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The calendar may have flipped, but our bodies and our nervous systems often need more time to catch up. In this episode, Giana is joined by Dee Doyno for a real, grounded conversation about this in-between moment: a liminal season meant for rest, reflection, and quiet seed-planting before any big goals take root.

From that steady place, we dive into the deeper layers of what’s been surfacing in the yoga world—particularly conversations around fair wages, studio cleanliness, and the true cost of holding space. We explore why so many January resolutions fall apart, and how the lunar new year and spring equinox offer a more natural, body-aligned reset than the pressure to “start over” on January 1st.

Together, we lift the veil on yoga studio economics: national brands profiting off the backs of their yoga teachers, beautiful spaces that still underpay instructors, and the often invisible labor teachers carry: planning, travel, emotional regulation, continuing education, and energetic care just to name a few. Fair pay and clean studios aren’t luxuries; they’re the foundation for sustainability, integrity, and real community. We also highlight models that are working—studios offering solid base pay with transparent incentives—proving that people-centered business can thrive.

Boundaries take center stage as Giana shares a recent classroom experience that sparked sacred rage—not as something to suppress, but as wise information when integrity is crossed. We talk about the myth that yoga teachers must be endlessly calm, the toll of overgiving, navigating “energy vampires,” and why consent, non-touch classes, and post-class regulation matter more than ever.

To ground the conversation, we share practical tools to support your practice and nervous system:

• ✨ A free Get Meditating Guide for anyone who feels overwhelmed, intimidated, or unsure where to begin with meditation
  👉 https://nearlyenlightened.com/ne-home#section-J3tusgFFGq
  
  
• 🌿 The Meditate to Elevate Guided Meditation Portal—on-demand practices for real life, messy days included
  👉 https://nearlyenlightened.com/meditate2elevate
  
  
• 🔥 A 30-Day Deepen Your Practice Challenge, rooted in the eight limbs of yoga (not just poses), designed to help you build consistency, self-trust, and embodied awareness
  👉 https://link.fgfunnels.com/widget/form/QSI9v3Dr8UpbrSxc2I4G

If you’re ready to shed old skin, stop overgiving to overtakers, and rebuild your relationship with practice in a way that actually supports your life, this episode offers a grounded path forward.

Join us in the conversation—what boundary are you drawing this season?

If this episode resonates, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs a kinder, more honest start to their year. Your support helps Nearly Enlightened continue to grow as a space for r

Nearly Enlightened Podcast
Your high-vibe toolbox to connect with your body, mind, and spirit. Empowering you to uncover your Inner Wisdom.

Subscribe & Listen on your favorite platform.

Explore More: Meditate to Elevate | Blog | Free Guide
Let's grow together: @nearlyenlightened | Nearly Enlightened

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When someone's attempt at a mean insult is exactly what you need to laugh, reframe, and reclaim your power. In this episode, I’m joined by Dee Doyno as we turn the infamous “yogi walrus” comment into a playful springboard for real conversation about body talk, wellness culture, and loosening perfectionism with a little humor. We even dive into AI roasts of our own Instagram selves—espresso auras, chaos energy, and brass-knuckle kindness included—because when you can giggle at your shadows, it makes healing a little more palatable.
From laughter, we shift into depth: exploring boundaries, non-attachment, self-worth, and the difference between forgiveness and access. We talk about transitioning from a “year nine” to a “year one,” shedding old skins, and starting fresh without burnout. We also get into yoga beyond the mat—living the eight limbs, navigating life after a 200-hour teacher training, and why mentorship and lifelong learning are game-changers for real bodies in real spaces.
Plus, we’re relaunching our 28-day yoga challenge as an accessible, daily container to rebuild rhythm, integrate breath and study, and lean on community accountability. Consider it a sneak peek of what’s coming next: deeper mentorship and a teacher training that honors lineage while supporting modern life.
If you’re craving a reset that blends heart, humor, and practice, this episode is for you. Subscribe, share with a friend who could use a loving nudge, and leave a review to help more curious humans find the show. Ready to learn from love and move forward with us?

Sign up for the challenge here!

Nearly Enlightened Podcast
Your high-vibe toolbox to connect with your body, mind, and spirit. Empowering you to uncover your Inner Wisdom.

Subscribe & Listen on your favorite platform.

Explore More: Meditate to Elevate | Blog | Free Guide
Let's grow together: @nearlyenlightened | Nearly Enlightened

We want to hear from you! Send us a text message.

In this episode, I sit down with soul led entrepreneur, busines strategist and author Justine Harrington to trace how a whisper to create a sanctuary for the soul became a living, breathing community space: Soul Sanctuary. A place for healing, movement, meditation, breath, and connectio are treated as everyday tools for coming home to yourself.
We walk right into the messy middle together—what it’s actually like to open a physical space post-COVID, shift careers, and move through healing as a spiral where old patterns resurface at deeper layers. Justine opens up about the practices that truly help in those seasons: mentorship, therapy, systems that reduce the chaos, and the courage to say no. We talk boundaries (and how they have to be relearned as you grow), leadership that doesn’t cost you your soul, and the myth of overnight success.
We also get into intuition, fear, and the art of discernment—how to feel alignment in your body as something that changes over time, and how meditation becomes practical when you treat it not as “clearing the mind,” but as watching your thoughts pass like trains and choosing which ones you’re actually getting on.
Plus, Justine shares what’s new at the studio: weekly yoga and dance classes, sound baths, breathwork, donation-based offerings like the Thanksgiving class supporting the Rhode Island Food Bank, a group mediumship event, and a 200-hour yoga teacher training on the horizon. Soul Sanctuary is becoming a true collaborative home for holistic practitioners, creative expression, and community care.
Whether you’re a founder, a creative, or someone on your own healing path, you’ll walk away with grounded, practical tools you can bring into daily life—micro-shifts, intuitive nudges, and reminders that you don’t have to do any of this alone.
If this conversation resonates, share it with someone who needs it, leave a quick review, and come be part of the community: check out the full schedule at soulsanctuaryri.com/the-studio. And if you’re curious about Justine’s book Homecoming: A Guide to Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Heart, you can find it on Amazon.

Nearly Enlightened Podcast
Your high-vibe toolbox to connect with your body, mind, and spirit. Empowering you to uncover your Inner Wisdom.

Subscribe & Listen on your favorite platform.

Explore More: Meditate to Elevate | Blog | Free Guide
Let's grow together: @nearlyenlightened | Nearly Enlightened