Meet Stephanie Benemie

We were lucky to catch up with Stephanie Benemie recently and have shared our conversation below.

Stephanie, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
When I think about where I get my resilience from, I always think of my dad Cano. Growing up with him I always saw a man that worked so hard to provide for his family but also would never miss a moment to sit down in the grass and listen to the birds singing in the front yard. See the thing is, my dad was an immigrant, he came to the US with very little but to his name but knew that anything worth having takes hard work. Growing up with a man that had an insane work ethic, but also managed to balance his drive, but keep his head up in the clouds daydreaming of what new thing he could possibly create or what new song he could learn to play on his guitar. he was the perfect example of yin and Yang. My dad was such an inspiration to me. Unfortunately, I lost him in a young age that would impact my life drastically. I spent most of my teenage and early 20s lost without him, but little did I know out of such tragedy. I would find my true passion. That remembrance of my dad to dream and follow my life‘s purpose. In my early 20s life through some challenges at me that caused me to look deep within myself, I had a hard battle with depression and darkness inside me, and I wanted to find some thing that would fill that void that I was looking for after my dad had passed away. I ended up walking into this yoga studio, and just loving the energy of the place. Walked into the class met this amazing teacher, who could just light up a room with her smile. It was the first time in a very long time, I remembered what I had loved so much that I stopped doing because life got busy. I fell back in love with Yoga that day. Leaving that class ignited a fire in me that I wanted to teach that I wanted to help people find inner peace and power within themselves and to stop judging themselves by society standards and just be happy being who they are, their true self. In that moment, I remembered my dad’s hard work he put in to build such an amazing life for all of us and I called upon that drive and that creative passion my dad had began to build an idea that almost 15 years later would become a reality. Little did I know that notebook of ideas I wrote down, would someday become my own yoga studio, Lotus Moon Yoga.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
when starting Lotus moon yoga, my main focus was creating a community within my yoga studio where all are welcome. See when I was building my studio. I wanted to bring in a different perspective when it came to Yoga. I didn’t want Yoga just to be the sound bowl meditation style music., not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I wanted to bring my own style to my studio. I wanted to create an environment where you could feel the energy when you walked into the studio not just because the studio is welcoming, but because of the people who come to class. now don’t get me wrong it was hard at first to go against the grain of the stereotypical yoga studio class, my classes range, anywhere from slow flow, deep, stretch yoga to power/Twerk Yoga. In my classes it’s always guaranteed to have great music, a good workout, but also find an escape from the daily stress of the grind of life and work. As I always like to tell my students, just bring yourself to your yoga mat, your personal yoga island, where there is no judgment, no expectation, all you need to do is just be with your breath .

In my classes, I like to incorporate great music, lots of crystals, and maybe pull some tarot cards here and there to just see what the universe has to tell us. But most of all what I love to do when I walk into my studio is ensure that every student that I come in contact with knows they are loved. They are appreciated and they’re going to have a kick ass Good time.

Lotus Moon Yoga is not just an in studio type of studio. I wanted to reach more people so I decided to offer live virtual zoom yoga classes every Monday and Wednesday night and even in these virtual settings my students have still been able to make their own community, even if they’re thousands of miles away from one another. which to me makes my heart so happy bringing people of all ages together as one amazing Lotus moon community tribe.

So if you’re Ever looking for a fun, welcoming, good vibe group of people come try out a class at Lotus Moon Yoga, where you’re always welcome with open arms, and nothing but positive vibes!

Be sure to check out my website for more information and Crystal sales as well. Www.lotusmoonyogasc.com

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?
The three things that were most impactful through my journey of building, my own yoga studio, was believing in myself, hard work, and tenacious attitude. The thing I realized, when following my dream to build my own yoga studio, I would run Into so many people that would try and put doubt and negative thoughts about the studio in my mind. I would constantly hear, Stephanie what are you doing? You have a college degree and you want to leave that to teach Yoga you have to be kidding me?! or my favorite comment that I constantly heard, but lit a fire inside me to ensure I was a success, “you really think people are going to show up to take a class with you who brings rocks and essential oils Into class and talk about energy, you’re gonna sound completely crazy and be the laughingstock of the town.“ see what this taught me was to move in silence, I stopped talking out loud about what I wanted to do, and just set my mind to do it. I kept my head to low and when people would question what I was up to, I would give them this half ass smile with a gleam in my eye, and I would just say oh nothing. But I knew what I was building I knew I had to be my own cheerleader and speak as if I already owned my yoga studio. I began manifesting putting vision boards together to keep me motivated and the days I felt like I wanted to give up I had a handful of people who I could go to that believed in me, sometimes more than I believed in myself and kept me on my path. and those people that stayed by my side as I spent over three years building Lotus moon yoga those people are the people I will forever be grateful for. What it taught me was you didn’t need to have thousands of friends cheering you on you only needed two or three that would be there for you at your best and celebrate the wins with you, but also be there at your worst to be that shoulder to cry on, or that voice of reason to help pick you up and dust you off, and keep pushing you forward to succeed . See I go back to thinking about my dad, who instilled in me that nothing worth having comes easy, It comes with hard work, tons of tears, but also a ton of happiness and amazing memories along the way. So never give up even if you think you can’t, remember you can it’s all about the mindset you have. If you breathe positivity and life into your dreams, they will always come true it may not happen quickly, but they will always happen because you were manifesting it to happen. You were putting the good vibes out there in the universe, and this universe will always give you such amazing treasures, sometimes they just take a little bit of hard work, but they are always worth it in the end.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
The one thing I love most about owning my own business is collaborating with other people. I’m always looking for fun and exciting new people to bring into the studio or host online to discuss Holistic ways of life, meditation, fitness,, ways to use crystals, how to feng shui your life, down to other yoga teachers to come make guest appearances, either in studio, or on my virtual classes. I’m all about building a big professional community where we can all support each other and each other’s businesses in different ways. So, if you’re ever interested in making a appearance or getting to meet an amazing group of students, do not hesitate to reach out to me as I would love to meet you in collaborate. you can always reach me by check out my website at www.LotusMoonYogasc.com and filling out the contact me section. I always look forward to meeting new people and small business owners.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Photos by Casey Vaughn photography

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