359. How Yoga Helps Teens with Anxiety and Depression with Alli Louthain

I’m Jody Moore and this is Better Than Happy, episode 359: How Yoga Helps Teens with Anxiety and Depression with Alli Louthain.

Did you know that you can live a life that’s even better than happy? My name is Jody Moore. I’m a master certified life coach and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And if you’re willing to go with me I can show you how. Let’s go.

Hello everybody, welcome to episode 359. That’s a lot of me talking at you. Thanks for listening. My goodness, aren’t you sick of me yet? So, couple of things, first of all, Impact 2.0, the most amazing business conference for entrepreneurs or want to be entrepreneurs, everything geared specifically for women, I mean men, you can come too. If you come men, you’ll have a really good time but it’s all created with moms in mind, women in mind. And I say moms, just because a lot of the people I work with are in the thick of raising kids.

And here’s the thing, building a business or creating whatever impact it is that you want to make, takes time. I keep learning, I love to learn from other entrepreneurs, other people who are good at business, especially people who are ahead of me. And the message that is consistent with anybody that’s doing anything that I think is worthwhile that I would want to follow is be patient, it takes time. That’s one of the reasons I say, don’t wait until your kids are all out of the house, unless you want to. If you just want to do that, that’s one thing. But don’t think, well I can’t do both.

You can do both, I promise you, if you feel called, and you feel a desire, you feel an interest to do both, being a mom will make you a better businessowner and being a businessowner makes you a better mom. I really do believe that. So anyway Impact 2.0 is happening July 27^th 28^th in Salt Lake City. And we just opened the doors barely over a week ago and it’s already half sold out. So, if you’re thinking of coming, don’t delay, go to jodymoore.com/impact and grab your ticket. It’s going to be amazing.

Okay, so today I have a special guest on the podcast, Alli Louthain. And Alli, I might be saying your last name wrong. I’m so sorry. I had the most amazing fun conversation with Alli and I don’t think we ever once talked about how to pronounce her last name. So, I apologize if I’m saying it wrong, Miss Alli. But you guys are going to love Alli, I fell in love with her within the first few minutes of our conversation, it’s hard not to. She has so much energy and enthusiasm, and just you can tell is an overall happy positive person who is called to make an amazing impact in the world.

So let me tell you a little bit about Alli. She has created a program called Isha Warriors. And she says, “Isha is a Sanskrit word meaning ruling god or goddess, one who protects. And Isha embodies Alli Louthain’s approach to teaching yoga. As a yoga instructor for over 15 years, she’s empowered and inspired students to understand their great worth in a space where they feel protected. She’s worked with teens for two decades and had the opportunity to train other yoga instructors on how to teach teens and children.

Alli’s been highlighted in local news, yoga magazines and newspapers.  She’s been the keynote speaker at school assemblies and youth firesides. She’s helped head up grassroots community events with thousands in attendance. And most importantly, she knows the name of every student who walks into her classes. So, one of the most common questions I get is how do I help my teenagers who are anxious and depressed, what do I tell them? How do I not get anxious and depressed about them? How do I best serve them?

I know I can’t control them, what can I do to help them, Jody? And I try to answer that question for you but as much as I like to think I know everything, it turns out I don’t, it turns out there are lots of options out there of course. And yoga is one that I hadn’t considered how amazingly impactful it could be until this conversation with Alli, so I’m so excited for you to hear it. Let’s take it away.

                                                                                                                    

Alli: Aloha, Jody.

Jody: Aloha, Alli, I wish we were in Hawaii right now.

Alli: It’s at least a little warmer, so we can imagine.

Jody: Okay. Not for me, it’s pouring rain. And it does rain in Hawaii I guess.

Alli: Yes. They call it pineapple rain, there’s always a constant drizzle.

Jody: Okay, Alli, why do you start everything with aloha?

