Finding Serenity: Yoga and Sound Healing with Alexandra Charles-Kersey

When Alexandra Charles-Kersey transitioned from professional dance to yoga and meditation, she discovered a wellspring of healing that would forever alter her life's direction.  Join us as Alexandra, founder of Soul Tribes in Houston, shares her transformative journey and how the integration of Bikram, Kundalini, and yin yoga into her daily rhythm helped her achieve a sense of well-bring and balance.  Together, we unpack the resilience of the human spirit and the role of these ancient practices in navigating the ebbs and flows of life.

The conversation will cover the benefits of yin yoga and using sound bowls for therapeutic effects on the body and mind. Alexandra will share  stories of how yoga has helped her and members of her 'Soul Tribe' members, including one who avoided surgery through specialized yoga sessions. She'll explain the studio's unique offerings for all levels of practitioners.

Alexandra provides insights on finding balance through a fulfilling yoga practice and teaching career. including the importance of self-awareness, adaptability, patience and persistence when embarking on a path like yoga teacher training for personal growth or to instruct others. The overall theme is how yoga can facilitate holistic health and harmony.

Alexandra was born and raised in Sydney, Australia,  She has been a professional dancer her whole life.  She found yoga early on to help heal some injuries and meditation to assist in centering and finding balance. Her approach to both is with wholistic real-world tools and practices, and most of all to make things enjoyable and accessible for anybody.  

She opened her studio, Soul Tribes Yoga and Meditation, in Houston Texas in 2019, where she strives to help people cultivate self-awareness and compassion, strength and stability, mind and body balance, and tools for optimal breathing.

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Transcript

Rose: 0:00

When you discover a yoga space that offers you the opportunity to plant seeds of awareness and supports you in blossoming to your full potential, you've discovered a community, a place where you can enjoy the practice that is best suited for where you are on your journey. And if this place offers sound healing while in a yummy yin class, well then that is just nirvana. Welcome to Chat off the Mat, the podcast that explores the transformative journey of healing and self-discovery where energy, spirituality, mind and body intersect. Hi, I'm your host, Rose Wippich, and I invite you to join me and explore ways to invite more holistic practices into your life. I will feature experts and practitioners who provide insights, tips and practical advice. From Reiki to Qigong, chakra balancing to shamanism, this podcast will be your guide to understanding how these practices can lead to more harmony and greater energy.

Rose: 1:07

Whether you're seeking stress relief, emotional balance or a deeper connection to your authentic self, chat Off the Mat provide you with insights and inspiration. Let's start discovering the possibilities that lie within you. Possibilities that lie within you. Welcome to Chat Off the Mat. Today we have with us Alexandra Charles-Kersee, founder and visionary of Soul Tribes in Houston, texas, and this is where she shares her love of yoga, sound healing and meditation. Welcome to Chat Off the Mat, alexandra. So nice to have you here today.

Alexandra: 1:48

Yeah, thank you for having me. I'm excited, yeah me too.

Rose: 1:52

I know we share a love of very similar modalities, which we will speak about today. So I would like to just start off by asking you to tell the audience, the listeners, a little bit about yourself and how you became a yoga studio owner, a yoga teacher. What inspired you to be on this path?

Alexandra: 2:12

Yeah, thank you. Well, hello everybody. So I am from Sydney, Australia. That's where I was born and raised, so I still have the accent, if anyone's like, hmm, where is that from? And I was actually a professional dancer. So I've been dancing my whole life and at about 16, I started 16, nearly 17, I started working, and that was my entire life. My whole goal of my life was to be a professional performer. So I was a dancer, I traveled around the world, I was in some musicals. I loved all the things I did in Sydney and then at 27, I actually moved over to America. I had enough behind me then to be able to get a working visa for performing. And I came to America and actually moved to Las Vegas and I was in shows there which I loved, and I got to do all kinds of wild, amazing things and come from the roof of you know 40 foot, you know buildings and all kinds of great things. And then I ended up coming to Houston, Texas. So that's a little part of the story In that story of being a professional dancer.

Alexandra: 3:20

You know, I was a professional dancer and a performer when, I guess, the internet wasn't as big as it is today, and so I did suffer from some injuries because of my performance and you know I went through, you know, healing and getting them fixed and a lot of you know work on them. And then, as I started to get a little bit older and someone took me to Bikram actually back in the day Bikram was at its height, wonderful and I thought, wow, this is great, like I really need this for structure, because I was a little bit of a wild child as well and I was like, well, you know, in my early 20s, I was like, wow, I love this for the structure and this feels amazing. And at the time I wasn't, you know, doing weights or I didn't like running. So I was like, oh, this is great, besides dancing, I can do this, it's helping with my flexibility, things like that. And then that progressed and I started doing a lot of meditation, deep, deep meditation work, which was incredible. And that meditation brought me to Kundalini yoga, which was like the polar opposite of Bikram yoga. And through that I remember there was this one class I was taking and one class I took excuse me, and I don't know. I just had this moment of wow. I want to share this with people Because before this time I had never thought I wanted to be a teacher in any aspect.

Alexandra: 4:47

I was like I'm a dancer, this is what I'm doing, this is my life. I'll work out the next step when it comes to it. And a thing and I'd had previous teachers say to me like, oh, you'd be a really good teacher. I'm like, yeah, whatever. And for this one Kundalini class I did. I can't remember what it was about, but I just remember being like, oh, my goodness, like I would love to share this with people, like people need to have this, like this is amazing.

Alexandra: 5:13

And on that path, I decided to, soon after I had actually moved to America. And then, when I was in America, I just happened to the studio that I went to did not do Kundalini, by the way, but they did, you know, all kinds of yoga they did. They focused on hot yoga and Bikram and Vinyasa, all kinds of things, and so they were holding a teacher training and I was like, well, this kind of just worked perfectly. And so I did it. And then I think, the more that I started learning, I just fell more and more and more in love. And, um, I think, being a performer, it it was comfortable for me to teach and it was comfortable for me to be in front of people because I've been doing it since I was four years old. Um, and just that, I just loved just absorbing as much as I could. And I think my previous injuries throughout my life where I'd have to go to you know we call them osteopaths or, you know, massage therapists, things like that in Australia I had also learned about myself and my injuries because I wanted to know how to not obviously do it again. So everything sort of helped each other.

