Finding Peace Teaching Yoga in Boone, North Carolina--Noelle Austin

Interview was conducted by Willard Watson in Noelle’s home studio for the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum, Blowing Rock, North Carolina, in conjunction with the Smithsonian's traveling exhibition "The Way We Worked."

What do you do for a living?
"I teach yoga. I started teaching in 2009, during my first teacher training. I was in college and always kinda knew I wanted to be a teacher. I started teaching small groups of people from my home."

How did you decide on your career?
"When I was a little girl my dad took me to a yoga class, and I remember seeing all the adults like hanging upside down and thinking, 'Oh my god, they are having so much fun.' And then, I was 7 and I used to cry every night when the sun went down and my Dad taught me this mantra by Thich Naht Hanh and it was, “breathing in I relax my body, breathing out I smile, living in this present moment, this is a wonderful moment.” I remember repeating that 10 times and realizing that all of our worries are in a different moment than now. Then I started doing asana yoga classes weekly in high school after my Mom and brother passed away. It was a way of me coping with that. I just found that I would be a lot more clear minded after yoga class. I sort of knew I wanted to be a yoga teacher around that time, at one
point, some day, I didn’t know I would do it so soon."

What special knowledge, skills, and abilities are needed? What techniques and methods?
"A basic understanding of anatomy is really crucial for the work I do. As well as an understanding of what yoga is, the things I’ve just shared with you, and language skills are really crucial, being able to communicate a point and direct people in a way they’ll understand. I think friendliness is important. I was a performer before, and still like to perform..."

Read the full transcript below. 

Tags: BHS-work, BHS-Main-Street, BHS-Job-You-Had

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