our bodies, so I think when we talk about how our bodies aren't gonna be the same in at least ten years or how we're gonna die, I mean that's just very even more so, I think it really stresses people out...but in a really matter of fact way, yoga helped me slowly come to terms with dying and aging – that is something that has really helped me blossom and understand my yoga practice. And through meditation...I got really into this podcast, and it is the Duncan Trussell Family Hour podcast, and he has this show on Netflix called The Midnight Gospel...and he talks a lot of the time about, there is this Buddhist proverb, I don’t know the particular numbers, but it's talking about how meditation is the practice for dying or the peace that you feel upon death or post-dying, and that’s always really stuck with me and I've always taken that into my yoga practice too, because it really is all just really interconnected about just how spirituality is kind of in that context, but yeah I thought that was really beautiful. And I've had yoga teachers in the past who have brought that up to me in that way, but I just maybe have ignored it or not thought about it so deeply, but it is very true, and meditation, whether that quote, whether that proverb resonates with people or not, meditation is a practice of peace, and I think...it can bring you peace...not [for] everyone and not at particular times in their life...but I think at some point it can bring you that, so, yes, to answer, I think meditation, the power of meditation, actually that's probably just the answer right there, is just the power of meditation has really brought me all that, and I literally like picked and pieced all of that from previous meditations that I’ve had that have brought me solace on those kind of deep topics.”
MC: “Absolutely, a beautiful answer and touching on a lot of different levels of that idea of impermanence and yeah it's, like realizing our impermanence, like for me as well, it has been a jarring slap-in-the-face almost, and I think doing the yoga teacher training, there was one quote, I think in that book called Living Your Yoga by Judith Hanson Lasater, it says [that] the only permanent thing in this life is impermanence (Lasater 108)."
Mel: “Oh, yes, I know that quote too!”
MC: "Yeah, having that awareness for sure. Well, thank you so much! So...what is one of the most surprising things that you have learned about the mind and body connection? Or something that has spoken to you or stood out?"
Mel: “I think my connection and reflection about my body has been one of the most, I don’t even know, it’s just been super impactful, I think…the way that bodies are talked about in society is incredibly taboo, and if it is talked about, I mean I think now we're just seeing a new wave of having discussions about solely just body neutrality and honoring that, and that’s just become a very recent thing like within the past year maybe, but I think through yoga, it started with yoga first, and like really reading yogic texts that really drilled into my mind about my body’s impermanence. And that was something that I've always known, I think we all know that our bodies are gonna change over time...just like our bodies, our minds age as well, we get wiser with time, and so I guess the concept of time and body just like has come to really shift my perspective about how not only I see yoga, because that is like a very spiritual, it is a spiritual concept of yoga in a way, of just like our body’s impermanence, and you look at it in a lot of ways…when I just think about yogic texts, I always just think about that, and I think about the Bhagavad Gita too because it’s kind of prefaced in that as well, but yeah, through our teacher training, and through having other teachers talk about it and seeing it on their Instagram and on their blogs, and really just drilling the impermanence solely to just step away from like the physical and the tangible, not only of our body but just of the material goods, and all these other things, that has really been something that's kind of been...it's honestly kind of been overwhelming...I think it’s really easy to get super-existential, [but] that’s what spirituality is, like you have to have these conversations with yourself...I mean that's just the work, like that is just the work that has to be done when engaging in those spiritual conversations with yourself.
