We were lucky to catch up with Alexis Cate recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alexis, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?

My first official job was at an ice cream parlor in New Jersey on Point Pleasant Boardwalk when I was 16 years old. It was such an amazing first job, I worked with my best friend, we were right by the beach, became friends with all of our co-workers, played fun music, did fun activities before and after work, it was a blast. The only that wasn’t the greatest was our boss, she wasn’t very fond of all the young high schoolers having fun at work, even though everyone was great at their job. A little back story on my best friend and I, we LOVE to make each other laugh. No matter where we were, what we were doing, you could hear us giggling from miles away. We lived right down the street from one another and were always together, our old school bus drive used to call us the giggle twins. Even though we had great fun, we also were super hardworking. We took our jobs very seriously, working a lot more than we should’ve, but we didn’t mind because at least we were doing it together! My boss never really was around unless it was the opening shift or the closing shifts, so our manager, our friend, was in charge. One day our manager was out of town and our boss had to be there all day, she was not a fan of this. At some point during that day we got super slow and everyone took that time to clean and prep before the busy hours. My best friend and I crossed paths during this time and were laughing at something funny, our boss screamed at us telling us to stop laughing and how annoying we were being. The entire boardwalk went quiet and both of us embarrassed and honestly scared because we have never had any issues prior. We learned the following day from our manager that she was having an extra bad day and to try to not let her get to us, that we did nothing wrong and its perfectly okay to laugh. From that day I learned that there are going to be people who try to bring you down when you are happy, just because they are unhappy with themselves. I told myself as well that no matter who tries to dim my light, to never let it burn out and not to quiet the parts of me that are allowed to be heard. I take that into my career now as a yoga instructor and sound healer, because I know laughter is the best form of medicine. My goal in life and my career is to never dim the lights of others, but to help it shine brighter!

Alexis, 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?

My name is Alexis Nicole, my love and passion for a Zen lifestyle was planted, unknowingly, 10 years ago.

Isn’t it funny how the Universe does that?

I was first acquainted with Asana, physical movement, captivated by the unique beautiful postures. My roots started to plant with being taught Pranayama, breath work, to help regulate emotions, thoughts and feelings. Roots continuing to lengthen, I was then introduced to Dhyana, meditation, allowing for mental clarity and relaxation. My roots stretched even further when I journeyed into the more spiritual and energetic parts of life. I dove deep into studies of different ways of life, religions, Gods and Goddesses, the Universe, Mother Earth, auras, astrology, crystals (yes, I do believe they are magic), sound frequencies, herbs, holistic health, and so much more. That calling broke the surface and it started to sprout.

Then as it does, life sort of got in the way, my growing plant stayed stagnant. I went through a very big transitional period, and it changed me. I fell out of my physical practice, my breath work practice, meditation practice, and stopped learning about all the things I was curious about. I was a completely different person, doing things that served me no good. I was tumbling in a storm I didn’t know how to get out of. (I didn’t know it at the time, but this is a vital part of my never ending journey).

Then one gloomy day, I went on a walk at a park nearby, with a heavy heart. I sat on this bench near the marsh and a beautiful tree with white flowers. I spoke out loud to the universe and my loved ones up in the heavens about all that I was feeling, all that I wanted to let go of, all that I wanted in my life. The clouds parted, the sun shined on me and the wind blew and a bunch of dandelion fluffs floated around me. I knew they listened.

After that day, I started to slowly see my real self again, and my plant started to grow. I was brought back into my physical, breath work and meditation practices with a small act of kindness by a friend that invited me to a yoga studio. They welcomed me with open arms and the lovely community ignited that spark back into my soul. My plants started to spring up tall and strong. It wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows, there were still days, weeks, months, where storms rolled in. But with no rain, no flowers and the sun always shines brighter each time. Throughout that time, I was about to embark on another pivotal time of my life. You know the saying your new life will cost you your old one? Well, it’s entirely true.

I was in the coming weeks of my Yoga teacher training, and my life felt like it was falling apart. During it, my life was still going crazy, but being in training helped me start to evolve my life into the one I asked for. During my training I learned so much more about what yoga actually is, yoga is a way of being. My passion and love multiplied, I knew that there was a reason for all the hardship I was facing. It gave me my purpose to keep pushing forward. You see, yoga saved me. I know it sounds cheesy, but it really did. I have struggled lots in my life with mental health and physical health issues. Diving deeper into the yoga lifestyle showed me that I can live a life of healing, not hurting.

Yoga taught me, with Yin there is always Yang, with Effort there is always Ease.

Since graduating with my 200 hour certificate a little over a year ago now, I have grown tremendously as an instructor and, most importantly, as a person. I have been able to heal a lot of prior mental and physical health issues that were a constant part of my life. One of my biggest accomplishments from starting yoga is that I was able to manage my mental health tremendously. Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, and Paranoia were constant in my everyday life. I was able to break that constant, and begin a journey of healing. Yoga is so much more than a workout, it’s a way of living.

I always knew that my passion in life was to help others but I never knew how. Now, I know exactly why yoga found me, so I can help guide others on during their journey. I take into consideration that everyone is on their own journey of life and my job is to meet you where you are and help flow you to where you want to be. Whether that be through movement, breath, meditations, sound healing, knowledge. The vow I made to myself and to all of my students that I made, the day of my Yoga teacher training graduation, is I will be forever learning and growing. This is because life is a never ending journey with endless knowledge. That seed that was planted, 10 years ago, is evolving every way everyday so I can be the guide you need. My goal is to help you heal, grow, learn and be your true self, because you too can live a life full of healing and Zen.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

During my 200 hour yoga training course, I learned the breakdowns of each asana (posture) and how to do it correctly. Although I do believe there is a correct way to do a posture, I believe the severity of not doing it according to the book is low. I had to unlearn that not everyone is going to be able to do something the exact same way I can, or the person next to them can. Yoga asanas are not a “one size fits all” because everyone is different. For example, a cobra pose is traditionally broken down as…
start by lying face-down on a mat with legs extended, hands placed directly under your shoulders, fingers pointing forward. Inhale and gently lift your chest, pressing through your hands and keeping your core engaged. Focus on drawing your shoulders down and away from your ears, and keep your neck long and relaxed.
This may not be how someones cobra will be if they have, tight shoulders or back, not a lot of strength in their wrists, maybe one side is stronger than the other so its a bit more lopsided. No matter what this will not look the same or feel the same in my body compared to someone else.
So my discovery with unlearning this is to really focus on getting them to their own version of asana. To learn what feels good to my students and not how its supposed to look according to a book.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

The most helpful for succeeding in my field is to create a vision board. This allows yourself to see all that you want to accomplish every day, until one day you are living it. I highly believe in the art of manifestation and creating a vision board is an amazing way to igniting your dreams. Everyday I look at my vision board for the year, imagining what it is like to live those dreams, then I go out into the world and make it happen. It is a constant reminder to keep going, even on the days where its tough. It allows you to remember why you started in the first place!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lexiszenden.squarespace.com
• Instagram: @lexiszenden
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079978712374