234 - Rawness and Authenticity for Success w/Missy Bunch

Missy Bunch, a neurology expert and movement teacher to the pros, joins us today and I'm so excited! This is a juicy and vulnerable conversation and we talk so many things, from motherhood and movement science to business and making dreams come true.

Some of today's takeaways:

• How authenticity and vulnerability on social media helps to connect on a human level with others and invite success
• Expansion doesn't always happen in the way we expect or choose, but it's important to say yes to opportunities and trust that everything will work out.
• Having limited time can actually increase productivity and focus. Balancing work and parenting requires communication, trial and error, and adaptation.
• Women claiming themselves and stepping into their power can have a profound impact on the world.
• Balancing motherhood and running a business requires prioritization and being present in the moment.
• Eye movements in yoga practice can stimulate the brain and improve brain health.
• Incorporating eye exercises into yoga classes can enhance the students' experience and promote brain-body connection.
• Yoga teachers can experiment with different eye movements and positions to engage different parts of the brain and enhance proprioception.

Connect with Missy on Instagram

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and the Importance of Authenticity on Social Media
08:08 Childhood Dreams and Embracing New Opportunities
27:57 Navigating Expansion and Growth
36:00 The Unexpected Process of Expansion
44:34 The Power of Women Claiming Themselves
52:39 Balancing Motherhood and Business
01:03:31 Productivity in Limited Time
01:13:14 Balancing Work and Parenting
01:31:00 The Connection Between Eye Movements and Brain Health in Yoga
01:46:27 Experimenting with Eye Movements to Improve Proprioception

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Connect with Bonnie: Instagram, Email (hello@bonnieweeks.com), Website
Listen to Bonnie's other podcast Sexy Sunday HERE

The music for this episode is Threads by The Light Meeting.
Produced by: Grey Tanner

Transcript

Bonnie (00:03.573)
Welcome back to the podcast loves. Today I am introducing you to somebody that I have been wanting to be on the podcast with me for so long. I'm so excited that the stars have aligned for this conversation for so many reasons. But if you are following me on social media, you know that, or maybe you have heard me say like, I like to make social media social. Like let's...

be there like real humans and maybe you're like, oh, the follower count is this or this person looks like they're doing this. So they look like they're XYZ. Assumptions suck though, right? And that we're all just humans. I was literally in a bathrobe making my posts this morning like leaning over my kitchen counter. Like this is normal human shit. So I love finding people who are experts at their craft.

who are interested in continually learning, who are providing value that's changing people's lives and are being real humans doing it. And today, I have one of those people with us. Welcome to the podcast, Missy Bunch.

Missy Bunch (01:12.738)
Thank you so much. I have been looking forward to this all week. I kept looking at my Thursday like, yes. And I wanted to tell you that the biggest yes from me, it's actually my biggest yes to a podcast ever. And yeah, I mean, I have chills saying it because when you invited me to have this opportunity with you, you said in the DMs, you said,

Bonnie (01:30.75)
Oooo

Missy Bunch (01:42.998)
The neuro stuff's cool and all, but I don't know the words, right? But that's how you started it. And you said kind of what you had just said in the intro. I also want to show the human-ness and the person behind the expertise. And that right there makes this very unique. It makes it raw, authentic and vulnerable. And I am a very

Bonnie (01:49.541)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (01:58.192)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (02:06.313)
Mm.

Missy Bunch (02:10.71)
big core value person on those three things. Raw, vulnerable, authentic. And that's my biggest reason. I'm just very honored and excited to speak with you because I just vibe with you and we don't even know each other. But the authenticity and rawness is just oozing out of you.

Bonnie (02:32.081)
Hmm.

Missy Bunch (02:38.43)
And I think you probably feel that same way, right? So it's just this, oh, like, oh, I'm so, I purposefully didn't wear mascara today for this podcast because I'm like, I'm for sure 100% crying. And that's a good thing, right? That I wanted to be that version of myself with you and your listeners. Like this is going down today.

Bonnie (02:57.621)
Hmm.

