Meet Rachel Ishiguro | Certified Yoga Therapist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rachel Ishiguro and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rachel, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
I’ve always struggled to find work-life balance, as I’ve worked in jobs that don’t necessarily fit into traditional hours. I kept thinking that when I found the right work environment, I’d be able to have that mythical balance. However, change after change, I still found myself working too much. Then, suddenly the pandemic shut everything down, and here I was starting my own business while being a full-time parent and helping with remote school. All the boundaries between work and life vanished, and it was really hard for a while there.

When I began studying yoga therapy with Susi Hately in the fall of 2020, she taught me that “deliberate rest is key to mastery”. In other words, to master something takes not only all of the hours you invest in honing your skills, but also all the hours you sleep, and close your laptop and go for a walk, and play games with your family. The time you spend resting is not just to take the edge of the exhaustion so you can keep working. In fact, those hours you spend doing things outside of work are part of what allows you to really master your craft. I also think that if you build a business that relies on you working more than you want to, you get a model that enables more of the same. I now see myself as the most precious resource in my business. I can’t continue to help people if I burn myself out in the process, so I’m learning to get really clear on what matters.

This is still very much a work in progress for me because it’s hard to change deeply ingrained patterns. And the way I think about this now is no longer so much in terms of balancing “work” and “not work”. Rather, it’s about what life I want to create. What are the things that bring me joy and enable me to thrive? Whether it’s time to read a good book, a weekend outing with my family, my morning dog walk, or my work with clients, I schedule in the things that matter, and then I look at what else needs to be done, what makes the most sense in terms of those important life elements, and where I need support to make it happen.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
When the pandemic shutdowns happened in March 2020, studio teaching basically dried up overnight and I was given the opportunity to really consider what I wanted from my working life. A few things were clear. I wanted more control over my schedule. I wanted to be able to do meaningful work and contribute financially to my family without sacrificing all my evenings and weekends. And I wanted to focus more on building relationships. When you work for a studio, people come and go. Of course, you do build relationships with those who return class after class, but I had this curiosity about what it would be like to connect with people more intimately and longer term so that I could really support and empower them to heal through their yoga practice in the way that I had experienced.

My pandemic silver lining was being able to work and study online. It opened up many doors to me that otherwise were closed to a mostly-stay-at-home parent of a young child. Nothing about this has been easy, but I’ve learned that when you show up for yourself, take care of your own health and inner resources, and ask for support, things are a lot easier than when you don’t.

In my yoga therapy business, I love supporting people with chronic pain to take an active role in their own healing process using yoga. Lately, I also work with a lot of clients suffering from burnout and long-term stress. I have personal experience with both chronic pain and burnout, so this work is especially meaningful to me.

I’m able to be successful helping my clients feel better because our work together centers around them. I can take time to really listen to people, and I have a broad base of training to draw on so that I can find the right practices to support clients exactly where they are at. I’m also interested in continuing to examine who is left out of yoga spaces and finding ways make my programs more accessible to more people. Working for myself allows me to offer a variety of programs in creative ways, and that opens doors to things that were just not possible working for someone else.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m a parent, so we tend to hit the more kid-friendly parts of San Diego. I love Balboa Park and think it’s such a San Diego gem! We also take people to the San Diego Zoo a lot. There’s so much to see, you can easily do multiple trips if you have the time, and their newer exhibits are particularly good. There are lots of good local hiking spots – Annie’s Canyon is a unique hike through a slot canyon that my family loves. We especially enjoy the beach at Coronado.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I owe a lot to my teacher, Susi Hately, and my friend and coach, Stacy Spensley, the Semi-Crunchy Mama, I also couldn’t be where I am today without the incredible support of my family, friends, and colleagues around the world. Local studios South Park Yoga and Wellness, Pilgrimage of the Heart Yoga, and Yoga One have been so welcoming in allowing me to host my programs in their beautiful spaces, and returning to in-person work again was made a lot easier by my office space at WellSpace LLC. I also need to give a shoutout to my amazing clients who are doing the work to heal and build the lives they dream of having. It’s a privilege and an inspiration to work with them every day.

Website: https://rachelishiguroyoga.com

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Image Credits
Chris Wojdak Photography