Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Monk.
Hi Laura, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
So much has happened since the last time my story was in SDVoyager in 2018, due to personal growth, experience, and of course, a pandemic that shifted the fitness and wellness world from all that we knew it as. In 2019, I had started to get ideas about where I wanted to take myself as a yoga teacher, and I started thinking about everything that had led me to that point, and it wasn’t just teaching yoga classes. I was a creative lead and graphic design manager at a prominent event production company in Chicago, and I knew a lot about the ins and outs of producing events.
I first spoke my vision into actual words in Costa Rica during a Conscious Entrepreneurs retreat. I have always been drawn to water, and am truly governed by my emotions, which has honestly been a challenge in my life, but I decided to turn this into something personally powerful. I created “Soulfish; Experiential Yoga and Events.” Being Soulfish is the idea that we are not meant to be selfish humans, and we most certainly can’t be selfless, but we are “Soulfish,” moving with the ebbs and flows of life and flowing with our intended path.
Once the studios I taught with abruptly shut down in March 2020, I, along with many of my peers, had to think quickly how to keep my momentum going. I was able to connect with so many of my current students via virtual weekly classes I did on Instagram Live, and I became very comfortable talking through my phone to my “audience.” Awkward as it was, my reach was vast, and I accepted this platform as a way to grow the brand of Soulfish and stay committed to the “ebb and flows” I talked so much about.
From there, I consistently taught outdoor sculpt classes that I secretly was anxious about, as I didn’t have the support system of a studio behind me, and feared that no one would “get” my brand. The people came, and I not only got to see some longtime students, but I made incredible friends.
Once gatherings were allowed, I decided it was time to co-create with other members of the wellness and fitness community; but with an added element of art and music. In February 2021, I joined forces with my friends at Pineapple Live to create SoulRise; a mix of local vendors, DJs, yoga, and meditation at some very cool spaces: 1835 Creative Studios, Nova in Otay Ranch, and Awarewolf, a studio I currently teach at located on the rooftop of Spin Nightclub. I also teach at Fit Athletic, CorePower Yoga, Goomi Group and do private sessions. Was producing these events easy? Absolutely not. Our first SoulRise was on a Wednesday morning and I felt the pressure to get a full class and I must have messaged hundreds of people to come. I asked my friends to be a part of the experience, and they delivered. It was truly a group effort to make these successful.
It was at this time in 2021 that I began bartending on various yachts, a job that a good friend of mine had recommended. I grew up around water, and I feel most like myself while surrounded by it. Living in San Diego, we have so many incredibly unique landscapes and environments to create in… or on. I started searching for a boat that I could feasibly connect with and host a yoga event. Yoga on the water made so much sense for the direction of Soulfish. I was introduced to the team with Triton Charters, a luxury catamaran that was just the space and vibe I was looking for. I wanted to include local swag, music, yoga, meditation, and connection in this experience, and thus SoulStoked was born. I was a one-woman show when it came to marketing this event and myself, and I worked hard to put my vision into graphics and put it out there for people to see and want to attend. I have now done this event 8 times, and it has sold out each and every time. It is through this project that I have hosted friends from near and far, fellow yoga teachers from Chicago, a group of women that do mission projects in Honduras, birthday celebrations, and students that come again and again.
I most recently hosted the SoulStoked Summer party, and this was a super-sized event complete with a water slide and ocean dips. I absolutely love that this event is so well received, and I plan on continuing to do this in 2023. Triton has most recently bought another boat, and I have been hired by companies to lead corporate outings in yoga on the water. This is a path I hope to continue as well.
Aside from the local pop-up experiences, I started leading retreats outside of San Diego. My goal is to host a retreat in each of my favorite environments three times a year: Mountains, Desert, Ocean. I co-hosted Sound + Soul in Joshua Tree with Kinsey O’Leary (The Soundspace), last fall, Find Your Flowstate in Nicaragua with Room To Roam Experiences in May 2022, and this October I am co-hosting Wild Moon with my friend, Anjali Samant in Ojai, CA.
To me, yoga is so much more than a physical practice. I have been teaching group classes in studios, traveling all over to keep up with the hustle of the fitness world, but I know that I want to guide with a deeper purpose. Intentional travel is something I am leaning into, and I hope others are wanting to come with me.
I currently teach at Fit Athletic, Awarewolf and do private sessions
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I mentioned some struggles in the previous paragraphs, but knowing that I can’t do everything all on my own. It has been essential that I know when to ask for help. Marketing and staying up with social media can almost be a soul killer. I have learned to put boundaries on how many hours I am deducting to the back-end work for all the events. The last year has been a big one of learning, especially the retreat business. I feel like this is a direction many fellow teachers are going, and I can see so much opportunity for us to connect with each other and help each other. I called the last two retreats my investment into “Retreat School,” it’s important to not beat yourself up for making mistakes. Above everything, the fear of no one coming to something that I have produced is consistently there. I have learned that whomever does attend is supposed to be there. Experiences are not just about what I provide for the attendees. It is the energy of the collective that help to make these events so special.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
San Diego is such a Mecca for yoga, which can be intimidating. It also is one that gives us so much opportunity. There is such a fine line between the yoga, wellness, holistic, music, art, and festival world in Southern California, and I thrive on treading the line of what defines “wellness.”
I also am a huge proponent of changing the perceived value of fitness and wellness-centered careers. I know how hard I work, as well as so many others in my same field. It’s not always compensated in the way that it should be, just like many creative careers. I am all for speaking up for the value that intentional travel, yoga and movement, art, music has in this world.
I fully believe in the law of attraction, and my classes are very energy-driven. I have most recently began teaching “Yogastrology” classes that align our practice to the phases of the moon and astrological signs so that we become more connected with who and where we are. When we do this, we start to unearth our true selves and our true vision. It helps us to leave behind what no longer serves us and to see our path more clearly. We truly understand ourselves more, and what we want to bring into our lives begins to arrive.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I see the wellness world continuing to be creative, and retreats continuing to be accessible and available in many different places in the world. It is my hopes that this field is recognized as something that is imperative to our physical and mental health and valued as so.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.soulfishevents.com
- Instagram: soulfishevents
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soulfishevents/
Image Credits
Blue Wesley Polarized Studios
Rafael Patterson
Skateheadz Photography
