My journey to finding Yoga:
Growing up I found myself getting into trouble most of the time. I was put on antidepressants as a teenager, & eventually decided that I did not wish to take them anymore, since I didn’t feel it was helping me to resolve any of my issues. I spent many years in an angry, self-loathing, victim state of mind– surrounded by poor influences, making poor choices, & not really sure who I was at all. Blind to the destructive effects
my behaviors had on me due to a serious lack of love & respect for myself.
I felt lost & anxious most of the time.
I graduated in 2015: moved out of my parents’ house, which is when I started traveling & finding a lot of new passions, making new connections. From this point I even continued to mistreat my body, I spent another few years struggling often with feelings of anxiety, depression & just generally feeling lost as a human being. I blamed everyone & everything around me for my own unhappiness & couldn’t seem to figure out the true cause of it. Having already experienced what prescription drugs were like, I wanted to remedy the negative states of existence I was experiencing any other way I could.
I decided to search for ways of healing through spirituality & energy work.
I began learning about the practices of Yoga & Meditation, at which point I began to finally live a more conscious life, leading me to slowly uncover what was really keeping
me disempowered. This period of time filled with discovery & learning about all of these healthier ways of living was absolutely the most pivotal span of my life, & coincidentally, (not really though) when I began my Yoga practice. Yoga showed me that all of the things keeping me unhappy & disempowered originated within myself – & it also showed me how to work through them.
I began to see that the only way out is through – and I stepped into my power.
The journey that Yoga opened up for me has been the most empowering and awakening journey of my life, & I intend to continue this journey forever.
I’ve always felt called to share light with others, & in my younger years I felt drawn towards being a therapist. Eventually I gravitated towards massage therapy, but the deeper I got into my Yoga practice, the clearer it became to me that this is my calling
to share with the world.
It is this practice that has opened up a lifelong journey for me, in self-love, growth, connection, & learning to live in presence with integrity.
Yoga is my greatest teacher, & an everlasting practice, it is a practice of awakening, of commitment, of self-empowerment, of presence, & most of all.
It is a practice of self-honor. That is why I’ve made it my life mission to share the knowledge & power of this practice with my fellow humans.
Krysten Rodriguez CERTIFIED YOGA INSTRUCTOR | Yoga Instructor & Wellness Coach
Botanic Body Yoga (@botanicbodyoga) • Instagram photos and videos
Krysten Rodriguez | Facebook
Take over the world a ha-ha moment and crush patriarchy.Our world is changing you guys, and it’s not the time to stay stagnant in our comfort
zones anymore. It’s time to show up for us & bring our authentic power to the new world we’re creating. For me it all started with hitting a low point where I realized. That if I was going to be uncomfortable & unhappy in a comfort zone and being disempowered by my inner & outer environments. Then I might as well be uncomfortable in the process of changing them instead.
The reason I show up with intention to commit to my growth every day is the
same reason I used to give up & lose hope-Because I know what it’s like to feel
powerless, to hate my body & my life, to feel like I had no control over how
I think & feel.
In the silence we find the answers ~ In the stillness we find our power.
The last few days have been honestly incredibly uncomfortable for me emotionally.
I’ve always allowed myself to be vulnerable with you guys on this platform, so I won’t stop that today. I’m coming into a space in time in my life where I am learning to be alone for the first time in a long time. I realize now that unintentionally, I’ve spent the last few years bouncing from relationships & constantly distracting myself with romantic connections.
I used to think I didn’t have a problem being alone, but I also didn’t understand were
my feelings of anxiety & inadequacy were stemming from- until I finally stopped to just
sit with them & listen.
What I found is that I’ve had a habit of constantly distracting myself away from unpleasant emotions & the inner work I’m meant to be doing, by tying my feelings to others, searching for the love & fulfillment I desire through those connections. I think we all aspire to exist in a state of loving presence, for ourselves, for the people surrounding us, & the world we live in.
Reaching that state often requires first moving through the things in between.
Do you sit with your discomfort?
Or do you distract yourself away from it?
Do your unpleasant emotions continue to press their way into your consciousness?
Is it maybe because you’re not allowing yourself to sit with them & listen?
