One of the coolest things about being involved in the yoga community is getting to meet awesome inspiring yogis! We’re bringing back our weekly Yogi Spotlight, which highlights some of these amazing men and women!
This week I had the chance to sit down with local yogi, Chelsii C, to talk about all things yoga, bacon, and Portland!
Tell me about yourself:
I‘ve lived in Oregon since I was 8. I’ve been teaching yoga for 3 years and working at Core Power managing retail.
It’s really a good mix of yoga and retail combined. In my spare time I like to go running, kayaking, hiking, and I’m also a president of a charcuterie club.
Right now, my husband and I live in a floating home on the Columbia river, so I spend a lot of time around the water. I also really love wine, bacon, and rap music.
Can you tell us your yoga Love Story? How’d you come to yoga? How long have you been practicing?
I was working a really stressful job at a residential hospital for children.
It was really interesting and I learned a lot, but it was so stressful because of all the aggression and circumstances of the children being there.
I ended up getting injured repeatedly at my job, and that made me start thinking about changing careers. I applied at Lululemon, and began looking into becoming a yoga instructor.
I wanted to do something totally different. I began to meet people from CorePower Yoga, and I started attending classes there.
It was such a calming and different environment from what I had been used to. Everyone was so nice, happy, and friendly.
I did my teacher training through Core Power Yoga with a friend. learned so much about myself. I ended up graduating and immediately started working at CorePower.
What made you want to be a yoga teacher?
You don’t have to want to be a teacher to want to do a Teacher Training, but then when I got into it I loved it so much.
I have my degree in psychology, and was sad that I wasn’t using it, but then I realized that yoga was a form of therapy for so many people.
So, I could still give that to people without going back to what I was doing before, and that felt really good.
What is your yoga teaching philosophy?
My biggest thing is balance, and that is really what I focus on. Especially with YogaSculpt which is yoga with free weights.
People get really into it, want to do it all the time, push themselves too hard, and use too heavy of weights.
Finding a balance is something I really try to talk about in my classes. If you push way too hard the whole time you’re not going to feel good afterward.
A lot of people want to skip savasana, but you really need it. That is the balance.
What keeps you motivated in your own practice?
I try to keep focused on what my intention is each day.
I try to be peaceful and not get distracted. It can be hard because I work in the studio where I practice.
Often, I can see my office, and start thinking about all the things I need to be doing.
It’s being peaceful and content with your practice.
I try to honor where my body is at, I think because I’m a teacher people in the classes with me expect that I’m going to have this amazing practice all the time, but if I need child’s pose or don’t want to take an inversion, I’m going to honor that. I also know that my practice makes me better, so if I get up and don’t want to practice I know that it is worth it to just go practice.
Where are some of your favorite places in Portland to hang out?
I love Lardo which has amazing artisan sandwiches.
Grassa is another amazing restaurant with insanely wonderful Italian food! Petunias Bakery is great for awesome gluten-free baked goodies!
I love great wine, and Enzo Winery is one of my absolute favorites. I also really love PBJ’s Grilled in NW Portland.
They make awesome takes on your traditional PB&J’s. Including one with bacon!
You’re a buyer for Corepower’s retail areas, so you speak our language! how would you describe your style?
I love bright lipstick, I’m always rocking some awesome shade of pink or red!
I’m also a huge fan of printed leggings! Some of my favorite brands are Goldsheep, Onzie and Teeki! I even recently submitted a design for a GoldSheep Design competition because I always love their unique & fun printed leggings.
It was so good talking with you Chelsii! Can you tell our readers how to find you?
You can always follow me on Instagram @pdxcellentpants, and if you ever find yourself in Portland and want to take one of my classes, I teach Yoga Sculpt which is yoga with weights at Core Power!
Just look for Chelsii C on the schedule!
Thanks so much to Chelsii for taking time to talk with us! If you have any suggestions for amazing yogis who deserve to be spotlighted, please let us know! 🙂
Xo,
Laura C. Helms
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