You Don't Need to Be a Yoga Teacher to Teach Yoga Nidra (Here's Who Can)

I get this question all the time: "Do you need to be a certified yoga teacher to teach Yoga Nidra?"

The answer might surprise you. Yoga Nidra teacher training isn't just for yoga instructors—therapists, coaches, parents, educators, and healing practitioners are discovering they can become Yoga Nidra teachers without a 200-hour yoga certification. In fact, some of the most effective Yoga Nidra facilitators have never taught a yoga asana class.

If you’re searching for Yoga Nidra teacher training, Yoga Nidra certification, or wondering whether non–yoga teachers can teach Yoga Nidra, this article will clarify what you actually need—and why your unique background might make you a much better guide than you think.

The Biggest Misconception About Yoga Nidra Certification

There's a widespread belief that you need a 200-hour yoga teacher training to be qualified to teach Yoga Nidra. I mean, there's "yoga" right there in the title, right? And aren't yoga teachers supposed to be certified?

Yoga asana teachers definitely need yoga certification—this ensures safety and adherence to professional guidelines, especially when offering hands-on assists and adjustments.

But Yoga Nidra is a different animal altogether. Unfortunately, this misconception keeps many incredible guides from learning how to use this transformational practice with their students and clients.

In my Yoga Nidra teacher training, I teach all the professional guidelines you need: how to create a container, establish professional boundaries, and understand what Yoga Nidra can and cannot do. But don't let the lack of a yoga teacher certification get in the way of offering profound transformation to your clients.

The truth is that Yoga Nidra is about rest and awareness, not asana. You don't need to know the 37 different muscles, indications, and contraindications of downward-facing dog to guide someone into rest and awareness.

Who Actually Teaches Yoga Nidra: 6 Types of Practitioners Thriving in This Practice

Therapists and Counselors Using Yoga Nidra

In my Yoga Nidra training, I spend considerable time discussing Yoga Nidra for therapists. Therapists and counselors are perfect facilitators for this practice because they're actively engaged in the personal transformation of their clients. Yoga Nidra is a safe, effective, and profound agent for personal transformation—especially when other modes of therapy don't seem to be working.

Here's what Evelyn, a psychotherapist who graduated from my training, shared about using Yoga Nidra with her clients:

"The training gave me deep and rich tools that I started using in my coaching and therapy practice immediately following the training. My clients have reported feeling centered and calm after I have facilitated a short Yoga Nidra practice. Scott is an exceptional human being with the purpose of helping humans heal and grow!"

—Evelyn Skon, MBA, MA, LMFT, Psychotherapist and Coach

Parents and Educators Teaching Yoga Nidra

Many parents and teachers appreciate how Yoga Nidra helps them work with children. Whether it's helping middle-school science students stay focused in class and work through test anxiety, or concerned parents looking for resources to reduce self-harm and suicide among teenagers in their area, teachers and parents are making a big difference with this practice for kids.

What kid wouldn't want to simply close their eyes and relax for a few minutes during the day? Things were civilized in kindergarten—we had naptime. But then someone decided to take that away. Well, I vote that we bring it back!

It's incredible how effective Yoga Nidra is in helping kids work through anxiety and other emotions, manage a distracted mind, and receive a little rest from the increasingly rigorous lives our kids are leading.

Coaches and Mentors Integrating Yoga Nidra

Coaches and mentors use Yoga Nidra to deepen transformation. Whether it's to reprogram self-limiting beliefs, program the mind with a vision of success for a chosen goal, or help a group or team align on a single objective, Yoga Nidra is a powerful and approachable way of helping people both individually and collectively.

Reiki Practitioners and Energy Workers

Many people who've taken my Yoga Nidra training are also Reiki practitioners and energy workers. Yoga Nidra is a powerful way to help people relax into a state where deep healing can happen on many levels. It can be a great practice to do before or concurrent with a Reiki or energy work session.

Here's what one graduate, Rianne, a Reiki Master/Teacher, shared:

"The live training was 5 full days, from 9 am to 5 pm and I never dreamed that we would get that much live time with Scott. The program pushed me (gently) out of my comfort zone at times and blew my mind at others! Many programs fall short by teaching the topic, but then not explaining how to go out into the community and share what you've learned—but not Scott's program. He spent a great deal of time and provided countless resources on what to DO with all we learned and how to help people AND make a living."

—Rianne Maldonado, Reiki Master/Teacher

People with Chronic Illness Creating Community

I've worked closely with family members and community members with chronic illnesses. I've seen firsthand how Yoga Nidra for chronic illness is an accessible resource that people can use, often when they can't get out of the house or even out of bed. Yoga Nidra via a Zoom session or audio recording can help people who often feel isolated to still be part of a wellness community—but in a way that allows them to have much more control over how much energy they use to participate.

Since rest is of the first order of operations for any kind of healing—energetic, physical, emotional, spiritual—the restorative qualities inherent in the practice are extremely supportive of any kind of healing.

Stephanie, a Yoga Nidra graduate working with MS, said this:

"I experience chronic pain and neurological challenges from multiple sclerosis. I started coming away from Scott's classes feeling relief from pain that no drug has ever offered. This led me to take his Yoga Nidra teacher training and then his advanced teacher training. There are many days my MS takes me down and puts me in bed, but even on my worst days I can practice Yoga Nidra. Now I look forward to creating variations of what I learned from Scott and translating that into settings where people with debilitating, chronic diseases can find some peace and relief in their own bodies."

—Stephanie Mackay

Corporate Wellness Professionals

One of the places where people are the most depleted is at work. There's a missed opportunity to not support those at work with practices like Yoga Nidra. When a person can rejuvenate with even as little as 15 minutes of Yoga Nidra, it can help them be more productive, take fewer sick days due to stress and illness, and access a deep well of creativity necessary to find solutions to problems or create the next successful idea at work.

Plus, doing Yoga Nidra with a group can help people discover and lock into a group vision or mindset necessary for successful teams and departments—no yoga mat required.

What You Actually Need to Become a Yoga Nidra Teacher

So what do you need to become a Yoga Nidra teacher or gain Yoga Nidra certification? First, you need to have presence and a willingness to practice presence through Yoga Nidra. A good Yoga Nidra teacher has the ability to hold space.

The best Yoga Nidra teacher training programs offer a method that's adaptable instead of giving students rigid and rote scripts to follow. This helps facilitators adapt the practice to the specific needs of clients as well as deliver it in a way that matches their own experience and personality. This is what makes a Yoga Nidra experience transformational. It's also helpful to teach Yoga Nidra from your own lived experience with rest.

You don't need a yoga teaching certificate. You need depth, practice, and authenticity.

Unlike a traditional yoga teacher certification, a Yoga Nidra teacher certificate allows you to be much more versatile by giving you a mode of transformation that is accessible, gentle, and can be done by anyone—regardless of their experience with yoga or meditation.

Why Your Background Is Your Strength: Why Non-Yoga Teachers Often Make Exceptional Yoga Nidra Guides

Your professional background isn't a limitation—it's your secret weapon for teaching Yoga Nidra.

Therapists bring psychological insight and trauma-informed awareness that creates profound safety for clients working through difficult emotions. They understand how to hold space for what emerges without fixing or rushing the process.

Parents understand children's nervous systems in ways that childless yoga teachers often don't. They know how to speak to different developmental stages, how to make practices playful yet effective, and how to navigate the unique challenges of teaching kids.

Coaches bring transformation frameworks and goal-oriented structures that help clients use Yoga Nidra strategically for specific outcomes—whether that's improving performance, breaking through limiting beliefs, or manifesting a vision.

Reiki practitioners and energy workers bring an understanding of subtle energy that enriches the practice. They recognize how Yoga Nidra creates the conditions for deep energetic healing and know how to support that process.

Corporate wellness professionals understand the language of business and know how to position Yoga Nidra as a performance tool rather than "just" a relaxation technique. They can translate ancient wisdom into ROI that executives understand.

Your context is your superpower. The best Yoga Nidra teachers don't all sound the same—they bring their unique professional lens to make the practice accessible and relevant to their specific communities.

How to Choose Yoga Nidra Teacher Training as a Non-Yoga Professional

A good Yoga Nidra certification program should teach you principles, not just scripts. Look for Yoga Nidra teacher training that teaches you how to guide Yoga Nidra from your own voice and experience—not just how to read someone else's words.

The best Yoga Nidra training includes:

A method you can adapt. My "Adopt → Adapt → Innovate" method starts by giving you solid foundation scripts, then teaches you how to modify them for specific contexts, and finally empowers you to create your own practices from scratch. This is crucial for non-yoga teachers because you need to be able to speak the language of your professional community.

Your own transformation first. The first half of effective Yoga Nidra teacher training should deepen YOUR practice. You can't guide others to places you haven't been yourself. This isn't just about learning techniques—it's about experiencing the transformation that makes you a credible guide.

Personalized support. Look for programs that include one-on-one consultation time to help you figure out how Yoga Nidra fits into your specific practice. In my training, every student gets a 30-minute private consultation to strategize how they'll use Yoga Nidra in their unique context—whether that's therapy sessions, corporate workshops, or children's programs.

Business strategy included. The best Yoga Nidra teacher training teaches you not just what to teach, but how to share it with the world and get paid for your expertise. Many trainings skip this crucial piece, leaving new teachers with skills but no idea how to build a practice.

Comprehensive resources. You should receive scripts to start with, recordings to reference, and ongoing support. In my online Yoga Nidra teacher training, students get over 100 pages of scripts, dozens of practice recordings, and lifetime access to all course materials—plus access to my weekly live online Yoga Nidra class to see the practice in action.

My Yoga Nidra Teacher Training Options for Non-Yoga Professionals

I offer both live and online Yoga Nidra certification programs designed to work for busy professionals:

Online 50-Hour Yoga Nidra Teacher Training ($1,997 or 2 payments of $1,025)

This comprehensive self-paced program includes two major sections: Waking Up with the Yoga of Sleep (your personal transformation) and Facilitating Transformation with the Yoga of Sleep (learning to teach). You get lifetime access to all video lectures, practice recordings, scripts, and resources. Perfect for therapists, coaches, and professionals who need flexibility to learn on their own schedule.

Live 30-Hour Yoga Nidra Training ($1997 or 2 payments of $1050)

Intensive in-person or Zoom training over 4 days where we meet live each day. All sessions are recorded for those who can't attend in person or need to review. Includes 30 hours of continuing education credit with Yoga Alliance, the same 100+ pages of scripts, lifetime access to recordings, and a 30-minute private consultation. Check out my next live training for upcoming dates.

Both programs are Yoga Alliance approved for continuing education and teach the same core methodology—you can choose based on your learning style and schedule.

Real Stories from Non-Yoga Teachers Teaching Yoga Nidra

The proof is in the teachers. Here are a few more stories from graduates who came to Yoga Nidra teacher training without yoga backgrounds:

"I really loved Scott's Yoga Nidra teacher training. I learned a lot and I felt that Scott was very generous in all the explanations he gave, technical and practical as much as spiritual. You can tell he is talking from real personal and teaching experience and not from something he just learned in a book. The course is really well built, clear and easy to follow."

—Annie-Claude Gendron, Quebec, Canada

"Scott's Yoga Nidra trainings are terrific. In his teacher training, Scott offers a clear and detailed program that makes this ancient practice applicable to everyday life. Not only will your awareness heighten, but you will learn practical tools to successfully share Yoga Nidra with others."

—Bonnie Rubens

"Every module in this course was eye opening for me. I love the stories you told, and the information was very practical. I can see myself starting to implement it into my classes. Highly recommend it."

—Alice Wong, Yoga Nidra Graduate

Ready to Explore Yoga Nidra Teacher Training?

If you've been curious about teaching Yoga Nidra but thought you weren't qualified because you don't have a yoga certification, you might be more qualified than you think.

Your background as a therapist, coach, parent, healer, or corporate wellness professional is exactly what makes you a powerful guide. The world doesn't need more yoga teachers reading scripts that don't resonate with them. The world needs YOU—with your unique professional expertise, your understanding of your specific community, and your authentic voice—to make Yoga Nidra accessible to people who would never walk into a yoga studio.

People are waiting to experience Yoga Nidra in only the way YOU can deliver it.

Explore my online Yoga Nidra teacher training to learn at your own pace with lifetime access, or check out my live training options for intensive, real-time learning with a community of fellow practitioners.

Join hundreds of non-yoga teachers who are now confident Yoga Nidra facilitators, making an impact in their communities while doing work they love.

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Scott Moore (E-RYT 500, RYS, YACEP) has been teaching Yoga Nidra since 2008 and has trained hundreds of teachers across six continents. His Yoga Nidra teacher training is rated among the top programs globally by Mind Is The Master. He's the author of "Practical Yoga Nidra: A 10-Step Method to Reduce Stress, Improve Sleep, and Restore Your Spirit" and creator of the "Waking Up with the Yoga of Sleep" method.

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FAQ

Do you need to be a yoga teacher to teach Yoga Nidra?
No. Yoga Nidra does not require a 200-hour yoga certification.

Who can become a Yoga Nidra teacher?
Therapists, coaches, educators, parents, energy workers, and corporate wellness professionals commonly teach Yoga Nidra.

What is Yoga Nidra teacher training?
A certification program that teaches how to guide conscious rest and awareness-based meditation.

Is Yoga Nidra suitable for beginners?
Yes. The practice is accessible to people of all experience levels.

Can Yoga Nidra be taught online?
Yes. Yoga Nidra works well in both in-person and online formats.

A New Year Yoga Class for Beginning Gently

January is not a launch.
It’s a threshold.

Each year, the calendar turns, and the noise rushes in quickly—resolutions, urgency, the subtle pressure to decide who you will be before you’ve had a moment to arrive.

This New Year yoga class exists as an alternative.

Flow Into the New Year is an all-levels, in-person yoga class on New Year’s Day in Salt Lake City. It’s a space to meet the year quietly, through the body, with breath, movement, and live music guiding the way.

