IAM784- Pioneer Uses LYT Method to Offer Yoga Training

Lara Heimann is an international yoga pioneer and Physical Therapist focused on evolving the practice of yoga to empower movement and balance amidst a modern lifestyle of technology and sedentariness. With an advanced degree in physical therapy and more than 25 years of yoga practice and education, Lara is redefining the modern practice through her comprehensive LYT Method, emphasizing smart alignment, functional movement, and spiritual wellness. She offers online daily classes and a robust online yoga teacher training in addition to leading in-person workshops, training, and masterclasses internationally.

• CEO Hack: I take care of myself, my daily habits and lifestyle is key
• CEO Nugget: Believing in yourself and accept not everybody will agree with you
• CEO Defined: Being a leader, a pioneer to your and the brain to your brand

Website: https://lytyoga.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lytyogamethod/ and https://www.instagram.com/lara.heimann/

Online subscription yoga classes: https://movementbylara.vhx.tv/

Full Interview:

Transcript:

Intro 0:02
Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you’ve come to the right place, Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you’re in search of. This is the I am CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:29
Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast, I have a very special guest on the show today. And Lara Heimann of lip yoga. Laura, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Lara Heimann 0:39
It's good to be on the show. Thanks for having me.

Gresham Harkless 0:42
No problem. Super excited to have you on before we jumped in. I want to read a little bit more about Lara so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. And Lara Heimann is an international yoga pioneer and Physical Therapist focused on evolving the practice of yoga to empower movement and balance amidst a modern lifestyle of technology and sedentariness. With an advanced degree in physical therapy and more than 25 years of yoga practice and education, Lara is redefining the modern practice through her comprehensive LYT Method, emphasizing smart alignment, functional movement, and spiritual wellness. She offers online daily classes and a robust online yoga teacher training in addition to leading in-person workshops, training, and masterclasses internationally. Lara, are you ready to speak to the iamceo community?

Lara Heimann 1:28
I'm so ready. I'm so ready. Thanks for that intro.

Gresham Harkless 1:30
No worries, thanks for doing so many awesome things. And and before we kind of fully jumped in, I want to rewind the clock a little bit here a little bit more on how you got started, could you take us through what I call your CEO story will lead you to get started with all the awesome things are working.

Lara Heimann 1:44
Yeah, I mean, I think I'm one it is accident CEOs, maybe there's a lot of them, I think there probably are aware I had a great career as a physical therapist was working in what would be considered like corporate, you know, for profit world. And simultaneously had always been a fitness instructor of some sort. And also very athletic. I started teaching and practicing yoga about 25 years ago. And what I noticed as time went on was there is a gap in the teaching of yoga, in other words, like there was very inconsistent quality. And a lot of it had to do with what I saw is this huge, just burst of yoga on the scene, you know, 25 years ago wasn't a lot. And then all of a sudden, everybody started doing yoga, they had yoga teacher trainings. And these trainings, were really not setting people up for good success as real instructors of movement in the body, just like very little movement education. And that led to a lot of teachers who don't really know much about the body, even though they're teaching movement for the body, you know, in the majority of yoga classes. So I saw this real gap. And I, I just, I felt like, it was my calling, I can't, I it was almost like I was dragged, but it was unwillingly I didn't really want to start a movement are. But you know, you see a gap and your passion is there. And I just thought a real calling, I had a calling, like I was like, I've got to teach people how to teach yoga with this, from this place of knowledge. And you don't have to be a physical therapist. But when you know something really, really well, you're able to distill it into parts that people understand. And so I knew that I had a gift to doing that. And so I just started a teacher training. And then I was like, well, I got to start a studio, because I'm going to have all these teachers. And it's just kind of snowballed from there. And that was a little over. That was about almost 10 years ago, that I started the whole ball rolling, creating a method. Because the way I teach yoga is its own method based on a physical therapy background. So I like probably other CEOs, learning stuff, not having a business background being like, Oh, I got to have a business plan. I gotta have this, I gotta have this, you know, like, I'm taking money I knew that I was giving was a quality product, but there's a lot more organization needed to that for growth. So I just started reading, you know, everything I could about marketing lert talking to people. And yeah, and then it just kept going. And I kept growing, I had to move to a bigger studio. And I saw that people that weren't in my area. I'm in Princeton, New Jersey, wanted to learn this style, but couldn't take three weeks out of their life and come and study. So I created an online teacher training and I also created online classes. And now we have class. We have people that are taking classes in over 70 countries around the world. And so yeah, it really started with this Just compulsion to want to spread good movement knowledge. Not necessarily wanting to be a business person, but I've really enjoyed it.

