Meet Rondy Isaac

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rondy Isaac. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rondy below.

Rondy, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

After I completed my two 200hour teacher trainings I thought I was ready to teach. I failed miserable miserably at teaching, folks were walking out of my class totally dissatisfied, so I decided I wasn’t ready to teach so I quit the studio and I started to volunteer my time. I worked in shelters. I offered yoga classes for free in the park. I just decided that I would practice on my own. And that was the missing component I was missing, was me practicing by myself. Once I put the practice into my body once I did the practice for myself once I taught myself yoga everything else fell into place. The problem was I was trying to be my teachers. I’d just finished two teacher trainings and I was trying to replicate what my teachers had taught me. Actually, I was trying to replicate what they were doing and it didn’t work but when I realized my authentic voice was missing, everything else started to make sense, and I soon started back at the yoga studios. It wasn’t too much later after I started at the yoga studios that a German woman took my class and approached me after class and told me I should come to Germany to teach yoga to refugees. I had no intentions of going to Germany to teach yoga, but I was intrigued by teaching yoga to refugees specially African refugees. But if I changed my mind I would go for three weeks tops! She asked me to go to come to Germany for three months my intentions were to go for three weeks. I ended up going for six months and I was teaching yoga to refugees who barely spoke English. And once I figured out how to teach yoga to these to these new students, I figured I could teach to anyone. Once my time was complete, I came back to the United States. My mindset was different. I just spent six months teaching yoga to folks who barely spoke English so that really gave me the confidence to teach to anyone and everyone!

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Chocolate Buddha Wellness is my brand name, my moniker is Chocolate Buddha! I lead yoga and wellness classes to our community. My prized jewel is Barbershop yoga, yoga for men who identify as Pan African. Barbershop yoga has been around since 2018, and is committed to the overall wellness for men of the African diaspora. Barbershop yoga offers yoga, tai-chi, Primal movement, Kemetic yoga, and soon Pilates. It’s a place where men can come and get fueled up. Barbershop yoga is open to all bodies the last Saturday of the month. The community of Black men gather weekly to “Trim our Trauma” with the tools of brotherhood and cultural connection. We practice every Saturday morning at Black Market Wellness, 3851 market street Oakland 1030am-12pm. www.chocolatebuddhayoga.com

I also co-lead a Yoga organization called Black To Yoga. BTY is an organization that is for all bodies, but has an Afrocentric slant to it. It’s a place you can come and practice and feel right at home, familiar faces, soulfull music, and teachers that look like you. We offer two special event classes every month, such as : yoga & African dance, yoga & sound bowl therapy, micro-dose yoga. Some of our collaborating partners; Outdoor Afro, Soulflow, Blackfulness, Create the Space, Akoma Collective. Our organization is a non brick mortar. BTY offers online and in person classes weekly, our signature class happens every Sunday at Snow park 1130am-1230pm. www.blacktoyoga.com

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The three qualities that help me on my journey is forgiveness, 10,000 practice hours, and flexibility. I needed to get right with myself, forgive myself for any infraction or pain I caused for myself and others. I needed to shed my skin of the old the Rondy and step into the evolved Rondy/Chocolate Buddha! Practice practice practice, I needed to get as much information into my body, mind, soul, and intelligence. After 12 years of teaching I’m still not near 10,000 hours, but I have gained a ton of know-how, preparation, and love for the work. My path hasn’t been linear, there has setbacks, transitions, and surprises all of which has made me adapt and become like water, flowing with the current. 1. Set your intentions. 2. Make it known to the cosmos. 3. Receive your blessings. Give thanks!

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

We love collaborating and partnerships. African proverb’s says “if you wanna go fast go alone, but if you want to go far go together.” Black to Yoga and Chocolate Buddha Wellness are hoping to make connections with folks aligned with our mission of better serving the Pan African community. The ideal person or persons we are looking for has to be business savvy, and has Marketing skills. Knowing how to navigate and highlight our organizations and products on Social Media . They should know our community and the wellness industry. I look forward to meeting you. [email protected] or [email protected]

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.chocolatebuddhayoga.com
• Instagram: Rondy isaac
• Facebook: Rondy Isaac
• Linkedin: Rondy Isaac
• Twitter: Rondy Isaac
• Youtube: Chocolate Buddha Yoga
• Yelp: Chocolate Buddha Wellness

Image Credits

Ryan Louie
Kirsten Weimer