EYS is proud to include Melissa Smith as a co-lead for the 200-hour training this year! Melissa is an integral part of the Tulsa yoga community – and beyond. She is also part of the EYS mentoring program and is Executive Director of the Attic Conversations. She’s a busy mom, a practicing yogini, and has a passion that shines through her entire being. We recently caught up with her to ask her a few questions, so we can get to know her better…

Tell us something we don’t know about you yet.
I grew up on airports, and my first job was actually being a manifest for a skydive drop zone. 
My dad is an instructor pilot and flew the jump plane for a little drop zone in Alabama when I was a young kid. When most kids were learning how to ride a bike with 2 wheels, I was learning how to fly small planes, and hanging out with crazy people who jumped out of them. One of my very first memories was sitting on a red, plaid blanket eating a picnic lunch of KFC chicken and watching the parachutes float down to earth. 
I only worked for one summer at the drop zone (my 16-year-old self may have been a little too shy and soft-spoken to organize a bunch of rowdy skydivers). However, my brother is a tandem instructor there now, and I did my first skydive with him at the place where I had my first job. It was a sweet moment and I look forward to my next jump! 
 
Why are you drawn to be involved with EYS?
I feel Everyone Yoga School gives a great education in the ancient roots of yoga, as well as how to be a successful teacher in our modern age. Teacher trainees are given a great introduction to yoga philosophy as well as how to lead a safe and effective public class. One thing I really appreciate about the EYS model is that it is not just asana (or poses). Mudra, mantra, meditation, and movement are all taught to give the teacher trainees a well-rounded tool box to pull from, for their personal practice or their teaching practice. 
I love the fact that the EYS model is non-dogmatic—there is no one way to do things. I love that the teacher trainees get to learn from many voices and perspectives and are given the opportunity to find what works for their unique teaching practice. You can go through EYS and gain the skills to become a fierce hot power yoga teacher or a soft, sensitive restorative yoga teacher—OR BOTH! 
 
What are you looking forward to the most for the upcoming 200-hour Teacher Training?
I am mostly looking forward to meeting and getting to know all of the new teacher trainees. I can't wait to watch them find their individual voices as teachers and develop their teaching practices.
I'm really geeking out on curriculum development right now and am excited to find opportunities to continually improve the way we deliver content. 
Also, the creative projects - I really love to see the personal flavor that each trainee chooses to share.
 
How do you want to change the world?
I want to make the world a more empathetic place. I'd love to have a hand in cultivating kindness, compassion, and acceptance of our fellow humans. I think this starts with education. We teach our kids to be the humans we wish we were, so that they create the world we want to live in. 
As a teacher trainer, I aim to guide my trainees to be the best version of themselves and teach from a place of authenticity and acceptance. ​

​Stop.
Take three breaths. Three slow, full, complete, intentional breaths.
Continue.
 
Mindfulness happens in the pause. In the time it takes you to breathe three full inhales and exhales, you are living in the pause, where silence occurs, and we allow ourselves a chance to hit the reset button.
That pause is also a place to hear our own voice more clearly. If you listen, you will hear what your heart tells you. Intuition is the best advice you could ever get (even better than your mom’s).
 
In that pause, you have the ability to choose what comes next. Will it be from the heart, or will it be a reaction to what came before? Will it be constructive, loving, supportive?
 
What if you made all your choices in life following these three easy steps? Stop before you respond to another’s words. Listen before making a decision. Pause to hear what the next step is. Guess what? Your heart is always right.

Everyone Yoga School is beyond excited to be working with Megan Spears. A dynamic force of nature, Megan was the co-lead teacher for our 200-hour Teacher Training in 2017 and this year is taking the helm as Lead Teacher. We caught up with Megan recently and asked her a few questions in order to get to know her a little better!

