SPEAKER_01 0:00

Everyone has a story, a moment, a lesson, or a piece of their life most people may never hear. Hi, I'm Callie Zamzo, and this is Nobody Knows. Welcome to Nobody Knows. I'm your host, Callie Zamzo. And today we are joined with Jen Crawford. And she is the, well, you're the founder. We'll start with that, right? And also owner of Zen Riot, which is a yoga studio. It is. It's a yoga and wellness space here in Boise. Awesome. And then she's also a board member for Upward Inertia. And we're going to talk about both of those things. I um I wanted to just jump right in with this because there's so much about what you do that I'm curious about. And I'm excited to learn a little bit more about and to share with our audience. So I guess to start, uh, if you're willing, kind of just give us a little history of you. Of me. Of me. Yes. Yeah. Like just, you know, kind of like what the the sort of the path that led you to where you are now.

SPEAKER_00 0:59

Yeah. Well, I w I went into, you know, life as wanting a big career and being an important person. Don't we all, right? I moved to New York City when I was 24, 24, um, thinking I was gonna go into fashion. Because if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. You can um so I actually did get a job in fashion, which was pretty crazy because I had no experience. I just talked my way into it somehow. And um so I worked in kind of retail uh buying world for a little bit, and I started to get really tired and burnt out, and um, you know, New York's crazy, so you're always up and you eat at weird times. And I was walking home one day and I walked by a yoga studio, and I was like, I think I need to try that because the only other yoga I had done is um, you know, with my best friend's mom when I was a teenager, she's a hippie, and I just thought that's what it wasn't about. But I saw people practicing and I was like, I think I need some movement, get out of my office. And so I went to a yoga class, and it was like I I at the end I was calm and my mind wasn't thinking about work or you know, my bank account, which if you live in New York, it's always thinking about the bank account. And um, I said, Yeah, I think this is for me. And so I continued my practice in New York and I eventually moved to Los Angeles, uh, continue my practice there, and um eventually got into teaching. I took a teacher training there and it kind of exploded my life. And I was like, what am I doing? It's one of those things. You always say, once you we always say in teacher training, if you do this, it's gonna blow up everything, which totally happens because then you start to question everything and what am I doing, and why is this important, and how do I actually feel about this? And so um I came to Boise in 2012 and worked at a bunch of studios around town and then moved to the bench, uh, which is kind of this uh sweet little area south of downtown, and was like, you know, I think there's no little studios up here. I'm gonna open one. And that's kind of how we began. We opened this tiny little studio with like you could fit eight people in there, and all the floors creaked, and that's how we started. Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Um, I've got to go backwards. I only because, and their listeners know this, that but that my my kid is in New York right now. Um and so it's second year living there, and um, and it is it's been a very interesting thing to watch because New York called to her. Like she I she knew at pretty young age that she needed to be there. Did you have that same?

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Yeah, I always wanted to go to New York because I thought I'd never been before. I thought I was like, hey, it sounded really interesting, especially in your 20s. Yes. Oh, I just want to go and you know, wear nice clothes that you can't really ever afford. Um, but I actually ended up living with a roommate who um sold clothes on eBay for her her like elite uh you know, woman that she worked for. And so we would wear all of them before she sold them. That's pretty cool. Yeah, yeah. So we'd like be walking around town, our little dolce and gabbana dresses that there's no way we could have afforded, and then they would go off to a new home. That's incredible. Yeah, it's really it's just a place that's like magnetic, I think. Yeah. Until, you know, until it's not. Yeah. Until you're so tired that you're like, I want to move to, you know, an island by myself. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

Yeah. I and my husband also lived there for a period of time. I I feel like I I missed that. I feel like so now every time we go, I'm like, oh, I may need to spend some time here. Like I just, yeah, it's a it's a fascinating place for me. I'm sorry to digress a little bit, but I just I find it very interesting. Yeah. Um, so so you so you have you you you find yourself back in in, well not back in Boise, but you find yourself in Boise. And and um what in that process, and I've met quite a few people who have talked about the rabbit hole that you were talking about, there there's a transformation that takes place where where it's not because I think a lot of times uh people will go to yoga like it's an exercise class. Right. At what point did you recognize that it was much more than an exercise class?

SPEAKER_00 5:45

Yeah, I think I was having a really hard time at work. And I, you know, the end of class, you you I mean, and I was taking hot yoga most of the time. So that is an exercise, and it's definitely a physical practice. Um, I had a teacher though that was really, really good at tapping into, you know, asking these more emotional-based questions. And I remember at the end of practice, she asked a question that I don't even remember what the question was, but I just cried for, you know, like five minutes. Um, and you're all laying down, so nobody's seeing you. And it wasn't a, there was no sound coming out of my mouth. It was just tears running down my face. And I remember thinking that this is this isn't just a workout. This is something that goes deeper than that. And it's something that really kind of asks those deeper questions within you that when you leave class, they stay with you. And those are those small little changes that start to happen. And so every time then I would go to class, I would kind of not expect, but I would be open to listening to those deeper questions that would get in and um and that would start to change. And and I really started to become more aware of my body and of my thought process and of my emotions, which right, when you're not aware of them, they're just, you know, they're like well, chaos monsters. But when you really can tap into them, it's like, oh, now I understand this feeling and maybe not why I'm feeling it, but how to move with it so it doesn't own me. And I think that's kind of what this deeper layer of yoga is, because yoga actually means yoke or union of like the whole thing, right? Of the mind, the body, the emotions. There's there's these layers that we talk about in the practice. And so once we kind of harness or understand those layers, it's not like we're um teaching them, you know, a discipline necessarily, or we're but we're teaching them how to understand each other so that they can work better together. Yeah. So we can go out in the world and just face the day a little easier to do. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

Yeah. Yeah. I uh I I recently uh joined a neighbor at Somatic Breathing.