Not to fix anything.
Not to get ahead.
Just to begin honestly.

Why a New Year Yoga Class on January 1st

January 1st carries a particular quality.
The pace is slower. The field is open. The body is more receptive than the mind.

Practicing yoga on this morning isn’t about setting goals. It’s about orientation—feeling where you actually are before deciding where to go.

This New Year yoga class offers a steady, grounded practice that supports the nervous system and invites clarity without force. The movement is accessible. The pacing is intentional. The emphasis is on presence rather than performance.

When you start the year from the body, the rest tends to organize itself.

Flow Into the New Year—What to Expect

This is an all-levels yoga class, welcoming both newer and experienced practitioners. The practice is designed to be supportive, not demanding, and responsive to the energy of the day.

Live atmospheric music, led by Billy Mickelson, fills the room—subtle, resonant, and deeply supportive of the practice. The sound is not a backdrop. It’s part of the container.

Together, movement, breath, and music create a space where effort softens and attention sharpens.

Nothing to achieve.
Nothing to prove.
Just a clear place to begin.

Who This New Year Yoga Class Is For

This practice is for you if:

• You want to start the year grounded rather than rushed

• You’re drawn to yoga as a relationship, not a performance

• You appreciate live music as part of a shared, embodied experience

• You want January to set a tone—not a demand

You don’t need a resolution.
You don’t need a plan.

You just need a place to arrive.

Why This Class Is Different

Many New Year yoga classes are built around intensity—detoxing, pushing, becoming something new.

This one isn’t.

My teaching is shaped by decades of practice and a deep respect for how change actually happens. Slowly. Quietly. Through consistency and care.

This class doesn’t promise transformation.
It offers foundation.

And from foundation, real movement becomes possible.

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FAQ

Is this New Year yoga class suitable for beginners?
Yes. The class is all-levels, with accessible pacing and options offered throughout.

Is the class in person or online?
This is an in-person-only experience held at Mosaic Yoga in Salt Lake City.

How does the donation-based pricing work?
The suggested donation is $35, offered at the time of the event.

Do I need to register in advance?
Yes. Registration is required, and space is limited.

January Begins With Grounding

January doesn’t need more urgency.
It needs steadiness.

Every year, the calendar turns and the noise comes with it—predictions, demands, outrage, resolution energy dressed up as discipline. The world feels unstable. But if we’re honest, it always has.

What changes is not the chaos.
What changes is how we meet it.

I don’t begin the year trying to fix the world. I begin by grounding myself so I can respond from clarity rather than react from fear, exhaustion, or anger.

This is why January always begins with meditation.

People come to this practice for many reasons—grounding, nervous system support, Yoga Nidra, or simply a steadier way to begin January. This isn’t about aspiration or reinvention. It’s about something far more practical: establishing a rhythm your nervous system can actually trust.

Why Grounding Comes First

There’s a quiet assumption that being alert means being activated. Wired. Vigilant. Braced.

It doesn’t.

Grounding is not withdrawal. It’s capacity. When your nervous system is resourced, you don’t bypass what’s happening. You meet it—without collapsing or hardening.

The world doesn’t need more people panicking about how broken everything is. It needs people who can stay present long enough to respond wisely.

That kind of presence isn’t a personality trait.
It’s trained.

A Simple January Practice

I return each year to a 31-day meditation practice—not to reinvent myself, and not to perform discipline, but to re-establish trust with my nervous system one day at a time.

The structure is intentionally modest.

Fifteen minutes a day.
Gentle.
Flexible.
Supported.

No pressure to “do it right.”
No need to catch up.
Just a rhythm that’s easy enough to keep returning to.

Consistency doesn’t come from force. It comes from accessibility.

Why Yoga Nidra Works

Yoga Nidra is one of the most effective meditation practices for modern nervous systems.

You lie down.
The body rests.
Awareness remains.

The practice works directly with the nervous system—inviting deep rest without collapse, and clarity without effort. For many people, it becomes the first meditation practice that actually sticks.

Fifteen minutes a day is enough to change how you meet your life.

Better sleep.
Less mental noise.
More patience under pressure.

Not fireworks. Foundation.

Start With Yourself

It’s easy to imagine how much better the world would be if everyone were more grounded.

Your family.
Your neighbors.
Your leaders.

But the practice doesn’t start there.

It starts with you—choosing to be resourced enough to meet what’s in front of you without burning out or checking out.

I’ll be there throughout the month, guiding the practices and holding the rhythm. This isn’t about escaping the world. It’s about learning how to live inside it more steadily.

If this feels like the right way to begin the year, you’re welcome to join us.

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FAQ

What is a 31-day meditation challenge?
A structured daily meditation practice designed to build consistency over one calendar month.

Why use Yoga Nidra for daily meditation?
Yoga Nidra works directly with the nervous system, making it sustainable even on low-energy or high-stress days.

How long are the daily practices?
Each practice is approximately 15 minutes.

Do I need meditation experience?
No. Yoga Nidra is accessible to beginners and supportive for experienced practitioners.

What if I miss a day?
You return. Consistency includes learning how to come back.

Why I Start Every Year With a 31-Day Meditation Practice

January is not about reinvention. It’s about remembering.

Every year, as the calendar resets, I return to a simple, steady rhythm: a 31-day meditation practice grounded in Yoga Nidra. Not to fix myself. Not to hustle a “new year, new me.” But to re-establish trust with my nervous system, one quiet day at a time.

If you’re searching for January meditation, 31-day meditation challenge, Yoga Nidra practice, or daily meditation for consistency, you’re in the right place. This is not a performance. It’s a practice—gentle, cumulative, and deeply effective.

Why January Consistency Matters

Consistency is not about discipline. It’s about relationship.

January gives us something rare: fewer interruptions, fewer social obligations, a natural inward turn. When you meet that season with a daily meditation practice, something subtle but powerful happens.

Short sessions compound. Missed days teach compassion. Returning builds trust.

By the end of the month, you’re not “better.” You’re more settled. And from that place, clarity becomes possible.

Yoga Nidra is especially suited for this season. It works directly with the nervous system—inviting rest without collapse, awareness without effort. For many of my students, it becomes the first practice that actually sticks.

The $31 “Nothing to Lose” Model

I’ve seen too many people abandon powerful practices because the barrier to entry felt too high—financially or psychologically.

So I keep this simple.

$31 for 31 days. That’s it.

One dollar per day to show up, lie down, and listen.

No pressure. No perfection. No spiritual bravado.

If you complete the full challenge, you get your $31 back. Consider it a wager on yourself. A way to remove friction and let experience—not motivation—do the teaching.

Because consistency doesn’t come from willpower. It comes from accessibility.

What a 31-Day Practice Actually Creates

Over the course of the month, people report:

• Deeper, more restorative sleep

• Reduced anxiety and mental noise

• A renewed relationship with stillness

• Increased clarity without forcing insight

Not fireworks. Foundation.

This is how real change happens—quietly, reliably, over time.

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For Those Local to Salt Lake City

For those local to Salt Lake City, I’ll also be teaching a New Year’s Day yoga class with live cello—an embodied way to cross the threshold.

The cello will be played live by Billy Mickelson, whose music adds a depth and resonance that words can’t quite reach. Think of it as a ritual for the body—sound, movement, and stillness meeting in one room.

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Who This Meditation Challenge Is For

This practice is for you if:

• You want a daily meditation practice that feels humane

• You’ve tried consistency before and quietly drifted away

• You’re craving rest that actually changes how you live

• You want January to set a tone—not a demand

This is not about self-improvement. It’s about self-listening.

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FAQ (for AI Search & Humans Alike)

What is a 31-day meditation challenge? A structured, daily meditation practice designed to build consistency over one calendar month.

Why use Yoga Nidra for daily meditation? Yoga Nidra works with the nervous system directly, making it sustainable even on low-energy days.

How long are the daily practices? Most sessions range from 15–30 minutes—long enough to be effective, short enough to keep returning.

Do I need prior meditation experience? No. This practice is accessible to beginners and experienced meditators alike.

What happens if I miss a day? You simply return. Consistency includes learning how to come back.

How a Laminated Logo Landed His First Client: Danny's Business Mentorship Journey

When Credentials Aren't Enough

Business mentorship isn't about teaching you skills you don't have. Sometimes it's about helping a conscious entrepreneur find the direction that makes their existing skills finally land.

Danny came to me in August — burned out and needing serious direction.

On paper, he had everything going for him: CPA, MBA, 18+ years in finance, Big Four experience. A résumé most people would kill for. He'd spent years in the C-suite helping build other people's companies, stress-testing models, catching mistakes before they sank the ship.

Staying up late. Waking early. Stressed out.

But here's the thing: he never got equity. Not a single share.

After years of pouring himself into companies that weren't his own, Danny had a realization that changed everything: I'm done building other people's dreams while sacrificing my own.

He knew he wanted to launch his own business as a fractional CFO — helping startups and growing companies get financial leadership without the $250K/year salary. He had the skills. He had the drive. He wasn't afraid of the work.

What he didn't have was a clear direction.

That's where business mentorship came in.

Before You Build External, Go Internal

Before we built anything external — before the website, the business cards, the logo — we went internal.

This is where my experience as a yoga and mindfulness professional becomes essential to business mentorship. Together we explored who Danny really is. Not his résumé. Not his credentials. Him.

Because something I've learned in both my own six-figure business and mentoring dozens of conscious entrepreneurs is this: the primary product in anyone's business is YOU.

Danny's not really offering CFO services to the world. He's offering his own unique gifts to the world in the form of what he does.

This is huge. It changes everything.

It changes Danny from being any old CFO to being the one and only Danny Barrell.

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Finding the Wind: Danny's Entrepreneurial DNA

So as we dove deep into who he is, what we discovered was fascinating.

Danny comes from entrepreneurial stock. His grandfather moved to Utah at 55 with nothing but a Roto-Rooter franchise and a dream. His dad built that into a thriving business.

But Danny watched them both work 80-hour weeks, answering phones on Saturdays, grinding for every sale.

Even as a kid mowing lawns for money, Danny knew he wanted something different. He wanted to be an entrepreneur, yes — but he also wanted the skills to build something sustainable.

So he studied finance. He got the degrees. He earned the certifications. He learned the systems.

He became a rare bird — a CFO who actually gets entrepreneurship. Because he is one.

That was his wind — his special sauce, the invisible force that makes him him.

Now we just needed to build the windmill.

Building the Windmill: From Positioning to Launch

Together, over 20 hours of business mentorship sessions from August to November, we built his entire business:

His company name — Foundry CFO Partners — to capture the feeling of forging something solid from raw materials. Danny took his time vetting the perfect name and making sure the domain was available.

His tagline — "A fractional CFO with entrepreneurial DNA" — to instantly communicate what makes him different.

His ideal client — "Jessica," the overwhelmed growth-stage founder drowning in financial complexity who needs CFO-level guidance but can't justify a quarter-million-dollar salary.

His website — calibrated for both SEO and AI search.

His complete business infrastructure — mission statement, service offerings, one-pager, business cards, logo, launch strategy, content calendar, and a weekly workflow so he knows exactly what to do to keep his machine running.

Danny worked incredibly hard. But he worked confidently, knowing every effort was pointed in the right direction.

Plus, he was courting clients and building his presence before the paint was even dry.

The Moment Everything Changed

And then came the moment I'll never forget.

Just days before our final session, Danny rented a small space in a shared office. He was just getting started — no official signage, nothing fancy.

So he laminated his logo with his tagline and posted it near his door.

That same day, a startup founder walked by, saw the sign — "A fractional CFO with entrepreneurial DNA" — and stopped.

"Can we schedule a meeting?"

Outwardly, Danny said "yes," but inside he was screaming, "HELL, yeah!"

Then, literally after our final wrap session together, Danny walked into that meeting.

And landed his first client.

His text to me that afternoon: "Big news today. I officially landed my first client!"

And then: "I think it was all because of the slogan you helped come up with."

A laminated piece of paper. The right message. The right positioning. And three months of building something real.

That's what's possible when you get clear on who you are and build a business that's an authentic expression of that clarity.

Danny's Not Alone: More Business Mentorship Success Stories

Danny's story is powerful, but he's not alone.

Amy Conn came to me years ago and has been a close collaborator ever since — together we've launched her book, built her website, created consistent email campaigns, landed her podcast and TV interviews, and helped her launch her Reiki business.

Dawn Cannon turned scattered ideas into a published course, a podcast campaign, a book deal (she's under contract!), and her own Yoga Teacher Training program — things she'd dreamed about but needed the structure and push to make real.

Shannon built her website and launched her landscape design business.

Amy DiSanto built a website as a platform and subscription program for burned-out women who need to value rest with Yoga Nidra.

I've worked with drummers, painters, writers, ministers, yoga teachers, healers, and now a fractional CFO.

The thread that connects them all? There's a person at the center of that business whose job it is to share their gifts with the world. Each one said YES when the Universe asked them to step up.

They each had a gift — a wind — that was uniquely theirs. They just needed help building the windmill to capture it.

Ready to Build Your Windmill?

One of the things I offer my mentees is this: when you "graduate," I introduce you to my entire network.

This blog post is Danny's introduction.

If you're a startup founder or know someone who needs financial clarity without the full-time CFO price tag, check out Danny's work at foundrycfos.com and book a free diagnostic with him. Danny's the real deal — brilliant at what he does and ready to help.

If you have a gift you're ready to build into something real — a business, a book, a course, a practice — I'd love to explore what's possible together.

We'll talk about your gifts, what's possible, and whether we're a good fit to work together.

You could be my next success story.

Or better yet — your own.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Business Mentorship

What is business mentorship, and how is it different from business coaching?

Business mentorship is a collaborative partnership where I work alongside you to build your business from the inside out. Unlike traditional coaching that often focuses on tactics and accountability, my approach as a yoga and mindfulness professional starts with who you are at your core — your unique gifts, story, and values — then builds the external structures (positioning, website, offers, content strategy) to authentically express that. We don't just set goals; we build your entire business together.

Who do you work with?

