Featured Instructor : Keirin Brown
Top Los Angeles Yoga Teacher Shares Her Experience Providing Mobile Yoga Classes for Chakra 5
Keirin Brown has been teaching yoga for 10+ years. She received her yoga training with Karuna Yoga in 2008. Currently she is finishing her second year of Yoga Therapy Rx at Loyola Marymount University. She started teaching with Chakra 5 three years ago when we had a studio location. We recently interviewed her about her experiences with working with Chakra 5 corporate clients:
What are some of the challenges of working with C5’s clients in a mobile capacity? What solutions have you come up with to address these?
I think some of the challenges we face in a mobile capacity offer up opportunities for lightness and a sense of taking yoga less seriously. Usually the space is not a peaceful yoga space, but rather some sort of unused room in an office. You have to be adaptable and able to transport people through yoga itself, which can lend itself to a more distilled and focused yoga experience. Rarely are there props, so it’s important to be able to adjust the poses so that people can practice safely. Also, although most people are beginners there is a complete range in peoples’ abilities and needs, so it’s a challenge to create a sequence that caters to everyone. It’s important for me to have a chance to connect with each new person in class for a moment before in order to get an understanding of what level they are, their expectations and any injuries to take into account.
What are some of the rewards/what do you like best?
Teaching people in a corporate setting is literally one of my favorite things to do on earth. There is no pretension with these folks. Because most of them are new to yoga, the fact that they are even showing up requires such bravery and openness. It’s so exciting to see people open to their bodies in a new way, especially 9-5 people who are stuck at their desks all day. I’ve had countless people come up to me and share how their low back pain has gone away, they’re off their blood pressure medication, stress level reduced, etc.
What do you see in the future for Chakra 5 and Corporate Wellness?
I think mobile yoga is the new way to go. With the way corporate America is going, people are spending longer hours at work and it’s harder to carve out time to take care of yourself outside of work. There is a new awareness in the mainstream of the benefits of yoga at the workplace, not only for the employee, but also the employers. I hope that one day all offices will have this offering. It would be a dream if eventually health insurance could cover yoga therapy for people who need more specific illness or injuries addressed in an individual manner. With Chakra 5, really the sky is the limit!
McKenna Rowe is the Founder of Chakra 5 Mobile Yoga, an experienced team of corporate yoga instructors that provides mobile yoga classes on location and by appointment at businesses, schools and organizations throughout greater Los Angeles. Call us to start your corporate wellness program today: 310-853-3885.