We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elaina Berst a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Elaina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
My mission in founding the Calm Coalition is to create a community of like-minded individuals who will provide space and resources to help people find peace and counteract hustle culture. Calm is our truest nature. Peace is inherently inside every single one of us. Connecting with that space allows us to see our path clearer and focus on the things that are truly important. As a young, socially anxious child, I constantly allowed intrusive thoughts to assume control over my life. From convincing myself that I wasn’t talented enough to be an ice skater to thinking I was not smart enough to pursue a career in biology, they dictated my every movement. I remember coming home from practices or classes and feeling absolutely defeated, not wanting to continue with activities that I truly loved just for fear of failing. It wasn’t until I completed my Yoga Teacher Training that I learned the power of letting those go. It is staggering the number of thoughts we have each day that are negative or unproductive. It’s even more shocking the number of those thoughts that we allow to repeat on a daily basis. We end up living in a cycle of the same negative ruminations. And of course, it’s not realistic to think they’re all just going to vanish, they’re waves, at times they will come, and they will go, but realizing that not everything that pops into the mind needs to be grasped on to is a start to breaking the cycle. If I can help just one person get out of their head through meditation or breathwork or movement or by connecting them with mental health specialists, then they’ll be on their way to living their full potential and if that’s something we’re all able to access, can you imagine what a calmer world we’d be in? Breath deep, the finest treasures are hidden beneath the waves.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Elaina Berst. I am a 200 Hour certified yoga teacher and mother to an incredibly curious 2-year-old little girl. I was originally introduced to the practice of yoga through figure skating at a young age. I loved how it made me feel physically and gave me another outlet to move my body creatively. If I would have been educated at that time about the mental benefits as well, perhaps I would have stayed with the sport longer but, whether it be good or bad, everything happens for a reason and I’m grateful for where my path has led me. I teach weekly classes at a local yoga studio in my area and one of my greatest pleasures is meeting the incredible individuals I’ve encountered along the way. I launched my own business in 2023 in order to teach and reach more people. Through The Calm Coalition, I lead community yoga classes, usually with unique class themes, to showcase that mindfulness and meditation can be fun. There are many common misconceptions associated with these practices. Neither is meant to stop the activities of the mind. The idea is to withdraw from the outwardly sensations and put our focus elsewhere, creating larger gaps in the spaces between our thoughts, giving ourselves more time to assess where they are coming from. Most commonly, the attention is put on to the breath as an anchor but that’s not the only way it can be done. I’ve also partnered with some incredible vendors to create meditation boxes and other tools, such as mindfulness cards, that I hope are useful and education to people starting in or deepening their practice.
In addition to teaching these community classes, I also travel around and teach kids yoga classes at local day cares and learning centers. This is the most challenging thing I do but also what I am most proud of. Yoga can improve self-image, strengthen emotional intelligence and lead to increased mental clarity. Handing our children these tools at a younger age, can you imagine how much easier the journey into becoming strong, confident adults will be?
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
I have been lucky enough to collaborate with my good friend, Kristina Muffoletto, on the majority of the events I have taught. With an eye for design, she has created and has helped advertise for all of my community yoga classes. She’s also designed some pretty awesome merch we’ve sold. Not so coincidentally, we actually met doing yoga! Each of us signed up to participate in a “bar league” yoga group. 40 or so of us would go to different studios on Wednesday nights to try new classes and would be grouped together to complete a “yoga challenge.” Kristina and I, along with some other new friends, were put on a team. We immediately hit it off, although for weeks I admit I couldn’t remember her name. We stopped participating in bar league, but we never stopped hanging out and our friendship blossomed. The yoga community is great at bringing people together. This practice helps us realize we are all connected and I’m grateful for all the friends I’ve made through it, especially Kristina! Working together, she keeps me humble and motivates me to do things I never thought I would have been capable of. Key qualities in a business partner!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
My yoga teacher training class was a true lesson in resilience for me. Although not inherently difficult, I was grateful for the opportunity to do it and it was a truly transformative period of self-discovery, the timing of it in my life was challenging. It commenced in September of 2019, just months after I had gotten married, and my husband and I had begun trying for a baby. That January, we found out we were pregnant, but the joy was short lived, I miscarried shortly after finding out. The loss was devastating and the pain I suffered crippling, and maybe it was naivety, but I was shocked to hear how many other women have experienced the same thing. Women have no choice but to be resilient. We go through earth shattering events often in silence and continue to carry on. Additionally, being 8 months of weekend long classes, the COVID 19 pandemic was in full swing by the time my training was completed. Our graduation party was held outside in a field with everyone 6ft apart practicing social distancing. For lack of a better word, it was a weird time to begin teaching. The majority of my first classes were strictly online, something I had never done before, and the lack of human interaction left me feeling disconnected. Once in person classes recommenced, masks were mandatory, and attendance was understandably low, but it really made me question if I’d made a mistaken in taking the leap into instructing. I had to realize that ultimately, it didn’t matter how many people I reached. Even if I was able to just help once person, I was making an impact. All good things start small and your positive effect on one person will inevitably ripple out to others.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @thecalmcoalition