meet co-founder, maura manzo! featured teacher of the month

#yogahomies, meet Maura Manzo, co-founder of Yoga Home, she is this month’s Teacher of the Month! You may have taken her Saturday morning Vinyasa and Meditation class or her new Yin lunchtime class, or maybe you have just seen her at the studio. She has a lot in the works for our local community and the community at large!

Through your work as a yoga teacher, what impacts would you like to make on the world?

I want to help people wake up to their full potential and to their connectedness to the world. My wish is for all people to feel empowered to make choices that make them truly happy and to have the resources to help them navigate through the challenges of life.

How has your work with Off the Mat impacted you both personally and professionally?

Oh, geez, this is a big question. Here’s my short answer — My work and training with Off the Mat, Into the World has inspired me to act and live from a place of purpose; it’s emboldened me to lean into the difficult parts of life, to remember there is a gem there; and it has empowered me to consider how my gifts and life can be act of service to the world.

https://www.facebook.com/offthematintotheworld/videos/10155175148371409/

What are you looking forward to most with your new project, From Home to Haiti?

What excites me most about this project is the group it is going to bring together. There’s a certain magic that comes from doing work like this (I consider it heart work and hard work) and so there’s inevitably a bond and a new community that is formed. And I’m not just talking about the group that will form at Yoga Home. I’m talking about the community of Haitians, too, and our partners at Hope for Haiti. There’s different pockets of people doing their own work to prepare for this project and our eventual coming together. It gives me chills thinking about how many unknowns there are at this moment that will all connect months down the road once we all meet in Haiti and then of course the impact effect that will have months and years beyond our actual service trip. I’m also very excited to be working with Kristie McCourt and Allison Russell in this new capacity and seeing how we learn from and support each other along the way.

You also have another project you launched a few months ago and are continuing you to offer: “A Hustle and A Prayer: the Business of Yoga”. How does this tie in?

For me, it’s important to share what I know. I have 10 years of studio management (I started running a studio before I was a teacher) and I think I have a unique perspective about how the yoga practice can tie into the business of running a studio, or really any business. Which is kind of funny because I often hear people argue that business and yoga don’t go together. And I disagree. Yoga is a practice that prepares you for life. And as a yogi, I personally know and have experienced how the practice ripples into all aspects of my life. So of course yoga and business go together. Yoga goes with everything! But on a serious note, I’m really committed to and passionate about bringing mindfulness and intention and ritual and spirituality into the workplace. And so I feel it’s my responsibility to teach teachers how they can do this as well — whether they are teaching at studios, at gym or their homes. My hope is that it helps studio owners and teachers alike feel both more grounded and abundant.

Would you categorize yourself as a thinker, maker, planner, or leader?

A leader. And I believe a good leader has all of those qualities, which I know I do, too. Ultimately though I think of myself as a connector. I believe I’m a catalyst that supports people in connecting their own purpose and a catalyst for connecting people to people.

Of all Yoga Home’s core values {Connection, Acceptance, Love, Community, Growth} which do you connect with most?

Connection. My friend Terri Cooper (an OTM faculty member) says “connection is the cure” – and I truly believe this. And for me, this is heart of the yoga practice: connection to self, connection to others, connection to the world around us, connection to spirit.

Anything else you’d like to share:

My hope for each of you is that you find a practice that keeps you centered, grounded, present and inspired. For me, this has been yoga. For some of you, it may be a different mindfulness based practice or simply time in nature. But something, anything, that gets you out of your head, helps you release tension, stress and anxiety and gets you in touch with that soft whisper, that voice that says “here, come this way.” My wish for you is that you are courageous enough to listen to that voice. It will land you right back in the center of yourself. Where you have always been, waiting for your own return.