Bonnie (03:04.273)
This is such a delight. I think back to like 10 years ago when I got on Instagram and you're like posting things and we're like all scared too back then. And if we met somebody on Instagram or the very first people that I met in real life from knowing them on Instagram, it felt terrifying in some ways for some people. For me, I was just like, no, this is what we do. And other people thought, wait, you're gonna go meet a stranger?

that you met online. And so I love that, like you say, you're like, we know each other. We're like friends already. But this is like, I can feel it. I can feel the vibes. We're friends already. And we could meet and just drop right into conversation. And I think that it is a testament to showing up and being a human. And it's one of the things that I actually, I'll tell people, I'm like, one of the first things that I do, when I go to somebody's page, I am actually looking for a video of them talking.

which can be scary. It could be really scary because we make weird faces and we have our particular intonation and speed of talking and all of the filler words and gestures and like all the things. But I'm like, I wanna know who you are. And you do a great job with that. I'm like, oh, that's messy. I like, we're just hanging out, we're friends.

Missy Bunch (04:27.078)
Yeah, thank you. I appreciate that and as you know, it's actually hard to be your authentic self on social media Because you're trying to portray who you are in a very short time frame maybe a 60 second 10 second clip, right and Probably trying to deliver value at the same time. So it's like deliver value do it concisely do it Funny do it entertaining do it and you're like

Bonnie (04:39.838)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (04:55.289)
Yeah!

Missy Bunch (04:55.862)
But I'm a silly person. I want to be silly. Can I goof around, you know? So it's a wild world out there.

Bonnie (05:05.097)
Yeah, well, but I love, I love that you're even saying that, Missy. You're like, I'm a silly person. That's what I want to bring. And it doesn't like you don't feel like to me as in those even 10 seconds or 90 seconds, you know, whatever we're doing there, that you're trying to pretend. And so even if you're not tapping into like the silliest version of you, you don't feel like you're trying to pretend. And

And maybe, I don't know, was there a point in time when you're like, okay, I'm gonna pretend like this is comfortable and I'm just gonna show up and do it. And that version of you might look different than right now, even though there's, I don't know, like there becomes like a, I don't know, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. I'm like, I think there's part of it that you understand the performance of trying to capture people's attention.

while at the same time trying to hold an authenticity of like, this is a real silly self, but also I'm gonna show up knowing you're here, even though I'm recording this and you're not here.

Missy Bunch (06:08.142)
Absolutely. It's I kind of just think of it like listen. It's just a conversation It's just a conversation the thing that if I ever get lost which is every day I Come back to okay If I was calling my best friend to share this news or explain this example How would I sound? Would I be like trying to sound super smart with my earth?

Bonnie (06:14.163)
Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (06:38.302)
You know, it'd be like, I'd be like, girl, you are not going to believe this. You know, like you just come across so different if you were just actually sharing with a friend the information you want to, you know. So that's kind of how I go about it is that that's my one person is. A bestie or favorite client or who, you know, someone like that.

Bonnie (06:49.838)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (06:58.702)
Yeah.

Bonnie (07:01.941)
Yeah, totally. Totally. I mean, like, this is more about like showing up on Instagram, we're going to go a lot of different places. But I like, you know, I'm like, this is how we've met. This is how we like interact with so often. I did give the advice somebody recently that echoes this where they're like, I don't even know. I don't like it's so scary because it's a whole worldwide audience that you can talk to on social media. And I told this person, I was like, just like think about the class that you taught yesterday. Think about two people in the front row of that class who were like watching you.

Now give them something, like just post something or talk on Instagram like you're talking to those two people, name them, like envision them in your head. And it's that easy, like that's who you're talking to.

Missy Bunch (07:46.323)
Exactly. That's it.

Bonnie (07:47.399)
Otherwise, it can feel intimidating.

Missy Bunch (07:51.678)
And it does. Not it can. It absolutely 100% does, Phil.

Bonnie (07:58.485)
Oh gosh. Okay. Let's, um, I want to hear more about, not less, less about this current moment for you. Um, because, because we're here, right? And I want to hear, I think this is interesting when I have thought about it for myself. So I would love to hear when you were a teenager, like think about when you were like,

Missy Bunch (08:08.003)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (08:22.553)
Like maybe high school, maybe early high school. So a little bit younger teenager, right? Like what did you imagine yourself doing at this age right here? Or like, you're like, when I'm an adult, when I'm a grownup, I'm going to.

Missy Bunch (08:36.546)
That has, no one's ever asked me that ever. To be honest, I always had two things. I was either gonna be a veterinarian or I was going to be a marine biologist. Those were my two, both have to do with animals. I love the ocean. I was like, oh, ocean and animals, marine, cool, whatever. So that was always it for me. It was always a vet or a marine biologist, always, since I was little.

