Moms, Mats and Manuscripts
Moms, Mats and Manuscripts is a podcast hosted by Ivna, a PhD student in biomedicine, a yoga teacher and a mom, and Ksenia a former molecular biologist, a yoga teacher for scientists and a mom, too. This is a space to talk about all things academia, motherhood and yoga with humour and vulnerability.
We chat about mental health in academia, mindful productivity, and surviving and enjoying early motherhood while bringing yoga wisdom into our lives, share our stories and offer tips on navigating life's chaotic adventures.
Moms, Mats and Manuscripts
S3E5 - Building a business and raising a toddler
This solo story gets personal: Ivna interviews Ksenia about the behind-the-scenes chaos (and beauty) of trying to build a meaningful, sustainable yoga business while raising a toddler full-time.
We cover what it's like to feel like you're falling behind - and also exactly where you're supposed to be. Plus, we end with a tangent on Zumba, mindful movement, why yoga is the perfect antidote to academic stress, and how it supports scientists beyond just stretching.
Listen if you're:
→ A scientist or academic feeling burnt out
→ A parent trying to stay true to yourself
→ Curious about yoga’s real-world impact on stress and productivity
🎧 Tune in for messy truths, honest laughs, and some serious real-talk on juggling roles and reclaiming purpose.
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📆 Ksenia's next free online Co-working + Yoga session: Friday, June 27, at 2 pm CEST
📩 Sign up here: https://shantiscienceyoga.lpages.co/co-working-yoga/
Don't forget to like, follow, and share our podcast! We'd love to hear your thoughts and questions, and if you have ideas for future episodes, drop us a line.
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Reach out: moms.mats.manuscripts@gmail.com
Hi, we're Ksenia and Ivna, and this is Moms, Maths and Manuscripts,
SPEAKER_00:a podcast where honest conversations flow freely.
SPEAKER_01:We talk about yoga, motherhood, science, and all the messy moments in between that shape us.
SPEAKER_00:So grab a cup of your favorite drink, settle in, and join us for today's episode. Good morning. Hi, and
SPEAKER_01:welcome to
SPEAKER_00:this next episode. It's morning at our time, but good day, good evening, whenever you listen to this one.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, so Saturday morning after a difficult night, but when is it ever easy and smooth for us?
SPEAKER_00:I guess it's a good situation to introduce today's topic, which is about Xenia today. I have the opportunity to ask you some questions. I realized we haven't talked about this one much, so this will also satisfy my curiosity and maybe inspire some people, maybe show them the seasonality in life, in work. But Ksenia, you are especially interesting to me. You have a business that can really support you in a way it can be adaptable to to whatever is happening in life which I guess in some points it's good in some it's not because nothing really forces you to show up every day for eight hours right so I would be really curious to know the background and you're so you're a Yoga teacher, you're also a coach, mindfulness coach for scientists. And this really requires you to be present for your clients, maybe even without you feeling the best at the moment. So what would be your tips and tricks to showing up, to showing up mindful, to showing up with the capacity to support your people when... when you are having a toddler, a high energy toddler who needs to be taken care of because you're also spending time raising him, being there for him. So those are two difficult jobs, I would say. Finding a balance, if there is a balance, finding the way this works and the fluidity within everyday life. So it's been a lot of thoughts a lot of concepts but let's start with a simple question so how do you show up for for your work in the let's say average day if your life if we can find an average day what would be an average day let's say your son sleeps um okayish um then i guess you have maybe some time when he naps. So what is your organization? How would your days look like?
