Meet Niki Saccareccia of Light Inside Yoga

Today we’d like to introduce you to Niki Saccareccia.

Niki, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was turned on to yoga and meditation when I was 12. During classes, I realized how my perception affected things like balance and focus. Fast forward eight years – I was in my last year of undergrad, doing research on drugs, behavior, and the nature of the mind. I needed one credit to fulfill my degree requirements; Remembering the meditation from eight years earlier pushed me to take a yoga class as an elective credit. I was already spread thin: writing my first book, double majoring, working part time and enjoying my college experience like every other 20-year-old. Taking yoga twice a week kept me sane, and kept me composed during my thesis defense. I realized that it was helping me navigate the juggling act that was (and still is) my life.

In the summers, I worked at a special needs/at-risk youth camp in upstate New York. I was part of a 320 person staff that worked round-the-clock, running interventions and behavior-based education for just as many campers in a 7-day on/1-day off schedule. It was tireless and frequently overwhelming in spite of it being more informative about human psychology than any of our college experience, combined. I would lead sunrise yoga classes for my co-counselors to help us cope with the rigor.

Just before I graduated college, my yoga teacher held a 2-week breath work immersion through the Art of Living that I took out of curiosity; I had a powerful experience during a long breath meditation and took up the practices as a new experiment in understanding consciousness.

I moved to California after graduation; the 2008 recession was in full swing and I couldn’t afford $20 classes on a Behavior Therapist budget. I took whatever TV classes were available on my parents’ cable package and maintained my breath meditations that I learned from the immersion. As I climbed the clinical ladder, I observed myself falling into the same mental burnout patterns I’d felt in college but I hadn’t succumbed to the eventual job resentment, reactivity, drinking and weight gain like my colleagues. Eventually the agency was shut down when it was discovered that the CFO has been embezzling the company, putting a clinical freeze on our 600 families in a matter of 48 hours. It was devastating.

While my colleagues went on to other agencies, I contemplated whether Applied Behavior Analysis was the career I wanted long-term and took advantage of the synchronistic timing to complete a 200-hr teacher training at Black Dog Yoga in Sherman Oaks, with the intention of leading myself through practice without fear of injury. In this training, I was encouraged by my mentors to take up teaching others, so I did; five years later I decided to leave clinical work and teach yoga full time.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Nothing worth doing is easy. Some of my first employers criticized what I offered because it wasn’t sexy or athletic; I emphasize breath support, I make sure the practice isn’t exclusive to a certain physical ability, and what I teach isn’t always Instagram-worthy. I was told often to “give people what they want and you’ll keep your classes full.” This felt manipulative to me and void of the integrity that yoga holds as its philosophical bedrock. There are a lot of people who want and need yoga that do not fit into the typical or popular classes. I wanted to serve these populations because I know that yoga is actually for every body and can be adapted to suit them, too.

As a Behaviorist, I’ve seen enough proof that most people, despite their best intentions, don’t always know what promotes their own wellness. When you pair that with the fact that it requires less energy to perform a habit than it does to establish a new (healthy) behavior, it is no wonder that lack of education, exhaustion and stress produce unsustainable, quick-fix fads.

My teaching style challenges students to get better at learning their misalignments and putting in the physical and mental effort to reestablish wellbeing. There is a strong emphasis on mindfulness. People who hold fat to the assumption that yoga is elaborate stretching or a short-cut to happiness tend to find other classes that suit their wants better. When I first started out, I noticed that my teaching style was different and took it negatively, presuming I needed to teach vinyasa classes or give more of a “workout” in order to stick around in the industry long-term.

I don’t believe class size or sweatiness is an accurate way to measure if I’m an effective teacher. I’d already worked for an industry “leader” that claimed to be service oriented but was really only interested in money. I now choose to avoid these relationships across industries at all costs. Thankfully. there are a great number of students who are seeking real yoga, based on spiritual inquiry and whole healthcare.

The reality is that most of us live over-stimulated lives and reject opportunities to nurture our wellbeing because the stillness seems “unproductive.” What I’ve found is that providing space for students to experience relaxation, meditation, and healthy movement feels so good that the work speaks for itself.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Light Inside Yoga – what should we know?
Light Inside Yoga provides mindfulness education to people of all ages, conditions, mental health profiles and physical capabilities. My teaching style blends breath-driven mindful action with meditation, self-study and philosophy. I’m known for how accessible I make the practices, how clearly I communicate, and my “warmth.”

I specialize in teaching how to increase focus and manage anxiety, ways to manage pain, rehabilitative alignment, deep relaxation and sleep hygiene.

People tend to refer their loved ones to me. Clinicians and anatomy-geeks gravitate towards my style and many elderly, anxious, injured, novice or differently-abled students get referred to me, too. I talk a lot about anatomy and psychology, and incorporate my background in behavior management, current research in neuroscience and live music into my classes. I have a nurturing, “no B.S.” approach.

I offer a wide range of options from workshops and special topic seminars to anatomy and teacher trainings, retreats, corporate wellness programs, private sessions and public studio classes. I also publish content online – it’s a full time mission, over here!

What are your plans for the future? What are you looking forward to or planning for – any big changes?
I’m most excited about an upcoming project that combines yoga and behavior management to create long-term wellness habits. My mission with Light Inside Yoga is to provide the tools for people of all kinds to access their innate healing intelligence, not just in a yoga class, but in the normal trials of everyday life. This project offers a guidebook for just that! I hope to scale it to mental health practitioners and other human service leaders across industries.

Pricing:

• Public group classes start at $17
• Corporate accounts start at $120/hr and vary by account detail

Contact Info:

• Website: www.LightInsideYoga.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightinsideyoga/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YogaWithNiki
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/user/LightInsideYoga

Image Credit:
Robin Randolph
Heidi Cox

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.