Hypnotherapy and Yoga: Letting Go of Who You’re Not with Laila El iDrissi

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.

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0:32 This is one of your hosts, Michael Henry, and we have a guest, a new guest, actually, someone we've never had on the podcast before. Layla is in the house, El El Derisi. El Derisi, I think I got it. So Layla's on the podcast because she's going to be one of the teachers at the In Movement studio, which is really exciting. So, Layla, welcome to the podcast. Thank you, excited to be here.

0:56 Yeah, I'm excited to have you as well. So let's allow people an opportunity to get to know you a little bit more where you're from, what are you like, what do you, you know, let's give them some context a bit. Yeah. So I'm, I'm from Morocco, born and raised there. And four years ago I came to Bali and stayed. I have a background in architecture so I studied that, Been doing that for a few years and now I fully transition to yoga and I'm also a hypnotherapist. Recently.

1:28 Yeah, recently. Since October, yeah. Where did you do that here in Bali? Yeah, in Changu in heel center with Steph, she's amazing. Cool. I knew that, but I also forgot about that, So thanks for reminding me of that. And your background is in architecture.

1:45 And you, I know when I met you, you were at where you're kind of doing that. I think you were working at the time, actually. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you? Were when we met in Roosters, it was like I was having a meeting, an architecture meeting.

1:55 Right, yeah. And then you were. I remember you saying like, yeah, I kind of think I want to start teaching yoga or something like that. So it's interesting to see the full circle of now you're like, I've transitioned over. Yeah, which is actually cool.

2:06 And maybe that'll come up in the story because I know some people are actually in some sort of job and they're either, you know, doing both or they're thinking of the transition. So maybe there's something that can be distilled there for people. So what is your first experience with yoga and when did it shift for you as a personal practice to wanting to share? So it's been few years ago maybe maybe 12 years ago. I was 17 and I remember I was looking into some YouTube videos just to work out things and I

2:41 just found this thing that was called yoga but I didn't even realize. Was it yoga with Adrian? Yes, it was. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. She's like the famous. One, yeah, I did with Adrian and then I was, I did as well with Keno and I did some with Patavi Joyce as well. So I tried that the first time and I never heard of the word yoga.

3:03 I didn't know what was it about and I just tried it and something felt different. So I kept coming back to it over and over just with curiosity and started as well to try some meditations, like guided meditations. And all of that was like new and somehow strange but exciting.

3:26 Kept me coming back. And yeah, so that was my first encounter with it. At 17, that's crazy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, in my room and like I didn't really like it took me some time to share with the word that I was doing yoga because I, I didn't know what I was doing.

3:42 Actually the first time actually I felt that I wanted to share. It is just like few weeks after I started practicing it. Oh, really? Yeah, so like 1718 ish time. Yeah, I was still in in high school and I just like felt that everyone should do this thing, right.

4:02 Yeah. And I remember back then I asked my gym teacher if I could teach my how do you call them your peers? Yeah, my peers. Yeah. Yoga class. Right. And then we've done that. They gave us a corner. And there was some few girls there with me. And I don't, I have no idea what, what I was teaching them, but I remember I was like, just like love these warrior poses and was just like they're giving them some poses one after the other, whatever I could remember

4:35 from the 20 minutes classes that I was doing at home. So that was actually the first time I. Thanks. So you've been a teacher for a lot longer than Yeah. No, I did that and then I stopped like after, yeah. But I definitely felt the urge to share it right away. And then so when did you do your first like official teacher training where you felt actually like more qualified or certified to actually do it?

5:01 Yeah. So I did it four years ago, but I would say my first immersive experience was in India where I went to a an ashram and he was actually in 2018. So I went to India for a volunteering program and I just thought that I would go to India and I'll find yoga everywhere.

5:22 I was practicing back then, but like, mostly on YouTube from home, I don't think. Yeah, I only, I had once like an experience of practicing in a studio in a surf camp, but that was it. So going to India, at some point, I didn't really like the program I was in.