Gresham Harkless 5:11
Nice. Yeah, I definitely appreciate that. And I always felt like true entrepreneurship is kind of seeing a gap and seeing an opportunity. And rather than sometimes being forced to kind of create that opportunity, even though we don't do that, but I love the fact that you kind of talked about the process to get there, because I think so many times people don't hear or see the 25 years, they don't see the 10 years of process, they don't see, you know, that passion, obviously, that you have, but also the expertise and the hour and time that you put in in terms of creating this methodology that help this out now, so many people.

Lara Heimann 5:45
Yeah, and I think the other thing is that, you know, I'm in a position where I'm really successful now. But it's not measured to me, of course, financially, it's great, but it's measured to me that I have successfully been able to get this message to, you know, many people, and that they had been felt empowered by it. And that many people, like it's like, you know, pass it on type thing. And like you said, No, you know, yes, I'm successful now. But if you add up all of the many hours that have been over 25 years, it was like, less than minimum wage, right? I mean, it's like, that's what people don't, they're gonna have to put a lot of those app, sweat hours sweat equity in before. And you have to look for the gap. Because you got to do some something different. And that it's, and I saw the need, because so many people said to me, like, I can't go to anybody else, when you go on vacation, because I feel like I'm going to get injured. And I'm like that, well, that's messed up. You know what I mean? Like, so it was just enough people saying that this was a need. And it's, you know, everybody has a body. So, it, if I also tell people who are getting into it now, and it's a much more I don't say saturated market, because I think that's a negative term. But it's also like, if you just look at it, for what it is, there's a lot of people in it. And I just say, like, everybody's got a body got, you know, on this, you know, 7 billion people, like there's a lot to spread. So don't let that stop, you just again, find, find what people are needing and, and go to that.

Gresham Harkless 7:21
Yeah, absolutely. And again, you know, being able to kind of sharpen the saw, so to speak, as they say, in Seven Habits of Highly Effective People allows you that opportunity to really not just see the gap, but actually fulfill that gap and do it in a unique and, and special way as well. So I know you touched a little bit on you know, how you serve the clients that you work with, are there any additional things that you kind of do your team do to kind of serve those clients in what do you feel is kind of what I call your secret sauce, so that they you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you weak.

Lara Heimann 7:50
And what we're really, really into community building, which is, I think, anybody that's successful, I mean, I'm sure there's like CEOs who are small businesses, and they don't need community, but I can't imagine you don't need some kind of community. And in something like what I'm doing, which is, is a very individual product lesson that is given to a larger community. And so the individuals could feel more lost in it, if it wasn't felt like we're caught, we're always bringing you in the fray. We are here for you. So our customer service, it's like white glove, you've got to be there for people, we're always trying to refine that we're doing lots of work in our teacher training and in our online platform to be as inclusive as much as possible. Yoga has been known over the years, especially in western yoga, to be really a lot of white women. And so we are really proactively expanding that we've offered scholarships for the bipoc individuals for our teacher training, because we want everyone to come in and we want to make the action steps to do that. So community building is huge on everybody needs community, and you can do it online. That's that's kind of funny. I would I would have been the biggest doubter of that 15 years ago because I was like, What are the last to get, you know, all the technical technological stuff, you can do it if you're there for people. So I think my secret sauce is people think I am doing so many things. I have so much energy and I'm like, I'm I'm reaching out to people but all i'm i'm get energy by connecting. So it's really a self fulfilling cycle. Like if you look at it as an exhausting thing that it will be. But for me, it's like communicating with, with my, you know, I call them my family, my network of people, is what brings me joy. But it's the secret sauce because then people want it. They're there like they are seen. That's what people want. They want to be seen. And so I think that that's a big part of it. Probably any, any successful business person is to figure out what it is your clients need. And I just intuitively knew that and it but it also feels me.

Gresham Harkless 10:11
Yeah, that's extremely powerful. It's so funny you said that because I was gonna switch gears and I want to ask you, for one of those tools, I call it a CEO hack. So what might be an app or book or a habit that you have something that makes you more effective and efficient and add to your toolbox?