SPEAKER_00 8:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

I I I it was presented to me as a breathing class. It was not a breathing class. No. Um and I afterwards I I we got back in the car and I was like stunned because it was so emotional and it was like way more than I thought. Like I was like, holy cow. Um, and then I like after we kind of quietly were rolling along, I turned her and I said, So I think I filled my ears with tears. Like because I were laying on our back and literally the tears were going into my ears. Um and she's like, Oh yeah, I do that every time. I was like, and we're doing this on purpose.

unknown 8:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

She's like, Yes, we're doing it on purpose. And it was uh I and now I've I've gone many times. Now I I um I I might be a little addicted to it, but yeah, but there's really I don't there's a a feeling at the end of it that I can't access in any other way. No, it's a very um strange. So do you do somatic breathing too? Is that part of it? Okay.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Yeah. I've um I lead somatic breathing. I mean, we call it, there's so many different types of breath work um in in yoga or in, I don't know, like the wellness sphere, I guess. Um I would call mine somatic breath work, but we probably we might do it differently. There's a we call it conscious connected breath work. So I'm not sure if that's what you have experienced, but it's where your the breath in and out kind of loops, so you're not taking a pause. Yes. Yeah. And so what this does is it kind of cuts out like the it cuts out the middleman. You you have to be conscious with your breathe breathing because it's not how we do it right normally in our lives. And so it kind of, I feel like it short circuits something within us so that we can't have those constant thoughts of ourselves judging ourselves or whatever. And then it gets into those deeper subconscious layers because we're also hyper-oxygenating our brain. Yeah. So then we're having all those thoughts and all in, you know, all the questions, I guess, that come through and and sort of the light bulb moments, the aha's come through. And yeah, I mean, I think if we all as humanity did, you know, like 20 minutes of breath work a day, we'd have a whole different thing going on than we do, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:30

If nothing else, even if people faked it and but just breathed, like and that's I like even that would slow people down. I think it would probably all be a little more civil and oh my gosh. Yeah, for sure. Um when I uh very often, so I've I've had this sciatic situation that will like flare up for me every once in a while. And it's it, I mean, I think it the first time was maybe 20 years ago. Yeah. I know that there is emotion that's I know that and I even know the event that caused it and all and all that fun stuff. When I do somatic breathing, there is usually a period, a point where it it is like the most um like it's it's like there's electricity in that area. And usually it's because I'm thinking about or the or that somebody, whoever the person who is, and I don't know, I would facilitating okay, um, she'll say something and she's never saying anything because there's a group of us, so it's never directed at any one of us, but she'll drop some little nugget and and all of a sudden I grab a hold of it, and then I'm like, I'm like, yeah, I can feel myself reconnecting to that part of my body. Yeah. Um, what is that about?

SPEAKER_00 11:33

What's the that's the issues in our tissues? I love that. That's awesome. Yeah. So there um there's, you know, this idea that our bodies carry everything. They carry our memories, they carry our stories, they carry, you know, all of our experiences. And so even if it wasn't an injury, like a physical injury that happened to us, if it was a an emotional experience or like a traumatic experience, um, we can kind of get those literally like stuck in our tissues. And so, you know, those things will flare up when when even if you're not connected to the actual event or memory or something like that, um, the feeling is connected. So, say um if you I uh and I I talk about this with my clients in like the the most gentlest way. It's like, so imagine when you're like five years old and you're just like this cute little innocent five-year-old with your ice cream, and your older brother is just the meanest older brother, right? And he comes over one day and like you're just so happy, and he just smacks your ice cream out, right? And it falls on the floor and you just cry, right? And then after that, you have like you've taken on this feeling of something was taken away from you, like your favorite thing was taken away from you, and you lost something. And so, like as you ate, you know, go on in life, you never again think about this ice cream being thrown on the floor, but you're constantly thinking about like, what if somebody takes this thing from me, right? And you feel it in your hands, like you get aches in your fingers or something like that, or in your wrists, or in your when you braced, right? And so all of these experiences like literally get felt, these felt sense experiences, they don't go away until we can sort of process them. So when you're breathing, your body is now processing these experiences that happened to you. And what I I think there's there's another layer of this too, is that a lot of breath work is great. Um, there's not a lot of integration that happens after, though. So when I'm, you know, when I work with one-on-one with clients or with a closed group, we'll do these bigger, like intense experiences, and then we'll have like an integration or a processing session after. So then we can be like, okay, you know, this this ache in my hands that happens every time I do this. Um, we can go back to that. Like what, you know, when once the first time you felt this? What is that um, what does that little person need? You know, what do they need? They need to feel like, oh, I I can um, I I do have thing control of my um my ice cream or yeah, I do have control of the things I need. Um, I can ask for what I need, I can say no to bullies, things like this, right? And then those issues start to like the tissues start to release them. And then we do body work. So I have the whole, you know, we do all the things. And that's what the yoga is for too, the movement to get the the body moving so that the tissues also move and help release those intense things. Yeah. So have you seen people overcome all sorts of things? All sorts of things. Yeah, yeah. And it's not just like a one and done, right? So we can have these uh these experiences, we can um do breath work and feel better and and and it it's wonderful. We can go to yoga class and cry and feel better. Um, but it's really the the somatic piece is the like the self-inquiry and the self-awareness of right. And just like you said, you know, I know what this sciatic feeling is. That's the awareness is like that, like the light bulb moment. And then it's the like, well, what does this feeling need? How can we help this feeling heal? Hmm, yeah. So I've yeah, I worked with a lot of people and I've seen it, you know, with longtime students. And um, yeah, it's pretty amazing how that works. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

