Kundalini Yoga | Breaking the Myths & Building a Thriving Online Yoga Business

Welcome to the Yoga Liberty Podcast. My name is Angelica Govard, and I am absolutely excited to be joined today by someone who joined my Empowered Yoga Teachers Course and I became really great friends with. I love her. We have so much in common. She's really amazing. What I think I like about her most is how hard of a worker she is. I just really love hard workers. People who work hard and do the work and go the extra mile really inspire me, and I like to be around them. Kimberly has gone out of her way to create tons of content. So as you get to meet her and as you get to know her today, I encourage you to go out and follow her on YouTube and Instagram and TikTok because she just puts out so much content. There's so much for you to enjoy and to learn about. So welcome to the podcast, Kimberly Gordon. We're so glad to have you here today.

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.

Well, I am overjoyed that you finally made it to this point. And I know we had our initial meeting many months ago, and now you've launched and you have your offer together. But before we go into that, I would really like to dive into more about you, because I think a lot of people listen to this podcast, and some people aren't even yoga teachers yet, and they want to, you know, they want to see that there's other people that are like them. And some people are yoga teachers, and they're looking for a different pathway and different ways to do things. And then And also, I think something that's really unique about you is you take a really modern spin on something that I think, and I'd love us to get into this if you'd be willing to, but the kind of the appropriation of Kundalini by Yogi Bhajan and how he changed it and some of the stuff he does. And you're really working to bring back Kundalini to what it was really before. And so you're calling it modern Kundalini, but really it's ancient Kundalini. It's kind of like a play. So let's just get started with like, where did you get started? How did you find yoga and why did you start practicing yoga?

Okay. So before I was a yoga teacher, I worked on Wall Street and I found yoga through that. So as you can imagine, working on in the financial district, it was very stressful. And I took yoga classes in New York City and, you know, there's a whole host of awesome yoga teachers that were born there, right? Or like came up from there and visited as well. So I did, um, I did a lot of, uh, jīvāmukti. Um, I did some with Anna Forrest. I did some workshops with her. I did some workshops with Sean Corn. And then, um, and then I did a workshop with Kundalini and the, the, um, you know, people who took lessons from Yogi Bhajan, right? So, you know, people like Gurmukh and Snatam Kaur and, and those, those kinds of people were, were in this workshop that I did. So I did a lot of workshops while I was working. And, and I think what led me to the transformation was I wanted to be a yoga teacher at a much younger age. And I got my teacher training done about 20 years ago. And then I taught on the side while I had responsibilities with life. So you get to a point in life where it's like, okay, I'm either going to take the risk or I'm not. And I had a bunch of things happen to me that changed my life. I guess you would say like a wake-up call. And so when those things happened, it was like I got to go back inward and take the time. I took a Kundalini training course so that I would be certified in it. However, I've been doing it for about 15 years. And then I decided, I said, you know what, it's now or never. You have to either take the plunge or not, right? So, so I took the plunge and I found your course because I said the world is changing. You don't have to go to those 9 to 5 jobs anymore after COVID. And, um, and I didn't, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, which is probably the best part because had I known, I'm not sure what I would have taken. But, uh, but it's great because it is, it's, it's the online, the online world is completely different, right? No, it's completely different. There are rules and then there aren't rules, so you can follow them or not. And, and there's the consistency of, like you said, posting and being present for online, just to remain present, which I think is important because that's your job. You have to show up every day. And then there's, and then there's the work that you get to do with, with your clients, which is, you know, the most beneficial that I, that I, I get because I love seeing, and you see it when people do Kundalini or my modern Kundalini, I'll call it. You see the glow, right? You see the glow afterwards and, and you have people come to you and tell you how much better they feel or how they think about certain things during the week and, and how that affects them. And that style yoga, I'll say from the other styles, they're all wonderful, but that style yoga is the one that seems to last a little bit longer. I feel like you can leave the yoga class and still have the feeling and then you're not like riled up right away. So, so I really do love it. And I did do a lot of work with it. And the reason that I call it modern Kundalini is because I've taken those various different teachers, different teacher trainers, Kripalu-based. My first original teacher training was Kripalu-based. And I've taken multitude of, of, you know, dance classes growing up. I did like dance for 15 years as well. So I like to implement a little bit of both. And I also like the modern music because people don't always want to have yogic music, and you can get a different feeling from a modern song. So, so I do the combination, or I like to call it the mashup of just different things that, that come to me along the way. And that's why it's a, it's a different spin on an ancient technology, right?

Yeah, I would love if you would talk to us about like, because Kundalini— I, I am a vinyasa person. I've been practicing with Shawn for like 20 years, 25 years. She's been my primary teacher. She's someone that I still practice for every Tuesday at 9 AM. I'd take her live class. And so that's a very vinyasa-based, I would say almost like yin yoga where it's like the mix between Ashtanga and Iyengar. But she studied with Sharon and David Jivamukti. You know, that was like how she got to get into all this. So we're all like kind of coming from the same worlds. But Kundalini is very different than the vinyasas, the Ashtangas. Even from Iyengar, even from the Bikram, it's very different. Can you speak to a little bit about, like, there might be people honestly here who don't really know what Kundalini is. Like, I had somebody, I was doing a kirtan on Sunday afternoon in my local, like, my local neighborhood, like at one of my friend's house, and somebody was like, oh, that's Kundalini. And I was like, um, no, uh, it's bhakti. But, um, But she was like, but my Kundalini teacher does that. And so I think that there's a lot of people who are confused about like, what is Kundalini? So can you explain to us how is Kundalini different, Kundalini yoga different than the other like types of yoga that are maybe more popular in the United States right now or in the West? Sure.