Alli: So, Aloha, it means hello, it means goodbye, but it also means love. And I met my husband over 20 years ago in Hawaii. And I had the privilege of going to church there in a congregation that had 13 different nations represented. And everyone would get up and they’d say hello in whatever their native tongue was. And if you were a haole like I was, you would say aloha. And then everyone would say it back. And you would just feel the energy shift. You’re nodding your head. You’ve been to Hawaii.

Jody: Yes.

Alli: Yes, you feel it. And just I fell in love with the culture. I fell in love and I promised myself that wherever I lived I would take that spirit of aloha with me and share that love. That is why I say aloha.

Jody: I love it.

Alli: There we go.

Jody: Beautiful.

Alli: Sometimes a little bit nerve wracking because I mean literally speaking to a bunch of teens at a middle school and you’re like, is anyone going to say it back? I don’t know.

Jody: And do they?

Alli: Yeah, they do. They do but the other thing that we learn about love is you just, you put it out there regardless of how it’s received or if it’s reciprocated, right?

Jody: That’s right.

Alli: And I think that’s powerful.

Jody: It’s awesome. Okay, so tell us about your story, Alli, tell us about why you do what you do. And what do you do?

Alli: Well, I run an online business, yoga for teens. It’s one of a kind, Jody, it’s exciting because when I started teaching yoga so many years ago, there wasn’t any kids yoga. And so, the very first thing I did after I got certified is I started teaching kids yoga. And I feel now a decade later here I am again and there isn’t yoga just for teens. Just this space where we don’t take ourselves seriously, where it’s a lot of the topics and a lot of the things that are really applicable to teens. Those are what our mantras are, that’s what our themes are for the month. So, I’m so excited.

Jody: Okay. So, you teach yoga classes online then, you have teens all over that participate?

Alli: Yeah. So, if you go to ishawarriors.com.

Jody: Isha, spell Isha for us.

Alli: I-S-H-A.

Jody: Ishawarriors.com?

Alli: Yeah. Isha is a Sanskrit word and it means ruling god or goddess, one who protects.

Jody: Awesome, I love that, okay.

Alli: And so that is the two components of my business name is I want our teens to tap into their divine worth. And then also empower them through yoga to be warriors, to combat mental illness, to combat low self-esteem and all these things. So yeah, Isha Warriors.

Jody: I love it, okay. How did you find me and how did we end up working together? Tell me that story.

Alli: Okay. So, I have a dear friend, many years ago that was like, “Alli, you need to listen to this podcast.” And you had me at hello, I mean you had me at hello, I listened and it just resonated so much with me because many of the things that you teach through the model and through your life coaching are very similar to the things that yogis teach through the 8-limb path. And what I love about what you offer is the vocabulary. It’s just so accessible. It’s just, you know what I mean? So, I’ve had so many of those aha moments as I’ve been listening to your podcast and everything.

So, when you put out your first bonus, your first Business Minded bonus.

Jody: Yeah, last summer.

Alli: Sisterpreneur.

Jody: Sisterpreneur, that’s right.

Alli: And I was listening to it as I was clearing the rack. And there was this one point where this beautiful, just wave, like this warmth washed over me from head to toe. And there I am in the middle of my kitchen holding a plate, just crying, tears of joy. You spoke to my soul, sister.

Jody: Yeah. No, that is beautiful.

Alli: And I just knew I’d turn up, and I knew I’d find the money. And I knew that your Business Minded program was going to help make dreams that I’ve had for over a decade, come true. Like those seeds that I’ve been planting along the way. It was time. It was time to see them sprout and grow. So yeah, that’s why we’re here.

Jody: That’s amazing, I love that. Okay, so let’s talk about what’s going on with our teens nowadays. Is it just our imagination, is it just anecdotal or do we have more depression, anxiety, what feel like serious issues with teens nowadays?

Alli: Absolutely.

Jody: Do you know, have you done the research?

