Cat! We're so excited to have you back teaching! Tell us a bit about your yoga journey as of late! What's been present for you recently?
I am excited to be back!
Definitely my babies! But as we'll talk more about that in a bit for now I'll share that this past year I moved from balancing a day job and teaching yoga (as a side gig) to teaching yoga full time - which has meant an opportunity to embody the practice in beautiful new ways.
Just this week, it's been really present for me - the extent to which this has impacted my physical body, energetic body, emotional body, my family - even the habitat of my yard - as I have space to practice and study and garden to my heart's content. One of my teachers taught me, in moments such as this, to say "more please," vocalizing the gratitude and being open for more. More please!
Why THIS mama offering now? What's your motivation?
My motivation for teaching prenatal and postnatal yoga has expanded over the years.
Originally, I loved the honesty and primal-ness of the sessions - people being together, moving through this sacred, strange, physical journey of growing a baby. Being in a space with no need to be other than you are, to be with those in the same experience - well, that's magic. No need to hold the pregnancy farts.
Then, I got really into the physical preparation for birth! Which includes a lot of breathwork and preparation for being in uncertainty, being ready for what comes, trust. Hips for birth, shoulders for holding baby, movements that support circulation, movements that balance experiences with hormones and growth. I do love anatomy.
Now, while all that is still incorporated into every class, I have realized that parenthood, especially when going through pregnancy, is an extraordinary opportunity for healing and growth. I started to notice this with my oldest child, as being with her I have learned so much about myself and my parents. Likewise, in being guided through some powerful meditations in trainings this year, seeing the impact of intergenerational healing. In parenting, we can heal some of what has come before and create space for what will come after. It's timeless and potent and I love it.
Finally, parenting is hard. To be available for our kids, we have to have support. We need aunties and mom friends, both to support us and to offer other things for our kids! I don't have to learn how to apply cosmetics because my daughter is super into it, we have an auntie who is amazing at such things, I just have to send her over! Likewise, this week I was on a work call and didn't want to take it in the car while picking up my daughter - so texted a friend and she brought her home, which was fun for them, fun for my work, everybody's good. And that was challenging for me - both building those relationships and asking for help.
So this space is to do all that: be present in the pregnancy and early parenting, be authentic and open with those who can validate your experiences as they are in it too, prepare for all the things with movement and breathwork, heal what needs to be healed so you can grow into your parenthood, and build a community. It is a lot, but these practices provide all that we need.
How has motherhood changed your experience of yoga? How has yoga helped your mothering?
Motherhood focused my experience of yoga. I found a space for my voice, to say 'this is what I benefit from and am focused on now.' The challenges of pregnancy and parenthood made me need to focus - I didn't have energy for everything, so I needed to pick what was most beneficial for me and learned a lot about myself along the way (which is, one might say, the point).
So straight up, I still can't hold a handstand. And that's okay. I can do a lot of other practices, and get to be amazed practicing with physically strong people who can. And isn't that fun, to see what specific practices ignite people, illuminating themselves. I am often grateful that before having kids I traveled and climbed and skied and danced on beaches and went to physically intense yoga sessions. I have awesome memories that warm my heart and have fed my curiosity for such things. Now I can do what I really want to do: go to the backyard, climb trees, dance in the kitchen, sit quietly and listen to my breath, and my family's breath.
Yoga has made mothering possible. Having a baby meant doing some serious healing. It inspired me to go into recovery. Recovery, for me, was yoga and clinical healing hand-in-hand. To not heal my own self would mean passing things down to my kids - and just like crazy adventure, I did not have time for my disordered behaviors. I had to be nourished and present and safe for my babies! It let me see how yoga describes so many of our life experiences and can be there along the way: I would be in a clinical setting, then go to yoga, and see that we were doing the same thing just describing it in different ways. I needed that holistic, somatic, community piece to make it possible. Fun side note: The day I chose to go into recovery, I was meditating with my teacher. I told her, if I was going to commit to recovery, I was going to find out what supported me the most in recovery and then be sure other people had access to that thing too - well, it was yoga. And that's why I am a yoga teacher!
Yoga has also kept me physically and emotionally strong. I can lift a sleeping toddler into bed, and I can maintain equanimity when the kids make those amazing kid choices like opening up the talcum powder jar and making their "room sparkle."
They are also learning from me. They know the physiology of breath and its impact on their feelings. They know to pause and be honest. They know those core poses that let them balance and support the activities they do (even though my son's forehead still touches the ground in downward facing dog).
Besides being a mama, what else is lighting you up in your life?
Oh my goodness, thank you so much for asking this question.
I have been practicing Kundalini yoga since 2002. This year, I started teaching it as well. It has been beautiful sharing Kundalini yoga in an inclusive, trauma-informed style.
I am so grateful to witness people be impacted by the practices that I also love: it's like watching someone take a sip of something they thought sounded odd but then realize, in tasting it, that it is delicious and deeply nutritious.
I'm now learning to incorporate some relevant Kundalini practices into prenatal practices, starting with mantra as I find it so accessible and portable and potent!
One of the many things I appreciate about Be Free (the colors! the people!) is that there is a Kundalini community. Gnosis' Kundalini Dance is so rad.
How can folks connect with you and what else are you offering in the FoCo community (or online)?
Well, if anyone sees me out and about - exploring local trails, wandering markets: please say hello! I love connecting with people. Also with dogs and plants.
I have a website to explore, onenicegreenleaf.com, and am on Instagram and Bluesky (I just posted a six-word story thread on Bluesky, if anyone needs a little creativity break), both @catlstone.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I offer free, live online, yoga classes for the military community (in service military, veterans, caregivers and families) through Comeback Yoga. On the weekends I have Gentle and Vinyasa classes at Old Town Yoga, and seasonally I offer Yoga for Recovery series.
I have a (tiny) studio from which I offer individual and small group classes, which I love as we can look at ways to use yoga for specific purposes, such as addiction recovery or healing trauma, or overcoming barriers to attending community classes.
Finally, my next baby: I am working towards a Master in Clinical Mental Health, so will soon be offering individual and group mental health counseling as well. More please!
Cat Leas Stone she, her
M'Ed ERYT500 RPYT YACEP
@catlstone
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