Today we’d like to introduce you to Debby Siegel.
Hi Debby, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
May my story inspire you in your journey toward self-love. My family moved from St. Louis to AZ when my mom and dad — aged 21 & 24 — were parents of three babies in cloth diapers. Dad, dissuaded by Mom from his dream job pastoring a church, became what he claims was Jesus’ dad Joseph’s career, a carpenter. The three kids reached early adolescence before our mom divorced and left the family. Raised by a single dad who loved his bible, the outdoors, and building, I was the middle child who, as a teen, rebelled and walked on the wild side, moving out on my own before even becoming an adult. My adult life began at 18, homeless, pregnant, and sincerely lost.
After giving birth at 19 and placing the baby for adoption, I spent a dark year investigating many dangerous drugs. Then I was able to move from Phoenix back to the St. Louis area to a trailer park in Fenton, a Jefferson County suburb.
The experience of choosing parents for my child gifted me with perspective. Reviewing applications, I had my list of desirable traits for adoptive parents. So I set out to inhabit these values I sought so that when I was ready to be a mom, I would be prepared—first, college. I attended, worked there to pay my tuition, and continued for ten years until I accomplished a master’s degree in marketing—the first in my extended family to do so. Then I established a career I loved, married, and quit the workforce to raise my daughter and son. Fast forward to today. I am a mom of three grown children. The first of which found me when he turned 18 and made me a grandma two years ago! The other two are off at college now, flying with their wings and devoted to caring for the planet and its inhabitants. I’m also a yoga teacher. I teach yoga on any surface all over the world.
I was in my mid-forties when I discovered yoga and the healing it grants. It helped me navigate many of my life’s transitions, including a career shift from marketing to the humbling role of a yoga teacher. I knew that beginning this job in my forties while the average age of a yoga teacher hovers closer to mid-twenties, I wanted to share the practice with as many people as possible. So I made it my mission to teach at some of our nation’s biggest venues with the largest reaches: Wanderlust Festival and Kripalu Center. Both of which I landed with a mere 111 hours of teaching experience. I lead a class I invented where we replace our mat with a canvas and flow while holding charcoal, creating art using our bodies. I call it Yoga Outside the Lines.
This was just the beginning. I’ve since gone on to achieve an advanced teaching certificate requiring 500 hours of training and become certified in other yoga formats, including meditation and Buti Yoga. I am a daydream believer, and creativity is my superpower. I creatively guide yoga students with an earthy mix of attentive alignment, fluid movement, and breath awareness. I encourage curiosity about the practice and often use props to enhance the asana experience. If you enter one of my classes, expect fresh ideas to engage your imagination and whisk you away from routine, carrying you on a magical yoga journey. You will find inspiration woven into every class, workshop, and event I lead. You will likely explore yourself from a compassionate place that shows you the impermanence of it all and invites you to be a human being, not a human doing.
While my life is not perfect, and I am consistently unraveling the binding ties of my early traumas, I find comfort in practicing yoga asana (poses), pranayama (breath work) & meditation. My lifelong mantra is to “oscillate glee while exploring my infinite potential.” If you are inspired to practice with me, I have upcoming retreats in Arkansas, Costa Rica, and Greece. Or visit a paddle board yoga class at Creve Coeur Lake this summer! We exchange our mats for stand-up paddle boards, which is a devout practice of centering your mind on the here and now! I’m online at yoga-evangelist.com
Would it have been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Well, there’s the pregnant and homeless at 18 part. Then my divorce 9 years ago was not too fun, especially since I divorced a divorce attorney. I also have one child with the chronic illness of Crohn’s, which has been a tough spot for my heart. My life has had its setbacks, but I am grateful for each, as it made me who I am today a resilient, strong, and compassionate toward all living beings.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
On a daily, I specialize in taming monkeys, those primates of the mind. By relenting those monkeys and quieting the distractions, we invite all the healing aspects of mindfulness. Every biomarker your doctor checks is positively influenced by slowing the fluctuations of your mind. But we live in a society where the full tilt is our default mode. Chaos is the norm. I intend to offer teachings passed down to me to assist in raising our awareness and our very vibrations to a space that allows for global collective healing. It all starts within us. It is in our life force, our breath. I am also a plant-fueled, passionate, barefoot steward of Earth who finds my distinctive edge in the wild. I guide yoga practices on land and water.
By Malcolm Gladwell’s definition, I am a connector. According to the author of The Tipping Point, a connector is someone who knows an impressive number of people. And I do. I am likely known by most for my aptitude for connection. I help connect people to their breath, body, and true selves. Combining these connections yokes yogis to their paths and the planet. I’ve done so by creating Manifest Station, a grassroots music & yoga festival; by touring the country with a puppet show teaching kids mindfulness with Mindful Marionettes; leading folks to the water to practice yoga on a floating mat known as a paddle board; and by even using our masterpieces (our bodies) to create art in a workshop I designed called Yoga Outside the Lines where we tap the wisdom of our inner child and remember who we were before life’s labels.
I am a Hope Dealer & a Dope Healer. Guiding meditation is my latest endeavor. I am helping people edit their brains’ structure with my meditation and mindfulness offerings! I westernized an East Asian tea ceremony and offer this mindfulness practice in a yurt I pop up at area festivals.
And for the members of Life Time in Frontenac, I’ve created a workshop where the chiropractor and I combine the deep healing and restoration of two complementary wellness practices: yoga nidra and acupuncture. Participants expect to relax and rejuvenate, balancing worry while cultivating a peaceful mind. The 90-minute experience will equate to about 4 to 5 hours of sleep for the sold-out participant roster.
If you want what I’m most proud of, it’s different from this. It’s raising Sieglets. My birds are flying now. They made it out of the nest and are sharing their gifts with some grace. They, too, are stewards of Earth. They, too, have love guiding their choices.
Can you talk to us about the role of luck?
People who experience good things may get called lucky or claim that things happen by chance. But it’s more about framing your mind. I believe manifesting any experience is about staying connected to your sense of awe and asking the Universe, “How does it get any better than this?” something I learned from Wanderlust presenter Naada Guerra while sleeping in a van on a beach on the northern shore of Oahu.
Once during a yoga class at a retreat in Costa Rica, a macaw parrot landed in a tall palm near the shala and watched our flow. It was one of my favorite lines I’ve delivered while teaching to have the opportunity to say, “Twist and open your heart to the macaw in that palm tree.” It was my how-it-gets-better moment of the day. I’m grateful for every opportunity for growth. Good and bad. Happy and sad. Easy and hard. It all plays a role in the story of my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: yoga-evangelist.com
- Instagram: debby_yogogirls
- Facebook: Facebook.com/yogaevangelist
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbydotyoga/
- Twitter: Twitter.com/yogaevangelist
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/debbywithay
- Other: https://linktr.ee/YogaEvangelist
