Ah

... globally.

And so that came from my time in Cambodia.

I later went back into journalism there and did predominantly NGO coverage, and then was freelancing in New York and teaching yoga.

I had done my yoga teacher training right before I had left, and felt like, you know, there was a need in terms of a lot of retreats were happening to different corners of the world, but they all seemed very insular.

I had even been on a handful.

In terms of there not being any kind of engagement with like the local community or them really not having like a, a component of cultural immersion, which I think is honestly such a miss.

Ah

Can you paint a picture of that for us as well? Like you're partnering with an organization or how does that all work?

So Souljourn Yoga Foundation always partners with a different organization whenever we go on a retreat.

And that's through a lot of due diligence on my end and making sure that they're a good fit and vice versa.

We're a good fit for them and they're a good fit for us.

I think so often, you know, you will hear about causes and causes.

there might be some skepticism about, you know, actually if I write a check, like, you know, I don't even know if people do checks anymore, but if I send money or payment, you know, where is this actually going? Who is this supporting? Who is this helping? What is this buying? And so I think being really transparent and saying like your $200 is going towards a scholarship.

It's going towards helping to rebuild a new dorm.

I'm not an expert in, in what it's like to live in your world and your body.

So I guess I'm curious about that a little bit in terms of the role that yoga played for you in terms of addressing stuff that you needed to address, and then how that's informed what you do with the foundation.

You know, I think the yoga mat is such an interesting place because it is, right, you have, like, this, you know, set kind of perimeter in went, in, in which you could move around, and I think, you know, one of the reasons why I love going to classes, like I, I will always be the perpetual student, is you can be having your own independent experience on your mat, and someone else next to you will be having their own experience.

But it's through this, like, very unique and, like, special constellation of humans that we're all moving and breathing and kind of, like, working through whatever we're experiencing.

And, uh, I think I have to be really mindful when I practice to stay present.

I have a tendency just from, you know, trauma and just kind of my go-to when I get, you know, stressed is I get very out of body, and I can become disassociative.

And so I really have to remember to, like, anchor myself, like, back in my body and, like, back in the present and back in the now.

That tends to be my coping mechanism is to just kind of, like, leave myself, and I have to remember to, like, come back.

Yeah.

Do you mind just saying a little bit more about that?

No, of course.

For me, I really feel like my journey began at college.

I moved...

I grew up in California in, in LA, and I moved to college in New York by myself.

I couldn't wait to have my own existence that wasn't colored by my parents' likes and dislikes, even though they were very supportive of...

I was ready to kind of pave my own way.

Does that resonate?