Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cindy Walker. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Cindy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Mindful Movement YLC is a wellness business that focuses on helping people feel better physically. mentally and spiritually. Movement of all sorts is at the core of what I do as we humans; however, many of us hold pain and suffering in mind and body. I have found through personal experience and that of my clients that once we remove tension or muscular holding patterns our sense of self feels better. Yoga, movement therapy, meditation, guided imagery, massage techniques and essential oils and all exist in my tool box for helping and healing current and past tensions. My mission is to teach and lead by example that “motion is lotion” and that even basic movements can change a mindset, get feeling good chemicals floating through the bloodstream, and certainly give rise to new perspective on life. After 20+ years teaching yoga and movement therapy, I added wellness coaching into my repertoire. While putting clients in a gentle or restorative type of poses, I tackle “dungeon digging” (long held beliefs that are lodged in the conscious and sub-conscious mind), by sensitively asking questions or getting a client to reveal issues that make their lives less than satisfactory. Once relaxed in a pose, and perhaps with a heating pad under, or a soothing balm on sore or tense area, clients are free to discuss topics that are difficult to talk about let alone resolve.

Helping people be free of where their pain and suffering lies is my goal as freedom is always here, we just sometimes need to let it in and remember, nothing painful is worth holding onto. Many clients return to my yoga space weekly as “dungeon digging” is rarely done just once. It often takes many sessions for a client to feel better and begin to trying out new behavior and limiting thought patterns. Over time, these changes become apparent and old poor patterns of life begin to fall away. Our mission to bring health and greater ease in life is then achieved and clients begin to take control of and feel better in everyday life.

Cindy, 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 have been passionately involved in Yoga and Wellness practices for close to 30 years.

This makes me a senior an seasoned teacher and practitioner!

I stumbled upon Yoga and Meditation in college, when my family life and health

were miserably falling apart, and I realized I was going to need strong tools

to manage stress and maintain my well being.

My first class awakened me to spirit and to new places in my body and mind.

Yoga and all that it represents allowed me to see “my story” but connect to my spirit.

It helped me deal with the stresses of my unhealthy past and see it all as a great teacher and a gift.

I was instantly hooked and found the practice to be a soothing salvation, a trusted therapist

~ my god, goddess and best friend.

My life was like the “phoenix rising from the ashes.”

I survived a difficult childhood, and came out healthier as an adult.

I learned to discern what I no longer wanted to attract in life, and to go after my dreams.

For me, Yoga was and continues to be a great mentor for life!

I absolutely adore teaching creative movement.

It works to heal and refresh body, mind and soul.

I have witnessed its power personally and professionally.

Known for my eclectic classes that weave elements from Vinyasa, Kundalini, Iyengar,

Yin, Restorative, and Therapeutic Yoga into my all of classes.

You never quite know what I will pull out of my sleeve,

but you can definitely expect fresh air, cool tunes, a spiritual directive,

an amazing workout, and a deep Shavasana and Meditation to finish.

I creatively draw into each class the wisdom of the eight limbs of

Ashtanga Yoga theory using breath, spiritual awareness, creative movement, imagery,

humor, psychology, relaxation and soul awareness.

I have a B.A. in Movement Therapy & Psychology,

and a Yoga Alliance eRYT 500 Hr & YCEP certification.

Other credentials include advanced certifications from

The White Lotus Foundation ~ Ganga White & Tracey Rich,

Seane Corn, Erich Schiffman, Bryan Kest, David & Doug Swenson, Duncan Wong,

Paul Grilley, Cheri Clampett & Arturo Peal and Judith Lasater.

In 2017, I completed my Wellness Coaching Certification Program

from The Martha Beck WayFinders Program, and began taking Yoga off the Mat.

Life Coaching is essentially Yoga of the Mind.

After years of taking care of people’s bodies and spirits,

I saw the need to also heal our minds.

My aim is to help people overcome everyday obstacles that get in the way

of them finding their true self, as well as their life’s dreams.

Working with the science of Neuroplasticity, I work to remove old patterns of thinking

and belief systems, helping to create newer and healthier ways of seeing and living life.

Often, integrating yoga and wellness practices into my teachings,

I lead people to find greater happiness in everyday life ~ to find peace in every moment!

Unlike a therapist, a coach will not focus on your past,

s/he will help you look toward your future to break through any barriers keeping

you from a life of greater joy and fulfillment.

A Life/Wellness Coach is a personal support individual

whose aim is to help clients determine and achieve personal goals and their life’s dreams.

A Coach is a teacher of human behavior

and selects from a variety of methods to help clients better understand self-defeating thoughts

and learned behavior patterns,

and help you reach positive goals.

