We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Aimee Shanti LaRue a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Aimee Shanti, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
I found myself alone in San Diego raising and homeschooling my two daughters on my own after their father moved back to his home town in March of 2019. Feeling overwhelmed by my circumstances, I was unable to make any decisions. Should I stay in San Diego and start over or follow him back east and try again? It was a confusing time, a time of great stress in my life.
As a yogi, I did what I was taught to do and what I knew worked for me. I meditated daily to find clarity. The only thing that kept coming up for me was to pursue yoga therapy. I had been teaching yoga for four years at that point and had been wanting to expand that part of my life. There was a yoga therapy training that was being offered through one of my mentors. I signed up. It was the only thing I knew to be right at the time. I didn’t know it then but it was the first step in moving toward a whole new direction in my life.
I spent this training being supported and encouraged to live my passion of healing and helping others thrive through yoga full time. I knew it was a risk to dive in but I did it anyway. I came away with a renewed appreciation for the power of yoga in healing and the power of community.
Six months later, I started a new chapter of my life as a single mom and entrepreneur. I began Alignment & Love Yoga where I dedicated my work to helping humans heal and thrive in mind, body, spirit through yoga therapy and empowerment coaching. I became intentional about expanding my supportive community. I committed to continuing education in my field. Most importantly, I vowed to be a role model of strength, vulnerability, and connection for my two daughters.
I’ve since completed my 500 hour Ashaya© Yoga Teacher Training along with advanced trainings in Yoga Anatomy, Therapeutic Yoga, and Yoga for Osteoporosis. I currently help people get relief from chronic pain, regain mobility after breast cancer surgery, provide an alternative to medication for osteoporosis, relieve stress and much more. I participate in exceptionally supportive family and parenting groups, spiritual circles, and business groups that continue to nourish me, my family and my business.
What I have learned is the risk that you’re afraid to take could change your life. It changed mine and I am so grateful.
Aimee Shanti, 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?
I am a 500 hour RYT Certified and Licensed Ashaya Yoga®Teacher and an Empowerment Coach. I started practicing yoga over 20 years ago and immediately was hooked. I didn’t know why at the time but I knew I wanted to keep doing it. When I was pregnant with my first child, I used yoga to prepare for birth and keep my body relatively comfortable through the pregnancy. Once I had my first child, yoga was my stress relief and kept me strong. This continued through the birth of my second child. I knew I wanted to pursue yoga even more deeply. I trained and received my 200 Hour Ashaya© Yoga Certification in 2015 and my 500 Hr Ashaya© Yoga Certification in 2021 and have completed more specialized trainings in the therapeutic modalities of yoga and continue to expand this knowledge. Yoga has not only made me stronger and more flexible in mind and body. It has been my path to peace and purpose.
Wanting to share this path, I started Alignment & Love Yoga in January of 2020. My goal is to help humans heal and thrive in mind, body, spirit through yoga therapy and empowerment coaching. I provide private and group yoga in person and via zoom. My yoga classes and private yoga therapy sessions are rooted in proper physical alignment, meditation and breath work (pranayama).
My clients are primarily women over 40 who appreciate and value quality self-care. I provide yoga therapy for relief of chronic pain and mental stress. I work with people with osteoporosis and osteopenia who want to supplement their osteoporosis medication or use yoga as an alternative to medication. Women post breast cancer surgery and reconstructive surgery work with me to regain mobility, strength, and a sense of peace in this new chapter of their lives. I provide group classes and private sessions for athletes looking to build strength, mobility, and mental focus to improve their performance. I also utilize yoga and/or empowerment coaching with people looking to do more self-discovery work.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
I have found that being authentic in who I am and putting myself and my services out into the world has been the most effective strategy for growing my clientele. I am involved in networking groups. I share what I do with people I meet, friends, family. Collaborating with other practitioners, creating referral opportunities for each other is a big part of it. Getting outside of my comfort zone is probably the most significant way I create more opportunities and grow my client community.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
Training and continued education in the field is extremely important. However, even more than that is being your authentic self. People see through someone who is trying to be someone they are not, or trying to fit a mold so people will work with them. I’ve found that you need to be you and the people that resonate with you will show up. Of course, you have to put yourself out there to make it happen. My advice is be you, have a direction and get out of your comfort zone and beautiful things will happen!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.aimeeshantilarue.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alignment_love_yoga/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlignmentLoveYoga
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aimee-shanti-larue-948b58229/