I work with conscious entrepreneurs across many fields — yoga teachers, healers, therapists, authors, artists, musicians, ministers, and service-based professionals like Danny. The common thread is people who have a gift they want to share with the world and want to build a business that's an authentic expression of who they are, not a generic template.

How long does the mentorship process take?

Every journey is different. Danny's intensive was 20 hours of sessions over three months, and he launched with his first client immediately after. Some mentees work with me for years on ongoing projects like Amy Conn. During our free discovery call, we'll discuss what you're building and map out a timeline that makes sense for your goals.

What do you actually build together during mentorship?

Depending on your needs, we may build: your unique positioning and tagline, ideal client profile, business name, website, mission statement, service offerings, content strategy, email campaigns, course creation, book proposals, launch plans, weekly workflows, and more. Everything is customized to what you need to get your gifts into the world.

What's the "wind and windmill" concept?

Your "wind" is what makes you uniquely you — your story, values, lived experience, and gifts. It's the invisible force that powers everything. The "windmill" is the business infrastructure that captures that wind and turns it into something tangible: your positioning, website, content, offers, and systems. Without the wind, the windmill spins empty. Without the windmill, the wind just blows past. You need both — and that's what we build together.

What does it cost to work with you?

Investment varies depending on the scope and duration of our work together. The best way to explore this is to book a free 30-minute discovery call where we'll discuss your goals, what you want to build, and whether we're a good fit. No pressure, just a conversation.

What happens after I "graduate" from mentorship?

When you complete our structured work together, I introduce you to my entire network — just like this blog post introduces Danny. You also have ongoing access to me for quick questions, à la carte sessions when you need strategic support, and lifetime access to my resource vault. You're never on your own.

How do I get started?

We'll talk about your gifts, what's possible, and whether we're a good fit. Come as you are — no preparation needed.

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Scott Moore is a yoga instructor, business mentor, and author who helps conscious entrepreneurs build six-figure businesses doing what they love. His "wind and windmill" approach combines 25+ years of yoga teaching with practical business strategy to help healers, teachers, and creatives share their gifts with the world.

A Hundred Billion Bottles

The Power of Vinyl

When I’m sitting at my desk, writing, doing computer work, I absolutely love to listen to vinyl.

One of my most favorite things. 

The other day, Regatta de Blanc was on the turntable. Classic Police album. Love it. 

The first song on that album is none other than “Message In A Bottle.” You know it, I know you do. Who doesn’t?

Music and Memories

And you know the power that a song has to evoke memories? Well, as that song came on, it was like I was instantly transported back onto a dark December evening on a beach in Barcelona, 3 years ago, sitting in the sand next to Elio, 7 at the time, as we stared out into the black horizon singing “Message In A Bottle” together. 

As the song came over the speakers, I literally had to stop my computer work, put my hand on my heart, and sing along, eyes all misty. 

If you’ve heard this story before—sorry, not sorry. I mean, I should be so lucky as to have anyone hear any of my stories, let alone repeats. That said, if any story deserves a repeat it’s this one and you’ll see why …

One Dark Barcelona Evening

Three years ago, we were living in the South of France and it was around this time, just before Christmas to be exact. We drove to Barcelona to pick up our new puppy we’d just bought. Yay!

While in Barcelona, one night Seneca had a coaching session with a client via Zoom in the hotel room so Elio and I needed to get out. Have some guy time. 

It was dark. The air was soft, cool, not cold. We meandered down colorfully decorated streets, past the Christmas crowds, and sought solace on an all but deserted beach. It was still except for the quiet roar of waves gently crashing against the sand.

Message In A Bottle

As we were sitting near the ocean, watching the moonlight dance in the waves, Elio started to hum the melody to “Message In A Bottle” by the Police. I was impressed that Elio knew this song. He said that he remembered hearing the song but couldn’t quite remember the words.

So, I pulled up the song on my phone and we sat there on the beach reading and singing along to the lyrics. 

Now, I’ve heard that song thousands of times yet it may have been the first time in my life that I ever really, really read, understood, and sang along to the lyrics of that song. 

The first verse starts out with a lament, a man feeling “more loneliness than any man could bear,” with the chorus crying out, “I’ll send an S.O.S. to the world” hoping that someone will find his message in his bottle and save him. 

With truly great lyrics, and Sting is a master at this, though the words in each chorus stay the same, the meaning of the words change as the verses progress. 

In the second verse, he sings, 

“…Only hope can keep me together

Love can mend your life

Or love can break your heart.”

Second chorus, same words, “I hope that someone gets my message in a bottle.”

But the third verse hits us with the revelation. He says, 

“Walked out this morning, I don't believe what I saw

Hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore (rhymes in England)

Seems I'm not alone at being alone

Hundred billion castaways, looking for a home.”

He’s saying that it’s dawned on him (“I walked out this morning”—brilliant!) that we ALL need saving and that we are all each other’s hope. 

He’s saying that love can mend his lonely heart only by reaching out to others (second verse). 

He’s also saying that he is his own liferaft AND that all he had to do was to open his eyes to realize it, “It seems I’m not so alone and being alone.” 

Boom. 

Now, when he sings the chorus, “I’ll send out an S.O.S to the world. I hope that someone gets my message in a bottle” he’s fundamentally changed the meaning from pleading to be saved to wanting to save others. He’s no longer sending a message to be saved out into the deaf world, he’s sending a saving message to the world, a world who is singing along. 

Each Other’s S.O.S

And in case we don’t get the message, he sings, “I’m sending out an S.O.S. I’m sending out an S.O.S. I’m sending out an S.O.S.”… only about 30 or 40 times … in a row. 

It’s truly impossible not to sing along. As in doing so, you actually enter the deep chorus of human beings as we all chant the fundamental and shared truth that nobody is an island unto themselves, that we all need saving and that we are all saving each other. 

Like Alice Walker said,
“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” 

We are all One, helping ourselves wake up to this Oneness. 

I then dad-splained to Elio how this song is the message in a bottle, an S.O.S. to the world because so many people have heard it. I assured him that if he ever feels alone, I will always be there for him, and so will his mom, and so many others, including his new puppy. 

I’ll never forget that moment, sitting by the ocean in Barcelona, hearing little Ellie’s voice singing along with me full of heart, the ocean singing back up, all of us echoing this unforgettable message of hope and togetherness. 

Each time I put that record on, it will be like a message in a bottle washing upon my shore, reminding me of that beautiful moment. 

So, I’m sending out an S.O.S., a message in a bottle to you. 

Regardless of what holidays, if any, you celebrate this time of year, I hope that your days are merry and bright and that you are surrounded by people you love. 

Regardless of how alone you may or may not feel, how desperate you may be, know that we are all in this together. We are all tied for first place in this journey to awakening. 

I may or may not have ever met you in person but know that I’m pulling for you. I believe in your goodness and like Mary Oliver says, you hold an invaluable place in the family of all things. 

Love is all there is and I love you. 

I’m sending out an S.O.S.

I’m sending out an S.O.S.

I’m sending out an S.O.S.

I’m sending out an S.O.S.

I’m sending out an S.O.S.

I’m sending out an S.O.S.

I’m sending out an S.O.S.

I’m sending out an S.O.S.

I’m sending out an S.O.S.

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Yoga Business Mentor—Your Next Launch!

How are you?

I'm writing this from Snowbird, Utah, where my family and I are enjoying a mid-week staycation. It's mid-October and there are 7 inches of new snow on the ground. Yeah, a shock to the system, but perfect for some reading, hot tubbing, and quality family time.

But before I settle into full-on relaxation mode, I wanted to share something with you.

This weekend, I'm MCing Amy Conn's book launch. Eight months ago, this book was almost a forgotten idea. Now it's launching in three days.

On Wednesday, Amy said to me:

"Scott—I can't believe this is happening. 8 months ago this book was almost a forgotten idea. Now it's launching in 3 days and I'm not freaking out. I'm READY. Thank you for being my biz wingman through all of this."

"Biz wingman."

That's what Amy calls me. And I think it's the best job title I've ever had.

What Keeps Me Up at Night

After 20 years of building my own six-figure business and mentoring dozens of yoga teachers, healers, and consciousness entrepreneurs, here's what I know:

The Universe gave YOU specific gifts that the world desperately needs. Seriously.

But those gifts don't serve anyone while they're:

• Stuck in your notebook

• Sitting in your "someday" folder

• Waiting for you to feel "ready enough"

• Paralyzed by perfectionism and self-doubt

Let’s get real for a moment. Here's the real cost:

Right now, someone who needs exactly what YOU offer is either not being served at all—or worse, they're settling for someone who isn't you, doesn't do it your way, and can't bring what only you can bring.

Meanwhile, YOU’RE also not growing in the ways you need to by putting yourself out there.

This is exactly why I offer mentoring.

What "Biz Wingman" Actually Means

When Shannon Judge started working with me, she was overwhelmed—two years of trying to build her business on her own. Lots of ideas, but no traction.

After our six months together, she wrote:

"I expected big shifts when I began mentorship with Scott, but I really had no idea what was in store and how this process and Scott's guidance would catapult my business (and my own growth) in ways I'd been trying to do on my own for two years."

"My business has been consistently skyrocketing! I wish I'd reached out to Scott sooner."

Or Sasha, who came to me feeling stuck and doubting herself:

"When we finished our 3 months of sessions, I had reconnected to and clarified my target market, launched 1 virtual free offering, started to write and implement email funnels, launched 1 small low-ticket virtual course, booked a few sales calls, booked 1 high-ticket client, and more."

"Most importantly, Scott helped me regain a bit of confidence I had lost over the years."

Or Abbey, who put it simply:

"He helped me earn money right out of the gate. I know this happened because Scott was my coach."

More than just feel-good stories, these are examples of consciousness practitioners who turned their gifts into thriving businesses—without selling out, without losing their soul, without becoming someone they're not.

Why My Approach Is Different

I don't just teach business tactics (though we definitely use those).

What makes my work different is that I use my 20 years as a solo entrepreneur AND yoga and mindfulness expert to bring consciousness to entrepreneurship.

As Amy DiSanto wrote:

"Scott didn't just teach me how to rest. He held space for me to become. To unravel. To rebuild. To create something extraordinary from the raw material of my own authenticity."

"He made business strategy feel sacred."

What I truly believe about mentoring is this: The real opportunity in business isn't transactions. It's transformation—for both parties.

Your business is simply an extension of who you are on the soul level. Not separate from it.

Your dharma expressed. Your gifts in service. Your growth through giving.

Like Howard Thurman said:

"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

What Working Together Looks Like

Each session is laser-focused on YOUR project—your book, your course, your retreat, your business.

We have what Amy D. called "organic mashups of heart & soul based discussions balanced with shared business experience, firsthand knowledge and step by step guidance."

After every session, you get:

• A recording and full transcript

• My detailed "poetic recaps"—summaries that Amy D. described as "like sacred scrolls, filled with insights, encouragement, humor, and clarity"

(She added: "Those emails alone could've been a masterclass in mentorship.")

What I've helped people create:

• Launch books (like Amy Conn this weekend)

• Build websites that convert

• Create digital and physical products

• Design and lead transformational retreats

• Start authority-building podcasts

• Launch courses that sell

• Build entire businesses from scratch

Also, and this is huge, I help you with the essential task of organizing your thoughts and ideas. I help you create a clear value proposition—how your unique sauce is so needed in the world. I use meditation, Yoga Nidra, and idea riffing to help you dream big enough to see what's truly possible (the consciousness part)—and then put practical steps in place to make it real (the business part).

As Shannon wrote: "His formula of skillfully putting concrete steps in place to attract my dream clients, fueled by my daily spiritual practice, has been alchemic."

Why Now?

Because Amy's book launches this weekend.

And in six months, what could YOU be launching?

• The book you've been thinking about for years?

• The course you know people need?

• The retreat you dream about leading?

• The business you've been too scared to start?

Here's what Abbey said that I think about often:

"I am what you would consider a hard sale because I respect where I put my time and my money. As I have observed and witnessed Scott do his 'thing' over the years... I have built within myself a firm trust in him and I knew when I decided to build my own online yoga business and product, that I wanted Scott and only Scott to coach me."

I don't want to be your only option. But I do want to be your best option.

Let's Talk

I offer a free, no-pressure discovery call where we hop on Zoom and explore:

• What you're trying to create

• What's been stopping you

• Whether we're a good fit to work together

As Amy D. said at the end of our mentorship:

"Without hesitation or condition, Scott said: 'You have a biz wingman for life.'"

That's what I'm offering you. Not just a program. A partnership.

Amy's book launches this weekend. What could YOU launch in the next six months?

Now I'm going to go practice being an MC and enjoy this surprise snow with my family.

Your biz wingman,

P.S. Spots for 1:1 mentoring are limited. I only take on clients when I know I can give them my full attention and energy—the kind of presence my clients describe as "deeply listening, real business strategy, spiritual presence, poetic impact." If you're feeling the call, book your discovery call now.

Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower

I hope you’re doing great today. My next live Yoga Nidra teacher trainings aren’t for a while, though you can always download my online Yoga Nidra training, which I think is the best online Yoga Nidra teacher training ever, here. Today, I thought I’d discuss a little about yoga and poetry and how they work so well together. As always, you can download your free Yoga Nidra script and get a free Yoga Nidra recording by clicking the image on the right.

When I was running on a trail early this morning, I hear this Rilke poem translated and read by Joanna Macy which totally lit me up:

Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower

Quiet friend who has come so far,

feel how your breathing makes more space around you.
Let this darkness be a bell tower
and you the bell. As you ring,

what batters you becomes your strength.
Move back and forth into the change.
What is it like, such intensity of pain?
If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.

In this uncontainable night,
be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,
the meaning discovered there.

And if the world has ceased to hear you,
say to the silent earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am.

Sonnets to Orpheus II, 29

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Goddamn!

This poem reminds me that poetry is another yogic practice in both simple and profound ways. Right off the bat, this poem reminded me of that simple but profound practice of noticing our breath and the familiar exile of darkness we all go through at times. 

