You’ve practiced with them on YogaGlo. You’ve followed them on Facebook. You might even take their classes in person once in awhile if they travel to or live in your city. But how well do you know our YogaGlo teachers? Ask a Yogi is back so you can learn more about our teachers by asking questions you’ve always wanted to ask.
From favorite poses and tips for beginners to deeper questions about how their practice has changed their worldview, our teachers will collectively answer a new question each week. If you have a question you’d like to “Ask a Yogi” let us know in the comments and we’ll add your questions to the list.
Who/what inspires you and why?
Alex van Frank: My greatest inspiration in yoga comes from students. I really enjoy connecting with them and helping them connect with where yoga can help them with their body, mind or life in general. Because I am an eternal student at heart, I also love the variety of questions and challenges that students come to me with it really gives me the chance to hit the books and ask other professionals.
Amy Ippoliti: Nature is my biggest inspiration because there is so much beauty and diversity in the natural world. It’s richness reminds me how we are all interconnected, we all want very similar things: Happiness, freedom, nourishment, and safety. People also inspire me – it amazes me how different we each are with our individual quirks, talents, flaws, and personalities. I can literally learn something every day just by talking to people.
Chris Chapple: Martin Luther King, Jr., inspires me with his evocation of the mountaintop, his commitment to nonviolence, and the enduring legacy he created.
Claire Missingham: I’m inspired by great writing such as Hanya Yanagihara, nutrition and health advocates such as Amanda Chantal Bacon, my fellow YogaGlo teachers are very inspiring! and my husband and the way he is growing his agency through hard work and dedication is inspiring. Lastly, the main thing that inspires me are my students. Some of them have been coming to my classes for 15 years. I love people and I love creating good relationships with people interested in attaining their highest inner potential.
David Harshada Wagner: Some of my students inspire me with the transformations they make within themselves and the way they express their transformation in their life. I have one student, Hannah, who started working with me in New York. She was single and had bad anxiety, and was broke, and had a dream of being a mom and a successful farmer. It took a lot of work but she used the practices to craft herself and her life the way she wanted and now she’s living her dream. She has a successful farm in Minnesota, is happily married, and just had her first baby. Whenever I think of Hannah first walking into a meditation class, and how she has transformed EVERYTHING, I get super inspired. When people really embrace themselves and their lives, they can do so many wonderful things.
Felicia Tomasko: For 10 years, I taught a weekly Saturday morning class at a gym. One of my students started his yoga practice when he was 70 years old. He came every week. When his grandchildren would visit, he brought them to yoga. After he had knee replacement surgery, he came to yoga to continue to build his strength. I know longer teach that class, but he is still practicing yoga. I admire his willingness to try something new and step into a room at the age of 70, to take on every practice and every challenge, to always have a positive attitude, and to stay dedicated to and consistent with something that improves his health and well-being. He is a testament to me to the power of consistency.
Speaking of people trying something new at the age of 70. My 70-year-old mother is currently a second year student in law school. I admire her for the same reasons. Doing something that other people would question and remaining dedicated no matter the challenges–even though she is decades older than the other students. In this moment, we can always try something new and always dedicate ourselves.
Kia Miller: Anyone who is in search of the truth and who lives with a principle of radical self honesty. If we are to learn to live in peace and harmony with each other, then we must first face the violence and shadow within ourselves. A practice of radical self honesty means that we can no longer point the finger toward other people when things go wrong. In means becoming 100 % responsible for our own life, decisions, words and thoughts. Now that is a practice!
Noah Maze: I am inspired most inspired when I am in a learning process. Whether it is about my body, about my mind, about my heart, about yoga history and philosophy, about culture and human concerns, I want to learn. Then I feel creative and motivated and excited. To that end, so many things inspire me: my practices, my studies, my family, the world. Inspiration doesn’t always mean happiness, sometimes anger and sadness and grief and fear are necessary forces for inspiring action and growth.
Sally Kempton: I am especially inspired by the teachings of Kashmir Shaivism, which point to the absolute unity of all things with the divine, and offers a path in which we start and end with the recognition that one supreme Consciousness has become all that is!
Steven Espinosa: My students always inspire me the most in yoga. I learn just as much from them, as they do from me. And that is the honest truth. To watch them learn and grow and fall in love with yoga is the highest honor and biggest reward for me as a teacher.
Tara Judelle: Pretty much every human I come in contact with inspires me. I am obsessed with humanity and our diversity, where we have come from, and how we have become. But also Beyonce Knowles is pretty cool.
Taylor Harkness: Political pundits and comedians like John Oliver, Chelsea Handler, Bill Maher, Rachel Maddow, and so many others. Their commitment to moving the needle for the better in their own ways inspires me to show up and do the same with my own voice.
Tiffany Cruikshank: Two main things inspire me more than anything. One, is my fascination for the body and our capacity to heal and thrive and respond to our circumstances. In treating patients for over a dozen years and watching how the body responds and what it needs to thrive I know that it’s not always about me and my treatments but that there is so much more to it. To me yoga is an opportunity to shift the internal influences on our health & our mindset. It’s where we get to look and examine what’s there. The study of the mind and the body is enough to fascinate me for a lifetime. The second is my partner, Forrest. He has taught me so much about myself, my teaching and being a good human. I always joke that he’s a yogi and doesn’t even know it because he teaches through his example. His ability to have a clear purpose and strong business sense but more than anything be a kind & compassionate man in the face of some pretty extreme obstacles. He’s always looking after and taking care of the people around him. He builds startup tech companies and he builds his teams by being someone that people want to work for/with (I’m sure there’s much more to it but this is what I have noticed). He inspires me more than anyone.
source https://blog.yogaglo.com/2016/12/ask-a-yogi-whowhat-inspires-you-and-why/
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