Leaving Corporate for Yoga Teaching in Bali with Phil Kowalik

0:00 Hey there, before we get started on this week's episode, I would love to ask for your support by reviewing this podcast. We want to share yoga with as many people as possible and this free resource, this podcast is one of the ways that we can do that. And the best way that you can help support us is by giving us a review.

0:16 So if you go to Apple Podcasts or Spotify or whatever podcast platform you use, Scroll down until you find that star review and then give us some love. Thank you so much, and let's get started with this week's episode. It really hit me when I went to go teach a class one day and I woke up that morning and I really didn't want to teach.

0:37 I, I didn't feel good. I was just in a bad mood. And then I went in to go teach the class and then I finished teaching. I felt so much better. I felt super good. And then it hit me. I'm like, holy shit, there's no job out there where you can go into work feeling like shit feel better.

0:53 I'd feel better after. So then it then it hit me, I'm like, OK, this is what I wanted. Welcome to the Going Pro Yoga podcast. If you love yoga as much as I do, then this podcast is for you. We talk all things yoga related for teachers in order to supplement and complement and even support after a 200 hour yoga teacher training. Or if you've never done a training before, this podcast is all about just learning more about yoga in an authentic way. Together with Paul Tioto and

1:24 Byron de Marseille, we put together this podcast to provide you with a free resource to learn more about yoga. Whether you want to share yoga or teach yoga or just practice yoga. This podcast is talking all things yoga related, and we're trying to talk from the teacher's perspective and also the student's perspective to make sure we get a full 360° angle on what yoga is all about and how it's evolved in the modern world.

1:45 Welcome to our podcast. All right, welcome back to the Going Pro Yoga podcast. Michael Henry here, your host. And today we have another guest who's come in to share. And yeah, tell us about his story about yoga and to inspire you, the listeners. So, Phil, welcome to the podcast. Thank you, Michael.

2:09 Glad to be here. So I've talked about Phil actually before. I've mentioned him a few times in different references. So I'm excited that Phil's finally joining us on the podcast to talk about his story. So I met Phil, probably it was in 2022 I think it was.

2:26 Over two years ago, I think. Yeah, so it's about two years ago when we did do Doka teacher training. Yeah, yeah, you. Came into the training and that's when I first met you and I don't want to give too much of the story away, but that was that was my first moments with you, which was about that was over the 2 1/2 years ago almost.

2:46 Yeah, like just when COVID was kind of finishing. Yeah, that's right. It was like the first cohort cohort that we had before or after, after COVID. So there was a group of like I think 2425. Yeah, yeah. Cool. So yeah, welcome to the podcast. First of all, thank.

3:06 You glad to be here? And just so that people can kind of get an idea of who you are and stuff like that, I'll get you to introduce yourself. But what I'll say is that right now you are teaching or you live in Bali and you're teaching down at Uluatu. Uluatu and then Changu as well.

3:22 Right. So for a while, Byron used to call him, and I think you're known as Uluatu Phil in a lot of ways. Yeah, because they used to drive here like every week to Ubu to help Byron in his adjustments class. You were there sometimes too.

3:36 Yeah, yeah, exactly. So yeah, I'll let you introduce yourself. I know. I mean you're from Canada, so but also gets me excited. But yeah, tell little people a little bit about yourself and your background. Cool. So yeah, my name is Phil and I'm originally from Canada.

3:51 I've been in Asia for about 10 years. When I was 24, I moved to Singapore in a corporate job. I was working in sales, lived there for about four years, and yeah, kind of just got a little sick of Singapore. So I took a lower position, moved to Thailand, spent two years there working online and then running a guest house.

4:17 And then, yeah, I kind of burnt myself out 'cause I was working at 9:00 to 5:00, then running a guest house, which is like seven days a week. So yeah, I burnt myself out and then decided to go to Bali for a few weeks to just take a break and yeah, just chill out. And then, yeah, next thing you know, COVID started, got stuck in Bali, which was really a blessing for me. And yeah, what happened there?

4:46 So next thing you know, I was stuck in Bali for like 2 years working online, started a new life, started a dog shelter, started a kombucha business and then and then yeah, and then randomly joined the yoga teacher training with with you guys.

5:05 And prior to that, how do you practice yoga before? So I was doing yoga. Actually my first two years in ballet, I did a lot of yoga. Wasn't consistent though. Like I would go through my phases. Sometimes I would go like twice a day and then I wouldn't go for a couple weeks. So I was very like on and off and then in Thailand, my guest house, we did offer free yoga for the guests in the morning. So I would join here and there.

