Life, Lately

Happy Friday 🙂 Hope you all had a lovely week. This sudden change in NYC weather from balmy to chilly has definitely made me want to hibernate and eat all the ramen.

Since I already threw some favorites your way earlier this week, I thought I’d instead do a little catch-up post today. Here’s what’s been going down in my life behind the scenes:

I’m teaching lots of yoga.

Okay, that’s a given. Right now I’m teaching anywhere between 8-10 classes per week at CorePower and Y7, but I’m looking to add more classes to my schedule, more on that below.

I get asked a lot of questions about the transition to teaching full-time. Full disclosure: 8-10 yoga classes does NOT pay the bills in NYC. But it’s a start to get me there.

Overall I’m still loving it. Performing is what I love to do, it’s why I went to college for theater. Teaching yoga and yoga sculpt let’s me be a performer in the most magical way. The adrenaline rush from teaching is real, y’all. It doesn’t matter how tired I am. How little I slept. How gross I feel. It all goes away when I cue that first child’s pose (or sometimes supta bada konasana).

My biggest struggle? [Besides the fact that I need to be making more money sooner rather than later] Losing my voice. Guys, it’s a real problem. Because of this I’m looking to diversify the types of classes I teach (**cough cough** ones where I get to use a microphone.) I’m trying to be super conscious about how I use my voice in class. Like really, Kayla. You were a classically trained singer, ya know how to project your voice safely.

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I’m still auditioning at other studios.

As I mentioned above, 8-10 classes does not pay the bills in NYC and I’m looking to add additional classes to my roster. And while I looooove teaching where I do, I know it will be best for me, my voice and my body if I teach some classes that aren’t heated and where I use a microphone.

I have some SUPER exciting news to share on the teaching front soon 🙂 but for now I’ll leave you with this:

Going on fitness auditions can be SO scary! And every single one is SO different.

The SoulCycle audition reminded me of those cattle calls I used to go to for broadway shows. At another audition I did thigh work for literally an hour straight while 40 different barre-bies taught a pulse sequence. I’ve also been to mad chill auditions that are one-on-one with the studio owner. And group situations where everyone bonds, has a great time, and it was a positive experience — even when I didn’t get the gig.

Auditioning in fitness is weird. The nature of each audition is somewhat unpredicatable. You’ll be asked to prepare a 7-minute sequence and then they say JK YOU ONLY HAVE TWO MINUTES, GO! It’s kind of funny that I left the theater world but here I am, back to living the audition life.

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I’m writing here and there.

I’ve started doing some freelance writing with Be Well (<— my latest articles) and other wellness websites. It’s something I want to do a lot more of in the future, but I also suck a pitching. Anyone got advice for getting better at pitching websites? It’s something I’m pretty clueless about and I feel lucky that most other writing opportunities have come about from friends that I know.

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I’m looking forward to a season of creating.

Summer is this weird season for me. All I want to do is spend my time outside and because of that I spend less time at my desk doing work. I’m looking forward to the chillier weather and to spend this season creating once again.

There are some strategy things I want to do behind the scenes on the blog, things like learn how to better utilize Pinterest and create more cohesive graphics throughout the blog.

After taking almost 6 months off from podcasting, I’m starting to crave it again. Although as I spoke about on instagram this week, I’m not 100% sure if I’ll go back to WELL-rounded or start fresh in a new direction.

I want to write more. Period. Be it blogging, freelance articles, journalling or even a novel. Who knows. What I do know is I’m happiest when I am writing, creating and teaching. It’s the blend that I love.

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Your turn: What’s been going on behind the scenes for you lately?