Alli: Yeah. I have been doing so much research for this, I have to tell you, it was so hard to just pick 10 ways that yoga can help teens with anxiety and depression. With COVID I think it kind of put the crank on a lot of things, on a lot of issues. Some people are calling mental health the next pandemic. I mean in 2019 it was said that one out of three teens expressed depression or was experiencing anxiety. In 2020 ERs reported that the number of teen girl attempted suicides had doubled. Doubled, so, no, it’s not imagined.

These things are happening. And the JED Foundation actually states that death by suicide is the second leading cause of death among young adults today. And in the year 2021 the US General even issued an urgent public health advisory regarding mental health. So, it’s like, no, it’s definitely. And I feel yoga has been around for over 5,000 years. I mean it’s been around forever. And there are decades, and decades of research across the globe that show the validity and the efficacy of how yoga can help individuals with their mental health and just helping instill resiliency, confidence.

All these different things, these different tools that individuals who struggle with mental health need. And I just feel we’re more open to it now. We’re more open to receive that information. And so, I think that’s really exciting because as parents we are looking for solutions for our loved ones. And so, I would say to parents, if you’ve been watching someone tread those rough waters of mental health, you are not alone. And we’re in this together. And also, I’d say, let’s not be surprised if we need various tools to find solutions.

Jody: That’s right. I do think it takes a trying of a lot of different things and there’s probably going to be a combination of various tools that’s going to help. What I love about yoga and when you introduced this idea to me and when I learned about your business and what you do. I thought, you know what I love about it is it’s the mindfulness piece but combined with your physical body. And connecting with your body and all the breathing, and relaxation, and strengthening, and stretching.

And the mind and the body are so connected that to work on them together just to me seems like it would make sense.

Alli: Absolutely. So, I would love to tell you some of those ways.

Jody: Yeah, that’s what I was going to say. Let’s get into your 10 ways. You have 10 ways that yoga helps teens, especially teens. I would imagine anyone but struggling with depression and anxiety.

Alli: Absolutely. So, Jody, your listeners know the value of training your brain. They understand how they have to be the boss of their brain. And I want you to imagine that all the thought work that you do with all of your clients is like a carwash. And not just any carwash, it is the ultimate works carwash complete with tire shine and the underbody, get all the salt out. It’s the most amazing carwash.

Okay, so now I want you to imagine that yoga is the vehicle that drives you through the ultimate carwash. So, for me I’ve got this busy mind and trying to connect the mind and the body, and do the thought work. Yoga provides that physical space to clean up thoughts and try on new ones. I have an example of this. So, a couple of years ago I had a circumstance happen that was really hurtful. And I’d been listening to your podcast and okay, I recognize there’s clean pain here. And I also recognize that I’ve got this toxic record of thoughts that are just creating a lot of unnecessary suffering.

Where it’s like I just couldn’t get leverage on the thoughts, they just kept going. And lucky for me I had agreed a month before that had happened, I had told two other instructors that I would sub for them. And so, the week after this circumstance happened I was teaching yoga every single day, and sometimes twice a day because I was subbing for a couple of different people. And it’s like I had this juxtaposition of how I felt going into class which was tight, and heavyhearted, and again just these thoughts on repeat.

And then the way that I felt when I left class which was relaxed and calm. And this idea of it’s going to work out. And then I’d find that within hours those thoughts would start to creep up again. And then I’d go back to yoga, rinse and repeat, gone back through the carwash, I could genuinely say that within this week I moved into this space of openness and was like, I can forgive these individuals and I can set these healthy boundaries. And you know what I mean? It was very eye-opening for me.

Jody: There is biology behind it all. And there’s an approach that can be just as powerful and I like to use a combination of the two, which is starting with the body and slowing down the breathing, and the autonomic nervous system. Your brain and your body want to line up and they will so you don’t have to start with thoughts. You can start with breath, start with emotions even and so yeah, I love that.

Alli: So, talking about the emotions, that leads me to number two. I don’t know about your teenagers but my teenagers’ backpacks weigh a ton.