Alexandra: 6:23

And you know, I started teaching yoga, I started teaching meditation. Um, I kept, you know, doing. Different trainings kept growing, kept evolving. And then, um, I actually went. I lived in America, lived in Vegas, went to move to Houston because I was sick of Vegas and then loved Houston. Things kept evolving. I actually went back to Australia to be with my family for a little bit. In that time I was able to learn and grow even more in my teaching and my practice from some incredible teachers back in Sydney.

Alexandra: 6:54

And then, yeah, I decided to come back to America because my heart was really here, back to Houston, texas, and I thought, if I come back, it is a big deal. You know, I have to go through more visa processes, things like that, and if I'm going to make this my home, I really want to. I don't know. I want to do something exciting and special. So that is when I came up with Soul Tribes Yoga and Meditation as my studio, and so a lot of evolution. Hopefully, this wasn't too long and drawn out. That was perfect, that was great, and so, and then I came back and, yeah, I worked on starting to find my space and put together my business plan and so every little aspect of Soul Tribes I created and have created and we opened in December 2019, and we are going strong. So we made it. Yes, I don't know. Congratulations.

Rose: 7:45

It was like oh, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's a pivotal piece of of history, when you can say I made it through COVID you know, business and you survived it.

Rose: 7:56

I love that and I love your journey. I'd love to hear, for our audience, to hear, a person's journey, because a lot of people have changed their course of their career. So you were a dancer in Las Vegas and you loved it, but things happened, changes occurred, things in your body, injuries, whatever it was, you know and then you were able to find something hopefully as fulfilling. Right, hopefully as fulfilling right, If not more even, and you're sharing once again that that love of something you do with an audience.

Alexandra: 8:31

Yeah, when I was still performing, I was performing all the way up until the month before I opened my studio. So I was performing up until yeah, I think it was like November 2019, where I said, okay, I'm going to have a little hiatus from my performing and I'm going to focus on my studio, finally like opening its doors and getting it running. And I and in my head I was like you know, in about six months I can come and do a couple of little things here and there and whatever and, of course, I have no crystal ball, I don't read the future and it turned into a lot longer period until even performers went back. And then I think, by that time, you know, I've I've come into a different phase of my life as well in general, and so I've done the little things here and there. But you know, my focus now is mostly my studio and but yeah, you're right Still just as fulfilling, just in just in a different way, A different way, yeah.

Rose: 9:27

Well, I think the universe found a way to guide you in this direction, because just by talking to you and listening to you and seeing you, you have this wonderful energy that I can sense is very contagious to other people.

Alexandra: 9:41

Oh, thank you.

Rose: 9:42

Oh yay.

Alexandra: 9:43

Yay, I love this.

Rose: 9:47

You did Kundalini, which, by the way. I've tried Kundalini a few times it's it's so different than what I've experienced. Not sure if it's something that jives or vibes with me, but obviously it made such an impact with you. Can I make a?

Alexandra: 10:01

point of that Cause I don't teach Kundalini. So I want to make that clear. I don't teach bickering, I don't teach kundalini, right I? I I'm a big fan of kundalini, but I do believe this you have to have the right teacher, because I have been to some kundalini classes and I was like what is this like? I just it just didn't click, whereas I think when I took a kundal class in Sydney and this studio unfortunately doesn't exist anymore, but it was just these teachers, just I don't know. I don't know there was something about them that they or maybe it was the studio and how she required people to have a certain structure to the class. I don't, I'm not sure, but I definitely think it's a it's a teacher thing which we kind of know that with all classes, right, like if you resonate with the teacher, you're going to be like man. That wasn't for me, which is understandable. But yeah, it is, it is pretty. I don't want to say it's not. There's no negative connotation when I say this, by the way. It's just different.

Rose: 10:58

It's like it's a different it's like kooky and a little bit wild and you're like, well, what is happening? But it is, yeah, it's different. I would love to do a podcast if there's any Kundalini teachers out there that would want to come and talk about it. But briefly, can you just just so that our audience, the audience, knows what Kundalini is? Can you give us like just a brief?

Alexandra: 11:18

Oh, I'll do my best and I hope no Kundalini teachers get to come with me. So Kundalini we talk about actually Kundalini, not for the yoga part, but Kundalini is that energy at the base of our spine that they say is that power, energy that rises up. Yeah, so just like the snake, you know, on the sword, you know the snake winding up. And so in Kundalini I think Yogi Bhajan brought it over to the West and then Kundalini Yoga is very much of a. They touch on you know a lot of. They touch on meditation, chanting, energy and they call them kriyas and movement. A lot of the movement is very repetitive. Yes, a lot of the breathing they do a lot of breath work incorporated into that. So a lot of breath of fire they do. And again, please, no kundalini. Yeah, I'm just trying to. You're explaining it well.

Alexandra: 12:11

Yeah, you do a lot of a lot of things with eyes closed um move, our movement lots of arm movements, very repetitive, like things you're maybe chanting at the same time, whether in your head or out loud, as you're doing movements and then breath singing. So it's just, it's just a little bit different. It's very yeah, it can be very repetitive, but very odd. It's not like a typical like oh I'm going to, you know, a vinyasa class or a hustle. It's just, it's just very different.

Rose: 12:39

It's very meditative almost. I was doing it recently and I kind of zoned out a little bit and I thought my arms were going to fall off and eventually I kind of worked through it. So so yeah, it's just a whole different vibe.

Alexandra: 12:49

But yeah, you did a great. You're into it. You'll be like let's have some weird wacky like woo, woo, um, go for it yeah, it's like chanting or I don't want to talk about you know, spirituality, then maybe, maybe not for you.

Rose: 13:07

So so now we're going to segue into something that is kind of can be new to some people that are used to your traditional flow yoga, which I know you teach and I teach as well, but I want to talk about something that we both are passionate about, and that's yin yoga. Yes, I love I love yin and more and more people are now loving yin and didn't know what it was. And you know a lot of people call it like a big stretch and I love your term.

Rose: 13:33

We call it yeah, we call it sloppy stretching tell us what drew you to the practice of yin yoga and how different it is.

Alexandra: 13:43

Oh, I love yin yogain yoga. I know I think that everyone needs some yin yoga in their life. And if you go to yin yoga the first time and you don't like it, you should just still go, you should just keep going. So yin yoga is as we call it. We like to call it sleepy stretching and we actually have that in our class description so that people go oh okay, yeah, that sounds nice. So it's a really beautiful way to just relax and reset.

