Yoga teacher Elise Joan is one of the people featured on the upcoming reality show Yoga Girls. This photo shoot with photographer Lindsey Childs was filmed for the show. (Clothing by Solo Sol Movement)
Yoga Teaching Meets Reality TV with Yoga Girls
As yoga continues to be part of the modern world and as each one of us negotiates the ideas and ideals of yoga in the times we live in, Yoga Girls, a yoga reality show–is about to be broadcast on the airwaves.
Yoga Girls premieres on Z Living Sunday, September 24. We connected with the yoga teachers who are the cast members of Yoga Girls (yep there are some guys). They shared their practice, what inspires them and what viewers can expect from the show.
Yoga Teachers on Yoga Girls
Jesse Schein
What inspires me most these days is my practice towards being completely present with the moment I’m in. To let go of distractions and the exterior world and dive in to the interior world. To INQUIRE deeply with what is going on inside. I call this practicing NOWNESS…
My approach is uncomplicated. Invite yourself to pay attention to your breath and observe your thoughts and feelings. Use the physical practice as a tool to inquire with in. With Yoga Girls, I hope people can laugh at me and with me. I hope people will be inspired to practice yoga. If you want to get to know yourself practice yoga! All you need is your breath and we can take it from there…
Sophie Jaffe
Yoga is a full body + soul experience. You can find yoga in all movements, including high intensity workouts. My approach is keeping it spiritual by connecting to the deeper “why” of what you’re needing and wanting from the practice and your life. Focusing only on the physical asana only is not fulfilling enough to sustain a practice. A full practice can even be 10 minutes if it’s connected enough. I hope people from all over the world will be inspired to create their own yoga practice.
In addition, I hope people watching Yoga Girls also realize that yoga practitioners and teachers are humans with real issues, problems and struggles. We are just guides. We are not any better or worse than anyone else who is stepping on their mat. I hope people walk away from the show and want to look at their lives and where they could make little shifts to be kinder and have more awareness.
Jackie Smyth
I’m a coach as well as a yoga teacher. One of my favorite qualities in my teaching is that I love to learn how the brain operates and what truly creates change in the mind. I believe that yoga can change your life, and I use the body to get to the mind.
Through this series, I hope people understand that regardless of the situation, you can create the reality you want. Yoga did and does have a direct domino effect in my life. Yes, of course, on my mat, but it has also brought me the greatest adventures and gifts.
It’s also been a catalyst to me seeing who I show up with. This includes in good days when it’s easy, and when the water starts to boil. Yoga’s given me a life of adventure, and that’s all I want to give away.
Koya Webb
My practice inspires me to be grateful for every breath. I truly feel that yoga is unity. Because of this, my approach focuses on unity with the spirit within and connecting with the spirit within others. With Yoga Girls, I hope people will Get Loved Up daily and be inspired to use social media to spread positive messages that uplift humanity.
Vytas Baskauskas
I am inspired by how great yoga still makes me feel, even after 20 years of practicing. My approach to the practice is simple and straightforward. Nothing fancy. With Yoga Girls, I hope viewers will see that yoga isn’t about perfection or performance. It is about authenticity, growth and meeting yourself exactly where you are at, both on and off the mat.
Calvin Corzine
I’m constantly inspired by how helpful the practice is both physically and in other aspects of our lives. My approach to yoga is logical and straight-forward.
Caley Joyner
In watching Yoga Girls, I hope people learn that whatever chaos may come up, your yoga practice can support you through it in a very deep way. It’s the foundation for response instead of reaction, for awareness instead of ignorance, for connecting instead of building walls or running away.
Yoga is a powerful tool. People need something that’s effective at helping us relieve some of the pressures that we experience in today’s society. It is important to me to do whatever I can do to encourage and inspire others of their immense power.
I am also committed to reminding people that while we can never be perfect, we can make aware and conscious decisions, and move towards a collective planetary upgrade.
Elise Joan
My practice is all about a willingness to keep coming to the mat over and over to get my mind right and my heart elevated. I practice releasing what no longer serves me with each exhale, and inhaling all that I want to create when I show up as my best self.
While watching Yoga Girls, I hope people will learn that yoga is for everyone. I want them to learn that most of ‘yoga’ is what we do and how we live OFF the mat. I hope people see that yoga is more than an impressive physical practice, and that the mental and emotional journey yoga takes us on is available to ALL of us. This is truly even more important than the physical postures.
Sadie Nardini
My approach to yoga is being innovative! I love to offer people of any yoga style (or no yoga style!) fresh ways to get next-level fit in way less time–all while having actual fun. I hope with this new series, viewers will see me living my life as a free spirit, an artist and a pioneer of health and fitness.
Through this, I hope people become inspired to rock who they are in their own unique and incredible ways. Life is hard enough. We need a Tribe of supportive friends all along the way. I think that Yoga Girls will provide another helping hand — and a few laughs too — to let viewers see how yogis handle being both human–and spiritual–at the same time.
When and How to Watch
If you’re curious, tune in when Yoga Girls premieres Sunday, September 24 at 8pm ET on Z Living.
Felicia Tomasko has spent more of her life practicing Yoga and Ayurveda than not. She first became introduced to the teachings through the writings of the Transcendentalists, through meditation, and using asana to cross-train for her practice of cross-country running. Between beginning her commitment to Yoga and Ayurveda and today, she earned degrees in environmental biology and anthropology and nursing, and certifications in the practice and teaching of yoga, yoga therapy, and Ayurveda while working in fields including cognitive neuroscience and plant biochemistry. Her commitment to writing is at least as long as her commitment to yoga. Working on everything related to the written word from newspapers to magazines to websites to books, Felicia has been writing and editing professionally since college. In order to feel like a teenager again, Felicia has pulled out her running shoes for regular interval sessions throughout Southern California. Since the very first issue of LA YOGA, Felicia has been part of the team and the growth and development of the Bliss Network.