Jody: Yes. I’m always like, “How do you carry this all day?” They don’t use lockers like we used to.

Alli: They don’t use lockers anymore. It’s not cool to even decorate your locker and hang out at your locker. It’s not even, how do you carry these things. Sometimes I’ll peek into their backpacks and be like, “Do you need all these things?”

Jody: All this junk, yeah.

Alli: And what does your teenager say? “Of course, I need all these things. I need all of my backpack.” But our teens get so used to carrying around the weight of their emotions. They forget what it even feels like to take that backpack off, of emotions. This is especially true for teens who have anxiety, who are on that high alert mode, or for teens who have depression, who are in preservation mode. So, the second thing that yoga can offer a teen is relief, is relief. Have you ever enjoyed a deep tissue massage?

Jody: Yes.

Alli: Okay. So, you’ve just gotten this amazing deep tissue massage, the massage therapist says, “Okay, Jody, we’re all done, take your time getting off the table”, they leave. And what’s your first thought?

Jody: I have to get dressed now, dang it.

Alli: Yeah, right. I don’t want to get off the table, I don’t want to move.

Jody: It’s like I’ve come back to life.

Alli: Right. And why is that your thought?

Jody: It’s just so nice being there relaxing, not thinking about anything. I just don’t want it to end.

Alli: It’s a relief. And even though there might have been times during that session where it was intense, they’re getting out knots in your shoulder. It provided you this relief. And I’ve been teaching yoga for over 15 years. That feeling is what you get by the end of a yoga class. No one wants to get off the mat. The worst part of a yoga class is when the teacher says, “Okay, now it’s time to start waking up the body and come out of savasana.” And everyone’s like, “No, I don’t want to.”

I’ve actually had teenagers fall asleep during savasana. It’s like they give themselves permission to relax and let go because it’s a safe space. You know what I mean? They can be vulnerable there.

Jody: I love that. I love that.

Alli: Yeah, it just feels so good. Everything, and you kind of touched on this. Everything in the yoga practice turns off the sympathetic which is the fight, flight, freeze response and it engenders conditions for the parasympathetic, for your rest, digest, for those systems to thrive. And it is a place where individuals who suffer from that depression, anxiety can…

Jody: Find that relief. It’s beautiful. I love it.

Alli: Yeah, exactly. And earlier you talked about are we disconnected? When we started talking, absolutely. I mean you think about, they say that teens are on their screens at least nine hours a day, between laptops at doing school during their homework. What are you doing up there for hours? I’m doing homework on my screen, videogames, social media, texting, all those things. So, teens are constantly plugged in and they’re not often choosy about what they’re plugged into. I just talked to a principal.

Jody: True. I’m not even choosy about what I do.

Alli: And you think about every time a teen turns on their computer or swipes their phone, it’s like a fire hydrant of information just gets untapped and is coming at them. So, in a world of constant noise and instant everything, yoga offers our teens a place to unplug. But here’s what I love. It’s not just a place to unplug, it’s a place to tune out because I think it takes practice to tune out the voices in media and not just those voices, how about the voices of their coaches, of their teachers.

Jody: Their parents.

Alli: I was just going to say, the expectations. We’re all, we expect our kids to do these things. And on that yoga mat they get to practice tuning out even those expectations and tuning into their beautiful, powerful, inner light. That Isha, that’s why that Isha is part of my business name. Is I want you to trust your gut. I want you to listen to your beautiful inner voice. It is worth being heard.

Jody: And that’s where the spirit talks to us internally, through that internal voice.

Alli: So, in that space, you’ve driven that car into that carwash, okay, and now I want you instead of going through that carwash, I want you to take your dream car, what is it, what’s your dream car?

Jody: Mine. I want a white Mercedes with tan interior.

Alli: That was super specific. I love that. Is that what you drive?

Jody: No. I drive a big mom car right now.