Alexandra: 14:07

Now there are different spectrums of yin yoga. So at my studio we go on the very softer side of yin yoga. So yin yoga, the basic premise is that you are in poses for a few minutes and in those poses you're not trying to stretch or pull or do much effort, but rather you're trying to relax into a shape, get to about that 70%-ish of you know your range somewhere that's comfortable. You might use props to help, you know support yourself and then, as you relax into that, your muscles, you know, stop being involved. We safely open up into the connective tissue and the fascia and then, in that you can start to open up a little bit more, but instead of opening up by pulling or, you know, forcing the stretch to happen, like we do a lot of times in, you know, our Hatha or Yang style yogas. It's more so of that passive, that let go, let's come into that yin, that other balance of the soft flow of just allowing and surrendering to the opening. In that as well is, you know, it's a beautiful place for your whole body just to reset, so your nervous system gets to calm down your mind, you know, sometimes will be a bit wild, but in that will usually start to find stillness. The more you practice and it's just kind of I think of it and I talk to find stillness, the more you practice and it's just kind of I think of it and I talk to my classes as well. This is like the opposite of everything we do in our society these days. Right, like it's just the opposite because everything is go, go, go, do, do, do. What's the next thing on your to-do list? How much are you achieving? What's your next goal? And in yoga, especially how we teach it is on that really soft side is can you just do less? Can you do less and can you just allow your body to do what it needs rather than you thinking about making it do more. So hopefully that was a good explanation. Yes, that was perfect.

Alexandra: 16:04

Yeah, and the way that I found it was. I actually did do a whole big module on it in my teacher training when I very first did it, and then I found that going to some classes, it was just so beautiful and I needed it too. I'm a very a personality person which is really good in certain aspects of my life and has got me very far, and also I recognize and know that I need balance. And so when I started finding yin just like I loved meditation I was like, oh my gosh, it's like, you know, yoga and stretching and meditation had a beautiful baby and this is yin yoga. I love that, yeah, cause, and that's how it felt for me. So I kept doing it.

Alexandra: 16:42

And because Soul Tribes, the studio is, we are a non-heated studio. We want to be more on the gentle side of everything, so even our vinyasas are a more gentle vinyasa. We're very breath-based, so very long, slow, deep breathing to help us move. And we found that our you know, I had yin yoga on the schedule at in the evenings and we just found that everyone loved them so much, which I was so happy about, and so we started putting more and more on and people kept turning up and we actually have some members that all they come to is yin yoga.

Alexandra: 17:16

But we have yin yoga once to twice a day, every day, every single day. So there's, I think, two. Yeah, maybe only Saturday we have one class and Friday we have one. No, we don't said Friday even we have two, so we always have usually one in the morning. We call it our sunrise seed class because we call our yin yoga seed as like yes, I like, I'd like that you're trying to label your class, your course yeah, um, and then we always have one at night as well, except for Thursday night, I like.

Alexandra: 17:46

so we don't have one on Thursday night, but we have lunchtime yin classes. We have people that come for 45 minutes in their lunch break just to like. You know, we have the room dark, we have very soft music playing and everything's very calm, and I just love that. All of our people love it so much, and so we, like I said, we have people that come just for our yin yoga.

Rose: 18:08

And you don't need to be totally flexible or have a lot of flexibility in your body, because props help you right. They support you, yeah, and we can encourage people to make modifications and adjustments based on their anatomy.

Alexandra: 18:23

Exactly, and you know we, the way that I teach and I have my teachers teach as well is like, you know, yes, this is where we're going, like, this is the pose, but there's, you know, seven different ways that you can set up that works for your body, and it's there's no competition here and it doesn't matter. And let's let's face it like the room's dark, so you don't even have to worry about anyone looking at you. But, yeah, it is perfect for everyone and anyone, whatever your body is, because it's just you feeling like. For us it's a big like how do you feel? Right, like, what is that feeling like for you? Because if you're in pain, you're not where you should be. We should pull back out. We can give you a whole different pose if this pose is not working at all for you, no matter what.

Alexandra: 19:06

And I think that having that, you know, three to four to five minutes, depending on what shape and pose it is, it gives people that time to be like okay, well, I don't have to, I don't have to look like that, or I don't have to like this is hurting, so I'm going to come out and I'm going to try something else, or I'm going to, you know, put a whole bunch of cushions underneath me and, oh, now it feels fine. But yes, it's so good for any body. Yes, yeah. And we have people to come that you know they do have problems of movement or injuries. We have some older members that you know they have have, you know, things that just do not move in certain ways. But they love the class because, again, it gives you so much availability to make it work for you.

Rose: 19:54

I love that and it it allows you permission to slow down yes, you have a high stress job. You're like, okay, well, I have one o'clock, I have to go to yin class and it's like they, they slow down.

Alexandra: 20:10

I have permission to stop to hopefully shut the mind, which takes a lot of effort for some people yes, but even if you're just like so, we have a no phone, no iphone policy and, um, you know, sometimes people, people are like, oh, but I'm like, out, it's safe, I love you.

Alexandra: 20:29

Out it goes, doors are locked, cameras are on, like no. So even if people can't relax their mind at first, because that's a process in itself, but just the fact that you can't be contacted for that 45 minutes or an hour, you can't look at your screens, you can't send another text message. So for me it's like, even if your mind's going because that's the part, that's like the last thing usually to get on board of the chill zone, but you're still being forced just to be still and just slow down, like you said, which is, you know, I think we've sometimes well, hopefully it's coming back now but that magic of slowing down, yeah, I hope it is coming back because stress is is so prevalent in this society and I I see, with so many people and and I and I see also an increase in men showing up for classes, which I love, and men tend to be less flexible, let's say in the hips and so forth, to really work harder.

Rose: 21:28

I see them working harder because they want to be more flexible and they're really, you know, they're making the effort to show up and do the shapes. I love that you say shapes instead of poses.

Alexandra: 21:42

Yeah, yeah, and then that pose is going to look different in my body, as it is in your body, as it is in you know, the 80 year old man that's next to us. That's different from the you know 25 year old, you know young man.

Rose: 21:56

That's like it's just everybody's different and, and the 80 year old man may be even more flexible and mobile than the 25. I've seen that as well.

Alexandra: 22:04

Yeah, this is why I'd like to say any body, yeah exactly anybody I love.