SPEAKER_01:That's a good question, but I can tell you that there is no average day for sure because everything is just so different from one day to the other. If my son was maybe somebody with a more regular temperament, that he would have a more kind of precise schedule. Maybe it would have been easier, but he is not. So I have to just kind of find stolen moments here and there where I can work five minutes here, 10 minutes there, maybe an hour if I'm lucky during his nap time. Maybe if I'm very lucky, he goes to bed at a normal, like humanly hour and not at midnight. And then I can work a little bit maybe in the evening. So that's for more like maybe... Bigger picture work, planning, writing emails, this kind of stuff. But then I have my hours where I'm working with private clients, which is protected and secure. This is usually when my husband takes over and I have a few hours a week where I'm working with people. I... just had to be very ruthless and keep only very few clients for now because I don't have that many hours that I can afford at this point, unfortunately. And then with the limited time that I have when he is napping or when he's sleeping or when he's distracted, which is not very common, I am also learning still, but I do think that I have gotten better at it and I'm getting more and more efficient and more and more productive. So whatever, like five minutes I have, I'm not going to spend them thinking, what am I going to do? Or what do I need to do? Oh my God, my calendar, my emails, everything is just pulling my attention in different directions. Now I'm just going to do something like I'm going to do one thing. And it's very liberating as compared to how I was showing up before having a child in pregnancy or even before then, which was a little bit scattered and a little bit like, hey, let's spend half an hour just scrolling through my emails. No, I don't have that time anymore. So it's making things easier in one way and more complicated in another. So I... I'm probably not answering your question, but yeah, I don't have really an average day and an average workflow. It's very flexible. And it is good because, yeah, I can fit a little bit of work here and like in the cracks between other activities. But at the same time, it does make me feel like when you suggested this topic, I thought... Shit, I don't really feel like I'm doing that good of a job in neither motherhood nor business at this point because I'm so torn between them. And I'm very conflicted from time to time on what is taking priority. And I kind of want to show up more in my work, but at the same time, my child is so little and he's only going to be so little just now. And I will never get this time back if I kind of quote unquote lose it. So yeah, I'm trying to tell myself that it is a season and I will get my my work hours back eventually and actually like he is going to kindergarten in a few months so at least a few hours a day at some point I'm going to have them and I'm going to make use of them but at this point it is what it is and it's just little stolen bits of work and we are trying to make it work like that
SPEAKER_00:yeah I think at this point the average day typical day and the routines are not something that you can really stick to especially you also need a rest sometimes if you let's say decide to work in the morning or evenings you really see you are not feeling like it it's like you know then tomorrow I'll be even more tired so you just don't want to risk those precious energy because you need to be present for your son
SPEAKER_01:exactly I think it's just in terms of work it's like bare necessity like bare minimum right now
SPEAKER_02:yeah
SPEAKER_01:And I'm covering that with the time that I have, but the relationship, the connection, the presence with my son takes priority. So I know that, yeah, I need to be rested. I need to have little bits of self-care thrown in there as well. I need to kind of make sure that I am comfortable to some extent, to the extent that is possible right now. And then everything else is secondary.
SPEAKER_00:That actually answered the question. As you reduce the number of clients, you are making sure that you are showing up for them with enough capacity to support them as well. Because I think we all know it's difficult to support others when you're not filling your own cup. And as you mentioned, it's the season.
SPEAKER_01:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00:It's a very short season in the whole picture of life. Yeah. But it's nice to see how your work, your passion projects are always with you. You think about them basically every day. They're not going anywhere. They're just marinating somewhere in your head. And it sounds to me like you're patiently waiting for some times that you know will come to... dedicate the time they require but as well having this mother superpower to solve the work in five minutes is something also like a nice skill to develop during those situations
SPEAKER_01:absolutely I think it is it is a superpower I'm very excited like I was very excited when I realized that actually I can do much more with the time that I have than before and there is obviously like we're all human so there is still going to be overthinking there is still going to be some anxiety or perfectionism or procrastination based on all this like emotions that you might be feeling about yourself or your work and the intersection of the two so i am still going to waste time from time to time but on average i am just so much more efficient and so much more like okay i'm just going to do it yeah let's just do this and there is much less um desire to prove something to somebody or to be seen a certain way it's much more about kind of like what I want to do what I want to talk about what I think is important to to for other people to hear and it's yeah it's less pretending and presenting a certain way so it does help to to To work more efficiently and to do more with the time, with the limited
SPEAKER_00:time. That's definitely one of the things that I also see in myself that changed before and after having a kid. Are there some more things that you notice being different now in comparison to you and your approach to your business before? Mm-hmm. Having a son. And maybe also the transition where you were pregnant. So there would be, let's say, three phases. One was from the point of discontinuing your PhD to starting a business, working on it then, then being pregnant and also working on your business, and then now having a toddler and working on your business. So how it changed, how it adapted during those three phases of your life?
