Join us in this pivotal episode of our podcast in which guest host Rachel Autumn sits down with Jo Murdock, an inspiring yoga teacher and advocate for inclusivity in the wellness community. Jo shares her personal journey to overcome financial barriers to become a yoga instructor and discusses her dedication to developing equitable wellness spaces for people of color and the LGBTQIA+ community.
Jo Murdock is committed to creating wellness spaces and practices where self-care and healing is not a privilege but a right. She emphasizes the role that representation and shared experiences play in creating safe spaces to practice, where people of color and the LGBTQIA+ community are welcome in wellness spaces.
But her conversation with guest host Rachel Autumn isn’t just about obstacles; it’s a celebration of real solutions to address the root chakra issue of diversity in the wellness community. Rachel and Jo don’t shy away from discussing the financial realities of being yoga instructors and the steps they’ve taken to get a seat at the table and a place in front of a class of students.
Jo has championed developing scholarship funds at yoga studios and created a nonprofit, Reimagine Our Wellness, to foster accessible and equitable wellness spaces for people of color and the LGBTQIA+ community.
KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR THIS EPISODE
(00:01) Inclusive yoga and wellness spaces
(05:01) Exploring social equity in yoga
(11:41) Barriers and representation in yoga spaces
(20:48) Scholarship fund for underrepresented communities
(38:22) Navigating diversity and inclusion in yoga
(54:09) Yoga teachers' responsibility and compensation
(01:06:30) Expanding the vision of reimagining wellness
(01:13:09) Reimagining wellness and community support
COLD OPEN
[00:00:00] Jo Murdock: You have to understand that people at the top of the classroom need to have shared and lived experiences as the people in the class, right? And if we are going to start getting more people in the door and introducing them to yoga and they are diverse, we have to open the door for the teacher at the top of the class too, because there's just no way that I can speak to generational wealth.
I can speak about just love and light because my personal experience has been living paycheck to paycheck. My personal experience has been after George Floyd, not wanting to get out of bed, not feeling safe to go to movie theaters, grocery stores, and things like that. You may not say it explicitly in front of a class because it needs to be a brave and safe space, but you can connect.
And your dharma can help people feel seen and can remind people that what they're feeling is not an isolated feeling.
MUSIC IN
INTRODUCTION
[00:01:04] Derik Mills: Hi, I'm Derik Mills. Welcome to the Glo Podcast. One of the great pleasures of hosting this podcast has been the opportunity to share the microphone with some of our Glo teachers. Now for our new season of production, we're trying something new. We're opening up our guest hosting opportunities to our Glo producers.
I'm really excited to introduce today's guest host, Rachel Autumn. Rachel is one of Glo's yoga and meditation producers, supporting many of our teachers through the full cycle of their class content planning and production on Glo. In addition to her work on our team, Rachel is passionate about facilitating empowering, joyful, and safe heart centered experiences that simplify and normalize access to daily self care.
She's a certified trauma informed yoga and meditation teacher, fitness trainer, and the founder of a wellness candle company called Pause Play Wellness. For those of you who have listened to my interviews with Glo teachers and wondered who it was on our team our teachers speak so lovingly about, well, Rachel is one of them.
For her first interview, Rachel is hosting Jo Murdock. Jo started her fitness career in 2015, but before that she danced at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as a dance major in high school and continued her dance training in ballet, modern dance, and jazz. Jo's mission as a yoga teacher is to bring yoga to communities that have been historically underrepresented within it.
I deeply appreciate this conversation that you're about to hear. Rachel, I'm grateful to you for hosting this episode and I'm looking forward to your future episodes. I hope you enjoy Rachel's conversation with Jo Murdock.
[00:02:55] Rachel Autumn: Thanks, Derik. I'm Rachel Autumn, and I can't wait to get started with my conversation with Jo. I wanted to invite Jo to the podcast to talk about her inclusive vision for yoga and her ideas for solutions to create more equitable spaces for all in the wellness industry. The Global Wellness Institute defines wellness as the active pursuit of activities, choices, and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health.
The individual's responsibility to make choices that create an overall landscape of health and vitality. We cannot ignore the very real challenges and barriers to entry within many of these spaces for folks from marginalized communities to find a sense of belonging and safety within these containers.
Now, I had the immense honor of learning from Jo as she was one of my teachers during my 200 hour yoga certification. And I just see Jo as a force to be reckoned with, but what inspires me the most is her ability to kindly and lovingly invite people and businesses forward to action. Whether that be with their policies, their dollars, their integrity as teachers, and the list goes on.
Her level of personal accountability reflects back to our collective responsibility and the work we all can positively participate in when we think about creating safe spaces for everyone. I've seen Jo advocate for creating safe spaces in a multitude of ways, from starting a scholarship fund for yoga teacher trainings, to founding her non profit, which is called Reimagine Our Wellness, to further her mission of creating more opportunities for people of color and LGBTQIA plus folks in the wellness space.
We'll dive deeper into these and more today on the podcast and discuss ways we can all work together to create more equitable containers. Thank you, Jo. Jo is a force to be reckoned with. Welcome.
[00:05:01] Jo Murdock: Thank you for having me. As soon as you said that part, I was like, yeah, I'm always here to shake it up.and I'm here to explain why. And I'm very happy to be here. Thank you for having me.
[00:05:16] Rachel Autumn: Absolutely. Like I mentioned, having you as a teacher in my 200 hour was. a game changer for me. our program really focused on social equity and yoga spaces and you were a huge part of that dialogue and facilitating those conversations.
And it has shaped my experiences as a teacher, as a producer here at Glo, and just as a human being. Working with my own unconscious biases and working with others and approaching circumstances that have felt excluded from.
And the responsibility that I have personally felt in holding space for others and making sure to acknowledge the differences that we all come to the table with.
in the most equitable and safe ways possible. And you had a huge role in shaping that perspective for me. So thank you again.
[00:06:10] Jo Murdock: Thank you. I'm glad to hear that, right? you can do the work, you can put it out there. And I think as a yoga teacher, you sometimes hear as long as one person leaves your class with something, um, you've done the work.
So it's great to hear that from you. Um, because person has received and has moved it forward and taken it forward. So that's really great. Thank you.
[00:06:34] Rachel Autumn: Jo. Yeah, so I'm really curious about how you even first got interested in intersection of social equity and yoga specifically, did you see that there was a gap
in this dialogue, and how did you even establish an interest in this topic? Yeah,
[00:06:51] Jo Murdock: so I would say my first experience with it was my own personal experience, but maybe not having the words for it or understanding the context. I wanted to become a yoga teacher and do a yoga teacher training, but I couldn't afford it.
Um, and so I had to start a GoFundMe to raise enough money for, uh, tuition, in addition to applying for a partial scholarship. So, got the partial scholarship, but still could not afford the remainder, and then started the GoFundMe. And luckily, was able to raise enough money to pay for everything, um, the remainder and my books.
So I think that was my first experience without understanding the context, having these words, um, and knowing a lot about it. I just thought, like, I don't have enough money for this. Not really understanding maybe why it costs what it costs and, um, the past and our history, why I don't have. This money either passed down by generations, um, or even the knowledge of like understanding investments, understanding, just having financial literacy and being able to pay for it.