***
And sometimes it just takes the right time on your mat to just click, and then everything, it just feels like the floodgates have opened, and it's like things have not made sense in this way before, and it's just like now I just have this whole new perspective on life, and I think it really like tuned that perspective, [it] has absolutely changed the way that I practice [yoga] now, it’s changed the way of how I choose to honor my body and how I can find flexibility and the adaptability, and when I need to push and when I need to rest, and honoring the times I need to rest and honoring my intuition, and how I choose to teach yoga to students too, and really being wary of that and also just with fitness as well. But it’s also been such a relief, because my body isn’t always going to be this way and I think honoring it through a yoga practice that is, it’s movement-based to how I want it to be and it gives me space to meditate - is great and I’m glad that I have that resource, and...just being taught that fact through yoga in a peaceful way. Because I think that thought is a little too much for a lot of people, I think it’s really stressful, I mean I think our whole world revolves around our bodies, so I think when we talk about how our bodies aren't gonna be the same in at least ten years or how we're gonna die, I mean that's just very even more so, I think it really stresses people out...but in a really matter of fact way, yoga helped me slowly come to terms with dying and aging – that is something that has really helped me blossom and understand my yoga practice. And through meditation...I got really into this podcast, and it is the Duncan Trussell Family Hour podcast, and he has this show on Netflix called The Midnight Gospel...and he talks a lot of the time about, there is this Buddhist proverb, I don’t know the particular numbers, but it's talking about how meditation is the practice for dying or the peace that you feel upon death or post-dying, and that’s always really stuck with me and I've always taken that into my yoga practice too, because it really is all just really interconnected about just how spirituality is kind of in that context, but yeah I thought that was really beautiful. And I've had yoga teachers in the past who have brought that up to me in that way, but I just maybe have ignored it or not thought about it so deeply, but it is very true, and meditation, whether that quote, whether that proverb resonates with people or not, meditation is a practice of peace, and I think...it can bring you peace...not [for] everyone and not at particular times in their life...but I think at some point it can bring you that, so, yes, to answer, I think meditation, the power of meditation, actually that's probably just the answer right there, is just the power of meditation has really brought me all that, and I literally like picked and pieced all of that from previous meditations that I’ve had that have brought me solace on those kind of deep topics.”
MC: “Absolutely, a beautiful answer and touching on a lot of different levels of that idea of impermanence and yeah it's, like realizing our impermanence, like for me as well, it has been a jarring slap-in-the-face almost, and I think doing the yoga teacher training, there was one quote, I think in that book called Living Your Yoga by Judith Hanson Lasater, it says [that] the only permanent thing in this life is impermanence (Lasater 108)."
Mel: “Oh, yes, I know that quote too!”
QUESTION 5:
MC: “Yeah, it took me a while to not only wrap my head around it but also kind of start to slowly accept that...it’s crazy thinking about it, you almost don’t want to think about it too much. And yeah, that’s an interesting point, that quote you gave how meditation is almost a practice for the dying process, that’s very beautiful. Thank you. Ok, next question, moving from the mind-body to a little more grounding area, has your connection to the earth been shaped by your yoga or movement practice and if so, how?”
Mel: “Yes, always, I’ve always had an appreciation for nature, I enjoy being outside, always, always.
It wasn’t until our yoga teacher training that I just found a whole new sense of how it felt to be outside, and to appreciate nature. There have been multiple times when I’ve practiced outside and when I will, you know, come into savasana and be doing something on my mat, and I just will feel the presence, not only am I surrounded by nature but just feel the energetic presence of nature almost validating my experience, in the moment, whether that is just me starting to lay down on the mat and just getting this amazing gust of wind that I hadn’t had the entire practice…or like the bird that comes and sits on the ledge…and stays with me on the ledge and just sits there for 30 minutes of my practice. So weird for a bird to do that, I’ve developed a deep appreciation for birds. The window that we used to practice near, particularly you and I…there was a really tall tree and I remember the first day of our [yoga teacher] training I saw there was a nest in the tree and it was the first week that we were practicing, we were in a Metta meditation that Jamie had put us in in the morning, and it was super long. I think it was going for like 20 minutes, and the birds were just being so loud, it was really beautiful, like it felt so orchestrated...but
I had just come to this realization that like everything in this moment was exactly what needed to be happening right now, and I think you could make, you could draw that comparison to a lot of other moments that you’ve had in your life. But the whole point of that, and I guess how like the serendipity of nature in general is just how aware you are to it, and I think that's also something I've been trying to tell people, because I tell this story of like me and the bird all the time...and I think a part of me feels like it’s super cliché and super weird that birds have this much of an effect over me, that I become emotional about it. So much so that when I think about my teacher training, I think about the beautiful women I was with, but I also think about those birds all the time, because that was such a transformative moment for me, like it literally makes me emotional right now, because I felt like I just tuned in...that's the thing about the gust of wind coming over me, like when laying on my mat, sure that gust of wind could’ve been coming over me the entire time but it was just the awareness that brought me to that, [and that’s] what spirituality is, that's just what yoga is - we like to think we’re aware, we love to think we’re aware, but when we become [aware], there’s like this weird spot where you stop hyper-focusing and become aware of stuff that happens so naturally that you just feel so much peace, you tune in and just become aware in that moment. So nature has brought me that through my yoga practice, I won’t say fitness in general because that’s not true, but just naturally yoga has brought me those moments, particularly outside and always with nature because I have developed the awareness through my yoga practice to just be still, and that it’s ok to just be still, and whatever sort of jarring thought I have in that moment, like that awareness can give me something really great, [like] the sweet smell of grass, it is so comforting, I don’t know it’s just really comforting, it really is validation…”
MC: “Absolutely, I think that’s beautiful and that just captures so well about practicing yoga especially if you’re outside, becoming comfortable with quieting down, calming down, and tuning into that awareness…like maybe these things have been going on but you just haven’t been aware of that until that present moment. And that story about the bird, I honestly don’t even remember seeing that nest so it shows you where my awareness and attention was [laughs] but I think that [story] is so cool. It reminds me [of] a literary term called pathetic fallacy where nature might mimic your feelings or thoughts, like if you’re sad and it starts raining, but I feel like it’s a lot more than that, like 'Hey look at that coincidence, that pathetic fallacy,' but it’s like, maybe that’s always gone on, but we just haven’t tuned in to it.”