Our bodies carry such divine intelligence, we truly hold all the wisdom we need
inside already-So learn to sit & listen to what your emotions are trying to teach you.
Low vibrational feelings like anger, sadness, jealousy, pain — are meant to teach us
what we need to change in order to reach that state of love we wish to exist in.
By pushing away & distracting from whatever negative feelings arise, you only
prolong them leaving. Our emotions are here to teach us – our discomfort is
here to teach us.
Sit with it – listen.
The truth isn’t always pretty so maybe that’s why most of us have such a hard time listening. Growth requires change, requires work. Sunshine, pup love, yoga & community. The things that make me feel empowered. But is that work really any worse than existing in a constant state of trying to escape pain & discomfort?
Clearly not all pictured here
But hey, I’m learning to appreciate the cloudy days just as much as the sunny ones,
the shadows just as much as the highlights, the struggles & challenges just as much as
the triumph & success.
Life is a constant state of flux, learn to ride the waves so they don’t knock you off your path every time they inevitably rise & fall. Having a community of people to share this journey of healing & transformation through wellness practices makes every day that much easier.
I say it all the time, but we truly grow stronger together.
~ I am abundant
~ I am limitlessly capable of manifesting all that I desire into reality
~ I am whole & complete exactly as I am
~ I am surrounded by opportunities to expand & grow
~ I am transforming into the person I wish to be, one step at a time
~ I allow myself the space to grow without rush or expectations
~ I trust that everything I need will come to me in perfect time
When you’re wishing you could cancel all work for the week &
just take a break…Then A hurricane comes & makes it so.
All jokes aside, the collective energy of chaos & fear I felt seeped into my body in
the days leading up to hurricane Ian was intense unlike almost anything I’ve experienced before, and quite honestly nearly threw me into a panic. I spent all day yesterday driving away from Florida, feeling all the way cranked up on collective fear & anxiety – and today
I woke up in the mountains feeling a million pounds lighter.
I was already aware of the massive effect the city energy has on me, but this instance has shown me once again how connected we all are – how we feel the collective energies on a large scale, even as individuals. This was yet another reminder of how important it is for each of us as the individual to do our inner work, so that we can hold our calm & conscious composure in the midst of madness.
Mother Earth is a planetary force that we hold no weight against… and when she decides it’s time to purge, we truly have no ability to control it. The only things we can control are how we utilize our power as creators, and how we prepare & react to the forces that come into our lives. spread the message that we have the ability to tune our frequencies to that of LOVE & protection – rather than fear. Be there for one another and be there for yourselves.
Sometimes we allow people to take up this space in our heart, that ends up turning into giving them the power to dictate our emotions, or our self-worth. And sometimes we forget that by giving someone else the power to lift us up so high, we may also be giving them the power to push us down just as low. And sometimes we get so lost in this illusion of love that we start to lose who we truly are. And then there comes the time that we choose to take our power back, to reclaim our sovereignty and our divine right of way to be the creators of our lives and to choose what we will not allow to affect us.
So now I reclaim this power of mine, I promise to myself to never again hand anyone
on this earth the power to hurt me or take away who I am, because that power is my own. I’ve felt heavy in my shadows and resistant to sharing my words with the world around me lately, but today I’m sharing this for anyone else out there who needs to take their power back. I had a really intentional caption for this post, but I deleted it because y’all are just here for the aesthetics apparently and personally I don’t think I have the energy to blow into trying to engage uplifting energy through social media any longer.
So today I’m saying goodbye to things that do not serve me on my highest path, and that includes the energy wasted through this silly little portal of illusion. If anyone even reads this shit anyways, you can reach out to me if you wish to connect through my passions for yoga & wellness-otherwise I’ll be investing that energy into the physical community around me, where it is received in abundance.
The mountains don’t shrink to empower the smaller rocks – they remain vast in their nature & in doing so, support every piece of earth they give home to. The trees don’t shrivel to bring more attention to the bushes – they stand tall & also in doing so,
offer shade & home to all the surrounding life.
Sometimes we don’t even realize we’re making ourselves small – not just physically,
but in the way we express who we are. I love this phrase because it reminds me not to shrink myself to fit into the imaginary boundaries created by society or my own mind.
