Meet Christine Hardy

We recently connected with Christine Hardy and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Christine, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

Imposter Syndrome is a real tricky thing. I think I’ve had it throughout my life during different phases and even writing this I feel it creeping back into the corners of my mind. Here we go again!

When I first started teaching yoga it was a real thing, louder than any other time in my life. The Imposter said, “You aren’t good enough. You’re too old. Your body doesn’t look like a yoga teacher should look. You can’t even do a handstand.” and on and on and on…

But it was here, through my own personal yoga practice that I learned some valuable tools that actually worked. Honestly, it was Imposter Syndrome that actually forced me to put my practice and all of the things I wanted to teach others to the actual test. Things like: I am enough. Nothing is certain. Attachment to outcome and/or comparison to others are a guaranteed disappointment. Through yoga I learned to appreciate and love my body, to use my age and experience to my advantage and to be gentle with myself. I allow for myself to be myself.

But it isn’t all love and rainbows. Staying ahead of Imposter Syndrome requires that I remain disciplined with myself. I show up as professional and prepared. As a teacher, it is central to my role to be aware that students are coming into the room having invested time and money, some have even hired caretakers to step in for them at home so that they can be there. Ultimately, they trust and expect there will be someone who is leading the class with a plan. When that person is me I never take that lightly. On the other hand, I also need to be willing to let go of my plan and allow space for the needs of my students to shift in the room and to switch things up on the spot when necessary. It’s a delicate balance of preparedness and improv.

Lastly, I accept that I will at times mess things up and that is okay. In fact, it’s necessary. I can find the absurdity and even laugh at situations that I can’t control (like teaching a meditation class while a carnival roars outside) and cultivate humility and learn from the ones where it’s on me (too many to list). I think plain old experience, and lots of it, ultimately releases me time after time from the hold that Imposter Syndrome can take. It’s not like I don’t still struggle with it, because I do. It’s just that I have the tools that work for me to move through it. And truthfully, I owe that all to experience and my own yoga practice.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I started yoga reluctantly in my mid-thirties when the stressors of a corporate job were negatively impacting my health. I can’t say I was hooked at first, I found some of it challenging, some of it outright maddening. But it did love the way it made me feel. I felt stronger, more in control of my emotions and I loved the community of others I was meeting so I kept returning. Years later when I was no longer working the stressful job but still navigating stressors of life, I decided to get more serious about yoga and enrolled in a teacher training program. Initially I did not have the intent to teach, I just wanted to learn all the things I could for my own benefit. During that training I learned that I loved teaching! Since then I’ve done more trainings, taught anywhere that would have me and ultimately evolved into the instructor I am today. The evolution continues!

Although I primarily teach in yoga studios in South orange County, California, I really love the idea of taking yoga outside of the traditional studio setting and bringing it to where people need it like corporate or healthcare environments. That is something I’d like to focus on moving forward. A lot of people don’t feel comfortable coming into a yoga studio where everyone seems to know what they are doing, it can be intimidating to beginners or those who have special needs. I’d like to remove that and make it more accessible to everyone, all bodies, ages, sizes, abilities.

Currently I am preparing to co-lead a special Fall Equinox Sound Bath and Cacao Ceremony on Saturday September 21st 6 pm – 8pm at LiveMetta Yoga in Laguna Niguel. This is an opportunity for relaxation, meditation and community – no experience neccessary. You can also follow me on Instagram @chardydoesyoga.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1. Get out of your own way. You can talk yourself out of anything. You can’t let fear limit and hold you back. If your heart is calling you towards something, get out of your own way. Let yourself move towards whatever that is. Be greedy with your own time. Spend it doing what makes you happy.

2. Learn the art of listening. Listening requires suspension of judgement, curiosity and focusing on understanding and not responding. It’s a skillset that will help in so many ways. Listen to yourself. Listen to others. Form your own opinions based on this premise of seeking to understand.

3. Be humble. Being humble means moving through the world from a place of kindness. We are all just one person in a world of many other people. But leading with humility and kindness can be a powerful thing. You can’t control others but you can control yourself. Let love lead.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life
By Jack Kornfield

I read this book early in my journey towards seeking a more peaceful life and was becoming more and more drawn towards Buddhist teachings. I had a little meditation practice and had done a retreat lead by Jack Kornfield, and this book was really useful to me to take the principles I was learning in both yoga and spirituality and make them accessible to practice in my modern life. I’m not interested in living life like a monk or depriving myself of things that are great in our modern world. But I do want to live mindfully and move with love, and I found this book a great guide to finding a balance between ancient philosophy and modern living.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @chardydoesyoga
• Facebook: Christine Hardy