Rose: 22:10

You know, when I remember when I first started taking yoga again and was introduced to Yin as a student, I was told I had to have my leg in a certain way for pigeon pose or swan pose and I was like there is no way I will bust a knee, might bust a knee. And then I started. I became a teacher. I've been practicing yoga for a very like 30 years, but I became a teacher like eight years ago, seven years ago, and I really loved yin yoga and then, as I started to learn more about teaching it, I understood how everybody's different and there's more of a functional alignment versus an aesthetic alignment, that your leg cannot go this way because your your knee is going to break.

Alexandra: 22:47

Yeah, actually that's not working. It's not working an aesthetic alignment that your leg cannot go this way because you're you're not going to be able to shift these other things so that still you're in a safe place for your joints and making and having benefit. But you know it's going to look different because your bone structure is different.

Rose: 23:01

I'm assuming they give you feedback, right?

Alexandra: 23:03

So share some of that feedback that some of your students have come to you with, like a story of transformation or yeah, we have so many members, whether they're doing just yin yoga or also incorporating some of our other vinyasa classes, which is still more gentle, but people are saying that they have more range of motion, that they're sleeping better, that their pain in their hips are gone. I had, I had, a member that she just popped into my mind and she didn't take yin yoga that much but she took a lot of our, just our vinyasa classes that are, we call them bloom fundamentals. So just so you know. So our yin yoga is the seed class. Then we have our bloom class, which is vinyasa fundamentals. So nothing crazy, just all nice, like you know, that are fine, and we go slow and we don't even go from a down dog to step forward. We go from a forward fold to step back right Again, making it accessible for people. And then we have our thrive class, and then a thrive class is our vinyasa level up, which is, we expect you to know your practice because this is more of an intermediate, advanced class. We only have a couple of those, to be honest, because, again, that's just not our studio. Our studio is more on that gentle side, but the bloom people can make it harder easily for beginners. So I say that too.

Alexandra: 24:22

So it's that understanding, but I am a member that came to my mind just now. Is she? What's it called? It's called not bronchitis, that's in the throat. I just went blank, asper. No, it's in your joints, I think it's called like oh my goodness, bursitis. Yes, yes, bursitis. It's not bronchitis, bricitis.

Alexandra: 24:45

So she had bursitis in her hip and she had her doctor telling her like there's a good chance we're going to either have to operate or start giving you shots. And she said to me she's like okay, what else can I do for my hip to come and, like you know, start to help move things around? She was very, very tight and I said to her I was like, look, let's focus on all these different hip stretches. I don't know if it's going to help your actual bursitis, of course, I'm not a doctor, but you're very tight, so at least we can give your muscles and your joints a little bit more space.

Alexandra: 25:16

So, because she was doing a lot of weightlifting and a lot of, she was very strong, but there was no balance there. So I worked with her on let's get the balance of now. Let's opening things up in a good way. Let's getting massages. Balance of now, let's opening things up in a good way. Let's getting massages, let's all these things. She ended up having her bursitis go away and she yeah, she didn't end up having to have shots, she didn't have to have an operation, nothing, wow, yeah, that's a success story. Yeah, and she was like I this is amazing and it's funny.

Alexandra: 25:45

Now even her husband comes to us when she brings her you know grown up kids every now and again, but but yeah, so that that story popped into my head. Now, that wasn't necessarily Yin, that was just in general, but I bring her up because we were focusing on stretching and we'll. That was her focus, right Besides her other things and yin yoga. You know, we have so many people just say that they feel better in general, that they're calmer, that they're just really looking forward to this time to like, oh, let go. You know, and also that, like you mentioned that permission to slow down. You know, I've said in my classes before, especially yin, I say, you know, if I offer you a pose and you just actually want to lie there and relax instead, that's okay, Like that's fine. And I've had people that they then roll to their side and then they're just like, hmm, and they'll just stay there.

Alexandra: 26:40

And I'm like perfect, that's what they need, that's what they need, and then they'll come out and they'll be like oh, that was, that was the best class. Yeah, they did like four of the posts, like three poses, but they were just like oh, that's exactly what I needed. It was that permission, isn't it great?

Rose: 26:55

Yeah, I love that and you know, even as you explain your your flow type classes that are slower, more gentle, you allow a person to really tune in and notice what's happening in the body as they move the body, yeah, instead of moving in your like thrive classes, where it's more breath to movement and a person who wants that, they can have that. But people that are just starting out can just go at a slower pace.

Alexandra: 27:25

Yeah, we go at a slower pace, we take more breaks, we give more options of rest points. You know, like, like I mentioned, you know, even in those classes instead of you know a traditional, I guess, vinyasa or hatha class a lot of times we are in a downward facing dog and then we step forward. That's unavailable for actually a lot of people, a lot Right. And so when I started my class, my studio, you know, when I have, I'm very, I'm very big on structure and consistency in my studio, my people know this and I said you know what in blooms, we are not doing that.

Alexandra: 28:00

We're not doing it unless you know every single person that's in your class and their practice is strong and you want to do that as like a growth thing for that particular class. Otherwise, every class we come from a forward fold and we step back and we go there and guess what? It's so much more accessible for so many more people. Now, may it be easy for someone that is a really seasoned practitioner, sure, but there's other ways that you can make your practice more challenging by being more aware of what you're doing right, or squeezing a different muscle, or pressing down a little bit more with intention. So you know, doing something that's harder, I have a big belief doing something that's harder isn't always better.

Rose: 28:43

Right, yeah, yeah, I love that. So let's so. You also love to integrate other modalities into your studio, into community, into your classes, and you do a lot of sound bowl healing. So I'm just going to switch gears a little bit about sound bowl and what inspired you to pursue. So you do the soundball healing, am I right? I?

Alexandra: 29:06

do as well. Yes, and I've also trained. I've trained some of my teachers as well, and I do have a couple of teachers that were already doing this and that have come on my teaching team, but I have trained a lot of my teachers actually now that, yes, do it. Yeah, I, I found soundballs many, many years ago. I was, it was very funny, I was at this conscious, like it was like a party, but it was just for all people that wanted to, like we were doing, you know, a circle ceremony and ecstatic dance and anyway, this, this, um, it was all the way back in Vegas when I was there and then this person, I was like, oh my goodness, I think I've seen those before. Hey, crystal bowls. I said, yes, go play with them. And I went and I just I was like, and I was mesmerized, mesmerized by playing these bowls, and I thought, you know what, one day, when I have a studio, we're going to have crystal bowls. And many years later, my love for them just grew and grew and grew. I had my own set that I loved and it was a solid, a solid. Then like, yes, this will be part of my studio.

