Enhanced Body by Monica

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Enhanced Body by Monica

Discover how to take your teaching career to the next level. Connect with a community of teachers on the same path.

Connect to your values, discover what's important to you, plus simple and easy to accomplish steps so you create a career you thrive in! I am an experienced registered E-RYT 500hr Yoga Alliance certified instructor and teaching my students how to move intelligently is one of my top priorities. As a life-long student I am committed to training exclusively with master teachers in the industries of yoga, biomechanics, functional movement, and physiotherapy. Thus, I am equipped to aid in the identification of warning signs of poor movement patterns, which, over time, leads to repetitive stress injuries. My overall intention is to awaken the importance of body awareness, proper postural alignment and functional movement patterns. I remain committed to leading Teacher Trainings, and through Enhanced Body I host yoga retreats in Mexico, and facilitate movement workshops all with the objective of educating clients about their bodies.

12/29/2025

Ever walk into class and suddenly feel like what you’ve planned for class doesn’t feel right? * The sequence you worked so hard on suddenly feels wrong for the room
* A student walks in with something unexpected, and you’re not sure what to do
If you’ve ever felt unprepared, you’re not alone. It happens to the best of us.
Every yoga teacher (even the most experienced) has faced this moment.
But what matters most isn’t whether you were perfectly prepared. It’s how you respond when you find yourself in this situation.
In this week’s episode of The Essential Conversations for Yoga Teachers Podcast, I’m sharing how to handle uncertainty in class and still show up grounded, calm, and confident.
We’ll discuss how to:
🌿regulate your nervous system in real time
🌿adapt to your students’ needs, and
🌿use those moments of “I don’t know” as powerful opportunities for growth and connection w/ students.
Confidence doesn’t always come from having every class perfectly planned, it comes from trusting that you can meet the moment, no matter what happens.

This week’s episode on the Essential Conversations for Yoga Teachers podcast is all about the moment! Have a listen…
Episode 105: Ever Felt Unprepared in Class? Here’s What To Do

✨Comment/DM - POD - and I’ll send you the episode!✨ No email sign-up necessary!

12/18/2025

Take your power back! Say no to what doesn’t feel right for you anymore. I believe we’re living in a time where we don’t have to follow old ‘rules’ and ‘standards.’
We get to create the live that feel the most authentic to US!
So, what are you saying NO to? I’m curious… ⤵️

12/17/2025

I crash out on the daily. Sorry, not sorry 🤷🏼‍♀️

12/15/2025

You can’t pour from an empty cup, and yet, so many yoga teachers keep trying to. DEspecially during this time of year.
Burnout isn’t a lack of dedication or a loss of interest in teaching; it’s your body’s request for balance.
In this week’s episode on the Essential Conversations for Yoga Teachers podcast, we talk about
👉🏽what burnout really is
👉🏽how it affects your nervous system, and
👉🏽how to gently find your way back to the part of you that enjoys teaching.
You deserve to feel inspired again. So Let’s get to it!
Ep 103: Burnout - Why It Happens & What to Do About It

✨Comment - POD - and I’ll send you the episode!✨ No email sign-up necessary!

12/11/2025

Think back to your 200hr YTT, how much instruction did you get on helping students with pain and injuries?
There wasn’t much in mine so I was not prepared when students came to me with questions.
Therefore, I began questioning whether props & modifications were actually helping because it didn’t really look like they were.
And I felt a certain sense of responsibility because I’m the teacher that they’re trusting to help them navigate the class.
I realize social media isn’t really the safest place to bare your soul and admit that you really would like to understand how to work and help these students of yours more effectively.
I teach teachers how to understand AND how to actually teach students with them.
But I am obsessed with injuries! Save this post so when you have that burning desire to help students differently, you know where to come 💕

12/09/2025

I remember the exact moment I started thinking about sequencing FOR my students needs.
I was teaching a class that included Dancer’s pose. I stopped class to break down the ‘proper’ positioning for the hand holding the foot. I was always taught, “hold the arch side of the foot.”
But, I had students who never, ever did that no matter how many times I taught it. And I started to question why.
Here’s what I did…
👉🏽asked them why
👉🏽studied anatomy
👉🏽researched natural human movement, and
👉🏽dug into understanding injuries
And I finally understood… it doesn’t matter what I sequence or how I teach it, some students may not be able to practice it. This is normal!
However, I can approach sequencing with their needs in mind. Realizing this changed the way I cue, touch, and sequence. Two things I’ve learned:
1️⃣less is more and
2️⃣awareness is key

How do you approach sequencing?