Mel: “I feel like that sums up my whole life before yoga, honestly. I just feel really, I swear people think I’m crazy, and I’m like have I really just become this woman that’s like shouting at the sky like ‘Recognize that these things are happening!’...but I really am super passionate particularly about that perspective on life, because these things are happening all the time, around us all the time, and I think a lot of people are waiting for these things to happen to them and they are already happening, we’re just not creating that awareness, we’re just not open to it, and I got that through nature, so much, and I really like that question also.”
MC: “Yeah, it took me a while to not only wrap my head around it but also kind of start to slowly accept that...it’s crazy thinking about it, you almost don’t want to think about it too much. And yeah, that’s an interesting point, that quote you gave how meditation is almost a practice for the dying process, that’s very beautiful. Thank you. Ok, next question, moving from the mind-body to a little more grounding area, has your connection to the earth been shaped by your yoga or movement practice and if so, how?”
Mel: “Yes, always, I’ve always had an appreciation for nature, I enjoy being outside, always, always.
It wasn’t until our yoga teacher training that I just found a whole new sense of how it felt to be outside, and to appreciate nature. There have been multiple times when I’ve practiced outside and when I will, you know, come into savasana and be doing something on my mat, and I just will feel the presence, not only am I surrounded by nature but just feel the energetic presence of nature almost validating my experience, in the moment, whether that is just me starting to lay down on the mat and just getting this amazing gust of wind that I hadn’t had the entire practice…or like the bird that comes and sits on the ledge…and stays with me on the ledge and just sits there for 30 minutes of my practice. So weird for a bird to do that, I’ve developed a deep appreciation for birds. The window that we used to practice near, particularly you and I…there was a really tall tree and I remember the first day of our [yoga teacher] training I saw there was a nest in the tree and it was the first week that we were practicing, we were in a Metta meditation that Jamie had put us in in the morning, and it was super long. I think it was going for like 20 minutes, and the birds were just being so loud, it was really beautiful, like it felt so orchestrated...but
I had just come to this realization that like everything in this moment was exactly what needed to be happening right now, and I think you could make, you could draw that comparison to a lot of other moments that you’ve had in your life. But the whole point of that, and I guess how like the serendipity of nature in general is just how aware you are to it, and I think that's also something I've been trying to tell people, because I tell this story of like me and the bird all the time...and I think a part of me feels like it’s super cliché and super weird that birds have this much of an effect over me, that I become emotional about it. So much so that when I think about my teacher training, I think about the beautiful women I was with, but I also think about those birds all the time, because that was such a transformative moment for me, like it literally makes me emotional right now, because I felt like I just tuned in...that's the thing about the gust of wind coming over me, like when laying on my mat, sure that gust of wind could’ve been coming over me the entire time but it was just the awareness that brought me to that, [and that’s] what spirituality is, that's just what yoga is - we like to think we’re aware, we love to think we’re aware, but when we become [aware], there’s like this weird spot where you stop hyper-focusing and become aware of stuff that happens so naturally that you just feel so much peace, you tune in and just become aware in that moment. So nature has brought me that through my yoga practice, I won’t say fitness in general because that’s not true, but just naturally yoga has brought me those moments, particularly outside and always with nature because I have developed the awareness through my yoga practice to just be still, and that it’s ok to just be still, and whatever sort of jarring thought I have in that moment, like that awareness can give me something really great, [like] the sweet smell of grass, it is so comforting, I don’t know it’s just really comforting, it really is validation…”
MC: “Absolutely, I think that’s beautiful and that just captures so well about practicing yoga especially if you’re outside, becoming comfortable with quieting down, calming down, and tuning into that awareness…like maybe these things have been going on but you just haven’t been aware of that until that present moment. And that story about the bird, I honestly don’t even remember seeing that nest so it shows you where my awareness and attention was [laughs] but I think that [story] is so cool. It reminds me [of] a literary term called pathetic fallacy where nature might mimic your feelings or thoughts, like if you’re sad and it starts raining, but I feel like it’s a lot more than that, like 'Hey look at that coincidence, that pathetic fallacy,' but it’s like, maybe that’s always gone on, but we just haven’t tuned in to it.”
