Julie Tran is a yoga instructor, fitness professional, business owner, and the creator of The Rogue Yogi, an alternative yoga and lifestyle brand for the modern urbanite. She has taught yoga in LA and the San Francisco Bay Area in addition to co-producing Deep House Yoga.
I found yoga through a chance conversation with a former coworker. Long ago when I sat behind a desk, she’d come by to chat. In one of our conversations, she mentioned yoga.
Yoga? I’d never taken a yoga class before. But here I was. The teacher was Bryan Kest. I had no idea what I was getting myself into and I left with a feeling of complete bliss and decompression.
In 2012, I signed up for Yoga Teacher Training. It was there that I started (silently) questioning things…
I asked myself, “If Yoga was started by a few guys who went against the grain of what everyone else was doing, and did this in order to disrupt the normal script and live a peaceful life, then how is this any different than how I feel about what the general Western yoga scene has turned into? It’s almost as though this has gone full circle, a circle of people who have gone rogue…”
This was how Rogue Yogi was born.
Rogue Yogi is an alternative lifestyle brand representing yoga enthusiasts all over the world, practitioners who want to better themselves through the various aspects of yoga without conforming to what they feel a “yogi” has to be. Yoga is a lifestyle – a way of thinking, being and living. It’s a way to nourish the things that nourish us, and it’s a way to give less energy to the things that don’t.
Yoga doesn’t stop at the mat. It goes beyond the physical strengthening practice and into the mental.
The mission of Rogue Yogi is to provide meditation and physical yoga classes in person and online, retreats to take the practice deeper and build lifelong friendships around the world, apparel for people to show their self-expression, recipes for omnivores and vegans alike, inclusivity for all body types and sizes, underground music recommendations, and a place for unique personalities in this urban world.
Soon, my husband and I will be moving to Spain and Rogue Yogi will grow on from overseas. I’ve found myself back at my computer growing my online yoga lifestyle brand – with endless factors to consider. Add to this that I teach classes at several different studios all throughout the day and night, sub additional classes and… well, thank goodness for Restorative Yoga!
But how ironic is it to need a reminder to practice the very thing I’m passionate about? That the one thing I practiced to recharge from corporate work weeks, is the one thing I began to treat as an afterthought now that I was doing it as a living? Doesn’t that sound somewhat backwards?
This is the reality for many yoga teachers and fitness professionals. Many of us discover our career path, make the decision to go all-out for it, put blinders on, hustle hard, and put the very thing aside that should be the first priority: ourselves.
And so, here are my Top 3 Tips for Self-Care:
1. Designate a time each day for your own personal yoga practice. A “no matter what” schedule. Whether its first thing in the morning before you teach anyone else, or if you’ve already committed to teaching in the AM, designate one afterwards so you stay true to what you’re sharing with your students.
2. Nourish your other passions. Take yourself out on a date! Spend time on your creative outlets outside of Yoga to keep your mind refreshed, stimulated and to balance things out.
3. Practice the art of saying “No” with love and respect. To others and to yourself. Establish your personal values and beliefs around Yoga. Know what your teaching style is, what you’re willing to teach (and not willing to teach), how far you’re willing to drive to a studio or private session, and know that declining “opportunities” doesn’t mean you’ll receive less of them.
Follow Julie on MoveWith here.
On August 30 she’ll be presenting in San Francisco at our Self-Care Teacher Talk (it’s free, sign up here) and also live broadcasting on MoveWith’s Facebook page. (Be sure to “Like” our page to be able to view the talk).
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