And then when I, um, started teaching yoga teacher training at Y7 studio and meeting Amanda Gloria Valdez, um, the section, the lecture on social equity. Social justice, I think, opened my eyes and then I had the words and I'm like, oh, snap, you know, I've just been living my life like, okay, when you want something, you have to work 10 times harder, you have to save your money, and then you can buy it, or you get a credit card, right, and you put it on a credit card, versus understanding structures that were not built to support me.
And my people in my past and my history, not understanding that the structure and the institutions I'm trying to navigate weren't really built for me there maybe are sliding scales or more scholarships that instead of being partial, they would be full based on diversity, based on need, based on skill, based on community work, and effort and volunteering. So I think one, personal experience, and then two, You have the knowledge, you have the words, then you can sit back and like, look at your personal experience in a completely different way. And then third, figuring out how with what I've been through, what I now know what I can do moving forward. So that's kind of how I've ended up in this space now.
[00:09:36] Rachel Autumn: I shared briefly a little bit. We're gonna really get into it today about your nonprofit called reimagining our wellness But that is what you're speaking to right now. It's there has to be something at the root that shifts Yeah, because there are so many precursors that are involved historically so many nuances that exist before you, as the individual, decided to walk into a studio and pursue a training, there were all of these things that already existed before you that were walls or barriers to enter those spaces.
Thank you for sharing that. I'm sorry you had that experience that so many of us have had. I also have had that Very similar experience. I would not have been able to do teacher training with you without funding, uh, which I received from Awakening Yoga Spaces. And, um, there's people like yourself, like Awakening Yoga Spaces that are seeing that gap and most of it comes from personal experience and identifying that there is this real need, and then we see solutions rising. I'm
[00:10:43] Rachel Autumn: I’m looking forward to discussing more solutions with you because oh yeah there's so many problems that we can talk about all day but what can we do to move forward What are some of the biggest barriers related to representation and visibility and maybe what you saw or didn't see in yoga spaces that made you feel called to assume this position?
[00:11:05] Jo Murdock: Yeah, so my background is in dance. and like start out with competition dance. So it's very much high energy, lots of face, lots of drama, flirting with the judges, you know, jazz and tap. Um, and so yoga just seemed very slow and boring to me. Um, so not interested at all. Of course we stretch as dancers, but Never the word yoga was brought up in the dance studio.
Um, fast forward to about 2017. I was living in Miami and I wasn't dancing and I wasn't really around my New York City community. So I didn't have friends that were like, Hey, I'm putting on a show. Do you want to be in it? Hey, I have a production and we have a dance section. Do you want to be in it? So dance wasn't really coming to me and as available.
I needed to move my body. Badly, like losing my mind. Uh, and uh at the time a studio connected to my job, uh said We'll give you free classes at a yoga studio. Okay, great. I go to the yoga studio and Yeah, I was like one of three people of color in the studio. Um, That's kind of been my life. So it wasn't out of the norm for me i've Usually been like the token black girl Or one of Less than five, um, in a space.
So that wasn't an issue for me. It's something I was very familiar with. And I took class and I was like, okay, this is not that bad. It was a power of vinyasa. I'm like, wow, you can sweat in yoga. You can like almost do choreography in yoga. And I think I'll come back.
So I kept coming back. Um, and again, just to move my body, just to get what I needed out of it. And it was not until someone in the class. Asked me after the class, when did I teach? I was like, when, when do I teach what? They were like, well, when is your class? I'm like, I don't teach here. I'm, I'm a practitioner like you.
Um, and it wasn't until that question was asked, the seed was planted that I could teach it, but it wasn't because. I saw myself in that room and it wasn't because I saw any of the teachers that I took class from that looked like me. It wasn't until someone asked me directly based off of, I'm assuming what they saw in class, my practice, my asana.
And, and that's when I said, Oh, well, I could see why they'd ask me, like, I've been using and moving my body since I was three in all these different modalities. Yoga is no different. It's new, but there's an awareness that you need that I already have as a dancer. But it definitely wasn't because I saw myself in the top of the classroom or in the classroom.
So that's the only time, only moment, where it was like, hmm, maybe I could do this. No one ever outside of that room said, why don't you become a yoga teacher or anything like that. It was really just, uh, peer to peer, uh, student to student. And that's when I was like, Hmm, okay, maybe we transition. Most dancers transition from dancer to choreographer.
Um, and a few of them do transition from dancer to fitness instructor, but that just was never on my radar. I was going to dance until I couldn't dance anymore. I wasn't really a big fan of being a choreographer either because I need to move. I didn't want to just have my vision created. So I was like, wow, maybe fitness, maybe I can move into the space of yoga.
And that's, that's kind of where it happened.
[00:14:35] Rachel Autumn: Wow. I can relate in so many levels as a dancer as well. Just having that movement component and that performance component that draws you in. And you mentioned the fact that someone else saw you in this, identified you in this and how that was a shapeshifter in that moment for you.
And I think that is so Important and key in life in general. Sometimes we don't see ourselves as fit for a certain role or community, or maybe it would have caught up with you later in life after your dance career.
But the fact that someone identified and said, Hey, I see this. in you. Even if they were not even consciously calling you forward in that. Yeah. They were used in that moment to call you forward
[00:15:21] Jo Murdock: in that. It's interesting how, like, I'm explaining that to you and what you pulled from it was someone saw that in me and I'm telling you that I didn't see myself.
In that room, in the role, or in that, space, the wellness space. And it took someone else externally, didn't know from a hole in the wall, to see that, right? that just got me to think, like, how often do People around you, friends and family members, as a minority. How often do they say, I see you in a role that doesn't have any representation?
That person, let's say, let's play devil's advocate, I'm pretty sure they haven't seen many minorities teaching a class. But then you look at me and you say that, oh, when is your class? You're asking me when is my class. It's so interesting. So think about like the environments, our communities. If we don't see ourselves in those rooms or in those roles as teacher, how often are the people around us going to say that about us if they too don't see themselves?
So the woman who said that to me was a white woman, a Caucasian woman. So it wasn't another person of color saying, hey, when is your class? So that's Wild that like you pulled that out of what I just said, because how often does that happen? Right. Zero to none. One, one out of a hundred.
[00:16:46] Rachel Autumn: Me. Yeah, it's there.
There she is. Yeah, everybody. Wow. That is exactly what I'm gathering because it's yeah. And that person too, maybe like you said, They have not seen a person that looked like you and your body and your, your own unique expression holding that kind of space. But all of a sudden when you appear, it's like, duh, like she didn't even, or they didn't even have to think twice about that.
And, and that's what happens is sometimes we get robbed of the opportunity to even Show up and test and learn so many people get the opportunity to test and learn this over here and this over there But like you said, it's a high cost. Yeah, yoga teacher trainings are premium And if you don't have access to those resources or a yoga class sometimes at a premium cost So if you don't even have access to that, then how do you even begin to?
Shop around to see yourself in that space to then try it out to test and learn and and go from there Correct. It's I think this is again is talking to your whole mission of reimagining Wellness and that that in that reimagining there has to be a slate cleaning of some point where we all get to see things differently, like totally new eyes.