It is. Are are you familiar with Louise Hay? Yeah. Okay. Um, so my family at long have had her book, all of us have one on our shelf. And somebody will, you know, I'm very like, oh, I've got this shoulder pain. And then somebody say, what does Louise Hay say about that? What are you supposed to? And so for our listeners who don't know, it's a it's a book. And and this is a woman who um who could who compiled, and I don't, I don't even really know necessarily how she did it. Are you do are you familiar with her story? I don't know how she did it. Yeah. No. But it is, it's strangely accurate. It is very strange. Yeah. Um, but you'll you know, you look up an ailment and it'll actually it'll kind of aligns it to something within the body.

SPEAKER_02 16:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Um, you know, so like thyroid issues and like me speaking, being able to speak my mind, you know, that sort of thing. It's it's they're very interesting sort of um um anyway, it's worth looking up.

SPEAKER_00 16:35

It's all um probably it's based on an energetic map of the body. So um in kind of the yogic philosophy, we would align that to what we call the chakra system. Um, so the throat is our space of expression, right? So if you have a tight throat or pain in your throat or um something like that, it's like, what are you not saying? Or what, you know, what what communication is is broken in in like your experience right now? Um all the way from you, there's like they say there's you know, like 72,000 little energy centers. But um, we you know typically work with seven, which is a lot less and easier to so, anyways, like starting from like the base of your spine, which is the root. So saying like, okay, you have like pelvic floor challenges or um or you're having problems, um, you know, like you have sit bone like pain or or sciatic pain, right? Um, that's shooting down the leg, these are all root. This would be like a root challenge. So um, you know, where are you not feeling safe, secure, stable? And um, or what what shifts that stability if there's like a certain experience that you are having or you know, a conversation that you have that kind of shifts that where your stability doesn't feel where you don't feel as grounded or secure. So, and then it just kind of moves up, which is it's a really interesting if you like think about you know the body as a map. And and that's kind of probably where she learned that, as well as probably a little bit of Chinese medicine, which every kind of point in your body has like a specific um thing that it's pointing towards. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

It's it's so fascinating to me. And I I I can get lost in it sometimes, particularly if I'm if I'm battling something, you know, I just like that'll be the first thing that I'm like, okay. But so sometimes I'll it sometimes it just it's a little too honest. I know. I'll be like, oh, that's totally what that is. And I know exactly what. And then you and then you know, I mean you don't have to deal with it, but if you're smart, you're gonna deal with it because otherwise it's just gonna compound. But yeah, yeah. Yeah. Uh yeah. Okay. Well, so let's uh let's uh let's shift just a little bit um and and talk about because you um worked together. In fact, this podcast was originally going to be with a partnership you have with uh Kaylin Rogers, correct? Yeah. Um and and so she was going to be on here and she has found herself unable to be a part of it. But I'm really glad that you're here to so we can learn about all this. Um so can you because because you work or have worked alongside with her um with a project that uh that involves the prisons. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

So can you can you talk to us a little bit about that? Yeah. So um I met Kaylin, oh my gosh, probably in 2018, maybe 19. Um, and uh we met because I when I first opened the yoga studio, I believe, um I also wanted to do some volunteer work and I started volunteering in um the Idaho Department of Corrections, so in the prison system. And um I would go in twice a week, I believe, and teach uh to two of the facilities um out there in CUNA. Uh and I think somebody mentioned to Kaylin, because she was also starting Upward Inertia, which is the uh nonprofit that we are uh that I am on the board of. And Caitlin's the founder. Um and she reached out to me saying, Hey, I heard you uh taught in the prison or teach in the prison. And I was like, Yeah, so we got together uh and she had already started Upward Inertia. And so we just like really got to talking about the programs and how amazing everything is, offering all of these services to, you know, obviously people without a lot of options for these kinds of things. Um, and so I when COVID hit, um, I they closed down the prison. So I stopped teaching. Um, but Kaylin continued building her program. And then when she was able to go back into the facilities, um, I also I stayed out of the facility, but I um was lucky enough to join the board of upward inertia. So that's kind of how we met, and now we um, you know, we meet quite often and we're trying to figure out how to uh bring more yoga, yoga therapy, um, and these sorts of things to um those that are underserved.