SPEAKER_01:I wonder if this was just a natural evolution as the time passed or maybe probably the motherhood journey also affected it. But definitely I noticed like three very clear phases. Like the first one before pregnancy, before knowing that I was pregnant, I was... much more scattered and everything was interesting and my attention was everywhere and I want to do this and I want to do that and I want to do everything and I was thinking also that I need to do like a multitude of trainings and teach this yoga and that yoga and you know which was possible, I guess, at the time because I had all the time for that. But then in pregnancy, I started feeling a little bit... I was in limbo. I was kind of going through, I guess, mentally going through this refinement process and cutting things out that were no longer interesting, no longer serving, no longer possible also with the time. But I felt almost like I don't want to start anything anymore. So I'm just kind of going to ride it out. I don't want to start anything new. I don't really want to plan much because I don't know how things are going to be with a child. So I'm just going to... I was doing a teacher training at the time and I was just doing that. I was just continuing to serve the few private clients that I had. And that was it. So it was, again, very, very bare. I wasn't really planning or thinking about anything else. I was kind of, okay, let's pause. hibernate, focus on growing a baby and then see how things change once the baby is out. And then now that he's almost two years and well, after he was born, I took some time off completely. And then I... could still do a little bit of work in the background while he was very little while he was like sleeping on me contact napping on me in a sling or in a carrier all the time so I could take this also little bits 45 minutes here an hour and a half there where I could work on my website or maybe yeah do some kind of more planning and thinking and I think I became even more kind of narrowed in my path and now I only want to do things that truly light me up. Like I don't want to do this and that and the other. I just want to really truly focus on what sets my soul on fire and what is exciting me. And that also means that not all of my clients might be aligned in the future. And I did start to feel that and I did start to feel a little bit like okay you know what I don't want to do this class anymore or this teach this person anymore because well this is no longer fitting and as sad as it makes me I think at the same time it also is a good sign that I'm becoming clearer on what I need to do and what I want to do, who I want to serve with my work. And eventually I will have to, we'll have to let each other go. And yeah, I think I'm becoming much more focused and both in terms of like actual work and ability to focus on a task at hand and also in, in just general ideas and plans and goals and whatever. Yeah. what I want to do.
SPEAKER_00:That's nice. It also sounds like you matured in the business in a way. This is exactly what I want to do. And this is exactly what I don't want to do. It's the same phenomenon that happens, you know, with friends after having a baby. You have a limited time and you only want to hang with those who make you feel good, who inspire you, who understand you. And for some of them, unfortunately, at this point of life, There's not much space left. So it's nice to see that the same pattern happens in the business and that the sharp focus is here. So you got me intrigued with the things that light your heart on fire. What are the current offers, the current projects, mini projects within the business that are most exciting for you? if you can unravel some of them. And where do you see it going in the next month? And what makes you super excited? Where would you like to spend your time when your son starts kindergarten? So I think there
SPEAKER_01:are two things, two parts. And I'm still figuring out how to kind of marry the two and how to bring them together in a neat way. But I think this is another thing that changed after becoming a mom is that I really want to serve also moms, either moms-to-be or new moms. And I do want to work. I am working already a little bit teaching prenatal yoga, but I do want to work with moms a bit more eventually. Yeah, but I still am very excited and very passionate about specifically yoga for scientists, because I think that there is an untapped potential and people would benefit from it, but both in academic contexts and maybe in context of companies, even though the quality of life is a little bit different between the two, but people are still stressed working in industry or for example in startups that's kind of in between academic environment and industry environment. So I think that there is also a lot of stress and a lot of burnout and kind of hustle culture and these things that we can kind of try to address with a little bit of yoga and coaching. And I am excited for it and I want to continue to develop that and bring more out there to people so I'm currently working on just setting myself up for September when my son starts kindergarten and I can start offering more things be it one-on-one coaching, one-on-one programs or more maybe a group setting and definitely there is going to be stuff throughout the summer as well but summer is always a kind of a quieter month everybody wants to be out and about and kind of live life which is amazing and
SPEAKER_00:yeah then kind of mindfulness happens you know as a naturally naturally as a byproduct of a good life that we live during the summer months
SPEAKER_01:exactly exactly so I think summer is just going to be kind of setting the stage and preparing and then in September maybe early October I'm going to waiting for the September
SPEAKER_00:scaries to start exactly
SPEAKER_01:back to school
SPEAKER_00:scaries and all that back to school more stress more business for yeah
SPEAKER_01:in a way no but I think it is it's aligning for me and probably will align for a lot of people that are going to come back from maybe some summer holidays and feel like oh shit now I have to kind of put my head down and continue working and I don't want to and this is where I can help and There are things in the work. I think I'll talk more about them when they're a bit more developed because honestly, this is one part that is very frustrating for me. I keep doing things and then they kind of sit here and gather dust because I never have time to finish them. So I don't really want to start talking about them and then never have time to fulfill my promises because this happened recently with a... product that i was trying to to develop and i was kind of starting to advertise it and then i just i realized that there were some technical difficulties that i didn't have time to solve in time and i was like okay now i have to and i kind of abandoned it for a couple of months and it's still you know staring at me out of my google drive and making me feel very guilty So yeah, this is a frustrating aspect of trying to grow a business and grow a child at the same time is that sometimes things kind of unpredictably fall apart and you then might find it very difficult to find the time to go back and fix or redo. Yeah, it's not easy. But at the same time, it was a question of priorities. And for us, the... the more important part was that he is at home for the first couple of years. And this is what we are doing. And I know that this is what I wanted. This is what my husband wanted. This is what we think will be good for him, for our son. So I set my own ambitions for the time being aside to focus on him. And we'll see how that goes then from September onwards.