I got, um, LASIK done a couple of years ago. And it's like, that's what I'm thinking of is the metaphor that comes to mind. Cause it's just like new eyes. Like when I first got the adjustment to having. perfect vision after not ever having great vision, always needing. I think my driver's license still says I need corrective lenses.
There was a learning curve after getting LASIK. I would wake up after the LASIK and like put on my imaginary glasses. Like it was a routine that I was used to of waking up every day, grabbing glasses from my nightstand, like. pursuing the day.
And at the end of the day, I used to tell my mom that I would take my glasses off. And that was like, that was my good night. Cause I can't see, like, there's nothing to see here.
[00:18:53] Jo Murdock: I'm going to bed now. I have contacts in at the moment. So I know exactly what you're talking about. And even to the point where I have to like ask my partner, where are my glasses?
Can you hand them to me? Because I can't even see that.
[00:19:04] Rachel Autumn: Yeah, totally useless. So, but there was a learning curve because as soon as I was able to then adjust to a new way of being, a new way of seeing, it shifted everything for me. And so this is a very watered down comparison to this.
[00:19:20] Jo Murdock: We need to see the wellness space with new eyes for sure.
[00:19:23] Rachel Autumn: sure. Absolutely. Um, thank you so much for sharing so many of those experiences. So Jo, I want to continue this conversation about financial barriers to entry and how that sometimes is an issue in creating equitable spaces you were part of creating and starting a scholarship fund in 2020.
For IPOC and members of the LGBTQIA plus community. Can you share a piece of how that came to fruition? You shared earlier about your experience receiving a PARCC scholarship and I can imagine that was part of your Um, re imagining through giving back and providing, paying it forward. Yeah, what you were able to use in pursuing training, but what was that process like, especially in the heat of 2020 when we,
[00:20:20] Jo Murdock: the (OVERTALK)
[00:20:20] Rachel Autumn: heat, it was hot and, um, obviously the pandemic ancestor, George Floyd.
And the mass scale of his public execution. Yeah. Um, can you share a bit about what that was like for you?
[00:20:37] Jo Murdock: So I was already a yoga teacher with Y7 at the time in 2020. and, you know, I've always enjoyed Y7. It's one of the studios that, made yoga feel like it was more for me because it was, you know, beat bumping music.
It was hip hop, R& B, and I personally like to do my yoga to that type of music. I'm in an Afro beats, a mappiano era right now too. So like no words, but just beats and lots of grounding shapes. so it just, it felt more attainable and familiar because everything else about yoga was not familiar.
and yeah, 2020 got really, really hot and I don't remember the Instagram name or anything like that, but this one girl was really tagging me and like harassing me about being a teacher at Y7, when they started calling out every business that did not, highlight or represent, black culture, brown culture, in.
Equitable way for, you know, we know what happened and I was just like, ma'am, this is not my company. This is not my business. I am a teacher here and I teach because X, Y, and Z. so with everything that was coming up and coming out, Y7 stepped forward and was like, yeah, we need to do some work.
And with that stepping forward, I also stepped forward and said, well, Hey, can we figure out a scholarship program? They were like, we have one. I was like, you do? Well, let me look at it. Um, I'd like to see what this is giving. Um, and it was just a general scholarship available to anyone. And it was for partial payment of a 200 hour yoga teacher training.
So, um, when I was, uh, invited onto the team, I joined the corporate team specifically for that, uh, scholarship program. Yeah. I just scrapped it. I was like, I received a partial scholarship and that only took off partial stress. What is the point of scholarship if it's not going to be full? It's a tease.
It's a, it's just another reminder that you don't have enough money. So it needs to be full. It needs to be a full scholarship. And like, what do scholarships do? It provides opportunities for folks who, um, otherwise wouldn't be able to have the opportunity. So who are those people? Okay. Why is it just open to the public?
Let's really tap in. Let's focus it on a demographic that we don't see. As a yoga teacher that we don't see as a meditation teacher that we don't see at the top of that classroom Let's focus in on that right then when we go from there. Let's really tap into Why that demographic of people should get it volunteer work very clear barriers, um around financial, um, Stability or just having the finances in general, right?
Do you volunteer? Do you already give back to your community? Because that's what yoga is. It's about community. It's about yoking. So you must already be doing that work. You're not getting the scholarship just because you're black, just because you're brown. You're getting the scholarship because you are doing the work already.
You'd like to continue doing the work and we understand that your culture, your ethnicity, your background, your people, your ancestors have been historically withheld from it, right? All of these things, you know, I wrote it out in a proposal, perfectly fine, and it went through. And that's how we revamped the scholarship program and kind of, I personally feel like, brought it back to life where it's like, oh, Y7 does have a scholarship.
As a teacher there, I did not know. About the scholarship before I came on board and that could be my lack of research lack of conversation and bringing it up But I feel like now, you know that there's a scholarship available at Y7 You know that it's four times a year and you know who to talk to if you want to find out more information about it
and ever since then I want to say we've graduated over 40 45 folks from the scholarship program and they're doing wild, wild and amazing things from like drag yoga to tarot yoga. Yeah. so we have, Asian American folks that have graduated. We have men, black men that have graduated.
We have trans folks that have graduated. We have folks who were, elementary school teachers that became yoga teachers now and can put that in their day to day with their students. And again, if we're looking at traditionally what this was giving, or maybe what the stereotype is.
These were like just women who had time and space to become yoga teachers and taught in studios. My philosophy has changed. I do not care about the people who are going to yoga studios to do yoga. You know yoga, you understand the benefits of yoga, you can find a studio, and you can afford that studio. I care about people who cannot get to a yoga studio, who cannot afford to take class at a yoga studio, or, yoga teacher training.
And our scholarship recipients teach in schools, so they're planting that seed with kids. You plant that seed and we hope that by the time that they are adults, there are more opportunities for them to afford yoga or become teachers. We have, folks who graduate from the scholarship program and they want to go into prisons, female prisons, and teach to, the women there.
lawyers. Who want to introduce it to their fellow lawyers because it's a high stress workplace, doulas who are now incorporating yoga into their practice and what they offer to their birthing folks, so like the scholarship program has, grown these tentacles and have, reached into different sectors of it.
wellness, but also everything, like lawyers, teachers, students. We're not just in the meditation space we're everywhere now. And it's because the folks who are free all day and just want to become a yoga teacher and teaching studios aren't the only ones that are becoming yoga teachers. We have folks from every walk of life with all different types of interests becoming yoga teachers and they're bringing that yogic knowledge into their workplace and even into their families and then into their communities.
And it's wild. It is just so wild. And just from Y7 scholarship alone, I can see and I know that it's needed, and we still need more, but the proof is already, the pudding, as they say. The proof is there, and I see it every time we graduate a cohort every semester to just see what they're doing now.
I have one of our other graduates. not a scholarship recipient, but just launched a yoga retreat. I click the link to read about the retreat. And do you know, they have a scholarship available for BIPOC and LGBTQIA plus folks. They paid for their 200 hour with Y7.
