Nest Community Feature - Ellen McCoy

Tell us a little about yourself, Ellen.

I'm Ellen, a fashion-obsessed, yoga enthusiast.  I have a background in pattern drafting, apparel development, and production.  But these days, you're more likely to find me on my mat than behind my sewing machine.  I received my yoga teacher certification at Nest in 2023.  Working with many of the same teachers, I continue to expand my awareness and understanding of what yoga can offer both on and off the mat. 

What are some other fun facts about you?

When I'm not on the mat, you're likely to find me at the beach or on a hike.  I'm a certified California Naturalist.  My favorite movie is The Big Chill.  I love dad rock.  I have a tortie-point siamese cat named Esme, and she is full of "tortitude."  I traveled often when I was younger but haven't had as many opportunities in recent years.  If I could get on a plane tomorrow, I would want to visit Greece. 

One of the best pieces of advice I've received is, don't worry about filling someone else's shoes; you wear your own big girl shoes when you walk into a room. 

What is your favorite yoga pose?

My favorite yoga pose is Half Moon.  I enjoy how big of a pose it feels with energy expanding in all directions. 

What do you love about teaching yoga?

One of my favorite parts of teaching yoga is watching people chat before and after classes.  I stopped seeing yoga as just a form of exercise years ago when another student asked if a few of us regulars would like to bring a pot-luck breakfast into the gym one morning.  A week later, after class, we set up some tables and enjoyed breakfast together, welcoming anyone who wanted to join us.  We got to know some of the people in the class as well as some of the people around the gym.  While no long-lasting friendships were formed, after that point, we were all able to recognize a friendly face and say hello.  It's one of the main reasons why I note after my morning classes that there is hot water for tea available.  I enjoy seeing the community that is formed around the people who show up to practice yoga.  

Nest Community Feature - Bertha Solorio

We recently had a lot of fun doing a yoga challenge at Nest. We like to think everyone who participated was a winner - including Bertha, who came in second as far as how many yoga classes she attended during the four-week challenge!

Tell us a little about yourself, Bertha.

I’m a salon business owner on Piedmont Ave. I have 2 kids (Naomi 25 and Chris 21), and they are the most important people in my life. I have a lot of cats but am not considered a crazy cat lady and 2 dogs. I love yoga, to dance and to cook.

What is your all time favorite movie, book, song or artist/artwork?

The Devil Wears Prada (the movie)

What do you love the most about practicing yoga?

I love how much stronger mentally and philosophically yoga has made me.

What is your favorite yoga pose?

Child’s pose 😁

What is your least favorite yoga pose?

Half moon on the left side

What is your favorite place to visit?

Hawaii and Mexico - I’ve been and I’d love to go back.

What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?

Before yoga I didn’t run at all, and now I can run a good mile pace.

What is your favorite quote, or your favorite piece of advice?

If you can do it, I can do it.

What else would you like our community to know?

That yoga will change your life.

Nest Community Feature - Leslie Howard

Tell us about yourself, Leslie.

Been teaching yoga for almost 30 years which makes me sound kind of old! However, as my practice deepens, I see the layers of subtlety. I love helping folks feel better in their body and mind and pointing them to the deeper layers. I have been doing a deep dive into the "death positivity" movement for the last few years and also help folks have a more conscious death.

What is your favorite movie, book, song or artist/artwork?

I hate this question! There are SO many favorites. In the past year some stand out books were: 4000 Weeks by Oliver Burkeman, Why Fish Don't Exist by Lulu Miller, How We Live is How We Die by Pema Chondron. Best movie of late is My Old Ass. Poignant, funny, meaningful. My favorite painter is Agnes Martin. Her paintings are meditation on the canvas.

What do you love the most about practicing yoga?

Discovering there are always more layers to explore

What is something you love about teaching yoga?

Taking folks on a journey.  Planning a theme, a good sequence and a sense of humor, I like the sense that we are all going somewhere in this practice, together.

Favorite Yoga pose?

Handstand

What is your least favorite yoga pose?

Parvritta ArdhaChandrasana but I still like to do it. It is most challenging.

What is your favorite place to visit OR a place you'd like to go someday?

I love being in nature and most favorite in a redwood forest. The silence is deafening.

What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?

That I get sore! Whenever I mention this in class students say, YOU get sore? As if being a yoga teacher is an inoculation. I remind them when I am asking a lot of them that I too have a teacher.

What is your favorite quote, or your favorite piece of advice?

Be kind.

What else would you like our community to know about you?

That I really believe my many many years of yoga practice have made me a better person in a multitude of ways. Presence, subtle awareness, that those of us that have more have an obligation to give back (just to name a few).

Nest Community Feature - Margi Young

Tell us about yourself, Margi.

I’ve been teaching yoga full-time since 2001, since graduating with a Masters Degree in dance and choreography from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. My yoga classes are influenced by breath, anatomy, alignment, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and Buddhist ideas about compassion and mindfulness.

What is a favorite movie, book, song or artist/artwork?

The Visitors- by Agnar Kjartansson (At MOMA until 9/28)

What do you love the most about practicing yoga?

Leaving the swirls of the mind, and dropping into the wisdom of the body.

What is your favorite yoga pose?

Savasana, so exotic to do nothing.

What is your least favorite yoga pose?

Not to sound like a yoga teacher, but they all hold their own wisdom for me. Oh, that one called Mayurasana makes me feel like my neck may break.

What is your favorite place to visit OR a place you'd like to go someday?

My favorite place is Naoshima in Japan, and I can't wait to go to Vietnam. I had a trip all planed down to the food tour in side cars when COVID hit.

What is your favorite quote, or your favorite piece of advice?

My amazing mom loved this one and so do I: “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” ― Rainer Maria Rilke

What else would you like our community to know about you?

I love Nest! The generosity and "can do" attitude of Kim is contagious.

Nest Community Feature - Celie Soghikian

Photo of Celie in Mexico, taken by Dad :)

Tell us about yourself, Celie.

I am a Swedish-Armenian-Dutch woman born in London but raised in Piedmont, CA. After getting my BFA from Chapman University, I moved to LA and spent the next five years working in video production before ultimately quitting my job and moving back to the Bay Area in 2024. I have since rediscovered my love of the outdoors, exercising, cooking and theater. I love the community at Nest and am so grateful to be working at such a uniquely wonderful studio.

What is your all time favorite movie, book, song or artist/artwork?

Favorite Musical Artist: Hozier

Favorite Book(s): When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A Parker and Parable of the Sower by Octavia E Butler.

What do you love the most about practicing yoga?

In yoga what I love the most is the breath work involved with the movement. It is very similar to how we address breath in theater, it not only drives our movement but our emotions as well. It helps me get through classes both physically and mentally.

What is your favorite yoga pose?

Runner's Lunge (I've got tight hips!)

What is your least favorite yoga pose?

Plank pose (just... yikes)

Visiting the Empire State Building in NYC for the first time

What is your favorite place to visit OR a place you'd like to go someday?

I love to visit my family in Sweden (in the summer). It's a magical place!

What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?

I think people are surprised to know I was born out of the country and that half my family lives in Sweden.

What is your favorite quote, or your favorite piece of advice?

Be Curious, Not Critical

What else would you like our community to know about you?

It makes me so happy seeing our community of regulars in here each shift, it makes my day watching everyone converse and support each other. Thank you all for helping make Nest the wonderful place it is!

At my housewarming party with Kim when I moved back to Piedmont