Bonnie (08:58.683)
Yeah.

Bonnie (09:05.141)
In specific for the working with animals or the work that you would do like for the animals Like their bodies or like environment or okay

Missy Bunch (09:13.122)
Both. Yeah, just the whole world. Like I've always been someone who is fascinated by all living creatures, really. Like my, I remember being a very little thing, like maybe five, and I would just stare at ants and like be in a squat and like watch them and analyze them and.

wonder how they do this and construct that and strategize it. And I just watch, I could watch them for an hour straight without moving, right? And a stranger actually came up to me once and said like, sweetheart, are you okay? Because I was staring at the floor for how, I don't even know how long, you know? So it's always been in me to be so curious. I'm always just so curious about all the things. Like I could look at a door handle and

I mean, you would think I was super high all the time, right? Like I can think about and be curious about anything. Just like this straw that I'm using. I'm like, how long did it take to make that? How many people were there? Where is this from? Where the materials come? And I just go off. So yeah, I remember being little and I there was a dead cat in the street and I lost my mind and sprinted home and was like, Dad, there's a cat.

Bonnie (10:16.166)
Hmm.

Missy Bunch (10:40.33)
And like everyone was very shocked at how much it affected me. And yeah, so I don't know if it was about movement solely, but just living creatures. And here we are.

Bonnie (10:46.609)
Hmm.

Bonnie (10:58.765)
Yeah. When you, did you ever step more in that direction outside of like fantasy land as a kid?

Missy Bunch (11:07.582)
I started to, and this is actually really sad, I remember specifically, this is before Google, right? I don't know how I found this information, but I remember looking up, maybe it was a book or a pamphlet, what a marine biologist makes for like money. And it was like in a line of other salaries, and it was at the very, very low end. And then I remember thinking, well, that's not good.

Bonnie (11:29.892)
Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (11:38.638)
I didn't even have an understanding of money at the time as much, but I knew it was at the bottom. And I thought, oh, well, that's not good. And it kind of shifted my interest from that second on, which I'm just now realizing while I'm talking to you. I think about that sometimes. It's really sad, actually. It's like I still love those things. But yeah, because what I saw, the way they portrayed it on this certain thing I was looking at made it seem like it was not a good idea.

Bonnie (11:50.385)
Hmm.

Missy Bunch (12:09.335)
And I kind of was like, oh, well that sucks.

Okay, and just kind of let it go.

Bonnie (12:15.023)
Mm-hmm.

And so what, where did you go from there?

Missy Bunch (12:23.418)
I don't know if it was like a specific, like right into the next thing. Cause I had always been a mover. I've been, I had always been moving or on stage doing stuff. So maybe it was just then that I took it more seriously. I'm from a really small town. So it was hard to decipher if there was actual talent or if you were just.

Bonnie (12:42.118)
Hmm.

Missy Bunch (12:53.458)
a big fish in a small, yeah, like, is this like a really small pond or is there like actually something there? And I had an awareness of that. Like, okay, I seem really cool here. But like, is that actually going to translate into the real world?

Bonnie (12:53.628)
If your mom was like...

Bonnie (13:11.351)
Yeah.

Missy Bunch (13:14.038)
Um, yeah, so I don't know if there was a specific transition, but maybe, maybe at that point, I took it more seriously and started competing more in dance or, you know, who knows? Don't really remember.

Bonnie (13:23.917)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Well, I love that, you know, you were already attracted to, I mean, whether as a marine biologist or a veterinarian, like that's going to be a dealing with bodies. That's going to be a dealing with like, okay, problem solving and an infinite study of things and how they work. Yeah. And on, you know, maybe a vast array of

Missy Bunch (13:48.255)
infinite.

Bonnie (13:54.109)
particular animal or a group of animals and that's also exactly what you're doing.

Missy Bunch (14:01.206)
Literally. Yeah.

Bonnie (14:02.553)
And when I was a kid, I either wanted to deliver babies or be a school teacher. I was like, it's gonna be one of those two things. And I'm like a weirdish kind of mashup of like, I'm not delivering babies, but my favorite classes were studying on like cat cadavers, human cadavers, like doing like the body study, like it's fascinating to me. And then also teaching and I'm like, well, I'm doing both of those things.

Missy Bunch (14:16.283)
Yeah!