Alli: Of course. Okay, you are in your white Mercedes with your tan interior. And you’ve just newly washed it through your carwash. And you are just going to drive it to the most picturesque place you can imagine. In this place of solitude, you can hear yourself think.

Jody: Sounds nice.

Alli: It’s so amazing.

Jody: It sounds amazing, let’s do that.

Alli: It sounds amazing.

Jody: Okay, let’s talk about number four.

Alli: Number four, so that is, there’s yoga connecting the body, and the mind, and the soul, because of that mindful increase of awareness it helps them process all those things that you teach in the model. It helps them move them through those places without judgment or criticism. So here you are in this place of solitude, you’re open, you’re teachable, you’re vulnerable. And then you can acknowledge those emotions without shame or criticism. When you talk to a teenager, how often do they talk about the pressures of the team that they’re on or the peers that they interact with?

So, I was talking to my daughter a couple of weeks ago and she’s on the community swim team. And she was relaying about how the teams weren’t putting forth the effort the coaches wanted them to for an upcoming meet. And they were giving a coach pep talk, you can regret now, you can regret later because you didn’t work hard enough now. And I kind of just chuckled and she was like, “Mom, what’s so funny?”

And I said, “Eliza, it’s just interesting to me that all the different places you go, there’s all these pressures to do something, to be something, to accomplish something. When you show up to class with me, you’re enough, just by showing up.”

Jody: You just get to be. I love that.

Alli: Isn’t that powerful?

Jody: Yeah. That’s important.

Alli: It’s so important. It’s so important that they can feel that confidence build in themselves. So, I love that so much, so, so much.

Jody: Okay, so number five, I want to learn more about this one. Talk to us about the breath work part of yoga.

Alli: So, the foundation of yoga is breath work, okay, so prana meaning this breath of life, this life force and yama is exercises. In addition to being the number one tool that helps a teen prevent or come down from a panic attack. It also energizes teens who struggle with depression. Yeah, mindful breathing is what makes yoga magical. And that’s what makes it different than just stretching. Because a lot of people stretch, they stretch before they run or whatever.

But it’s that, what you were talking about before, that mind and the body, and the breath connection, that’s the sweet sauce. That’s the marinade that gives you protein, that yummy taste.

Jody: I was, just as a sidenote, working with a public speaking coach and he was recommending that before I give a talk or something I do some breathing exercises. And he pointed out that we have several automatic systems in the body. For example, my heart pumps blood and I don’t have to think about it, it just does it. Of all of the automated systems in the body, breathing is the only one that I can consciously change. I can’t change my heartbeat unless I jog or something, I can’t just think, I’m going to make my heart speed up or slow down.

But I can with my breath, I can speed up my breath, I can slow down my breath. I can more deeply inhale or exhale. And just the power of that in how it affects all the rest of your, like you said, your mind and your body. And I was like, “I hadn’t thought of that before.” But breathing is the one that happens automatically. I don’t have to remember to breathe. But I can choose to change it up. And I think that there’s a lot more power behind breath work than what I have realized in the past.

Alli: Well, and the way I describe yoga in a very, very simplified term. Because we in the west, we think about all the poses. We think of people bending into pretzel like shapes, really all those poses, what they call asanas, were all created and developed so that yogis could sit longer in meditation.

Jody: That’s interesting.

Alli: It was like, let’s get the wiggles out. And they have so many different breathing exercises. I can think of eight just off the top of my head. Yes, so you’re talking about that power of the breath. Well, yoga’s been talking about that for thousands of years about the breath, and the mind and the body. It’s so exciting. Isn’t that awesome?

Jody: That’s awesome. Yeah. Okay, number six.

Alli: Number six. Yoga helps you focus on the present. I love this. Eckhart Tolle wrote this incredible called The Power of Now. It’s the kind of book that you might have to reread a page just to be like, “What did that say?”

Jody: Yeah, it’s true. It’s a good one but kind of a heavy one, yeah.