SPEAKER_01 21:17

It's interesting now, just what we talked about previously and talking about that. So if somebody thought yoga was just stretching before, now they get it, there's a little bit more, and now you're combining it with this with helping people who are are processing, talk about processing emotions and processing historical data and and things within their body.

SPEAKER_02 21:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

What what do you think? What was the impetus? Like where was there an aha moment of like this could do some real good if we were able to bring these to to some people who uh who need it most?

SPEAKER_00 21:54

Yeah, I think the you know, the challenge is it's funny because uh teaching Yoga to like people who don't have experience or history with ever going to yoga class is is so interesting and challenging at the same time. But what I noticed is that especially people in um in that are incarcerated have the ability to well, a lot of them have the ability to really drop in and focus because it's the only thing that's taking them out of like the chaos that they live in constantly. And so when they get into that room that's semi-quiet, there's sometimes like loudspeaker announcements and whatnot, it's kind of this like moment for them to actually feel, and we don't use the really use the word safe in our practice, but you know, in a place that is maybe more uh accessible for them to access their feelings or emotions. Like this is a place for you to do that. We're holding space for this for you. And so that once they step out that door, they're not gonna get that where they are. But inside, you know, the library or the common room that we um that we've taught in, it's like a whole different world. Like they get to just be who they are without their IDOC number, right? Yeah. You know, they get to we say we to call them by their first name, you know, instead of right, their last name or their number. And so it's like a a space for them to be an individual.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

Wow. Yeah, it's interesting to think about that. Yeah. Yeah. I'm I'm I am trying to imagine Yeah, they this is so much there.

SPEAKER_00 23:50

It is, it's really challenging to think about, you know, and we don't know their experiences. We don't ask why they're there, right? You know, and and I worked in kind of a uh like lower level security, but Caitlin works in like Max. So she's she's in there, right? And but she never we don't ask because that's not like I think the the one thing in my mind was I'm never gonna judge somebody by the worst thing that they did. Um, and so they have an opportunity to better themselves, and that is just what I'm there to kind of offer is a better way to feel. Not that I'm creating anything that, you know, that's not making making you better. It's not my job. My job is to give you tools or give them tools to help them access better parts of themselves.

SPEAKER_01 24:44

That's an interesting thing you just said. Um, not going to judge people by the worst thing that they did. Yeah, and I think we give grace to most of the people around us in that sense. When when somebody gets incarcerated, all of a sudden that's the very first thing.

SPEAKER_00 24:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:57

Almost the only thing.

SPEAKER_00 24:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:59

Um, so wow, that what a what a gift to have that disappear for a half a second and be able to focus on something different and not have that be the yeah. It's like who they are. Yeah. Why they're there is who they are. Right. Right. But it's not. It's not exactly. Yeah. And just like none of us would want that. I certainly am not wearing on my sleeve the worst thing I've ever done. You'll never know. Nope. Yeah. So I yeah, I I really like that. That the the thought behind that. Yeah. Um, so do you think have you you've you've seen probably all sorts of interesting changes in people? Um, and so do you think that people change because they want to or because they have to?

SPEAKER_00 25:44

I think it's a little bit of both. I mean, if you think about it on a physical level, you know, a lot of people who are dependent on like drugs or alcohol, they have to change, or they will no longer have a living body. So there's, you know, I think there is um there's a will to change because they also want to feel better, they want to do better, they want to be better. Um, but I think it's really depends, you know, we all have different experiences. And so sometimes we have this like this will that's gonna help us shift and change our lives. And sometimes there's like a real, you know, need, or you know, there's there's something on the horizon that is gonna go terribly wrong if we don't change. So I think it's a little bit of both. And you know, I've seen I've seen both, which is nice. And also it just creates kind of space for a lot of different stories and experiences for uh that we can share in how how things shift in people's lives.

SPEAKER_01 26:59

Is there can you I don't know how you can even pinpoint this, but but is there a way for you to um to tell the difference between a person who is who is totally stuck and somebody who is moving forward, albeit maybe slowly?

SPEAKER_00 27:15

Yeah, for sure. I think where we get stuck, and this is where somatic work comes in and where um kind of all of these practices come in, is that when we're stuck, we're stuck in a story. Usually it's a story or an experience that we keep looping and feeling the same thing in. So I'll get, you know, I'll get a memory and then I'll get the same feeling I had, or it shifts maybe a little bit. Um, but it's the same thing that happens over and over, and it affects me usually the same thing. So um, you know, if if it's somebody who uh self-sabotages, right? Every time this this memory or this feeling comes up, they'll sabotage themselves. Or every time this feeling comes up or this memory comes up, you know, they'll quit something. And so these are the how you can see the pattern of somebody who's stuck in something, where you notice shift is that the feeling starts to change and the reaction starts to change. So, and I'm and like I don't know if you've heard like healing is not linear, right? So, so it's like this we we're on this like kind of wack-a-doodle little path. But and it's not to say that every step forward is like a leap and we're never gonna go back because you know, we've all like, I'm over this, I feel so much better, and then I do the same darn thing that I did, you know, last year. But um, but you can see the awareness also shift. Like, oh, I'm aware that this is a pattern, and maybe if I do something a little bit different, it'll change the trajectory of, you know, wherever I'm navigating this path. And so that's how I notice when people are changing or shifting. And that's how I notice when I'm changing or shifting too. I'm like, I'm not thinking of that same story that, you know, made me really, really upset when I was. I could have given many, many experience. Right. It's like, oh, I think about it, and then I'm like, okay, what am I gonna do differently? Then I have like the different thought, and that's that's how we know we're healing, I think, or moving forward.

