After Class

In another episode of Heart of the Room, Kacee Must interviews Michigan based teacher Soojin Kim. Raised as Korean American, Soojin opens up about how her upbringing shaped her adult life, her relationships, and her teaching career. She talks about how she dealt with insecurity as a teacher and what she did to help herself out of that. As someone who deeply values friendship, she gives a prescription for how to be a better friend but also how to know when to lose a friend and build boundaries. In an episode about journey and self-discovery, you might find that you see some of Soojin in yourself.

In a no-holds-barred episode of Heart of the Room, Michigan based Citizen teacher Lauren Laudani opens up with host Kacee Must about breaking out of self-imposed boundaries, surrounding herself with positive, motivated people, and how she grew to love the practice of yoga. She and Kacee dive into the scary "F" word -- which in this case is Feedback -- and how to take criticism -- constructive or otherwise -- from someone else. Also, find out why Lauren is called the "shepherd" in this fun, enlightening and informative episode with another inspiring teacher.

Our second installment of Heart of the Room is out featuring Detroit based yoga teacher and law student Lydia Munn. Listen to Lydia and Kacee talk about the importance of voting, why Lydia chose to go to law school, philosophical concepts like death of the ego, body positivity, the importance of mental health in the Black community, her teacher training experience with Citizen, and more!

Dr. Gail Parker, author of Restorative Yoga for Ethnic and Race-based Stress and Trauma, sits down with Kacee to discuss the importance of self-study as it relates to our own personal relationship to race and healing emotional wounding from our past. One of Dr. Parker's gift is to approach this topic with compassion and understanding. Dr. Gail and Kacee both share personal stories about their own healing and wounding throughout the conversation.

Dr. Gail Parker is the president of the Black Yoga Teachers Alliance (BYTA) Board of Directors. Dr. Parker is a faculty member in the Kripalu School of Integrative Yoga Therapy teaching in the Mental Health Module of the curriculum. Her broad expertise in behavioral health and wellness includes forty years as a practicing psychologist. Dr. Parker is a lifelong practitioner of yoga and is well known for her pioneering efforts to blend psychology, yoga, and meditation as effective self-care strategies that can enhance emotional balance, and contribute to the overall health and wellbeing of practitioners.

Interested in learning more?

• Sign up for Dr. Parker's Online Practice + Discussion with Citizen Yoga, May 9, 2023, 5:30-8:30pm EST. Register: Self-Study + Restorative Practice for Ethnic and Race-Based Stress and Trauma
• Join Kacee, Dr. Parker and Dr. Christine Maren in Desert Hot Springs, CA in May 2023 for a Medicine + Movement retreat.

Kacee sits down with Aymey Kinney, an Experience Manager at the Citizen Yoga studios, as she shares her story of why she chose to shave her head. They delve into bucking beauty standards and the process of redefining yourself confidently.