5:41 And I remember I had these travel book, I was with a few friends and I had we had this travel book and I started looking where I can find yoga, where I can go and practice actually yoga. And I found this thing called Ashram that I never heard of. I found this place called Rishikesh that I've never heard of.

6:01 And I was like, that's where I want to go is specific Ashram Rishikesh. I didn't know how far it was, but I went with one friend. One friend decided to join me. The rest of the friends stayed in the program and we just took a night bus and then we got there early in the morning.

6:20 We showed up, we didn't book before anything and then they had some space for us. And that was like the first time actually where I really experienced what is it like to practice and what was beyond the ass in a practice as well and how also the practice can support you in many, many, many, many ways. So I ended up staying there for a month and it was one of the most beautiful experiences in my life. So after that, definitely it added so much depth to my practice.

6:52 And then after this experience, 2018, that's where I started to be more regular in my practice and trying to find classes, go find more like teachers and try to expand. Like going to the classes more for example because you said your experience was more. Yeah.

7:11 Yeah, you know at home and yourself created practice exactly and then actually having like being LED. Yeah, right. Like because yeah, then I was like in a city where I could find actually a studio. But before I, it wasn't the case from there.

7:27 Then I in 2020, I decided that I wanted to go make to do my teacher training. And before that, actually for a year or so, I was practicing with inner dimension and I got to practice with Paul, I got to practice with Byron, with Travis. And that was like, I was following these classes for, for over a year.

7:47 And at some point I really wanted to understand what we were doing. And also for me to be able to have A, to have a more like autonomous practice and try, you know, understand everything about the sequencing and alignments. And so that's where I decided to do my teacher training. But then COVID happened, I didn't go. And then I had a burnout, stopped working. And something in me was like, you're not going to do anything until you go to this teacher

8:24 training. So I spent like around a year just waiting for Bali to open its borders and me to come. And during this year actually, I started to just study by myself through YouTube again, looking into these sequencing, how to sequence the class, how to queue, and then writing on all the queues and. Just fully immersing yourself, yeah, just getting you're just like a I'm a student right now and you're. I'm a student.

8:54 I waited for for the training to happen and after COVID it took so much time and I I was not working at the time and I was like, I might just start that we need by myself. So I got to do that and started actually teaching before my teacher. Training.

9:11 Oh cool. Which happened here in Bali in 2022. So what was your first like 200 hour training for example? Oh yeah, it was with East West. It was with East West, yeah. Yeah, it was the first training before, right after COVID. The first, yeah.

9:26 And we were, I think 9 students, OK. Really nice. Oh wow, small group. Was there a specific teacher or experience or life moment that shaped the way that you're teaching today? Yeah, there's, there was few, few teachers who really like inspired me, but I would say so when I came here, I I had the chance to go to Byron's in person classes and just like seeing his incredible way of holding space and the way he was using words and it was like creating a real experience for

10:02 you to really go deep. And the fact that he wasn't, he was like mostly queueing and, and taking you all the time there. That was something that really inspired me. So learned so much from him. And then as well I, I got to study with Talia Sutra in person. She also inspired me in many, many ways. And I feel with her, the thing that really suit up for me was the way like her practices always felt were when we did the Twitter training, it felt really

10:41 challenging. And she's very strict, but she's also very, very loving. So you feel that she's challenging you, but at the same time she really believes in you. What kind of lineage was it? So she's coming from the GOSH lineage. It's it's actually where Bikram is coming from. The sequence where Bikram is coming from, this is from Ghosh. It's actually not his creation.

11:06 OK, yes. And she's, she's mixing between Ghosh and Ashtanga and she created her own like sequence. But yet the thing that I got from her is that this balance between like she's really challenging you because she believes you can. And there was not she, she didn't intellectualize the practice a lot or the asanas or, and she didn't really believe in the limitations of the body.

11:37 So you couldn't be like, you know, I, but for me, for example, you know, like backbends come to me easily, but like everything arm balance or inversions really, really hard. And she just didn't want to hear anything about it.