When we shrunk ourselves, we put a lid on all of the light we’re meant to share with the world around us. so take up space ~ you never know who needs the light that shines through you simply being your authentic self.
Remember you have the power to create your calm in the midst of a storm:
Take a deep breath, calm your mind, and listen. Your body holds intuitive wisdom
that the mind will never know of. The reason I show up with the intention to commit
to my growth every day is the same reason I used to give up & lose hope — Because
I know what it’s like to feel powerless, to hate my body & my life, to feel like
I had no control over how I think & feel.
I love my life now, but only because I used to hate it.
Our world is changing you guys, and it’s not the time to stay stagnant in our comfort zones anymore. It’s time to show up for us & bring our authentic power to the new world we’re creating. For me it all started with hitting a point where I realized that if I was going to be uncomfortable & unhappy in a comfort zone of being disempowered by my inner & outer environments, then I might as well be uncomfortable in the process of changing them instead.
One day at a time, one step at a time:
I have been able to transform my life from being: An angry & resentful person who felt alone, lost & disempowered – To a hopeful & confident person who not only trusts in my inner power, but also gets to show up in a community of likeminded individuals who all support one another to feel the same. Transformation isn’t always easy, comfortable or stable- in fact it almost never is. But is it any better to continue living outside of your power?
These are all bits of the moving pieces that inspired & fueled me to create the @botanicbodyoga Wellness Community. If any of this is resonating with you,
know that there’s a community of empowerment here for you to join & jump into
your own transformation whenever you’re ready for it.
Daily yoga on your own schedule – Optional workouts – Community support & foundation – Weekly live flows, group calls, workshops, plant-based meal plans & more. If you feel called to be a part of the movement & step into your power, message me for more information.
Link in bio to apply
botanicbodyoga 
It’s easy to become complacent in life, settling into normal routines & life habits.
Grow your branches
(Fun fact: my obsession with trees is what sprouted the name for my business}
What’s nourishing & empowering you to align with your highest self?
Just a few things for me: community connections with people who inspire & uplift me, time in nature, flow, yoga & meditation
The community aspect is a game changer – I never realized how much life is lacking without the strength of community, until I finally found it in my own life. I know you see us out here every month growing & connecting in this empowered tribe, why not give it a shot & see what happens when you step into your own power & share that energy with the community?
Whether you’re a well-seasoned yogi, or your first response when you hear “downward facing dog” is “huh?” – there’s something for you in this space. Guided yoga, meditation, workouts, prompts for self-inquiry, plant-based recipes & so much more.
A hurricane changes your daily routine. But if you do the same things, walk the same path every single day – growth ends, expansion ends, change ends. The vibrant & abundant reality of the rest of the world becomes less & less available to you when you walk deeper and deeper down the same path.Where’s the excitement in that?
Can you recall some of the most exciting & vibrant parts of your life?
Could it be possible that those heightened times of awareness & excitement
were related to times of growth & learning, expanding, trying new things?
That growth is never meant to end.
Where can you expand today?
Your perspective?
Dirty feet & banyan trees are what’s making me smile today
What is Botanic Body Yoga all about?
When you hear the word “botanic”, you probably think of plants right?
I’ve always found some of the most powerful metaphors in reflections of nature.
My favorite, and simplest example is that just like the trees must shed their dead
leaves in order to remain healthy and grow,
so must we release what no longer serves us to serve our growth.
AKA: Listen to your body & honor what you need in each given moment.
This also symbolizes my intention to always empower the message to honor your inner nature, because what you need may not be the same as yesterday, or the same as the person next to you.
Some days we may need a practice that challenges us and pushes us to our edge,
and some days we may need to lay in a hammock and take a light stretch.
Here’s a reminder to slow down and check in with yourself.
You don’t always have to be doing something to be “productive”.
Sometimes we all need just a little pause-to rest, to notice, to observe, reflect or to
just be. In fact, oftentimes some of the most growth, healing, or transformation happen
when we just give up the fight to always be doing, or preparing, or analyzing our lives.
Honor whatever it is you need in each given moment, if that happens to be some yoga – you know you can shoot me a message any time to see what we can do to empower you.