5:31 But I was, I was more into meditation. I was very serious about meditating. I would be like, all right, I'm going to sit here for two hours and just meditate. And the next day I'll try to go a little bit more. So I had a pretty good meditation practice, but at that point I didn't really know the power of yoga. I really didn't even cross my mind, if I'm honest. I was more about just meditation, self inquiry, reading books, listening to YouTube and different people. But yeah, I, I didn't really

6:00 know how good yoga was until I did my teacher training right. Yeah. Well, it's interesting because I mean the yoga's really is the meditation Exactly. So you, you kind of already were there. Yeah, I was just, I missed it. Well, you might not have missed it, you might just got of a different.

6:16 Yeah, I mean, there's different types of yoga, right? I was just using a different approach. Yeah, So, yeah. Nice. So you, you were obviously really because two hours of meditation, like that's probably overwhelming for people to some people to think about like, oh, sitting still.

6:31 So like when you first started meditating, like how long ago was that? So the meditation probably started in Singapore. I mean, I was living in Singapore for two years at that point. And yeah, like, I had a really good life.

6:46 I was making good money. I was able to travel, you know, I had everything. But for some reason, I was still waking up with this empty feeling inside. And I'm like, OK, this is weird. Like, I've, I've done everything, you know, society has told you to do, you know, find a good job, make money, travel.

7:07 But for some reason I still felt this, had this empty feeling. And then I started searching. I started searching, I started reading books and then even asking people questions like what makes you happy? What do you look forward to?

7:20 I just really started searching for answers. And then I came across this book, one of my first books, The Monk who sold this Ferrari to buy Robin Sharma. I believe I started reading that and he slowly gets into meditation and contemplation. And then I think from there I developed a meditation practice. Nice.

7:41 And right away you enjoyed it. Like once you started it, you're like, I can do this, this is fun. Or was it challenging at the beginning for you? It was definitely challenging. Yeah. Not so easy even, like, even like starting yoga in Bali, like a bit more seriously. I remember like, just being in the class and like, holy shit, how many times are we going to do this Sunday? And like, my mind is just going crazy. And now I like, I love it.

8:03 You know, I'm like, OK, teachers, slow down. I just want to like ground and breathe for a bit and I, I love it. But when I first started, it was, yeah, super hard. If if you ask anyone who used to know me, I was very go, go, go, couldn't sit still.

8:16 I was always like, you know, working, working. I got to do this. I got to do that. So for people to see me now, like teaching yoga and being in this this grounded state, it's like it's weird for them. Yeah, I can relate to that. Yeah.

8:31 People see me now and they're just like, what are you? You're a yoga teacher. What? Yeah. OK cool. So then how was your 200 hour training? Like What? Did you have any expectations? Like, I know you kind of joined it on a whim.

8:43 Yeah. I signed up three weeks before because I ran into Byron on a night out and then, you know, we went for breakfast the next morning and he mentioned to me there was a training coming up and I was able to pay in crypto.

8:57 And at that point I was into crypto. And yeah, like deep down I knew I needed some change in my life and it it just felt right. So I decided to sign up and then yeah, that was definitely life changing. You know, you don't realize the power of yoga until you do it every day, you know, three weeks straight.

9:18 And I purposely left my phone in the room. So I was like super present. And then I remember one of the last days, it was in yoga class with Paul and someone was playing the hand pan and I was just sitting there and I started meditating and I started repeating a mantra.

9:34 My eyes are closed. And then I started seeing these crazy colors and like, just got very intense. And yeah, I remember like kind of getting scared. So I stopped repeating the mantra and I like, I opened up my eyes to see if anyone's looking at me.

9:48 And then, yeah, after that class, I remember walking into the mirror, like looking at my eyes and seeing my pupils were like super big as if I like, you know, maybe took mushrooms or something like. So I was like, wow, OK, so I can feel this good without having to take anything, alcohol or anything. I can feel this good.

10:10 And then I promised myself, OK, I'm going to start doing yoga every day. And I think that's when I really realized the the true power of yoga. Wow, that was Matthias, I think his name was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember him in the training.

10:25 He was such a great hand pen player. Yeah. So that was yeah, that was mind blowing. So. Amazing, amazing. And this is towards the end of the training, you said? This is one of the last days, I think. Yeah, so. OK. And then so you did the training, you had these realizations and then what?

10:42 So what happened, let's say after that for like about let's say six months, the six months after? So we finished. I went back to working online. Even though I was only working like 4 hours a day, it was still killing me. You know, I would work two hours and then take a lunch break, work two hours.