Mel: “I feel like that sums up my whole life before yoga, honestly. I just feel really, I swear people think I’m crazy, and I’m like have I really just become this woman that’s like shouting at the sky like ‘Recognize that these things are happening!’...but I really am super passionate particularly about that perspective on life, because these things are happening all the time, around us all the time, and I think a lot of people are waiting for these things to happen to them and they are already happening, we’re just not creating that awareness, we’re just not open to it, and I got that through nature, so much, and I really like that question also.”
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MELISSA OLAN
QUESTION 6:
MC: "Oh, well awesome! Thank you for all of your insight and your answer...moving to the next question that kind of connects to it...what is one [eco-friendly] sustainability practice that you find important or that you might focus on in your life?"
Mel: "I think when I started practicing yoga more outside, I gained a deeper appreciation, I've always had an awareness about the planet and the planet that I live on, and the detrimental things that go on in society that literally are destroying the planet and the creatures that inhabit it...when I started doing more practicing of yoga outside...and had the opportunity to do so...like nature and just the trees outside, like the trees outside of my balcony...that's enough for me to just feel connected, because everything is a cycle, everything is a circle, and like us being on this planet, not to get oddly existential, but it is like with intention, in some sort of capacity, not that our lives have to have like this meaningful experience or anything, but it is with intention for us to be here, and I think that struck me kind of deeper, because it was like, ok, I don't know how I got here, I could make a lot of different avenues about to think about that, but not doing that, but like I am here, and I'm on a planet in a solar system, and I just have been put on this earth and I need to make the most to save her, I need to make the most to save it, obviously, because this isn't my space, like this isn't, I was just brought here, I was just dumped here somehow, but...I look at a lot of things in nature and I look at a lot of trees, and I just think about how...I can't even fathom how nature happens in the first place, like the concept of nature itself is pretty existentially driving."
MC: "It is."
Mel: "...like the fact how old trees are, and through intention, I would never want to do anything to harm these beautiful [trees], to harm scenery, to harm nature, to harm organisms, to harm life, and so through yoga, I really took that in through Ahimsa, of just finding specific avenues of like cutting down on certain animal products, and like you know, how am I shopping, am I shopping ethically, how is the energy, what in my life am I using the most energy for? Yes, I can walk more places, like I don't need to drive more places, I can be more cautious of where I'm getting my clothes from, not only from just a human exploitation perspective but also just like the energy that it is to make fucking clothes, and just to the little things about that. I have noticed through my yoga practice my energy consumption has gotten down, because I wanted to become more wary about it...but I mean, that's just the thing, everything is a process in life and everything is a literal journey, and there's always ways that you can be doing more, and I know that there are ways that I need to be doing more in order to just co-op with my life on this planet...and I feel like I'm very aware of that, like there's no way that I can just take all these resources from this planet and that there's just nothing in return, like I don't provide this planet literally anything, like there is nothing that I bring to earth, I mean maybe like from a social-relationship perspective, like I don't know in other people's lives, whatever, that's not the point, but like from an energy perspective, like I'm not providing this planet anything that it needs to thrive and survive. So, sometimes I do feel like I get stuck in a little hole where...I'm just taking all these resources and like 'What is happening? What am I doing?', but, yeah...I think me building, like coming to that awareness has been helpful, and like I said, there's always ways that I know I need to be doing more..."
MC: "Likewise."
Mel: "So, yes."