Generate gratitude for the life you live – simply because you have been given the gift of living it.
What happens when you shift your perspective to seeing all of the things that
fill your day as things you “get” to do instead of things you “have” to do?
Allow yourself to see the abundance in each experience, each task, each trial & each
connection – even if the only good thing you can take away from it is that you are
alive to experience it. All it takes is removing the “rocks” that block your true vision.
AND see where it takes you.
What if I told you I could show you something that could give
you absolutely anything you need to navigate your life path?
– to tap into your eternal abundance,
– to heal through your buried wounds,
– to release anything, you no longer wish to carry,
– to open up your heart,
– to clear your mind,
– to connect you back to you-meditation.
But what if I told you that all of these powers will not come without doing the work?
Would you still want it just as much?
This year has been one of the absolute hardest of my life.
I fell and crashed and broke down many times, and through multiple circumstances
that I was also forced to disconnect from my physical practices- yoga/exercise, etc.
Life was forcing me to find my power through meditation.
What does yoga mean to you?
Or rather, what does your practice bring to your life-empowerment, clarity, strength, courage, restoration?
Sometimes it’s powerful to check in and ask us these seemingly simple questions,
if for no other reason than to just remind ourselves why we do the things we do,
and what affects our actions bring to our lives.
“CONTINUOUS EFFORT – not strength or intelligence –
is the KEY to UNLOCKING OUR POTENTIAL!!!
Like planting a seed, and watching it bloom.
Use your words intentionally to empower your highest self & create the reality you desire.
Your word is your power! let it fill your being with vibrations of abundance
Be new at every moment.
We all carry stories of our pasts with us, those stories that have helped shape us into
who we are today. But instead of letting those stories shape the lens you see through,
instead of letting those stories define who you are, Carry with you the essence and the
wisdom that those stories have left you with. You may not have been capable of doing
something perfectly the first time you tried, you may have fallen flat on your face.
But from that fall you can learn how to create a better experience next time around.
Instant grace & forgiveness 
Because this journey is a practice of trying – learning – and beginning again, and again, and again.
This is sooooo…. important!!!
Have you ever experienced the magic of singing bowls?
These mystical instruments are used for a wide range of healing purposes
The vibrations may also help to enhance all therapeutic benefits when paired with
other modalities & practices, such as yoga, and meditation.
Some potential benefits include:
• Deep relaxation, stress relief & muscle regeneration
• Pain relief (headaches, joint pain)
• Rebalance the digestive system
• Improved circulation
• Release blockages & balances energy flow
• Stimulate the immune system & eliminate toxins from the body…
This is just one of the modalities we experience & explore
Meet your Sound Bath facilitators for September’s Equinox Ceremony
Bryan Marlborough & Cassandra Sharp, two vibrant souls, passionate about the healing benefits of Tibetan Singing Bowls.
Bryan is master certified in Tibetan & Crystal bowls, passionate about using this modality
to release emotional trauma
by creating a space to feel safe and surrender in…Both are certified by GoPali Imports, here in St. Pete, Florida
Sound Healing Meditation Cacao Ceremony Alchemizing Limiting Beliefs Organic Plant Based Meals Fire & Intention Ceremony on the Fall Equinox Oceanfront RetreatExperience all of this and more at our upcoming Yoga & Wellness Retreat,
Journey into Power, in Indian Rocks Beach this September.
Cassandra is an entrepreneur, certified sound bowl healer, and advocate of self-love.
Her life ‘s purpose is to guide people through the use of sound, frequencies, and plant medicine. @sharpsoul777
I welcome all of the beautiful wonderful, glorious things life has in store for me.
This is my tree pose salute to our sweet Moringa tree
morning routines! some things i have to include in mine:
Matcha Tea
lots of water
yoga (preferably in the sun)
short meditation
checking on all my plants
My Daily morning routines make my whole day
Lemon water
Some sort of tea
Yoga
Make bed
Water plants
Cuddle my cat
And Journal what I’m thankful for in my
Cheers babe!!To Nurturing the growth of a new business this year I found my feminine side & energy severely neglected. All the rigidity & planning & structure put a bit of water on the fire of my feminine flow & intuitive nature. Time now to nurture my divine feminine once again with organic movement, trusting my emotional intuition & going with the flow.
