Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Caldwell.
Shannon, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
When I graduated from college, I worked as a corporate trainer and developer. In the summer of 1998, I conducted a goal-setting workshop and put up on the whiteboard to try yoga. I don’t know where that idea came from, but a few weeks later, I took my very first yoga class. I was hooked and it wasn’t long before I approached my teacher about learning to teach yoga because formal yoga training schools wasn’t a thing yet. If I’d known where that one question would lead me, I might not have ever asked it.
Like many others, I taught yoga more as a hobby and a way to get my membership for free. I was still working as a corporate trainer, loving the work but not the corporate constraints. In the fall of 2000, I was laid off, and at the urging of my boyfriend, focused on teaching yoga full time.
In less than eighteen months, I had enough clients to open a yoga studio, Esprit Yoga in McKinney, Texas. It was the first dedicated yoga studio in the north Texas area, and I had people from all the surrounding cities coming to try out this thing called yoga. When burn out threatened, I realized I needed help ASAP. Between my need for additional teachers and my background in corporate training and development, Purple Lotus Yoga teacher training was born.
I had five participants in my first teacher training, and I honestly believed after a couple of years I’d have trained all the people who were interested in teaching yoga. I never imagined I’d still be doing what I love most 16 years later. So many of the students I trained have gone on to start their own yoga studios, teacher training programs, and other yoga-related businesses. It’s truly humbling!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
No journey comes without obstacles and detours, but the beauty of practicing (and teaching) yoga is having a tool that gets me through those struggles. Owning a yoga studio took up a lot of time and energy. My marriage suffered and I fell into a major depression that took a caring psychologist (who happened to be a yoga student of mine) and a year of anti-depressants to pull me out of it. I sold the studio to focus on my relationship, but we ultimately divorced a few years later.
I don’t regret selling because it shined a light on the work I was meant to do, which is training and mentoring yoga teachers.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
At Purple Lotus Yoga, I train, mentor, and certify yoga teachers. When someone chooses Purple Lotus Yoga, they know they’re getting a solid foundation in the entire practice of yoga, not just the poses, and knowledge on how to incorporate yoga as a lifestyle. My training sessions are fun, encouraging, respectful, and interactive while honoring each person’s unique qualities that will make them the best yoga teacher they can be.
But it’s the community I’m most proud of. The people within each training session form strong bonds and then connect with others who completed training through Purple Lotus. Teachers continue to stay in contact, support one another and network long after training has ended.
What were you like growing up?
I can remember playing school when I was a kid. I’d set up my stuffed animals as students, I had a chalkboard, and a planner, and spent hours “teaching.” I loved reading and played the piano for a few years. As I got older, I discovered I liked writing and won a few school awards for it.
With zero eye-hand coordination, P.E. was my least favorite subject in school. I pretty much warmed the bench in any athletic endeavor. I attempted some dance and managed to be on the drill team all four years in high school. Looking back, I was probably a nerd in a drill team lieutenant’s short skirt.
My personality has always erred on the sarcastic side. It had to be since my entire family is fluent in it. We pick and tease, but it’s how we show affection.
Contact Info:
- Website: purplelotusyoga.com
- Email: shannon@purplelotusyoga.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/purple.lotus.yoga
- Facebook: facebook.com/iamscaldwell
- Other: pinterest.com/purplelotusyoga
Image Credit:
Tina Rogers Photography
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
