Yoga Girl

about life, and also my insecurities with the world.
My Instagram following blossomed into a community, and I continued
sharing the happiness present in my yoga practice, our lives on the beach,
food, but also real, human, raw emotion. I was amazed by the outpouring
of love I was receiving and by how many people wanted to take my class.
Over time I had started traveling to teach. e first class I ever taught
internationally was in Orlando, Florida. We were going there for a Surf
Expo, and some people had asked if I would consider teaching a class
while I was there. I thought, Sure, why not? I had to google to find a studio
that would take me in on such short notice, and then I shared the
information on Instagram. I had maybe thirty or forty thousand followers
at that time, and the workshop sold out right away. Actually, it ended up
being the biggest workshop the studio had ever hosted! People were
putting their mats down in the lobby and in the hallway leading into the
studio because we had run out of space. e studio had no clue about who
I was and were as surprised as I was to see people pouring in.
I was so nervous that my hands were shaking as I walked into the
studio. It was one thing teaching my own students or tourists who came to
visit the island or leading retreat groups, where I got to know people on a
deeper level—no one really expected anything huge from me. But here
was a big group of people that came from near and far specifically to see
me. ey had no idea if I was a good teacher or not. How could they? All
they knew was that I was a person who liked to share inspirational things
online. I felt that they expected me to be spectacular, something very
special and out of the ordinary.
I sat down on my yoga mat and looked around. Fifty pairs of eyes
looked back at me excitedly. I thought to myself: I am who I am. I can only
do my best. So I did. I taught the best class I could possibly think of, and
after two hours the class was deep in Savasana, many of them crying from
the release of the practice. I am good enough, I thought. I can do this.
So I continued to travel, teach, and share my life with the world. Before
I knew it, I had more than a million people following me every single day.