SPEAKER_01 29:27

Yeah, it's such an interesting process too. And I I find that as I age, I realize that I sometimes I'll it the healing will take place and I'll have moved on. And then I'm like, oh hey, I think that's not a thing anymore. Of course, as soon as I do that, then usually it brings a few more things. Oh, wait, there's a few more little lingering things there, but um You made room for the other things. There you go. Look at that.

SPEAKER_00 29:52

Yeah. Um, what ball does hope play? Oh my gosh. Hope is such an interesting word. Um I feel like hope, hope, and truth kind of live in this interesting little world simultaneously. I feel like hope can be something to look forward to. I also feel like hope can be a sort of a pressure that we put on ourselves to want to make things better that we don't really have the power or the control to make better. And so hope is so interesting because if we hold it kind of without the architecture to get us there, it it might just be this thing that we're never able to attain, almost like goal. Like I never set goals because I always feel like a goal is something that if I don't attain it, I'm just gonna punish myself for it. But if we can tell ourselves the truth of what's happening and the truth of what like the possibility is that's next, if we continue to move forward with truth and we kind of uh create and um uh bring with us the evidence that the truth is the truth, it kind of creates like a an internal hope that we don't have to like goal set for. It just kind of creates a momentum that it's like, this is my truth today, and it has to be good enough for me to move forward into my truth tomorrow, that hopefully it was better than yesterday. Why is truth so hard?

SPEAKER_01 31:41

And just as you're saying that, I'm like, yeah, why why do I why does my body start to stiffen up when I start to think about? And I'm not talking about like telling the truth about whether I stole something, I'm talking about like the truth of myself. Like how, like being truly honest about where where am I right in this moment? Um what really what's really gonna happen today?

SPEAKER_00 32:03

Like why is that so difficult? It control because we want control over everything that we really have no control over anything except our bodies. So we well, most of the time we don't have control over everything, every part of it, but we have control over like our actions and our words, and and so that's the hard part is that truth really like makes us be overly aware of ourselves. And sometimes, you know, it gets a little too serious and we have to just be like yeah, yeah, shake it off. But um, but yeah, I think I think it is hard. It is hard to say, you know, to live in like your truth, right? It's like, oh, it feels so heavy sometimes, and yeah, if we just kind of let that be the bar, I mean what what's really gonna go wrong? Yeah, right. That this is where all that conditioning comes from. I was gonna say practice, right?

SPEAKER_01 33:07

Like this is where you you you know that you're imperfect at it, but just keep at it.

SPEAKER_00 33:12

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:13

There's there's something to practice uh that I I think I'm learning now as I've I've entered my fifth decade here of being alive, is that this business of doing things consistently, like that's where I'm starting to figure out what the joy is. Like I'm like, I remember as a younger person, like how boring to just be consistent all the time. And now I'm just finding all this wonderful joy in it. Um, and I can trust myself more. When I'm more consistent with myself, I kind of know what I'm gonna do. And then I and not I'm not so like shocked by things that happen to me when you know it's it's it's it's definitely a settling down that I'm doing, but but it's uh it's happier.

SPEAKER_00 33:57

I find myself to be happier. Yeah. So and that's what yoga practice is, right? Because we're we're practice. And yoga practice doesn't mean have you have to go into a studio for 60 minutes and like do weird poses, right? But um, but any practice, like sitting and taking five minutes just to journal or to breathe or to drink your tea in silence, right? Like these consistent practices help us kind of tune in and hone into like who we are, how we want to feel. And I think that's you know, one of the most important things is not like what we want to do today. How do I want to feel today? So that's my consistent question that I ask myself when I wake up. How do I want to feel today? And some days it's, you know, different. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 34:45

But what could we tell youth today? Um, or or our younger selves. I guess we can just always talk and talk to our younger selves and what would my younger self listen to? Um, because really it's not 89 things that you're gonna be practicing. One one thing will make a change. Yeah, yeah. And and it doesn't have to be a hard thing, like you just said, it could be something very simple. And and the act of doing one small thing will probably lead you to choosing another thing that you're gonna do. And over time, then you build. So, what could we tell young people that that would help them start now? Because man, I wish I'd have started a lot younger.

SPEAKER_00 35:25

Callie, do you think young people would really listen to I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_01 35:29

I and I and I'm talking to my younger self. I'm not sure I would have. I you know, I think I don't think then I knew what I was doing. Yeah, I I had everything handled. That was fine.

