We recently connected with Kyron Christopherson and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kyron, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.
Halo Heart Yoga and Sound LLC is in the process of building a Community Outreach Program to help those that are sick, bed ridden, or near the end of life, at no cost and up to 3 times, to surround them with Tibetan bowls and play for them. The soothing tones of the Tibetan bowls creates a peaceful, loving and relaxing environment which can have a very calming affect on the body, mind and soul of those who are suffering.
Secondly, once a month, I offer a free group sound bath session to non-profit groups and organizations that support the homeless, poor, those who suffer from addiction, the imprisoned, the disabled, the abused and veterans.
I’m elated to announce the very first event will actually happen Thursday, Nov. 2 at Magnus Veterans Foundation in Dayton, MN. Being able to give back to veterans who have served our country is a great honor. They selflessly gave of their time, energy and knowledge to protect our country, our families, our livelihood and our peace. So to be able to show my gratitude to them through a sound bath will be very rewarding for me and I am looking forward to it very much.
Kyron, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Back in 2007, I became a full-time stay-at-home mom of our two children, Janelle and Henry. Henry was diagnosed with Autism at 2 years old (and later Janelle when she was a teenager). No one would or wanted to babysit Henry. Daycares would call me to come pick him up because he was hurting the other children. Henry was none verbal, so he was physically aggressive in expressing his needs and wants. He was a handful, to say the least. So thus, my life changed from being a chemist to a stay-at-home mom.
To cope with stress, I would work out after my husband got home from work. And workout I did! I became obsessed. I would work out almost 2-3 hours hard every day, with cardio and weights. I was carb cycling and got my body fat down below 10%. I lost so much body fat that I began to forget Henry’s weekly appt that was the same time every week for speech therapy that I had been taking him to for over a year. The brain needs fat to function properly. So here I was, thin as a rail, couldn’t remember an appointment that had been at the same time every week on the same day and now my body was also breaking down under the pressure. I had to get steroid injections in my lower back and my left shoulder, and both of my knees were showing signs of being on the same path due to inflammation. I knew something needed to change or this body would completely shut down and I wouldn’t remember why because my brain needed fat.
So that was when I took a hot yoga class at Azatala Hot Yoga under the guidance of Tanya Rice. Yet, still in partial denial, I thought I will take this hot yoga class to sweat it out and keep the pounds off but it will be gentle enough on my body for it to heal until I can get back at it. Plus, yoga is supposed to calm the mind. This was the whole reason I was working out was due to stress anyway. Did it calm my mind? Yes. Did it make me sweat? Yes! But what I did not expect was how the philosophy and all the benefits of the postures and breathwork would begin to change me. Each week she would say something that made my mind go “Oh my gosh! That is why I’m doing this or that!” Or she would explain the benefit of pose and it made me want to do it every day. She was sharing yoga knowledge with me to live out in the world and that was exactly what I needed. I needed tools to control my mind from being a tyrant, to stay calm, and to have some peace and stillness within me.
When raising an autistic child, the therapist or counselor will give the parent and the child tools to help manage the day together. This is what yoga became for me. It gave me tools to understand why I was doing what I was doing, I learned to control my mind with my intellect, so it wouldn’t be such a dictator. Yoga teaches you to use your intellect, to reign in the mind through breath work, so the mind doesn’t run after all the desires of the senses.
That was when I decided I needed to know all I could about yoga, so I could help others. I signed up for her 200-hour teacher training in 2017 and it changed my life. I taught for a while, then I took her 300-hour training, so I could register as a 500 RYT through Yoga Alliance.
It was also through Azitala Hot Yoga, I discovered sound bathing with Tibetan bowls, crystal bowls, gongs, and various other instruments. After some amazing personal experiences during sound baths, I knew it was another path I needed to learn to serve others in my community, so I took Sound Healing training under Tanya again. Sound bathing has become a passion of mine as I get to see and hear from clients how it helps them with stress, injuries, emotional pain and so much more.
I credit Tanya with helping to save and change the direction of my life. Without Azitala, Tanya, and yoga, I would have most likely left my husband. Raising children on the autism spectrum is very hard on a marriage. You want to throw in the towel…A LOT. But Yoga teaches you not to be so reactive, to remain the same through good or bad, profit or loss, victory or defeat. And most importantly, it teaches you to stay consistent not only in your yoga practice but in your relationships and out in the world.
A great sage of yoga, Desikachar says, ” You will know if your yoga practice is working by how your relationships are going. Prana enters the body at the moment when there is a positive change in the mind. Changes in the mind can be observed primarily in our relationships with other people. Relationships are the real test of whether we understand ourselves better.” I believe this to be true. But most importantly, it teaches you to make time to be quiet, to be still, and to just listen.
I heard once through sound healing training, visions are the language of the soul, but silence is the language of the spirit. By making time for silence, the spirit can guide you to make sound decisions.
“For in the silence and purity of the heart God speaks.” Mother Teresa
What better guidance can there be than this to change the direction of your life?
Through my business, I offer private and group sessions for yoga and sound healing. Since I mostly teach yoga classes at Azitala Hot yoga, I focus on Sound Healing, Thai Yoga Bodywork and Healing Touch through my business.