11:01 But then I started teaching like right when I graduated, I started teaching just to my friends for about a month or two. And then finally I felt a bit comfortable. I picked up like a a job at a gym. I wouldn't say a job because I was just volunteering. I was teaching twice a week and they gave me a free membership. Did that for a couple months and I started getting pretty good. I noticed people kept coming back to my classes and then, yeah, I started applying to

11:27 hotels, guest house, started getting jobs. And then, yeah, I kept getting better at teaching gigs. And then I, I finally got hired at a studio called the Tribu. And then I moved on to the space. And I guess this is like seven or eight months in and I was still working online and that was really killing me, even though I was doing all that. So I, yeah, I finally decided to just call my boss at the time, quit my job and then start teaching full time. And that's when I really started

11:56 taking it seriously, when I was my my only thing. And then that's when my life really started to change for the better. OK. So thank you for that. I'm going to, I'm going to back up a bit, OK, and then we'll come back. Yeah, I might go a little ahead of you, but.

12:10 Yeah, that's OK. That's all right. I'm just thinking about during your training and you were going through the process and you're, you know, you were there for whatever reasons. Did you know you wanted to teach yoga or were you just like, I'm going to just go and do this thing? I wasn't exactly sure I wanted to teach yoga, but for a while I knew I needed to find something different and I wanted to do something with helping people.

12:35 I wasn't, I just wasn't sure, like, how to do that. But yeah, I don't know. I I wasn't like, thinking to become a yoga teacher. No, it kind of just, yeah, kind of happened. So after when you did the training and you were finished, did you think maybe I do want to teach yoga? Or you're like, OK, this is done. I mean, the thought I guess probably starts coming and then I once I started teaching, I'm like, OK, let's just keep doing this.

12:58 I enjoy it started getting better. And then and then I think I really, it really hit me when I went to go teach a class one day and I woke up that morning and I really didn't want to teach. I, I didn't feel good. I was just in a bad mood. And then I went in to go teach the class and then I finished teaching.

13:18 I felt so much better. I felt super good. And then it hit me, I'm like, holy shit, there's no job out there where you can go into work feeling like shit, feel better after. I'd feel better after. So then it then it hit me, I'm like, OK, this is what I wanted.

13:34 Nice. That's great. That's a great epiphany moment. OK, cool. So then you basically got to this point where you, you, you tested it out, right? Which I think is what a lot of people need to do if they haven't done it is like actually go see if you want to teach yoga.

13:51 Because I know some people like Sarah, for example, who was in your training, and I mentioned her before in a previous podcast, she thought she wanted to teach yoga and she did for a while. And then she realized she didn't like it. So then she stopped and she, she did something else. She took some of those skills and, and moved them into something else.

14:08 But I think it's a good thing to just acknowledge that yeah, that like just doing it and just seeing if you enjoy it as a first step for sure, because you don't want to force yourself to do something that you don't like.

14:19 And it's not necessarily for everyone. So, so that's great. So you did that. You kind of got some realizations. You're like, OK, cool. Teaching yoga is definitely something I want to do, especially in that one moment. So you, you kind of went fully enough for that point.

14:34 You're like, OK, now I'm going to like dedicate more. Totally different. Yeah. So then. So how did you shift? Like what shifted for you behavior wise, motivation wise? Like how did you do things differently? Just everything like now that I had more free time and like this was my my full time thing, I started practicing more yoga.

14:52 I started watching like videos every day, learning new sequences, started making yoga playlists. I didn't really do that before. There's like so much you can do. You know, I started just like listening to inspiring things to like that I could use in my classes for like an opening.

15:10 And you just, you just start thinking so much more and practicing so much more. And like, yeah, it's really great. There's like so much to teach you a yoga class, you know, you can get so creative. And yes, all my time was like dedicated to like different aspects, you know, like sequencing, creating openings, music and also myself development, you know, so.

15:36 Yeah, nice. So with having all this free time to do it, another obstacle for people is that they often don't have all the free time because they unless they don't have a job, which is sometimes the case. It's kind of like the financial piece of like, OK, like because yoga, teaching yoga at the beginning isn't, it's not like super profitable. Takes time.

16:00 Yeah, yeah. So how did you know what was your situation with that like when you stopped doing the online stuff like how did? That work over you. Like I said, I was pretty smart the first six months I kept my job. I I was doing both at the same time. And then when I did make the transition, I already had money saved and I was already starting to make some money with yoga. And I noticed every month I was making more money because my classes were busier and I was

16:30 picking up more classes. So I think if you're going to make the plunge, it's good to have money saved or some sort of income or like, yeah, definitely have some money saved and. Yeah, or don't quit your job or. Or if you're going to start, start slow. You know, dude, it's smart.

16:46 There's no need to rush. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's good advice. Cool. So then you got to a point where you felt like you could sustain without having that extra income. And for me, it was a bit trickier because I still had to fund my shelter at the same time.

