Yoga

Beyond Yoga's mission to make clothing for all body types

Michelle Wahler describes falling in love with Beyond Yoga's core mission of creating activewear for women of all shapes and sizes, challenging the narrow beauty standards that dominated the industry.

"Beyond Yoga is the whole reason Beyond Yoga exists. It's created to make clothing that's for women of all shapes and sizes and to show people that every body is beautiful and all bodies are good bodies."

The discovery of the signature spacedye fabric

Michelle recounts the pivotal moment when she discovered the luxuriously soft fabric that would become Beyond Yoga's signature material, insisting on using it despite being told it was too expensive.

"And I was like, I don't care how expensive it is. This is what everybody is going to want to put on their body."

Wholesale as marketing you get paid for

Michelle explains Beyond Yoga's unconventional strategy of pursuing wholesale distribution through yoga studios, boutiques, and department stores, viewing each retail placement as paid marketing that reinforced the brand.

"So I'm a huge fan of wholesale, and I've always looked at this as a way of reinforcing your brand. I think of wholesale as marketing that you get paid for."

Softest and most inclusive activewear pitch

Michelle describes Beyond Yoga's unique selling proposition centered on softness, inclusivity, and transition clothing that worked for both everyday life and active pursuits, positioning them among the first brands to create active layering pieces.

"Our pitch was that we are the softest, most inclusive activewear line."

Restorative yoga as a lure on dark winter evenings

The narrator describes how a restorative yoga class becomes one of the few things that can draw her out of the house on dark winter evenings, attracted by the promise of a warm, quiet room where nothing is required of her.

"And one was the restorative yoga class at the studio in downtown. Half of the lure was just knowing that the room would be warm and quiet."

Using postures and breath to calm the nervous system

The narrator explains how restorative yoga postures and breathwork serve as a direct communication to the nervous system, signaling that danger has passed and energy can be spent on restoration rather than staying stuck in red alert.

"I'd learned that using these postures, my breath, and just being in the environment were ways to speak to my nervous system, to communicate that everything was okay. All danger had passed."

Restorative yoga as a nervous system reset

Initially skeptical about restorative yoga, the narrator discovers that her nervous system needs the deep reset that comes with intentional rest and relaxation, and that her body moves more smoothly afterward.

"My nervous system needed the deep reset that came with such intentional rest and relaxation."

Shavasana as the seal for deep restoration

The final posture of Shavasana is described as a deep resting shape meant to seal in all the restorative benefits so they persist after leaving the studio, with the teacher covering each student with a blanket like a tender act of care.

"Finally, the teacher encouraged us to set up for Shavasana, the final posture of the hour."

Yoga as self-study rather than self-improvement

Adriene Mishler explains how her relationship with yoga has shifted from trying to better herself to simply showing up and noticing where she is, describing it as a sacred practice for self-awareness rather than performance.

"And I think the difference would be when I was younger, I was often doing that with the intention of trying to better myself. And I'm still trying to better myself as I evolve and get older, of course. Many of us are. But now I'm less interested in terms of yoga anyway. There are plenty of other things that I do that I'm like, must get better at it and excel. But yoga has become this really sweet, dare I say, sacred place for me to come to myself and remember, I actually don't need to like improve today or get better. Just taking the time and space to breathe and to notice where I'm at, notice my nervous system, notice my muscles, like the whole, you know, whatever it is that day. But I still think that's like the money. Like that's the thing that even to this day, I'm like, it works. It works when you just show up and look and ask yourself, how do I feel today? When you describe it like that, to me, it feels like how I feel when i meditate because it's and it's i i say the same things it's like it's not about a result it's about just just getting some consistency and there's no such thing as a bad yoga session there's no such thing as a bad meditation session there's the only thing bad is if you don't do it totally and and like having and being able to turn off the judgment of a particular performance of that of that day or that that that particular experience i think that one of the hardest things right now for me and yoga is that as the channel and and the community really is huge it's been huge for a long time international all across globe, every nook and cranny, a real honest to God, like honor and delight for me as a person. But I think one of the hardest things is just trying to keep it, for lack of better terms, simple, like keep it, or we can go back to keeping it real. You know, it's like, it's really hard. Obviously we live in a heavy commerce, you know, wellness is heavily commodified. I'm not saying here that I'm not like a part of that. We all are inevitably."

Rob Lowe's introduction to yoga through Sting

Rob Lowe shares the memorable story of visiting Sting at his estate in Wiltshire and waking up to see him doing naked yoga in the garden, which became a lasting inspiration for why yoga keeps people looking and feeling youthful.

"And I look down in the garden and there's Sting doing his naked yoga. And I was like, yeah, okay."

Yoga keeps men moving like boys with fluid movement

Rob Lowe observes that every man he knows who maintains youthful fluidity and boyish movement practices yoga, calling it a must for flexibility as you age, especially for activities like surfing.

"There's every particularly man that I know who moves like a boy and has that fluidity. Every single one of them, you talk to them, yoga. Every single one of them."

Research-backed benefits driving excitement at forty

Adriene describes enrolling in an accredited yoga therapy program and being reinvigorated by research proving what yoga can do for the body and mind, noting the profound effects on energy, self-perception, and how people carry themselves.

"I'm like getting stoked again about what all research has proven yoga can do."