And I think that's a great question because even people that come to me say, I don't, I don't know what this word is, but, you know, I could make this class. So I came here and Kundalini for me is, is, is breathwork. It's, it's different types of breathwork to kind of elevate you. And, and that's, that's the main priority of it. So you have the poses, you have asana poses, but you're not going to have a vinyasa flow like you would with Sean, because that's very different. You may have, you know, one Sun Salutation mixed in, but it's not going to be a full-on vinyasa flow. You'll have breathwork, you'll have postures, and you'll have mantras. And sometimes you have all three, sometimes you don't. But the combination of the breathwork and the pumping of the belly to get rid of the sediment in the layers of the spine, right? So I like to— I don't have my little magic wand with me, but I have that little magic wand, right? So you think about the sand in like a beaker, right? And you turn that around. And so just like that, the spine has stuff that gets stuck in it along the way. We can say along the chakras, you know, but basically basically, from an anatomical standpoint, it's like the different layers from the base of the spine to, you know, the crown of the head. And Kundalini is moving the energy from the base of the spine upward through the crown of the head to remove any blocks that you may have or to make you feel a little lighter. So that for me is the essence of it. I like to think of it as this We all have a cloak of embers around us. It's not necessarily that you're going to have this huge spiritual awakening and be this awesome person. It's just that you, you'll take this class or you'll take a class and one of the embers will drop and you'll feel a little lighter. You'll feel a little more buoyant in your step. You might glow a little from all the breathwork and that, that stuff that everyone has, you know, from stressing out and that, that heaviness that people will have at that frontal lobe or like the inner knowingness. Can be removed through the breathwork. So I think that was a little long-winded, but in essence, it's breathwork, it's postures, and it's sometimes mantras, and it's sometimes, you know, mudras with it. But I could see how she could, you know, say kirtan is like Kundalini because you could go to a Kundalini and just sing and chant, and it's very similar to kirtan.

So In Kundalini yoga, they call it kriyas. They don't call it poses.

Correct. I call them poses to break it down. They will do a specific set of exercises, and thank you for bringing that up. They'll do a specific set of exercises in a specific way, and they call those kriyas, like a vinyasa flow, right? Where you'll be up and then you'll be down, you'll be right leg back, left leg round, chaturanga, the whole thing. So there's a whole And there's thousands of different kriyas. You know, there's, there's a kriya for elevation, there's a kriya for anger, there's a kriya to feel the most inner beauty. There's, there's like a thousand kriyas. So what I like to do is, you know, traditional Kundalini is you have to do the kriyas step by step by step. And I don't think the world is like that anymore. You don't have to do that. So I like to take the kriya and if I have to, you know, weave something into it because you can sense from the class that people need a release or a break, then I will. So I'll take a kriya set. I may do it all, I may not, but I'll infiltrate what, what I think the class may need at that time. And I also wanted to say I got my yoga teaching certificate from Yoga Farm Ithaca. So that is a much more modern approach to it as well, which, which I truly enjoyed. Yeah.

Yeah. I've heard of them. Yes. So you're like very East Coast. I'm very West Coast.

Yes.

And something that I would really love to know about. So one of the things I actually got like certified in Kundalini and but I never taught it even though I enjoyed it. The reason why I never taught it was because I felt like it was very dogmatic. And I didn't want to do like, I don't want to wake up at 6 o'clock in the morning and shower everything but my private parts. I don't want to wear a turban on my head. That feels like appropriation because I don't— I'm not Sikh, you know what I'm saying? I don't like— I don't feel like you need that to be closer to God. I don't want to change my name to Sanadam whatever, and I don't want to wear just white. I like, first of all, anybody that goes out to eat with me knows that like white is a problem. I have the boob shelf here and every time time I eat. Like, food is on it. We went to dinner last night and Paul wore a white shirt, and I was like, that is playing with fire. And sure enough, sure as shit, right away, the first thing that happened, he had a drink of his beer, bam, right down the front of that shirt. So I can't be wearing white. Um, but I also just felt like— it felt like control to me. And then the more I found out about Yogi Bhajan and how many allegations against him there were for sexual impropriety, and, and it wasn't small number, it's like something like 74%. And this is like after he's been gone and they had a third-party interview done. There's a study, you can Google it. I talk about it in— and I've talked about it before in some of my short videos. But after I found out more about him, I was like, yeah, like this person, right?

Let me stay away.

Yeah. So I stopped doing Kundalini because of that. So can you speak a little bit about like, you know, how you're trying to change the the view of Kundalini and, and your viewpoint of all of that that happened. Because one thing that's kind of disappointing is that Gurmukh is just like, I'm not going to talk about this, I'm not talking about this at all, you know. And she just goes right with— she's Yogi Bhajan forever, you know. And, and, and I, I've gone to Gurmukh's class, but I also kind of feel like, man, like she's not even— like she's not even standing up for the women. Like, is, is she really a part of all this too, you know? And does she make a lot of money off of of this, and a lot of people don't know, but the Kundalini Yoga Association, like, they own like Yogi Tea and stuff. Like, it's a big, huge company.

It's a big business.

Yeah. So could you talk a little bit about that? Sure.

Let me see if I can hit all the points that I know.

That was a lot. Sorry. I was just thinking, like, I'm like, I just barraged you with a whole bunch of questions. But I know, I know you, girl. I know you. You can talk just like I can. You can talk as much as I can.

