Daily Inspiration: Meet Amanda Bell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Bell.

Hi Amanda, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started personally practicing yoga about 18 years ago when I was a college freshman at Penn State. After being a cheerleader for many years, it seems like the natural progression to continue my fitness and love of movement.

I have been running Hot yoga studios for almost a decade, and when my friends/partners, who opened A Louisville location four years ago, approached me about opening up a Bend and Zen location in Nashville, I immediately jumped on the opportunity to live out my dream!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The most obvious struggle of opening up a small business over the past year was dealing with the global pandemic. We opened up our doors on December 15 and closed them on March 20 for three months. I cried a lot, but fortunately our community stood behind us by still paying their monthly auto-draft fees and purchasing online classes.

Closing our doors was initially infuriating, but yoga has taught me to release the things I cannot control, which helped me lean into giving myself a much-needed reset.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Before I opened the doors at Bend and Zen Nashville, I sat down multiple nights in a row trying to figure out what made us stand out amongst the rest of the incredible Yoga studios in the city. I came up with two things:

1. Community. Create a place where like-minded people come together to do better and be better with other like-minded people. If one likes something, they want to share it with others. Thus, a community is born. We cultivate our community every day by learning student’s names, giving personalized verbal assists & talking with you before/after class to learn more about who you are outside of the studio.

2. Give teachers the ability to shine in their own styles and not pigeonholed them in conforming to what I think Yoga is. I have three rules for teachers:

1. Come prepared. (Playlist, pinnacle pose, written downflow, etc.)

2. You have to want to be there. Don’t show up just because your name is on the schedule. The moment where you feel like you have lost your love of teaching, it’s time to take a break.

3. Make your class inclusive by offering modifications & alternatives.

If you can follow these three rules, we are going to get along just fine!

I’m proud of the extensive efforts I’ve made to ensure the studio is always clean. This was even the case during pre-covid times.

I’m proud that we can offer free bottled water, hand & showers towels, and even free yoga mats if you forget yours. There’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to practice at BZN if you only have your clothes.

I’m proud of the diversity of our students and staff. We are all from different walks of life, yet it is our love of movement through yoga that binds us together.

I’m proud that we have offerings to create a unique experience like live singing bowls 4x/month, LED lights during Dirty Yoga & Goddess Flows, Yoga + HIIT classes, and frozen lavender towels at the end of every class.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
There are a plethora of yoga resources out there for teachers and students alike.

Personally, I am an anatomy nut, and I love Leslie Kaminoff’s “Yoga Anatomy.” This book has some incredible illustrations and in-depth information.

I watched a ton of YouTube videos about advanced anatomy and sequencing. I wish I could say I have one favorite, but I absorb information from all the resources I can get.

One thing I absolutely love about Yoga is there is always something to learn. One can decide if they want to take their yoga practice in a more spiritual direction or more physical direction, or both! One isn’t necessarily better than the other one, but I just love that there’s so many choices on where to go!

Pricing:

• New Student Special is 2 weeks of unlimited yoga for $50. This can be purchased online.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://nashville.bendandzenhotyoga.com/
• Instagram: @Bendandzennashville

Image Credits
Photo cred: Victoria Huff Andrea Cothran