SPEAKER_00 35:39

Yeah. I think I I was having a conversation with somebody the other day, and they were talking about um, you know, a breakup that their their kid, their, you know, young kid was going through like one of their first breakups. And they were saying, like, actually, like I felt bad for her. It was her daughter, but really it was her fault. And I was like, and I thought about that, and and and she's like, I don't know what you know to say to her. And and I said, Well, I s I kind of wish somebody would have told me instead of like trying to coddle me, like, oh, it's gonna be okay, you're gonna be okay. I wish someone would have been like, actually, this is your fault. But um I I think i in a gentler way, of course. Um, but again, it's like going back to that truth, right? Because I feel like we're we not necessarily lie to ourselves to make ourselves feel better, but we create different stories in our heads to make ourselves feel better. And then at the end, it's we don't get to process them out because the feeling that we have actually is mismatched with like the story in our mind. Yeah. And so I think emotional intelligence is one of the most important things we can teach younger people. And so learning to like actually sit with your emotion and being like, how does it feel to be angry? How does it feel to be sad? Like, how does that feel in your body? Because now I'm, you know, we're teaching this to adults and like people our age, and that they're like, What? I don't, I don't know. What what do you mean? I just I'm mad. Like, but but what does mad feel like? You know, does it feel like heat? Does it feel like pressure? So that when you start to feel those things, when you start to feel that pressure in your belly or the heat like in your throat, you can say, Oh, this is anger coming up. And then you can say, I what do I want to do with this anger? Instead of just like exploding. Yeah. So I think teaching kids how to feel what and let them ride it through instead of saying, you know, we were probably told, like, it's gonna be okay. Right. We're like, you're fine. You don't get angry. Yeah. Yes. That's what I get a lot. Yeah, you know. Oh, you're fine, yeah. Um actually letting them feel the ranges of emotions will have like a whole different generation coming up. Yeah. Because there's a lot of really actually emotionally intelligent. I feel like kids that they have they're way more emotionally intelligent than I was. Yes. Or like my peer group. And so, um, but yeah, I think really creating that safe space for them to feel their emotions and let them feel it all the way through.

SPEAKER_01 38:27

Yeah. I uh I will go to my daughter sometimes with my stuff, and I'll be like, I'm not even sure what I'm feeling right now, you know. And um, she's so much better at it. Yeah. Just because she was allowed to and she was asked what her feelings were, and she did get to process them. Yeah. Um, I know there's a lot of uh controversy about that, about you know, what's whether that's right or wrong. I I as far as being healthy, emotionally healthy person, I I can't think of a better way than to be in touch with your own being like and embracing your own feelings. Totally. Instead of good and bad, and you know, it's it's a feeling. It's just a feeling. Yeah. Um, but yeah, they're very, very different generationally from how we one generation to the other was taught about that.

SPEAKER_00 39:15

And how different our feelings have been categorized, right? And especially like in even gen, like like men versus you know, girls versus boys, whatever. It's like, oh, boys can be angry and like have all these feelings. We can't feel those feelings. And so now there's this like great divide of like of how we process things because there, you know, anger is over here and we're over here just like hiding in a corner. Right. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

I it that just brings up a thought about um about anger um where where I um might be feeling a particular way. For me, it's impassioned, it's not necessarily anger. And then somebody else in my life will say, Why are you so angry? And I've been for why are you angry all the time? And I'm like, I really am not angry all the time, but I am, I definitely express, like I if if something's feeling a particular way, I'll express it. And I'm probably pretty melodramatic about it, but I'm not in my body, I'm not feeling anger. Like it's not so it's a very weird thing to feel something and then have somebody else label it something, then you're like, that really isn't what that is. And then yeah, there's a whole, and I think that may happen more with women than men. Like we're we're kind of particularly with anger, I think.

SPEAKER_00 40:32

Oh, for sure. Yeah, I have a lot of clients who are afraid to feel angry. Most of my clients are women, uh, but are afraid to feel angry. And what I always like say to them about anger is that like if you imagine all of like how humanity and civilization civilizations have shifted, it's usually because somebody got angry and then everything changed, right? And it doesn't mean that like they did it in the right way, because we don't we know it hasn't always been right, right? Right. But um, but anger, like you said, anger is also passion. It's the same like drive. So if we can take our anger and we can use it to drive what what we want to change, like how powerful is that? Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 41:21

Oh man, I could talk all day about this. This is wonderful. Uh, but we do have a reason. You're you're on here. Let's let's uh let's because I think Caitlin will be like, all right, already, let's talk about um so let's do talk about so um upward inertia in particular, um, maybe talk a little because there's quite a few events that Upward Inertia and and things that Upward Inertia does. And then in particular, the upcoming event Thrive, which is gonna be happening very shortly here.

SPEAKER_00 41:47

So yeah, it's it's coming up. Yeah, Upward Inertia, um, we do small events throughout the year, mostly um little classes and trainings and stuff like that. Um, we do puppy and kitten yoga, which is very popular and very fun. Uh, we actually have a kitten yoga class coming up, I think on the 20th. Uh, but uh Thrive is our main event and it's on September 26th. Uh, so it's a Saturday. It's a completely free event. It is from 10 o'clock or 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and it's at the jump downtown. Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 42:24

Okay, so how how did it, how did it begin? Like what was the thought process here to to create, because this is a totally free wellness event.