Let's just talk about the elephant in the room. I think that's the most important thing. So, you know, Yogi Guruji Bhajan was a person, a human being who brought Kundalini to the West in the '70s. I think it was 1969. He brought the information. He did a number of things that were questionable, right? And a number of things that were wrong. And I think what happened is a lot of people in the '70s were kind of lost. And you know, you have that whole '50s, '60s regime, and then there are a lot of people that are lost because a lot of people were repressed, you know, had a lot of feelings that were repressed. And through the technology that he brought, you know, you bring up a lot of emotions in the body, which is one thing that I love because you can release it. But as with anything with a human being, not a guru, not a god, a human being, you know, with so many followers and such a big, such a big calling that he had, I think, you know, his ego got the best of him. And It happened. I certainly don't want to say that it didn't happen. It did happen. I am very removed, being, you know, number one, with my age from that, but number two, the— that is not my philosophy at all. So this style of yoga, the only reason, you know, it was great that he came over to bring it to us, to have the culture, but this style of yoga was, was held for the elites, right? Like the elites in India were the only ones who would get it. And he wanted to make it available to everyone. So in that capacity, I'm grateful. As far as everything else is concerned, I don't adhere to any of that. And it felt very constricted when I took those classes from those senior leaders. And I didn't particularly have excellent experiences with them because I am a New Yorker, right? And I speak out and whatever, and they don't, they don't like any of that. So that's fine. That's fine. That's, that's them. Let them. It's fine. That's not me. And that's not Kundalini. And I was recently at a retreat with Karina Virginia, who's an excellent Kundalini teacher. And, you know, we brought up this topic, this exact topic, and people were a little apprehensive, and people are sneaking in Kundalini without calling it Kundalini, and it has this negative connotation now, like you don't want to be associated with that. And No, you don't have to get up at 4 o'clock in the morning, take a nice cold shower and, you know, meditate at like, you know, 4:30 because that doesn't work for everyone's lifestyle, right? You can do it at whatever time that you want. There is something sacred about, and I'll say this for anyone and in any, any yoga, when you wake up and you do yoga before the sun rises, it does make you feel better, right? It does. But you don't have to. You could do this at 10 o'clock at night if that's your schedule. That's your schedule. There's plenty of kriyas or exercises for helping you relax, unwind, and sleep. But you don't have to wear a turban. We respect the religion. I'm very mindful and respectful of the religion, but that doesn't necessarily have to be carried out in my class, right? So you can come in all black, you can come in polka dots. I don't care what you come in. You don't have to wear a turban. I think some people, the reason why they wear the turban though, is because you're activating your crown chakra, right? And so people are sensitive to that and they'll wear a turban to protect their head. But in class, you know, some people will drape a scarf over. That's fine too. You know, whatever. Some people don't need it, some people do. So, you know, you, you have to be mindful of yourself. I'm very aware of individualists. Individuals come with all different layers. So whatever. If you're not— people always say to me, oh, I'm not flexible, I can't do yoga. This yoga is like the best yoga because a lot of it, you know, is seated. Or you're doing, you know, forward folds, but you're not doing like, you're not, you don't have to be like, you're not wrapping your leg around your neck, right? So, so you don't need to be flexible. And what I really like to bring to the table is that it meets you where you are in this present moment. That's it. It's not, there's no, you know, you're not going to, you know, reach your arms around, reach your legs around your neck. You don't have to have your leg over your shoulder balancing on one arm. It's none of that. It's all about reaching you where you are today and taking the ancient technologies and implementing them in a way that's available to everyone. And you can put your arms down. You can do it. Remember those? Oh, hurry up, keep up and kept up. You gotta go. You gotta do it. You gotta do it. And then you walk out with like a shoulder injury or a knee injury. I walked out with a couple of injuries. I'm like, who needs this? Who wants this? I don't want an injury. Nobody wants injuries. So I was like, I'm not doing that. I don't care. I'm not doing that. So you can put your arms down when you need, you cannot, you know, you, you can do the exercises for sometimes it's 3 minutes, 6 minutes, 11 minutes, but you can vacillate in between postures. And that's a big component of that because sometimes people just need the rest and you get more from resting than pushing, right? There's no pushing. There's no spiritual bypassing and there's no forcing. There's only allowing and let's call it walking through. Right? Walking through. So, so that way you, you work with your own body and, and, and your own mind because you never know what's going on in someone's mind. So it's a trauma-informed Kundalini teacher training that I have. So I have that background in my, in my practice. And you have to be very mindful because you don't know what happened to people, you know, throughout their life. And so you have to be very mindful of that. But I love it because it can, it can help everybody. So let's just get the elephant in the room. It's not about what happened. It's about the technology and that it's scientifically proven to reduce anxiety. It's scientifically proven to reduce Alzheimer's if you have the onset, right? So if you're not, it's not that you're fully gone in the beginning, you can do a certain set of exercises to help your memory and your mind. And that's you know, that's important as we age. So, so I love that part. I love the science background to it.

Can that be your next course? Can you please make a course about that? Because I feel like I'm losing my memory and my mind and I need it. I need a tune-up. And it might just be being 50 years old, but I need a tune-up. Kimberly, make a course on, on yoga for memory. I would love that. I would take it. Kundalini yoga for memory. I would, I would buy that course. You know, that like kind of brings me to like I've had a number of people who I've spoke to who were interested in taking my course, but we're like, I teach Kundalini yoga, it can't be online. And I find that really fascinating. What are your thoughts on that?