17:02 So I had to, like, really do it smart. And then, yeah, I did get into a couple months where I was a bit tight on money and I had to borrow money from friends and. And then, yeah, luckily it got better and I'm doing good now.

17:15 So nice. Yeah. Yeah. Great. Yeah. So, and now you're teaching at several studios in different places in Bali and I'm thinking of like some of the things that you might have come across with regards to teaching. I mean, you basically dedicated, you know, you're like, I'm going to go into this and you were, you know, learning a lot and inquiring a lot.

17:42 And I actually remember a period of that time because I remember when you would come to Ubud, you would come to classes or you'd come to the hands on training, which we invited you to, or even just like in the hands on class where there's assistance and stuff. Like I just noticed, I could feel your energy was very like paying attention and learning.

18:03 You're like paying attention and learning. And you're just like observing everything and being like, oh, that's how he does it. Oh, that's how he does it. So she does it. Oh, OK, interesting. So I noticed that you were very dialed in.

18:13 I work super hard. Yeah, yeah, I definitely noticed that. It was a lot of definite, definite work ethic that was evident to me, so I just want to acknowledge that. Thank you. Yeah, yeah. Which obviously paid off to some degree. It's you know, it got you to progress your teaching. And I remember taking one of wasn't one of your first classes, but I remember taking the space one of your classes earlier on and it was a great class. But then I remember taking a

18:43 class after and it was there was a huge difference, like big gap and improvement just from like, you know, not that there's anything wrong with the first one. It was more so the confidence and the the refining of like your cueing, for example, and like where you're going next and like what you're saying in between the poses and stuff like that. It just kind of smoothed out, which obviously happened from repetition and stuff.

19:05 I just practice, really, yeah. Cool. So then now there's a few exciting things that are happening. Maybe we'll talk about it, but I'm thinking more so about before we even get to that stage, which is, you know, some possibilities for people of like, you know, studio and and partnerships and stuff like that, which I'm sure is something that people want to know about. Is there any kind of moments or challenges that she faced when you've been teaching, whether it

19:36 be with studios and, you know, complications with other teachers or with students or any kind of lessons or things that were things that you could pull out moments of learning? Yeah, I mean like last week I can share an experience, OK.

19:55 I was teaching at a a studio in Changu called The Path and one of the owners joined my class and it was I think a pretty busy class, like 1617 people. And I had two guys in the class and then the 1st 10 minutes. I had one guy walk out of the class and I'm like, OK, that's fine.

20:16 He said he had like sort of some sort of issue with his back. And then another 10 minutes later, I had another guy walk out of the class. So I had two people walk out of the class while the owner is there, while I'm teaching it.

20:28 Like it just kind of hits your ego and it makes you kind of think and yeah, and it like it took me some time to like, just stay grounded and be like, just to get out of your head, 'cause you can start thinking like, am I teaching a bad class?

20:43 Do they not like me? Or maybe they both had some injuries. You know, you don't really know what's what's up there. And then, yeah. And then the owner is there. So I'm like, shit, this is the worst timing. But yeah, everything turned out to be fine. Like after 5 minutes, I just brushed it off and I, I got back into the zone and I taught the class. But like, that's never happened to me before. I've never had two people walk out. Wow.

21:06 Like the owner of the studio is there. You know, I kind of it's, it's a bit tricky to deal with, but, yeah. But that's like, that's, it's a lesson to learn. Like no matter I think how good you are, you know, there's always going to be maybe someone who might not like your style or your class or yeah.

21:25 And you just got to keep doing your thing and just remember, like there are people who are going to like your class and yeah, like don't, don't let it get to you. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we are not for everybody. Like your teaching style is not for everyone.

21:42 My teaching style, Paul Byron. Yeah, right. We want to, we want to do a good job, obviously from a safety perspective. But at the end of the day, if we're teaching authentically and we're teaching in the way that feels right for us, yeah, not everyone's going to resonate with that. It's true.

21:56 So that's totally fine. So that's part of the learn. That's part of the growth of teaching as well as needing to deal with that. Yeah, then even like the last two weeks, Nula Watts, it's been quite slow. You know, I'm used to having like 20-30 people in my class.

22:12 And then the other day I had like four people show up and it's like, OK, how do you deal with that? Right. And just do your thing, teach your class, help these people, and that's it. Don't let your ego get involved, you know?

22:23 So I think that's a lesson every teacher is going to go through or or has already. Have you ever had a class where no one showed up? Nobody. Or maybe like one person. I've had that, yeah. I've had one person, two people. And I, I just do my thing.