Lara Heimann 10:27
Well, for me, my habit of taking care of myself as like a non negotiable is, you know, it's, it's completely The reason I'm here and doing I just taking good care of myself, my body, what I put in my body, how I feel myself, my energy, it's everything, because so much of what I do is based on my creativity, which is based on like really clear headspace and having like, like fully engaged. And if I didn't take care of myself, which is, it's weird if somebody is in a kind of body movement, but a lot of people can let it fly. And that is just a non negotiable no matter what. And then when you say habits, like no matter how I feel, I will move because it's so I'm so hardwired, that feedback loop is there. I know, if I start moving a little bit, I will at least feel better. And so that is that's like every single day, I'm doing something it doesn't have to be super hardcore, but it's some kind of movement and eating well. And, and all of that. So that I'm I have a lot of energy.

Gresham Harkless 11:35
I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something if you were to happen to a time machine would tell your younger business self,

Lara Heimann 11:45
I am a people pleaser. So I would say to myself early on, and some of this is age, but I do think like if somebody had said to me, like, you're not going to be not everybody's gonna like you and be okay with that. You know, like, I think that some decisions I've made or hiring people and things have been, I've been so like, in my heart about it. And it wasn't always like the best choice. And I, I just was like, Oh, I you know, like my best friend says it's my, like, my kryptonite is that I see the good in everybody. And she's like, let me tell you that person's not like, she's kind of like the voice like, why did you hire that person? You know? So I'm grateful I've had her because she has been that kind of ID inside of me. But I would say that a nugget would be I think you're leading something, you're growing something. Not everybody's gonna love it. Not always gonna love you. And if you're somebody like me that has, you know, just conditionally wanted to be, like, nice to everybody and have everybody like, received me. Well. That would have been a hard nugget to swallow. But really important one, like, it's okay.

Gresham Harkless 13:00
But now when it asked me my absolute favorite question, which is the definition what it means to be a CEO, and we're hoping to have different, quote unquote, CEOs on the show. So Omar, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Lara Heimann 13:09
I just think we're, I'm a leader, a pioneer. And it's like, it's like a part of the car, you know, that is really important. Like, can't drive the, like, the car can't work on its own. So it's, it's the brain of the organization. But you've got all the other parts too. And the brain is, you know, when I talk about movement, I'm like, we're actually inside, we create movement in our brain first before it's it's putting into your body. So I think the CEO is the brain, I'm definitely the brain on the vision. And without it, it would just be a bunch of parts that could move, but the brain is going to actually take it

Gresham Harkless 13:50
all to the different stages. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, I truly appreciate that definition. I appreciate your time, even more. What I wanted to do is passionate bike, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you want to let our readers and listeners know, of course, how best they can get a hold of you and your team to find out about all the awesome things are working.

Lara Heimann 14:08
Well, thanks, I would say first, just look up by blit Yoga, l YT, which stands for Laura's yoga technique, but fortunately also is a great acronym for feeling really lit up, which is I think what we're all after in life, you know, nobody likes to feel dim and dull, and fatigued and low. And especially now in this pandemic, we need so many things to help us feel recharged and charged up. And so I know because the research supports it. And this is the way we're made is that movement is medicine and movement will help you feel better. But movement, not all movement is equal to learning from somebody like me, who's a physical therapist, and based on these principles of, of how we have evolved to move is really important. And you can find that all that our mulit Yoga, and the lit daily which is an online platform. We have over 365 classes that are organized in all different ways. You know, based on body parts based on beginner based on if you want high intensity, and there's a two week trial, so you can try it out and see like, even if you've never been exposed to yoga, I've had so many I work with professional athletes around the world who are not into yoga, but they love this because it's a kind of different type of yoga. Because Yoga is really about raising consciousness. And that's like being awake, being lit up. So that's what it's all about. So you can find me there. You can find me on Instagram, I do a lot of little sequences and drills there and nuggets of wisdom and other stuff, too. I'm also a chef, natural food chef. So I talked about that a little bit. And my Instagram is Laura la Ra dot Hyman AGI ma n

Gresham Harkless 15:47
ma Nn. Nice, I absolutely love that. And I appreciate you for for sharing all that with us. We will have the links and information in the show notes as well too, so that everybody can follow up with you. But I appreciate that last kind of nugget so to speak, where we're understanding how important movement is and what it can do to kind of create that environment create that higher consciousness as well to is so important to be able to kind of be aware of that, but also obviously take the actions and do it in a in a safe and knowledgeable way as you're able to do as well too is definitely so important. So I appreciate that. And I hope you have a great rest of the day.

Outro 16:22
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at IAMCEO.CO. I am CEO is not just a phrase, it’s a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and everywhere you listen to podcasts. Subscribe and leave us a five-star rating. Grab CEO gear a www.CEOgear.co This has been the I AM CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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