Alli: Yeah, not a beach read. We’re not bringing it with us to Hawaii. So, in it he talks about how individuals with anxiety tend to fixate on the future. And all the scenarios that can happen and all the things that can go wrong, and they mentally dwell in this space totally out of their control which then leads to stress, shallow breathing, tightness in their bodies, panic. And youth with depression tend to dwell on the past.

So, they tend to feel like past evidence points to nothing’s ever going to change. No one needs them, they’re invisible, they’re worthless, they isolate themselves, they feel excessive fatigue. The daily mundane feels like climbing a mountain to them. So, this powerful combination that we’ve been talking about, about the movement, and the breath, it helps teens stay present. You’re moving through these poses and you’re focusing on the movement of your body, you don’t have time to worry about the next thing or the past thing. You’re just right there in the present.

And you focus on what you can control. And so, it’s easy to practice concentration and focus, and staying in the present on the mat. And then we always talk about, and then we take it off the mat. And then it gets easier to practice those things off the mat. So even though depression and anxiety manifest very differently, yoga provides solutions and helps them improve very much the same. That’s all just cool.

Jody: That’s awesome, I love that so much.

Alli: Which is cool because there’s this duality in yoga that not a lot of people know about. So, we were talking about breath, ujjayi breath it is calming and yet it creates heat within the body. So, it’s energizing. I don’t know, how does it work?

Jody: That’s awesome.

Alli: [Crosstalk].

Jody: Yeah. I do feel that though in a yoga class, I feel though just being there present in the moment, yeah, it’s pretty awesome.

Alli: Yeah, it is. And when you’re in that good headspace then you can start to try on those new thoughts. I want to keep this feeling, you know what I mean? And I can keep this feeling when I get off the mat. And what kind of future do I want to create? I think that’s so empowering.

Jody: Okay. Let’s talk about cortisol, everybody’s favorite thing.

Alli: High stress equals high cortisol. So, yoga’s actually been scientifically proven to lower cortisol levels. Isn’t that cool?

Jody: That’s awesome.

Alli: Yeah, cortisol levels help calm your nerves, it restores the adrenal system. Yoga helps lower that heart rate and it promotes deeper sleep. So, I know with my own children who struggle with anxiety, trying to fall asleep and having a deep sleep is a challenge. So, on my website I have things that help teens fall asleep to. They can listen to something that helps talk them through, relaxing their body. And thoughts that help promote relaxation. And the more you can relax the physical body and the mental body, you promote healing and deeper sleep.

Jody: That’s fantastic, we all need that. And then number eight, it’s about serotonin which we love.

Alli: Yeah. So, serotonin’s that chemical that the body produces and it’s responsible for lifting your mood. Lower serotonin levels are linked to depression as well as inflammation. Yoga decreases inflammation and it promotes an increase of serotonin. And so often people think they have to get a hard workout in, they have to go get that runner’s high or they have to go hit the weights. But you actually just need to get your body moving. And that’s one of the other things I love about yoga is it can meet you wherever you’re at.

So, the number one people say to me, I say, “I’m a yoga instructor.” And then what do they say?

Jody: I’m terrible at yoga, I don’t have any balance and I’m not flexible at all. That’s what I say anyway.

Alli: Absolutely, that’s the first thing. It’s the first thing people say. And I always just say, You haven’t met the right yoga class yet or the right teacher.” And it’s actually why I offer cherry yoga. If you go to my website you’re like, “Why does she offer cherry yoga?” This is a teen website. I’ve been working with teenagers for 20 years and I can tell you, I have seen so many that just feel so awkward. They feel self-conscious, or maybe they have physical limitations at getting up and down that mat, it’s just not going to happen.

And so, I just want you to throw out all the preconceived notions that you have of what cherry yoga looks like. We get up and down off the chair. We use the chair to help us balance so that we feel that success. We start building those muscles. We do all the poses. And so, we can just chuck those limiting thoughts like, I’m not flexible enough.

Jody: Nice. I love that. So good. Okay, number nine, tell us about number nine.