11:53 She's like, do you, how many times do you try, you know, like just keep showing up and whatever comes. And also she has a really devotional practice and consistency. So she inspired me in a way first knowing that she really has a consistent practice and she, you can feel that in her presence and, and the way she shows up, she's always studying all the time and, and you can, you could also feel that. And then the other teacher who continues as well to inspire me is Thailand, Rome.

12:25 And I got to study with him before Talia. Actually, it's been maybe now six years and I've been studying with him online for a long time. And he actually, he actually influenced and inspired my way of sequencing in many ways even before my teacher, my first teacher training, because he, he had the answer to a question that I always had.

12:50 And it was what's beyond the physical aspect of the asanas and the physical aspect of the sequencing. I kind of studied before my teacher training. OK, this is how we prepare for a peak pose. This is how we prepare the different muscles and things.

13:10 But I was like, I feel there's something else which makes us feel in a certain way after we do an asana practice and why in some classes we feel better than others. And he had this just like a release, this course about the energetic sub sequencing where he like explains the alignments from an aortic perspective, like the alignment of the pose, which which goes with the physical alignments that we, but it's just like explains why we're doing it from an aortic purpose

13:47 or point of view. And also the sequence, why we put the sequences in a certain way and what makes them feel powerful or grounding or opening. So he inspired me in that way. But then also I got to meet him for the first time when I went to India this year and had to spend six weeks with him. And yeah, there's something about the embodiment of love that I found between, like him and as well, Talia Sutra to actually really affected me and touched me. And it's, they're both teachers,

14:24 but you feel their ability to see you, to witness you, to, to believe in you. And it doesn't have anything to do with how good you are in the asana or how beginner or how advanced. It's like a really like steady loving presence that they that they offer.

14:46 And this gave me as well the space to be able to expand and try and fail and come back again and just show up every day as I am not trying to impress, not trying to hide, just being there how like as I am and and feeling that however I show up in this day, in this practice, I will be supported and I will be seen and. It's like giving you permission to be yourself even though you don't need it.

15:18 And like, having that as a teacher, I feel that's what I but that's what I feel like. I want to also be able to share. Yeah. Like, I want the students who come to my classes to feel seen and feel that they can be who who they are and also to get to help them to move beyond the limitations of whichever stories they came in to the class.

15:44 And a lot of people come and they come to see me before the class and they're like, they, they try and justify. Sometimes it'd be like, you know, that's my first class or I actually have this. Then just helping them as well to, to see beyond the limitations and the possibilities and believe in them until they can believe in themselves. Like, yeah.

16:06 Sounds like you had an element of that already, but then, you know, Talia was one of the teachers that seemed to almost reinforce that a bit more because she seemed to have that energy. So coming back to you a little bit more, how would you describe your teaching style in three words? Something came in grounded, definitely intentional. So before you choose your third one, yeah, Why Grounded? Why did you choose Grounded?

16:35 Just tell me a little bit more. I think that's the word that came to me because maybe that's the intention I want to create. I feel that like usually I don't use music or I would use like a mantra in the back, the same mantra repeating.

16:53 So there is like the least distractions possible and I feel this offers a lot of grounding. OK. And then intention was your second one. Everything is intentional in my classes, in my sequences, in my words. So intentional.

17:14 Any words you put in, any pose you put in, any alignment queue or whatever you're doing, any adjustment you're giving, and everything has a reason, any intention behind it. OK. So grounded, intentional, and. Yeah, it can be a little challenging, OK?

17:31 It takes you to your edge. Challenging. Yeah, OK. That's a good word. There is like a sneaky way like between softness and challenge. And you're so sweet. And yeah, but at the same time, you're a little bit of a stick person.

17:46 Yeah, we, we use the, we use the Buddhist analogy a lot. So the stick person giving a little. Yeah, yeah. So there's a balance between softness and. Well, that's good. Yeah. Cool. I like it. You got a cheeky smile and you said the challenge. I appreciate that.

18:01 I'm sure Paul would appreciate that too. What's your favorite yoga pose? I would say first thing that comes to my mind is. Why? I don't know, there's there's something about like more like simple poses, the, you know, the basic poses that we keep coming back to and how they keep opening up.

