Lindsay Robertson does a little bit of everything for the community: She’s an instructor at Davidson College, works for an adventure travel company where she leads trips all over the world with people who want to stay active on vacation, and teaches outside at Primal Brewery every Tuesday night. She’s the type of woman who remembers your name after one meeting, and she’s injected her yoga classes with her energy.
If you heard “yoga” and are now picturing a silent room with incense burning and people sitting in stillness, you haven’t met Lindsay. She can get an entire room full of college-aged boys to focus seriously on hip stretches with a mix of her sense of humor and careful coaching, and she can crank the heat up to 100+ degrees at a studio to get a room full of adults moving in sync while she leads the class with ease.
The first time Lindsay ever taught yoga (at Gotta Yoga of Cornelius) was sheer accident: She showed up to take a class and when the teacher never showed up, she filled in.
“After that, I slowly started noticing I was annoyed when work interfered with my yoga practice, so I was lucky enough to be in a position to quit my sales job and build my teaching business into a full-time job.”
How and when did you begin working with Davidson College?
I started about 4 years ago, as a yoga instructor in the PE department. A recommendation of a colleague in the yoga world led me to start working with the sports teams. I started with the golf team, and then moved to more teams and professional athletes from there as I continued my higher education into yoga for the athlete. The athletes keep me on my toes because each class is customized to their needs and their training cycle.
What’s the most rewarding part of your work?
I don’t have any one thing that is the most rewarding part about teaching. Each day brings different students and different challenges. I guess if I had to try and narrow it down, I really enjoy helping people find the, “Now I get it!” moment in their practice. That might be nailing an arm balance, or understanding why your low back hurts or why your hips are imbalanced.
What’s your favorite thing about yoga? What has it brought you?
Yoga keeps me balanced. I know that sounds cliche, but my mat brings me back to me, to a more balanced version of myself: equal connection of mind, body and spirit.
What is the importance of health/wellness in your life?
Health and wellness have always been part of my daily life. I took my first yoga practice when I was pregnant with my first son, almost 20 years ago. I found hot power vinyasa about 7 years ago, and it became my primary source of exercise. Now, I balance a ridiculous hot power flow with a basic non-heated deep stretch. My eating habits are very simple, meaning I follow an “everything in moderation” diet. I try to listen to my body every day and give it what it might need that day…and sometimes that is a big ‘ole glass of red wine, steak, potatoes, green beans, followed with chocolate!
What’s something you wish people knew about yoga?
Yoga is truly for every body type, and the tighter your muscles are, the more you need it. There is this misconception that flexible young skinny women are the only ones who practice. Some people are that, however, I’m here to shout out the tight, overworked, imbalanced crowd. If you find the right instructor who makes you feel good, then it will stick. But if you go to someone you can’t relate to and leave feeling like crap, you won’t go back. Yoga should leave you feeling empowered, ready to tackle whatever the day brings you. I’ve worked with everyone from golfers to bull riders, nascar drivers, sports players, and burly body builders. I also think a lot of people think all yoga studios are quiet, serious places. My yoga room is anything but that some days, yet totally that on others. They say your practice on your mat mirrors your approach to life, and I totally believe that. The older I get, the more I have seen and dealt with some tough s—t! I have chosen to laugh more, and release the stress, so thus my yoga practice is designed around a hard, balanced, yet light hearted mood. It is called a practice for a reason: You never master it.
@LindsayRobertsonYoga