The image of the bell ringing clear in the darkness shone brightly in my mind. 

“What batters you becomes your strength.” I immediately thought of how the tongue of the bell striking it is what makes it sing. If you know me, you know that sooner or later, all roads lead to Leonard Cohen and there’s no way that this bell motif could pass without quoting his song “Anthem” (unapologetically, not the first reference, not the last).

Ring the bells that still can ring, 

Forget your perfect offering. 

There is a crack in everything, 

That’s how the light gets in.

Both Rilke and Cohen understand that a broken bell is still a bell but more profoundly, the cracks are our catalyst for illumination.

The theme of the crossroads looms large in my spirit and heart so it’s no wonder that these lines hit me between the eyes:

In this uncontainable night,
be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,
the meaning discovered there.

“Be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses, the meaning discovered there!” So rich, I need a glass of milk to wash this down. It ties into the last stanza beautifully. 

Rilke sends us off with this profoundly illuminating last stanza, his words alchemizing disparate realms to illuminate the magic that lives at the crossroads:

And if the world has ceased to hear you,
say to the silent earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am.

Whenever we feel lost to the world, feel stuck in the darkness of our soul, the darkness of our times, or profoundly unsure of where to go in life, perhaps our most powerful resource is to simply assert the truth who we are—we are the lovechild of the Universe. 

In yoga, Shiva represents our inert and immutable spiritual Beingness. His mantra is, “I am.” Shakti represents our fluid and fallible human nature. Her mantra is, “I flow.” I interpret this poem as Shiva represented by the silent earth and Shakti represented by the rushing water. So by saying to the earth “I flow” and the river “I am,” it’s like whispering into the ears of Shiva and Shakti, their respective lover’s mantra. Whispering the essence of one into the ear of the other is an intimate act of lovemaking, a consummation that gestates and births a miraculous new, third thing—us. We are the lovechild of the Universe with humanness as our mother and Beingness as our father. We are the miracle that is human being. 

Before dropping the mic and walking away from this poem, Rilke reminds us that our greatest power rests in understanding the truth of who we are. This is the “meaning discovered at the crossroads of our senses.”

There’s magic at the crossroads. Certainly the magic that Rilke found at the crossroads—crossroads of life, loneliness, globalization, and the emergence of the 20th century—was poetry, a prophetic voice that resonates even 100 years later for some salty yoga teacher running on a trail, damn near in tears. 

As I was running this morning—and it was such a beautiful run, the fresh morning hinting at autumn, recent rain lifting a scented bouquet of the earth, leaves, and late-summer flowers—I asked myself, “Why poetry? Why is it so profound for me?” 

I mean, sure, I studied poetry in college but poetry didn’t really stick for me then (early 2000s). College may have been when the seed of poetry may have been planted in me but it definitely needed to gestate for many more years before it could truly be born in my heart. Maybe I hadn’t lived enough life yet to understand it. Maybe I was intellectualizing it, still trying too hard to analyze it so I could write a paper about it that might get a good grade. Maybe my heart wasn’t developed enough to feel it. 

Now, I realize that to write good poetry requires an incredible ability of presence and awareness, everything we practice in yoga and meditation. As I was running and listening to Rilke’s poetry this morning, I felt the familiar sensation of being at the crossroads of realms. By this I mean the crossroads of body, mind, and spirit, this practical, human world mingling with some more mysterious but nonetheless real world of Being or spirit. Yoga, Yoga Nidra, meditation, plant medicine, and sacred ceremony have all been potent illuminators in my life to open my heart and feel spirit and to “play at the edges of knowing” this magical crossroads (to quote Mary Oliver).

Again, there is magic at the crossroads. 

Poetry is so potent for me because just like yoga or Yoga Nidra or working with a shaman in the mountains of Columbia, it’s a guide to the mysterious crossroads of human and Being, the blend of realms. Truly, this crossroads of realms, this place of human and being, is unfailingly ineffable and can never be accurately articulated unless, again like Mary Oliver says …

lest we would sift it down
into fractions, and facts
certainties
and what the soul is, also
I believe I will never quite know.
Though I play at the edges of knowing,
truly I know
our part is not knowing,
but looking, and touching, and loving,
which is the way I walked on,
softly,
through the pale-pink morning light.

(Mary Oliver from her poem “Bone”)

This poem, “Bone,” is Mary Oliver describing an awakening moment for her as she walks into the sunrise one morning. I suppose I had my own sunrise moment this morning, running into the light along desert mountain trails, listening to Rilke.

Clearly, I am still analyzing poetry. At least now I do so from the perspective of learning to understand the mystery of being human rather than vying for a grade. It baffles me that what will take me an entire career to discover and express, Rilke can do in one short poem. That’s some magic, there!

The magic in this poem by Rilke, as well as poetry in general, is the act of marrying our human with our Being through witnessing and words. Yoga means union so in a way, poetry is a yogic practice. 

Whether by yoga poses or yoga poems, may we all learn to be the mystery at the crossroads of our senses. 

At The Crossroads: Pt 2 Magic At The Crossroads

After my Riviera retreat, my family and I headed to one of the European cities we love the most, Florence, Italy where I’m sitting now, processing and writing as I look out the window listening to songbirds flit through a dusty Tuscan sunset as it glows upon the gardens and statuary of this stately, old growth neighborhood just outside of the Porta Romana. 

My journey to both France and Italy has taught me about different angles of the pilgrim’s journey to the crossroads so I’m going to share both angles both in this message and my next. 

In my last message, I wrote about the magic that comes at the crossroads of giving and receiving heart-felt service. Today, I want to explore how retreats are more than just nice things to do—they are transformational when you're on a pilgrim’s journey at a crossroads of life.

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Disruption At The Junction

Over the course of many years, the themes of crossroads and pilgrims have woven their way into my personal spiritual evolution. Naturally, the theme of the crossroads has found their way into my writing and teaching, including my most recent retreat to the French Riviera.

And let’s get real—we are all at a crossroads in one way or another, be that a transition of stage of life, of our spiritual practice, of relationships, work, or myriad other things. At a crossroads, we are often not sure where to go next, what direction to turn, or even how we got to where we are in the first place. Often, it’s hard to be at a crossroads because it means change, transformation, metamorphosis. 

And generally, people don’t like change. 

Yes, when life is changing, it can often feel disruptive but I believe that’s exactly the point. Being at a crossroads is a catalyst for transformation precisely because it means stepping away from what’s familiar—familiar yet often broken. The process of being at a crossroads launches us headlong into the unknown, setting off on a pilgrim’s journey with a head full of questions and a heart full of faith. 

Magic At The Crossroads

Though being at a transition point in life is often uncomfortable, both life and yoga have taught me something indispensable—magic always happens at the crossroads. 

A truly beautiful way of engaging with whatever magic is at whatever turning point you might be at, is to come on a retreat.

What Is A Pilgrim?

It’s true, yoga retreats are a lot of fun, but they are also a lot more than that.

“You’re not tourists, you’re pilgrims,” Nórín said.

Last year while hosting a yoga retreat in Ireland (I know, rough life) we were treated to a day with poet, author, singer and storyteller, Nórín Ní Riain and her son, singer, poet, and performer Moley Ó Súilleabháin. Her declaration about being pilgrims rather than tourists articulated something I’d been chewing on for a while, something essential: I’ve been leading retreats for over 2 decades and know how transformational they can be—more than just a vacation with yoga sprinkled in. 

With her words, it finally dawned on me that these retreats are pilgrimages. 

A pilgrim is often someone who finds themselves at a transition—sometimes chosen, sometimes not—and is either willing or compelled to leave the comfort of their routine to find some illumination on a journey that becomes holy.

A pilgrim is willing to search, to search with a question, one that may start the journey or perhaps a question that is illuminated or clarified en route. 

A Pilgrim has faith in the unknown and wields weapon-grade curiosity and humility to greet whatever comes around the next corner. 

A pilgrim evolves from a state of searching to one of constant arriving, often within the same foot step. 

To the pilgrim, every stone is sacred along the path.

Why Retreat?

Perspective 

So why must a pilgrim retreat? Can’t transformation be done at home? I mean it would save a helluva lot of time and energy and money.

Quite simply, one of the biggest things a retreat does for you is to help you get out of your routine. Getting out of your routine is essential for discovery and transformation because, like Einstein said, “No problem can be solved from the same state of mind that created it.”

To change your circumstances, you must first change your state of mind and one of the most effective ways of doing that is to get outta Dodge. 

Getting away gives us perspective. I’m not alone here—Hemingway understood this. Get this: Hemingway couldn’t write A Moveable Feast his book about living in Paris while in Paris. He needed to retreat to Cuba (so Hemingway) and Ketchum, Idaho (random, love it!, and also so Hemingway) in order to gain both clarity and perspective about what to write.

Do you resonate with this? Have you ever found clarity on an issue by simply getting some space from your routine?

I mean, I’m currently working on a piece that I’ve been trying to write for about, oh … 15 years! As I started to write it, I just kept getting blocked over and over until I had to leave it alone until just recently.

Now I understand that at the time, I just didn’t have enough space from and perspective of the events I was trying to write about. How can you write about something that hasn’t finished yet—you don’t know the ending, what it all means, or even when to pause, take a breath, and say, “Yo, can you even believe how crazy this is?!” 

A retreat gives us clarity by helping us get out of our old routine precisely to gain perspective. It’s almost like sitting in the airplane and looking out the window gives us the perspective to see our life from 10,000 feet.

Presence

Another thing that a yoga or meditation retreat does so well is to anchor you to presence, the part of yourself that has all the answers. You gain presence not only through the many yoga and meditation practices, but also, and perhaps especially, because being out of your comfort zone—in a different country, language, cultures, climate, etc.,—stimulates your senses and activates the wisdom of your presence.

And speaking of accessing our most vital sense, in classic novella, The Little Prince, the wise fox drops this truth bomb when he says: “One only sees well with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eyes.” 

At a retreat, when we are no longer anesthetized by the every-day, our senses and hearts tend to open causing our vision to dilate with a keen presence and take in what’s really essential. 

So, being on a retreat stimulates presence, a crossroads where past and future meet. And like I said, there’s magic at the crossroads. 

Body, Mind, And Spirit

Another magical crossroads you can find at a retreat is that of body, mind, and spirit. For millennia, yogis have understood the power of this crossroads as an effective driver for our spiritual evolution as well as a reliable resource to keep us healthy, manage life’s curveballs, and navigate the predictable shit-show of the every-day. 

A retreat is a unique opportunity to immerse yourself at the nexus of body, mind, and spirit, perspective, and presence. 

As all the magic of these divergent elements converge, it illuminates the truth of your hero’s journey: the answers you were looking for were already inside of you but sometimes you need to go halfway around the world to discover them.

Stepping Off The Mat

Each morning at the retreat we met at the ocean’s edge to greet the dawn with sun salutations, to breathe and meditate. One morning, as the sun lifted out of the ocean, coloring the landscape with warm hues of peach and gold, we discussed how the practice of yoga isn’t limited to what happens on our yoga mats. 

One retreat attendee chimed in and admitted that now, she finally understood what one of her yoga teachers said about how the practice begins the moment you step off the mat. She said her off-the-mat practice began the moment she said yes to this retreat. 

She discovered my Riviera retreat literally on the day it began. I was sitting at the airport waiting for my guests and our drivers to arrive when I got her email telling me that she lived in Belgium and that this retreat sounded so perfect, exactly what she needed, but I wished she would have discovered it a week ago. “I fear I’m too late!” 

I invited her to do something bold—jump on the next train, take a leap of faith, and join us!

And she did. 

This retreat became a veritable pilgrim’s journey for her. It was a journey of faith, having never met me before, yes, but more importantly it was a journey of reconciling and encountering many crossroads she was experiencing at that moment in her life. 

She came to the Riviera to get on her mat so that she could perform all of the yoga that needed to happen off the mat. 

Poet, author, and speaker David Whyte is a master of speaking to the pilgrim’s journey. In his poem “The True Love” he speaks to that catalytic moment when all the bullshit is burned away and there’s nothing left but to say “YES!” in the face of what you know you need to do. 

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Check out this excerpt from his poem “The True Love”: 

. . . we are all

preparing for that

abrupt waking,

and that calling,

and that moment

we have to say yes

A yoga retreat reminds us that we don’t live on our yoga mat or meditation cushion and that the true practice begins when we connect to our heart and step off the mat and into the world, one where we must keep our center, find our balance, and breathe through both life’s joys and discomforts. 

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Bringing It Home

In a retreat setting we will undoubtedly have a chance to practice responding rather than reacting to life's events, like collecting ourselves the first time we are addressed in a language we don’t understand, get lost, or encounter a new custom. 

A great way of learning to do this is with a very simple yet profound practice is what I call the WRW(R) model: Welcome, Recognize, and Witness (Respond optional). 

For example, when leading a Yoga Nidra practice, I invite students to relax while practicing the following: 

• Welcoming simple and benign objects (anything you can be aware of)—like the sound of my voice or the sensation of body—into their awareness 

• Recognizing it objectively for exactly what it is—no more, no less

• Witnessing the object, just observing it.

• Responding. Sometimes, a person may choose to then respond to the object like respond the object of body discomfort by changing positions of their body or scratching an itch or something but responding is fundamentally different than reacting. Responding is mindful. Reacting is mindless.

By practicing the WRW(R) method with relatively benign objects in the controlled environment of a Yoga Nidra practice, we prepare to do this with the circumstances of every-day life. Even and especially when those objects feel much less benign—like almost getting run over by a cyclist or missing your flight. No matter the object, we can also practice welcoming, recognizing, and witnessing—sometimes responding to— that object. Note that responding to an object is light years away from reacting to it. 

By learning to WRW(R) both the objects in Yoga Nidra and life, it wakes us up to two great truths. First, that we are not defined by the events that happen to us. And second, we may learn to respond to them from the foundation of our innate abundance and compassion rather than react to them from the loose sands of scarcity and fear. Learning to be the witness and therefore respond to life helps us wake up from the dream of identifying as life’s victims and wake up to the truth of being agents—truly the Divine itself, living a human life full of passion, perspective, and purpose. 

