Art & Life with Ashley Shubert

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Shubert.

Ashley, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I was born and raised in Los Angeles; rare for any of us to still be here. 😉

Over the last eight years, I’ve completely submerged myself in the study of yoga and mindfulness, and it’s thoroughly changed who I am.

I was seeking something more than what I was receiving at the time. Going out and partying, making hundreds of friends, chasing validation from empty sources, and living for the weekend was my norm. I wanted to live a more meaningful life, but I had no idea where to start because I was sitting in a constant state of frustration, not-enoughness, scarcity, and really; trauma from my past that I couldn’t escape no matter how many distractions I put in front of myself.

When I first found yoga, I felt like I finally arrived home. I felt like I grasped what it was like to be in my body and feel present. I felt like the things I was trying to avoid feeling for so long were okay to just sit and feel. I felt like I had options, opportunities, and openings to connect with what my heart truly needed.

From then on, I was fixated and inspired to know more. I scheduled my life around my practice; I started viewing people and experiences differently. I began taking responsibility for my choices and my happiness instead of blaming circumstance and situation for how I felt.

It took years of battling myself and resistance to actually step fully into teaching and leading as a passion, purpose, and ultimately a career. I played the same story over and over in my head that I couldn’t “just teach yoga.” I realized through letting go of that resistance, and just leading and speaking from my heart, that I would never “just teach yoga.”

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
Today, I am a life-coach, accountability guide, retreat leader, speaker, corporate, private, and group mindfulness educator, meditation teacher, and most importantly; a yoga instructor. I teach in group fitness studios, gyms, privately, for some of the most renowned corporate companies in the world (who are luckily open and proactive to alternative wellness!), prisons, mental health facilities, inner-city schools, substance abuse treatment centers, and with professional athletes.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who you are. The practice of mindfulness works with everyone which is another piece of proof that we are all human, we are all connected, and we all feel the same range of emotions; stress, fear, anxiety, bliss, happiness, joy, etc. It’s just that some of us feel those in different volumes for different reasons.

One of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned over the years of teaching and coaching is that you cannot have one of these things without the other; the state of our body affects our mind, the state of our mind affects our bodies. We are unbelievably influenced and conditioned by a combination of our upbringing, our environment, the connection we have with our inner willpower, and the mental clarity that we have on any given day as a result of the habits we chose to run.

If we consistently treat our issues, traumas, and wounds as separate, single, things, we will continue to get results that are separate, and single opposed to remembering that our mind, body, and soul are all connected.

I want people to find their center. Not their cell phones. To fuel their voice, not their need to “seem cool.” To remember that they are always enough and never broken. That it’s okay to feel your feelings and move through them with awareness instead of having to be a victim of reaction.

I want to contribute to a world where we remember, not react; not in some fairy tale/granola/woo-woo way but in a very grounded-in-reality way that addresses REAL issues that we face in our modern day.

What responsibility, if any, do you think artists have to use their art to help alleviate problems faced by others? Has your art been affected by issues you’ve concerned about?
There will always be something extravagant going on in the world and the news.

I believe when we continue to work on ourselves as unique individuals, we can collectively create a better world.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
You can sign up for my retreats here: https://www.ashleyshubert.com/retreats

You can view my public classes here: https://www.ashleyshubert.com/take-class-now

And follow in IG: @ashanatomy

Contact Info:

• Website: ashleyshubert.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashanatomy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/AshleyShubertYoga/

Image Credit:
ClassPass & Chad Ostergren

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