Alexandra: 30:10

And so when I opened, we have dedicated classes just to meditation. So we have dedicated classes just to guided meditation. And then we have dedicated classes to our soundboard classes. So we call our sound bath class listen. So it's listen, sound bath. We call our guided meditation that's around mindfulness, we call that connect. And then we have one guided meditation that's all around the energetic body, so the chakras, the aura, things like that, a lot of visualization, and we call that class infuse. So every time we have the names, we also have what it is after it. So listen, sound bath, connect, mindfulness meditation and infuse energy body meditation. Oh, I love that. Listen classes got so popular that we have one every single day, except for Friday, which class.

Rose: 30:58

I'm sorry I missed it. Our listen class yes, oh, the listen class Okay. So the sound yeah, oh, wow.

Alexandra: 31:09

Yeah, and our soundball classes they're half an hour. We do about eight minutes of dedicated breath work beforehand and then, after the breath work, which is exactly the same every class, then we go into a solid 20 minutes of soundballs, with no talking, just the sound. Oh yeah, I know you need to come visit Houston, I will Come be my guest, and we so in our we have a dedicated meditation room, so we have a yoga room and a meditation room. Our meditation room is carpeted, it has cushions, we have curtains all around, so it feels like you're in a little cocoon.

Alexandra: 31:40

And then we have we have two giant crystal bowls which are both 22 inches and 24 inches, so they're it doesn't sound big, but when you see them they're very big. And then we have about another what? 7, 8, 9, 10, I think 10 other bowls that are in various sizes and connected to different chakra points, but also just different notes. And so we have a beautiful plethora of crystal bowls and we also have a rain stick that, um, we use when we do special events. I bring my gong and also Koshi chimes, because once a month I have a 75 minute event that I do with another beautiful sound healer of mine, my dear friend and, um, we both play actually at the same time, yes, and so we are on either sides of the big yoga room and everyone is around and we both play. So we have that once a month as well, which we call our Alchemy Sound Bath Meditation. I know you got to come for that. Come, oh my gosh. Third saturday of every month, come and have a visit I will have.

Rose: 32:40

I've never been to Houston and I would love to. I was thinking about that. I'm like I need to come down and and hang out and maybe. Maybe what I could do is I'll, I'll bring my drum and yeah, well she, I have a shamanic drum.

Alexandra: 32:53

Oh my god, my favorite. So she actually has a Sh amanic drum and sound alchemy bowls, and then I have my gong and we both have koshi chimes. So we, we've been doing it now long enough that we we are just so synced when we play, like okay, she's about to drum, so I come into this other part of playing, or I'm doing my gong, and she accentuates by doing like yeah, so it's definitely a magical experience we sell out every month so what is the cut?

Rose: 33:20

the whole concept around the sound bowls, the sizes you were starting to allude to that. The sizes have something to do with notes, but also chakras, yep, energy centers, yeah. So what are the other? So what are the benefits now of having sound bowl? You're laying there so, so typical. So if you could, just, we just set the the tone here.

Rose: 33:39

Everyone's laying down on a mat right or a cushion or yeah you're comfy and then you just start this, and how do you know which ones to do? Or do you have a pattern or like, and? And how do people benefit from this sound healing? What is, what is it about? The sound healing that is, that is healing yeah, amazing questions.

Alexandra: 34:03

How about I start with the benefits and then?

Rose: 34:05

I'll. Yeah, I know there was a lot of questions in there. No, no, I love it.

Alexandra: 34:07

I'm exactly the same. So I'm like I'm eating track, don't you worry. So the benefits are you know the benefits that have come out are very much, like you know reduce stress, better sleep, you know, good for anxiety, good for, you know, just moods in general. Also, you know there's and I don't want to say like it's been proven, but you know, all the bowls emit frequencies. Frequencies is a scientific thing, right, and you can feel the bowls, especially the big bowls, when you're next to them. And I'm playing like we have members that come early just to get the seats, the spots, as close to the bowls as they can because they can feel it Right. So with the frequencies and the vibrations of the bowls, those frequencies are coming at us at a cellular level.

Alexandra: 34:52

Yeah, and so that thought process is well if we're getting healed at a cellular level, because everything is vibration, right, like the world is vibrating to its own tune.

Alexandra: 35:02

You know our wifi is vibrating to a different tune, you know, or everything you know, same as sound. Think of sound in general, of you know when you're listening to a sad song, you might be happy, but you're listening to a sad song and you know it brings some of that emotion out, or you're? You know upbeat song, here you go, you're like I want to dance right, different things like that. So mentally we can hear that sound and it takes over some of our brain patterns. It's healing us on a cellular level. It's helping us come into a space of calm. A lot of people that in my experience, have maybe found it hard to meditate, even if it's to guided meditation, because they might drift off a lot they find that the sound just feels like it's encompassing them and it's just easier for them to relax their mind. Now when I say that and if I hope, if anyone has never done meditation, I hope you don't think that I'm meaning have no thoughts at all, because that is not our goal and it's impossible.

Rose: 35:58

And it's yeah, you would be brain dead and we don't want that.

Alexandra: 36:02

But it's more so that quietening. You know that, oh, I can, I can maybe think of something and let it just roll through me and then, oh, I'm continuing on and oh, wow, that sound is beautiful but I'm letting go. And you know, we have people that say that you know, old memories of theirs come up that they just totally forgot about that, just beautifully come up to have this joy, or that they see colors and they feel like there's colors washing through them. So, depending on I like to call it like a woo, like depending on how woo-woo you want to get with things, it's like you know what journey do you want to go on? It's you know, it is proven to you know heal, in a sense of calming down right and that cellular level, frequency and vibration that's coming through you is helping everything. I like to think of it as resetting Right, like giving you a bit of a rinse out of like, oh yeah, let's like vibrate all this stuff, let it come through me and then like, let's refresh and feel new again.

Rose: 37:03

Wow, I love that. I love the way you explain that, and I've seen people cry oh yes, they release so much.

Alexandra: 37:14

Yes.

Rose: 37:15

Yeah, vibration moving and moving the energy in their bodies, their bones, like you said, cellular level releasing and they're just crying and and, oh my God, it's so, it's. It's beautiful to see that Exactly.