Tell us something we don’t know about you yet.
One of my favorite sounds is when someone is full-out belly laughing. Another is the sound of walking on dried leaves or gravel.
I feel the most like myself when… 

• I’m on a luxurious walk around a beautiful neighborhood or wooded trail.
• I’m in a thriving, learning environment.
• I’m in the middle of a rowdy, dancing crowd, dancing with my eyes closed.

Why are you drawn to be involved with EYS?
My first teacher training rocked my world in more ways than I couldn't understand at the time. I love helping others develop and learn the foundations of this practice. Additionally, I love who I get to create, plan, and grow with. Mandy Eubanks is an intelligent, humble, and very warm human being. 
 
What are you looking forward to the most for the upcoming 200-hour Teacher Training?
I’m excited to see the "ah-ha" moments. Every 200-hour training group brings a different energy and pizzazz to the room, which is always fun. Additionally, I always look forward to creative night, an evening dedicated to the trainees sharing their creative expression. It usually involves food :)
 
How do you want to change the world?
That is a tall order! I simply want to be my *whole* self as often as possible, aware and loving to all aspects of myself, and support others in their process. I think we, as a collective, can change the world by seeing the good, or the anandamaya kosha, in ourselves, our situations, and others. 

​Also, recycle, vote, and be kind.
 

​Do yoga in order to know what to do when you’re not doing yoga.
-Rod Stryker

It’s easy to “really get into yoga.”
It’s easy to let it take over your life, to eat, breathe and sleep yoga. And then decide you want to be a yoga teacher, and then you even dream about yoga. Yes, it’s easy to love.
It’s also easy, therefore, to get a little carried away… even by something as awesome as yoga.
 
All things in moderation, balance is key. So what about all the time in your life when you’re not doing yoga? Guess what – you can still do yoga.
 
Our physical yoga practice prepares us for the rest of our lives. Sure, when we practice we connect movement with breath, we reconnect with our higher selves, so that we may be fully present off the mat as well as on. But yoga also helps us make new connections, both physically and mentally, and those new connections create new opportunities.
 
Our yoga practice can help us become clear about who we are, what we want, and how we want to move through the world. That is the true essence of the practice.

​Yoga is really the art of waking up.
-Adriene Mishler

Some of us go through our whole lives asleep. Some of us wake at an early age, others of us are late risers. But when we awaken isn't all that important; everyone has a different path to travel. The simple question is, are you yourself awake or asleep?
 
We could have a long, metaphysical conversation about whether our reality is a wake state or a dream state – but maybe we’ll tackle that in a later discussion. For now, let’s assume our reality is a state of wakefulness. Are you awake?
 
There are many reasons people choose to stay asleep. It is easier to be numb. It hurts less to see the injustice or inequality that sometimes makes up parts of our reality. It is easier not to expend the energy it takes to reach our full potential.
 
But some believe that we are given this chance at being human to have the opportunity to reach our full human potential – to manifest goodness, to enjoy the ride. To marvel at the sunshine, the birds, and all of the green growing things that surround us this time of year.
 
Yoga can help us experience our wakefulness. It can wake us back up to our own bodies, our own Selfs, and connect us to each other and the world at large.
Now who wouldn’t want that?
 
If you’re looking to deepen your yoga practice, to deepen your connection to others, and wake up just that much more, check out the teacher training programs at Everyone Yoga School. We make waking up fun.

​Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.
-Matsuo Basho
 
April has seen two new groups of yoga teachers graduate from Everyone Yoga School.
At the beginning of the month, the latest group of 200-hour students received their certificates and can now call themselves RYT200® Yoga Teachers. Congratulations to this group of dedicated yogis and yoginis!
And last weekend, Everyone Yoga School graduated the first class of RYT300 teachers. As a member of this graduating class, I can tell you with much confidence and metta, that it was an amazing experience.
I thought about asking EYS’s director, Mandy Eubanks, for a refund of my tuition fees. Because in many ways, I still feel like I know absolutely NOTHING.
 