After all, the greatest practice is life itself. 

Like Louis Armstrong said, “What we play is life.”

Perhaps the greatest magic that happens along the pilgrim’s journey through the crossroads is that you come back home to your own self with expanded self knowledge (swadhyaya is the yogic term). 

A Remembering Not An Escape

Therefore, the point of a retreat is not to escape. It’s to retreat a while, regroup and remember ourselves—our True Selves—so that we can bring this all with us back home and apply it to our families, our work, and community. We come home from retreats with stories, new lifelong friendships, and a deeper perspective of life. 

We come back home feeling more like ourselves. 

Our family and colleagues will be so happy with the rejuvenated person that comes home from the retreat that they’ll start a fund so that they can send you away EVERY year.

May we all find the magic at whatever crossroads we may be facing in life. May you take the opportunity to retreat on your own pilgrim’s journey to find the wise inner teacher inside that distance, perspective, and presence offers. And as the airplane hits terra firma, having gained that 10,000-foot view, may we see home with new eyes, clear in the truth that the answers already lay inside of us but that sometimes we need the journey to illuminate them. 

Stay tuned because in my next message I want to talk about how the seemingly impossible challenges life throws at us can help act as a renaissance to do the impossible. 

P.S. And if you’re itching to book your next adventure, please join me for my next retreat!

At The Crossroads: Pt 1 The Spiritual Practice of Giving And Receiving

I recently finished a magical retreat in the French Riviera. 

Loved it! Couldn’t be happier with it. 

The yoga—transformational. 

Our group—was close, adventurous, and flexible both on and off the mat. 

Weather—flawless.

Beaches—pristine. We rented some beach chairs and spent the day soaking up the sun, swimming in the azure waters, and relaxed and laughed together. 

Food—Don’t even get me started with the food. 

I had the sometimes daunting task of making reservations at restaurants for 17 people for this retreat. This required that I often met the owners and/or head waiter and chef of many of the restaurants. To a person, they were kind, gracious, and passionate, not only about food they made, but also about the care and grace with which they served it. 

They even printed special menus for us, almost always in English and French, treating us like Riviera royalty so that we would experience their restaurant, food, and ambiance to the fullest for a truly exquisite and unique experience. 

The food and care we received on the retreat was no small detail. In fact, it’s exactly what I want to talk about today: the spiritual practice of giving and receiving service. 

The Art of Service

Tourists often complain about the rude service in France yet I say “Mais, non! Ou contraire!” I became aware of France’s superpower of service for the first time more than 12 years ago. When Seneca and I were dating, we traveled to Paris together and fell deeper in love with each other while also falling in love with this city. It was the perfect ménage à trois.

Paris was just so charming. Each little café or bistro we visited was staffed by a small elite team of the waiters and bartenders, dressed elegantly in their starched white shirts, pressed black pants, and crisp aprons. Also, perfectly groomed and coiffed. 

Truly they made service into an art.The server would memorize our order as if our choice for food was so interesting that it consumed their complete attention. No notebook needed. A few minutes later they would present our cafés and omelets with the most keen attention to detail—placing a napkin, refreshing the bread in the basket, graciously replacing a fallen fork as if it never occurred.

Once, as one waiter stretch his arm in to place our meal before us, I noticed a mostly-concealed tattoo receding up his sleeve that said, “w8er,” the 8 turned sideways to make an infinity sign suggesting that he was both identified with and took great pride and dignity in this work of being a server and planned on doing it for the rest of days. 

At my recent Riviera retreat, even as large of a group as we were, we were nonetheless still treated to absolutely exquisite service from everyone from our hotel concierge, to restaurant and wine tasting staff and owners, and our drivers were. 

At The Intersection of Service and Love

Some of these people and places I had met and discovered when our family lived in the French Riviera. Part of the advantage of leading a retreat somewhere that has become a second home to me is that I had a few years to discover a collection of great restaurants and wine caves and the great people who own them.

Others I met on this trip. 

But our principal driver, Farida, I met a few years ago when we were living in France. One cold, drizzly morning, Elio and I were trudging through the elements on our way to school. As the ice-cold wind and rain whipped at our faces and bent our umbrellas into unholy shapes, we arrived at the bus stop only to realize that the buses were on strike. 

Ok, so maybe there’s an exception to excellent French service once in a while but usually that’s when it involves sticking it to The Man. And really, there’s truly nothing more French than a good old workers strike. You just gotta roll with it. 

Either way, on this gray morning, we were wet and cold and miserable and getting more so by the second. So I called an Uber. 

A few minutes pass and who shows up but Farida, our Uber driver. She was courteous and professional, her car was warm and immaculate, and from the second my dripping butt landed on those pristine seats, I knew I was going to like this woman. 

Sorry about the wet seats. 

As she drove us to school, I began making polite conversation and learned that she used to work for Air France in customer service but was laid off during Covid. 

Worst mistake Air France ever made. 

Farida only wanted to continue to serve people so she bought a stately brand new Renault and started to Uber. She delivered us safe and warm to school and before leaving her car I got her number and from that moment forward, I never called Uber again. I only called Farida.

If you ever meet her, and I hope you do, you’ll know exactly what I mean when I say that from the second you meet her, it’s clear that her mission is to offer not just good service but truly supreme service. 

The Art of Receiving

Have you ever known anyone like that? Have you ever been that for other people?

So, as I planned my Riviera retreat, I wanted to spoil my attendees so naturally, I called Farida to arrange personal and professional transportation for my guests to and from the airport. 

Farida and another driver met us at the airport, dressed in suits and on time—early, actually. My guests arrived on time or early so not wanting to stick around at the airport, I called and asked if there was any way that she and the other driver could come early. “No problem, Scott. We are on our way.” God bless you, Farida!

Once at the airport, she greeted me with a warm hug and kisses on both cheeks. On the ride from the airport to our hotel, I made a point to sit next to her in the passenger seat so we could catch up. As we drove along the idyllic coastline of the French Riviera, immediately comfortable in her presence, I commented again on how much I recognize and appreciate her truly excellent service toward me and my group and thanked her. She said that in truth, it gives her great pleasure to offer service, especially when it is received with such warmth.

We began to discuss how we both work in domains where we get immense pleasure from offering what we hope is top-notch service and what a joy it is to serve people, especially when it’s received so warmly. 

As we rolled past the Riviera villas, I was also very happy to learn that her dedication to excellent service has rewarded her well. Since her early days with Uber, now she has a small fleet of elegant, expensive, black cars and a retinue of sharply-dressed drivers to transport everyone from ambassadors to the kings and queens of my yoga retreat guests. Truly she treats each person as royalty.

When the retreat was over, she met our group at the hotel to take them back to the airport. After loading everyone’s luggage and escorted them into their seats, she closed the doors and gave me hugs, kisses on both cheeks, and a very nice bottle of Bordeaux (Médoc 2018, a very good year for this wine). 

If you’re ever heading to the Riviera, please let me know and I’ll connect you with Farida so you too can receive the excellent service of Farida. Nothing would give me greater pleasure. Or Frida. And you, I hope. 

I can’t promise you that she’ll send you off with kisses and a bottle of wine, but I can promise you that you’ll be treated to service that you won’t forget.

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Now, giving excellent service is only half of the equation. The other half is learning how to be on the receiving end of service. 

Do you know anyone like this—they absolutely LIVE to serve and give but have the most difficult time receiving? 

Come on, are YOU like this sometimes? 

I know I am, though I’m getting much better at receiving.

Remember that receiving is the other half of the magic of great service. 

Receiving and giving. Giving and receiving. It’s the reciprocity that makes the world go round. It’s the alchemy that allows us to transform our gifts, talents, as well as our needs, into a catalyst that helps both giver and receiver evolve in love into their highest being. 

It’s true. 

The benefit is much more than the money exchanged, the service rendered. The benefit is magic.

There’s always magic at the crossroads and this is true of the intersection of giving and receiving. When heart-felt giving is met with heart-felt receiving it conjures a magic that creates a new, third thing. 

What is it: Is it love? Growth? Happiness?

Larger Than The Sum Of Their Parts

I’ve experienced this my entire career. Whether I’m teaching a yoga class or working with a mentor on building their business, I often feel like I’m the one who is receiving all the benefits, the love, the insight, the energy. 

But in truth we are both receiving the maximum benefit and that’s why it feels so good. It’s a true collaboration. And that’s why the benefits go so much deeper than flexible hips or a functional web site and a mission statement. 

Both are giving. Both are receiving. Both are growing.

Fruits At The Crossroads

I recently finished a mentor package with a fellow Yoga Nidra teacher. Together, we figured out first who she is in this domain of Yoga Nidra, exactly who her clients are, and then crafted her message, look, and products to marry her skills and passions to her clients needs. It was a beautiful collaboration and I’m really proud of all the work she did. It was an honor to add my 25+ years of expertise to apply to her business but more than that, to be a guiding light of encouragement and to remind her that the most important answers are always inside of her. 

As we were building the mechanism for her to create the giving and receiving magic with her own clients, we were simultaneously experiencing that same mentor/student magic ourselves. 

Always a beautiful thing and I will NEVER tire of working on this deeply personal and direct level with clients. 

So, in the spirit of giving and receiving, it’s with the utmost pleasure that I introduce you to the wonder that is Amy DiSanto and Nidra Babes. You gotta check out her website. It’s a work of art and she deserves all the credit for it. You can sign up to become a Nidra Babe and find the rest and resources for you to be your best in this busy world. 

She recently sent me a letter of appreciate which I would love to share with you:

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A Letter of Reverence: Rest, Mentorship, and the Birth of Nidra Babes

by Amy DiSanto

There are people who shape your life so deeply, words never seem quite enough.

This is a letter of reverence for one of those people: Scott Moore—poet, jazz lover, Yoga Nidra teacher, and heart-led mentor. Scott didn’t just teach me how to rest. He held space for me to become. To unravel. To rebuild. To create something extraordinary from the raw material of my own authenticity.

When I joined his mentorship program, I was a woman on the edge of massive transition. I had ideas—lots of them—and also doubts. I worried about being too much. Too emotional. Too nonlinear. Too sensitive. Too "off-task." But Scott? He never flinched.

Instead, he welcomed all of me. Every session felt like a nourishing exhale. His presence wasn’t performative—it was permission-giving. He didn’t coach from a pedestal. He mentored from beside me. Gently. Steadily. With unwavering belief in my gifts. He saw my “mad skills,” as he put it. He made me feel celebrated, not just tolerated.

And somehow, he made business strategy feel sacred. Every recap email he sent after our sessions? Not your average follow-up. They read like poetic jam sessions—filled with insights, encouragement, humor, and clarity. Honestly, they were like sacred scrolls.

Scott Moore didn’t give me confidence. He gave me something better: a mirror. A reminder. A remembering. The gift of seeing myself clearly—unfiltered, real, whole. And that changed everything.

There are some experiences that shift the entire trajectory of your life—not through force or formulas, but through presence. Through poetry. Through being seen.

Working one-on-one with Scott Moore was one of those experiences.

It wasn’t a business coaching program. It was a portal—into expansion, authenticity, and ease. A sacred container for who I was becoming. And a mirror for the self I hadn’t yet fully met.

Scott isn’t just a mentor. He’s a poet. A jazz lover. A Yoga Nidra teacher with soul-deep wisdom. He brings his entire heart into mentorship—his reverence, rhythm, and radical capacity to hold space without agenda.

One of the things Scott says often is: “Everything is yes and everything is love.”

And he lives it. Every emotion I brought to our sessions—fear, grief, brilliance, joy, doubt, divine downloads—was met with exactly that energy. Yes, and love.

He didn’t fix or redirect me. He invited me to feel into the moment without succumbing to people-pleasing, pressure, or performance. He modeled how to pause without apology.

And just when I thought I was spiraling, he’d deliver a jaw-dropping truth bomb—poetic, precise, and with cosmic humor.

That’s why I call him Mic Drop Scott. Because working with him is a mic drop every time. 

We quickly created a bond built on trust and shared reverence for Yoga Nidra. It was a connection that felt ancient, familiar, and sometimes otherworldly.

His guidance wasn’t just cerebral—it came from a deeper knowing, stirred by presence, that allowed doubt to dissolve and clarity to blossom.

He celebrated my “mad skills” (his words) and never let me forget them—even when I did.

One of the greatest gifts I revisit again and again is what comes after our sessions: The follow-up emails. Not average check-ins, but poetic recaps, energetic integrations, and loving nudges infused with insight and celebration.

They captured our session’s essence with clarity, humor, and that signature Scott cadence that made the impossible feel inevitable: They made me feel capable. They reminded me I didn’t have to do it alone. And even when the next steps felt daunting, the message was always: you’ve got this, and I see you.

Those emails alone could’ve been a masterclass in mentorship.

It’s that blend—deep listening, real business strategy, spiritual presence, poetic impact—that makes Scott more than a mentor.

And at one point—(in what I imagined would be our last call) without hesitation or condition—he said:

“You have a biz wingman for life.”

That gift was everything. It wasn’t just the mentorship—it was the certainty I wasn’t walking this path alone. That someone with wisdom, humility, and real tools was in my corner. That kind of steady belief rewires your nervous system. It reconfigures self-trust. It grounded everything I’ve built since.

In those six months (and beyond, because yes—Scott is my “biz wingman for life”), something else was quietly, powerfully being born: Nidra Babes & Lil’ Nidra Babes.

This mentorship journey cracked open a new rhythm in me. A rhythm of rest. Of alignment. Of deeply trusting that what I’m here to do begins with slowing down, not speeding up.

Nidra Babes isn’t simply a business. It’s the embodiment of everything I learned through rest, through witnessing, through the beautiful discomfort of growing in sacred space. It's the invitation I now extend to other women who lead—moms, CEOs, healers, educators, creators—to pause, recalibrate, and reconnect with their inner knowing.