Which side do you find more dominant in yourself, masculine or feminine?It’s perfectly normal to be a male with a stronger feminine energy, or a female with a stronger masculine energy. it doesn’t have anything to do with your gender, but rather
the balance of the natural yin & yang energies within us as humans.
But hey, I’m learning to appreciate the cloudy days
just as much as the sunny ones,
the shadows just as much as the highlights, the struggles & challenges just as much as the triumph & success.
Life is a constant state of flux, learn to ride the
waves so they don’t knock you off your path every time they inevitably rise & fall.
What are some of your daily/morning routines that keep you together?
Lions Gate insights: a gentle reminder to myself to stay open, even when
it feels easier to shut down & close off.
We close our hearts because we are hurt – but by closing our hearts, we perpetuate even more pain in our lives by blocking our ability to accept or receive the love around us.
It feels like you’re protecting your heart by turning a bitter wall up to the world, but that bitterness only burns you, and blocks you.
Life is constantly nourishing our paths with blessings of abundance,
but a closed heart will never see those blessings.
It starts with a practice of presence & mindfulness.
a lifetime practice, but nothing worthwhile comes without the work.
~ I align with the frequency of infinite abundance.
Full transparency- this scared the ishhhhhh out of me
Sometimes it feels like life is trying to tell me to lean more into the strength of community, and accepting support from others, and then sometimes I find waves of what feels like the universe telling me I need to be able to handle everything on my own and stop relying on others for support or help.
I realize now that it’s a balance of both – as with everything.
I am grateful for the powerful and loving community that has welcomed me
with open arms, opened my heart and showed me what a soul family is.
I am also grateful for the experiences that have shown me how powerful
I am still, even when I am navigating challenges on my own.
Practicing seeing the entirety of life with gratitude for all the bumps & falls
& shades of experiences continues to shape me every day.
Sometimes Ya just got to throw your hands up, and say, fuck it!!!
I’m just going to show up exactly as I am and too often, we spend so much of our energy putting together these masks that hide our struggles or challenges,
But what’s incredible to me is that even on our worst days, we have the power to share words or energy that can uplift someone’s entire day, simply by channeling through whatever we’re experiencing within.
It’s incredible to me that I can be in such a low state of being or feeling a mess inside before / while teaching yoga – and still on those days students will tell me how wonderful it was for them, sometimes even giving me better feedback than the days when I’m in my highest states of being.
Because even on the days that I’m feeling low, there is still something beneficial for others
in the words and energy, I have to share. (
hint: this applies to all of you too)One of many affirmations that I am doing what I was called to share with this world,
and that I am eternally grateful for. A few months ago, I had an accident on my moped
that caused me to wipe out & get some pretty serious road rash that has taken nearly
2 months to heal, (she’s still okay
). You might be able to notice the massive scar on the side of my leg & arm since the scabs are FINALLY gone.
Anyway, I had to seriously step back from all of my movement practices to allow my body to heal. There was a gash in the creases of both my ankle & knee bend so even a lot of stretches weren’t very accessible to me with
the scabs on my leg.
I tend to be a person that is always moving or doing something.
So, this force to slow down was a huge shift for me. I’m grateful for the health & vitality of my body, grateful for the stability of my yoga practice to always come back. . . .no matter how far I’ve fallen off. If you’ve been thinking or also feeling a call to heal or nurture your connection to yourself & the world around you, it may be time to let your intuition take the lead.
You can be pink, you can be blue
but whatever you do, just be you✨👑
Now I am ready to reconnect with my practice once again.
#hurricaneian #movement #Inversion practice #prayer
And going to where I like to be: Pass A Grille or Ft Desoto in Indian Rocks Beach.
Part 1 Krysten Yoga Instructor (@ethericyogini) • Instagram photos and videos
Part 2 Krysten Yoga Instructor (@ethericyogini) • Instagram photos and videos
#collective soul #collective consciousness #shadowwork #consciousness #Conscious living #awakening #dothework #movement #conscious creator #wakeup
Prayers to all of my fellow Floridians.