It can't be online? I— why not? I mean, I've done it on TikTok. It totally can be online. You know, it doesn't matter. People do it. You know, what's the difference between a Zoom course and, and not an online course, right? In COVID, everything was a Zoom course, a Zoom course. No one was going anywhere. It was a Zoom course. So of course it can be online. That's simple. I mean, as long as you have the, the, you know, the microphone on so that you can hear people. And with the Yoga Farm Ithaca, they have a whole slew of courses online and they're great. They're all great. So, and their teachers are great. So I don't agree with that at all. I think if you do yoga online, you could do yoga in person. It's whatever works for some people. And what I've noticed about people is that some people are working through things, right? So if you say for like, oh, let's just do a release on something and there'll be like a big ah, or like a big loud voice and, and they're embarrassed. And I'm like, oh, there's no judgment here. If you need to do, if you need to be loud, be loud. But some people say, oh, is there an, is there an online course? Because I want to do this at home. So I think it's perfectly available for online. I think that's fine. I think the notion that it couldn't be online is, is, what do we want to call it, like the old way.

Right.

The old way.

Yeah. Let's, let's bring into that. Let's talk about that because you, um, you had a call with me earlier in the year and, um, you decided to go online. What prompted you to contact me about coming, building your online course and building an online empire with us?

I love your humor. Right. I love your humor. So, so you have these funny videos and you're like, One of them is like, "Kitchi, you too? I'm such an online yoga teacher." But it's like the business of yoga with your— you're so cute with like you had your, you know, your desk and whatever. I'm like, oh, this I can relate to this. Like, I sat behind a desk for 20 years, so I'm like, oh, I can relate to this. The business of yoga. There's a business element to it as well. But, but also your humor, like when you're like, oh, I don't mind if you don't take my yoga class and you're putting bodies in your trunk, right? So you're putting your, your friends in their trunk and you're like, just lifting there. At first I was like, I was like, is she putting groceries away? And then I'm looking at them like, that's an arm. Oh my God, that's a person. That's so funny. That is so funny. So that's what attracted me to it. And as I mentioned, I was, I was, I became a corporate refugee, which is fine, from an asset management firm. And I was like, I lost a bunch of people in my life who passed away. And I was like, okay, it's time for a life change. It's time for me to do what I want. It's my turn now. And, and I saw your online course and I was just like, This is, this looks like the key. Cause I took another one from someone else, but there are a lot of people out there that are kind of selling to the masses and you were a yoga teacher with established credibility and you were doing it online. And I was like, this is great. This is exactly what I'm going to try because this, as we all know, you know, online is just the way of the future. I feel for a lot of things.

Yeah. I really agree with that. I think that online is the way of the future. And I think that there's a lot of missed opportunities. I also want to say that like, there's there's always going to be a space for people who just want to teach in person. Like, that's okay. Like, you don't have to teach online. I think they're very different skill sets. I think that the skills that you use to teach online are very different than the skills that you use to teach in person. And I, I learned that pretty quickly. Like, just very simple things, like when you're doing downward facing dog and you're wearing a microphone, you have to lower your voice. Yeah, right. And that's like something that like people don't don't realize. And there's like these little nuances and like, how do you speak to a screen and you get people? But I want to talk a little bit about like, not, not about like me and, you know, like how awesome I am, but, um, let's love each other. But like, let's talk about you and, um, like, why did you feel called like to really bring your mission of Modern Kundalini Yoga onto online? Like, what was like the prompting point that I know you were like, this is for me, I want to do this, and I think there's nothing like it, right?

There's nothing like it. There's nothing like it out there. And a lot of the Kundalini classes that you go to, people won't go because they're like, oh, they're, they're following the old, you know, the old layer, let's call it the old layer. And, and there's nothing wrong with that. That has a place for people, and that's great. There is room for everyone. Let me just put that out there. There is room for everyone. But I brought out Modern Kundalini Flow because I've always been entrepreneurial by spirit. I was raised by my parents who are entrepreneurial. And, and I've always been creative. There's always been a creative background for me. And so I said, you know, there's nothing like this out there. And if, if, if I can go to a class where it's a little more, let's call it relaxed, you know, a little more of a flow that, that will, will, will be better. Like jīvā mukti can be intense, right? But the way they do it, you're like, oh my God, I love these people. And so Kundalini can be intense, but the way that modern Kundalini does it, you walk away and you're like, oh my God, I love that class. Like, that's how I feel. That's how my students, you know, that's what they tell me. I mean, it doesn't matter what I feel. It's really about the students, right? So the students that come, it's very interesting to hear their feedback. And that's the whole point. The whole point, especially a lot of women, right? So there are men that will come as well, but there's, it's mostly women right now for me. And I kind of focus on that perimenopause, menopause, postmenopause because that generation has never— as you're part of that generation. So that generation has never been catered to, right? They've been, you know, ignored. They've been like, get your, get yourself to do it. It's never been catered to. So I feel like this technology is for everyone. However, this generation of group of women have not been catered to. They've been told to suppress their emotions. They've been told to, you know, be quiet and just, you know, go along with the routine. Don't stand up for yourself. Lots of things. And even some of my students, you know, right now, or the inner critic comes out and they'll say it in ways that you'll, you'll say, you'll take, I take notice of because that's conditioning, right? And you don't have to live like that. You don't have to live where you don't have, where you feel like you can't speak up for yourself. You don't have to live where you're supposed to repress your emotions. It's all about bringing them up and out. You can be a private person, you can be a public person. It doesn't matter, but it's there for everyone. So, so that's kind of— I hope that I didn't go too much off on a tangent. I think I answered your question.

That's totally fine. I love it when, when people talk. That's why I do a podcast. So when you— I remember our call and I remember being like, oh damn, like, how am I going to let this woman know that there is no way what she is talking about is possible. You were like, I, I want to like start my online course and I want to do it this month and I want to launch by the end of the month and I'm going to be making this much money. And I was like, that's not— you can't— that's not how online works.

Hold on, hold on a second.