After taking Sound Healing training, I knew I wanted to help people on a personal level. Although I love giving group sound baths at studios, businesses, and for private parties, I wanted to offer individualized sessions to balance the autonomic nervous system, depending on the person’s specific needs. For example, if someone is stressed then I would play more Tibetan bowls to calm them, but if someone is in a more depressive state then I would play more gong and/or drums to stimulate them.
In a group sound bath, you are just hoping to bring everyone to a place of balance, but on an individual level, the process can be honed to optimize the experience for the individual. I love this and love helping people find balance. A balanced nervous system means a calmer mind, more social interaction, more productivity, and a healthier immune system, which as described earlier promotes healthier relationships and leads to a better understanding of ourselves and others.
What sets me apart from others and what I am most proud of are the Tibetan bowls I purchased. They are handmade and larger than most that I have seen being used in the area, They have a deep vibration upon striking them and they are all tuned to one another. It is this vibration that helps to reset a person on a cellular level.
Everything is made up of energy, vibration, and frequency, so these bowls beckon the body to be still and listen on the deepest level. Sound vibrations have an oscillating effect on the cells; alternating compression and relaxation of cells, is sort of a form of massage at a cellular level. I made a big investment in them to stand apart from the rest, or to at least, be equivalent to the others who have invested in hand-made Tibetan bowls. From my experience and opinion, contemporary (machine-made) bowls seem to be made to sing and hand-made Tibet bowls to vibrate. Both make sound, but they have different qualities and attributes about them. So I chose, the hand-made bowls to vibrate and shake up the body on a cellular level by placing the bowls either beside or directly on the body depending on the person and their desires and/or needs.
I genuinely want to help others, whether it is through a yoga session or sound healing. I want you to leave feeling harmonized from your toes to your soul. I offer a variety of yoga-style classes from beginner to advance. I am formally trained in Ashtangasana but can adapt to other styles to meet the individual or group’s desires and/or needs. I offer both private individual and group yoga sessions. Or you can join me at Azitala Hot Yoga in Elk River throughout the week for a hot yoga class.
I offer 30 min, 45 min, and 60 min. individualized sound sessions as well as group sound bath sessions.
Furthermore, I am excited to share that I began studying Thai Yoga Bodywork through Devanadi Yoga in Minneapolis and Healing Touch through the Healing Touch Program this past summer. I have taken Level 1 and 2 for both of these modalities and have began to offers my services for these to the public. Thai Yoga Bodywork is a wonderful way to help harmonize the body, not only physically and mentally but energetically…and even more so, when combine with Healing Touch or a Sound Bath. All of which, can leave a person feeling as light as a feather, clear as glass, calm as a lake surface at the break of dawn, and as peaceful as babe in its mother’s arms. See my website for more information regarding these modalities.
Most of all, my desire for Halo Heart is to provide a holistic approach to health and well-being, that doesn’t just cater to the physical, but encompasses the emotional, mental and spiritual health of the individual and for all of those in my community and surrounding areas.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
The most effective strategy for growing my business has been word of mouth. It is the primary way I grow my business. I have a website I created and I send out a emails and/or texts to my clients regarding my monthly promotions. But this is it as far as goes for growing my business through the internet. So far, I have chosen to not partake in social media, such as facebook, instagram, Utube, etc. I’m not a huge fan of social media, although I have taken community education classes on building your business through social media. So this is not to say, I will not do it in the future, especially when I begin to collaborate more with other businesses. I’m sure they would like for me to post about them, if they are posting about me.
I’m taking each step slow and at my pace. I’m a very small business. It is just me. And like many other small business owners, there are only so many hats one can wear at one time. Creating a business takes time and I have chosen to do it literally one step at a time. I chose to learned how to make a website from scratch through a community education program rather than using and being confined to a template from WordPress or Wix . It’s not as impressive as some websites, but it is a landing page to ground people, if they wish to learn more about me or Halo Heart Yoga and Sound.
Making my own website saved me ton of money. Of which, I have little of being on yoga instructor’s budget, so I am happy I did even if it was very challenging since I had no background in this area.
In the future, I may list my business out in the Google matrix to be rated and for people to find me faster, but for now I’m happy where I am at and those that come to me know how to find me. In my small world, there is no greater strategy than a recommendation from a friend. So thank you to all of my friends. You are priceless!
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
I took an online class through the State of Minnesota called Entrepreneurship Startup Course presented by Shannon Berns. This course had a significant impacted my entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy. One of the most amazing things about it was that it only cost $25, at the time. It helped me get my thoughts in order to start Halo Heart Yoga and Sound LLC. Shannon helped guide me on registering my business with the state, the structure of my business, applying for an Employee Identification Number, opening a business banking account, and getting business insurance. This class helped me collect my thoughts and gather information needed to write a business plan, such as marketing strategies, demographics, financial goals to creating a logo and so much more. It was wonderful, but mostly it gave me confidence to move forward with my business dream. Thank you State of Minnesota and Shannon Berns.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.haloheartyas.com
- Other: haloheartyas@gmail.com 763-498-3113
Image Credits
Matthew Phillippi Photography