We recently had the chance to connect with Todd Norian and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Todd, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
I wake up usually around 630 a.m. unless I’m teaching, then I get up at 6. I have a whole cleansing ritual I do each morning including tongue scraping (which helps remove unwanted bacteria from the digestive tract), then I drink 8 oz. of water with a little Apple Cider Vinegar mixed in. This is a tart wake up that balances the digestive system. Then I have a little coffee, do ball rolling on the bottoms of my feet while I watch the Bluebirds feed in my backyard. Then I usually do a yoga practice with breathing and meditation. After all of that, I’m ready for breakfast and a full productive day of work or whatever is on the agenda!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’ve been practicing yoga and teaching for over 45 years. Yoga keeps my body supple and strong. Aging gracefully is one of my goals. I founded my own yoga method based on my years of experience, that combines alignment, therapeutics, and living with an open heart. I really enjoy supporting students to find their purpose and passion for living their dream. Part of the philosophy I teach comes from an ancient yoga tradition of freedom – we are all free to create the life we would want to live. My method is called Ashaya, which means “abode of the heart.” The spiritual heart is where our joy is. When we align with what our heart most deeply desires, we connect with our soul purpose. Once we discover that, we’re on our way to empowering ourselves to live with freedom, joy, inner peace, in service to the bigger energy. I teach a yoga of radical affirmation, in that we recognize that everything in life is for our awakening. Living in this way gives context for our challenges and struggles. Challenges never come to put us down. they only come when we’re ready to rise up and change. I’m also a seasoned musician. I was a Jazz Piano major in college and I have a bachelors in music. I’ve created many albums for relaxation and meditation. All are streaming on Spotify and most streaming sites.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
My childhood was riddled with many different painful experiences of shame. Even though I was very successful in most everything I did, I was never the best. I didn’t make the high school freshman football team, never made it into the number 1 jazz band in college, and felt like a failure most all of my childhood.
This empty feeling was part of what led me to explore yoga. I attended a 10 day retreat and stayed for 13 years! Yoga was the first experience where I felt completely accepted and loved for who I was. I didn’t have to perform to hear praise. I didn’t have to be good enough. I was enough just as I was. I was “perfectly imperfect” just the way I was. This warmed my heart and made me feel empowered to help others feel accepted for who they are, not what they thought they needed to be to be acceptable.
I’m happy to say that I no longer believe in being not enough. At times I may forget, but in general, I feel very comfortable in my own skin. I’m told this comes through in my teaching!
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
One of the wounds that defined my life was the breakup of my marriage. After 27 years of being happily married, my wife developed extreme bi-polar manic episodes. We worked on finding a cure or coping strategy for 8 years. But nothing seemed to work. As much I wanted to help her overcome her challenge, she refused to take her medication. Living with her was intolerable and at one point, dangerous. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. But being divorced was the best thing for me. I developed a strong sense of self and although I wanted a partner, I was content to wait until the right person showed up. I’m very happy now and lucky to say that I found the right person. I’m completely in love and we just moved in together! What I learned was that the heart is capable of loving again, opening again, and using all of the accumulated wisdom from past experience, to find true love and go even deeper.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
They would say that pursuing my deepest spiritual self is what matters most to me. This includes self-reflection, discernment, and constant curiosity about who I am, what I want, and what I need. Knowing myself is the most satisfying journey because the “self” is vast and infinite and is the source of all that is. Knowing myself is knowing others and knowing the world. To find my joy, my inner longings, self-acceptance, and self-love is the foundation for my life and for all of my relationships.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope people tell the story that I was an uplifting, inspirational being committed to bringing more love, light, joy, and humor into the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ashayayoga.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashayayoga/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AshayaYoga
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AshayaYoga
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
