116: Tara Stiles on the Creation of Strala Yoga and How She Started a Yoga Movement

Our guest today, Tara Stiles, first discovered yoga in New York while training to be a dancer. In our conversation, Tara shares how that first yoga class ignited her curiosity, and how she gradually made the transition from hustling in New York and being an aspiring dancer, to starting her own yoga studio, called Stråla, with her husband, Mike. We spend some time talking about the yoga scene at the time (including the pushback she received for diverging from established methods of teaching), and why she was determined to make yoga accessible to anyone eager to learn. Tuning in you’ll hear how Tara went from teaching yoga in Central Park to starting her studio and flying around the world for a dizzying array of opportunities. She reveals feeling overwhelmed at this time, the effect it had on her marriage, and how she ultimately realized that she needed to slow down. We also discussed Tara’s book Clean Mind, Clean Body: A 28-Day Plan for Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Self-Care, and what it was like writing it. As we wrap up, Tara shares the most important things she’s learned about life, entrepreneurship, and marriage over the course of her life and career. Life is rarely simple (or straightforward), and no matter how much you plan, it never seems to go quite as expected. Tune in to learn about Tara’s fascinating life journey and what she has learned from it!