When we first begin our yoga journeys, we don’t even know what we don’t know yet. It can take a while to get the hang of the poses, to build stamina, to gain flexibility. Perhaps we don’t even know that yoga is anything other than a form of movement or exercise.
 As we continue our practice, we pick up some knowledge.
As we begin our adventure into teacher training, we are exposed to many other aspects of yoga – philosophy, history, meditation, and other practices that fall under the tree that is yoga.
 
The more yoga training we receive, the more we realize that there is so much more to yoga than the asana practice.
Through our education with EYS, we get introduced to so many things (seriously. SO. MANY. THINGS.) The further we take our education, the more we come to realize that we’ll never know it all.
And that’s not really the point anyway.
 
It’s more about the wonder of learning, the joy of discovery, and becoming comfortable with the fact that we will always be students.
Here’s to the joy of the journey.
Namaste.


-Andrea Neil is an RYT500, TIYT Yoga Teacher in the Tulsa area. When she's not teaching, she writes  EYS newsletters and novels.

Celeste is a certified Kundalini Yoga & Prenatal teacher sharing since 2005. Known as the Yoga of Awareness, she uses tools from the ancient technology of Kundalini Yoga to help others awaken and access their highest consciousness and cultivate the desire to live from this expanded energy ever present inside each of us. 
Raised in a family that honors love, natural health, nutrition and the innate power of the body, Celeste strives to remind us that we have the ability to heal and achieve anything we wish. She has a Bachelor's degree in Holistic Health from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. She feels blessed that her parents practiced Kundalini Yoga while she was in the womb and believes it led her to LOVE teaching prenatal yoga to women as they connect deeply with their babies! Her first childhood memory is of her younger sister being born at home. These formative experiences led her to pursue being a doula (labor support), childbirth educator, and a leader in empowering women to birth intuitively and fearlessly. She teaches annually at the Texas Yoga Retreat in Austin. Her journey into motherhood has also birthed a new adventure of leading Mother Love Circles & Spiritual Sisterhood gatherings/retreats. She currently teaches her classes & workshops in Tulsa, where she lives with her husband and children. Celeste originally got her Kundalini Yoga certification in California with Guru Rattana and has recently trained with Internationally recognized Ravi Singh & Ana Brett.

