Today we’d like to introduce you to Nora Harris.
Nora, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Though I had danced throughout my childhood and run cross country and track in high school, I completely stopped moving my body when I left home for college. With this transition came questions about who I was, what I wanted to do with my life, and how I would get there. As a natural introvert, I struggled with the highly social aspect of college life and often spent my weekend evenings alone, by choice, but feeling guilty for taking time for myself. As fall became winter and I struggled to feel like I “belonged” at the elite and competitive university, I started to think about how I could manage my depressed and anxious feelings on a daily basis. I started moving my body again by taking Brett Larkin’s free YouTube classes in my dorm room. A few nights a week, I would do just 30 minutes on the stained carpeting while my roommate studied a few feet away.
It wasn’t long before I noticed how the practice had deepened my connection to my physical body as well as my inner self. I stopped judging myself for how I chose to spend my time and started to embrace the things that made me different from my peers. It was the start of a journey of self-love, as cliched as that sounds. By taking time to neutrally observe my feelings of anxiety, depression, guilt, and self-judgment through breath and posture, I started to see that much of it came not from my external reality but from narratives I was creating in my own mind. With this knowledge, I started to create new narratives, new thought patterns of acceptance, and I gave myself permission to move through the world as I was. I began to practice every day and explore several lineages of yoga.
Wanting to share this evolution through yoga with others, I graduated from the teacher training at Veda Yoga Center in Culver City in 2017. Since then, I have spent several years developing my voice as a teacher and teaching at university recreation centers, on-campus events, private lessons, and then returned to teach at several studios in my hometown. This past November, I made the move to Los Angeles to live permanently and now teach at several studios in West LA and offer private and group lessons. In my classes, I challenge my students to consider the connection between our practice on the mat and the difficulties we face in everyday life. My classes provide a safe and supportive environment in which we flow through simple, efficient postures that leave students feeling calm and invigorated. And with each class I take or teach, I challenge myself to learn more about this practice, about myself, and about human nature.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Though the road has not always been smooth, I feel the need to acknowledge my privilege up front. I have not faced racial or cultural discrimination, I have had access to excellent education opportunities and healthcare, and I come from an upper-middle-class background.
However, like many others, I have dealt with other obstacles, including dysfunctional family relationships, financial struggles, sexism, and mental health issues. I have also made decisions in my life that have made my path more difficult, like accruing a large amount of student loan debt or choosing not to have a relationship with a family member who hurt me or moving to a new city without a job or place to live and little support.
But whether the challenge was chosen by me or imposed on me, I try to reframe my mindset towards the situation. I ask myself, can you relax your attachment to the outcome, whether or not you will conquer this challenge, and try anyway? Sometimes, we are so afraid that we may not succeed that we don’t even try. If we start to think of challenges in terms of trying, instead of failing or succeeding, we find value in the journey, not just the outcome. We can then come at a challenge from a place of learning and experience rather than fear or lack of success. I also remind myself to find ease in the effort, to find the smile when times are tough, and to allow failures to teach me something meaningful. When I reframe in this way, I find that I can tackle challenges with less doubt and from a place of greater awareness.
I also encourage everyone struggling, but women especially, to rely on their communities and ask for help when they need it. Because much of our world places emphasis on individualism, on the idea of the self-made person, we oftentimes forget that we are stronger when we rise together. Asking for help is not shameful, is not weak, and does not negate the hard work we do on our own. Asking for help and relying on others strengthens our connections to each other and our compassion for all beings.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I teach yoga in studio, communal, home, and natural settings for private clients and group classes. I typically teach vinyasa yoga but also have experience teaching power yoga, beginner ashtanga, heated yoga, yin, restorative, and meditation classes. I’m known for teaching technical classes that ensure students develop safe habits for any yoga or fitness class they attend. I also like to incorporate movements learned from my dance and running background, as well as bits and pieces drawn from several styles of yoga.
I am also highly encouraging of my students’ personal growth. In my classes, in addition to the physical poses and breathwork, we focus on turning the attention inward to notice habitual thought patterns and self-judgment. We make space to sit with ourselves as we are and watch the thoughts, projections of the ego, flow past us. At times, we also examine our outer lives and our awareness of the expectations we force upon our reality. Though, it’s not always so serious. I keep class energy lively and welcome students to explore, laugh, and feel uplifted in the company of other yogis.
Do you have any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general? What has worked well for you?
The best advice I can give is that your vibe attracts your tribe. Spend time doing the things you love, get involved in the things you might be interested in, and go the extra mile to talk to anyone who’s involved with those activities. I believe that being genuine in your enthusiasm and asking questions are the best tools for networking and finding mentors. Get other people talking about what they’re interested in and involved in and share some of your authentic self as well – networking is a two-way street.
And if you, like me, feel like networking can at times border on vampiric, I encourage you to relax your focus on networking to some specific end. If you can network from a genuine place of interest and enthusiasm, of building friendships within an industry or activity, it can take the pressure off of deriving some tangible value or outcome from the relationship and allow it to exist more naturally.
Pricing:
- Drop in class at Veda Yoga Center: $19
- Private lessons: $80-$100 per class, depending on the number of individuals
- Drop in class at Namaste Yoga: $19
Contact Info:
- Phone: 9204212636
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noraharrisyoga/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noraharrisyoga/
Image Credit:
Yoko Kohmoto, Dylan Shabbit, Dmitriy Vi (Nyamaste Photography)
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