Today we’d like to introduce you to Juliet Kaluzniacki.
Juliet, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Planet Namaste was conceived as a result of real life challenges that changed the trajectory of my life. Seven years ago, my daughter was diagnosed with anorexia. Through my research I discovered that yoga is a part of almost all recovery programs for mental health. I researched and participated in yoga. I experienced first-hand, the power of yoga in terms of healing, forgiveness, and gratitude especially in times of deep distress. This was the catalyst for the creation of Planet Namaste.
Our mission is to bring wellness education via yoga to ALL members of our community. We also have a nonprofit educational branch with a mission of bringing yoga to all schools.
Has it been a smooth road?
Strangely, everything has sort of fallen into place. It was almost as if we are being guiding along a path, I hear that’s how people describe finding their purpose in life. I definitely feel this this is my mission in life. The hardest part as been getting schools to embrace the wellness factor of yoga. Even with me donating free yoga at the school sites, it has been a challenge. Sadly, I hear that in today’s climate most kids want to get the heck off of campus. I’d like to change that and help create an avenue for schools and communities and students to reclaim their campuses as safe and happy places.
So, let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Planet Namaste story. Tell us more about the business.
Simply stated, we want to educate and empower. Our mission is to educate our community about yoga and how it can facilitate and support nourishing our minds, bodies, and inner resources. Our goal is to provide an inclusive environment where everyone is welcome and to provide classes that provide props and variations to support all types of bodies and abilities. We want everyone to have access to yoga regardless of physical ability, body shape, and age. We also provide massage and yoga therapy services to help support a comprehensive wellness program.
What I am most proud of is our efforts and plans for students. Research indicates that depression and anxiety are on the rise in our schools. Colleges are reporting that students are not equipped mentally and emotionally to handle the rigor of college. Mental illnesses begin percolating in the early teen years. Yoga can help the community to learn the skills needed to navigate the challenges of school, parenting and of life. Yoga is an ideal method for achieving these robust goals. Yoga spans across all grade levels, it has a community component, and embedded in the practice of yoga are strategies on cultivating gratitude, honesty, and exploring one’s purpose. Yoga is inexpensive to incorporate into schools, it doesn’t require textbooks, and it doesn’t become outdated. Yoga spans across ALL ability levels, all ages, and all people. Yoga spans across ALL ability levels, all ages, and all people. It levels the playing field for bullies and victims. It is a tool that doesn’t need updated textbooks, DVD’s, or anything other than yourself.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Yes, I see HUGE shifts in using yoga as a tool for wellness and stress relief. Phil Jackson used yoga techniques with the Lakers, the Dodgers do yoga, and slowly the notion that yoga is some sort of religion is changing. I was told not to use the word Namaste in my business name because people would associate it with some sort of religious affiliation, but I decided to use the word and teach all the true meaning of the word. Sadly, we can’t talk too much in schools about spirit and that is a huge disservice to our kids. Religious or not, we have to have heart and that is spirit. We have to have faith in something, might as well be in ourselves.
Pricing:
- Drop – In $18 • 4 class pass for $40 • 10 class pass for $80
- Massages are 30 minutes for $40 and 60 minutes for $75
- Yoga Therapy private sessions are 60 minutes for $75
Contact Info:
- Address: Planet Namaste
3008 W. Burbank Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91505 - Website: www.PlanetNamaste.com
- Phone: 818-859-7909
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: PlanetNamaste
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlanetNamaste/
- Twitter: Planet_Namaste
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