MC: "Well, definitely, you know, I think just like you're saying, having that awareness of how we are affecting or being affected by the environment, and just knowing like, ok, yeah, even if it's just a little thought like one day, like maybe you decide to use cold water instead of hot water for the dishes, or even just walking somewhere one time out of the day instead of driving, they all add up and make a difference..."
Mel: "They do."
MC: "...but it can be overwhelming thinking like, 'Ok, what am I doing to give back to the earth?', but yeah, and just to, if anyone listens to this [or reads this] and isn't aware, Ahimsa is the Sanskrit term for non-violence or non-harming..."
MEL: "Thank you for saying that."
MC: "Oh, thank you for bringing that up, I think that perfectly relates to the whole sustainability [topic] and us having that awareness of our relationship to the earth."
Mel: "Yeah, absolutely, absolutely."
MC: "Oh, well awesome! Thank you for all of your insight and your answer...moving to the next question that kind of connects to it...what is one [eco-friendly] sustainability practice that you find important or that you might focus on in your life?"
Mel: "I think when I started practicing yoga more outside, I gained a deeper appreciation, I've always had an awareness about the planet and the planet that I live on, and the detrimental things that go on in society that literally are destroying the planet and the creatures that inhabit it...when I started doing more practicing of yoga outside...and had the opportunity to do so...like nature and just the trees outside, like the trees outside of my balcony...that's enough for me to just feel connected, because everything is a cycle, everything is a circle, and like us being on this planet, not to get oddly existential, but it is like with intention, in some sort of capacity, not that our lives have to have like this meaningful experience or anything, but it is with intention for us to be here, and I think that struck me kind of deeper, because it was like, ok, I don't know how I got here, I could make a lot of different avenues about to think about that, but not doing that, but like I am here, and I'm on a planet in a solar system, and I just have been put on this earth and I need to make the most to save her, I need to make the most to save it, obviously, because this isn't my space, like this isn't, I was just brought here, I was just dumped here somehow, but...I look at a lot of things in nature and I look at a lot of trees, and I just think about how...I can't even fathom how nature happens in the first place, like the concept of nature itself is pretty existentially driving."
MC: "It is."
Mel: "...like the fact how old trees are, and through intention, I would never want to do anything to harm these beautiful [trees], to harm scenery, to harm nature, to harm organisms, to harm life, and so through yoga, I really took that in through Ahimsa, of just finding specific avenues of like cutting down on certain animal products, and like you know, how am I shopping, am I shopping ethically, how is the energy, what in my life am I using the most energy for? Yes, I can walk more places, like I don't need to drive more places, I can be more cautious of where I'm getting my clothes from, not only from just a human exploitation perspective but also just like the energy that it is to make fucking clothes, and just to the little things about that. I have noticed through my yoga practice my energy consumption has gotten down, because I wanted to become more wary about it...but I mean, that's just the thing, everything is a process in life and everything is a literal journey, and there's always ways that you can be doing more, and I know that there are ways that I need to be doing more in order to just co-op with my life on this planet...and I feel like I'm very aware of that, like there's no way that I can just take all these resources from this planet and that there's just nothing in return, like I don't provide this planet literally anything, like there is nothing that I bring to earth, I mean maybe like from a social-relationship perspective, like I don't know in other people's lives, whatever, that's not the point, but like from an energy perspective, like I'm not providing this planet anything that it needs to thrive and survive. So, sometimes I do feel like I get stuck in a little hole where...I'm just taking all these resources and like 'What is happening? What am I doing?', but, yeah...I think me building, like coming to that awareness has been helpful, and like I said, there's always ways that I know I need to be doing more..."
MC: "Likewise."
Mel: "So, yes."
MC: "Well, definitely, you know, I think just like you're saying, having that awareness of how we are affecting or being affected by the environment, and just knowing like, ok, yeah, even if it's just a little thought like one day, like maybe you decide to use cold water instead of hot water for the dishes, or even just walking somewhere one time out of the day instead of driving, they all add up and make a difference..."
Mel: "They do."
MC: "...but it can be overwhelming thinking like, 'Ok, what am I doing to give back to the earth?', but yeah, and just to, if anyone listens to this [or reads this] and isn't aware, Ahimsa is the Sanskrit term for non-violence or non-harming..."
MEL: "Thank you for saying that."
MC: "Oh, thank you for bringing that up, I think that perfectly relates to the whole sustainability [topic] and us having that awareness of our relationship to the earth."
Mel: "Yeah, absolutely, absolutely."