So I was just really honest with you, which I always am. I feel like that's one of the things I'm really— I stay true to myself all the time and I'm always really honest with people about like This, these are, this is the reality of what can happen online, and this is the amount of work that you're going to need to put in. So tell us a little bit like about your experience in the Empowered Yoga Teachers Course and how, how that, you know, kind of some of the downsides that you would think, like the dark nights of the souls that you went through to get where you are, and then like how you feel now. And I know we just had a one-on-one yesterday, and it was really pretty incredible how far you've come. So So just let's talk a little bit about like how, you know, the personal journey that you went through in the Empowered Yoga Teacher's Course.

Okay. So yeah, that, that's a, that's a great question. So thinking back to our initial conversation, I think I was coming from a, you know, work, work, work, work, work mindset. So I'm like, oh, I can get this done in a month. Let's do it. I'm productive. I can be productive. However, going through the course. And you, there's a number of hurdles. First of all, being an entrepreneur is not for the week, not for the week at all, because you have to have tenacity, right? You have to have that drive. You have to be able to get yourself motivated and you have to stay motivated. And there are some times when I was taking that course, I was nervous about being online, right? There's a million people online, but to be online is a huge commitment and you feel, um, You know, in the beginning you're so, you know, like embarrassed. You're like, oh my God, what am I doing? And those I'm sure were not my greatest reels, but it doesn't matter. But so you have to get over that hurdle. You have to get over the hurdle of being like, okay, I'm going to be out there online every single day. So that's a hurdle. That's a, that was a huge hurdle for me. Then after you get over that hurdle, then you're like, okay, let's, let's bring— let's have some clarity around what you're saying. There's a million and one yoga teachers, right? So what is your niche? What are you— who are you catering to? You know, how do you differentiate yourself? And then that all gets funneled down through your coursework. And then there's the, the work, right, the online work to it. So not only is it, okay, I'm gonna, you know, set aside certain times to post and do those things, then it's also like, what What do I want to bring to the table here? What do people need? What's most important? How do I set that up? That was a whole nother hurdle. So here you are, you know, you have this, you know, 20-plus years of yoga, and then you're like, oh my God, I have to learn IT. That was a huge hurdle for me because in my previous job, I just called somebody, hey, can you help me with my computer, please? Thank you. Now I'm like, oh my God, I'm the person to do this. And that was a big hurdle. So, and I'm still overcoming that. I'm not gonna lie. I'm still overcoming that. I'm much, I'm much better. I'm much better. But there's a whole technology aspect to it. And then there's the whole marketing to it, right? So you have to make it sharp and crisp and clear and you can't be fa la la, I'm a yoga teacher. Everybody's just going to come over here because I lit a candle and I manifested it. No, you have to be crystal clear on what you're saying to attract what the people who wanna do the course, you have to create the course. It's a, it's a very methodical thing. And I'm still tweaking that as we discussed yesterday. So, you know, I have this wonderful course out. I'm very excited for it. But, um, that took, watch, gosh, I think like 3, 3 months to like get through the IT stuff. And then the, the last segment of it is you're putting yourself out there and yes, Millions of people do it every day, but you haven't done it, right? And a lot of other people would just go retreat and go, oh, I'll just get another job, right? Same job that I had. It's just comfort. It's what I know. It's paycheck, whatever. But this, you're putting yourself out there. So you're putting your personality out there and you're putting out there for people who are looking for it. Not everybody. It's not going to be for everybody, right? It's not going to be for everybody, but for the people that are looking for it, it's going to be helpful. And that was like the peaks and valleys, right? The peaks and valleys of the course. There's some, definitely some dark nights of the soul because you want to take your computer and throw it across the room at times, but you can't do that because now it's your computer, right? So you're like, oh my God, I have to just walk away. But so I would say those were some of the main dark nights of the soul for me. Like, you know, you have to get over the being online, you have to get over putting yourself out there, and you have to get over the, the business side of it, which is, you know, the IT as well as, you know, um, the marketing and all of that.

So joining the Empowered Yoga Teachers Course is, is an investment for people. Do you feel like those things that you went through, that, that you— would you feel like you could have done that on your own? Are you glad that you joined the course? Like, how would— how do you feel like the course helped you to go through those things?

Yes. So, uh, let's just first and foremost, absolutely not would I have been able to do it by myself. 100% no, because I didn't know anything about the online. You know, you're like, you have to do this for online. Oh no, shoot it this way, whatever. All that stuff I didn't know. And, and then posting and then bringing it to, to have an offer out there as a whole thing. So I feel that the investment was well worth it. I did another course where the investment wasn't worth it at all because she was providing to the masses and that didn't work out for me. But for, for you and for yoga teachers that are specifically looking to have an online presence, I felt that your course is, um, extremely detailed and that you, you go through, you have everything that you need. It's just the person has to bring it out to do it, right? The person has to go through whatever they need to go through in order to offer, to bring the offer to the table. But I think that the investment was well worth it, and I wouldn't be sitting here with you today had I not made this investment. 100%, for sure.

Yeah. Yeah. You've really done like a lot of really incredible things. What was your experience with the level of like, you know, I think one thing that we do very different is the one-on-one support. And what was your experience in the one-on-one? And I know we, we have group calls, that's, we have that as an addition, but we, one-on-one's a big part of what we do. And, and how did that change things for you versus only doing group?