SPEAKER_00:Sounds good. Sounds good. And what was the other part? You mentioned the one part being more focused on the... The
SPEAKER_01:moms.
SPEAKER_00:So one is moms, supporting moms, supporting pregnant women. And another one is supporting people working in business. And also... intersection between those two because there are also some moms working in
SPEAKER_01:science I think this is actually something that I am also thinking about and kind of getting excited about is moms in academia or moms in science because I feel like I mean you probably are more of an outlier that you knew how you wanted to plan your first pregnancy and have a child But I feel like a lot of moms that have children within academic spaces are faced with a lot of fears and a lot of uncertainty about how the reaction is going to be and how their career is going to progress. Are they going to stall and be really behind in some way? And this is maybe an intersection also that I would like to explore. And I would like to work with fears and anxieties around that in the future. Let's
SPEAKER_00:see. That sounds good. I think sometimes this can be a vulnerable group. Some of them decide to even wait until getting professorship to start a family. And this... This can be quite late. And then if you decide to do it early during a PhD, maybe many people won't think it's a good idea. So there's a lot of pressure from the outside.
SPEAKER_01:And
SPEAKER_00:this will definitely be a group that will benefit from approach where you understand both heavy demand work culture and... If someone wants to be really dedicated mother and how to handle both of this, definitely seeking support is a must here, I would say. Just in order to keep your mind sane and to learn how to handle both really heavy things. heavy things at some point this sounds like a good plan for you so I'm also excited for you to see how it will develop and I mean during this podcast we always kind of catch up and see in which direction our lives are going
SPEAKER_02:but
SPEAKER_00:what is like your final vision what motivates you what is motivation behind everything let's now talk about you know being visionary in ideal world where how your ideal world looks like in a way what kind of world you want to achieve wow that's a very big one so your let's say we have a client working on startup let's say just finished a PhD started working for a super duper young startup, also promising startup. And this client wants to have a mindful life, well rested life. How would you approach? How would you approach? It's such a complex situation. So let's say this client is a little bit like still burned out from defending the PhD, but at the same time, really curious, really wants to step into the world of yoga, a world of meditation, a world of mindfulness. So what are the techniques that you would combine?
SPEAKER_01:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00:And how often would you want to meet with those clients? How often do you think you should meet with them to see the difference? When would you expect the difference? Of course, this is pretty unique for a person, but what would your ideal client look like that you would be like happy? Oh yeah, now you're mindful. Now you can go back to your hustle work and I will be like sure that you're handling it well. How long would this whole collaboration last?
SPEAKER_01:I think this is so individual and this very much depends on kind of the stage of burnout and
SPEAKER_00:the level of issues that the person will have. I guess the first step would be to identify how heavy you are into your burnout, how heavy the damage from the PhD is, like let's say a damage identification.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, yes, yes. So I think the first thing would be like, the thinking patterns and the behaviors, how deep do they go? And if this is something that, you know, the person is even aware that they are doing damaging things to themselves, kind of in their minds and with their habits, or if this is something that we need to kind of unpack further, so that will also probably take some time if it needs a lot of unpacking and a lot of raising the awareness that will require a bit of time, I would say.
SPEAKER_00:And... I think that's a point heavy in brainstorming, heavy in thinking, heavy in noticing, in journaling maybe if they like to do it. So really digging what kind of patterns, what kind of behaviors are here hidden and what kind of... Damage. I need to use that word.
SPEAKER_01:There is.