QUESTION 7:
MC: "Alright well thank you...in your opinion...what is one of the most prevalent stigmas or misconceptions present in the fitness world that you feel needs to be addressed?”
Mel: “…the big jarring number one huge thing is, ‘You need to lose weight to be happy’ or ‘You need to gain weight to be happy or achieve this, [or] you need to have or achieve this ideal body to be happy.’ I think fitness has cornered and corralled our thoughts because we think that’s the only way we can be happy and it has infiltrated the media and I mean it’s super systemic, and it’s freaking everywhere, like the way that fat-phobia has had its trickle down effect on everything and you see it so largely in movement as an industry, because it’s in your gym, it’s in the motivational sayings on the walls, it’s how your coaches and your trainers will talk to you, it’s in your yoga studios, it’s the studios that only have hot yoga classes. There’s [oftentimes] no yin, there’s no restorative yoga…there’s only thin yoga teachers who teach and they’re only white, it’s subconscious too. I follow this absolutely amazing yoga teacher on Instagram, her name is Susanna Barkataki, she’s so amazing, and she talks about the subconscious and the conscious, kind of how the fat-phobia is particularly in yoga studios…I think it’s great that she’s having this conversation, like it’s subconscious if you’re only hiring thin yoga teachers, [and] then the yoga teachers not wanting to modify the class for disabilities, yeah it’s so layered…I think my biggest thing is you do not need to be any type of way to feel happy, to feel satisfied, to feel whole. The fitness industry [and] the medical industry has really duped us to think we have to be a certain way, and [that] if we look a certain way we're automatically just healthy, and that's just entirely not true in any capacity, so that’s the simple easy answer.”
MC: "Thank you, very eloquently spoken and lots of insight there, and like you said, so many layers to it.”
Mel: “Oh, I literally feel like I could talk about it for an entire day, I don’t think I’d get tired of it.”
MC: "Alright well thank you...in your opinion...what is one of the most prevalent stigmas or misconceptions present in the fitness world that you feel needs to be addressed?”
Mel: “…the big jarring number one huge thing is, ‘You need to lose weight to be happy’ or ‘You need to gain weight to be happy or achieve this, [or] you need to have or achieve this ideal body to be happy.’ I think fitness has cornered and corralled our thoughts because we think that’s the only way we can be happy and it has infiltrated the media and I mean it’s super systemic, and it’s freaking everywhere, like the way that fat-phobia has had its trickle down effect on everything and you see it so largely in movement as an industry, because it’s in your gym, it’s in the motivational sayings on the walls, it’s how your coaches and your trainers will talk to you, it’s in your yoga studios, it’s the studios that only have hot yoga classes. There’s [oftentimes] no yin, there’s no restorative yoga…there’s only thin yoga teachers who teach and they’re only white, it’s subconscious too. I follow this absolutely amazing yoga teacher on Instagram, her name is Susanna Barkataki, she’s so amazing, and she talks about the subconscious and the conscious, kind of how the fat-phobia is particularly in yoga studios…I think it’s great that she’s having this conversation, like it’s subconscious if you’re only hiring thin yoga teachers, [and] then the yoga teachers not wanting to modify the class for disabilities, yeah it’s so layered…I think my biggest thing is you do not need to be any type of way to feel happy, to feel satisfied, to feel whole. The fitness industry [and] the medical industry has really duped us to think we have to be a certain way, and [that] if we look a certain way we're automatically just healthy, and that's just entirely not true in any capacity, so that’s the simple easy answer.”
MC: "Thank you, very eloquently spoken and lots of insight there, and like you said, so many layers to it.”
Mel: “Oh, I literally feel like I could talk about it for an entire day, I don’t think I’d get tired of it.”
QUESTION 8:
MC: “Well, I’m glad you have the platform of your Mindfully Activee blog to talk about it, and that actually kind of segues into our final question…first off the work that you’re doing is so important, I applaud you for it, and finishing it off, what is one of your long-term goals for your blog?”