Right. So when you're on a group, you know, everyone's at a different level and it's great to hear the stories because some of the stories that they're bringing it to the table, you're like, oh, I need to do that. Let me listen. And so I can figure that out going down the road. But the one-on-ones, you know, were implemental, instrumental, instrumental, because if you hadn't had those one-on-ones, I wouldn't be able to take that next step, right? There are times when you get paralyzed from fear and just stuck and you're like, okay, I have a one-on-one coming up. I can I can, you know, map out my plan there. And then you can just continue to move forward. And it's really that one step at a time, which is hard for some people like us who like to do like 5 or 6 steps or just like jump across the bridge. You have to do one foot in front of the other, and that is not easy for us. So moving it forward with those one-on-ones were so helpful. And honestly, your team and yourself are so— and what I love is it is the empowered course because you, you have your clients and you empower them. And it's very positive and it's not like other courses that I've been on. And, and that makes a difference, the positivity. And I'm not saying that to just, you know, blow some positivity here, but I mean, like, it's true. The positivity that you and your team bring to the table is infectious. And, and we had a call, a group call on Monday with Tiffany. She was— it was just a wonderful call. And I left that call and I was like, wow, I have all these things I can do and now I can do them. Like, you just, you feel that inertia from, from you, from all of you. And I know And this doesn't go for everyone, right? There are yoga teachers out there just like there are in corporate. It doesn't matter. You know, there are people out there that are always going to be jealous or don't want you to be big or don't want you to succeed because they have to succeed. Their ego gets in the way, right? So it doesn't matter whether it's yoga teachers, corporate, whatever, it's all the same. So, but your, your group and your, your employees with you, I don't feel that because just like you have said to me in the past, you're like, there's, I want you all to succeed. I want you all to succeed. And you could tell that that's genuine and that's helpful when you're going through this process. It's really helpful.

Yeah. It's interesting that you should say that because I've, I felt really emotional hearing you say that because, you know, as you know, I just got into Russell Brunson's Inner Circle and it's a massive achievement for me. And my— and you were so— I'm going to start crying. You supporting me yesterday and saying what you said about, you know, how hard I've worked for that, it meant so much. It's so important to be around a group of people because my sister, her immediate response was like, well, I wrote a grant for $4 million yesterday, blah, blah, blah. And I'm just like, you didn't even have a— like, I'm happy for you that you wrote that grant. Okay. Like, I'm happy for you, but like, Can you just for a moment recognize that I literally just got into the, the top marketing mastermind in the entire world? You know, like, like, hello, like, this is a big deal. So I do think it's important. I agree with you, like having other people support you and like, I would love everybody. You've already been on Russell Brunson's podcast.

I didn't even realize I was on it, but yeah, apparently I have. It is what it is.

You were on it before me. So I was like, I was driving when it happened and I was listening to his podcast and I heard you. For those of you that don't know, Russell Brunson owns a company called ClickFunnels, and it's the software that we use. And I would almost say that like it's a, it's almost like a cult, our level of like ClickFunnels connection. But, but, you know, he's created a movement behind his software so that it's not just about the software, it's about like what we do and how how you use that software, and, and that's why I really believe in it. But, um, you know, um, the other thing is like, it, it was just so exciting to be driving and listening, and I heard your voice, and I was like, that's, that's my Kimberly. That's like, she's in my course. I know her. And I was so excited to hear you on there, and it just felt like a real triumph. And, um, you know, I want to talk about two different things. I want to talk about your wins, because you immediately had wins as soon as you started running your offer to, um, paid advertising, and I think a lot of it had to do with the work that you did. But I also want to touch on something first before that, because I remember when you first came into the course, and, and sometimes people will be like this, I only want to work with Angelica, and you were like, I only want to work with you, I, I'm not going to go to anybody else's stuff. And I was like, I really feel like you're missing out a big piece by doing that. What, what shifted your mind? Just because now you, you're like, you go to everybody's things and you're like a big part, you're the inspiration for a lot of people in the course now. So, you know, like what Um, what shifted you for the rest of my team?

That's so sweet. Thank you for that. And by the way, siblings are, you know, BS, so you just have to— you just have to ignore any of that because I have all— I can— we can talk about that till we're blue in the face. So you have to just be like, oh, have a nice day. I brought in $150 million for my asset management firm. Did you do that? No, no. So it's not worth it, right? It's not worth it. But, um, so I think what What, what transitioned from just working with you, I think in the beginning you're nervous, right? You're nervous about, and it's your company, so you're the CEO. And I'm like, I'm used to dealing with people who are accomplished, right? Not to say that your team isn't because they are, but in the beginning I wasn't sure about the team. And I'm like, oh, I have to work with the owner. I just have to work with the owner. This is so important. This is so important. And then I went on some calls. And they have a different approach, obviously, different individuals, but they have their own skill sets, right? They bring their own knowledge to the table. And I loved hearing how they viewed what I had been doing because it's a different perspective, right? And they shared their perspective and in their way, and they're very, they're really great because they're, they're just like I said, encouraging and they have a different way about them. And I listened to them a couple of times and I was like, oh, I need this. I need this all the time. So if I could have a call every day of someone telling me like, yeah, keep going, Kim, I'll be like, yes, thank you. So I think that's what shifted, you know, just joining the group calls and then listening to them and, and listening to what they would tell other people and then what they would tell myself. And then I was like, now it's just one big happy family, right? Right?

So yeah, yeah, it really is. It, it really is. Like, I love when you came to a call the other day and you had been on a call with, um, uh, with another team and they, they had kind of like poo-pooed on your stuff and I was like, that's bullshit, girl. Like, you fucking crushed it. Um, anyhow, and you did. Like, it's interesting, and that's just bro marketing, you know? Like, there's like bros out there that are broing and We're women-dominated marketing. So I wanna talk about your wins because you have had some really massive wins. Like you launched and, you know, you, you're on your first offer. You, you've created a second offer, which I wanna talk about cuz it's more robust and it's definitely like your soul offer. It's much more what you wanted to create, but you just wanted to get something to market in the beginning.

