Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Maureen Dinkins. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
MAUREEN, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Spreading the message of yoga has been an integral part of my life. In 2004 I completed my first yoga teacher training and started teaching yoga classes in gyms all over Orlando. But my thirst for more knowledge led me to India in 2007. I knew that there was more to yoga than the asanas (poses/postures) and that this ancient practice had come from India. At that time, I wasn’t sure why I was drawn to go to Mysore, India to study, I just know I needed to go to find out for myself.
During that trip I discovered so much more than just the asanas. I learned that yoga is a life path and that the practices of Sanskrit Chanting, Pranayama (breathing exercises), meditation, mental focus, and self-study are all important parts of yoga. These lessons changed my life in such profound way that I wanted to share my path with others.
After college, I started working in the nightclubs in Tampa as a bartender. I moved to Orlando and continued to work in the clubs for several more years. This was not a healthy lifestyle as I continued to abuse my body with drugs and alcohol. In 1999 my best friend invited me to a yoga class at her gym and I decided to go with her. Yoga was something that I had heard of, but didn’t really know anything about. After that first class I was hooked, and even asked the teacher how I could become a yoga instructor. Eight years later that path led me to India, where I have traveled 8 times to continue my studies.
Yoga changed my life in so many profound ways, teaching me that this path in life can be easy to walk if we just follow it’s simple principles. Over that past 25 years, I went from being self destructive and having a deep dislike for myself to knowing fully that I am a sacred being, cultivating self-love and teaching that to others who are struggling in life because of their lifestyle, relationships, habits, and behaviors. One of the most rewarding comments I get from my students is that the yoga trainings I give are “life changing” and that because of my teachings they have become “a better person.”
I want to spread this message as far and wide as I can, because you can change, you can improve the quality of your life, your health, your mental focus, and your relationships. It was because of yoga that I was able to become the person, teacher, and entrepreneur that I am today. Because of yoga and the lessons it has taught me, my passion is to teach it to as many students as I can, so they can share their journey with others and we can raise the consciousness of humanity, even if it’s only a few.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
In 1999 after taking my first yoga class, I knew I wanted to become a yoga instructor. Those first 5 years of taking classes all over Orlando led me to a small yoga school called Smiling Dog Yoga and by 2004 I was teaching yoga classes in a few gyms around town. At that time I didn’t really know what direction my yoga path would take me, but I found a deep interest in Ashtanga Yoga, which is a discipline that has it’s roots in India.
It was in 2007, after spending a year as an English teacher in Seoul, South Korea, I made my way through Asia and landing myself in Mysore, India, the birthplace of Ashtanga yoga and the K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute. I spent a month studying there with Saraswati Jois, the daughter of Pattabhi, and after finally coming back to Orlando in November 2007, I decided to focus solely on this method of yoga as a student and teacher. Since then I have made 7 more trips to India studying Ashtanga Yoga, Sanskrit Chanting, Meditation, and Vedic Philospohy.
By 2011 I started training my students to teach this style of yoga, with an emphasis on all of the 8 Limbs of Yoga. Ashtanga translates to “8 Limbs” or 8 Principles of how to practice yoga, which include: Yama & Niyama (moral & ethical practices), Asana (postures), Pranayama (specific breath exercises), Pratyahara (withdrawing of the senses), Dharana (mental focus), Dhyana (Meditation), and Samadhi (living in bliss). Through these practices, I encouraged my students to use it as a way to live a better, more intentional life, and to share these lessons with others.
The pandemic changed the way I taught yoga by bringing my lessons online, and that’s how Clarity Global Yoga was born. By being able to expand my reach as a yoga teacher and teacher trainer, my lessons could be available to any yoga students who wanted to learn. My first online yoga teacher training was a “do it yourself” or what is called a “self-paced” program. I had sold many, but hardly anyone was completing the program. I soon realized that I wanted people to learn and complete the entire program so that they could share the message of authentic yoga to as many as they could.
What I mean by “authentic yoga” is that yoga has become a gimmick. There’s goat yoga, puppy, yoga, face yoga, chair yoga, and the list goes on. None of these have anything to do with yoga. Yoga is a life path, a spiritual journey, and not a fitness fad.
After that first run of “do it yourself” students signed up for the Clarity Global Yoga Teacher Training, with only a few completing it, I decided to re-do the entire program. The new version was a 12 week guided 200 Hour Online Yoga Teacher Training program with an in-person element for students who wanted to attend. It was a beautiful success. Students did homework lessons online, we would meet as a group weekly via video chat, and individually with me, their teacher to discuss their progress and to help them with any obstacles they may be facing throughout the program. In addition, students can meet with me in-person monthly as a group to practice teach to their peers.
Over the past 4 years, we have a 99% completion rate and all 5 star reviews on Yoga Alliance. We also offer private yoga teacher trainings for individuals who would like to go at a slower pace, taking 6 months instead of the 12 week intensive.
