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Hey everyone! Allow me to officially introduce the newest addition to Namaslay® Studios, Kait Ferguson. Kait teaches our Namaslay® Groove class, a fun and playfully challenging vinyasa flow set to hip hop tunes, on Wednesday nights in our summer schedule. She’s a fantastic yoga teacher, and her energy is the perfect addition to our team. If you’re looking for a practice to shake up your yoga routine, book a class with her ASAP! Get to know her a little better in her responses below, and give her some love in the comments! xo- Candace
What made you become a yoga teacher?
My yoga journey began in NYC after graduating from college. The yoga studio served as a place of solace, a way back to myself, during a time when everything was unfamiliar and chaotic – the city, my career, my early 20s. A year later, I moved to Italy and while my surroundings – the language, culture, food, people – changed, my yoga practice remained a constant. Three years later, I moved back to the US, and once again found yoga to be my North Star, guiding me back to myself. I became a yoga teacher in hopes of helping others the way yoga has always helped me.
How has your practice changed since you started teaching?
Upon completion of my YTT, I was shocked at how little I knew before. My practice deepened in so many ways. My self practice was hardly existent prior to teaching, but that’s my main form of practice nowadays. I try to meditate most mornings - I had never meditated before YTT. I think the biggest surprise to me after becoming a teacher though, is that while anatomy was so intimidating to me in high school and college, so overwhelming during teacher training, I find it to be the most important aspect of my teaching now. My practice is stronger - physically, mentally, emotionally, figuratively - since becoming a teacher.
What can people expect from your classes?
My classes are powerful and fun, with a focus on building strength while finding space in the body and heart through movement and breathwork. I completed my YTT at a studio that focuses on ‘aligned vinyasa,’ and that’s very much how I still teach. There is flow and movement and intelligent sequencing, but we also spend time learning the proper form and alignment of the body in poses, so we can receive maximum benefit from each asana. If we understand the body’s alignment, and the anatomy behind the asana, we’re able to move better and create more space in both the body and breath.
What advice would you offer someone nervous about starting a yoga practice or stepping into a studio for the first time?
Just get started. Don’t worry about anyone else at the studio because they’re not paying attention to you. They’re there for their practice, and you are there for yours. As for how to start: keep it simple. A yoga practice doesn’t have to be anything crazy or intense or long. Start with simple movements and focus on your breath - the inhales as they come into the body, the exhales as they go out. Check out a basics class at a studio (Namslay® Chill would be a great place to start!) or find a beginner class on YouTube, so you can start to learn how to move and align the body mindfully. Your future self is going to feel so much better and be so grateful that you took the small steps to get started.
When you’re off the mat, what are you doing?
I start most mornings with exercise - HIIT, strength training, or running. Then head to work at Burt’s Bees Baby. Free time is spent with friends and family, eating good food, reading, and traveling.
If you were a breakfast food, what would you be and why?
Does coffee count? I usually have bulletproof coffee for breakfast, so I’m partial to it. 😊 Let’s see:
Coffee is cultivated in many different countries, and I’ve found that I’ve grown the most during my time spent in other countries.
It’s prepared and presented in a variety of ways as am I. I love yoga clothes, but I’m all for getting glammed up.
Coffee is brewed both hot and cold and as a native New Englander, I’m a lover of all seasons and temperatures (though fall is the best by far for sure).
Any favorite books, music or movies to recommend?
I have such a hard time choosing absolutes because I’ve read so many good books, but here are some of my faves from this past year:
I’ve also been re-reading Harry Potter, and I’m enjoying it just as much as I did when I was little.
What’s the greatest lesson you’ve learned in your yoga practice?
Gratitude.
Yoga has helped me to develop a greater sense of what it means to be grateful. If I’m having a bad day, I jot down a few things I’m grateful for in my gratitude journal, or I’ll even meditate on it, and I can feel an immediate lift in my mood. I know that sometimes when things are rough, it can be hard to feel grateful, and during those times, it can feel like we’re constantly barraged by society to ‘be grateful’. But I honestly believe that there is always something to be grateful for. And when you truly feel that sense of gratitude within your heart, the whole world feels lighter and more filled with magic, including your own being.
If you could put anything on a billboard, what would it be?
‘Don’t believe everything you think.
You are rare. You are amazing.
And you are more powerful than
you could possibly imagine.
Pass it on.’
- Cleo Wade
Any favorite learning resources for yoga and/or business related things?
I’ve learned so much from following Candace, whether it be through her Instagram or her podcast, Namaslay®. She is a constant source of entrepreneurial business tips, and I’m always quick to soak those up.
I also attended the Business & Marketing Intensive at Namaslay® Studios, which was amazing. I learned so much valuable information and would highly recommend to any yoga teachers looking to grow their business. I actually work in social media marketing for a retail brand for my full time job, and while I work with influencers from the brand perspective, the intensive had a completely different spin in that it focused on yoga and how to build your business as an influencer. Super interesting.
Another yoga podcast I enjoy sometimes is Yogaland by Andrea Ferretti and Jason Crandell. Jason Crandell is a teacher for teachers and has so much knowledge to share. As for a marketing podcast, I love listening to Jenna Kutcher’s Goaldigger podcast. Can you tell I love podcasts? So much to learn, so little time! Podcasts for everything!
How can people find you? (Instagram, website, etc.)
Join me over at @kait.ferg on Instagram and online at www.kaitferg.com. I’d love to meet you and hear your story!