Mel: “Yeah, I really,…it’s so funny, because I’ve been trying to live, I've been trying to find…the middle ground of living presently but also like having goals and aspirations, because I have a tendency to live in my head, and so it’s very easy for me to just like want to do these things and have these visions, but not act on it because again, living in my head it’s just easier, so, I would like to expand the account so that it...will just wholly encompass movement and will bring in the nuances of movement as something that people feel like they can do. I always want movement to be, like movement is accessible, but just the way that the fitness industry is and marketing in general and how influencers are on social media, it makes fitness as a whole, and yoga too, seem so inaccessible, because these things are expensive and we [are influenced to possibly believe that we] have to have the best clothes or we have to have the best memberships or we have to go to this yoga studio because they have this and that teacher, and whatever, and that’s not true, like it really can start at your source and in your own home too, and I want to not only show people that it is accessible but empower people to feel like they have the resources to do it on their own. Obviously like there are professionals here who are trained and certified to help you along the way, and help you figure out what things are safe for you to do for your body, and like what things feel good, feel best for your body, like what yoga practice makes me feel good, what makes me feel not so great, what kind of fitness, maybe exercise makes me feel good, what makes me not feel so good...it’s all just about finding things that we enjoy, and I think that’s, you know, why certified professionals are here, and obviously just from like form and just like physical stuff as well...that's just what I really want for my platform, is I want people to feel empowered, to feel like they have the resources to move, because ultimately we need to be moving, that is how we live healthy lifestyles, and I think the fitness industry and...I think yoga can be looped into this as well, is just thinking that it has to be this really intense practice for it to be beneficial or for it to be sustainable and that's not true. We can move and it doesn't need to be rigorous exercise for us to get the benefits of exercise from that movement, and so I really want to harp on that as well because these are discussions that take a long time, and it’s not something that you just accept overnight, and I think it’s more just about having visibility on the topic too, like finding like-minded people, like you as well, who just have the same ideas and feel the same way about movement, [it] really makes a big difference for people who may not be super passionate about movement in the first place, so yeah... I want to create that and show people that we can move and that we have the ability to move, celebrating when we feel like we can move...and appreciating that.”
MC: “Absolutely, absolutely, providing awareness, again using that word a lot today, but really just like understanding that you can walk to your local park or take a walk around the block and that'll make a difference, and you don’t have to pay an expensive membership every time to get a workout, and that's so important, and I think you might have spoken a little about this before we started recording but, trying to find that work-life balance, and then eventually maybe down the road, so are you interested in expanding your blog into more of like a website-type thing?"
Mel: “Yeah, I would like to do something more website-based, something more blog-based, I’m looking to get more certifications in the future [too]. I've always had a passion, before I even got into yoga really and parts of fitness, I was a huge CrossFitter, I love CrossFit, I still have a deep appreciation for CrossFit as a sport, and I have found a way to find meditation through weightlifting in that aspect, so I hope to get that certification as well, hopefully within the next couple of months, to have my Olympic Weightlifting Certification, and then I would like to get my 500 hours (yoga teacher training) whenever I have enough money to pay for my 300 hour [training], I will be doing that....”
MC: “I totally hear that. Well, that is all very inspiring and impressive, and I wish you the best of luck on your journey! And I’m really excited to see where this all takes you, and you’re doing great work and yeah, thank you again for just taking the time to speak with me today and provide a little insight into your experience, it's been awesome.”
Mel: "Oh my gosh, I am so honored, and to see your face right now literally just made my whole frickin' week, and I'm so excited for everything you do. I mean, you're such an impressive human being, literally just like from your presence, and I know that your students love you as a teacher, and also your voice is just fuckin' beautiful, so you are such a delight to just even have the experience to see you virtually, so I'm so glad that we have, that we're able to talk and it still be us, so yeah."
MC: "Definitely, definitely, well you are an amazing person too Mel, and you have made my day, my week, and I hope you can enjoy your weekend going into it and, yeah, thank you again!"
Mel: "Yes, of course!"
***
TO CHECK OUT MELISSA'S INSTAGRAM BLOG, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK: www.instagram.com/mindfullyactivee/
Thank you so much Melissa for sharing your perspective and insight, it truly is an honor to speak with you and to learn more about you! And thank you to the readers and listeners!
THIS INTERVIEW HAS BEEN EDITED. PLEASE LISTEN TO AUDIO LINK AT TOP OF PAGE FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH MELISSA.
MC: “Well, I’m glad you have the platform of your Mindfully Activee blog to talk about it, and that actually kind of segues into our final question…first off the work that you’re doing is so important, I applaud you for it, and finishing it off, what is one of your long-term goals for your blog?”