SPEAKER_00:That kind of prevents you. Because we are in our own thoughts. We are sometimes. Suffering. Because only of the thoughts. So identifying what are the thoughts. That do not serve. Him or her.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. And identifying also kind of the. The feelings. Behind them. So what is. what it is that you want to feel by thinking or doing certain things like let's say you are working you're working really hard you're working incredible number of hours per week is it because you want to feel smart or you want to feel I don't know appreciated by others like loved in a way by by others because you are doing things and you are kind of going above and beyond so what is the feeling that kind of drives the this process and how can we tap into it without you having to put a hundred hours of work a week or something like that so There is definitely, I think it's a very individual process. It very much depends on the background. It sometimes depends on the cultural background as well, on many different aspects. And I think for me, ideally, my main drive is just to have a world that is more... connected and more compassionate like where people are able to be more vulnerable with each other and kind of share and provide ask for support and provide support and you know I don't I think it's a big task right of course I'm not I'm not thinking only about like okay let's just have Academia where everybody is productive but mindful and just working mindfully and just working their dedicated hours and then going home. No, I want people to learn how to recognize the issues and how to be able to ask for help. Which is... complicated and I think I also struggle with that I know in many instances even like in recent years in motherhood I've struggled with being vulnerable and asking for help so yeah it's a big task but I hope like if I can do you know 1% more compassion or like half percent more compassion in the world and more vulnerability I think I'll be happy
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, this asking for help, being vulnerable is definitely a muscle to train. Sometimes it's difficult to do it. Of course. We need to know all. We have to be the smartest. We have to be independent. That's all the thoughts that we kind of picked it up along the way from who knows who. The environment, the supervisors. Yeah. Yeah, I think it's a good way to, as you said, realize why you are doing this. Is it to prove to yourself that you're smart or something? And if this is the only thing that keeps you in academia, I think it's not the healthiest thing, right? So it's a good idea to really try to see if you're really enjoying this because of who you are. And this is something that will get you really far. yeah
SPEAKER_01:i think this is also doing
SPEAKER_00:your purpose right
SPEAKER_01:where yeah where yoga can come in because and i'm not i'm not talking about only the physical practice right i'm talking about just the general yoga all encompassing where you are becoming more reflective like you're reflecting on your behaviors and everything and you are able to notice certain thoughts coming up again and again, and you're able to stop yourself in your tracks when you're spiraling and all that. So once that is a bit more available to a person to practice, I think there is a level of self-awareness that, yeah, you can answer these questions. Are you truly passionate about, let's say, science or whatever it is? Or are you driven by some other... reasons like fear of disappointing somebody or desire for status or you know whatever it is some some other feelings in the background and is it worth it to follow these feelings by going on this path if this if this is makes you making you miserable or can you try to tap into this desires in some other way so
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, this often happens, like this desire of feeling worthy. You're already worthy. You don't have to have a PhD to be worthy, right? And then I think once realizing that can really change the whole brain chemistry. But I like this approach to figure out what is in the core of your drivers and then use tools such as yoga, sitting on the mat with yourself, with your thoughts, breathing if you notice feeling stress. I think those are great tools to achieve the goal. And especially in science, I think yoga is a good combination because it combines both physical and aspect with the more mental one with even the emotional one if you let it but the physical is also extremely important because we tend to sit a lot right be hunched over yeah
SPEAKER_01:I mean
SPEAKER_00:it's that
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you are helping yourself physically to kind of counterbalance the whatever, you know, weird poses like one-sided with a pipette or with your biologist. But at the same time, also your like stress and anxiety, they are physical, right? They are the molecules that are going through your body and electric impulses. So you can... you cannot always think your way out of this so sometimes you need to move your way out of it or breathe your way out of it so this is where I think yoga is so powerful because as you said it combines both physical and mental and emotional and the self-reflection aspect and it's kind of a well-rounded approach to a lot of things that are happening within our bodies and minds so yeah
SPEAKER_00:yeah And you know, it's efficient. If you don't have much time, you can work out. You have like way of a therapy in the same hour that you get from the class. For me, it was the perfect because I like being efficient. And this one combined all that I want.
UNKNOWN:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00:And I think it's good, especially if you work one-on-one with people, you know what kind of pain they have, you know which region they accumulate stress. And there are so many asanas that are so good for well-being, for tension release, even for strengthening, to clear out the muscles, to let the body, to let the energy flow. And I think, as you know, after this one hour session, It's such a difference. I always like to compare how you feel in the beginning of class versus the end of the class. It's only one hour of your life, but you could tangibly feel the difference across those areas.