SPEAKER_00 42:32

Yeah. Yeah, totally free wellness event. Um, so we wanted to have uh an event that was, you know, we we mostly focus on yoga in the upward inertia program, but we wanted to spread that and really create a wellness event for the whole community. So it's not labeled as a yoga festival or even um it's a label as a community wellness festival. And we have everything going on. We have 37 classes uh in different areas of jump going on all at the same time, not 37 at the same time, but we have five, I believe five zones um going on at the same time, everywhere, everywhere from like pop princess dance class to right, I teach a stretch out stress class. So we have like we run the gamut from like let's dance and have fun, uh let's get silly to things that are a little bit more nervous system regulated and and calm, things like that. Um, and so we also have informational classes and um and then we also have a vendor village. So we have all of these people coming to give us their amazing goods and worse wares. Um we have food trucks and all the things. Yeah. It's very cool. I I I'm very excited about it. I this is the third year, yeah? Yeah, it's the third year. So it's um We grew, I think. Oh my gosh, last year we had like 5,000. Kaelin, please don't be mad at me if I got that number wrong. Uh more attendees than before. And um, and so we're expected to have a pretty big turnout this year as well.

SPEAKER_01 44:19

Why? It's not it's you said it's not a yoga festival, wasn't it? A whole bunch of other. So what yeah, but um, what was the impetus behind saying we're gonna have it be yeah, a whole bunch of different things?

SPEAKER_00 44:29

Because not everybody does yoga, right? Well, true. And no, not everybody's interested in yoga, but I think a lot of people are interested in um health or wellness of some sort, um, or you know, expanding their um their community. Yeah, right. Learning about um people who do different things in their community, which is interesting. So we, you know, we have vendors selling things, but then we also have informational vendors like you know, chiropractors and massage therapists and things like that. So, you know, if you're looking for a new service, it's a great time to come down and meet uh people to help you feel better.

SPEAKER_01 45:11

Love that. I'm just looking at so yoga, breath work, nutrition, mindfulness, dance, self-care, all the things. A whole bunch of things. So, really, if anybody has you know any interest at all, like they could come in because there's good.

SPEAKER_00 45:25

Yeah, that's that's very if you want to feel better at all, it's a good place to find somebody to help you. And all ages. All ages, yeah. So we have a kids zone and we have kids' yoga classes as well, um, all free crafts as well for kids. Um, and and then we have classes that are kind of for all ages and and we probably have a class for all abilities as well.

SPEAKER_01 45:52

Is there something to creating a day like this where fun is incorporated with wellness?

SPEAKER_00 46:00

Or is that that's probably pretty intentional, yeah? Yeah, I think I think Kaylin, our founder, is just a fun human in general. She just like exudes fun. And so I don't think any she could do anything that was not fun. Um, but Thrive has this energy behind it that is just lighthearted. It's not like this very serious, you know, thing going on where you have to wear the right yoga clothes or to show up. You can show up in anything you want. And it's just very lighthearted. It's fun. There's a lot of things going on. Um, there's a lot of people that you can meet and visit, and and yeah, there's just a a very energetic presence to the festival.

SPEAKER_01 46:46

And it so it sounds very welcoming. So if I'm uh if I'm somebody who's like, well, that sounds fun, but that scares me. Like I don't know anybody who's gonna be there, and I don't really have never done yoga before, and I don't really um but it sounds like something you can walk in flat-footed. Oh my gosh. And you'd be welcome to do it, and you could just be like a child again and just learn something.

SPEAKER_00 47:04

Yeah, you could learn something, you could walk around and leave. Okay, so you don't rap it. You just meander. Okay. You can meander. Um, you don't have to even have to speak to one person, you can, you know, wear your headphones if you're a person who's like, I can't be around humans, that's okay. Um, or you could just drop in and join any class. You don't have to sign up for the classes, you literally just walk up into the zone and you're in a class, so there's no pressure. You can also just get up and leave a class if you're not feeling it. You know, it's actually a really great time to um try something out if you're like, I might want to try yoga, but I don't know because it's free and there's no commitment, there's no pressure, you can just come and check it out.

SPEAKER_01 47:50

I was when I very first decided because I was curious about yoga for a long time and just was too like just embarrassed and didn't didn't know where to start and didn't think I had the clothing and didn't think I had whatever. And the first time that I I walked in and I I realized that at any point, if you want to just go into child's pose. Oh my gosh, yes. You can and no one's gonna judge. You could spend the whole class in child's pose, yeah, and no one's gonna judge you. No, yeah, because I think everybody in there has probably been there. Hasn't had a had a class where they just needed to just be.

SPEAKER_02 48:20

Totally.

SPEAKER_01 48:21

Um it's a it's much more welcoming than I thought before. Like in this in my mind, I mean you just see all these like super fit people who do yoga, and you're like, that's not me. Yeah. Um, but it it really, it really is for everybody. And you don't have to be able to do all of them, you know.

SPEAKER_00 48:38

So we say you don't have to be able to touch your toes. You just have to be willing to try. Right. Yeah. And um, for anybody who doesn't know, child's pose is literally just laying on the floor. Yes, I guess it would sell it out. Your knees just like belly down, face down, so you don't have to look at anybody. Yeah. It's one of the most like relaxing poses that you can go into. But you can also just lay down flat on your back. That's true. Yeah. It's very actually they're way more welcoming than you think.

SPEAKER_01 49:06

I'm telling you.

SPEAKER_00 49:06

Yeah. And we try it's so funny as teachers, we try to tell that to everybody, like literally, anytime you want to lay down and take a break. Like, we're not judging you and we're not this is not a competition. And and you know, some people see just see like, you know, they they're moving through it, like they're in a plank challenge, but really, like, we actually I I thought about giving gold stars to people who would just like lay down the whole time.