But they are paying it forward, even not a scholarship recipient. They're paying it forward, a retreat, and there is still an application. There's still a spot for someone to have that paid for so that they can attend. And that's the work. That's the work.
[00:28:06] Rachel Autumn: Only what you can trace because that's not even everything.
I'm sure that's just at the surface. So first of all, congratulations to you, the team and everyone that's involved in that. That's remarkable. Again, I too would not have been able to afford a 200 hour training with you with Y7, where I also teach Now, without having, that funding and that modeling from teachers like yourself on what to then do.
Like you said, you're not being awarded this scholarship because you're, because you're Black and then there's no call to action after that. There is something that needs to be done with this and what you just shared is just so remarkable. I'm so proud of you and happy for everything that has come from that.
Yeah. I want to. Thank you. No, truly. And again, you spoke to, I remember in our teacher training, you I tell me if I'm wrong, but I remember you leading the
[00:29:14] Jo Murdock: chakra.
[00:29:14] Rachel Autumn: And you have such colorful language on speaking to the energy centers of the body. I wish we had time. Maybe we do. Maybe Jo can walk us through like a little
[00:29:25] Jo Murdock: poetic, just
[00:29:26] Rachel Autumn: It's so beautiful. Scrumptious is how you describe them. It's just so much flavor. And I bring this up to say, I remember you articulating like that channeling of root chakra energy of that is the foundation. That's the basis from which all. Can blossom through and without feeling safe, without that stability that is created in the roots that is then harnessed and protected by your own practices, by community, it takes a village where we're not able to freely create and be in our then safe girl energy and then up in our solar plexus in our power.
And I remember you. Sharing that, and I know it's not a linear thing per se, but there is so much connected to the root and having that root. Seen, heard, protected, fortified, so that you can then grow and establish. So everything you share, these tentacles of this wellness web that have come from this scholarship program and so many other things that you've been a part of, it has created space for people to creatively share this gift, which is ultimately just tools to help people. People, like peopling is hard, like adulting is hard.
[00:30:48] Jo Murdock: It is. And I'm glad you brought that up about the chakras because diversity in the wellness space, visibility representation in the wellness space is a root chakra problem. We don't feel like we belong there, because we don't see ourselves there. We do not feel safe there, and it's a place of healing, because we don't see anyone else that looks like us there, right?
Then, a little bit deeper, you might not see people who look like you, your teacher might not look like you. What is your teacher saying? What's the dharma? Right? Every yoga class can't be love and light. Every yoga class can't just be let go of the week you've had. Well, this week, I may have lost my job.
Well, this week, I may have realized that, you know, I work off of hourly pay and my boss cut my hours. I can't just let that go. And if your teacher at the top of that class has no experience in finding like, um, Living paycheck to paycheck, for example, they don't know what that's like, or they don't have any understanding of not having a trust fund.
I'm not trying to be that person, but you have to understand that people at the top of the classroom need to have shared and lived experiences as the people in the class, right? And if we are going to start getting more people in the door and introducing them to yoga and they are diverse, we have to open the door for the teacher at the top of the class too, because there's just no way that I can speak to generational wealth.
I can speak about. Just love and light because my personal experience has been living paycheck to paycheck. after George Floyd not wanting to get out of bed, not feeling safe to go to movie theaters, grocery stores, and things like that. You may not say it explicitly in front of a class because it needs to be a brave and safe space, but you can connect.
And your dharma can help people feel seen and can remind people that what they're feeling is not an isolated feeling. Right? And that's, that's where I'm coming from with like, it's a root chakra situation, the wellness industry as a whole. We are talking about healing. We're talking about elevating. We're talking about getting to the top chakra, uh, crown chakra, but no one is supporting the root.
How the heck are we going to get to the crown? Come on. It's impossible.
[00:33:19] Rachel Autumn: Exactly. I mean, you said it. So articulately, like you can't skip steps. And also you never know when that student that comes in, that has that teacher that is speaking in a way that feels very bypassing of other experiences. And then that might be that one instance that you gave it a chance and then you just never returned because it is such, it's does more damage, the wellness industry can be very unwell and cause more pain, more hurt. Like you said, a partial scholarship sometimes. Is a reminder of, wow, I still can't do this or have this. Like I still don't, and then sometimes that results in a frame of mind that I don't deserve this. I'm not worthy of this, which is absolutely not true.
But that is the wheel that it keeps you in. And then here is this tool that could support you in that self regulation, not in bypassing or acknowledging the fact that you have very real, historically related, perpetuated systems. Your own lived experience and traumas, all of that in this moshposh, like this pit of what makes you, you along with the beauty, your gifts, your amazing experiences, your expansive experiences.
if you don't have that opportunity to be seen in these spaces and, and be reflected by what you see also in body. I don't know the proper term for it, but body diversity shapes, body shapes, people's bodies. Like for both of us, we're both former dancers. We have athletic builds, but even that sometimes muscles, muscles to certain people don't, they don't want, they feel that.
Their body might look like your body and they don't want that per se if you are their teacher. If you
[00:35:15] Jo Murdock: don't look like the teacher that class is too hard or that class is not for you, right? Exactly. Yeah. There's, there's a lot that goes into how you show up and how you arrive in that space. So thank you for saying that because it's not just black, brown, trans, gay, lesbian.
It's, are you, um, able, bodied? do we have yoga teachers in wheelchairs? Do we have yoga classes for folks in wheelchairs? right. One of the teachers at Y7, we both auditioned at the same time and we both got hired. Uh, I want to say Angelica is like six, four.
Do you know Angelica? I —
[00:35:59] Rachel Autumn: Does Angelica teach on the online platform? Yes, yes, I know Angelica through the internet.
[00:36:05] Jo Murdock: Okay, and so like, I was listening to her speak at one point. I'm super tiny. My whole life, I look like a 12 year old boy. I am about to be 34 in a couple weeks, right?
I can only teach from this body. And I can only learn from hearing other teachers teach in their bodies. And forward fold. We know what a forward fold is. We can understand. Bend your knees, drop your head, breathe. Belly to your thighs. Uh, see how that feels. Angelica taught it one time. as a bigger woman, as a taller woman, she said, move your breasts.
In your forward fold, I don't have much breasts, and that is not a cue that I would ever offer because I don't have that experience. What happened to all the women in the room, female bodied people in the room, who have breasts and they're feeling like their forward fold is choking them? In my class!
Because I'm not saying those things because I don't know to say those things. This is the diversity we need, right? We need Angelicas. We need folks who are in wheelchairs so that they can teach specifically. We need folks with everything going on. So it is very much a Bigger and wider situation so that we're all feeling included.
And yeah, I just don't know what I don't know. And when I heard that, I was just like, wow, I feel bad. Like I feel stupid in a way because I try to be so mindful, but I don't have that. body to understand and to experience it, right? Or even laying on your back. What does that feel like when you are a full figured woman?
And you're like, laying on my back doesn't feel good, Jo. In every damn class, you want to start laying on your back to breathe. And it's, it's too much. Right? Now I know if laying on your back doesn't feel good, come to a seat. Lay on your side, preferably the right side, and we can start class there.
So the diversity really goes so deep and we could talk for hours about it.
