Last weekend I traveled to the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area to teach yoga to the awesome yogis at Ethos Fitness and Studio B Power Yoga. This was my fourth trip to central Pennsylvania in the last three years!
After smooching this one goodbye on Friday morning, I hopped on a flight and arrived in PA around 1p.
I had a few hours to kill before my first class so I had a late lunch at Panera and finalized some handouts for a lecture that I was giving the next day. Panera is always a go-to for me when I’m traveling for work and don’t know the area well. The Panera was in a shopping center with a Giant grocery store and I popped in to grab some things for the weekend. Holy cow. It was THE most Giant grocery store that I have ever been in! There was a Starucks, Panda Express and dry cleaner in the grocery store…and there was child watch. It was like the Ikea of grocery stores, haha.
After getting settled at my hotel, I drove over to Carlisle to teach a master class at Ethos Fitness. It was my second time visiting Ethos and I had the strongest and most lovely group of women for my class. It was truly an honor to guide them through practice and they inspired me so much with their focus and commitment.
I couldn’t resist snapping a photo of this poster that was hanging in the bathroom at the studio. I saw it after class and the message so complimented what was on my heart to share in class that evening.
I didn’t leave the studio until about 8:15p. It was dark and rainy, and I was pretty wiped out. My hotel was in a bit of a weird area in that there weren’t a lot of food options close by so I just grabbed a frozen dinner and some chips at the grocery store. Totally got the job done. I like staying in hotels with microwaves and mini fridges.
I was up early on Saturday to prep for the day’s classes and workshops but managed to squeeze in a super quick treadmill sprint workout before showering and heading to teach. It was the only workout I got in between Friday-Sunday and felt good to move.
I drove to Hershey to spend the day at Studio B Power Yoga’s Yoga On Chocolate location. I absolutely love the energy and vibe at this studio. I taught a sold-out master class, followed by a twisting and binding workshop.
I’ve just started offering this workshop and it was only my second time teaching it. It’s been a fun challenge for me to design a new workshop and so far I am receiving great feedback from students. We start by exploring the four different movements of the spine and then I take them through a gentle twisting practice that includes breath coaching and exploration. Next, we go through a sequence to open the shoulders and cover how to safely practice binds in all sorts of various postures.
We took a lunch break after the workshop and I grabbed a poke bowl at Freshido. It had white rice, salmon, mango, mushrooms, cucumbers, seaweed salad, edamame, cilantro, carrots and some dressing/vinaigrette and was so delicious. I love a good rice bowl, and also love it when these types of places let you choose unlimited toppings.
Back at the studio, I spent a couple of hours with Studio B’s 200-hour yoga teacher trainees giving a lecture on Yoga Magic and how to create classroom experiences that are powerful, connected and engaging and that create studio and teacher loyalty and retention. It’s one of my favorite lectures to give!
No trip to Hershey is complete without a stop by Hershey’s Chocolate World! I made a quick stop in to stock up on my favorite candy and to get Finn a sweet little Reese’s shirt. Honest to god, the chocolate really does taste so much fresher and even more delicious when you buy it at Chocolate World.
I stayed in Hershey to meet Brittany, the owner of Studio B, and her husband for dinner before driving back to my hotel. We had such a great conversation about the yoga industry and the direction that we’d like to take our careers. It’s so nice to have someone that you can talk openly and honestly with and brainstorm/problem solve with and Brittany and I definitely offer that to each other. I’m excited to see how we can continue to grow and collaborate in the future. Be sure to check out her podcast!
Breaking news: I have had so many people ask me about a 2020 retreat so Brittany and I are trying to plan something for late October/early November. We hope to have details out ASAP.
Sunday morning brought my first visit to Studio B’s new location in Mechanicsburg! I taught a master class first.
I enjoyed my first ever potato donut during the break after class. The Pennsylvania Farm Show was taking place while I was there and everyone was going on and on about the amazing food options, and how my life wouldn’t be complete without a potato donut. One of the Studio B teacher trainees (who also went on the retreat with us last year) was kind enough to bring a bunch of potato donuts for us all after she went to the Farm Show on Saturday night. Verdict = yum.
My last workshop as yoga for runners and I was shocked by how many people signed up it! Apparently, there is a strong running community in the area and they were all about learning how yoga could benefit their running. It was great. We covered the difference between dynamic and static stretching and I took them through a practice for each. We also talked about core strength and glute activation, as well as the importance of rest/recovery/cross-training as runners.
After the workshop I said goodbye to this great group of yogis! It was such a treat to work with the Studio B Power Yoga teacher trainees. Brittany and I are so aligned on so many things and it makes partnering and co-teaching really fun and enjoyable.
And I just have to mention that I had some time before I needed to get to the airport for my flight so I had my first ever Wegmans experience for lunch last Sunday. There is a Wegmans across the street from the new Studio B location and after years of hearing about how legendary Wegmans is, I had to check it out for myself! While my choice of a salad bar lunch wasn’t super exciting from a culinary standpoint, it was what I was craving and it was nice just to wander around the store.
Me and my candy arrived back in Charlotte safe and sound around 9p. I had the most relaxing flight home. The plane wasn’t full so I got a whole row to myself and it was one of those flawless travel days where everything feels so easy and flows. It was nice just to read my book and relax. I picked up Nine Perfect Strangers in the airport on my way to Pennsylvania and I am loving it.
While these weekends are pretty intense and wear me out, they also bring me immeasurable amounts of gratitude and inspiration. While I always feel so lucky to have Charlotte as my home base, it fills my cup up so much to travel teach.
I am currently booked through the summer and in early 2021 but I have a few weekends available in fall of 2020 if anyone out there is interested in having me come to your studio to teach classes, workshops or trainings. Send me an email if you’d like to connect or connect me with your studio owner. 🙂 <3
Thank you guys for always being so supportive of my career. I count my blessings every day for the work that I get to do.
That first picture of one of your classes – genuinely curious how you teach to a room that is THAT crammed full??? I really hate when rooms are that packed – with only a few inches between me and another person. I understand studios are a business, but I often feel like I can’t fully get myself into certain expressions of poses, am always worried about hitting another person or having to be aware of others when I like to use yoga to really feel and be into my own body….
Also, I don’t like that the instructor can’t move around and provide hands-on adjustments, as needed.
As an experienced instructor, how do you feel about crammed full rooms? As someone who is also a student of yoga, how do feel about practicing in a room like that? Curious about your mentality…
you 100% echo my exact thoughts on that photo !!!!! i actually almost left a Saturday AM class that was overly full (January ??) because it is so hard for me to practice in such a big crowd like that where i cant extend my arms or do any twisting or (and maybe this is TMI) but being that close to other sweating unshowered peeps in 90+ degrees…..lets just say…is sometimes very unpleasant.
I didnt leave (it was just to late and i was in the middle of the room) and it was very hard to concentrate and several moves needed modified or were not doable (side scissors, headstand, etc). i was thinking same as you….i know its a business…..but for me i will not be returning to that class at least not in the next 3 months or so until possibly the NY resolutions where off.
i am about half way through 9 perfect strangers and really love it. im listening in the car and i love the voice of the reader and the slight australian twang. im very curious where it will end up.
First, can you please teach that binding workshop in Charlotte? And second, I have tried that meant dark chocolate Kitcat and it is good!
congrats on the master class and successful runners workshop – and to your already planned success this year! happy for you. 🙂
Yay!! I’m from Harrisburg. Next time I see you posting about coming to the area, I’ll have to give you some suggestions on restaurants, etc. 🙂
YES please!