Clarity Global has added more online and in-person courses, classes, and events to the schedule since 2022, including our 300 hour advanced Yoga Teacher Training, Continuing Education Credits for Yoga Teachers, 8 Week Intensive Ashtanga Yoga Training for anyone wanting to dive deep into Ashtanga Yoga, and private yoga classes. We also offer floating sound bath meditation events, where we do a guided meditation and play sound healing bowls while guests float on air mattresses in a swimming pool.
All of our trainings and events are meant to uplift, educate, heal and soothe anyone needing more spirituality and connection with themselves and the world around us. Our world can be so chaotic. We are constantly bombarded with media and news, traffic and noise, stress and anxiety. At Clarity Global, we not only want to to connect more deeply with our students and clients, but teach them how to connect more with their spiritual selves. We have a passion for teaching self-love and self-care so that our students and clients can live a more intentional life full of peace, purpose, and connection to themselves, their loved ones, and Mother Earth.
I would like my potential clients and students to know that in this world of branded spirituality, not all spiritual guides are the same. My passion, that started as a yoga teacher was to make sure that everyone feels safe in our programs to explore their own inner beings. Letting go of our egos, our outer selves can only happen in a safe and caring environment. At Clarity Global, we are proud to host the container for those willing to explore their own spiritual path no matter of their race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, financial status, or geographical location. We are all sacred, and we treat every being that comes into our experience that way.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
I’ve always loved fitness and when I was younger thought that being a group fitness teacher would be a good way to force myself to stay fit, and get free memberships to gyms. I mean, as a club bartender, it had worked. I got into other clubs for free, free drinks and free ways to see the DJ’s and artists I loved. So before I realized that yoga was a life path, it was a fitness interest for me.
From bartending to becoming a public school teacher, teaching yoga classes was always a side hustle or hobby. It wasn’t until I decided to leave bartending and teach English abroad, in Seoul, South Korea, that I made my way to India to get a deeper understanding of where Yoga had it roots, that I realized it was a life path; that it wasn’t a fitness routine, but a spiritual path, and that practicing the asanas (postures) was a a way to break free from our limited thinking. Practicing the asanas is more that just keeping your body fit, it’s a gratitude prayer, it’s building physical and mental strength, it’s a way to unlimit yourself.
So after returning from India in 2007, I decided to make teaching yoga my full time purpose, career, life path. After that, things started growing, and many trips I have made back to India to continue my studies so that I can be the best teacher for my students. What we can learn about yoga in one lifetime is only a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of information recorded about how to life the Yogic path.
From teaching yoga classes in local gyms, to teaching daily at yoga studios, and now hosting beginner and advanced yoga teacher trainings, I’m guiding more and more students to their own inner being and helping them umlimit their own bodies and minds. Because coming to India to learn yoga has been so transformative for me, I now bring students to India to learn from my teachers so that they can gain the knowledge that will help them create a healthy more abundant life full of peace and harmony with the Earth and the people of this planet.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Yoga has become an international multi-billion dollar industry, fueled by the rise in social media stars, the online course creation platforms, retreats, and the growing awareness of the health and wellness practices. From my personal experience a lot of what is called “yoga” are just gimmicks to get people to attend something fun and to use their bodies and time in unique ways. Most of these gimmicks like puppy, goat, face, and chair yoga are using the word “yoga” to sell an experience or product. Just because it involves stretching or using a 6′ x 3′ rubber mat does not make it “yoga”.
Yoga means union of the body, mind, and soul. It’s a deep spiritual practice that guides us to work towards settling our mind chatter, and conquering our inner battles, fears, and ego. These are the real lessons of Yoga. My teachings encourage these principles in order to help raise the consciousness of humanity. When students enter my experience, or attend one of my classes, workshops, or online courses, they start to see the real path of yoga and how the ancient Sage Patanjali had set these practices in motion several thousands of years ago.
I believe what sets me apart from the international yoga industry is my dedication to teaching yoga as it has been taught for thousands of years from the great Gurus and Acharyas in India. I’m not saying that I am a Guru, but my extensive education in India has led me down a path of philosophical knowledge that I bring to my students that most modern “yoga” experiences do not. Yoga is not a religion, but an easily set out path towards reaching enlightenment in this lifetime. I agree with the great Yoga Teacher B.K.S. Iyengar when he states in his book “Light On Yoga”, that yoga makes you “better at your religion,” it makes you a better person, and it makes you realize that you are a spiritual being capable of great things.
By teaching yoga in this manner, with an emphasis on seeking Samadhi, or bliss in this lifetime, though traditional yoga methods, like Ashtanga Yoga, my students gain a deeper meaning and purpose in life. Living a life without purpose is no life at all, and I feel that a lot of people are seeking why they were born and how to find meaning in their lives. Through the teachings that I bring to my students, I guide them find that meaning for themselves.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://clarityglobal.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clarityglobalyoga/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaureenDinkins
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maureen-dinkins-873738121/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ClarityGlobalYoga
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/clarity-global-orlando
- Other: Personal Website: https://maureendinkins.com/
Personal YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MaureenDinkins
Image Credits
Osiel Garrett