SPEAKER_01 49:33

Oh, I love that idea. Because it does take a certain amount of just bravery to do it. Yeah, there you go. There you go. Um, I just have a this is a story that I'm gonna tell. I probably shouldn't tell it, but I'm gonna tell it anyway. Um, so one time, so I I this is when I was in the like I was doing a lot of yoga. Um, I had I all my yoga clothes were dirty. And so I grabbed some leggings that were actually used to put underneath my golf skirt um on cold days, on chili days, and they pretty much look like yoga pants. Yeah, they were fine. Um so go through the yoga class, and and there's one point where we're we're all bending over um and looking through our legs, basically, you know, kind of and uh so did that, and then then then we moved the way or back around, and then I was facing the opposite direction. And when I turned and I looked, there was a mirror behind me. And this time I could, and I was right directly next to the mirror, and I looked in the mirror and realized that those little yoga pants were not yoga pants for a reason. They were see-through, and especially when I bent over, yeah, you could see everything, everything in the mirror, and I was like, and immediately went down into child's pose and stayed there for the rest of the time. I was so humiliated. I still think about that, and I I'm pretty sure probably nobody saw. Nobody saw. Um, but it in my moment right then and there, I was like, I have like, what just happened? What have I just put myself in the middle of? Anyway, I will probably always carry that with me. Um that's my yoga trauma. So here's the deal. If you are afraid of going to yoga, at least you're not gonna do that. But I have done it. I've done the most embarrassing. Wear Peggy sweatpants, you'll be fine. Exactly. That's that's what I should have done that day.

SPEAKER_00 51:12

I should have never chosen nobody, nobody saw, and if they did, they didn't care or judge you.

SPEAKER_01 51:19

Well, and it didn't say anything to me. And that's uh if that's the case, then that I can fill pants inside out before. So man. Yeah, that's happened.

SPEAKER_00 51:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 51:27

Yeah. Well, and then I I do, I do believe that nobody noticed because you really are practicing your own thing. And I think you're in your own bubble, yeah. You're not paying attention to other people. It's not, that's not what it's about. So I'm grateful for that. But yeah, anyway, there you go. It's probably too much information, but there you go. Um, okay, so what else do uh about uh Thrive? We want to make sure that everybody knows. Because let's say it again. Say say the the dates and the time because it's coming right up, right?

SPEAKER_00 51:54

Yeah, it's coming up by I don't even know what date it is today. It's uh it's the 9th today. It's uh September 26th, so it's a Saturday, and it's from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. So our first class actually starts at 10 a.m. So you can arrive if you a little bit early if you want to um kind of look around and see what classes, but we also have the schedule on a on the website, so it's um uh upward inertia.com slash thrive, I believe. And um our full schedule is up on there. Uh it is at the jump downtown. Um, there's parking at the jump, but you know, there's parking everywhere around as well. So you might be prepared to take a little walk. But uh, but yeah, that's uh that's dates and times. And entirely free. Entirely free. Uh the food trucks um are not free, but uh, and then also vendors are also charging for their wares, but all the classes are free. Um, I'm sure there's gonna be a lot of informational booths that are having giveaways and stuff like that. So we also have a raffle. Uh the raffle is not free, but we have just just amazing baskets from everywhere in the valley. And um I think they sell the raffle tickets by arm length, which is kind of fun. So you get to choose like whose arm you want to. Oh. So you can bring somebody with really long arms. Someone with really long arms. And then um, and you don't have to be there. The raffle is at the end of the day, but you don't have to be there um to win. Um, you can win some really amazing gift baskets too. So uh yeah, totally free. We do, of course, accept donations for for inertia to keep our programs going. But um, but yeah, the event is free. Ah, that's so awesome.

SPEAKER_01 53:50

All right, uh, this is my uh my grand finale question here. So somebody walks into Thrive at 10 a.m. and they don't know anybody, yeah, uh, and they leave at 5 p.m. Oof, yeah. What do you hope is different about them?

SPEAKER_00 54:07

I hope that they have either met someone that they're looking forward to connecting with later, or they have found a class or a an activity that they feel excited about.

SPEAKER_02 54:26

Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 54:28

I love that. Yeah. And also it's 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. You're there the whole time. I hope they drank some water.

SPEAKER_00 54:36

Yeah, I hope they drink water. We do have water stations. That's good. You know, bring your water bottle though. It's probably it's probably a good thing. I hope there's water filling stations at jump. Bring your water bottle. All right, very good. It's the only thing you have to bring.

SPEAKER_01 54:50

Awesome. Well, thank you. Thank you for being here. Thanks for sharing about this. And uh thank you for doing the things that you do in the community for for um everybody. You're you're you seem to be um just just a very helpful, kind human being who is uh and and your group. That it sounds like Caitlin's a part the same way. And yeah uh and and just you're you seem to be doing things that are on the right track too, you know, like sometimes um sometimes things are maybe not necessarily contributory to the greater good, and certainly what you're doing is is that. And so thank you for being a part of of our city and and um and helping out the people that live here. Well, thank you, Callie. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. Hey, thanks for watching. If you or someone you know has a story to share, we'd love to hear from you. Reach out, share your story, and you could be featured on an upcoming episode. And remember, once your story gets shared, it will no longer be one that nobody knows.