We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Joanna Andreae. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Joanna below.
Joanna, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?
I just wrote a piece about the Jewel song from the ’90s where she sings, “In the end, only kindness matters.” I’ve been thinking a lot about kindness and I do believe focusing on it, and relating to it, and remembering it throughout the day is perhaps the only thing that truly does matter. My life is an amalgamation of others’ kindnesses. I have a dear friend who sent my son a dream catcher he had made by hand when I told him he was having nightmares. Two strangers dropped everything (and one even hopped out of his car) to fetch my hat when it had blown down the street in a gust of wind. My mentors are endlessly kind in what they teach and share and how they offer wisdom. One of my friends brought over beautiful dalia tea towels the other day just because. And don’t get me started on the kindness of my husband (which is unrelenting in the most magical way) and my mother and so many other members of my family. I have learned to make kindness a target and a lifestyle and it has served me (and continues to serve me) very well.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a mother, a yogi, a teacher, a writer, and an artist. I often tell folks when they first meet me that I was not born a hipppy. I was a very type-A overachiver personality with many detrimental perfectionist tendencies for most of my life. Until, I found the power of relaxation. Until I understood how to start to operate the many complex layers of this human operating system. I think this makes me very different and relatable when I walk into a corporate session to teach meditations for brain optimization or how to detox stress from the 10-body system. I’ve been there and I understand the intensity of a high-pressure work situation. I also know how quickly one can switch gears to find breath, space, and intuitive connection. It’s an experiential thing – not an intellectual one, and it’s super fun for me to watch a boardroom full of high performance corporate leaders go from super wound up to relaxed, embodied and joyful.
I’ve also recently began to dive into the world of pregnancy meditations and special practices to elevate the experience of motherhood at every phase. So many cultures understand the importance of getting mind, body, and spirit right before and during those precious 9 months. And if you have just a few tools you can completely change the experience of this time in life and give your child an incredible leg-up. I think parents and children need this nervous system work just as much as the C-suite executives.
I am most proud of the long-term effects this work has had on folks I’ve interacted with. I just got an email from one lady I worked with 4 years ago who said this one breathing exercise I taught her has helped her stop drinking a very addictive substance and helped her manage mothering three teenagers and more gracefully going though menopause. We’re talking one, 3-minute breathing exercise did all this. I was amazed and so grateful for this technology of yoga I get to teach.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
That I should be benchmarking myself against anyone else. There is no one like me -or like you – in this entire universe. We have each come here to deliver something that no on else can. At first it might feel similar but it’s not. There are people we are meant to inspire and uplift and help that no one else but us can do. It’s an important responsibility. Stay in your lane. No matter what.
How did you build your audience on social media?
The more authentically you you are, the better. Authenticity is SO magnetic. It’s refreshing and unique. Break all the rules and do you.
Contact Info:
- Website: thevictorypractice.com
- Instagram: @thevictorypractice
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXLYzgXSVAjGtetEOx3iLTw?app=desktop
- Other: patreon.com/thevictorypractice