Alexandra: 37:29

And some people come to me, you know, and they're like I had tears and I didn't even I wasn't sad though I don't know what happened and I'm like that's okay, like just let it's fine, let it happen, and some people just get really calm and some people walk out. You know, I make a little silly joke at the beginning of all of mine I'll be like who's ready to go to outer space today? And people are like what? Because you feel like you sometimes just go to another planet.

Alexandra: 37:56

And you know, one thing I do also say when I play is, you know, some people have a meditation practice, right, and that could be that you are working on mantras or you know, maybe you have goals that you're working on, maybe you're working on gratitude or you know focused breath, but whatever it is, if you have a meditation practice, this is just even more beneficial, because sorry, let me correct that I don't mean more beneficial, as in you need to have a meditation practice to get the benefits of this. I just meant you're just combining, right, so you still have your meditation practice. Have this also help in this other sense, to like amplify it. And if you don't have enough meditation practice which is perfectly fine as well. This is your meditation practice, exactly Right, like this, is it?

Alexandra: 38:43

And that's great, you know, and sometimes we don't need to have a specific goal or practice in mind to show up. Sometimes you can just show up and be like, okay, whatever, I'm here, I'm here and I'm going to let go. And you can just show up and be like, okay, whatever, I'm here, I'm here and I'm going to let go and I've got this time to be right here.

Rose: 39:05

And letting your heart expand, let your mind be free and just be. Have you ever found that some of the vibrations of some of the different bowls don't resonate?

Alexandra: 39:16

Yeah, and even that actually comes into that question that you had earlier as well, which we can get to still if you like, but like even playing. So sometimes you know, and I have played, like these bowls are my bowls right, and I've bought them for the studio and some of them are mine from years ago, before I had the studio, and so I know these bowls right, which these are, which sounds like yeah, like you know your instrument right, and like there will be sometimes that I'll go to play something and I'm like, oh, okay, must you know, like you don't want to be played by me today, right, like that's okay, no problem, right, cause obviously the and it's not because of the bowl, it's because of me, right there, right Cause, obviously it's not because of the bowl, it's because of me, right, there's obviously something, something maybe of me that's like, maybe that's, you know, maybe I had a stressful day and that triggered, and so then I have to go back to my intention of like okay, and that's fine and but it will happen, same as like my um, my teaching partner for the alchemy soundbar. She has alchemy bowls, so she has alchemy bowls and a couple of sound bowls that are quartz crystal bowls. So alchemy bowls are infused with different precious gems and metals. That that's from, and they don't play nice all the time with the crystal bowls.

Alexandra: 40:25

So we have times where, like, I make sure that I'm not playing crystal bowls so that she can play her alchemy bowls, because if she's trying to play her alchemy bowls and I'm playing my crystal bowls, and that she can play her alchemy bowls, because if she's trying to play her alchemy bowls and I'm playing my crystal bowls and it'll be time, and she just says they just don't want to play, they don't want to play, they don't want to play nice with with them, right? Just, there's different vibrations happening which I know can be a bit like what is going on. They're just instruments, but they definitely have intention and vibration. And so, going back to even quickly touching on when someone else comes in, they might be like, oh, but maybe that's because there's something stuck there.

Rose: 41:04

Yes, they need that.

Alexandra: 41:06

Yeah, and you're like oh okay, can I breathe through this? Can I surrender to this? Can I let go through this? That's the same as like when I said oh, oh, that doesn't want to play for me. I wonder what's going on for me.

Rose: 41:16

yeah, well it's like your crystal and alchemy poles. It's like when you have a relationship or you have a partner and you guys are just like getting along that day and you're like, okay, I gotta leave you alone, leave me alone and do our thing, or you know, it's just they, that interaction between the two sometimes just don't jive. Do you offer like, do you do one-on-one sessions or private sessions? We do.

Alexandra: 41:40

Yes, we do one-on-ones. We do groups. We have a lot of corporate group sessions at the moment that companies want to start incorporating this for their you know, their team members. I have a lot of people coming with like I want to celebrate my birthday, or oh fun, yeah. So we have a lot of people coming with like I want to celebrate my birthday, or oh fun, yeah. So we do a lot of private groups. We have sometimes couples that want to do like a little couple session where we will you know, maybe the good thing is is, whenever you're paying for a private and you're getting a private group or private session, in some regard, we can always tailor things for you. So, you know, sometimes we'll have people that were like, can we do some stretching and then also go into the sound bath? So, yes, but yeah, we definitely, we definitely do.

Rose: 42:21

Do you ever incorporate in in maybe a workshop type? Do you ever integrate in a sound bath?

Alexandra: 42:27

We do.

Rose: 42:28

Oh gosh, that must be heaven.

Alexandra: 42:30

We do, we actually call them, we call it our Sleepy Stretching and Sound Healing Workshop, and we do it every couple of months and so I usually play and then I have one of my teachers teach yin and we usually make it so that every pose is very soft and more of a softer yin pose, and then we keep them in there for a little bit longer, so at least like usually about four minutes ish, that lower like three minute section, and yes, so every so they will come in, they get into their pose.

Alexandra: 42:59

I'm playing the whole time quietly and as soon as they get into their pose she stops talking, cause a lot of yin. We like to just stop talking as well, like give the space, and then that's when I play a little bit louder to, you know, fill that space, and of course I bring it down just enough for her or him to talk, to then bring them out and take them to the next place. But yes, we do, and we always make it a 75 minute session. So then it's, you know, essentially like a normal in class for an hour, but then we still have that 15 minutes at the end where we get them really, really comfy in their Savasana or their you know way of choice to just be relaxed, and I play at least a good solid 15 minutes of just just playing at the end.

Rose: 43:39

Yeah, it's very restorative right. So, yes, we have people like can you do it every week? So so, like anything, I think having a consistent or showing up consistently so so a one-time sound bath, you know, just getting somebody in there and experiencing a one-time or beginning or a first class is is a great opportunity to kind of crack open that door and have somebody be like oh I really love this, somebody who maybe never meditated or never slowed down and just kept going and has a lot of yang energy and having and keep showing up is important, whether it's for sound bath or yin yoga or flow. It's having a consistent practice right, and then over time people can really be aware of the benefits because it's never an overnight fix.