[00:38:25] Rachel Autumn: Jo, we spent some time talking about financial wellness and opportunities to support students of all backgrounds and teachers responsibilities as well. I would love to talk about What you can do as a student to create a sense of safety within your experience When we arrive in spaces, like you said, we're not in control of the conditions that we're walking into We're not always in control of what's going to be said and how our lived experiences are going to then cause a response within us So, what is it that we can do as students who are vulnerable in these spaces that aren't fully safe and conditioned yet to hold space for all safely?
What can we do if you find yourself in a neighborhood, an environment where you don't see yourself represented, but you have this yearning or desire to be a part. of this practice, what might you do?
[00:39:28] Jo Murdock: Yeah, I would say to those folks, start now, start yesterday. Because one thing that, uh, was beautiful that came out of the pandemic is virtual learning and virtual spaces. And so, you know, you may be called to Y7, right? And, uh, you may like the music and you may like the, the vibe and, and the flowing hard aspect of it. I would say if maybe you're not seeing yourself represented in some classes and some, areas where we have the studio, virtual, right?
Your home, I'm going to assume, I hope, is a safe space for you, right? Start there. Start now. Get familiar with yourself. Get familiar with your body in your safe and in your brave space. Don't worry about needing a whole empty room. You don't need that. You need your mat. Essentially you are supposed to be practicing on your mat because if we were really giving yoga, you are right next to someone else anyway.
Okay. So all you need is a space for your mat. And I invite you to start now, get on it, find a virtual space that serves you. There are also for the BIPOC community, so many amazing yoga teachers on YouTube. It is free 99. Okay. I have a handful of teachers of color on YouTube that I was inspired by to start my own YouTube channel to teach yoga.
Um, they know what they're doing. They are certified. They are safe. They are queuing accordingly. They're giving the Dharma that, uh, is based off of lived and shared experiences as a minority. So, I would say you can start there and start in those spaces. You do not need Anything fancy, right? Yoga also started with a carpet.
If all you have is carpet, do the yoga on the carpet. I do understand yoga mats are also like an expense and things that are expensive. You don't have a yoga block? Get a book, okay? Get cans of beans. They are great supports for under your hand. Like, go to your kitchen, go to your pantry. You can do the yoga at home and nobody is judging you because you're getting what you need.
So I would say start there. Then, from those virtual spaces, I personally believe yoga builds confidence, right? And when you get to that point where you're like, all right, I know warrior two, I know down dog, I know half moon, I know these names and I can connect the names to movements, find a studio, research, take your time because you're still doing it at home in your virtual, brave and safe space.
While you do that, research spaces that, have diverse teachers, that have classes that are maybe pop ups here and there where it's like an R& B class, whatever, like float your boat, research. Go out, and what I would say is when you finally take that step into a public class, invite a friend. to go with you if you can.
I think it is very challenging, to go out alone. I'm speaking from experience, right? Like social battery drains very quickly and also just anxiety, social anxiety. So find a friend who might be interested and go with them that first time, right? And I say that because that first time may not resonate and it may not land and it's always just better to have someone there to support you.
Also to bounce things off. Did you feel weird? Oh, you felt okay? Did you notice that? Hmm, right? And then y'all can talk about it and conversate so you're not just in your head like, Oh my gosh, this was a get out moment. This yoga studio was giving get out. No, maybe, maybe it's the anxiety, right? Maybe it's just the nervousness.
So go with a friend. Let's say it is a good experience. You like it. You want to go back. I think it, there is a responsibility, specifically for minorities, to speak about it. Please speak about it. If you, uh, find a space that feels good, Share it. It may not feel good for everyone else, but it, it might for three other people, right?
Um, I think that's also where we're kind of missing, uh, the, when you find something, stop the gatekeeping. Just cut it out, right? Share that studio. Give that studio a review and be very clear in the reviews. It was diverse. The music was great. There are music from this culture, that culture, right? The teacher, get into it.
Not the class was great and I got a good sweat. Thank you, but can we get a little deeper because this is what gives, these are the cues and these are the words, the keywords that when reading a review, people may say, I'll try that out, right? Um, Lovecraft Country, that show, I don't think it's still on air.
I don't remember the character's name, but he was working on a guidebook for people of color to travel the United States, I believe it was, and to know where there are safe places for people of color to stop. For food, for gas, and to stay out of like sundown towns and things like that. Why did that stop?
we need that guide for the wellness community as well. So share those reviews, you know, speak about it, bring your friend, bring another friend. I know everybody's not the most excited to go take a yoga class over a happy hour, over a brunch, but Connect it. Let's go do yoga. They have showers there.
Then we go to brunch. Right? It is our responsibility to make noise about not being represented. But it's also our responsibility to then, do that work, right? Talk about it. Bring people. Invite people. I enjoyed it. It felt safe. Come with me. I think you'll like it. So I think that's how you can navigate it.
start now, you can get in there and you can get so much from the virtual space. When you're feeling confident enough, you step out with someone and find that in person and public space and then talk and share and invite, right? And that is how we keep it going.
[00:45:42] Rachel Autumn: Thank you for sharing that.
I think that a lot of people will resonate with that, especially we're on the Glo podcast. We've got a lot of listeners who I'm sure are members of Glo, which is an online platform, and I've seen you grow your online platform. Actually, fun fact, I forget this, but Jo and I have never actually met in person before, but that's to say that you light up the online space in such a profound, big way that I feel connected to you and there are so many teachers like you, like Teachers on Glo, who I get to work with as a producer.
touch the hearts of so many. On the production end of Glo, I'll just share a little behind the scenes for our Glo community that's listening. I get to be a part of reading a lot of the comments that are shared, and I love what you shared then about the, sharing of knowledge, of information, because For all of those who are listening, who share those comments, they are heard and they are received and they are then interpreted into future content with teachers here on Glo.
We give feedback to teachers and allow them the opportunity to get this perspective from someone who bravely shared it, especially online. Now we do have internet trolls, not at Glo, but in general, just online. There are some trolls and people do take that. They take advantage of the opportunity to,
[00:47:12] Jo Murdock: to ruffle feathers, if you will,
[00:47:14] Rachel Autumn: but there is a way of constructively sharing what it is that worked for you, what it is that didn't.
And here at Glo, I just want to encourage people to continue doing that. Those comments aren't public facing, but they do get to the teachers and they get to our team. comments that you get on a class pass or on that studio site is. essential to maybe someone's decision to come or not to come,
[00:47:42] Jo Murdock: um, to a class.
if I can add, Yelp is great. The reviews on the website, great. ClassPass, great. MindBody, great. Hello, social media. If I want to go to a new place and let's say I'm looking for ramen, I am going to TikTok because then this person is giving me the ambiance. I'm getting the video of the place.
I can see the food that they ordered, how it's presented, right? They may not be, a five star Michelin review person, but they're going to let me know if it was good or not, if the waiter was nice or not, right? So get on these platforms that we're already utilizing, get on your reels on Instagram or post and get on your TikToks and like, that's also a place for you to leave a review, you know, and you don't have to worry about the studio, um, flagging it or taking it down or it getting lost, uh, on Yelp or just on their website.
