Welcome to the Full-Time Yoga Teacher Podcast! I'm Reika, your host from Long Beach, California. Join me weekly for insightful conversations with everyday yoga teachers who've embraced the challenging journey of making yoga their full-time profession. Whether you're a seasoned yogi or just starting, our episodes offer valuable insights, inspiration, and practical advice. Explore the diverse tapestry of the yoga world with us. Welcome to the Full-Time Yoga Teacher Podcast!
126: Yoga as a Third Space: Building a Values-Driven Studio with Lucia of Yess Yoga
What if the success of a yoga studio wasn’t measured by how full its classes are?
In this episode, I’m joined by Lucia, founder of Yess Yoga in Minneapolis, to talk about building a yoga studio around community, accessibility, authenticity, and connection.
We discuss Yess Yoga’s sliding-scale model, financial accessibility, supporting teachers without non-compete agreements, and why Lucia doesn’t measure success by packed classes or capacity.
We also talk about staying true to your values as the yoga industry shifts toward fitness and Pilates, and how to build a sustainable business without losing sight of why you started teaching in the first place.
If you’re a yoga teacher, studio owner, or thinking about opening a studio, this conversation offers a different perspective on what it means to build a successful yoga business.
Past Podcast Interviews of Lucia:
Yoga in Action in Minneapolis - Accessible Yoga Podcast (https://www.accessibleyogaschool.com/podcasts/accessible-yoga-podcast/episodes/2149212160)
Getting Your Yoga Studio Ready for ICE - The Mentor Sessions Podcast (https://www.francescacervero.com/podcast/yoga-studio-ready-for-ice)
Connect with Yess Yoga with Lucia:
Website (https://www.yessyogastudio.com/): https://www.yessyogastudio.com/ (https://www.yessyogastudio.com/)
Instagram: @yessyoga (https://www.instagram.com/yessyoga/?hl=en)
Connect with Reika:
Website: www.reikayoga.com (www.reikayoga.com)
Instagram: @reikayoga (www.instagram.com/reikayoga)
5 Oct 2026
125: When Yoga Becomes Your Job: Tere Lopez on Rethinking the Full-Time Yoga Teacher Path & Collective Care
What does it really mean to build a sustainable career as a yoga teacher?
In this episode, I’m joined by Tere Lopez, a Cuban-born yoga educator, mentor, and founder of Collective Care, a 200-hour yoga teacher training program in Ontario, Canada.
We talk honestly about Tere’s journey from teaching yoga full-time to choosing a career that allows her to teach yoga part-time. We discuss money, sustainability, and the different ways yoga teachers can build a career beyond teaching endless studio classes.
We also talk about accessibility, social justice, diversity in yoga leadership, and Tere’s vision for Collective Care.
Finally, we have a bigger conversation about the changing yoga industry, including the decline of independent studios, the rise of yoga-fusion and fitness classes, and what this might mean for the future of yoga teachers and the practice itself.
Connect with Tere:
Website: https://terelopezyoga.com/ (https://terelopezyoga.com/)
Instagram: @terelopezyoga (https://www.instagram.com/terelopezyoga/)
Collective Care 200YTT (https://terelopezyoga.com/200-hour-yoga-teacher-training-in-brampton-collective-care/)
Connect with Reika:
Instagram: @reikayoga (www.instagram.com/reikayoga)
Website: www.reikayoga.com (www.reikayoga.com)
21 Sept 2026
124: 10 Days of Silent Vipassana Meditation: What Happens When You Remove All Distractions?
What happens when you remove almost every distraction from your life for 10 days? In this episode, I share my experience returning to a 10-day Vipassana meditation course 12 years after my first one. I talk about what it was like to spend 10 days in silence with no phone, social media, music, books, or conversation; the boredom, physical discomfort, hunger, and surprisingly slow passage of time; and what I discovered when there was nowhere else for my mind to go. I also share what I learned about impermanence, non-attachment, silence, digital distraction, and simply being present with whatever is happening instead of immediately trying to change it. More than anything, this experience made me question how often we fill every quiet moment with stimulation, and what might happen if we gave ourselves a little more space to just be.
Connect with Reika:
Instagram: @reikayoga (www.instagram.com/reikayoga)
Website: www.reikayoga.com (www.reikayoga.com)
Who has been a guest on Full-Time Yoga Teacher
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
J Brown
Cayce Howe
Amanda Martinez
Allie G
Allie
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
14,346
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
8 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
29 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 84 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
90
Social presence
94
YouTube
76
Engagement
71
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