Alexandra: 44:22

Yeah, I like to use the analogy of you know, if you go to the gym and you work out once and you do like two bicep curls, and then you're like, okay, bye, like it's not, like you're going to expect your bicep to be, you know, right. So that's the same for anything. Same as I just think that you know, just like anything in life, like we're very much into instant gratification nowadays, but really everything's actually just a practice Like the more you do something, the more you're going to get benefit from it. Same as if you go for a walk and you've never walked before. Well, at first you might just walk around your block and you're like, oh, that's enough, but you walk around your block every day. By another week, you're probably going to walk two blocks, and then you're going to still feel good. And so, yes, I definitely agree in consistent practice is going to get you the most benefit, and you're going to see the seed and feel the most out of your practice. One thing I'm really big about, though, is anyone that's starting out, whether it's at my studio or you're listening online and you're just curious. I do suggest two things Give yourself a few classes before you make your mind up, if you like it or not, because every time you go to something that's brand new, it's a little overwhelming, right?

Alexandra: 45:38

Like, even if you're a very calm person, like I, can take change, it's easy. But if you're doing something new, your senses are different. You're trying to understand what's happening, you're you know, like there's different things at play, but if you go a couple of times, then you can really make the judge of okay. But if you go a couple of times, then you can really make the judge of okay. I've settled into this. I'm getting the swing of it. It's not a surprise anymore. And now, after a couple of classes, do I like this or not? Right? So that's one of the things. And also, when it comes to meditation, you can obviously just jump right in, do as much as you want.

Alexandra: 46:08

If you're coming to a yoga class, though, and say you've never done it, I definitely suggest don't try to force yourself to do six days a week, because you're going to overdo it too quickly. Even if it's just yin and it's, you, want it to be sustainable, right? So take your bite-sized pieces that work for wherever you're at, and then grow from there, because if you're taking, let's say, you fit in one class a week. Well, again, if you are consistent with that one class a week for a couple of weeks, you might go.

Alexandra: 46:35

You know what I really want to do? I want to do another class. Now you're at two classes a week, right, and then now you're at maybe three classes and now and it grows in a beautiful organic way, rather than, okay, I'm here, I have to do five days a week. If I don't do five days a week, and then you miss five days a week. If I don't do five days a week, and then you miss five days a week and you go, oh well, I already missed it. So, oh well, I just won't come now.

Rose: 46:55

So just, I'm really big about bite says pieces no, it's great, that's wonderful advice, because I think you know, like people who do crossfit not not everybody, I know my, I'm gonna just my husband was doing, it's like.

Alexandra: 47:08

I gotta go day.

Rose: 47:09

I have to go every day. It's like I have to have to do it. It's like, yeah, I'm like you got to slow down. You have to let the body absorb. You know the practice. And did he burn himself out? He got injured. He's actually having an exo during that week.

Alexandra: 47:24

So, yeah, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry to hear that, yeah, that's a version of burnout. That's his thing is. He loves CrossFit. Well, maybe CrossFit needs to happen three times a week so that he can stretch and restore and rest the other days, you know, and do a yoga class on another day or do just a walk, you know. That's, I think that you know, and obviously we're just not talking about just your husband, but just in general.

Alexandra: 47:46

It's like find balance, you know, same as I used to go, you know, talking about myself, I used to go to, I used to go to a Bikram yoga class, so we're talking about hot yoga and this was when classes were 90 minutes. Right, they're all and every class is now an hour or 45 minutes because we've all got time poor, apparently but I used to go 90 minutes. I used to go 90 minutes in the morning, five to six days a week, and then I would go straight to Kundalini for another 75 minutes and 90 minutes. I know I was a machine, very personality, and then I started to realize like huh, I'm like I need to slow down a little, Right, and then, and I did, and I found a better balance, because then I wasn't exhausted as much and I wasn't overexerting as much, because then I wasn't exhausted as much and I wasn't overexerting as much, and so finding that balance.

Alexandra: 48:37

It's like, oh, I can do five days or six days a week, but not all of them need to be at my full intensity, because that doesn't work. And as a woman as well, like you know, we have different fluctuations in our just a month in general. So why are we pushing every single like we shouldn't be pushed? We should be pushing in a different way than a man should.

Rose: 48:56

Absolutely.

Alexandra: 48:56

Absolutely yeah, finding that balance of like what works, or like even for men. You know, you might have a week where your work is so intense and there's something happening and maybe your family member's sick or you're sick. Maybe don't push as hard, because your body actually needs a little bit more of that to heal or get better or to deal with whatever's happening, and then you can start again the next week. So sorry, I know we've gone on a tangent.

Rose: 49:22

That takes awareness and teachers like yourself and I know I encourage and speak about tuning in. How do you feel? Not just physically? How do you feel mentally? How do you feel not just physically? How do you feel mentally, how do you feel emotionally, from the minute you get up, like just tune in and then you can, you know how to navigate your day, or what classes to take, or what not to do, or what not to take. So super important to, to tuning into that you. So you offer teacher training as well.

Alexandra: 49:48

I do. I'm about to start one in two and a half weeks.

Rose: 49:54

Do you notice that more people who are their intention, a person who takes teacher training, their intention is not always to teach right. They can take a teacher training to deepen their practice.

Alexandra: 50:06

Yes, correct. So I have definitely had some people come to me that and do my trainings, that have just wanted to dive deeper. I think there's probably one or two at the moment of this current teacher training that have already said they don't know if they want to teach. They actually just want more for themselves. Yeah, I, I.

Alexandra: 50:27

So one thing with my teacher trainings, which I've now only since this time implemented, just because it happened one of my last teacher trainings and it was just not the best, and I said I have a new implementation rule is for me, I don't take anyone on that doesn't already have a decent practice, doesn't mean you have to do all the poses, but I need you to have an understanding. So I do do teacher trainings and we touch on all the things that we do in our studio. So we do all the meditations, we do a lot of breath work, we do the vinyasa and we do yin, so we do. So they get a great understanding of all these things. And then, of course, you know, just like any 200 hour teacher training, it's a foundation, it's not the everything. And of course, if you want to go and do extra, you can, you know, do that and that's. That's what all those extras are for. You know that are out there in the world.

Alexandra: 51:21

Sorry, I think I got on a tangent, but yes, we do have people do it just to deepen. I would suggest, though, if you are brand new to yoga, though if you are brand new to yoga, maybe not the best way to learn. I think that a teacher training you usually have got so much information coming at you because it is a big training, which I know you know as well Definitely I'm not a big person. I never encourage someone if they're like brand new to yoga and they're just suddenly done like three classes and they're like I love this, I'm going to do teacher training. I'm a big, I'm a person that says I think you should do more classes first. Yeah, because jumping me personally, I think if you jump straight into teacher training, you're or you're trying to learn stuff that really, in a teacher training, we want you to already know. We're deepening that Right, because it's overwhelming. I think that's terrible, I'm sorry.