18:32 And I feel, yeah, triggers and is one of them. Yeah. I would probably think of some backbends as well. I figured you were gonna say a. Backbend, yeah. Yeah, if it wasn't obvious, Layla is a backbend master. Basically, eventually we're gonna tell people to come take your class, and if you're interested in backbends, Laylas got your back.

18:50 So much needed, yeah. Got your back. What do you feel you uniquely bring to the studio through your classes? So the in movement studio that we're going to be kind of going in and obviously you might even be doing this already. You might even even answer the question already, but who knows what comes through like what what, what feels unique from you compared to let's say some of your teachers? Maybe it's a blend of things or what comes through. One thing.

19:15 You said, yeah, like I said, what comes through for you as might be a blend of some of the teachers that you shared before that inspired you, But like, what is it that you feel like you bring? Two things that come to my mind is taking people a little to the edge and exploring maybe unusual asanas or edges, and also the aspect of no distractions, which make it sometimes a little more challenging the practice, but also very, very rewarding. Yeah, you'll find in my classes

19:55 more a push in the backbends a little more than others for sure. Yeah, so that's the obvious answer. So when someone walks into your class, what do you want them to experience or what would you like or hope that they experience or feel after they walk out? Of your class after they walk out. Yeah.

20:14 So what's coming to my mind is knowing or feeling or experiencing that they a sense of belonging and worthiness that is not related to how beginners or how advanced are they in the in in the in the practice and how much they were able to achieve were struggle or however with their experience is to get to yield a sense of inherent self worth.

20:50 Yeah, and yeah, and sense of belonging. Cool. So that seems like an element of like trying to remove, you know, self judgement or self criticism in some ways to just be like whatever you're doing is enough ultimately. But also at the same time, let's see if we can, you know, challenge you in a healthy way.

21:10 And see, yeah, in a really healthy way. See it like, I always like to bring an example of a child. And I saw that like recently when I was back home. And it's kind of inspired me like a child when like a newborn and when they're going through the journey of trying to walk for the first time, they, they try to stand up or try to walk and they fall and they kind of laugh about it or you know, they don't, they don't think I don't belong to this life.

21:47 I don't belong with these humans because they all can walk around me. It cannot. They just try again and again and again. And on one day they start walking or they stand. So basically the same thing come in and trying and like seeing this challenge as a way or as an opportunity for expansion rather than a limitation. I might steal that, actually.

22:10 Yeah. It's a nice little, nice little analogy or perspective. So what is being part of the in movement community mean to you? So the in movement, what does the in movement even mean to you? Maybe we can go there. Have you thought about that?

22:26 No, you haven't. Yeah. Well, we'll put you on the spot. Yeah, yeah, definitely. If you try try and think about it, it feels like steady thing, something that is real and legit. Legit. What's what's? What does it mean? Legit means like like valid or like not fake. It's like real.

22:50 Yeah, that's, yeah, that's that's part of it. But it feels like something like that. You can lean it like you that you can trust. Yeah, legit is like yeah, trust is an element. There. Yeah, you will. Like authentic almost would be another.

23:04 Word authentic, like there's an element of strength that can hold you like you can just you can be part of this community and feel held and feel that you will be supported. But that was the case of like, you know, the creators, With my experience with them, it's like, that's how I always felt.

23:26 I mean, I've heard people say different answers for that, of course, but it's it's coming back to a lot of the same stuff, which is just like, you know, they're trying to be as real as possible. They're not trying to be fake.

23:37 There are yoga teachers trying to run a yoga teacher business. It's not like, you know, just someone that's trying to write, create a business for yoga to make money. It's more so just like we're, you know, trying to build something that's more meaningful, more legit.

23:51 Yeah. For example, yeah, and and, but also not any yoga teachers. I got some experience I guess. What are you currently exploring or refining within your own practice right now? Yeah, hypnotherapy definitely is like something that was added but was also there in my life for the past six years. And I feel hypnotherapy and yoga were the main supporters and hypnotherapy was the main thing that really helps me to shift my life, I would say and.