22:41 I'd still teach and I still feel good after teaching that class, you know? So I, I think that's a lesson I, I learned already about the whole, how many people in your class, blah, blah, blah. Like it doesn't matter. Just go and teach the class and that's it.

22:56 Next, are you excited to to teach like larger class like 20-30 is I would consider that a pretty good sized class. Do you have aspirations or are you, you know, thinking of like the possibility of or would you want to teach like a 506070 like a Paul Byron type of class? I mean, I've had taught 50 before at a retreat. It's a lot of fun.

23:21 I mean, yeah, I'm like, I'm looking forward to it with the the new studio that's opening up. It's a bigger studio, but I mean, it's not something I'm like dreaming about, right? You know, like, but yeah, I mean, I think everybody can agree it's fun to teach a bigger class. It's a bigger energy and it's fun and I don't know, I personally, I like the bigger classes and I don't know. Do you?

23:42 Yeah, I mean, I do as well. I think some people might. I don't know if people might get. Intimidated by I I was intimidated by. But once you get you know better and confident, it's like it's fun to teach the big classes. You know, yeah, that's cool.

23:56 OK, cool. So that's a good, that's a good note about expectations of, you know, people coming and who who shows up and organizing that It's no reflection on you, which often times is people will take it personally. It's like, oh, this means they don't like me or it means I didn't do a good job last time or this time or whatever.

24:15 So it's good to kind of rush that off, rush that off. And then you said you did a lot of like reading, watching videos, got a lot of inspiration. Yeah, to flavor your classes, you know, bringing in like things to talk about beyond just alignment, I'm assuming.

24:32 Yeah, Yeah. So is that something that you kind of comboed for, let's just say your own well-being, your own learning and then, you know, you took that into the class or were you actually like intentionally like listening to it's? About girls, it's my own learning. And then if I find something that I really like and I think it can help people, then I'll try to bring it into the class as well, because then you're kind of bringing your own style, your own, you know, something

24:59 you like and you resonate with. Yeah. So I try to do that, yeah. Have you? Is there a class or a moment where you taught something and you didn't feel like it was a good job? Yeah, there's been many times where I've, I fucked up like I messed up this or I messed up my words or yeah.

25:23 And then and then and then again with that, it's a lot of like in your head because then use the class is finished and then everybody seems to be happy. So yeah, I've definitely messed up many times. And I used to kind of get upset with myself because I'm very I'm very hard on myself.

25:39 But now I've kind of just learned to let it go. And that's just how you learn. Right. Did you find that whenever those moments happened that it would linger throughout the rest of the class or like were you able to kind of like let it go within like a few minutes like you did with the? Yeah, luckily I'm pretty good at letting things go. I had a feeling.

25:57 Yeah, I had a feeling. I mean, even if I try to stay mad at someone, I'll be like the next day, I'm like already like, OK, I just forgive them. Whatever. Be honest, it's not worth it, you know so. That's good. Yeah. A little bit easier on yourself at the same time.

26:11 Yeah. Yeah. Nice. What's your? What's your favorite thing about teaching yoga? Favorite thing about teaching yoga? I think it's everything, you know, holding space for people. Yeah. Just, you know, seeing the face of people when they, when they leave class.

26:37 And I think it all just links together. I mean, I love it all, really. I couldn't say there's one, one favorite thing. Yeah. Are you like, that's OK? Are you like, 'cause I know Paul and Byron to some degree, like to challenge people so much physically that they like to dry out like misery in people and like a Safeway? I mean, people do say my classes are pretty strong. I do like to push people, but like, I'm not crazy about it. I always tell people take

27:07 child's pose, take your breaks. But no, it doesn't give me joy seeing someone you know die. It's it's not one of my one of my things, I don't think. No. Yeah, it could be fun sometimes. Like, OK, let's do one more round or let's hold plank for this or.

27:23 But no, yeah, I don't think so. Nice and you're you predominantly teach power yoga. Yeah, Power yoga, vidyasa hata. Yeah, you know, depending what the the studio wants, so. And I know that you did, I'm assuming you still do a lot of hands on adjustments or you really get involved with the classes. You talk a little bit about that. Yeah, I love giving hands on adjustments. I think it really makes a difference, especially like in the cooldown.

27:55 I think that can really help people go a bit deeper. And yeah, I don't know, like I'm just kind of a a touchy person. Like not the sound like in a bad way, but yeah. So I used to like before I started giving hands on adjustments, my classes were were going OK, but as soon as I started like adding the hands on adjustments, it's like, yeah, I definitely saw the difference. And people also feel like they're, they're being more taken, taken care of, you know,

28:23 so. So you notice like an like an increase in returns. Yeah, yeah, definitely makes a big difference. Yeah, that's great. Everybody wants to be seen, you know? Yeah. And so I remember, like, when I used to go to some classes and there'd be a teacher and like, sometimes they don't even acknowledge you or give you an adjustment or, you know, they're just maybe focusing on one or two students. So yeah, I think it makes a big difference. And this.