Right.

Which I, I can get behind. You know, my motto is done is always more profitable than perfect. I love that. Um, and Live Your Dream. And so you talk about some of your successes like right away, like, yeah, you know, you like, you, you started running ads and you started getting sales like straight off. How did that go?

Yeah, I think I put a lot of work. Okay. So, you know, part of, part of me is like a research nerd, right? So I'm gonna, I'm gonna do the work behind, like do the due diligence behind the offer. So it's not just like, oh, hey, here's, you know, another yoga class. Class. It isn't just another yoga class, right? It's a modern Kundalini flow. It's way different. So for people that are interested, I spent a lot of time on the marketing aspect of it. And, um, and I like to just, you know, you have to do the work, as you say. And I spent a lot of time making sure that it was concise, the messaging was clear, because I'd like people to think about modern Kundalini flow and being elevated, right? Elevated, because that's what it does for you. It elevates you. And you, I personally need that all the time because you can get caught in old habits or whatever. But when I put together the marketing piece, I said, I took a lot of time to finesse it and fine-tune it. And then I was like, well, let me try two and let's see which one looks better for people or lands better. So you can get the data, right? You need the data back and you need to analyze what's happening with that. And I was really surprised that a lot of people— it resonated with a lot of people. But I think that's because, as we talked about way back in January, I think you were like, you have to have a presence online first before you can do any of this. And, and, and because I was strict about having that presence, right, I think people resonated with the reels or whatever, whatever the advertisements are for it, because it is empowering. It's for empowering women, right? Empowering people. And I think they like those reels and then they read. And I think a lot of people are going to be drawn because I would be drawn to the nitty-gritty, like the detail part of it. And I think having a clear, concise message is also helpful. And I was thrilled. I was shocked when you looked at it and you were like, oh my God, this is awesome. I was like, I have no idea what I'm doing. This is Sweet. Thank you. No, I have an idea what I'm doing now, but I didn't know what to read on the numbers, right? I was like, I don't know what I'm reading it. I need to read these numbers. So, so that was really helpful.

Yeah, it's really exciting. It's really exciting when I win, obviously, like I'm excited for it, but there's a whole different level when you win and when Jolene wins and when Jocelyn wins and when Tiffany wins, when people who have worked with me win. That's for me, that's like the very next level of, of absolutely making it in this world. So, um, I'm really excited about that. So let's talk a little bit about Inner Alchemy, which is your latest offer, and it's, um, a more signature offer than your initial offer, and it's incredible. So can you share with us a little bit, like, what is Inner Alchemy and what do people get when they, when they join the Inner Alchemy course?

So Inner Alchemy for me stands for how do you transmute and, and elevate these different areas in your body and your feelings, right? So you may have been conditioned when you were younger and someone may have told you that you weren't good enough or that you couldn't do it, right? And so how do you change that? How do you change the mindset? How do you change the feelings, right? There's a whole scientific background about how we store our feelings in the body. And if you don't deal with them, they manifest into other things, right? And we've seen it, we've seen it happen. So instead of someone getting ovarian cancer, how do you transmute that feeling of not feeling worthy in your sacral chakra, right? How do you transmute that? So this series of classes that I've put out are different. They're different. So in each class, they'll, they'll use the Kundalini technology as well as some other yoga asanas to, to help transmute and elevate you out of it. And, you know, how do you elevate out of grief? I think people don't— you know, grief is something that's really, really hard, right? It's really hard to lose people, and sometimes things happen that you're not able to say goodbye, whatever it is. And how do you transmute that feeling of loss, right? How do you transmute it and elevate it? And so I created this coursework to help people do just that. And it's a series of, um, a bunch of different classes. And my philosophy behind it is that it's not you have to do the sequencing, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and then at the end you're just awesome. That's not it. You can choose whichever class helps you or that you're drawn to, and you can do that class class as many times as you need to feel better. And I've done these classes myself when I was going through grief, and I did one of these classes for 8 months, like, in a row, because that's just what helped me move forward. And sometimes you just need to move forward, right? And it's like, okay, I feel anxiety, I feel stress, I feel nervous, whatever it is, whatever you're feeling in your life that, you know, may be holding you back, and you're like, I don't know how to work through that, you know, these these, this course is going to help you to transmute, alchemize it, and release it. And that's really important.

Yeah, it is really important. Who is really important? And who is the course really for? Like, who, who would really be the person that's going to be most optimal taking this?

I think anyone having any feelings of, you know, worry or stress or anxiety. You know, grief, as I mentioned, anyone who's been through any trauma, it will, it will help them. And, and it will help shift your mindset as well. So that you have to do the work, the, the, you know, they'll have to do the work. And but by doing the course, I think, you know, anyone drawn to, and someone even just wanting to feel better, like, hey, I don't feel great. And I don't know why. Let me try this, you know, and let me see how I feel. Or even someone who's successful and has skeletons in the closet that they haven't dealt with, right? There's always— you never know what's going on with people. So there's always something, you know, it's all love and light until it's not, right? So, um, you have to work with those shadows. I like, you know, the shadow work, as I like to call it. And, um, once you do work with them, you can do, you know, have it be what I like to refer to. I think Carl Jung said this as well, the golden shadow, the golden shadow. So not necessarily saying, oh, I get really angry. That's really bad. I shouldn't do that. You know, versus, okay, I was angry for a minute because that was something came up and, you know, that needed to come out and then it's over and, you know, you move on, you just move on. But, you know, there's a lot of women that don't want to speak up. A lot of women say to me in my classes, oh, if I don't, I don't get angry. I just push that down. I just push that down.

