TeachOne Wellness

02/26/2025

For the past year, my "Joy Job" has been teaching restorative yoga at Studio Yogi - a beautiful, welcoming space in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood, founded by my friend and Soror Julia Perkins. In February, Studio Yogi celebrated our 2-year anniversary (🎉🎉), and I couldn’t be prouder of what she’s built!

We provide everything you need - blocks, bolsters, blankets, mats, and more - so all you have to do is show up and breathe. With a diverse lineup of teachers and classes, Studio Yogi is a hub for wellness, healing, and community - and I’m honored to be part of this amazing team.

So proud, in fact, that I have to share this: Studio Yogi was featured by The Obama Foundation! https://www.obama.org/stories/south-side-yoga-studio-fosters-wellness-and-community/

If you're in Chicago, I highly encourage you to check it out. Drop in for a class - better yet, join as a member and make wellness a regular part of your life! And if you can’t make it, help spread the word. Memberships and drop-in classes are super affordable - and trust me, the value goes far beyond the price

📲 Follow Studio Yogi on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok and show some love by signing up for a class. Your body and soul will thank you. 🧘🏾‍♀️💛

Julia Perkins founded Studio Yogi to make wellness accessible for all. Here’s how!

12/10/2024

Join me for a special 90-minute Self Care Sunday Restorative Yoga Workshop at Studio Yogi this Sunday.

As winter days grow shorter and the holiday season stirs up mixed emotions, we’re also approaching a new year filled with uncertainty and shifting dynamics. It’s the perfect time to pause, reconnect, restore and build strength from within. 🌿

In this class, we’ll explore how our brain and heart guide us through emotions, and you will take steps to build your own personalized Resiliency Toolbox—packed with skills to help you regulate, find balance, and thrive in 2025.

Its time to prioritize YOU—your Peace, your Balance, and your Well-Being. 💜

Register at www.StudioYogi.com if you plan to attend.

10/07/2024

Mental Illness Awareness Week is October 6 – 12 | World Mental Health Day is October 10.
Since 1990, Americans have celebrated the first full week of October as Mental Illness Awareness Week after the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) lobbied Congress to create this critical awareness event. (Yay NAMI!)
This year, Mental Illness Awareness Week is October 6 – 12 and World Mental Health Day is October 10. The focus for 2024 is on one of my favorite topics - Mental Health At WORK!!!
NAMI has provided resources that you can find here at https://stigmafree.nami.org/ , and if you or someone you know need help immediately dial 988. Let’s take this time to destigmatize conversations about that mental health onion and engage in a dialogue about the diverse triggers of mental health challenges and explore holistic strategies to support each other both personally and professionally. Understanding these complex interactions is crucial for building supportive and resilient workplace environments. .
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10/04/2024

Sharing is Caring and Knowledge is POWER!! My LinkedIn friend and colleague advocating for workplace wellness Kacy Fleming, MA shared this post. This information is so enlightening and empowering.
Menopause Tips, Tricks and Natural Remedies, Menopause Awareness, ,

From Kacy Fleming, MA

If you'd have told me 10 years ago, I would speak publicly about my perimenopause & the suicidal ideation that resulted, I would have laughed.

I was too busy showing everyone 'the me' I thought they wanted to see. The professional, get sh*t done, sleep when they are dead side.

Thankfully perimenopause showed me the error of my previous ways, but it nearly took 'the real me' out in the process.

We talk about hot flashes, night sweats, and irritability. Like midlife women are the butt of some cosmic patriarchal joke about crones and loss of vibrance and attractiveness.

What we don't talk enough about is the often catastrophic wreckage "the transition" leaves in its wake.

During the menopausal years:
▶️ Women initiate 60-80% of divorces in midlife
▶️ 30-40% of women consider leaving their jobs due to menopausal symptoms and roughly 15% do
▶️ Women aged 45-54 have the highest rates of su***de among adult women
▶️ 20-30% of women experience clinically significant depressive symptoms during this time

What will help midlife women through this transition:
✅ Widespread education
✅ Awareness at home and in the workplace
✅ Flexibility in the workplace without formal accomodation
✅ Compassionate leadership
✅ Community

Do not expect executive women to come out and talk about their symptoms openly. In the current corporate climate, it is not safe for us to speak up without jeopardizing the careers and credibility we worked so hard to build.

Instead, corporations and allies need to do the work to understand the nuances and complexity of navigating the menopausal transition at work and at home.

Post-menopause women have incredible growth in their ability to lead:
✅ Studies suggest a 15-20% increase in emotional intelligence scores for post-menopausal women
✅ Post-menopausal women report a 25-30% increase in their ability to handle stress
✅ Post-menopausal women show a 15% improvement in decision-making skills, particularly in complex scenarios
✅ There's a 15% increase in innovative thinking among post-menopausal women in leadership roles

For businesses, the payoff for supporting midlife women is HUGE.

Invest in women's health, educate your people, create a compassionate environment for all workers.

Recent literature suggests 15 to 30% of women will experience their first case of depression during menopause—and that number skyrockets for those already suffering mental health issues.

09/15/2024

Studio Yogi in South Shore is one of 10 semi-finalists for the South Side Pitch (SSP). Five finalists will be selected. SSP has a Peoples Choice Award. The Peoples Choice Award is given to the semifinalist who receives the most likes on their pitch video on the YouTube playlist. By doing so, the Peoples Choice Award recipient is guaranteed a spot as a finalist in the competition and wins a piece of SSP's $34,000 total cash prizes!