Alli: Well, yoga is a blessing to the body. And I started with the other things because I think they’re so interesting, how yoga is so supportive for the mental, where it gives you that place of solitude where you can get inspiration, where you can listen to that inner voice. And it is a blessing to the body as well. I mean it strengthens the body. You increase your flexibility and your balance, it helps you decrease injury because it helps keep those muscles loosened and pliable.

It helps, this is what I love for teens. It helps teens with coordination. I mean you think about these bodies. There’s growth spurts, these everchanging bodies and they feel awkward. They’re trying to figure out. I mean it’s actually been shown that sometimes their bones grow and their muscles are trying to catch up. And so, all these components help your teen who might be struggling with anxiety and depression, and feeling self-conscious. And I think that helps them feel comfortable in their own skin.

Jody: That’s important, yeah. It is a tough time as your body is changing so rapidly and your hormones and yeah, rough, it’s rough.

Alli: I love that during this time of change you can find that grounding practice. Again, this message of you are enough, your voice is important, you are loved.

Jody: Your body is good.

Alli: Your body is good and love your body where it’s at.

Jody: Yeah, be friends with your body and connect with your bodies. We have a lot of body work to do in this world. So that’s awesome, okay. And then 10.

Alli: So, the last thing that I want to talk about that yoga offers teens with anxiety and depression is it helps boost confidence. It helps boost confidence and self-esteem, and those essential qualities of resiliency, that support teens in their daily battles with mental health. There has literally been certain poses that have been proven to raise confidence. I want you to imagine that superhero, how do they stand? Shoulders back.

Jody: The whole Wonder Woman pose thing, there’s a whole TED Talk on that.

Alli: Yes, exactly. That’s a yoga pose.

Jody: Yeah, love it.

Alli: And it’s why my logo is Warrior Two pose. It’s this huge heart opener that’s in this empowering warrior pose and with the heart full of love for yourself and for others. You are looking forward to the future you want to create. Isn’t that empowering for our teens?

Jody: That’s so good. Okay, so let’s cover a few questions that people might be having and then we’ll make sure people know where to go to find you. But do teenagers want to do yoga?

Alli: So, a parent might say, “Okay, Alli, this sounds amazing. Whoa, all these benefits of yoga. I am never going to get my teenager to sign on this.” So just the other day, I have this book, it’s called Yoga for Depression. And I’ve been reading it, just loving this book. And I turned to my teenager who’s struggling with depression and I said, “What would it take to get you to read this book cover to cover?” To which they immediately responded, “To start with, you’d have to read it from cover to cover first.”

Jody: That’s good, you go first, mom.

Alli: Yeah. And fair enough. And so, our teens respond to us being genuine and our example. And what I would tell a parent is, “Dad’s if you want your sons to feel like their mental health is a priority, and you want to try all these different tools that in the belt to create a wholeness of mind, body and spirit, go start doing yoga.”

Jody: Dive in, yeah.

Alli: Dive in. Parents, this is what I love and you talk about this a lot too, but parents sign up, you start doing yoga, you become the most calm and grounded person in the room and see how it shifts your family dynamic. And then invite your teens to join you. Make it a whole family affair. You know what I mean? That’s one of the wonderful things about doing it online is your whole household can do it whenever they want. You know what I mean? They can do it together. Yeah, so I love that. So, I would say to a parent who’s like, “I don’t know if I could ever get my teen to do it.”

I’d say, you do it first, and just say, “The door’s open”, they’ll see your excitement, they’ll see that genuine and where you put your time and effort.

Jody: That’s right, I totally agree with that. Okay, so where do people go to learn more about your offerings and how to get some help from you, Alli?

Alli: Yes, okay. So, the website site is ishawarriors.com, I-S-H-A ishawarriors.com. And there in that space you can sign up for an annual teen, yoga. And I have a lot of wonderful resources there for teens specifically. We have homework breaks. We have helps for teens to fall asleep. We also offer live events.