I definitely get angry. I definitely get angry.

Right? Yeah, you have to get— a lot of people—

I live with a man.

Right. Your husbands, right? So your spouses, your partners, all of it. So it's like, of course you get angry. But the difference is, is, you know, one of the classes I'll say is like going inward class. I say listening to the bodies. Whisper. Another class would be Activating Your Core Energy for Clarity, you know, and one other is like Shifting Energy and Anchoring Calm, because when you feel upset or, you know, anxious, how do you shift that? How do you alchemize that? How do you transmute it? And how do you anchor in that calm? So I do the classes for all of that. And for me, this is transcendental because I don't think that anything like this has been out there before. And I think only now with people really listen to that, right? Because you hear alchemy a lot more online than you've heard in the past, and it's not necessarily turning metal into gold. It's spiritual alchemy. So it's different. It's different. It's like, how do you transmute the feelings that aren't so great into feeling better, into that joy, right? Into the happiness. And that's the work.

Yeah, I think that's the work. I agree with you. So if someone would like to get Inner Alchemy, um, how could they do that?

So you would just go to my funnel, which we'll put in the— or will you go to my website and we'll put that and it's www.modernkundalini.com and that will bring you to my link and then you can purchase it from there.

Okay, awesome. And how do they connect with you on Instagram or TikTok? I know you, you're a lover of TikTok.

Yeah, I do. I love it. It's— that's the Wild West. I have no idea.

It is crazy over there. There.

It's a little crazy, but I love it. Um, so yeah, on Instagram it's the same thing, @modernkundaliniflow. And then on TikTok, because it was too long for them, it's @modernkundaliniFL.

Okay, okay, awesome.

They wouldn't let me get the OW in there, which is fine.

We'll, uh, we'll make sure to put all of that in the show notes. Well, I want to thank you so much for coming today, Kimberly, and I really appreciate you. And I'm so excited for you and overjoyed for your continued continued success and the transformation from the person that I met when you first came to a call with me to explore whether or not this was right for you to today. And like I said, I, I really do believe that for other people in our course and in our community that you are now someone that's very inspiring to other people. And it's been a wonderful experience getting to know you more and to watch you blossom in this new venture of your life. So thank you for allowing us to, to be a part of that for you. Thank you. We appreciate you.

You are so wonderful. I appreciate you. I just want to say just one last thing. I know it's just congratulations on getting into the Inner Circle. That's a really big deal. I said it yesterday, but it is a really big deal. I know you're going to do great things and you'll probably be like even bigger than before, but, but I'm, I'm excited to see what's going to come up for you there because that's going to be exciting.

Yeah, I have to give a presentation, um, immediately next week. I'm going next week to Boise to go to ClickFunnels HQ, meet with Russell Brunson. And you do this 17— you have 17 minutes. You have to do a give and then an ask in that 17-minute time. So if you can give your give in a shorter period of time, you can get more time for the ask. So Francesca and I prepared my speech yesterday. We got it down to 5 minutes that I'm gonna do my give, and then, and then I'll get more time with Russell for my ask. So my ask is gonna be, how do I take my team, my community from 1 million to 10 million?

I love it.

And so I'm excited to hear what Russell has to say about that. I, I suspect I have some ideas about it, but I'm gonna go into it. My first coach, I told him, you know, that I got an Inner Circle and he was like, wow, that is— I mean, that's like got to be impressive for him as well, you know, because he was the first person to help me build courses like 6 years ago. But he said to me, he was like, you know, you know, he's a man, he was like, go in it like Bruce Lee, empty your mind, empty your mind. And I watched that video and I was like, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to empty my mind to go in there like a complete vessel for just like letting it all flow in, emptying my mind. And, uh, we'll see, we'll see. Like, it seems like it's the kind of place that I would fit in really well, but you never know until you walk into a room. And so probably, you know, some of the fears that you felt early on, I feel now, you know, and we'll see what transpires, but I'm really excited. So thank you for saying that. And again, thank you for coming on to the podcast. We're going to put all of Kimberly's information below in the description. If you're watching on YouTube, make sure that you subscribe and share this video with someone you think that could benefit from it. If you're listening on the podcast, please make sure to give us 5 stars. It helps us to grow the podcast so that more people can see. We do try to put out a podcast and a YouTube every single week because I think that building your online business, you know, while I run an incredible course where we work with people one-on-one, obviously we can't do that for everybody for free. That, that we have to pay our bills. There's a lot of people that are behind the scenes on this, but we do do a lot of stuff for all of you. So even if you can't afford to like join the course now, that doesn't mean that that won't be a future for you. I literally paid for my first yoga studio after winning a poker pot, so you never know what is gonna happen for you. Um, but please listen to the podcast, please watch the YouTubes, and also join our Facebook group. The link will be in the description below. Francesca does go live there every week, week and talks about things that help you grow your online business, and you can communicate and connect with other women who are wanting to do what it is that you want to do. So, um, and very few men. Um, I always tell— I had this guy who wants to do a, uh, a dream discussion with me this week, and I was like, well, listen, I don't usually work with men, but, um, I'm happy to meet with you because I'm happy to meet with everybody. But I'm like, yeah, are you gonna be cool being around like a whole bunch of like, like 100 perimenopausal women? Like, is that gonna be all right with you? Uh, because, uh, that's what's going on up at Please. So anyhow, um, thank you everyone for listening. I'm so glad that you joined us today. Thank you again, Kimberly, for joining. And, um, please do subscribe, like, share so that we see you on the next podcast.