And Lil’ Nidra Babes? That’s the extension of this sacred rest into the next generation. A playful, heart-centered way to introduce school-aged children to the power of stillness, imagination, and nervous system regulation—through Yoga Nidra audio bundles and Creative Calm fill-in-the-blank stories. (You can find those here, if you’re curious.)

Scott taught me that when you mentor from a place of “everything is yes and everything is love,” you unlock more than potential—you unlock power. Real, gentle, unstoppable power.

He always reminded me that my authenticity was my secret sauce—that showing up as me is the wind in the sails of my business. That simple truth, offered with such reverence, became the foundation for all I now share through Nidra Babes.

So here’s to the people who remind us who we are. Here’s to rest as a strategy. Here’s to choosing alignment over urgency. Here’s to the mentors who don’t just teach us how to build—but how to be.

And if you’ve ever wondered what’s possible when you pause long enough to hear your soul whisper… Come rest with me.

Visit NidraBabes.com—a space born from rest, rooted in authenticity.

And Scott—thank you. For modeling soulful strategy. For honoring emotions as messengers. For proving that mentorship can feel like music.

Thank you for whispering truth in moments I wanted to run. For walking with me through the birth of this vision. And for reminding me that the path of rest, creativity, and authenticity is not just valid—it’s visionary.

— Amy DiSanto

Mille-Feuille: The Truest French Pastry

Free Yoga Nidra for Stress Recording and Script

12 years ago, Seneca and I were newly in love and visiting Paris for the first time together. 

We stayed in an apartment that was so tiny that the bed was suspended on the ceiling above the coffee table and when it was time to sleep, a system of pulleys lowered the bed down which engulfed the entire living room. 

One day we strolled about on an errand to buy some fruit. We stopped at a produce shop where you stand at the entrance to tell the grocer—the Pelé of produce, really—what you want. He might ask you for clarification about exactly when you plan on eating this fruit, immediately, this afternoon, or tomorrow, before carefully selecting the absolute PERFECT piece of fruit to sell to you.

He does not allow amateurs to squeeze his fruits or choose something that isn’t ripe, non, non!

Photo by Seneca Moore

We told him we wanted strawberries—to eat immediately. He returned with a basket of strawberries that were so beautiful, so idyllic, so bursting with color that I was hesitant to eat them.

When I popped one in my mouth, I almost wept. I was overcome with how delicious they were. 

But then it made me angry.  

For the previous 37 years of my life I’d been eating sour, pale, and crunchy strawberry— imposters—when I could have been eating these!

In addition to the best strawberries ever grown on God's green earth, while in Paris we also found the greatest crêpe stand in all of Paris. Like the produce guy, this dude’s genius was making crêpes. It was an art just to watch him do his thing, pouring the batter, turning the crêpe at the perfect moment, dressing it with Nutella or sugar and lemon or whipped cream.

Also on that same trip, one evening we sat down for an organ concert in Notre Dame cathedral and as the organist leaned into the keyboard, the entire building shook to its foundation.

Neither of us are catholic but both of us appreciate the beautiful spirit that often can be found in all religions and especially in a cathedral. But on this day, for some reason, the spirit hanging in the air was very heavy for Seneca. She said it felt like generational guilt, oppression, stiflement. We left for lighter air. 

A few years later, we were back in Paris, but this time, Sen and I were married and pushing our 3-year-old around the sidewalks and cobblestone streets in the stroller we had bought in Paris.

I have a pic of Seneca from this trip standing in the crisp early spring air, bundled up with a scarf with Notre Dame looming behind her. Little did we know that only weeks later the cathedral would catch fire and nearly be reduced to rubble. 

Mille-feuille: The Finest French Pastry

We are in Paris again as a prelude to my French Riviera retreat and so Seneca could attend a conference. We are enjoying perhaps our favorite city in the world, revisiting some of our favorite haunts and also discovering new ones. 

We ate strawberries—just as good. 

We saw the renovated Notre Dame and oh, what a revelation! Mon dieu, they’ve done such a beautiful job cleaning and restoring it. Truly a feat of human tenacity and ingenuity. Bravo!

Sen didn’t feel any heaviness in Notre Dame. Quite the opposite. We had the pleasure of visiting as they were offering Sunday mass and as we strolled around the holy structure, now the color of crème pâtissière (the stuff inside cream puffs and eclairs), Seneca had tears in her eyes as a feeling of lightness and spirit filled her soul. She’s a very sensitive soul.

I felt it too, though perhaps slightly less because our kid, now almost 10, was less enthused to be visiting a cathedral so I agreed to wrangle him. Nonetheless the feeling of beauty, purity, and spirit permeated everything. Truly magical.

Seneca even went back again for another visit a few days later. 

Sadly, our crêpe guy is no longer there with no clue as to where he is.

Paris has layers. Same Paris but it’s different every time we come, different layers. 

There’s even a french pastry called mille-feuille which means a thousand layers. Fitting.

I believe that many things in life occur in layers. Not linearly. We’ve been to Paris dozens of times now—I mean, we lived in Nice, France for 3 years and zipping up to Paris on a train was no big deal—but each time we come to Paris, it feels different.

I do suppose it’s a practice to experience something like Paris over and over again but try to see it anew each time. Even though we have our Paris favorites, each time we come we try to search for something new—like a new crêpe stand! 

It’s serious but happy work. 

I’m up for the task.

But regarding layers, I think that life works like this. So often it feels like we come back over and over to the same damn thing—the same feelings, the same situations, the same kinds of relationships—and yet it’s not the same. We are different. The event, feeling, or person has changed. 

Same Damn Apartment

I love to tell the story about one of my guy friends who fell in love with another friend of mine and so he moved out of his apartment to move into her house with her. After 3 years, they broke up. He needed a new place to stay so moved back into his old apartment building—same floor, same apartment layout, just across the hall. 

He called me up one day, lamenting, “Dude! I’m in the same damn apartment, just across the hall.” 

“But don’t you see (young padawan) … you’re across the hall.”

Yes, it was the same apartment but also completely different. He was different, his situation was different. He was now experiencing the bookend of his previous relationship and where he was at that moment was leagues apart than where he began.

Of course, this takes perspective to see life like this and again, it’s a daily practice to learn to see something like stages of your life or events with a level of newness and even to learn to appreciate the many layers of life. 

Live Yoga Nidra Class: Layers

This week, I’ve decided to explore the theme of layers in my online Yoga Nidra class. I’ll be hosting my yoga retreat in the French Riviera so I’ve pre-recorded this session. You can register for this class like normal except at the time of class you will get the recordings. Same thing except you won’t see the other participants. Oh, the layers! Brilliant!

Class will be live the following week, but I’ll be Zooming in from Florence, Italy. Mama mia!

This week’s practice on Layers is a relaxing and illuminating practice that allows us the chance to practice seeing the many layers of life. You don’t need to know anything about yoga or meditation or Yoga Nidra to do this class. I share a few excellent poems that speak to our theme, we do some gentle poses (optional but nice), we breathe together. Then I invite you to get super relaxed and lie down as we settle into a long and relaxing Yoga Nidra practice. In this practice you’ll have the chance to explore having “first sight” and noticing the layers of the events and circumstances of our lives.

Please join me!

I’d love to hear about the layers of your life. How have you noticed life’s many layers?

Respond with a comment and let me know. 

In the meantime, here’s a poem about layers that is as delicious as real Parisian strawberries. 

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The Layers

BY STANLEY KUNITZ

I have walked through many lives,

some of them my own,

and I am not who I was,

though some principle of being

abides, from which I struggle

not to stray.

When I look behind,

as I am compelled to look

before I can gather strength

to proceed on my journey,

I see the milestones dwindling

toward the horizon

and the slow fires trailing

from the abandoned camp-sites,

over which scavenger angels

wheel on heavy wings.

Oh, I have made myself a tribe

out of my true affections,

and my tribe is scattered!

How shall the heart be reconciled

to its feast of losses?

In a rising wind

the manic dust of my friends,

those who fell along the way,

bitterly stings my face.

Yet I turn, I turn,

exulting somewhat,

with my will intact to go

wherever I need to go,

and every stone on the road

precious to me.

In my darkest night,

when the moon was covered

and I roamed through wreckage,

a nimbus-clouded voice

directed me:

“Live in the layers,

not on the litter.”

Though I lack the art

to decipher it,

no doubt the next chapter

in my book of transformations

is already written.

I am not done with my changes.

Yoga Nidra on Podcast: The Rebel Clinicians

I hope you're having a beautiful week. I know I am.

The yard is looking lovely—still some blossoms on the trees and bushes, everything's green, garlic is growing in the garden. 

Like John O'Donohue says in his poem, For Presence:
 

"Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that
seek no attention."

Today, I want to introduce you to Yoga Nidra on Podcast: Rebel Clinicians.

My good friend and fellow yoga teacher at Mosaic Yoga, John Cottrell is an amazing human being and recently hosted me on one of his podcasts.

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John gets up about the time that most of us go to sleep which gives him the time he needs to do amazing things in the world. In addition to being a very gifted and engaging yoga teacher John also:

• Has a Ph.D.

• Is an award-winning body builder

• Leads mens groups and retreats

• Is an incredible baker and sells his delights at his online business, One Cake Wonder—ships anywhere

• Is a trained actor and dancer

• Loves to DJ

• Has his own mens active clothing line M-Body 

• So much more! I'm just scratching the surface

As if this were not enough, John also hosts at least 3 podcasts (that I know of). 

I had the great honor to be interviewed on his fantastic Podcast, Rebel Clinicians, with his pod-parter Alex. 

We had the BEST conversation and I can't wait for you to hear it.

We discussed all things Yoga Nidra but also so much more …

We talked about discovering and working from our own special magic. 
We talked about the importance of finding YOUR thing and understanding that as a pointer to all things through presence.
We talk about how clinicians like therapists and the like can use practices like Yoga Nidra to help them ground and rejuvenate after long hours of helping others.

Please check it out below, it's a great listen.

Then after, buy one of his hoodies, attend his yoga classes, and eat 3 dozen or so of his latest delights.

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SALT LAKE CITY YOGA
CLASSES UPDATES

So, every 6 months the space that Mosaic Yoga rents from hosts a craft market over the weekend.

The next craft market is happening at the Mosaic Yoga Space Saturday, May 17th and Sunday, May 18th.

This means that Yoga For Stiff Bods will only be hosted on Zoom on the Saturday, May 17th. 

I've got some travel coming up—my French Riviera retreat and other European travel—so I want to make you aware of some classes I'll be getting subbed. See my updated class schedule on my website.

We have AMAZING teachers at Mosaic so you'll be in good hands while I'm away.

I'll still be available for private sessions, mentor sessions, and my weekly online Yoga Nidra class, all via Zoom while I'm gone. I'll be working while I'm in Europe so reach out if you'd like to join or book an online class.

Clearly, the best solution is to join me in my French Riviera yoga retreat, June 7–13, 2025. I've got two spots left. 

You Are Only as Good as the Quality of Your Sleep

Yoga nidra is often referred to as yogic sleep due to the fact that it promotes a state of consciousness that is somewhere between being fully awake and sleeping. As a sleep meditation teacher, (Yoga Nidra facilitator) I help people take advantage of what Yoga Nidra offers in order to improve their sleep.

Why? Because I know this fundamental truth: we are only as good as the quality of our sleep.

You want to be the best you can be. You want to excel at home, at work, and in any environment in which you find yourself. But the truth is that your ability to excel is impacted by the amount of restful sleep you get. So if you are not getting enough restful sleep, your ability to excel is hindered.

Why Good Sleep Matters

My role as a sleep meditation teacher gives me the opportunity to work with all sorts of people in the States as well as the UK, Europe, Asia, and Canada. One thing I've noticed is that it's easy to find reasons to justify a lack of sleep. But there is no escaping the fact that both the body and mind need rest. And they need plenty of it if a person is to operate at peak performance.

According to the Sleep Foundation, here's what quality sleep can do for you:

• Improve your mood by helping you deal with stress better.

• Improve your heart health by regulating your blood pressure.

• Improve blood sugar regulation, reducing the risks of certain diseases, like diabetes.

• Improve mental function, including memory and cognition.

• Give your immune system a significant boost.

• Help you better manage stress in your day-to-day life.

• Improve physical recovery after exercise and/or athletics.

• Help you maintain a healthy weight by regulating both appetite and metabolism.

The human body is a fantastic creation capable of doing amazing things. Ditto for the mind. But both mind and body need time to refuel, repair, and rest. All three are the primary benefits of good, quality sleep.

Finding Your Rhythm With Sleep Meditation

The Sleep Foundation's Dr. Abhinav Singh refers to sleep as "a rhythm.” As a musician, I love that comparison. Not only do I agree with this good doctor's assessment, but I also know that finding your own rhythm is one of the keys to consistent restful sleep. And that's one of the things that Yoga Nidra or sleep meditation is all about.

One principle of to facilitate sleep meditation is rhythmic breathing. Sleep meditation practitioners can learn to control their own breathing to help reduce stress and anxiety. This is one of the things that helps them reach a more relaxed state. The rhythm of one's breathing sets the stage for meditation practices that lead to the state Yoga Nidra seeks to find.

Turning to sleep meditation to help find that rhythm can help create a daily sleep-wake cycle that encourages a person to excel. If that's what you're after, I hope you will consider sleep meditation. And as a sleep meditation teacher, I can help.

Tips for Improving Your Sleep

In addition to sleep meditation and yoga nidra, there are other things you can do to improve your nightly sleep. Without getting into detail, they include things like:

• Maintaining a regular sleep schedule

• Creating a relaxing environment for sleep

• Being careful about caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine

• Getting regular exercise

• Avoiding excessive screen time before bed
  

Apart from coming to your house and setting up your perfect sleep environment, I cannot help you with all these things but what I can help you with sleep meditation. That is my area of expertise and one I would be happy to share with you. Remember this: you are only as good as the quality of your sleep.

