We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Yolanda Rodgers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Yolanda thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the story behind how you got your first job in field that you currently practice in.

I was a student of yoga before an instructor. I stumbled across the studio I currently teach at because I was looking for natural ways to heal my lungs from the effects of pneumonia in 2019. I didn’t find a solution until early 2020; halo therapy (salt therapy). I began halo therapy at the studio and a few weeks later I began taking yoga classes. I fell in love with one particular sequence and in the fall of 2020 I was asked if I wanted to learn and teach that sequence. That was just the beginning of my journey with yoga. I was excited to learn and deepen my understanding of yoga and I continued to learn. I was introduced to kemetic yoga (kemetic meaning ancient Egypt) in 2022 and I then became a 200 hr RYT in Kemetic Yoga.

Yolanda, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I began to teach yoga because I loved what it did for my body and mind and I wanted to give that to other people. I began therapy a few months after consistently taking yoga. I noticed how I was more expressive with my therapist about my feelings and emotions which is something I struggled with. Yoga helped me sort my thoughts. Yoga led to meditation and at times I would meditate while practicing yoga. It was so freeing! I wanted my friends and family to have that same freedom of expression and even more so a better understanding of themselves. After a yoga sequence, I’m sure to walk my yogis through a breathing exercise to aid in calming their mind even when they can not practice yoga. I’ve helped people who were experiencing an anxiety attacks as well as high levels of stress calm themselves down to a functioning state just with breathing exercises!

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

Absolutely! The only difference is I would choose it sooner.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I previously worked as a high school teacher. I love literature (my first bachelors degree is in English) so naturally I taught English. I noticed that my students couldn’t focus on their reading and writing assignments because life was a little hard for most of them. I had a quite a bit of discipline problems as well. I recognized that all of that stemmed from the students not being able to quiet their minds from the outside world to focus on any piece of literature that I could put in front of them. In my opinion they didn’t need an English teacher, they needed a therapist and counselor. I switched from getting a masters in secondary education to getting a dual masters degree in mental health counseling and school counseling. I want to help our children begin to sort through life’s problems which is exactly what I needed when I was their age.

Contact Info:

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