We recently connected with Natalia Cavaliere and have shared our conversation below.

Natalia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Your Journey Yoga is a vision that came to me early on in my personal yoga practice (approximately 7 years ago). I didn’t know the exact form this business would take, but the name resonated with me deeply. It is through embracing my own unique journey and experiences in life, on the mat and off the mat, that I have experienced the most growth, joy, and abundance. As a result, it has also become the heart of my current business: to help others connect with their most authentic selves.

This dream remained somewhat dormant in the back of my mind for years. After teaching locally at a studio for a few years, the call to bring the Your Journey Yoga vision to life started to get louder. Around the time that I planted this seed of creation, I had asked the Universe for the time, space, and resources to engage with this fully, which came in the form of being laid off from my corporate job a few months later.

My life was suddenly filled with uncertainty and lots of empty space, so I jumped with both feet. I gathered up all the necessary equipment, asked entrepreneur friends for advice, and started creating content. It was one of the most terrifying things I have ever done, but I knew it would work one way or another because it was coming from my heart. The seed was blossoming from my long-held desire to be of service to the collective. To guide others towards healing.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I began my yoga journey in the pursuit of relieving physical pain but was quickly awakened to the benefits of yoga that expand far beyond the mat. This led to a deep interest in yogic philosophy, Buddhist psychology, and spirituality as a whole. I picked up every book I could to expand my knowledge, practice, and ability to guide others, which has crafted the holistic yoga practice I offer to my students.

Western yoga is typically very “asana focused” – people seek hot yoga and intense classes to break a sweat and build strength. There is nothing wrong with valuing the physical benefits of yoga – it’s one of the eight limbs for a reason! What I aim to do with my teachings is open a door of curiosity for students to awaken to the way yoga can be weaved into every corner of their lives. My classes involve lessons that can be engaged with on the mat and taken with students off of the mat into their daily lives. Yoga is a mind-body-spirit system with immense benefits and implications for all aspects of Self if we are willing to engage with it in that way.

I currently offer heated and non-heated classes at Yoga V Studio in Grand Junction, Colorado, and have a number of online resources for those who are not local. You can find me on YouTube, Insight Timer, Instagram, and Spotify with free guided meditations and yoga flows that are beginner and intermediate friendly. Additionally, I offer an exclusive video library membership on my website with yoga and meditation classes, multi-day series, and more. You can book private yoga sessions and tarot and oracle readings with me as well to deepen your practice in more ways than one.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

There are thousands of other yoga instructors in the world, including the online space. For a while, I was afraid I would get drowned out by everyone else who was already doing what I wanted to do. Imposter syndrome’s voice became very loud: “Who am I to be guiding others? Who am I to be taking up space in the yoga world?”. The unlearning came through this question: “Who am I NOT to?”.

I perceive our existence as a “Universal Quilt” – we are all interconnected, but have our own unique square in the quilt (our squares being the expression of our authenticity, our gifts, our desires). The quilt is far more beautiful and beneficial when each square is different. It is a disservice to ourselves and others when we choose not to be our authentic selves, when we choose not to share our truth, when we keep our gifts hidden from the world.

This lesson also came with the realization that success is subjective, it is not always materialistically tangible, and our progress is not to be rushed. When looking at the overwhelming presence of other online teachers, I started seeing what they had that I didn’t (more followers, more money, better equipment, more influence). Thankfully, curiosity brought me deeper into seeing how long these teachers had been doing what they’re doing – of course I discovered many of them have been teaching for 10+ years. They have consistently shown up to their craft and certainly did not start with all of the followers, money, and success they have now.

We live in a society that glorifies a quick come-up. We have lost the art of the slow-burn when it comes to our craft. I am unlearning this perspective constantly and am always reminding myself of the value held in each step of the unfolding of my business. To rush it would be a disservice. To not share it or show up to it would be a disservice. This is true for any calling that lives in your heart and cries out to be expressed.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

One thing I’ve learned about building an audience on social media is, of course, posting authentically. People want to know who you are – don’t worry about your content looking like everyone else’s. However, it can be really helpful to look at what other people in your field are doing. What appears to be working well for them? How could you implement that with your own voice and creativity?

Additionally, putting out promotions/ads on YouTube and Instagram has helped me immensely! I don’t do it often and am selective with what I advertise, but it has increased traffic to my pages quite a bit. I have also started writing blogs on my website with SEO-friendly writing to direct people to the breadth of my other offerings.

I have also learned a hard lesson in burnout. Create at a sustainable pace that allows you to stay in your authentic zone. I started feeling the pressure of the online space to post, post post, and I started making content I didn’t even want to create. Focus on quality over quantity. The world is not going to end and your business is not going to fail if you don’t post every day, every week, or at “high engagement” times. Let your energy be driven by what’s alive in your heart, not what you think you need to be for Instagram/YouTube/TikTok.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yourjourneyyoga.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourjourneyyoga/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourjourneyyogaco/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@yourjourneyyoga
• Other: Spotify Guided Meditations & Flows: https://open.spotify.com/show/39EwbCXYbpzAsCBtDNjhI7?si=63e0fe761a3b4924
  Insight Timer: https://insig.ht/zK7OrH790Qb