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 1. How long have you been practicing yoga, and Kundalini Yoga in particular? How long have you been teaching yoga? 
I’ve been practicing for 15 years, I am in my 13th year teaching Kundalini Yoga. I’ve been teaching prenatal yoga for about 11 years. 
2. What drew you to Kundalini Yoga specifically? 
The Spirituality, the tangible energetics experienced when practiced, the chanting and its euphoric effects, the meditation after a yoga set feels easy & automatic…I could go on but what is interesting is that I first experienced Kundalini Yoga in my mother’s womb. My folks were in Atlanta, GA at Chiropractic College, and practiced it regularly with a Sikh friend (he wore a turban and they met in the early “ambrosial hours” of the morning). They moved to Arkansas when I was one, and I was never exposed to it specifically growing up. After graduating college I re-discovered it and let’s just say it was an “AH HA, this is what I have been missing” kind of experience. Finding it in my 20’s was like a re-activation of something that had been laid down at what I now know to be a most crucial phase in forming who we are on this earth (science now shows so much is formed in the womb, i.e. taste buds, personality, sleep habits & more). 
3. Can some fundamentals of Kundalini Yoga be worked into a more traditional Vinyasa-style studio class?
Yes! This is a fabulous question – it’s one of my current missions to spread Kundalini Yoga to more people. Kundalini Yoga has a plethora of short pranayamas, meditations & exercises that are fast-acting and could be integrated deliciously into a more classical Hatha style class. 
I hope you check out our EYS Kundnalini Yoga Continuing Education training in November! 
4. Why is it important for new yoga teachers to get introduced to different styles of yoga practice? 
Mainly because the tradition of Yoga is so very diverse…One of the most common things I hear is that “I can’t do yoga, I am not flexible.” And that shows how much our culture has made yoga into this very physical thing. When you read (the Yoga Sutras by) Patanjali, one of the first lines describing yoga has to do with stilling the constant waves of thought in our mind. Yogi Bhajan said, “if flexibility of posture is the only yoga, then people in the circus are the best yogis.” 
In general, I am a big fan of trying new styles of yoga to see how your body, mind and spirit respond to not only other styles, but also new teachers. 
5. You are a Birth Doula, and you also teach Prenatal Yoga. What got you interested in that? 
It goes back to those formative years, when I was 3.5 years old my sister was born at home and I remember that day vividly, buttoning my blue jeans as I walked up the stairs to a new family member and then the image of my sister laying on my mother’s chest in the midwife prepared herbal bath. This experience is seared in my mind and planted a seed that sprouted about the same time I was re-introduced to Kundalini Yoga…I’m all of a sudden reminded of one of my favorite quotes by Zora Neal Hurston, “There are years that ask questions and there are years that answer.” Anyway, the more research I do, the more I learn that the time in the womb, birth and our first year on this planet are beyond crucial in determining the adults we become. So I have dedicated much of my life & profession to this time period! I could talk your ear off about this topic so please reach out to me if it interests you! I truly believe that peace on earth begins with birth so it ties in perfectly with my yoga philosophy. 
6. How can yoga teachers be prepared to handle prenatal yoga basics for pregnant women who might be attending public classes towards the beginning of their pregnancy? 
Oh my, this is a loaded question really. My biggest piece of advice is to consider reminding a mama to be to trust her intuition and for you as yoga teachers to foster a non-competitive environment in your class. She should know what is right for her, if she is willing to listen. And also, more and more women are experiencing loss and wait until much later in their pregnancy to make the news public…if you teach to lots of females and are doing for example rocking bow pose or tons of down dogs, maybe you could say, if you thought you might be pregnant, this is one you could skip or modify if you felt the need…but again, it is such a private and sensitive subject, as a teacher you hopefully will just know what to say! OH, and when she does tell you, please encourage her to seek the community of other women on this path to motherhood with a prenatal yoga class! 
7. What are some of your favorite yoga books? 
The Mind, by Yogi Bhajan – it is profoundly deep and I read it with reverence. 
Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramhansa Yogananda - the consciousness shared here is just wonderful & inspiring. 
HeartMath Solution by Childre & Martin – it’s not a yoga book but what I love is that this institute is using science to support what yogis have said for thousands of years!
8. What advice would you give to someone who is thinking of becoming a yoga teacher? And what advice would you give to someone who is a new yoga teacher? 
If you hear a whisper or have a calling to become a yoga teacher GO FOR IT! As the Zen proverb says, leap and the net will appear! Starting this process is only going to make you a more complete and alive human being, and we need this in our world today. 
New yoga teachers – you have the BEST profession on the planet! First off, f you are nervous teaching at the beginning, you have one of the few “jobs” where you can ask the people you are working with to close their eyes and breathe…so you, in the very process of doing what you have been trained to do, become less nervous. But secondly, I feel teaching yoga is letting the universe and infinite source flow through you, and it is beyond fun to allow and witness the transformation that can follow! 
9. Where do you see yoga headed in the next ten years – both in Tulsa, but also overall? 
TO INFINITY AND BEYOND! Wait, did I really just quote Buzz Lightyear ? Haha, but I am serious. You have heard the saying – let there be peace and let it begin with me. Well, I feel like yoga is a huge reminder that the world we see is also a reflection from within, so in some respects yoga is at the forefront of the new peace movement. As for Tulsa, I can’t really say, but I see more cohesion in the growing yoga community and less competition...
10. Who are some of the teachers or mentors who have inspired and influenced your teaching? 
My parents who raised me to recognize my spiritual essence and share my truth. Guru Rattana, who I got my first certification with and who for 28 years practiced and learned from Yogi Bhajan. Ravi Singh & Ana Brett who are helping make Kundalini Yoga more mainstream. 
Tej Kaur Khalasa – who I attended classes with in LA at The Golden Bridge Temple whenever I could. And Ina May Gaskin & Michael Bernard Beckwith. 
11. Tell us about yourself – other than teaching yoga, what are some of your hobbies, interests, and passions? 
I love being a mother more than anything to my 2 young children, both I was blessed to have attend classes with me as I taught for the first year of their life. (In some respects, they can say they were raised in a yoga studio!) 
I adore traveling with my amazing husband and family, reading, finger painting and riding bikes (although Turkey Mountain misses me these days!) 
12.Is there anything else that you’d like to add? 
If you can breathe, you can do Kundalini Yoga. If you do not leave the mat feeling a profound sense of spirit flowing though you, then I invite you to try out Kundalini Yoga…I will leave you with a quote from Yogi Bhajan in a lecture he gave called What is Yoga? An Adventure in Awareness: “In Kundalini Yoga the most important thing is experience. Your experience goes right into your heart. No words can be said because your consciousness will not accept them. Your mind may or may not. All we want to do is to extend your consciousness so you may have a wider horizon of grace and of knowing the truth. Then you can smoothly plan your life to any extent you like. You can radiate creativity and infinity in all aspects of your daily life.” 
Thank you! 
Thank YOU, Celeste!!!

