Today we’d like to introduce you to Viktoria Talbot.
Viktoria, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Been practicing yoga for 15 years now, but my first experience was with Bikram, they were so mean and it was so hot, but I felt squeaky clean inside and out after class, I kept going for four years until Core power opened. I was put into a teacher training by mistake at CPY and finished the 200 hr. course and kept wondering why I wasn’t teaching yoga as I had been teaching and raising my kids for 20 plus years and I could teach other kids and adults. My husband told me I would never get a job teaching as I had JUST been a mum… that was enough to stir me into action. I completed three more TT in the year that I was auditioning, I failed six auditions but kept thinking, “I’m not stopping until someone hires me”… they did, Fit gym downtown because a teacher missed her class for the 3rd time and CPY when no one would fill a Saturday morning class in their new location. I was given a trial period of five weeks to build the class numbers.
I taught at CPY for eight years and am still at Fit every day teaching one or two classes. I teach corporate classes and lead retreats to Mexico and locally.
I am divorced now, don’t regret a thing about the marriage and am still very friendly with the ex. My darling girls are all grown up and married and ready for kids of their own and all still practice yoga or teach it. Yoga gave me a new life, new friends, a new beginning. I think Yoga IS life.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Nothing is ever smooth. There are always twists and turns. I didn’t get the many teaching jobs I auditioned for and I am very grateful that I was made to wait and kept educating myself and practicing and completing more TT’s, and not take for granted that because I finished a 200 hr. course, it was my right to teach. Teaching is a gift. It’s an opportunity that I take very seriously and work at every day. It is my job, it’s a blessing to be in that room with other lovely yogi’s and guide them.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I teach a Vinyasa flow class. I feel a class is like a mini book. You introduce the characters that you will be working with that day, you create a flow using those characters and then you expand them and show interesting qualities about them and then you pull it all together and finish the story. The same for a yoga class, introduce the asana’s, the postures that you’ll be working with that day, flow with them, get the heart rate up, the excitement of the story, expand on the asana’s, the advanced postures stemming from the characters, postures, you’ve already been doing and then tie it all together and finish the smooth rollercoaster of the hour practice.
I’m probably known for the core. I always do a 3 or 4-minute core to a dance song.
Most proud of my work ethic. This is my job and nothing keeps me from that room. Regulars put time and effort into coming to class and it’s my job to be consistent and professional and in that space for them and for the other lovelies that walk into that room.
What sets me apart, my age, I’m older and have done a lot of stupid shit in my life, so I have many stories and experiences to put into themes and ideas for class.
We’re interested to hear your thoughts on female leadership – in particular, what do you feel are the biggest barriers or obstacles?
Women rarely encourage other women. We think we are in competition with each other and I believe that is not the case. There is plenty to go around and as sisters, we need to support and love and motivate each of us to be the very best version of who we already are. We need to be each other’s champions and cheerleaders, not their opponents.
Pricing:
- Fit membership starts at $100 per month for all locations
- Retreats in Mexico are $1400 all inclusive
- Weekend local retreats start at $400
Contact Info:
- Address: 4625 arizona st 92116
- Website: www.yogaretreatwithus.com
- Phone: 6199251196
- Email: pip2906@gmail.com
- Instagram: viktoriatalbot
- Facebook: viktoriatalbot
Image Credit:
Viktoria Talbot
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