Coaches helps people clarify and articulate what they want most from life and how best to achieve it.

More specifically, coaching helps people

get past their obstacles in order to create

the results they want in life, work, relationships,

and spiritual growth.

A Personal Trainer for Your Soul

Coaches are not therapists, nor consultants; psychological intervention and business analysis

are outside the scope of their practice.

Wellness coaching is unique to each individual

drawing upon the inspiration from such disciplines

as sociology, psychology, positive adult development, career counseling, mentoring,

and other types of mind-body health counseling.

Much of my work is doing one-on-one’s on the mat, in person, on the phone, or via Zoom.

Here to help, heal, love and live our lives to the richest.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Well, of course, the pandemic “Covid” threw every business into a crazy whirlwind. For me, I had (3) days to cease operations my yoga studio and convert my entire teaching and coaching practice into a virtual experience on Zoom. Although, Zoom now feels easy and normal, in the early days of the pandemic, it was a new phenomena for most people. Living in Silicon Valley, it was even more challenging, as during the prime times: 8am-noon the capacity to log on and use the platform was maxed out, and (9) times out of (10), after much stress of getting (15-20+) people logged in, we would get booted out of the system. Then, trying to relaunch everyone became a huge headache and by the time I did, the class time was almost over. Oh boy! It took so much to convert all my clients to this new way of practicing, let alone counseling everyone, that life would be okay, even though we were all worrying and wondering what the heck was happening to us and our world. Were we to live or die and what was this virus anyway? Everyday, it was a hurdle to get students into the zoom experience, overcoming the technical challenges that so many students had, to teach yoga poses to a computer and people without being able to really see or hear what was going on and to be inspired by it all. To say the least, as a long time yoga teacher, it was very frustrating. I teach by intuition and telepathy. Without live people, my senses of sight, audition and feeling were dull, and I was forced to pretty much make it all up. Weird as it may sound, I got pretty good at just teaching from my daily experience, which somehow matched that of my long time students, and it worked out. Eventually, my business actually flourished during this tough time, but it was not very fulfilling at all, nor without undue stress and tension on my end.

As I was now able to reach people all over the world, let alone the US, students invited family and friends from the far away. Although, this fed my bottom line, it frightened me as I did not know these new students, other than what they relayed on my intake forms, and I could not really study or see their movement to know how to best teach them yoga. It was a whole new challenge unto itself. To protect myself and my family, I turned my business into an LLC through an online company called Legal Zoom. Ahhhhhh – yet another Zoom crazy experience! And although, I successfully completed the process, dealing with the IRS and the state of California during this time was a complete headache. My forms got lost in the mail and via a fax, imagine that! The IRS assigned me a new EIN, but never notified me, imagine that again! My yearly taxes then got rejected because I filed them under what I thought was my EIN. Many calls, mailings, paperwork and penalties later, it got straightened out, but wow, what an in intense time for this one person shop – ME!

If I have any advice about this experience, it is to seriously consider being an LLC or not. It expensive, it exposed your business to the state and IRS, which may not be necessary if you are small, and definitely consider hiring a tax professional to help you with this task, as I did it myself and well, it was a headache.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I treat my yoga students like my friends and family with full transparency. Because the nature of my yoga and coaching business is health and healing, I myself need to be a picture / proof of it working. This being said, life can sometimes throw us ringers, as stated above and when stressed, or life is not treating me well, I often just let myself be real and tell people what is going on. This way of behaving is often rejected by the traditional business world. We must be tough. We must be perfect. We must not show emotions of doubt or weakness. Wow – during the pandemic, and well just sometimes over the course of my (30) years of business, this was all just too much of a tall order. In general, 95% of the time, I was purely professional and all perfect, but occasionally, I would burst out in tears, online, and share my fears during this time with my clients. Being human brought them all closer and more dedicated to the yoga practice. When we share our human-ness and vulnerabilities at the right time, it can bring clients closer and more committed to your business. Covid actually did this for me. Before and after online classes / coaching sessions, I would break my role and let my fears, apprehensions go and share life w/ students / clients. This brought intimacy and really brought people to class/sessions more than the yoga / coaching. It was the being real and showing up despite it all that showed strength and resilience during a tough time.

I also did and hired a social media professional who helped mirror my teachings and personal philosophy online. This broadened my scope and brought more people to my biz as well as brand loyalty. People got me and what I was selling both live / online and through social media which really blossomed during the pandemic.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mindfulmovementylc.com/
• Instagram: yogigoddess
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cindy.walker.102
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cindy-walker-49465240/

Image Credits

Natalie Ladd Photography – Los Gatos, CA.