Mandy Eubanks has been teaching yoga since 2004. Known for her playful and intelligent approach to yoga, Mandy's teaching style is a creative blend of movement, meditation, and inspiration designed to apply both on and off the mat. Mandy's intention is to integrate the ancient teachings of yoga with the latest research based practices, so that the essence of yoga is preserved and the practices are simple enough to meet students where they are. To be specific, her classes aim to awaken the soul and inspire a deep connection to one's self, the Divine, and the relationships we hold close to our heart. Her public yoga classes are often a refuge for those who serve and teach yoga themselves and her private personalized yoga sessions are transformative and truly address the whole person. In summary, her experience is vast enough that her transmission of yoga is simple and accessible to everyone.

1. You are a Tulsa native, but have traveled far and wide, and spent 10 years in Austin, Texas. What drew you home?
There is something very meaningful in bringing back to Tulsa what I have learned from studying yoga abroad and teaching in a major yoga hub like Austin for a decade. I also have family here, so with two young children my husband and I saw an opportunity to raise our kids around their loved ones.

2. Why are you so passionate about teaching teachers? What caused you to transition from a yoga teacher to primarily running a yoga school?
The depth......yes, it’s the depth. In a public yoga class, we barely scratch the surface (yet, 75 minutes of yoga can totally change someone’s life). When we get into a long program like a teacher training, the places we go and explore are mind-blowing. We really get into the “WHY” – we can better understand what makes this practice so powerful, and then learn how to share it with others. I also love watching the community form. Every yoga teacher training that I’ve been a part of has created life-long friendships. 

3. Was it an easy transition?
Yes and No. Tulsa is where we are both from, and for the longest time we both swore we’d never return. Ha! Living in Austin for most of our adult lives we made some of our most important friendships there; we loved our neighborhood and neighbors; and really enjoyed living near our young nieces. Austin is where we got married and had our first daughter. Leaving all of that plus my yoga community and teachers was heart breaking at first. I grieved the loss of that chapter of my life. It was humbling. Tulsa has been so good to us though, and welcomed us with open arms. We both have made new friends, re-connected with old friends, and are really enjoying the growth of our city. Yoga is growing in popularity and has become much more accessible. I’m excited to see where it goes.
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4. What’s one thing you would like to say to someone who is thinking about taking the RYT®200 or the RYT®300 Yoga Teacher Training?
Just one thing?!? Ha....well I would say that you must understand that it’s a process.
You can’t come in thinking that a 200 or 300 hour training is going to give you everything you ever need to know about yoga. Yoga is a life-long study, and a teacher training will propel you into the yoga lifestyle.