SPEAKER_01:And this is what I think love the most about my work is when I see people's faces at the beginning of the class and then at the end of the class, and I can tell that there is a difference. and in the eyes, in the posture. And I'm like, this is so good that I can actually, like delayed gratification is good. And yeah, go for it if that's your thing. But I also love seeing a very tangible result of my work in the moment.
SPEAKER_00:And I think clients also like to see this because if you're working in academia, okay, startups, maybe there's a shorter time between the project and the results. But yeah, you don't often have this instant gratification as maybe with some jobs that are hairdresser, you know, you see before and after within two hours and it's really satisfying or cleaning stuff or mostly like manual work. And I think this is such a healthy type of works when you do something and see the results immediately. Results immediately, yeah. And that's why I really believe that this approach with yoga that offers... Instant, almost instant change. Sometimes even instant if you take 15, 20 seconds to breathe more deeply. It's something that I miss so much in academia because it can go three years without seeing the result. Not more,
SPEAKER_01:yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And it sucks. It sucks. And you need something. You need to bake cookies or you need to do yoga. You need something to feel this immediate change. So... Yeah, it's definitely a good approach. Thank you.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:No, I... Is there something that you would like to share? I think the other project with the mums, I will still leave aside. This will be the whole new episode. That's a big topic. And I think it's still marinating in your head. It is. So I reserve the right to reserve this for some episode in the future. But I will also be excited to see the February, February, not February, September and start of new semester. And hopefully more and more scientists will join such programs and Learn what it means to be productive in a more sustainable way. Yeah, without sacrificing themselves in the process in the end. Because it's the best. It's the best way to be productive and to do your PhD, to do your work in a way that is sustainable long term, in a way that feeds you, that empowers you and not drains you.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And I think it's just about finding the tools to achieve that. And if you're not, you know, for Zumba or for some crazy workouts, for me, yoga was the best tool to do that. And of course, we're all different. For some, it will be, you know, going out clubbing. Not sure, though, if that's sustainable for a long time, but... I will not get into this. Depends which substances are included.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I mean, I also don't necessarily think that these things are sustainable, but to each their own. Maybe I'm just too old for
SPEAKER_00:this shit at this point. I don't know. It's like a... Two girls in 30s talking about how to deal with stress. We are two yoga teachers, so I think it might be skewed a little bit. But I think if something is attracting you towards yoga, you should try it. This attraction is not here without a reason, I think. That's how I got into yoga in the first place. And I think your offerings are exactly what it's all about.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you. I think this is actually something that, I mean, we did touch upon it, but something that I wanted to ask you, why did you decide to try yoga? So you clicked on that video of Yoga with Adrienne.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:why yoga and not some other workout or Zumba since you mentioned Zumba
SPEAKER_00:so I hate like those high energy group I'm an introvert so yoga seemed great you don't have to talk to anyone It's like more of a low-key exercise. I was never good at sports when I was young. I only did like karate and I liked it. So I'm also nice with martial arts, with strength trainings. It has to be something individual for me. I don't like any volleyballs, any handballs. It makes me stressed even more than... Even running I can tolerate, but no ball sports. I was afraid of balls when I was like growing up. So that's already a big selection. And I think I was naturally introspectful. So yoga was nice. And I was also naturally flexible. I was good. And yoga just called me I also like to spend a lot of time constructing my own world in my head. And I think that's why I enjoy meditations a lot. I don't mind being with closed eyes and just thinking or not thinking about anything. I like visualizing stuff. There was also an element of challenge, which I had a lot of flexibility, but not a lot of strength. And it was also an opportunity for growing with the asanas and noticing how easier they get and noticing how I can do a hand balance all of a sudden. So that's basically, right now I combine strength training to be better in yoga and yoga to be better in strength training. So those two are just... Sorry, my dog is having a cozy moment. I think it calls you. Yeah, it naturally calls you. But I did try Zumba and I hated it. I was like, why would someone do this? It's like loud music, many people dancing. I'm not really like coordinated or like didn't like it. And I like this like slower and more intentionate movements. Yeah, my fault. More mindful movements, yeah. I
SPEAKER_01:think it's also, yeah, it's highly individual, but within yoga you can also find a lot of types where you have loud music and fast-paced movement. Yeah, I think
SPEAKER_00:nowadays there's everything, right? Yeah,
SPEAKER_01:yeah, yeah, but yeah, I think maybe this kind of more high-energy active workouts, they also have their place, but um a different also different stages of life or maybe different stages of the month for us like sometimes you kind of or at least i kind of feel cold more towards this this type of energy and i like dancing so um for me zumba was maybe or something similar was maybe some sometimes more approachable and applicable but yoga is something that covers all the bases so in the end yeah i was after after i tried it i realized that this is like this is it for me and
SPEAKER_00:yeah no and it can also be as you said really adaptable yeah it can be yoga nidra it can be something really slow something really peaceful or it can be
SPEAKER_01:Faster and stronger.