Rose: 52:16

No, it makes a lot of sense because it's very overwhelming. There's a lot of information and unless you are familiar with a lot of what is, you know a lot of the poses mostly.

Alexandra: 52:27

Yeah, and just the general pose. You don't have to know the idiosyncrasies of it, because that's exactly what teacher training is for. But, like, if I say what's extended side angle or what's butterfly or what's you know, deer pose, or, and that's obviously if we're talking about yin there and I was doing poses from both but if you don't know, it makes it 10 times harder for the training, right, you know? But it's like, oh, I know, it's this one, right. And then you go, yes, now let's delve deeper. Now let's talk about what's actually really working and what are we doing, where's the alignment and how are we breathing and what are we feeling.

Rose: 53:03

And yeah, and all the cues, and what advice do you have for people that are are new teachers, that are just fresh off the YTT?

Alexandra: 53:15

you know the YTT excitement train. Yeah, hey, one thing I suggest is keep your own practice and keep trying to learn. I definitely think, after teacher training, more depending on what structure you do it in I have mine that it's a pretty intensive structure and it's done in a shorter amount of time. Um, but I always tell my people, like, let yourself have time to marinate over things, right, like, and go over things, like, revisit stuff that you learn. Um, I think that's the big one, though, is keeping your own, keeping your own practice and making sure that you're still learning. Um, I'm, you know.

Alexandra: 53:54

I tell my trainees, like, look, I'm teaching you what we do at our studio and all the things that I've learned, but there's so much out there. There is so much out there and that's okay If you love this now, and then you change. Like I got my first teacher training in hot yoga. I do not teach hot yoga now and I haven't for years, right, but all those things were helpful on my journey of all the other different trainings I've had and where I'm at. But, yeah, keep, keep in your own practice.

Alexandra: 54:19

If you're a teacher that's starting out and you are, you know, actually teaching and you're teaching a lot. That's another I definitely say keep your own practice, because it's very easy for new teachers to teach so much that they don't practice, and then things get stale or you get burnt out because you're not filling up your own cup and you're forgetting why you were passionate about this in the first place, because all you're doing is giving, giving, giving, giving, giving. We have to find that balance which, you know, is like what I try to teach my trainees, is like that, that's what yoga is anyway. It's just balance. You know, like how can we find the balance? Whether that's the balance in your life, the balance in your work and play, the balance in your body, the balance in your mind. You know, where are we finding balance? So, yeah, that's great advice.

Rose: 55:09

Even for people who have been teaching for a while, it's really important to take classes and learn from other teachers, because we all should help each other. I think that the yoga community is a beautiful community and I know you're big on community and creating community in a tribe because I love that word tribe, that soul tribe name is just beautiful and we should all be there to support each other. I know that, like I was saying, there's a lot of teachers and it's very competitive and you know, with the COVID and online training and studios are closing it's so competitive. But you know, there's enough yoga. There's so many people to teach yoga to. So let's all work together and collaborate and support each other and get as many people as we can to love yoga as much as we do.

Alexandra: 55:59

Yeah, definitely, and that comes into. Well, you know, great point is we now have access to teachers that we would never have had access to before, because we can access them on YouTube or some of the you know some. You know there's so many different apps now that are there that you can have teachers from all around the world or, like you know, even for us, like there's people that you know if you want to come and take my class, well, guess what? We have virtual, it's live, so it has to work with, obviously, your time schedule, depending where you are. But because we have live virtual classes, like you can take my class.

Alexandra: 56:30

Like there's a teacher in Australia that I love and every now and again, if my my you know schedule aligns like I'll do their virtual class, obviously Australia's other world, so it's hard to, but, you know, I think that that's that beauty is. Like you know, we do have that access and that reminder that you're right, like there is so many people out there and there's so many different ways to do yoga I'm a big believer is there's no right, right way, like they're all great ways and it's what resonates, because someone that comes to me might not like my teaching, but other people love it. And then someone might come to you and be like oh, alexandra, she was terrible, but gosh, I love. You know what I mean and it's. But that's you know. I think that's also what we touched on in the beginning of everyone resonates, certainly with different people. So just because someone does or doesn't resonate with you doesn't mean the next person will or won't.

Rose: 57:26

And it could be at different days, right, so it all changes and it all depends on many factors, but if anybody's ever in Houston, you must go to our studio, and if you're not in Houston, you can access our classes via. Zoom so that is the beauty of that. I will put all the information on the show notes. Is there anything else that you wanted to add or talk?

Alexandra: 57:48

about. Oh, wow, we touched on a lot of things. We got a great conversation today, yeah. So if there's anyone, maybe I want to leave it with if there's anyone that's curious about yoga or meditation in general, just go for it, just try it, why not, you know? And if you're a bit nervous which you know is understandable, I think in trying anything new can be scary and daunting or a bit, you know, anxiety. You know feeling like, just remember, all of these practices are there to help. You know they're all practices to help you just find more of yourself. So, whatever that is and there's so much out there as we've been talking about. So you know, you might come to my studio and be like that's way too gentle for me, or maybe like, oh, that is exactly what I wanted. There's just so much out there that you know everyone can find whatever makes their heart sing.

Rose: 58:44

Yeah, well, I will definitely come and visit you in.

Alexandra: 58:48

Austin one day.

Rose: 58:50

I'm so glad that we connected and you're just wonderful and have this beautiful energy and presence. Thank, you.

Alexandra: 58:59

Thank you for all your sharing in the world as well. Yes, touching people all over. Thank you so much.

Rose: 59:11

Thank you for joining me here on Chat Off The Mat. I hope these stories have inspired you. If you've enjoyed this episode, please share it with those who might benefit. Your support helps me spread awareness about the power of transformative healing. Stay connected with me on social media. Reach out with your own healing stories or topics you'd like me to explore in future episodes. Your voice is an essential part of this community. I hope that your healing journey is filled with self-discovery, curiosity, resilience and the unwavering belief in the power that resides within you. Until next time, I'm rose whipp, wishing you a journey filled with love, laughter and endless possibilities.