February 24, 2020

Meet Monique Lonner of Soul of Yoga Institute in Encinitas

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Monique Lonner.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Monique. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.

I was living in New York when the tragedy of 9/11 struck. I knew quite a few people who lost loved ones. It was a heartbreaking and intense time to say the least. There were signs posted everywhere with photos of missing people, there were palpable grief and fear in the air. When a subway or train I was on was delayed, stuck in a dark tunnel, I became terrified – breathless and sweaty. It was also a time when complete strangers would stop and cry together on a street corner or bagel shop. New York was trying to right itself again, to be a place of compassion rather than just fear and sadness. Because of this a well known “self-help” company offered a significant discount on a popular weekend seminar. I took advantage of the opportunity and was thus inspired to leave my decade long (and decidedly done) career as a fundraiser and take a chance on becoming a Yoga Teacher (of all things!)

After taking 200 hours of training (the bare minimum needed to teach), I realized I didn’t know enough to avoid hurting people in my classes. People came to practice with pain, illness and emotional challenges and I had no clue how to keep them safe or avoid further injury. I knew I needed more training. Luckily NYC is home to some of the best teachers and schools in the world! I continued studying, learning more about anatomy, physiology and therapeutic yogic techniques. I studied with Leslie Kaminoff, Mukunda Stiles and Brian Dorfman – some of the best Yoga Therapists there have ever been. I began to feel more confident in my ability to support people on their healing path through yoga. I built a nice little private practice in NY. I was content. I loved NY (and still do).

Fast forward a few years – I met my soon to be husband Steve at a Yoga retreat in Mexico. He lived in San Diego, had four sons and a business. I had a private yoga practice and no kids. So after a fair amount of kicking and screaming, I ended up leaving NY for California to live with him.

When I got to California, I was overwhelmed with the number of truly excellent Yoga Teachers and the depth of spiritual understanding and devotion inherent in this town. I discovered Soul of Yoga and its founders – Rev. Tom and Trisha Kelly – within my first few months here. I was blown away by their deep devotion to and understanding of the spiritual aspects of Yoga. While I had spent my time in New York learning about the body, it was clear my time in California was to be about the Soul. I devoted myself to studying with Tom and Trisha in their Yoga classes and workshops. They had a 200 Hour Training and I took that as well. It was mind and heart-opening in a way I didn’t know was possible.

I was grateful to have had my deep dive into both the physical and spiritual aspects of Yoga, but I questioned why they couldn’t be found married together in one training program? This is what prompted me to start the Advanced Level Training at Soul of Yoga. We used to say it’s where “Hogwarts” and “Harvard” meet; the best of spirit and science together in one training program. I’ve made it my life’s work to bring the best teachers from around the world – the anatomists, the scientists, the philosophers and the mystics – to our little town in Encinitas for the best Yoga training programs anywhere.

Since starting the Advanced Level training program ten years ago we’ve also developed an IAYT Accredited Yoga Therapy Training program. This is 800 Hours of learning devoted to the therapeutic aspects of Yoga practices. The Yoga Therapy training offers courses in Yoga for physical issues – like back and neck pain, as well as Yoga for cancer and heart disease, trauma, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, addiction and so much more. Yoga Therapy is a burgeoning integrated health field which is being adopted by mainstream medical providers as a highly effective complementary intervention across almost every disease type. Soul of Yoga offers therapeutic training, public classes and a free Yoga Therapy clinic for the community. We are about to launch a joint Master’s degree program with the California Institute of Human Sciences. Graduates will earn a Masters in Integral Health and Yoga Therapy credential.

Sometimes I look at my life and I can’t believe how much has happened in 10 years since moving to California. I chuckle when I think of how hard I emotionally struggled with the move West. I fought fate and fate won. I can’t imagine who I would be and what I would be doing had I not taken the chance and left the familiarity of the state I was born in to “find myself” in California. I know that’s a total cliche! But it’s true!

Has it been a smooth road?

Of course there were struggles along the way but everything worth having is worth working hard for! There were times when I thought, “gosh, I’m working so hard and not making any money”. Yet, I felt so strongly pulled to do what I was doing that the thoughts of truly quitting and walking away were few and far between. I would say when you’re in your dharma, you know it and you have to stick with it no matter what.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Soul of Yoga Institute story. Tell us more about the business.

Soul of Yoga is known for being a place of soul-full community. It’s a compassionate space that offers yoga for everyone. Yes, we have great classes that make you sweat and where you can stand on your head, but we also offer classes for people who can hardly move and need deep healing experiences. And of course everyone in between.

Soul of Yoga Institute is known for bringing the best teachers from around the world to Encinitas. We offer training in everything Yoga – from the best 200-hour yoga teacher training to therapeutics to power vinyasa. At the Soul Institute you can learn how to help people with cancer, addiction, trauma…or to teach meditation, prenatal yoga or Yin. We even offer a cadaver dissection course (although not IN the studio of course!). If it’s Yoga related you’ll find it at the Soul!

I’m so proud to be a part of Soul of Yoga because of what it offers the community. People always say that they feel like they’ve come home when they come in.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?

One of the trends I see in Yoga is one that I hope doesn’t continue. The big corporations are putting the smaller studios out of business. I hope that the local studios with soulful intention- like Soul of Yoga – continue to grow and serve their communities as only they can. I think that the corporate studios can tend to be somewhat lacking a depth of spirit in their teachings. Yoga practice sans the spirit and philosophy is just really another form of calisthenics. It doesn’t matter if you can stand on your head if you can’t be in your heart.

On the other hand an encouraging Yoga trend I see is more people coming to Yoga at the advice of their physicians and more medical establishments are offering yoga as a complementary healing modality. This is great news! As clinical studies come out one after the other touting the efficacy of Yoga as a healing intervention, the need for skilled Yoga Therapists grows by leaps and bounds. More studios are offering gentle classes, Yoga for a Healthy Back, for Cancer Recovery, PTSD, etc. The list of applications of therapeutic yoga is endless. This is an exciting trend to me because so many allopathic interventions have serious side effects and many can be mediated by doing more yoga and meditation practices.

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