Catherine, the driving force behind Phoenix Rising Yoga + Wellness, combines her deep expertise in yoga with a diverse array of wellness practices to help individuals release trauma and experience profound renewal. From her own transformative healing journey, she found solace and strength through yoga, breathwork, mindfulness, and expressive arts, which she now passionately shares with others. Despite the challenges of building an audience and balancing a career in education, Catherine’s dedication to making wellness accessible and equitable has been unwavering. In this interview, she opens up about her entrepreneurial path, the lessons learned, and the future vision for her practice, offering valuable insights and inspiration for aspiring wellness entrepreneurs.
What inspired you to combine yoga and wellness practices to help people release trauma and experience renewal?
Yoga was a foundational part of my healing journey in that it helped me to experience embodiment, to ground into my body, to slow down my breathing, and to improve my strength, balance, flexibility, and coordination. Other wellness practices such as breathwork, mindfulness, meditation, intuitive readings, energy healing, improv, acting, and dancing supported more trauma release in facilitating self-awareness, perspective, expression, and mind-body connection.
Could you describe any significant struggles or challenges you faced while starting or running your business?
Building an audience remains a barrier, as yoga can be found online for free, and so I had to adapt my services to more specialized audiences in order to stand out. It is also challenging to make a living as a yoga instructor, as the industry is saturated, and so I’ve continued pursuing work in education as foundational income, which is where I’ve spent the last 19 years, and I’ve moved towards treating my donation-based offerings through Phoenix Rising Yoga + Wellness as accessible equitable services for all who need it, including those experiencing financial difficulty, who may join my classes for free.
What are some valuable lessons you’ve learned throughout your entrepreneurial journey?
I’ve learned that when an idea isn’t working, it’s time adapt and lean into trying a new direction. It’s key to keep exploring and playing with variations on themes. It’s also important to keep learning and to continue to follow your passions! I realized that what has helped me to heal chronic untreated trauma is what will help others as well.
How do you maintain a balance between your personal life and running Phoenix Rising Yoga + Wellness?
It helps that I feel fulfilled by the classes I teach, that work feels like play!
Self-care in all of the spheres is important–physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual. I constantly find myself striving to seek balance between getting enough sleep, healing food and drink, fulfilling work, rest, and play! I make sure to enjoy walks and games of fetch in nature with my dog, Bodhi, and to make time for play and for spiritual connection.
Can you share a memorable success story or moment that reaffirmed your passion for what you do?
Sending energy healing to myself, loved ones, and clients has been thrilling. With curiosity and awe, I experience the diversity of energetic patterns–which light up in different parts of my body in different ways–and also receive feedback about the changes each participant feels during the healing sessions. These experiences affirm my passion for providing energy healing through intuitive readings, channeled energy healing sessions, meditation, breathwork, mindfulness, expressive movement, expressive art, and yoga!
What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs or individuals looking to make a difference in the wellness industry?
Make sure your heart is in it. Do what you love, and share what helped you to heal. Give in order to receive. Do inner work.
How do you stay motivated and inspired to continue growing and evolving your business?
My ever-evolving spiritual connection nourishes and sustains me. My discoveries in yoga, energy healing, and expressive movement/art inspire me to continue exploring and to enjoy the adventure!
Have you faced any setbacks or failures along the way, and if so, how did you overcome them?
I have noticed that when you offer free classes, people do sign up. However, because they don’t have to pay for these, they often don’t show up. It helped me to change my perspective on no-shows–perhaps these sessions can be used as opportunities for personal yoga practice or for exploration of intuitive reading and energy healing modalities.
What does the future hold for Phoenix Rising Yoga + Wellness, and what are your goals moving forward?
My goals moving forward are to support individuals one-on-one and in groups in releasing trauma and returning to a state of aliveness through a variety of access points, including free and donation-based remote group classes, 1-on-1 private sessions, courses, and retreats, with plenty of collaboration with likeminded souls along the way. My continued studies in yoga, somatic experiencing, and movement-based expressive art therapy will provide a strong foundation for me to continue exploring experimental healing modalities.