Cause you also have to find the website of the studio to see those reviews, but use your social media platforms and use those hashtags because then someone randomly. Not knowing the name of the yoga studio, but just typing in yoga studio, for example, or diverse yoga, for example, will find it and then they can get that review.
So yeah, just like think of all the things that have popped off since 2020 and start using them to Help us build root chakra energy in the wellness space, brave spaces, safe spaces, affordable spaces, sliding scale spaces, all of that. Yes. Get on the socials.
[00:49:17] Rachel Autumn:
[00:49:17] Jo Murdock: Yes. And if you
[00:49:18] Rachel Autumn: need, well. We'll definitely get your socials at the end of our episode, but if you need any tips, inspiration, Jo's socials are popping.
And I want to speak to just the other side. So we're talking about how students can find safe places of refuge within their homes or wellness sanctuaries at home, then getting that courage to go out into the world and find those classes.
One, what do you think is the responsibility of teachers to create these resources for students? Like, would you invite teachers to create more free content and be able to reach people that they might not get in their neighborhood studio.
That's one part. And then the other part is I'm curious what you do to take care of yourself as a teacher, especially a teacher of color who has been a part of these experiences, helping support this change in this re imagining of wellness. At some point, burnout can lurk and you're having your own experience too within these.
unsafe places So what can teachers do to be a part of creating that content on a mass scale? And then what can they do
[00:50:30] Jo Murdock: to take care of themselves better? Yeah, I think that's a great question. And I think that too, part of like, what does a practitioner do or can do?
Yeah, teachers, teachers have a very big responsibility. Um, you know, hopefully in your 200 hour training, you learned the history of yoga, right? Not just the shapes and getting upside down in the fancy Instagram pictures and stuff like that. Um, and so you are understanding that this was something that was done in community for free in groups, right?
You're understanding that it is meant to bring people together with mind, body, and spirit, and that it should have never been. We should have never ever and should still not be paying for yoga, but here we are now, okay? What is your responsibility as a yoga teacher? One, you do need to take care of yourself.
We talked about how expensive yoga teacher training is. You probably won't pay that off for a couple years teaching yoga. So let's keep it real. You need to find a job that will pay you. So find a yoga studio or multiple that will sustain your way of living, your life, health insurance, um, food on your table, a roof over your head.
In addition to that, I do think there are so many creative ways to get yoga out there at a sliding scale and or donation based. Or free. And I do think it's the responsibility of every person that calls themselves a yoga teacher to figure out a way that makes sense for them to have that available that does not, um, include burnout and does not stop them from eating or living in a safe space or having the things that they need, right?
So there is like a little bit of a tug of war. what I'll say is. I've always been transparent about this. I've had my YouTube channel since 2017, And it's taken some time to grow, I've said it on multiple reels and platforms. I need a check from YouTube. I am working my ass off so YouTube can pay me for the yoga content that I've been putting on that platform so that I don't ever have to ask people to pay me for the free yoga or the yoga I'm putting on YouTube because that is specifically for the community we've been talking about today.
That want to start, but don't feel safe enough in spaces. Go to your living room and turn it on and take yoga with me for free. I don't want to have to charge you. I'm working my behind off to do this work. So the people who I know can afford it can pay me, YouTube can afford it. My community cannot, not right now.
So that's what I'm saying. Find those spaces, navigate those spaces where there is income, where there is money and do what you need to do. It does not need to change the world. gentle reminders about the eight limbs of yoga,
The, the yamas and the niyamas. How can you get this knowledge out there that does not burn you out? So yes, which is what I'm trying to do with the nonprofit, right? Flojo Yoga for profit when I work with corporations, This is the other part of it. as a yoga teacher of color, with the trainings that I have done and paid for, and with my background in dance, if someone reaches out to me, if the price is not my price, I say that.
I think that's also something very important that yoga teachers need to say, which helps you offer sliding scale donation or free things to your community. Name your price and stick to your price. If it's a no, something else will come because it's already happening. People are already looking at you and reaching out to you.
They're not the only one. And so when bigger companies who have the funding, who have the money. Ask me to do something, and if it's not what my rate is for myself, I let them know that. I let them know what I need, what I deserve, right? So that I can set myself up to continue to live and, it's basic needs that I'm asking.
I'm not looking for a yacht. I'm not looking to buy a vacation home. This is what I need to survive and be able to support. My community and the communities that I know have been historically underrepresented and withheld from the wellness space. So, um, what is it? I don't want to butcher this, but it's not Peter Robin hood.
Right. You need to do what you need to do. it's not stealing. It is asking for what you deserve. This is my rate. Thank you so much. Huge names. have emailed me and given me a price and my heart is beating, my hands are sweating, and I reply back, Well, this is actually my hourly rate.
I would love to work with you, but this is what I require as compensation. Less than an hour later the email comes back with okay. they can say, yes, they can say, okay. And I do also understand that there may not be that understanding of standing up for yourself and negotiating.
It's like, Oh my God, someone offered me something as a teacher of color. Let me snatch it up and take it. That's not how you can, do your part as a yoga teacher. If they have it, you make sure that it meets your requirements so that you can survive. You can only give back and you can only do this work if you are surviving.
I don't expect and I don't ask and I don't force any yoga teacher to start teaching for free if you can't eat, if you can't pay your bills. that's a horrible cycle. That's a horrible thing to expect them to say. But if you are in a space and you have these opportunities where bigger brands are reaching out, make sure it meets your requirements.
Do not ever take anything. That's your responsibility to not take anything just to have this brand's name attached to you. Because once you've done what you've done with them. It's gone. And then what? Right.
[00:56:23] Rachel Autumn: And then it's causing, you know, the next person of color or just the next person that they reach out to.
this standard is set. It's probably how they were able to come to you in the first place because someone else, and that's the same in the dance industry. I know there's always going to be someone who will do it for free. And so then it keeps. Continuing to just perpetuate that system of never, never arriving at a fair compensation.
[00:56:50] Jo Murdock: Yeah, exactly. I, this wasn't a yoga or well, it was kind of a wellness business, but they emailed me and they were like, Hey, we want you to come in and experience our offering. Um, but we need like, Three Instagram posts. We need like four reels and a Tik Tok and then a bunch of still photos for free. Like, are they nuts?
But what I will say is I said, this is my rate per all the things you've asked. That's a lot. They came back and they said, okay, are you willing to do this amount of work for free? I said, no, I just told you what my rate is for what you're asking. Not less work, this work. The new thing you emailed me, that still comes at a cost and do you know that teachers around me that work for the Y7, I saw them a few weeks later doing the post and doing the work with this brand and this company and I had to sit back and I'm like, are they doing it for free?
Or did they push back and ask for a certain amount of money for these Instagram reels and posts and things like that? And I didn't go to those teachers and ask, but like, we all are teachers at Y7, okay, or, um, connected to, uh, Lululemon and the brand. And I'm in very close, very, very close proximity. I have these teachers phone numbers.
We text, we talk, we've done events together and I'm just sitting back and I'm like, I wonder what happened because they did not respond back, but I am seeing the work that they asked for happen and being produced and I hope, right, what I just said to you, I do hope that that teacher could do it at their rates, maybe it wasn't as expensive as me, or they could do it for free, but still have the capacity to not get lost in that world and give back.