12/08/2025

If you (like me, at the start of my career) ever created a sequence and thought, “I hope this makes sense,” trust me, you are not alone.
If you’ve ever relied soley on what feels good in your own body, ‘borrowed’ a flow you’ve seen on social media, or built one using those sequencing bulders… I hate to tell you but this doesn’t take into consideration the students in your classes & the movment limitations they might be experiencing.
This is a necessary truth that’s uncomfortable to hear but mayyyybe it’ll help you take a second look at how you approach sequencing.
It’s about sequencing with purpose & the ability to shift what you’ve planned at a moments notice. .
Understanding anatomy, the nervous system, and real student experiences with pain and injuries helps you evolve the way you sequence and your thoughts around sequencing…. change.
You evolve from:
✨guessing to understanding ✨hoping to knowing, and ✨creative overwhelm to intentional clarity.
This is what I’m diving into in this week’s episode of the Essential Conversations for Yoga Teachers podcast.
Episode # 102: Sequencing for yout Students’ Needs.
This episode helps you shift your method for sequencing to take into account what may be more beneficial for the students who attend your classes. It helps you get out of your head and into your students’ bodies.

✨Comment - POD - and I’ll send you the episode!✨ No email sign-up necessary!

12/03/2025

Nothing much more to say on this. 🤷🏼‍♀️
Quality > quantity. That’s it, that’s all.

12/01/2025

If you’ve ever felt like your sequences aren’t creative enough, exciting enough, or “advanced” enough, then this episode is for you.
One of the biggest lies yoga teachers are taught is that every class needs to be completely new and different, and that your personal practice should guide every sequence you create. But creativity without intention doesn’t support a class full of students with diverse bodies.
And building sequences based on what feels good in your body deeply limits how you can support students moving through pain, stiffness, weakness, hypermobility, or injury recovery.
The real magic (the kind that makes you a grounded, confident, student-centered teacher) comes from understanding why you’re teaching what you’re teaching. It comes from repetition, clarity, and creating nervous system safety so students can actually learn and progress.
✨You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every class.
✨You don’t have to teach the most super creative sequences.
✨You don’t have to be the most flexible or the strongest teacher ever.
You simply need intention, awareness, and the willingness to see sequencing as a tool for student support rather than as a performance.
The Essential Conversations for Yoga Teachers podcast - Episode 101: Sequencing: Why Repetition and Intention Matter More Than Novelty
✨Comment - POD - and I’ll send you the episode!✨ No email sign-up necessary!

11/26/2025

Just like a proud mama bear 🐻
I could not be more excited for the yoga teachers who invested in themselves, their curiosity, and their openness to learn how to help students with real-life pain & injuries.
✨You CAN help these students
✨It IS within your scope of practice
✨It actually IS your responsibility
✨Your students will LOVE you for it
Teaching Students with Injuries gets me excited!! If you’ve ever talked with me about it… you’d know 😉

11/25/2025

If your 200hr training was anything like mine, you:
👉🏽learned an adjustment for every pose
👉🏽were encouraged to touch as much as possible (“students haven’t been touched in their personal life, so they need you to touch them”)
👉🏽were taught that you should help students get ‘deeper’ in a pose
🚫were NOT taught about pain and injuries & how to address them
Therefore, you naturally have some hesitation around whether your adjustment will make things worse or not. I totally get it.
But you don’t have to continue being hesitant. You CAN become confident!
You do that by getting more curious, asking more questions, and learning more about the experiences your students are having in class.
You got this! 💪🏽

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Chicago, IL

Website

http://enhanced-body.com/

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