5. Many people want to become a yoga teacher because yoga has had such a profound impact on their own life. Was this the case for you?
Oh absolutely! The first Hatha Yoga class I ever took I was shaking in Half-moon
pose, barely able to breathe, and had the thought that I want to be a yoga teacher! This was before being a yoga teacher was even a “thing.” All I knew is that the lady who was teaching the class was doing it and I wanted to do it too. I’ve always had a strong desire to teach and serve and I knew that this is what I wanted to teach and knew it would help so many!

6. What’s behind the name, “Everyone Yoga School?”
I didn’t want EYS to be a specific training. I wanted it to reach a diverse and broad
group of people so that they could bring yoga into their own “bubbles.” Although the training is held at a yoga studio and we prepare our teachers to successfully hold classes in yoga studios, we also prepare them to get out of the studio box and teach at their jobs, churches, neighborhoods, etc.

7. What has been the most rewarding part of running and growing EYS? What’s one of the biggest challenges you’ve come across?
Seeing our graduates getting out there and teaching has been so rewarding! I love that. Some of them have become full-time yoga teachers and since that is my career path, I love that others are also able to make that happen for themselves from their EYS training. The biggest challenge – which has also been the biggest reward – is learning to run a business, and a private and vocational state school. Finding myself in this role of small business ownership and being an organization’s leader has been confusing at times. But there are so many great resources out there, and I’ve reached out to other yoga schools around the U.S. for advice and support, and it’s been given so freely! Needless to say, I’ve learned so much from the success of EYS. . I’m really so grateful, beyond words for everything I’ve been learning. I'm invested in learning how EYS meets the highest professional standards in our industry and have received so much support in doing so. 

8. What is your long-term vision for EYS?
I have so many ideas. I’m going to hold my cards close to my chest in this interview… but stay tuned. :)

9. Do you see a point where Tulsa has too many yoga teachers?
Yes and no – if Tulsa has too many 200 hour teachers who are not continuing their education, then we will end up diluting the yoga scene. I would hate for it be just another fitness craze or source of entertainment for someone. If we have highly skilled and trained yoga teachers, they will draw in more students who are ready step onto the life-long path of yoga. There are also so many people who are not yet doing yoga in Tulsa. Getting more teachers out there is really the best solution for getting more people to do yoga. And so far, most of our graduates haven’t had a problem finding a place to teach. Also, we only offer one 200 hour training a year now. I have lots of reasons for that but mainly I don’t want to be a yoga teacher factory. I want to provide Tulsa with quality yoga education, and develop long term relationships with our graduates.

10. You are very passionate about keeping a balanced work/life schedule. Do you find this challenging?
I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t challenging, ha! Running a business, staying true to my path as a yogi, and running a household has been the hardest thing I have ever done. All I can say is that I’m extremely grateful to have a husband that is super supportive and probably the best dad I have ever been around.
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11. Tell us about yourself – other than teaching yoga, what are some of your hobbies or interests/passions?
My husband and I love adventures. We are always looking for the next stream to swim, mountain to hike, or city to explore. We both have unconventional schedules, and our kids are not in school yet so we go on family adventures every chance we get. Our kids are amazing little travelers. Right now we are on a road trip that has taken us all the way to Asheville, NC. I’m also passionate about eating and cooking. I have played with many “eating practices,” including veganism, ayurvedic diet, slow eating, paleo, raw, etc. and currently I’m on the “mom” diet – I eat what I can, when I can! Fortunately, I have a deep knowledge and personal history around conscious eating so that I can typically make wise choices in the moment. We love supporting our local farmers and we usually have a garden every Summer. We have always dreamed of urban homesteading, dabbled around with aquaponics and fermentation, and we will be raising chickens and producing a lot more of our own produce this year.

12. Is there anything else that you’d like to add?
I think you’ve covered everything…!
Thank you!

Andrea C. Neil
www.acneil.com