Even in my days of being a high school athlete to being a broke NYU student, I always found that sports and physical activity was the ultimate stress reliever. But you probably know that once your body gets used to a particular exercise, it stops being effective and your body basically says,
“Um…this is easy, so unless you switch up your workout, you probably shouldn’t have that last brownie.”

Then I discovered yoga which completely changed my life because it challenges you mentally and physically as well as being a practice which allows you to sharpen your focus, which translates outside the studio as well. I’m lucky to have taken classes with Meaghan Kennedy Townsend, a knowledgeable and challenging yoga instructor who somehow manages to make the most difficult poses fun with her positive words and also a crazy good music mix. She’s been featured in Glamour Magazine as well as various other publications.

Meaghan, you’re not from LA, are you? And how did you get involved with yoga??
Well, I’m from up on the Massachusetts, and grew up playing a bunch of sports from lacrosse, tennis, softball,basketball, and sailing. I’m also a runner and have always had good endurance. I went to undergrad at Harvard and was visiting my cousin in California which is where I went to my first yoga class. All I remember was how good I felt afterward, and then I went back to Cambridge and did yoga there. Soon after graduating, I became a Business Analyst and it didn’t feel right. So, I started taking yoga teacher training, and it felt organic because every time I practiced, I loved it. I knew what I wanted to do.

Was your family supportive of your decision to be a yoga teacher?
My grandfather is Robert Kennedy and I obviously come from a very political, blue-blooded family, so I thought I had to be a doctor, lawyer, or business analyst. In the beginning, the fact that I was teaching yoga wasn’t really accepted by my family. But I just kept teaching classes and people asked me to sub classes. One thing lead to another, and I realized I loved teaching. My parents were like, “When are you going to business school?”

Haha. Yeah, I can totally relate. So, what inspires you in your work?
1) The fact that I’m doing something that is healthy and good for my body
2) Helping people and teaching them. When you help someone get over a fear, you’re helping them connect with their weaknesses. I’ve met so many people that tell me, “You changed my life. You bring me peace. You’ve helped me find joy.” It was such a change in my life from being sad at work to being joyful all the time. 98% of my life is happy and I didn’t ever think this would occur. I feel really lucky that I love my job, because I know 80% of America hates their job.

You have a big following with yoga classes here in LA. How do you keep it fresh for each class?
I take classes myself and have always hated when people did the same thing again. For me, as a teacher, I don’t want to be a robot. I need to shake it up which reflects in my classes, so I always want to keep students challenged and thinking of new things. Its important because your body gets used to certain yoga positions, so its also about getting into the same pose from a different angle. It changes your perspective. It reflects life… A lot of students tell me that their focus increases from regular yoga practice and affects how they are in daily life. So, how you are on your mat is how you are in life. For example, if you’re holding warrior 2 (a yoga pose) for a minute, then you can do it in life. Its funny that there are people who don’t use their bodies all day long but in yoga, you’re doing hundreds of things at one time. Your attitude toward yourself will change because of how you approach your practice.

You teach a tough class, but the music mixes that you make are pretty awesome and really add to the challenging classes. Hip-hop, classic rock, contemporary and the latest pop. I remember once I was in some ridiculously hard pose, and then I hear “I’m Me,” by Lil Wayne..followed by a song from Weezer. Awesome. How do you come up with the mixes?
I DJ during class with my ipod. I don’t know what I’m going to play in class because my class is based on whose in class. I have a hundred different playlists on my ipod for class. I spend five hours a day reading online about music because I have poor hearing and can’t really make out the music. So I created a system for understanding it with websites, charts, creating a matrix. Twenty different categories of music for each pose. I group songs based on the poses and the flow, and also if I know some of my regular students like a certain type of song, I make sure its in my playlist. It’s so complicated and crazy. People work really hard, have stressful lives, and this is an hour when they can learn and feel good in their bodies, and have a good time. I don’t want you to feel bad after practice. I try to make it as dynamic as possible.

Love it. So, how do you keep a healthy mindset about mind/body considering we live in LA?
Yoga is the key for me. I was a girl who didn’t think she was pretty growing up and in my family, there was pressure to be amazing. I never felt like I could live up to it. Yoga took that out of me. I just wanted to do crow. Whatever. In the end, it has totally made me think of the positives about myself. It’s totally flip-flopped. I don’t think about that stuff because yoga takes the focus away from what you look like. I feel so good in my body doing yoga and it never accomplishes anything by being negative to yourself. It’s like… its pointless. When you become happier, your inner being becomes happier. There is something about feeling good within your body that makes you look better. The best beauty secret is doing yoga.

I recently did my first handstand in class!!! (after 4 years of practice) What would you say to those newbies in class who feel intimidated by all the experienced yogis?
Those people have been doing it for a while. Some are easy for some. Some are harder. I could not do any balancing when I started. If you really want to learn how to do it, focus your energy. It’s the one sport that’s not competitive. You don’t think, “Oh, that person’s better than me.” Enjoy yourself.

What else inspires you in life and how do you stay motivated and positive?
I think its rare that I found a job I love to do. I LOVE my job and am excited to go to work. That won’t happen for everybody. Some people teach and they don’t like it. For me, it works. In anything, you can be in a yoga pose and think, this pose sucks, why is she making me hold my arms like this. I’m tired. Then, you go into pigeon pose and you’re not happy. So understand that it’s your choice to be happy. It’s what’s going on inside. Your mindset. Choose to be happy and find one thing to be happy about.

So, you ever going to back up and go back to Boston?
I Love LA and have been here 10 years. I love where I am. I’ve met lots of really cool people. People say that the grass is greener on the other side, but I’m pretty cool over here.

Thanks for your time, Meaghan! Meaghan teaches ridiculously crowded classes at Equinox as well as teaching private yoga sessions. For more information, check out her website.