24:26 So you had experience with this obviously beforehand. Yeah. And you said it was one of the main things. So now I need to know more about that. Yeah, yeah. I'll just, yeah, maybe say like tell a story of how it actually did. But basically, and it was all online. And I think Christina is into the same thing. We talked about it before, but basically it was this practice of manifestation related to you're talking. About TBM.

24:53 Hypnotherapy, yes, TBM and, and he was, I remember I was working as an architect and I was like, OK, I'll I want to manifest more things. And I remember I brought this manifestation list of many things. And then I started these, like, hypnotherapy sessions with the intention to get, yeah, like, wanting all of these things or thinking of what's next. And somehow what was meant to be next for me didn't feel right. Or it felt like more it's just something automatic. And I remember, and I still have

25:39 this note in my phone from few years ago and I was in the train and I just wrote, I will just focus on being or coming back to my authentic essence. That's, that should be my focus. And then with that, everything that is not aligned will fall off And everything that is aligned with this essence, which I, I didn't know back then will come to me because frequencies, you know, so I don't need to understand what do I want?

26:12 I just need to, to, to know and come back to my essence and, and vibrate in this frequency. And I think just writing that. And then from there, starting to do these, like, hypnosis sessions to get into my subconscious and start to know actually what's what's real, what's mine, what's not mine, what's mine and what's conditioning.

26:38 Everything that I had in my life back then, except for a few, like, stable things like friendships and family. But everything started falling out, like, dramatically. Yeah. It felt like everything started like the place I was living in the job, like relationship, like everything was like falling apart.

26:58 And then I was left little say with nothing and with a burnout. And then during this time, I started to look into who I am, you know, like what do I like? What do I want? And during this whole time, the practice of yoga was the thing that I was coming back to the whole time and then continuing with hypnotherapy and, and then slowly made my way to Bali.

27:28 And before I came to Bali, I had to clear so many beliefs and so many stories and come in here and starting to slowly, like I started working in architecture a little bit and then starting to teach and all the things that I've that came to me or I don't like the the word achieving, but like the things that I've or came to me where I was blessed with up until now.

28:00 It was a lot of and it just, yeah, it just shows how how much control the mind has over us. And that's something I I learned through yoga, you know, and and then the hypnotherapy showed me like the layers of the subconscious and how it's actually controls you because you can practice, you can meditate, you can separate yourself from your thoughts and all of these things. You can have a willpower to wake up and do a certain thing. But in moments where you feel

28:36 overwhelmed or you feel tired, where I oversimulated the subconscious takeover, it's also more about processing. Processing, yeah, whatever happened and accepting. Cool, so let's let's try to bring this home a little bit more. What would you tell your 16 1/2 year old self before you knew all the things that you knew now, if you could, what would you inform that person in what way and in a way that you know that they would be able to receive it? What would you, what would you

29:15 say to them? You are loved and supported by a divine force. Do you think that would be received? Yeah, I think it was received that why she kept going. Yeah, I've got me here. Well, thanks so much for coming in, taking the time to share and talk and just, yeah, getting to know you a little bit more, which is kind of fun. I'm not great at back then, so maybe you can help me out with that at some point.

29:45 My thoracic spine is just like a rock. Yeah, but. We'll go to the classes and we'll figure it out. You should come and I think everyone come. I'm great. So if people wanted to connect with you, I don't know. They want to reach out, ask you a question they're curious about. What's the best way to to do that? Yeah, either finding me in my classes, meeting me in person or finding me through Instagram.

30:09 Instagram cool, so we'll make sure to add that in the show notes. Have a retreat coming as well. Oh cool, one's your retreat and where is it? October OK in Morocco by the ocean. Nice. Yep. We can find more about it on Instagram as.

30:22 Well, how many days is that? Six days. OK, cool. Yoga and hypnotherapy. Amazing. Yeah. Morocco, Six days, October. Great. Thank you so much and thank you everyone for tuning in and listening. And as always, have a beautiful rest of your day.