Check Out Lauren Sacks and Alexandra DeSiato’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Sacks and Alexandra DeSiato. Them and their team share their story with us below:

Whole Mama Yoga is yoga, community, and commiseration for all phases of motherhood and parenthood – from preconception to parenting. Through Whole Mama Yoga, we offer prenatal and postnatal yoga classes and workshops, prenatal yoga teacher training, motherhood retreats, private movement sessions, and more.

Whole Mama Yoga started when Alexandra approached Lauren in the spring of 2016 to discuss combining their work (Lauren was a prenatal yoga teacher, and Alexandra was a postnatal yoga teacher) and creating a blog with posts to help people navigate different challenges that come along with the journey of parenthood and give tips on how yoga might be helpful in addressing those challenges. We didn’t know where we’d go from that point, but, since 2016, our work has evolved to include workshops for birth care providers, motherhood retreats, partner prenatal workshops, birth classes, and an 85 hour Pre- and Post-natal Yoga teacher training, reaching yoga teachers from all over the United States and the world.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Ha! It’s been fairly smooth actually. It’s a part-time job for both of us – Alexandra is an English Instructor at Alamance Community College and Lauren stays at home with her two kids – and that’s given us the freedom and flexibility to be able to adapt as we need to the needs of our community. There have been different areas of focus that we’ve attempted – short paid-content videos, birth classes, social media – that we’ve discovered don’t work as well for us, but those attempts have given us more information about what does work well for us. We’re good at building connections within our community and love the gratification that comes with knowing we’ve made motherhood a little more comfortable and a lot less isolating for a lot of mothers and birth parents.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Whole Mama Yoga specializes in prenatal and postnatal yoga instruction for mothers and birth parents. We also lead training for birth professionals and yoga teachers.

We are really proud of the incredible community that has come together as a result of the classes that we offer. At the start of each of our prenatal, postnatal, or Yoga for Motherhood classes, we have everyone offer a brief update on their lives and how things are going. This small exchange has built a sense of connection among all of our students and provides a depth and meaning beyond what you might find in a typical yoga class. Because we serve birth parents from preconception to parenting, we are fortunate enough to be able to continue that thread of connection for years.

We also love offering the 85 hour prenatal and postnatal teacher training and are really proud of being able to translate what used to be an in-person training to one that we were forced to offer online. We were concerned that it would lose some of the intimacy and points of connection but were pleasantly surprised that we’ve been able to both work with instructors from around the world (from as far as Qatar and as close as a neighbor four houses away), still create the same sense of community and provide the same quality instruction.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
It makes both of us happy to hear about the impact our work has on others’ lives. We don’t affect the world in a global way, but we feel like we make a real difference in allowing people to feel comfortable in their bodies during pregnancy and a great deal less alone during the postpartum days and into parenthood. It is so gratifying to hear from people about the ways in which Whole Mama Yoga has been integral to their mental and physical well-being. That makes us really happy.

Pricing:

• Teacher Training – $1300, $1100 early bird,
• Classes – $5 – $12 suggested donation
• Fall retreat – $175
• Private classes – $100 – $150

Contact Info:

• Email: wholemamayoga@gmail.com
• Website: www.wholemamayoga.com
• Instagram: @wholemamayoga
• Facebook: @wholemamayoga

Image Credits
Joanna Percher, Chloe Noblit