28:48 Yeah. OK, cool. So let's let's talk a little bit about what's kind of been happening more recently just for, for the sake of me, because I don't actually know that much. I do know that there's a new studio that was once being operated by Radiantly Alive Shangu. Yeah.

29:06 And there's there was a split there. So there's an opportunity here that's I think in the process of yeah, reopening under like I think it's called empowered yoga. Howard, Yeah. Empowered Ballet. Empowered ballet, yeah, which is more or less going to be kind of managed by a bit of the elements of power yoga teams. And degree.

29:23 So it's going to be essentially myself, Paul and Byron, and it's going to be like a power yoga studio. Right. And a bunch of other teachers from different trainings in different places around from other studios. So it's something that we're going to test out and see how that goes.

29:39 Yeah. So that's going to open up in a couple weeks. So end of the month is the opening weekend. We'll have Paul teaching the Friday, I'll teach Saturday, and then Buyer's going to teach Sunday, and then the following Monday, July 1st, we're going to, Yeah, we're going to open up officially open.

29:56 Yeah, with three classes a day. We'll do a 730, a 915 at a 4:00 PM Nice. Yeah. Oh, that's exciting. Yeah, so that's going to be cool. I'm looking forward to get outside of Little Watsu and yeah, start teaching more in Changu. Right, mix it up a bit.

30:13 Yeah. And this is at B works. Right, Yeah, on top of B work the the big shallow up there so. Go check that out next couple weeks if you want to, if you're especially if you're in Changu or even if you're not in Changu but you're coming to Bali or you're in Ubud.

30:28 It's a different vibe obviously in Changu compared to Ubud or even Uluatu. Yeah, they're all different. But I think it's it's a necessary or a needed lace for yoga, let's say. Oh yeah, I would say so. Yeah, cool. So I think that's most of it.

30:44 Is there anything else that we're missing that might be in the back of your mind of something that's interesting to share, to talk about thinking of our audience, of people who are, you know, maybe there's some advice that you might have outside of what's already been shared.

31:02 You know, thinking of some of the people that are listening might be thinking about teaching or already teaching and in their early days and they're just kind of like listening to this podcast being like, OK, cool, like what?

31:13 I would say stop thinking and just go start teaching. I think a lot of people just wait too long to just start teaching. You just got to start. Once you start, it gets easier and easier and easier and that's it. Don't, don't wait.

31:27 You don't need to take it out of training and other training. I, you know, I see some people taking so many trainings, like, you know, do one or two and just just start teaching, even if it's just friends and family and go from there.

31:38 So when you were teaching, you said friends and stuff like that, Was that online at all or is that just in person? No, I never taught a class online. To this day. It was literally I I would get like one or two friends. OK, let's go to the gym.

31:49 We would meet in the little yoga shala at the gym and I would just teach the class there. And I wasn't even like fully prepared. I would teach like half the class and then the other half I would put on the video so we could finish it because I I couldn't, I didn't even have my whole sequence memorized. Took me like about a month to finally like have a class ready and to to start without it.

32:09 So yeah, I mean. That's good to, that's good to know. I didn't know that. Like you kind of came in with like 1/2 broken sequence and you still did it anyway. Didn't let that stop you. It was with my friend, right, So I didn't care and that's just my learning style. My learning style is just the repetition and just keep practicing and I slowly learn things, you know, even like like my first six months of teaching, I didn't even play yoga. I mean, I, I didn't play music

32:35 in my yoga class because it was just, it was too much for me to like have a playlist, do this and that. Like I kind of the way I learned was I mastered one, one thing, you know, and then I just kept adding on to that class.

32:47 OK, interesting. So like, you know, when I first started, I was demoing the whole time. And then once I got comfortable with that, I started walking around a bit more. And then now, now I have now I like never demo. I just, I'm walking around.

33:01 OK. Sometimes if it's, you know, a bunch of new people and it's a small class, but like, yeah, that's kind of my style. And then. So this is interesting because I want to just deconstruct this a little bit more. When you say you focused on one thing at a time, yeah. Do you remember some of those things? Just to kind of give people an idea. Yeah, so.

33:22 Like obviously the the demoing to to reducing the demoing. So I didn't really say much of an opening in the beginning. When I first started teaching. It was more like, all right, hands together, set an intention, boom. I got right into it. So I think it was like after the music part and then I started really focusing on writing a nice opening, theming the class, doing all that.