Find Your Authentic Voice: Transform Your Yoga Nidra Teaching & Your Life

From Script Follower to Master Facilitator: My Journey to Teaching Authenticity in Yoga Nidra

I'm passionate about Yoga Nidra. Since 2008, I've facilitated thousands of hours of sessions and taught hundreds of teachers. Through this journey of practicing and teaching Yoga Nidra as well as developing my Yoga Nidra teacher training program, I've discovered what truly works, what doesn't, and most importantly—why.

What makes my approach revolutionary? While other training programs want to "own" the practice and insist you teach like them, I empower you to find your own authentic voice and create transformative experiences that are uniquely yours.

My Yoga Nidra Journey: From Frustrated Teacher to Global Educator

In full honesty, I initially sought Yoga Nidra training mostly to expand my teaching toolkit. Nothing wrong with that. I just never imagined how it would completely transform my life and career.

Early in my journey, I experienced profound emotional and spiritual healing through Yoga Nidra. It gave me insights about myself and the universe unlike any other practice. But here’s the deal: when I tried to teach using my training's scripts, it felt wrong. Even my students could sense it. The problem was that I was being a rote version of my teacher and not an authentic version of  myself.

This realization changed everything.

So, I took a year off from teaching Yoga Nidra to dismantle Yoga Nidra facilitation and rebuild my own system from the ground up. This time away from facilitating helped me to discover the essence and diversity of the practice. Plus, I discovered tools for facilitating Yoga Nidra in a way that enabled me to meet my student’s diverse needs and do it in a way that was completely authentic to me.

The results were immediate:

• My classes became the most popular at my studio, often with 50+ students

• Other teachers constantly asked for my secrets

• What began as simple workshops evolved into comprehensive trainings

• My online programs attracted students from Iceland to Ireland, Mecca to Montana

What was the difference? 

Authenticity. 

Instead of relying on rote scripts only, I gave people tools to find their own voice—a crucial element missing from most programs.

What Makes My Yoga Nidra Teacher Training Different

1. Tools for Authentic Facilitation, Not Just Scripts

Most programs give you scripts to memorize. I give you the many principles and tools to create your own powerful Yoga Nidra experiences such as:

• The Yoga Nidra Roadmap: A flexible formula you can adapt to any situation or client need

• Welcoming/Recognizing/Witnessing: Techniques to create psychological safety

• Radical Permissions: Methods to disarm resistance and deepen practice

• Kosha Navigation: Learn to use these consciousness layers strategically, not mechanically

With these tools and many, many more, you'll never be limited by someone else's script again.

2. Personal Practice Development

Something else I discovered is that your most profound insights will come from your own practice, not from my teachings. That's why the first half of my training focuses on deepening your personal relationship with Yoga Nidra through multiple lenses:

• History and philosophy

• Psychology and neuroscience

• Myth and storytelling

• Practical application and experimentation

When you teach from authentic experience rather than memorized concepts, you will truly share something of you with your students and they will feel the difference.

3. The Adopt, Adapt, Innovate Methodology

My training follows a natural progression that honors where you are while building toward mastery:

• Adopt: Begin with over 100 pages of specialized scripts demonstrating effective tools and principles of Yoga Nidra facilitation

• Adapt: Learn to modify these approaches to reflect your unique voice and style

• Innovate: Develop the confidence to create your own scripts or facilitate completely improvisationally

This approach makes it so you'll sound 100% like YOU while meeting the unique and specific needs of your clients.

What Students Experience in My Level 1 Training

Beyond the core frameworks mentioned above, you'll learn essential facilitation skills such as:

• Creating an effective teaching container through mindful set and setting

• Honoring each person's unique experience without forcing outcomes

• Finding your authentic facilitation voice that resonates with your specific audience

• Building specialized practices for diverse client needs

Ready to transform your teaching? [LINK TO LEVEL 1 PROGRAM]

Advanced Skills: Level 2 Training

Once you've mastered the fundamentals, my advanced training takes you deeper:

Yoga Nidra Dyads

Learn the art of facilitating awareness-based conversations where practitioners verbalize their experience while in deep relaxation—invaluable for therapeutic settings.

Expanded Facilitation Toolkit

Master advanced techniques including:

• Voice modulation for deeper impact

• Strategic use of music and sound

• Anchoring and layering koshas

• Visualization and positive programming techniques for maximum efficacy

Recording and Sharing Professional-Quality Sessions

Learn to create studio-quality recordings using equipment you already own and build your global audience through platforms like Insight Timer and YouTube.

Creating Specialized Classes

Develop customized practices for specific populations or purposes—from trauma healing to performance enhancement.

Ready to become a master facilitator?

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What My Students Are Saying

“Scott’s Yoga Nidra Teacher Training was exceptional! I had been hoping to expand my yoga teaching practice and was looking for just the right thing. The program which Scott has carefully crafted far exceeded my expectations and has left me with a passion for Yoga Nidra. I also walk away with a wealth of resources and some newfound confidence in leading this powerful type of yoga. Scott exhibits mastery of the art and conveys a lot of good information with richness and ease. Participating in the program was itself transformative; well worth it”

— Ian Napper, RYT 200, Mindful Outdoor Guide

“Yoga Nidra teacher training with Scott Moore was like looking behind the curtain of a magic show and discovering that the magic is real - no tricks, no illusions!  When I started the course, I could not envision myself as a Nidra facilitator, and in fact found the practice quite intimidating. Little by little, as Scott’s training progressed, I was not only able to experience the magic of the Yoga of Sleep, but discover my own power. Scott does an amazing job breaking down the spiritual and practical aspects of Yoga Nidra, while also relating them to common experiences like trail running or music. A word of warning, this training requires a lot of introspection, which isn’t easy. It kept me humble, sometimes made me vulnerable, inquisitive, emotional - but ultimately, it was a source of comfort and empowerment.”

— Cat Gavriusova

“I recently completed Scott’s 4-day Yoga Nidra Immersion and Teacher Training held in Salt Lake City, Utah. I found the training personally and professionally valuable and definitely worth my time and money. I was impressed not only with the training but also with the teacher, Scott Moore. He was well-prepared and effective in his delivery. The training included both complex ideas as well as practical tools that I can use in my coaching and therapy practice. The practice of Yoga Nidra helps me be more present amidst the stress in today’s world and with my clients. The training gave me deep and rich tools that I started using in my coaching and therapy practice Immediately following the training. My clients have reported feeling centered and calm after I have facilitated a short Yoga Nidra practice. I have known Scott for many years as we were both part of the yoga community in Salt Lake City. I have great respect for him. He is an exceptional human being with the purpose of helping humans heal and grow!”

— Evelyn Skon, MBA, MA, LMFT Psychotherapist and Coach

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Your Invitation to Transformation

Over nearly 20 years of practicing, facilitating, and teaching Yoga Nidra, I've discovered that this practice is as transformational as it is accessible. The key to being an effective facilitator lies in skillful authenticity—and it's my passion to help you find your unique voice.

You owe it to yourself and your students to become the best Yoga Nidra facilitator you can be. Join me on this journey.

Level 1 Training: 

Enroll now with my my self-paced online Yoga Nidra teacher Training (50 hours)

Enroll in my next live in-person training: Salt Lake City, Utah July 31–August 3, 2025 (30 hour)

Advanced Yoga Nidra Teacher Training:

Advanced Yoga Nidra Teacher Training: April 26–27, May 3–4, 2025 (once a year only 30 hours)

Both Trainings

If you’re interested in both the level 1 and advanced trainings, reach out for a package deal.

P.S. Interested in learning how to create successful online courses like mine? Book a free discovery Zoom call regarding my mentorship program.

Yoga Nidra Class Near Me: Free Yoga Nidra Class Sunday + Updates

Happy Friday to you!

I hope your week has been great—full of self-awareness, optimism, and doing things for your wellbeing. 

PSA

I invite you to make it a habit that each day you do something healthy for your body, mind, and spirit. 

Personally, I wake up early to do yoga and work out, I plan out what I’m going to eat, and I listen to or read something every day that nourishes my spirit. 

What are your body, mind, spirit habits?

As we step into the weekend, I wanted to give you a few tid-bits.

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Free Yoga Nidra Class This Sunday

Every Sunday I teach a live online Yoga Nidra class 9–10:15 am MT. 

This is the 5th Sunday of the month so this week my live online Yoga Nidra class is FREE. Click here to register and instead of payment, click “It’s the 5th Sunday of the month, this one’s free” button on the registration form. Then, you’ll get an email with the Zoom link and information about class. 

Even if you can’t join live, register anyway because everyone gets the replay so you can listen to and/or watch the entire class as well as just the Yoga Nidra practice. 

This week we’ll explore how love and joy are both portals to experience our ultimate being.

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Yoga For Stiffer Bodies

Saturdays 7:30–8:30 am MT

Live via Zoom or in person at Mosaic Yoga

By donation 

I absolutely love this class. It’s a great opportunity to join a fantastic community of practitioners and do an intelligent, therapeutic, and active yoga practice but totally on your terms.

Class is 60 minutes and consists of a generous warm up, familiar and new poses, and a nourishing cooldown and stretchy poses. It’s the perfect way to start your weekend.

Join me for Yoga for Stiffer Bods live, either via Zoom or in person at Mosaic Yoga in Salt Lake City, Utah. For Zoomers, click here and see the Zoom button at the top of the page (same link for all of my classes).

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Advanced Yoga Nidra Training

Also, I noticed that I’d originally scheduled my Advanced Yoga Nidra teacher training to overlap with Easter so I’ve changed the dates a bit. Now, the Advanced Yoga Nidra teacher training will be over two weekends: April 26–27; May 3–4.

I’m really excited about this training. I only offer it once a year and it’s a chance to really go deep into the absolutely transformational practice of Yoga Nidra. 

We are going to do a deep dive into topics like:

• Purpose: Self-discovery, sacred sleep, and waking from the dream

• Tools: Expanding your toolbox—Drawing a bigger map, Speaking your voice, and wielding weapon-grade love

• Practice Makes Progress: Mastering Yoga Nidra dyads, discovering and building YOUR classes, and developing personal projects

• Direction Frequency and Resonance: advanced recording techniques, sharing platforms, and finding your voice to reveal your students

If you haven’t done the first training, reach out to me and I can arrange a special price for both the level 1 and the advanced training. You’ll have just enough time to do both!

Join us!

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Yoga Retreat France

I have only 3 spots left in my French Riviera yoga retreat happening June 7–13, 2025. This will be a retreat of a lifetime and I don’t want you to miss out. Please grab your bestie and make it happen.

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Yoga Business and Teaching Mentorships

Lastly, I love mentoring other conscious entrepreneurs how to start or boost their business. I recently had a few mentors graduate which opens up a few spots.

If you're interested in a free discovery Zoom call where we can discuss how to get your mad skills out into the world and make a positive impact while also making a great living doing what you love, please book an appointment below. 

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You're a beautiful person. You matter, you're good enough, and pretty kick-ass.

Please share your incredible gifts with the world. 

How Mentorship Could Help You as a Yoga Teacher

We've got it together, right? Of course we do. We are yoga teachers aligned with the universe and at peace with it. Until we aren't. The truth is that none of us get it right all the time. That's okay, it's part of being human. It is also why I believe so much in yoga teaching and business mentorship.

I have been honored to travel the world as an international yoga and Yoga Nidra educator. I am thrilled every time I have the opportunity to help someone as a mindfulness business mentor. But do you know what? I also love to work with yoga teachers, one-on-one, to help them become better teachers and conscious entrepreneurs.  I make a great living doing what I love and I’m passionate about helping others do the same using the method I’ve created.

What I'm trying to say is that a mentorship could help you as a yoga teacher. Whether you are just beginning your journey or have been at it a while, mentorship offers tremendous benefits—benefits I have enjoyed from being mentored myself. I truly believe in mentorship for you.

The Basics of Mentoring

Before we go any further, it might be a good idea to explain the basics of mentoring. Mentoring is actually a relationship between two people. The mentor has knowledge and experience gained over time and worth sharing with the mentee. The mentee learns from the mentor with the goal of growth and improvement. The difference 

Mentoring is normally discussed in a business setting. But it doesn't have to be exclusive to business. Any two partners willing to have such a relationship can do so at whatever capacity they wish. For me, it's about helping other yoga teachers by teaching them what I have learned over many years of teaching, writing, and practicing yoga.

Over the many years that I’ve been receiving mentoring, I’ve received some invaluable insight. One of these nuggets was this: “Find someone who is doing the EXACT think you aspire to do and hire them as your mentor. What has taken them decades to learn, they can teach you relatively quickly.”

A Coach Vs Mentor

What’s the difference between coaching and mentoring. Here’s a few things that I think make a distinction between the two:

1. Experience vs. Process: Mentors share the exact experience that they have lived, the practical wisdom they have gained from their journey in their domain. Coaches are often skilled at directing stratagies and processes that can sometimes transfer across different contexts.

2. Path-specific vs. Skill-focused: A mentor is great to expose hidden shortcuts AND obstacles for a very specific career path they've walked, while a coach might take a broader approach by focusing on developing transferable skills like communication or leadership.

3. Network Access: A mentors can provide invaluable introductions to their professional networks, whereas coaches typically don’t have these kinds of contacts.

4. Identity Development: Mentors model what success looks like in your field, whereas coaches sometimes help you optimize your existing capabilities to explore on your own how success might look.

Both can be valuable but there’s a special sauce to mentorships.

How Mentorship Could Help You

So, just how could mentoring help you as a yoga teacher? Let's start with your actual role. You are teaching this wonderful art to students eager to learn everything you know. You are teaching them to go deeper, become more conscious, and reach out to some very new things.

I’ve logged over 25,000 teaching hours in my more than 2 decades of teaching. I’ve learned a thing or two and would love to share them with you—things that took me decades you can learn MUCH quicker.

Yoga is a journey as much as a practice. In fact, it's a journey that should never end. Those of us on that journey should be open to learning new things. We should be open to new experiences. That is what mentorship offers. It's an opportunity for a more experienced yoga teacher to share their experiences with you. 