Missy Bunch (14:31.598)
Wow, what a wild story. Just what? You're, you might not be physically delivering babies, but you deliver births of other kinds, right? You're birthing things. And it is no coincidence, okay? So I do yoga at a minimum one time a week. I don't share about it a lot.

Bonnie (14:42.569)
Yes, yes, I'm birthing things. Yes.

Missy Bunch (14:58.018)
but it is like a part of who I am. It is something I've been doing for my entire life. And today, I had like, I was crying for like an entire hour. I just was releasing and releasing, and I was just thinking to myself, wow, I'm gonna talk to Bonnie later, and I'm having this rare, beautiful.

Bonnie (15:10.958)
Hmm.

Missy Bunch (15:25.87)
kind of embarrassing, but kind of amazing experience. Like it just today and you and this and that class with the teacher that was substituting. So you're always like, whoa, where does sub come from? And you're just, but then they were amazing. And I was like, oh, I like you. You just, I was crying the entire time. I've never cried in a yoga class ever, but this was just, it,

Bonnie (15:31.377)
Hmm.

Bonnie (15:44.828)
You're like, I cried the whole time, you were amazing. Ha ha ha.

Bonnie (15:52.493)
Hmm

Missy Bunch (15:55.178)
Well, we'll get into it. I'm going through the most, the most cracky, open-y experience that I've ever been through literally as we speak. Like the most ego shattering expansion. And it's, again, no coincidence that we're talking because I actually really do want to talk about it because it's...

Bonnie (16:10.821)
Hmm.

Bonnie (16:19.75)
Hmm.

Bonnie (16:23.641)
Yeah.

Missy Bunch (16:24.594)
It's a... My old self is literally going to have to be left behind and it's a choice you have to make. And that's, I have chills. That's why I had a lot of release today because it was just, I'm realizing and grappling with the growth that I asked for, right? And it is like, it's like literally here.

Bonnie (16:49.957)
Mm. Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (16:57.002)
And I've always known that this was gonna happen since I chose it maybe 10 years ago, maybe longer. I said, I'll just get into it, but I said I'm going to teach on that stage with that person at some point in my life. I don't know when, I don't know for how long, I don't know the circumstance, I just knew, I just always knew. And...

Bonnie (17:07.129)
Keep going.

Missy Bunch (17:26.286)
on Monday, so Tuesday, so three days ago, I get contacted by this person's team and they're looking for someone who teaches movement and it's like.

You know, like think of a really big name. And every time this person speaks, there's like thousands of Zoom faces all around this person.

Probably by the time this is published, I think I'll be able to have said it. So I'll just say it rhymes with schrony schrobbins.

Bonnie (18:06.673)
I'm going to go ahead and turn it off.

Missy Bunch (18:09.166)
Like, I don't know if I didn't sign any paperwork yet, but you catch the name I'm putting down. And that's next Wednesday. I go live.

Bonnie (18:10.705)
Hehe

Bonnie (18:20.017)
Hmm.

Missy Bunch (18:23.426)
What?

Bonnie (18:24.533)
Yeah. Hmm.

Missy Bunch (18:26.026)
What are you? What? Where did you come from?

I'm just Misty Bunch from Little Coastal Town. Like I just like.

Bonnie (18:39.522)
Yeah.

Missy Bunch (18:40.246)
So you go like, oh, I'm gonna do that. I want that. Oh, I could so do that. And then it comes and you're like.

Oh, but you mean for real?

Bonnie (18:53.477)
Yeah.

Missy Bunch (18:54.842)
So Lights, Camera, Action 3, 2, 1, we're live. Like for real, real.

Bonnie (18:59.812)
Mmm.

Missy Bunch (19:02.494)
So all since months, since three days ago, I've just been like, I'm not good enough. They're gonna regret this. What if I freeze? What if I choke? What if people think I'm stupid? What if what I say is wrong? What if I just, I mean, it's wild. On top of that, I'm buying my first house. I've never done that before.

So another very big emotional moment in my life because that was also, that was never in the cards for me. Never. My parents are gone. I don't have help from anyone. You know, it just, we shopped at thrift stores my whole life. My mom made my clothes. We ate 99 cent store food my whole life, you know?

Missy Bunch (19:58.134)
Like when I would go to my friend's house and they had like craft singles, I would be like, wow, you have name brand cheese? It was a really weird example, but I just, we never had name brand food or clothing.

Bonnie (20:06.33)
Mm.

