I had lunch with Elli Boland a few weeks ago. The conversation drifted, as it often does when you get two yoga teachers together, to the business of yoga, success, and how the two fit together (or rather how they do NOT fit together as is more often the case). I furrowed my brow, sighed, and in an exasperated tone said: “I just try SO HARD.”
Elli looked me straight in the eye, and called me out. “STOP IT!,” she said in her uber-cool German accent. She doesn’t mess around.
It really is that simple–in life and in yoga. One of the most life-changing lessons we can learn is to slow down, let go, and just watch as everything falls into place. Elli finds ease in her life, her yoga classes and counseling sessions, and even on her inspirational Facebook pages My Holistic Coach and Agents of Change. She might make it look easy, but it’s the result of years of study and practice.
Here’s what she had to say about it:
What’s your favorite pose at the moment? What are you learning from it?
What’s the best advice someone ever gave you?
Loaded Question alarm! 🙂Yoga is really the basis for all that I live and teach. Not just the asanas, but really the tools and mindset that it teaches us. Yoga philosophy and healing techniques are a core value for me. I work as a holistic life coach, guiding people in all areas of life: relationships, communication, career, addictions, exercise, nutrition….and for most issues I ‘prescribe’ yogic ways of dealing with things. I am fascinated and empowered by Yoga philosophy. I do love the asana practice, but I don’t ‘need’ it. What I cannot live without is meditation, breath work, and overall yogic way of looking at things. And I offer that perspective to my clients so they can create the life of their dreams through love and compassion, instead of fear and force.
What do you love about the yoga community in Charleston?
What inspires you? Tell us so we can be inspired, too!
Inspiration flows all day, especially when I slow down and rest. When I meditate and take time for doing what I love, take time to be, to rest, and to laugh, every single thing, every person, every story inspires me. I find it really helpful to understand what Inspiration is…vs. motivation. Wayne Dyer put it something like this: Motivation is when you take a hold of an idea. Inspiration is when an idea takes a hold of you. I had been a highly motivated person. But often I found myself unhappy chasing after something. Now that I learned to let go and let things flow, ideas come to me left and right, and it comes from my heart, not my head. So I get inspired when I listen to my heart’s desires, my intuition, my true self. To hear it louder,…well, I meditate.
Elli teaches yoga at Mission Yoga in Downtown Charleston. Learn more about her work on her Facebook pages My Holistic Coach and Agents of Change.
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