Meet Inspire Yoga. A brand started by Stephenie Sobrian Da Costa that centres around yoga and the creation of a healing place focused on personal growth and development, looking within and encouraging students to fall in love with their own magnificence.
“Yoga, meditation and mindfulness are ancient practices that can help any willing person step into their power, settle their minds, reduce anxiety and pain, and gain confidence and joy. Classes are focused on cultivating presence and an attitude of gratitude. Inspire Yoga is a warm and welcoming studio, a non-judgmental safe space for anyone looking to improve their life and in search of more meaning and a deeper connection to themselves.”
When it comes to the name of her brand, Stephenie says “I was always the person that people came to when they needed emotional support, understanding, someone to listen to them and hold space for them. I enjoy motivating and inspiring others to believe in and heal themselves and move past fear. So when I sat down to meditate on the name for my studio, the word ‘Inspire’ kept coming to me. I believe it was chosen for me, not by me.”
When it comes to her yoga training, she did her first one in 2015. “At the time I was still practising law. For two years I would teach a 6/7am class at a yoga studio and then run back home and put on a black suit, pick up my brief case and run to Court and the office, after having stayed up the night before preparing for said Court hearing. I taught about 3 classes a week while I was still in a full time law practice at a law Chambers in Port of Spain. I was chronically stressed and fatigued, irritated and just surviving my days. While I enjoyed some of the legal work sometimes I still felt a calling in another direction.”
By 2017, she was doing yoga full time. “Eventually in 2017 I transitioned full time into teaching yoga and running Inspire. I was scared at first and sometimes I still am but trusting yourself and knowing that I have something to offer the world keeps me going. When my clients have breakthroughs or message me/leave amazing reviews on my page, I feel very encouraged to continue this work. I do it because I enjoy it and it lights me up. It’s exciting and energizing. It’s not hard juggling time, I believe we will all make time for what we deem important.”
Stephenie was inspired to start the business because of a burning desire to live a better life and a LOVE for yoga and its healing effects. “Yoga saved my life. After studying law for 5 years and practising law for 7 years I realised that something was missing in my life. I lacked purpose and true fulfilment and satisfaction. I dreaded getting out of bed in the morning. I did not feel good going to a job I did not feel passionate about. I was not passionate about law. Our feelings and body talk to us. If we are not feeling good for prolonged periods of time, something may be amiss. I became mired in the world’s definition of success and never took the time to ask myself what success meant to me or what a successful life looked like for me. We now know that success is a broader concept and includes, for me, a sense of satisfaction that I am contributing to the world and the lives of others in a positive way and enabling and facilitating my personal growth and the growing consciousness of others.”
Since its inception, there are many milestones that Stephenie is proud of including being featured on television and in magazines and national newspapers talking about yoga and its benefits. Starting online yoga classes and launching a yoga for beginners online course has also been a major achievement for the brand along with being the only studio in T&T CERTIFIED to teach the Y4C methodology (Yoga for cancer) to help cancer patients and those in remission manage the side effects of cancer treatments. Inspire Yoga also started offering Aerial Yoga in 2017 to help people eliminate back pain and is one of the few studios in T&T with that unique offering.
When it comes to lessons learned as an entrepreneur, Stephenie says the inner work is important. “If we get up everyday with a desire to be better and do better, while being ok with where we are at, we will achieve our goals. It’s important to not beat yourself up and celebrate the small wins and notice how far you’ve come and how much you have achieved. It’s important to hold ourselves with compassion when things are not “perfect” and see the opportunities for growth in our challenges. When we see the existing good, we attract more good.”
And does Stephenie have any advice for budding entrepreneurs? She does. “Watch your negative self-talk and inner dialogue. Spend time working on yourself, read books on your area of expertise, enrol in transformational courses, fetishize learning and maintain a growth mindset, surround yourself with supportive people and be okay if some people are not supportive. Believe in what you are offering. Recognize that no one is you and your life has significant meaning. We all came into our physical bodies with specific missions to accomplish. Attune and listen to the callings and sing your song because no one else can. Start, even before you think you’re ready.”
Stephenie has attended multiple yoga teaching trainings including an advanced training in Hawaii in 2017. “Inspire Yoga is committed to personal development and has a holistic approach to yoga on and off the mat.”
Contact Inspire Yoga for yoga classes, aerial yoga classes, Yoga 4 cancer classes and their new online yoga for beginners course
Contact information
Website: http://www.inspireyogatrinidad.com
Facebook: @inspireyogatt
Instagram: @stephysobyyoga
Youtube free class: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO3r2awxEOc&t=35s
Email: inspireyoga2016@gmail.com
Contact: 868 771 2518
Courses: https://mailchi.mp/4c310fbf6591/get-out-of-pain-gain-confidence-yes-please-im-excited
