Nest Community Feature - DeShauna Anderson

Tell us a little about yourself, DeShauna.

Hey, hey - I'm DeShauna. A Berkeley native, who enjoys spending time with my family, "day ones" (friends), traveling, riding my bike and being near the ocean. I'm a former Marriage-Family and Forensic Therapist and currently work as a Wellness Educator, Mindfulness Coach and Yoga Instructor. I've been teaching yoga since 2015 and currently partner with a bunch of orgs nationwide to provide wellness and somatic practices. I love learning, so I'm always enrolled in some kind of program because I believe that it's important to always be a student. Oh, my favorite color is purple AND I'm Gemini Sun, Virgo Moon and Capricorn Rising.

What do you love the most about practicing yoga?

What I love about practicing yoga is always discovering something new in my practice. I could do the same sequence 1000x, but there's still something to learn. I love the consistency of what's possible, so I can consider it off of my mat.

What do you love the most about teaching yoga?

What I love about teaching yoga is the extension of others and their journey. I also learn a lot from my students about my own practice. As a yoga teacher, I love providing safety and inclusivity to my students. I recognize that everyone's journey is different and I hope to hold space in a way that honors that.

What is your favorite yoga pose?

Crow Pose

Least favorite yoga pose?

Crow Pose

What's a place you'd like to go someday?

Panama

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

I love learning about neuroplasticity and our brains ability to adapt to change or reorganize. So dope!

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

"No mud, no lotus" -Thich Nhat Hanh

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.