Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brent Laffoon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Brent, thank you so much for joining us today. Let’s jump right into something we’re really interested in hearing about from you – being the only one in the room. So many of us find ourselves as the only woman in the room, the only immigrant or the only artist in the room, etc. Can you talk to us about how you have learned to be effective and successful in situations where you are the only one in the room like you?
Even though I have white skin, I grew up in Miami and my high school was 85% Hispanic. That helped me get used to looking different than pretty much everyone around me. Then when I was in college, I did several foreign study/volunteer programs and lived with host families in Nicaragua and Argentina. That also helped me learn to be comfortable in environments where no one else looks like me. But I don’t think simply being around people who look different was enough to teach me how to be effective. I had to learn the languages, customs and cultures of the people whose spaces I was inhabiting. Doing that gave me a deeper appreciation for them, and it also showed them that I was interested in who they were and what they were all about. That went a long way toward establishing bonds of friendship and trust, and really that’s everything.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I teach yoga. What that means from one day to the next tends to vary quite a bit. Some days it means teaching public classes and private clients. Other days it means filming and creating content with various online platforms I work with. Some days it means planning and promoting retreats, teacher trainings and workshops. Other days it means responding to emails and messages from students and mentees. Some days it means working on the book that I’m (fingers crossed) almost done writing. Other days it means running the non-profit I founded. One thing it ALWAYS means is practicing in one form or another, every day.
It’s always interesting to see how people respond when I tell them I teach yoga. Some people get excited and ask me what kind of yoga I teach. Others roll their eyes and move along as quickly as possible. And to be honest, I don’t blame them. Teaching yoga has a relatively low bar for entry. It’s also a field that tends to attract a lot of people with beliefs that can come across as being somewhat “out there.” One consequence of this is that yoga has come to be seen by many people as something that doesn’t merit being taken seriously, and until I became educated on the subject, I used to feel the same way.
Part of what I do on a daily basis is try to help people understand what yoga actually is, and how to practice it in a way that serves their own individual, ever-changing needs. Yoga is such a vast realm, with so many different tools to help people cultivate good physical and mental health and find peace within themselves. To me, it’s so apparent that more of this is exactly what’s needed in today’s world, but many people still think of yoga as nothing more than a form of fitness, and a limited one at that. I truly believe that if more people understood what yoga is, there would be a yogi on every corporate board, a yoga department at every college and university, and a yogi advising every president and world leader.
So this is what I do in various forms every day. I work to help make yoga more understood and more accessible. I started The Association of Yoga Professionals (The AYP) to raise the bar for teachers and improve the quality of instruction for students. I recently filmed a 30 hour online training with Inner Dimension TV that aims to help people achieve their full potential, mentally as well as physically. Next year I’ll be leading a Teacher Training in Spain that will teach people not only how to practice, but how to integrate that practice into their daily lives so that it becomes something that is both sustainable and continually nourishing. And God willing, soon I’ll publish a novel that tells the story of yoga in a way that’s never been done before, and that hopefully will inspire people young and old for generations to come to see yoga for what it truly is and practice it in a way that works for them.
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?
Curiosity, determination and patience. When I first started practicing yoga, I wanted to know everything. I was constantly reading, constantly practicing, both on my own and with different teachers, constantly exploring. I was absorbing as much as possible and experimenting with different ways to implement what I was learning into my practice and teaching. On top of that, I was determined to improve in as many ways as possible. Physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually… yoga opened up so many doors to me, things I had never considered or dreamed possible. Suddenly I was in a new world, one with unlimited possibilities and I wanted to explore them all. At the same time, I recognized that it was a process. The mind and body can only take in so much before they need to rest and integrate, so I had to be patient. If something didn’t go the way I wanted it to, or took longer than I anticipated, I tried to apply the lessons of my practice and think about where my attention was going. If it was going toward something that caused me frustration or discouragement, I redirected it toward something that felt more positive and productive. This proved to be a helpful approach that allowed me to grow continually, regardless of whatever setbacks I might have been experiencing. Everything became an opportunity to learn.
If I could offer any advice to people who are early in their journey, it would be to assume that everyone has something to teach you. It may not always be life changing or ground breaking, but everyone has a story, everyone knows something that you don’t. The more you can learn about people and what they know and have experienced, the better able you will be to be of service to a wider range of people, and that’s what teaching yoga is all about. Being of service.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
Not enough time. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything on my to do list. And so far as I can tell, there’s nothing I can do about that except breathe and do the best I can to get as much of it done as possible. Prioritizing and planning helps, but there’s still too much to do, so I just have to make my peace with that, and for the most part I do. It’s all part of the practice.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.brentlaffoon.com
- Instagram: @brentasana
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/brentlaffoon
Image Credits
Kai Franz Patricia Peña Silvia Frigerio