Jody: Okay, nice.

Alli: Yeah, that are subjects that are applicable to teens. I have a series, it’s an eight-week series that is Yoga for Teens with Depression and Anxiety. And you can go and you can go to the shop and you can buy that eight-week session. So maybe you already do yoga, you’re like, “I already do yoga that I love but I am interested in hearing more about specific mantras, and poses, and these empowering thoughts for my teen.” You can go and just buy that bundle. I can guarantee, there’s no other yoga instructor that has an eight-week session based off of Imagine Dragon songs.

Jody: I love it, so good.

Alli: Yeah, it’s for teens. We have fun. Yoga should be fun.

Jody: That’s right. That’s right.

Alli: We don’t ever take ourselves too seriously.

Jody: Yeah, good, okay. Well, it says here that you’re offering some discounts for our listeners too.

Alli: Yes, absolutely. So, for Jody listeners.

Jody: Yeah, hook us up, Alli.

Alli: You can go on, for Jody listeners, and you can go in and enter HAPPY30, so all capital, HAPPY30 and you can get $30 off the annual teen membership. If you just want to go in and buy that eight-week series, Yoga for Teens with Depression and Anxiety you can enter in the code, Jody J-O-D-Y 20. And you can get 20 off that series bundle. And I would suggest that your listeners do it soon because the offer’s only going to last a month.

Jody: Okay. Go check it out everyone.

Alli: Yeah, check it out and not only that but at the beginning of the year we’re going to be raising the prices. So do it now. People can also check me out at Monday Mindset With Isha Warriors. And every morning, I publish a podcast and the podcasts are always synced to what I’m teaching with yoga. Just helping to try on new thoughts, living with intention, moving through the week to come with empowering thoughts.

Jody: I love it so much. Well, I just want to put a plug in for yoga in general. My kindergartner comes home and sometimes I’ll say, “What did you do at school today?” And she says, “We did yoga.” And they’ll play little videos and she shows me the little poses. And my high school daughter has a yoga class at her high school that she takes. And I’m excited to connect her with your programs because she’s really felt the benefit of it.

I’m excited to also see if I can get my teenage son to check it out because he sits and plays a lot of videogames. And I think it would be good for him to move his body just a little and unplug. And so, I’m really excited about what you offer, Alli, I think it’s amazing.

Alli: Thank you. My five-year-old literally this last week at dinner, we were just sitting around and she goes, “Mom.” Because I absolutely feel like this path to work with teens has been God led. In Business Minded you said the first thing we had to do was pick a niche. And I was like – so I got down on my knees that night and I just said, “God, Jody wants me to pick my favorite child.”

Jody: How can I do that? I love them all.

Alli: I know, I love them all, I can’t do it. And within two weeks of that I got a calling that was working with you. It was just like, there’s your answer, I’m like okay. And then every week since I’ve seen evidence of why. So, my little five-year old’s like, “Mom, why did Jesus ask you to start a business?” She’s five. And I looked at her and I said, “Well, Miren, how do you feel when you do yoga?” She’s like, “I feel peace.”

And I said, “Dear one, we live in a world of a lot of hate, and discord, and that’s exactly why God wants me to share this yoga with people. He wants me to bring a little bit more peace into our lives and our community.” So yeah.

Jody: I love it so much, Alli, thank you so much for taking the time. You have such just an amazing heart and spirit about you that I can tell that you’re genuinely passionate about what you do and I love it so much. So, thank you, thank you.

Alli: Namaste.

                                                                                                                    

Hey there, if you enjoy this podcast or even if you just find that it sort of piques your curiosity, or it makes you think, you’re going to love the book that I wrote. It’s called Better Than Happy: Connecting with Divinity Through Conscious Thinking. And it’s available now at Amazon in print or kindle version. Or if you want me to read it to you, head over to audible and grab the audio version. And why not grab a copy for your sister, your best friend, or your mom while you’re there too. Just saying.