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

Adrienne , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

If I could, I would add meditation and mental health classes for every grade and every student. Your capacity as an individual for success relies on your ability to process the “good and bad” in life’s moments. How powerful one’ persons journey could be if they were equipped with the knowledge of their own individual gifts. Understanding that comparisons is a dream killer while celebrating your uniqueness gives access to unlimited opportunity. Life is certainly going to come with its challenges but understanding and observing your thoughts, emotions or behavior through the difficulty instead of attaching to them will align a person to their own special path versus repeating cycles from family or friends that may have influenced how we perceive life. Your attitude and mindset are the key to maintaining a joy filled life experience.

Adrienne , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Some of us go through life pursuing what others tell us we should do. By not allowing my own intuition or heart to guide me, I found myself in a lot of situations that were not for me and at some point would hurt me. Because we love our friends and family and know they want the best for us, this can feel confusing.
The truth is, no one knows what’s best for you, but you and only you can do the work to align with your own path.
For most of my life I never felt satisfied or truly happy. While searching for my happiness I followed the crowds into toxic habits or places and found myself in jobs that felt draining and mentally or physically unhealthy.
15 years ago I was introduced to a meditation and mindfulness practice.
At first I felt frustrated with the time spent quietly observing myself in these practices, then I felt ashamed of the past choices I’ve made and then I felt grace and forgiveness for these younger versions of myself and little by little I felt free like really free and this clarity started unveiling itself and then… I had access to parts of myself that I just simply couldn’t see before cleaning out all the “ick” .
I rapidly began to see what was in my highest good and made changes in my life to reflect that. Changed careers, went back to school, left a marriage, honored and loved myself in a way I never have before. This is when I decided to teach people or guide them through meditation and mindfulness practices, so they too could find their healing and their gifts. How incredible our world could be if every one was moving through life with that kind of awareness.
I first studied mental health in a holistic capacity, then meditation in a deeper sense and through those avenues I found the philosophy of yoga.
I believe deeply that these 3 healing modalities have the potential to help everyone align with their highest good.
First I took on clients in my home, then I rented out space in a studio and then I opened a studio in my very small hometown.
Today I own 2 studios, one in Dallas Ga Bee Humble Studio and the other in Mint hill Nc. Total Being Yoga. I run a non profit that focuses on mental health and sharing a meal with a stranger, The Grateful Bread Foundation.
Even after doing the above I still felt my reach could be further so In the past few years I started teaching teachers to provide mental health and meditation in their yoga classes. We are now able to encompass all 3 healing modalities into one class session.
On an individual level I still offer private sessions in person or virtually. I host 2 or 3 wellness retreats a year and teach a 10 month long Yoga Teacher Training program that is rooted in mindfulness & meditation.
Watching teachers and students heal and transform their lives into their dreams and continue to grow on their individual paths has been rewarding to say the least but mostly I believe it can change the world we live in and the way we see it. One session or class changes or opens up an individual student, that student then goes home and shares this gift with his or her family then those family members share the gift with classmates or work colleagues and then those individuals go home and share it with their household and so on and so on. My dream like most is to create more peace in all of our lives and in the world, this is the path I’ve chosen to do so. I keep my mind and heart in alignment with my purest intentions even when the logical mind tries to distract me with fear, I trust my intuition on a greater level now and encourage the same with all my teachers and students.
Be well and be love.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

This is a tough one but it needs to be shared. When you first open a business you believe your friends and family will be your top supporters. For some this may remain true but for me it just wasn’t the case.
Your number one supporters will be strangers, your first clients and other small businesses around you.
Maybe it’s because people from your past will not understand or relate to this new ambitious side of you or maybe it’s because other business owners understand first hand the challenges of running a business but either way this was truly my experience.
My clients, a very small percentage of friends and other business owners have supported my studios from opening day and still do.
Though at first this was a harsh realization, now it’s allowed me to focus my time and attention where it will be valued and not wasted. I am grateful for the lesson and appreciate the way it has strengthened me as a person and business owner.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Talk the Talk and Walk the walk I ask my teachers to enter the studio in a space of loving awareness. Understanding that things at home or in their personal life may be difficult at times but when you walk into the studio allow your self freedom from everything outside of these doors. This might mean breathing or meditation practices in your car before you enter or even recognizing these emotional limitations and asking for a sub for your classes.
In our particular practice we hold a loving judgement free space for our students. In return I hold that same type of space for my teachers. We have a trust for each others honesty and commitment to our studio.
I ask them to be responsible for the energy or vibe that you bring into the studio.
This means Always putting your own mental health first so that you can better provide services to our students.

Contact Info:

• Website: Beehumblestudio.com TotalBeingYoga.com
• Instagram: BeeHumbleHealing & TotalBeingYoga