33:46 So that was one of the things that took me time to get really good at. And even to this date, I'm always like looking for new things to say and writing things out and yeah, what else? The music, The Walking, and then even my queuing. My queuing wasn't so good in the beginning, you know, it was more like 1 queue or this and that.

34:08 And even to this day, my queuing, it's just getting better as well. That's something else, too. Less What about sequencing? In which way? Like. Yeah. Like, how did you, what would you say was your way of progressing your sequencing? Like, did you continue just taking classes and get inspiration from other teachers?

34:30 Did you like, you know, look at a book and study like poses to do? Just practice on your own and try to piece things together? Like what was your strategy? So there's like two styles. One is inspiration, like going to Paul Byron's class or like just watching videos online and then I would kind of memorize sequences.

34:46 Then after doing that for a while, sometimes I'll just do my own yoga, I'll put music in and I'll just play around on the mat and then like I'll make up sequences. And then doing that for like 2 years now, I'll just teach a class and then something would just come to my mind, I'm OK, let's do this instead. And I'll just make up a sequence like on the spot while I'm teaching.

35:08 So it's a bit of both like getting inspired from teachers, playing around on the mat making stuff. But I've never been the type to write sequences out. I'm the type to like just memorize in my head. OK. Is there anything that you're kind of working on now as part of your focus for improvement as a teacher? I mean, every day I work on improvement I want, I do yoga twice a day, I'll watch videos, I'll listen to podcasts or videos and write things down,

35:38 write new opening. So like I'm always learning. You're like. Fully immersed. I'm fully I don't stop. Yeah. Oh well, like I work super hard. I knew you were like into it, but that's a lot like, like every day. Every day today I I woke up four AMI, did an hour practice, walk my dogs while listening to a podcast, and then went to the yoga studio, did my own practice again.

36:05 And then a second practice. And then I did a second practice and then I went to go teach my class at 9:30. So I did two practices today before I taught. So like, yeah, I'm a little crazy. OK, OK, interesting. And then you taught your class.

36:19 You drove up to. I drove here. And then while I was like dealing with some stuff you were doing like I. Was doing some stretching, some breathing to get into that the yoga zone for this. Yeah, interesting. Wow. OK, so you are hardcore. Yeah, maybe it's the the Virgo enemy, I don't know. Yeah, yeah.

36:36 Well, that's great. I mean, it's inspiring to, you know, maybe that's some people are like, yeah, I want to go full throttle or take certain elements of this. But I think you definitely have a certain drive and discipline that has proven to be fruitful and where you're at now because obviously things are going well. You know, you're you're able to not to rely on another income. You know, things are progressing studio space and possible growth.

37:02 And, you know, this might even progression to eventually doing trainings and stuff like that. So, you know, these are all like dreams for people to some degree. It's like, oh, I want to get to that place. But, you know, you can't just jump.

37:12 You kind of have to take the steps and, you know, go through the process. And yeah, it's great to hear the the steps or the incremental things that you did to try to like work towards that. But I think the biggest thing was just for you was the knowing like this is, you know, the full commitment. Like we got to that point.

37:29 It was just like, OK, I'm going for it. Yeah. Which I think for people sometimes hard because they want to they, you know, they want to play with the safety of like I'm going to, I'm on the fence of like, do I want to fully commit or like, oh, what if it doesn't work out? Or what if yeah.

37:42 And you you didn't really have that mindset. You were just like, I'm just going to go. No, but I I did have some fear. It did take, it did take a few months to finally like, OK, just say fuck it. It was. Yeah, I remember.

37:53 I still remember the day I was like in Thailand working my job and I'm like fuck, I can't do this. This was after the training. This is like six months after the training and I'm just like, I can't work anymore. Like I just can't do this. And I literally just like shut down my laptop, called my like boss slash partner at the time.

38:13 And I'm like, dude, like, you know, I love you and this is great and all, but I, I just can't do this anymore. Like it's, it's killing me, you know? And then I just, yeah, I got to the point where I just quit. And then I said fuck it. But I would say for a couple months, I was already like thinking about it, you know?

38:30 Thinking about like just should I go back or do I? Do I was working already? I mean, thinking to to finally quit, right, right. But I was had that fear like, oh, how am I going to pay my rent? How am I going to pay the shelter, right?

38:46 And then, yeah, things just kept working out, you know, like money would come in from here or this and that. And like, it's like the universe had my back with that decision, right? So you kind of surrendered to it. Yeah, Degree, yeah.

38:57 That's great. That's cool, man. I love it. I love the story. Thank you. And then from from my perspective, like, thinking about, like I had just met you when you were in the training. Yeah, Right. I didn't know you prior to that. Like Byron had.