Voting for the Peoples Choice Award will end at 11:59 PM CT Sunday, September 22, 2024! Announcements on who advances to the finalist stage of the competition will be made in the a.m on September 23, 2024!

Please vote for Studio Yogi and share the link with your network if you agree this Studio is valuable asset to Chicago!

08/29/2024

I’m thrilled to join Loyola University Chicago’s Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health and MATTER for the event, “Reimagining Mental Health in the Workforce”

We will be discussing the urgent need for innovative strategies to support mental well-being in the workplace, focusing on our young professionals. Join me and a fantastic lineup of panelists as we delve into this crucial topic! 🧠✨

Join us on September 5th at 12pm for an inspiring discussion!

👉 RSVP here: [Reimagining Mental Health in the Workforce](https://lnkd.in/g-TaFh_2)

Let’s create healthier and more supportive work environments together!

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08/07/2024

We did breathing exercises, chanted and stretched. Now the hardest thing to do is wake my restorative yoga students up. Rest is so good for the soul. Namaste!

04/30/2024

Let’s Talk About Our Precious Heart!

As we wrap up Stress Awareness Month (April 30th), our journey from brain science takes us to another extraordinary organ—our hearts. Earlier this month, we explored how the brain processes trauma, stress, and regulation. Now, I'm thrilled to share fascinating insights about the heart. Did you know that our heart is not merely a pump? It contains around 40,000 neurons, enabling it to sense, feel, think, and even remember, essentially hosting its own internal 'brain.'

Through the vagus nerve, the heart communicates with our brain, sending significantly more signals to it than it receives. This astounding fact reshapes our understanding of emotional and physiological responses (or feelings and emotions do matter!!).

Sharing an enlightening episode from one of my favorite podcasts - Everyday Better by Leah Smart, featuring Deborah Rozman, Founding Executive Director of the HeartMath Institute. The discussion illuminated how heart-brain interactions can profoundly influence our ability to self-regulate (establish coherence) and much more. As a yogi, I’ve felt this intuitively, but understanding the science that validates practices like the asanas, breathing exercises and meditation can bring about a state of coherence that calms our mind, body, and spirit is truly enlightening.

As we transition into May, celebrating both Mental Health Awareness and Meditation Awareness Month, I will continue to share these vital themes. It is up to us to nurture our mental and emotional health.

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‎Show Everyday Better with Leah Smart, Ep Activating Your Heart's Intelligence - May 16, 2023

04/14/2024

Need a Sunday smile? I can watch Krew Kutz IG videos all day. I love the joy from him and his clients - they are a part of my resiliency briefcase.

Staying in line with Stress Awareness Month here is what we know. Smiling and laughing have several beneficial effects on reducing stress:

Biochemical Effects: Both smiling and laughing trigger the release of certain neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins. These chemicals are often referred to as "feel-good" hormones because they can promote a sense of well-being and temporarily reduce pain.

Physical Relaxation: Laughter can stimulate circulation and aid muscle relaxation, both of which can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress. After a good laugh, muscles remain relaxed for up to 45 minutes.

Psychological Impact: Engaging in laughter can provide a psychological buffer against stress. It can distract from anxiety and negative emotions by creating a psychological distance from them, which helps to manage and reduce stress.

Social Connection: Laughing often occurs in social settings and can help strengthen relationships. Social support is vital in managing stress, and shared laughter can increase feelings of unity and improve communication.

Improvement in Perspective: Laughter can help put problems into a broader context, making them seem less overwhelming. This can change the way you perceive and respond to stress, helping to reframe situations more positively.

In short, incorporating more moments of laughter and smiles into your day can be a simple, effective way to relieve stress and improve overall mental health.

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04/09/2024

As we continue to learn and apply during April - Stress Awareness Month, lets delve into the dynamics of stress and trauma within the context of brain function. My interest in the resilience and capacity of the human brain was sparked by a personal experience—witnessing my Mom’s recovery and growth following a brain bleed. She could hardly talk or write. But there was GOD…… and her unwavering determination to succeed in her classes. Night after night, she diligently transcribed book after book (math, history, she wrote out the whole Restorative Justice Book) from her coursework, filling countless notebooks. This is a testament to her strength and the remarkable neuroplasticity of the brain. Her journey not only led to the restoration of her exceptional handwriting (I still have the notebooks) but also to her academic success, she earned As and Bs in her classes.

In awe of God, my Momma and the extraordinary potential and power of our brains.

My fascination has continued to grow, particularly in understanding how our brains navigate the complexities of trauma, anxiety, burnout, and mental health. The insights from Dr. Bruce Duncan Perry and Joe Laipple from Kintla have been life changing for me. This video succinctly explains the brain’s response to being regulated versus dysregulated, illustrating the profound effect this has on our cognitive functions. It's a simple but powerful reminder that when we are dysregulated (stressed, anxious as an example ), our cognitive capacity can significantly diminish (IQ can be cut in half)! Simply being mindful with this information helps us to be patient with ourselves and others. That’s Grace, That’s Ahisma!

Dr. Perry’s book "What Happened to You" is a gem for those interested in enhancing their understanding of mental health and resilience.
When we know better, we can do better. As we proceed through April, let’s use this month to learn and support each other!
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