Episode 56
49 mins
Donna Noble - You Can Do It
Donna Noble is a London based yoga teacher, writer, coach, body positive advocate and founder of CurveSomeYoga. Donna has been making waves in the accessible yoga space over in the UK, so we were really excited to catch up with her.
In this episode, we learn about Donna's childhood growing up in London, with a short stint in Jamaica.
We discover how a stressful job in IT brought about Bells Palsy, and how she discovered a more holistic way of living.
Donna's first Yoga teacher training was with Choudhury Bikram in LA, so we had a few questions to ask on this topic!
Finally, we also learn how CurveSomeYoga came about, the impact of diet culture on yoga and the importance of representation in media. Donna tells us about her approach to accessible yoga and we discuss why it's important that everyone in a yoga class feels included.
Links
Donna's Website: https://thenobleartofyoga.co.uk/
Donna's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donnanobleyoga/
Curvesome Yoga: https://www.instagram.com/Curvesomeyoga/
Our Patreon Page
https://www.patreon.com/flowartistspodcast
Highlights
Click on a timecode to play from that time in the recording.
2:20 Donna tells us about her background growing up in London, and a brief stint living in Jamaica3:39 Discovering that she liked computers and working in IT.
4:07 Working in management and getting ill.
4:19 What is Bells Palsy?
6:52 Had Donna practiced yoga prior to getting ill?
7:54 Discovering Bikram Yoga
9:16 Donna shares her experience of the teacher training in LA
11:06 Donna’s thoughts about Bikram
14:44 What’s the yoga community like in the UK?
15:48 Donna talks about curvesome yoga
18:07 Diet culture and its impact on the yoga world
19:35 Do something because you love it - not as a punishment
21:52 How does Donna incorporate ideas of body positivity into the narrative of her classes?
23:29 What is unique about body positive sessions?
25:45 Midroll break - please support us on Patreon
26:30 Rane remembers a class they attended a few years ago where the teacher selected the most beautiful student to demonstrate a pose
28:08 “Is it me?” and the teacher said “yes”
29:17 The negative aspects of body positivity as a trend
31:01 How important is displaying diversity in the images we use to portray yoga in media?
33:02 Does Donna feel that as a woman of colour if there is any expectation for her to speak out on certain issues?
36:46 What does Donna do to prevent burnout?
39:15 Corporate Yoga
41:15 What is the most important role of a yoga teacher?
44:10 Creativity and art
46:45 The yoga poses we need the most are often the ones we avoid
47:29 What is the one core lesson Donna would like to impart
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