SPEAKER_00:Faster, powerful vinyasa or you sweat when you move a lot. So I also like this. But I also know people who don't like yoga and they do not, you know, need it to feel mindful. But we are now talking about the section of people who either want to try it, you know, there's something really that calls them as it called me 10 years ago or if someone really... enjoys yoga right now but would like to expand it more there there is a there is community big big big community i
SPEAKER_01:think for a lot of people who say that they don't like it or they don't want to try it there's so many there's just so many misconceptions about it as well and um yeah so many um people still thinking that you have to be flexible or you have to be X, Y, and Z to even give it a try, which in reality, I think yoga is, can be so, yeah, as you said, adaptable and meet you exactly where you are and be exactly kind of the way you need it to be for it to work. So, yeah, but this is, it requires a little bit of digging into it and looking into it. And I think this is where maybe private classes can be helpful because you can really try to find something that works exactly for you. But of course, yeah, I mean, there's also, yeah, there's a lot of ways to explore it and a lot of, different approaches, different styles that can, I think, work for different people. So,
SPEAKER_00:yeah. And you live with muscle fever, like after the workout that's... Poorness is guaranteed after the first class of yoga.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. And bottom line, yoga is
SPEAKER_00:amazing. So,
SPEAKER_01:no, I think this was shocking. Like you barely, I don't know, you were very... moving very slowly you barely do anything I barely sweated the first couple of classes and then the next morning I was like wait a second I have I've never I've never felt this muscles in my body before I have muscles there yeah wow exactly
SPEAKER_00:yeah the same thing happened to me the same
SPEAKER_01:okay everybody should try it at least
SPEAKER_00:once give it a try yeah okay I think I my curiosity got satisfied if i missed something you wanted to share there's um opportunity to do it now
SPEAKER_01:okay so um i'm not sure where when we are going to publish this but i'm just going to say it and then if not we can cut it out um i am going to host a yoga and co-working i think maybe regularly-ish throughout the summer. It's going to be a free event, most likely on Friday afternoons when we are all in need of a bit of pick me up and a bit more focus to kind of finish the week feeling satisfied. so how it
SPEAKER_00:works the week next week you will be grateful that you did this on Friday
SPEAKER_01:afternoon exactly exactly so it's a way to kind of round out your week maybe you set yourself up for Monday so that on Monday you're not feeling like oh my god I need to start my my day and my week with 15 coffees already
SPEAKER_00:nice lovely okay
SPEAKER_01:so how it works is that it's going to be two and a half three-ish hours of your time online so you can just kind of Join the Zoom meeting from your lab, from your office, from wherever you are. And we will work in bursts of 45 minutes and then spend 15 minutes on regulated breaks where you can go to the bathroom, you can grab some water, you can move. We are going to move a little bit so that we counterbalance also the sitting and hunching over the laptops. And this is yoga where it comes in. And this is good for people who need to get something done who need to get a little bit help a little bit of help with focus and feeling organized and also for those who tend to get so hyper focused on something that they forget to actually get up and get the blood flowing get the energy moving because sometimes it does happen that we just kind of sit and we don't even notice how the focus is going down but we're trying to sit sit sit sit sit sit and finish the work but it's counterintuitively it can be counterproductive so this is why I think this kind of practices where you work in bursts and then you rest in short bursts is really really helpful for mindful productivity the next one will be at the end of the month I don't remember the date I think it's 27th of June but let me check yeah it's Friday 27th of June so I'm going to put the links and everything in
SPEAKER_00:the description nice nice Sounds wonderful. Okay. Then thank you for answering some of my questions that I had. Thank you for asking. It was a lovely conversation.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And I think with this, we will wrap up today's episode.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Thank you so much for tuning in, for listening. And we'll see you here soon.
SPEAKER_00:See you. Enjoy.