So it will happen. you will get the ghosting, you will miss opportunities, but you aren't missing a meal. You aren't missing a, credit card payment or payment for your mortgage or rent, you know? And like, what is a priority? Being root chakra secure in your home, in your financials, in your wellbeing, or like having your face attached to this brand for the moment and then not doing the work.
[00:59:15] Rachel Autumn: Yeah, there's a lot of affiliation compensation. I'll say where there's brands that think just the fact that you are affiliated with this name, then it should be more than enough. But like you said, especially for yoga, if you're using these images and our likeness to promote these wellness tools and then on the back end.
It's causing harm. It's causing harm and we're here to, to create non harm. you have to think about it from all fronts, from the student, from the teachers, from businesses points of view. There's a lot of. people at the table that create and continue whatever is going on within our wellness industry.
That is very harmful to a lot of people. And I want to transition to your nonprofit, Reimagine Our Wellness, because that is exactly what you are calling forward of people to reimagine It cannot be the same access. It's a new level of access. And I encourage anyone listening to go to her website that we'll share later.
So you can read the mission statement because she actually has italicized underlined, bolded, Circle squiggly lines so that you know, three or four times for the people in the back, what is needed. To have these actions made and sustained, because there are a lot of things that happen. 2020, a lot of businesses, posted their black squares and then some people did a little bit more, but in 2023 2024 now, how much of that has sustained.
So I want to learn more about. why you launched Reimagine Our Wellness, but what is your vision for Reimagine Our Wellness? And what are you inspired to create moving forward when you prompt others to reimagine what wellness could look like?
Ooh,
[01:01:10] Jo Murdock: yes. So, um, Reimagine Our Wellness, I want to say, is the second, like, manifestation of me paying it forward. My first one, I think, was with Y7 and revamping and relaunching the scholarship program. The second iteration now is same idea, uh, scholarship program for BIPOC and LGBTQI um, plus folks, but I'm an Aquarius, so my son is just lit up in the space of community.
That's what the sign is about. The revolution, right? The rebellion. That's why you started off the podcast saying what you said. I'm like, yes. And I will tell you why I am always ready to shake things up. Um, initially I just wanted to apply for grants. with this non profit, get funding to then disperse the money out for folks to become yoga teachers, meditation teachers, wellness practitioners, like doulas even.
Um, I just wanted to be the funnel. Get the money, push it back out, right? And as we're about five months old, we're very, very young. And, um, as my Aquarius brain has been thinking and seeing and experiencing Things for myself in the wellness space that are unfair, that are unjust, that have no explanation, but expect you to just take it and deal with it.
Um, the vision has expanded. And, um, even in this conversation, just more workshops, right? Where we are teaching, uh, people of color, wellness practitioners of color. Like once you get your 200 hour, like what next, what does it look like to create a. Brand for yourself. What does it look like to really sit down and narrow who your people are and who you want to do this work for?
Right? Like my vision is very narrow, BIPOC and LGBTQIA in the wellness space at the top of the class. That is who I am focusing my energy and that's what the nonprofit is for. When you have gotten past that step of becoming, a facilitator in the wellness space, what does your business card look like?
Or are you word of mouth? Where are you teaching? Community centers? Virtual? What does it look like to buy a camera, to buy a microphone? What does it look like to set up your background? I think Reimagine Our Wellness is going to grow into a space where we do give out those grants and scholarships. We are offering classes and events that are free.
I would love to keep them free for folks to attend. So they see yoga, they see sound nidra, whatever, right? Also, these moments, these trainings where you learn how to, the business of yoga, we all, you know, as a, as a people, historically, we also don't have, these conversations about even just asking for more when something is offered, right?
Negotiation. What does it look like to be a private yoga instructor? Oh, well, this is my rate. Well, did you factor in travel? Did you factor in, if you have a full time job and yoga is the thing on the side, what it means to leave work early to take this private client?
Are you factoring in, uh, still paying off possibly a training that you just did to, uh, be able to charge this amount of money? So like the unspoken things, I really want re imagine our wellness to become a hub, a learning hub, a support system, And an experiential space. You'll get the yoga, you'll get the meditation, you'll get whatever, you'll get the knowledge, like that pillar as well.
And then you'll also hopefully get scholarships and opportunities, financial opportunities to grow more. So that's kind of where it's, grown because it was really just, uh, I want to give out scholarships. and I'm seeing that, like, you have to continue to support, right? you give out the scholarship, you become a yoga teacher.
Now what? Because we're new to this space. We said we weren't there. We're here. Now we're new. What's my brand? What's my mission? Who are my people? How do I get specific? How can I tighten it up? How can I build this, foundation so that it keeps going and I am an example for someone else? And then if they reach out to me, I can talk to them about it.
Just like those reviews I was talking about. Like, I'm doing it. Can I reach out to Jo and ask her some questions? Yeah. Cause I have that information now. It's not like Jo's a yoga teacher. You hit me up and I'm like, you know, I'm just trying to figure out the business of yoga myself and I don't know what this, this brand's been using my photo and I don't get any like money from it or no, we're going to talk about it.
So I think it's going to really expand within this year of like, what are my pillars outside of just giving out money? Right.
[01:06:29] Rachel Autumn: You've done a lot of programming. Can you share some of the programs that you have launched already? And yeah, how those have been, I've seen some of the images and videos, but I think this community would benefit from
[01:06:42] Jo Murdock: hearing.
Yeah. So we had our first event in October, um, on the 22nd last year. And, um, yeah, just to put it out there and to have something in person in New York City. I am from Coronado city, partnered with Amanda Gloria Valdez, and a couple folks within her community. We had nine binary folks, we had trans folks, we had a really great representation at the front of the room.
My cousin was the photographer, he's a black man. So like, Every aspect that you can think of was people of color and just diversity in and of itself. Um, and so that was our first like yoga and sound bowl. And we had a moment where we journaled and reflect on transformation and transmuting that energy.
It was Scorpio season. Um, and then we, I just launched, um, every month starting now in January, there'll be a virtual offering, right? Because I, I really want Rogue. Reimagine our wellness to be something that is not just New York city and for folks in the five boroughs. I want you to be able to experience it from anywhere.
And I'm a up and down the coast girl. Anyway, I used to live in Miami. Um, I have a lot of friends and family in DC, like making our way up in Atlanta and in New York. So I want to make sure that we're all supported and we're all acknowledged. So that's, um, coming down the pipeline that'll be happening every month.
I've had the opportunity to kind of connect and jump in and join in on other people's events as like a support system. So Ro, you know, getting visibility and getting the word out there. I have an event coming up in two weeks, um, that's more like a safe space for folks who would normally go out and drink, socially drink, um, and party, uh, and who are tired of that.
Like, I'm tired of that. And it's just a space to kind of talk about what you don't want to do anymore and like what you actually need. And Ro will be in on that and supporting the setting the tone of that conversation. It can be a hard thing to talk about, um, making sure everyone feels good and safe in those spaces.
in addition to that, just seeing what. It looks like to work with, Amanda Gloria, the ideas are abundant, right? The network is wide and deep. even to my fellow Lululemon ambassadors, they're doing amazing things for the community, um, and launching new initiatives and just finding out how I can support CultureCon, right?
