Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anita Trent . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Anita , thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
This is such a great question and one that took me some time to be thoughtful around. At the age of 52, and after 13 years of committing to a yoga practice that includes meditation, I can finally see myself and one bit of character that’s always been with me is my ability to see what needs to be done and do it. I have found myself to be quite unmessable. I don’t get blown over by others anymore. When the rug is pulled out from under me, I acknowledge what’s hard or challenging or even shitty and unfair, but passion for what I am up to keeps me going. Work ethic for me has to be paired with passion. If I’m not on board, if I’m not fully in, there’s no work ethic for me, so I have to say NO to what doesn’t steer me in the right direction, and YES to what I want in life.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a 500-hour certified yoga instructor. I own Be Moved Power Yoga, co-founded in 2016 with my friend, Susie Schul, who left the business after five years together as co-owners to support her husband in Alabama for a new job opportunity. I say this because I need to acknowledge Susie because without her, Be Moved would not be who we are today. Susie still works for the studio behind a desk in Alabama, for which I am so grateful. We often never really do anything alone.
I am a devoted wife and mother of four children.
Professionally I am focused on my teaching team. As an owner of a yoga studio, I’m naturally the soul of the place, so I really love to attend classes in my studio each week and give feedback on how class landed on me and what are some clear actionable ways myself and my teaching team can lead class with the most clarity, essential language, and in such a way that inspiration is present. Teaching a powerful yoga class takes practice. One of my best friends taught me early on that every yoga practice is practice for the next yoga practice. I say this all the time and it helps my yoga team to not see feedback as criticism, but rather love, support, and encouragement for the next practice.
My yoga business is not a non-profit, but I take great pride in teaching at several non-profits and schools and groups in our community who for many different reasons, can’t come to the studio. I am SO proud YOGA ON THE BRIDGE!! We have taught FREE yoga to anyone who shows up on our city pedestrian bridge on several different dates May – October and of course, International Day of Yoga when we close the studio and teach several classes on the bridge for that special day.
I like to say my community is my brand. We have cultivated a yoga community where we know our students’ names. We are curious about them and how we can support our community members through different types of yoga, meditation, women’s groups, 40 Days to Personal Revolution, including our 200-hour yoga teacher training.
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?
Most impactful in my journey have been the following;
1. Speak the truth even when it’s hard.
2. Speak with clarity and essential language (get to the point!)
3. Lead every moment with compassion for myself and others.
(#4
My advice for those inspired by my list would be to find a yoga studio in your community and start taking classes. Leave your phone, and headphones, and work for an hour to be in your physical body. To be with the thoughts in your head. To practice stillness and quiet. You need the space. We all do. Our bodies need and desire physicality and bodywork. We are meant to contemplate quietly. This allows a bubbling up of what truly lives within us. Wayne Dyer said, “Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into something we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we truly are, and become it.”
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
My overall challenge is choosing what to do when there is so much work to be done. I overcome this challenge by prioritizing what needs to be done for others first. I want to be sure that I do what I said I would do for my family, my team, and my community. All else will wait while I am in community and connection with my people.
The is business second. I have learned to schedule time for introspection and creativity. When challenges arise, I stand in my center and get connected to what is happening in my mind, body, and spirit, and try to move on with clarity and ease. Sometimes these scheduled plans get interrupted. I accept it and try to give myself more time the next day or during the week.
I could work every minute of every day. I believe it’s a universal truth that most business owners would say the same. My ego gets in the way of rest, spending time with friends, and my yoga community, so I am watchful for the desire for material things or admiration.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bemovedpoweryoga.org
- Instagram: Be Moved Power Yoga
- Facebook: Be Moved Power Yoga