From the standpoint of being a conscious entrepreneur, mentorship offers a lot:

• Business Guidance — Teaching yoga as a business blends two things that seem at odds. But they can be blended—and blended well. A mentorship can help by giving you valuable insights into studio management, marketing, and business finances. Did I mention I’ve owned two yoga studios?
  

• Professional Growth — Mentorship can contribute to the evolution of your teaching practices, enhancing your integrity, confidence, and professionalism as a yoga teacher.
   

• Goal Clarity — We yoga teachers sometimes lack clarity on the entrepreneur side of things. Mentoring can help clarify goals so that your professional choices line up with your yoga journey.
  

• Accountability — Working with a mentor creates a framework for accountability within your business. Accountability is essential to any entrepreneur committed to a business built on integrity.
  

As a yoga teacher, you face challenges every single day. There are very good things about what you do, things that you love and are passionate about. But there are also things you must do, as an entrepreneur, that don't bring you any joy. The path forward is about bringing all those things into harmony.

Whether you are brand new to teaching yoga or have many years under your belt, have you ever considered mentorship? Maybe it's a good fit for you.

Yoga Training Techniques: You Don't Have to Settle for Just One

One of the hardest things to learn as a new yoga student is to let go of preconceived notions. Things are not always as black-and-white as they seem. But guess what? As an international yoga educator, I have learned that we teachers often struggle with the same thing. We get into a system and then mistakenly believe that it's the only way to do things.

I have been all over the world teaching new yoga students and experienced teachers looking to be better at what they do. And through it all, I've been exposed to one constant: there is no need nor benefit to utilizing just one yoga training technique. There are lots of different techniques, some of which are better suited to certain forms of yoga.

The Universe Is Vast, My Friends

Let me ask you this: what is your place in the universe? It turns out that the universe is vast. It is so vast that none of us can truly comprehend it fully. That's why there are so many different forms of yoga. My niche is yoga nidra. I am passionate about it. Maybe you are passionate about another form, like:

• Vinyasa flow

• Hatha yoga

• Ashtanga yoga

• Power yoga

• Yin yoga

• Restorative yoga
  

I could go on, but you get the point. There are so many forms of yoga because there are so many ways to accomplish its goals. Each one points to something larger.  And that's okay. It's even okay to practice multiple forms of yoga. The universe doesn't care.

So Many Techniques

As for yoga training techniques, they are as plentiful and different as the various forms of yoga to which they apply. They range from the basic to the complex. Best of all, there are ways to incorporate virtually any training technique into whatever form of yoga you prefer.

Let's start with meditation. Nearly every form of yoga incorporates meditation techniques in one form or another. You know why. We meditate to cultivate mindfulness and inner peace. We meditate to set distractions aside and focus on the moment.

Some other fairly common training techniques include:

• Asana – These are the physical postures that form the basis of most yoga training.

• Pranayama – Breathing is essential to yoga, which is why pranayama is so important.

• Mantras – Certain types of yoga training, like kundalini, make use of mara's and chanting.

• Philosophy – Incorporating philosophical training can help students better understand their preferred form of yoga.
  

Again, there are many other training techniques I could mention but won't. You get the point. Just let me suggest one more thing: anatomy and physiology training. In some yoga training classes, the study of anatomy and physiology helps both teachers and students better understand the human body. A better understanding makes yoga a more productive exercise.

The Techniques That Work for You

A big part of my contribution lies in my role as an international yoga educator. I am thrilled to be able to act in that capacity. But the way I do things isn't the only way. The knowledge I possess isn't the full body of knowledge available to be learned.

 I say all of this to reinforce the idea that there are lots of different training techniques within the yoga universe. Learn the techniques that work for you. Teach those to others. And when someone offers to show you a new technique, approach it with an open mind.

If there was just one way to do things, what would yoga actually be? Personally, I am very thankful for the broad range of yoga practices and training techniques available to us all.

Part 2 Sacred Intersections: Where Realms Meet

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! 

Today I wanted to share the second of two installments about pilgrims and pilgrimages. 

In Part 1, I wrote about the pilgrim's journey, specifically that magical transformation from searching to arriving. 

And today, being Saint Patrick’s Day, I want to invite you to join me at Tobar Phádraig—Saint Patrick's well—where together we can discover those magical intersections between realms that define true pilgrimage.

The Intersection of Realms (Connecting to Pilgrim)

If you recall from my last message, during my retreat to Ireland last year, we visited the home and art studio of Richard Hearns who showed us many paintings, two of which made a distinct impression on Seneca and me. 

Seneca was enthralled by Idyll but I was immediately taken by the painting Pilgrim. 

So much moves me about this painting, especially the image of the pilgrim and the illumination behind the figure. To me, this image feels like an arrival. 

But what moves me the most about this painting is the intersecting lines, something that’s become a major pillar of my personal spiritual understanding and my teachings. 

The idea of intersecting lines could be summarized like this: The Universe exists as a balanced paradox—seemingly opposite things all belonging to one large Singularity or Oneness. 

Since we all belong to the Oneness, because Oneness is our True Nature and opposites are anathema to this core Oneness, whenever there is perceived opposition, it’s an opportunity to step into the fullness of our being and begin to explore that situation in a Both/And way. Whether it’s about politics or relationships, career or education decisions, even getting along with our neighbors, there is a magic in exploring the place where seemingly opposing lines intersect. Responding rather than reacting to the human experience of opposition in a way that mirrors our greatest intelligence, the Beingness of our Oneness, is the most beautiful representation of intersecting lines. When two seemingly opposite things come together, they can create a new third thing, something magical and larger than the sum of its parts. 

There’s always magic at the crossroads. 

My work, especially with Yoga Nidra, explores that fascinating crossroads between our humanness and our beingness in our birthright and majesty of what it truly means to be a human being. It explores the intersections of waking and dreaming, spiritual and physical, self and Self, and self and other. 

One of the things I teach in my Personal Renaissance retreats and walking tours in Tuscany is the Leonardo DaVinci illustration of the Vitruvian Man, the human being as the perfect example of intersection of realms e.g., the circle and the square. 

It’s often at these intersections, at these crossroads, that magic happens. Sacred wells are potent examples of this kind of magic.

Sacred Wells as Intersections

Asking permission to enter Tobar Phádraig

Both times that I’ve made my own pilgrimage to Tobar Phádraig, I’ve been accompanied by spiritual giants—Norín and Moley—mother and son duo of poets, writers, and singers—and none other than poet, author, and speaker David Whyte himself. 

Both times we were led along this stony pathway that overlooked the barren landscape with a view of the Atlantic ocean off to our right. We followed seemingly endless lines of fences made from the natural flagstones so replete in this landscape. 

After about 30 minutes of walking, there’s a break in the wall off to the left. Norín invited us to stand at the threshold between the road and the pathway leading to the well, and in our hearts ask the land and spirits permission to enter. Doing so, then taking a step onto the short path that leads to the holy well, it felt like stepping onto holy ground. 

Saint Patrick

At the well, it is lush, verdant. Quiet. There are ribbons hanging in the trees with names on them, people who are sick, dying or dead. Generations from time out of mind built a stone basin in which there’s a scattering of coins. Statues of saints and plaques with pictures of family members, living and dead, watch quietly from alcoves. 

Standing at the well, we were invited to make our own prayers and supplications, tie our own ribbons to the trees,  and toss coins into the well. Then song and poetry sealed our prayers to rest in that holy place like bright coins scintillating in the well.

Intersecting Saints, Sinners, and Leprechauns 

While standing at the holy well, David Whyte recited his poem, Tobar Phádraig, and prefaced the poem with both a story and history about the well including the spiritual and mystical landscape of Ireland.

David Whyte explained to us a little about the original people who lived in Ireland. Before the current people conquered Ireland, the original inhabitants had been living there for thousands of years. There are sacred burial sites and dolmans in the area that are at least five thousand years old. He explained that what is now Tobar Phádraig has been a sacred site for millennia and long predates Saint Patrick and the Catholic church. 

The original people of Ireland had reached such a high level of harmony between themselves and nature, that they were truly enlightened beings. When the people who currently live in Ireland came to take over the land by force, the original inhabitants were in such a completely different place consciously and spiritually that it’s said that when they saw the conquerors coming, they simply turned sideways into the light and chose to live in a different realm. 

Patrick McCormack

It’s said that those original people still inhabit the land but make up the mythical and mystical landscape of Ireland in the form of elementals, spirits, leprechaun, and the like. I can tell you with a straight face that having been there it’s very easy to sense these beings in that landscape.

I’m not alone. When we were in Ireland, we were also treated to a beautiful walk around the Burren with farmer, rancher, and environmental activist Patrick McCormack (check out this beautiful documentary about him). Patrick is a very practical man who has a beautiful and profound relationship with the land. He also told us frankly that the spirits and elementals of that area have rules that must be followed if you want your work on the land to go well. He explained that even the farmers and ranchers who don’t believe in these spirits still abide by these spirits’ rules … you know, just in case. 

I’ve since learned a little more about Saint Patrick, that when he was preaching at what’s now Saint Patrick’s well and admonishing the non-Christians to join his johnny-come-lately church—we are talking 433 CE. Well the non-christians weren’t having it and started throwing rocks at Saint Patrick. Having been there, I can attest to the preponderance of hand-sized stones in the area and it's clear that they would make effective and easy ammunition. Well, it’s said that Saint Patrick threw his staff down on the ground and it turned into many serpents who drove all the non-believers away and that’s how christianity came to stay in Ireland.

Then, David Whyte told us another story about when christianity was more established in Ireland. St. Kevin, a hermit and founder of Glendalough monastery was known for his deep connection to nature and animals. It’s said that one day he was praying with his hands outstretched, supplicating the divine, and a blackbird came and rested there. So St. Kevin prayed longer to allow this bird a little rest. Well, the blackbird felt so comfortable there that she nested and laid an egg there. Kevin then remained in that position until the fledgling was raised and both birds flew away. 

So now knowing more about the history and intersection of saints, sinners, and leprechauns, here’s David Whyte’s poem, Tobar Phádraig. Listen to how David Whyte masterfully intersects all of these intersecting elements: past, present, and future, christian and pre-christian traditions, inner and outer landscape, body and spirit, as well as the author and reader. Plus I hope that you’ll understand the references a bit better after the stories he shared.

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Tobar Phádraig

By David Whyte

Turn sideways into the light as they say

the old ones did and disappear

into the originality of it all.

Be impatient with easy explanations

and teach, that part of the mind

that wants to know everything,

not to begin questions it cannot answer.

Walk the green road above the bay

and the low glinting fields

toward the evening sun, let that Atlantic

gleam be ahead of you and the gray light

of the bay below you, until you catch,

down on your left, the break in the wall,

for just above in the shadows

you’ll find it hidden, a curved arm

of rock holding the water close to the mountain,

a just-lit surface smoothing a scattering of coins,

and in the niche above, notes to the dead

and supplications for those who still live.

But for now, you are alone with the transfiguration

and ask no healing for your own

but look down as if looking through time,

as if through a rent veil from the other

side of the question you’ve refused to ask.

And you remember now, that clear stream

of generosity from which you drank,

how as a child your arms could rise and your palms

turn out to take the blessing of the world.

The Alchemy of Presence

I recently returned from a personal pilgrimage to Colombia. Having visited this retreat 6 years previous, an experience that afforded me with both the most difficult and the spiritual experiences of my life up to that point, I returned because I felt called to. I craved the further light, spirit, and wisdom that this sacred healer facilitates so ably. 

In short, I craved a solid dose of the divine. I went into this recent pilgrimage with some trepidation because I know that often such encounters are as much of a violation as they are revelation, that just like Richard Hearns’ paintings suggest, there’s a journey through the darkness to arrive at the greater light. 

Even though I prayed to be spared from the darkness—hoping that I had somehow paid that price at the previous retreat six years ago and that this one could be all rainbows—the darkness came nonetheless. Something needed to be born from within me and it was not gentle. Nonetheless, as anyone who has experienced giving birth in any form may attest, this kind of genesis is the pilgrim’s journey—the pain leading to the beauty or the light.

Many things came through me during the ceremonies in Colombia but one of my deepest insights was about the alchemy of presence. Past and future, myself and other—all merged into my being at this moment. I felt as if I was humanity giving birth to itself, healing itself, and strengthening itself. It was one of the most spiritual, affirming, and beautiful experiences I may ever have in my life, an experience that opened my eyes more fully to the Oneness that exists in all of us. 

Like I mentioned previously, it dawned on me that there’s a sacredness to the pilgrim’s hunger and searching for something over the next horizon but that eventually there will come a time along the pilgrim’s journey when the pilgrim arrives “at the ground at their feet and learns to be at home.” I believe that this often, this kind of arrival happens when we encounter intersecting lines, the paradox of vertical and horizontal, physical and spiritual, you and me, or frankly any other apparent opposite. 

It happens when we realize that this very moment—even as you read these words—is the moment you’ve been waiting for. 

This is it. You’ve arrived. 

Invitation

I invite you to join me for a pilgrimage on my next yoga retreat to the French Riviera, June 7–13, 2025 where we will explore that intersection of humanness and beingness, of ocean and land, spirit and culture.

I only have a few spots left so please jump on this today.

You’ll love:

• Daily all-levels yoga and meditation by the ocean

• World class beaches

• Immersing yourself into the culture of Nice and Monaco

• Wine tasting and food tours

• Chill days at the beach

• Amazing new friends

• Beautiful personal discovery

Follow the rainbow over to my website and register today to save $200 with this one day only discount code: POTOGOLD. No tricks from leprechauns but the deal goes away tomorrow.

May we all, for the love of saints and sinners alike, “turn sideways into the light” and “turn our palms out and take the blessings of the world.”

You are a blessing in my world. 

Namaste,

PS In the spirit of Saint Patrick’s Day, below are links to two different Irish musical groups, both of whom I’ve had the pleasure of encountering while in Ireland. Enjoy!