Took a risk, emailed. All the emails I could find related to CultureCon and asked for tickets and gave those to the Rogue community so that they can be in spaces that are for people of color and, and, and content creation and, um, becoming an entrepreneur. And that was like really great. I didn't think that that would turn into anything.
And all you gotta do is open your mouth. I've also been. Not so much collaborating or connecting, but when I do see wellness offerings, I will research to see if there is a scholarship option. And if there is not, I will email and ask, have you considered, are you open to that?
And most people are like, yeah, I just didn't think of it. Or like, I'm so busy and it's no malice. But like when you, when you have someone just checking in, that's also the work that I'm doing. Like I told you, one of our graduates, I said, let me check this retreat. But they were on it. And it was already there and I thanked them, right?
I didn't just leave it alone. I messaged them and I was like, thank you so much for that opportunity. That's great. So, collaborating, background work, checking in, tapping in, seeing if this is something you thought about and maybe supporting you in ways to do it if you don't know how to do sliding scale, if you don't know how to do donation based.
[01:10:34] Rachel Autumn: Yeah, thank you for sharing. You have a lot going on. I mean, this is powerful. Like I say that in the best way, not in like a passive way, like knowing you, you are that Aquarian energy, that creative, that otherworldly, and just having such a unique perspective on again, how to enthusiastically reach solutions.
for our communities to feel safer, to feel welcome and represented and like they belong in the wellness space. So it's powerful all that you are doing and we like just like touched the surface on so many things about what you were doing. I want to kind of recap some of the things that we shared and we got to speak with Jo about today because I hope Everyone takes with them that there is a sense of empowerment where we all can be a part of this conversation.
We're not over here just pointing fingers and blaming and, it's about what do we do moving forward? It is what it is. And what do we do? Moving forward, so it doesn't have to be that way forever. You shared so much about our own personal empowerment of what we can do for ourselves to feel seen and supported, to create that home environment where you can practice for free online, and then having that courage to bring a friend and venture into the studio space.
if that becomes of interest, you've been sharing about all of the tools that you can look for. As far as scholarships are concerned and calling businesses and studios forward that can afford to fund these opportunities and to consider full scholarships and what that could do for someone. you shared about that personal accountability to give back that you're not just receiving this because.
of your skin color, there is a responsibility that you hold to pay this forward and to share this. And all of the abundance of unique ways that you can do that. You shared so many examples and the sky's the limit. I'm so excited to see everything that comes about from reimagining our wellness and I hope that this Glo community can follow your journey and continue to stay in touch and see all the ways that we can support.
I think one thing we also mentioned, we actually talked about just the spreading of the good news, like spreading the word. And so if you can't pay for a class or. Donate to a thing you can share your experience and you can share encouragement. You are a business owner, a teacher, you're an entrepreneur, and I'm sure it can feel like a lonely path sometimes.
I know it's felt that way on my end. And so encourage your teachers, encourage your leaders, and those who are out here on the front lines. Shifting these conversations and these narratives. So, Jo, I'm so grateful for you and your time here on the Globe Podcast. It was such a pleasure. I love talking.
[01:13:41] Jo Murdock: the best thing to start 2024 with.
I love to chat.
[01:13:46] Rachel Autumn: Yes, I would love to just, we'll just be in a little time capsule in the future and we'll check in and just see where Reimagine Our Wellness is. Knowing that it's not necessarily a linear path. But we hope to see you and your vision coming to life because community supports, business support, your students are showing up and of course you always show up.
So just wishing you the best of luck with that endeavor because It's needed. Yes. Thank you for your bravery.
[01:14:16] Jo Murdock: Yes. And the work is being done because this moment in and of itself is full circle. You are interviewing me. And I'm very, very proud and honored and excited that, yes, coming, speaking up, standing up on a podcast, asking the questions you're asking, right?
That's also yoga. That's also doing the work, right? So a big full circle moment for me to be like, yeah, I teach yoga teacher training, but like one of our graduates is having this conversation and it's wild and it's beautiful.
[01:14:51] Rachel Autumn: It's wild. It really is.
I want to trace it back because without the scholarship that I received to then do Y7's training under your leadership, Amanda, Gloria Valdez, Darby, Casey, Molly, just a beautiful cohort of phenomenal women guiding our training. I actually was then able to be able to work at Glo as a producer here. And so I would not be in this seat today without that.
So I want to thank you again for playing your role and being a part of this. Divine scheme that brings everything together in its in due time and due season and just to close, I want to invite you to share with us where you are online, where we can find you so that we can all stay in touch.
[01:15:45] Jo Murdock: For sure. I am all over the internet.
I've been an internet person. since before YouTube was a thing. So, um, I am, let's start with that. I'm on YouTube and my YouTube is a yoga channel. it's Yoga with Flojo, F L O W W J 0. Um, yes, I'm inspired by Flojo the runner, them as well, just breaking all the rules.
And that's exactly how I am navigating the wellness space, but I do spell it differently. So you can find me over there, Yoga with Flojo. It's free. Classes go up every week. I'm also on Instagram, flojo, F L O W W J 0. I'm on the TikToks and those are still yoga, based in yoga energy, yoga content.
So tutorials on yoga shapes or restorative movements for hips and shoulders, like breaking it down a little bit more. So you'll get the classes on YouTube, you'll get more tutorials on the Instagrams and the TikToks. Um, I have a full website www. flowjo.
com and it's spelled the same way everywhere across the board. Um, yeah, I have virtual classes, virtual clients, we can meet one on one, we can meet in a group setting at your job. I have the for profit, I have the nonprofit. This is a full time situation. So you can reach out Jo murdoch at flojo. com. And we can talk about whatever you can imagine for the wellness space.
space and then we can manifest it. this is my nine to five, my five to nine. to be challenged. Um, and I'm excited to continue creating content, that is for profit so that I can survive. That is a priority of mine. And I'm very much still excited to create for folks who are making their way up into the wellness space as practitioner and as facilitator.
[01:17:51] Rachel Autumn: Thank you, Jo. It's been such a gift to share this space with you.
[01:17:56] Jo Murdock: Yes, it's been a pleasure. Very, very blessed and grateful.
[01:18:04] Derik Mills: Thank you to our entire team behind the scenes at Glo. I'm so grateful for your care and commitment to serving our members around the world. Thank you to our teachers for so beautifully sharing your gifts and talents. I'm also grateful to our lovely community of Glo members. You've supported us since 2008, and because of you, we get to continue to do the work we love.
It's the combined support of our team, our teachers, and our community that grants me the privilege to continue to bring you the Glo Podcast. Thank you to Lee Schneider, Red Cup Agency, for production support. And the beautiful music you're hearing now is by Carrie Rodriguez and her husband, Luke Jacobs.
And remember, take care of yourself, because our world needs you. Thank you for coming on this journey with me. You can find The Glo Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or glo.com/podcast, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. I'm Derik Mills.