Mel: “Yeah, I really,…it’s so funny, because I’ve been trying to live, I've been trying to find…the middle ground of living presently but also like having goals and aspirations, because I have a tendency to live in my head, and so it’s very easy for me to just like want to do these things and have these visions, but not act on it because again, living in my head it’s just easier, so, I would like to expand the account so that it...will just wholly encompass movement and will bring in the nuances of movement as something that people feel like they can do. I always want movement to be, like movement is accessible, but just the way that the fitness industry is and marketing in general and how influencers are on social media, it makes fitness as a whole, and yoga too, seem so inaccessible, because these things are expensive and we [are influenced to possibly believe that we] have to have the best clothes or we have to have the best memberships or we have to go to this yoga studio because they have this and that teacher, and whatever, and that’s not true, like it really can start at your source and in your own home too, and I want to not only show people that it is accessible but empower people to feel like they have the resources to do it on their own. Obviously like there are professionals here who are trained and certified to help you along the way, and help you figure out what things are safe for you to do for your body, and like what things feel good, feel best for your body, like what yoga practice makes me feel good, what makes me feel not so great, what kind of fitness, maybe exercise makes me feel good, what makes me not feel so good...it’s all just about finding things that we enjoy, and I think that’s, you know, why certified professionals are here, and obviously just from like form and just like physical stuff as well...that's just what I really want for my platform, is I want people to feel empowered, to feel like they have the resources to move, because ultimately we need to be moving, that is how we live healthy lifestyles, and I think the fitness industry and...I think yoga can be looped into this as well, is just thinking that it has to be this really intense practice for it to be beneficial or for it to be sustainable and that's not true. We can move and it doesn't need to be rigorous exercise for us to get the benefits of exercise from that movement, and so I really want to harp on that as well because these are discussions that take a long time, and it’s not something that you just accept overnight, and I think it’s more just about having visibility on the topic too, like finding like-minded people, like you as well, who just have the same ideas and feel the same way about movement, [it] really makes a big difference for people who may not be super passionate about movement in the first place, so yeah... I want to create that and show people that we can move and that we have the ability to move, celebrating when we feel like we can move...and appreciating that.”
MC: “Absolutely, absolutely, providing awareness, again using that word a lot today, but really just like understanding that you can walk to your local park or take a walk around the block and that'll make a difference, and you don’t have to pay an expensive membership every time to get a workout, and that's so important, and I think you might have spoken a little about this before we started recording but, trying to find that work-life balance, and then eventually maybe down the road, so are you interested in expanding your blog into more of like a website-type thing?"
Mel: “Yeah, I would like to do something more website-based, something more blog-based, I’m looking to get more certifications in the future [too]. I've always had a passion, before I even got into yoga really and parts of fitness, I was a huge CrossFitter, I love CrossFit, I still have a deep appreciation for CrossFit as a sport, and I have found a way to find meditation through weightlifting in that aspect, so I hope to get that certification as well, hopefully within the next couple of months, to have my Olympic Weightlifting Certification, and then I would like to get my 500 hours (yoga teacher training) whenever I have enough money to pay for my 300 hour [training], I will be doing that....”
MC: “I totally hear that. Well, that is all very inspiring and impressive, and I wish you the best of luck on your journey! And I’m really excited to see where this all takes you, and you’re doing great work and yeah, thank you again for just taking the time to speak with me today and provide a little insight into your experience, it's been awesome.”
Mel: "Oh my gosh, I am so honored, and to see your face right now literally just made my whole frickin' week, and I'm so excited for everything you do. I mean, you're such an impressive human being, literally just like from your presence, and I know that your students love you as a teacher, and also your voice is just fuckin' beautiful, so you are such a delight to just even have the experience to see you virtually, so I'm so glad that we have, that we're able to talk and it still be us, so yeah."
MC: "Definitely, definitely, well you are an amazing person too Mel, and you have made my day, my week, and I hope you can enjoy your weekend going into it and, yeah, thank you again!"
Mel: "Yes, of course!"
***
TO CHECK OUT MELISSA'S INSTAGRAM BLOG, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK: www.instagram.com/mindfullyactivee/
Thank you so much Melissa for sharing your perspective and insight, it truly is an honor to speak with you and to learn more about you! And thank you to the readers and listeners!
THIS INTERVIEW HAS BEEN EDITED. PLEASE LISTEN TO AUDIO LINK AT TOP OF PAGE FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH MELISSA.