39:08 Miss you. Yeah. But I just remember you coming in as, like, this unassuming guy in the training. Yeah. Who kind of felt like you were, you felt like you're out of place to some degree. To me, it seemed like you didn't really know why you were there. And, you know, at the time your body was really tight. Oh, yeah.

39:28 And like soup. Like you were just like the guy who was like, I'm really glad that you were there, but you were also the guy that I'm like, I'm surprised you're here kind of thing, right. And, you know, obviously the training happened and stuff like that.

39:41 And, you know, we had a cohort of 25 people or something like that, and there's some really strong practitioners and then people who are teaching and how clearly teaching really well. I remember, yeah. And hopefully this doesn't hurt your ego, but you were like last on the list.

39:57 Was I last I knew I was like. You were towards the end. I know I don't. Know if I was dead last? I don't. Remember who everyone in the training, but you were definitely in the in the bottom of who I would consider not like quality wise, just like who would expect, Yeah, who would I expect?

40:11 To teach. I do that. Yeah, I do. That to me, I was just like, OK, like I wouldn't expect him to teach yoga. He was here, he had an experience, you know, he learned some things and like, that's great enough. That's that's enough for a lot of people.

40:22 So whenever I found out, like, you know, months later that you're teaching yoga, I would my mind was like, is that holy shit, really? Yeah, because I didn't jump in right away. Like, you know, I took it slow. I just started teaching in the gym and then it wasn't until I really quit my job and then, yeah, when I dived in fully, when, yeah, when things started to take off.

40:41 So yeah. So to me, it's really inspiring. We're probably going to started with that, but I just, you know. Thought it was the best for last. I just thought it was so interesting and also just, yeah, really inspiring even for me just to be like, wow, so great to see such a switch, you know? Yeah, even to this day, like I remember running into a guy a couple months ago and I'm like, yeah, I'm just like Tuchi yoga. And like, he's like, you're a yoga T-shirt. Like, they just wouldn't expect

41:07 it, you know? Yeah, So it's funny. Yeah, and you love it. I love it. Yeah. It's the, it's the best thing that's happened to me. My, my life has changed. I'm like, yeah, I'm super grateful. Like every day I'm super grateful that I've, I've found this path and I get to do something that I love and I get to help people and by helping people, I'm helping myself so.

41:29 Yeah, OK. You're happy for you. Thank you. Proud of you as well. Thank you. How's the dog shelter going? It's good. We got 22 dogs. We actually rescued 1 about a week ago and I was literally on my way to go teach yoga class and like 30 seconds down the road from me, I, I found this puppy like with a broken leg.

41:51 I didn't know he had a broken leg. So I just drove him to the shelter. I'm like, OK, take care of him, bring him to the vet. I got to go teach a class, came back, we took him to the vet. Turned out I had to go get an X-ray and yeah, anyways, he's in the vet now. He might be getting surgery tomorrow. So the shelter's there, it's running, but I don't really put any more attention to it like the way I did before, like. Right.

42:15 I mean, it's just, it sustains itself. I we have the dogs and once in a while people do come and adopt, but it's, yeah, it's just kind of like it's there, but it's not like an active rescuing shelter anymore. Right, so it has a sets of dogs. Yeah.

42:31 Cool. Maybe, maybe if someone's interested and they're coming to Bali and they're like, I left dogs and I had. To go for a walk. Yeah. They want to adopt their foster. You can. Yeah, cool. So if somebody wants to reach out, connect with you, ask you questions or just share something, what's the best way to do that? Just.

42:48 Ping me on Instagram I think OK Phil Kwalik always happy to help people and talk yoga so. Yeah, thank you for that. We'll add that in the show notes. If people want to connect with you, sure they can ask away, yeah. Any final thoughts before we wrap it up? No, just very thankful to be here and yeah, all good. Nice.

43:10 Well, thank you for coming in. Thank you for sharing your story and thank you everyone for tuning in this week. And like I said, if you have any questions, you can reach out to Phil or you can reach out to us on Instagram and we'll be happy to answer your questions. Otherwise, have a beautiful day.

43:24 Yeah, and we'll talk to you next week. All right, before you go, let me just tell you about the going proyoga.com platform. So right now you can go to goingproyoga.com and check it out for free for seven days, where you can actually learn more about yoga in the ways of alignment, queuing, sequencing, yoga anatomy.

43:41 So that if you've done a 200 hour teacher training and you want to continue to learn, practice and grow, this platform is definitely for you. So I definitely suggest checking it out. Going proyoga.com right now. You can try it out for free for seven days.