In conversation with: Tawny Cortes

Tawny Cortes is a yoga teacher with a passion for movement and mental health. Her journey to university and becoming an educator led her to discover yoga and ultimately made her want to share the practice with others. Tawny is passionate about the transformative effects that yoga and meditation can have on our physical and mental health. She teaches classes that are introspective and inclusive, allowing her students to journey within and be in their bodies with more presence and acceptance. We caught up with Tawny to talk about what yoga means in her life and how she shares it with her students.

We would like to know more about you. Can you tell us a little about who you are and what you do?

I am a British-born Latina of Mexican and Colombian parents. I grew up in a multicultural household, have a strong connection to my diverse heritage, and consider myself a global citizen rather than localized. This also shows in my accent, which most people can't pin down! While I've lived in the UK most of my life, I also lived in California as a child and picked up the accent while I was there, and I'm also bilingual (Spanish and English) so my accent is a bit of a mix.

I have been working in the fitness and wellness industry for eight years, first as a group exercise instructor and then as a personal trainer before transitioning to teaching yoga six years ago. I now teach yoga full time and teach in yoga studios, gyms, spas and corporate settings. I teach Alignment-based Hatha Yoga with elements of flow as well as Restorative Yoga and Gentle Yoga with mindfulness.

You taught a whole bunch of things before you got into yoga. What brought you to the practice?

I have been teaching in some form for 10 years. In those earlier years, when I worked as a theater agent in youth theater and eventually moved into the fitness and wellness industry in 2012, I practiced yoga in my free time.

Yoga has been a part of my life since I discovered the practice during my senior year of college. My university experience, as amazing as it was, was also an extremely difficult time in my life as it was the first time I had experienced depression and dealt with severe anxiety. I had heard that yoga was supposed to be relaxing and I was particularly intrigued by the spiritual aspect of liberation and inner peace.

Yoga has been instrumental in my own self-healing and self-care. It has allowed me to deepen my own self-awareness, become friends with my body and mind, and grow as an individual. In many ways yoga has been my therapy, it has been a sanctuary for me where I can be authentically myself, laugh, cry, find joy, play, heal, rest and just be.

What then made you decide to teach yoga over everything else?

Yoga was always in the back of my mind as something I would like to share with others, but I didn't act on it for some time. I think at first I was intimidated by the practice. There is just so much to learn, not just arranging a class and understanding the alignment of postures, but also understanding and respecting the rich history and philosophy of yoga.

I finally decided to complete my yoga teacher training after receiving advice from my then gym manager, who has since become a dear friend and mentor. I had been teaching many different classes from Zumba to Spin, HIIT and Pump for some time and I had just started working part time at a gym as a PT in addition to teaching. I wasn't sure where my career was headed and my gym manager said, "You can be good at a lot of things or you can be great at something." Those words really hit me and that seed of yoga that had been planted in the back of my mind long ago suddenly came into full view. I knew this was the one thing I really wanted to be great at.

How do your experiences with everything from acting classes to struggles with mental health influence your teaching?

I am very introverted, but my background in theater and the dramatic arts has certainly helped increase my confidence to stand in front of a group of people and teach. My passion for teaching definitely comes from my personal experience of how yoga has helped me deal with my anxiety and face life's challenges. It was the catalyst for developing self-care practices that allow me to regulate my nervous system when I'm feeling stressed, anxious or low.

As much as yoga has allowed me to develop a deeper awareness and understanding of my body, mindfulness has also allowed me to become more attuned to my thoughts, particularly negative thought patterns that could be triggering my anxiety. Implementing mindfulness practices into my everyday life as well as a consistent meditation practice have helped me live more fully in the present.

I hope that one day we can talk about our mental health as openly and honestly as we talk about our physical health. I think we have come a long way, but there is still more than can be done to break down barriers related to mental health. This work will be even more important in the coming months and years as we move into a new “normal” post-Covid-19.

What inspires and motivates you?

I get inspiration from many places. Nature, books, poems and my teachers, to name a few. What motivates me is to share the love I have for this sacred practice with others in the hope that they too will find refuge and peace in the wisdom teachings of yoga.

How would you describe your own classes and where can people get involved?

My lessons are warm, welcoming and inclusive for everyone. They are a place where students are encouraged to let go of self-judgment and explore their own unique experience of being in the body. My teaching is based on the understanding that yoga is a path of self-exploration and self-realization that allows us to connect with our nature as living beings and live more fully in the present.

Tawny currently teaches online via Zoom and in person. Full details of their class schedule, as well as more information about private sessions or corporate events, can be found on their website Here.