Missy Bunch (20:15.674)
A house has never been in the cards. It just has never been. I've never even thought about it because it was just not in my path, you know? And then last week, let's just see what happens. And then, you know, it all just happened so fast. So one week ago, put an offer in at like 3 p.m., 6 p.m., get a counter, 11 a.m., accepted.

Like not even 12 hours. So this is where I'm at. I just totally dumped on you, but that is why I'm excited to talk to you because I know that you can understand how expand, like here, and it's like, I'm like being cracked open at a level that I've literally never had to deal with before. I've never been expanded this much in such a short time so rapidly.

Bonnie (20:50.045)
Mmm.

Bonnie (21:03.557)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (21:13.947)
Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (21:14.707)
And so here we are.

Bonnie (21:16.378)
Hmm

Bonnie (21:20.837)
Thank you for sharing.

Missy Bunch (21:22.867)
Yeah, you're welcome.

Bonnie (21:24.117)
Like, and I mean, you said you're just dumped on me. You did not. Like, this is the real life. This is like, it never feels like that to me whenever somebody says that. I'm like, no, no. Like, I am here for this. I'm like, this doesn't like enter me. I think there's some people that feel like I'm like carrying the burdens of the world. And I'm like, no, I like have my own emotional shit. I'm carrying that. Like, we just get to meet in the middle. Yeah, I mean, it's just, you know, we all have our different...

Missy Bunch (21:31.406)
Okay.

Missy Bunch (21:37.678)
Great.

Missy Bunch (21:45.258)
Yeah, you're like, I'm good. I have my shield up.

Bonnie (21:53.873)
I think flows with that. But I'm grateful for this random sub of this yoga class today. You know? And like the gift it is, and I think the amount of yoga teachers who listen to this podcast too, to be like, one, people who step into like a room as a yoga sub, they're like,

These are my aren't like these people don't know me. Like, are they gonna be expecting this other teacher? Like, am I good enough to be doing this? Sometimes people are in a sub list because they don't have a regular teaching position. So it's kind of like their way in to try to get on a schedule. So there's a lot of like trepidation about being a substitute teacher. And so I love even your example where you're saying, I'm not enough. I'm like, they're gonna find me out. Like all of these things that sub today.

might have been in that exact same place. And here you just have this experience where you felt safe enough in that room with that teacher, even though that person was new, and with yourself. That you're like, I can open myself up here and have this moment for me. And be like, oh, this is where I am.

Missy Bunch (23:06.638)
Mm-hmm. You know what's crazy about that is I want to tell, if your listeners are mostly instructors, right? If my regular teacher was there, I don't think that would have happened for me today, right? Because we have a groove. And I expect certain things. And I know her choreography. I know what she's going to teach before she even teaches it, right? It's just.

Bonnie (23:07.577)
Like such a gift.

Bonnie (23:23.739)
Hmm.

Missy Bunch (23:35.69)
You know, we all have our certain ways. So it's interesting. So maybe the subs that are listening can hear that could be a really wonderful experience for someone. I mean, I had a one hour release basically because it wasn't my regular instructor. I love my regular, we're obsessed with each other, you know, like love her to death, but it just, it's just an expectation and a.

Bonnie (23:47.365)
Yeah.

Bonnie (23:59.213)
Yeah, totally. Absolutely.

Bonnie (24:05.197)
It's a different person. It's a different energy. It's a different, it's a different opportunity. It's a different experiment. It's like, yeah, there's so many ways to be right. And, and it just, that was, that was it for this, this day. And I think that for the yoga space, it's so different. I love movement science. Gosh, I joined a breathing biomechanics class. I was like on an hour and a half, hour 45.

Missy Bunch (24:05.238)
You're going through the stuff. It's a different, yeah.

Bonnie (24:32.753)
call today, like watching somebody like talk about breathing and the way that is affecting your shoulders and your hips and all that. Anyway, like I'm like, give me all the nerdy science thing. This is why I love the way you teach and like talking about eyes and this simplicity of things. And it might seem simple. It doesn't mean it's easy though, or it might look easy, but it's not really simple. Like there's a weird balance between those things.

or just to fucking remember to do the thing. Like, ha ha, so, but like the way that everything plays together, like our whole body, we're team players. Like every single little part of us is team players. But there's something different about yoga. Like I love lifting, I love climbing, I like hiking, I like, like I play tennis, I like to, like I like all the things. But there's something different with yoga. And I think some of it has to do with the pace.

Missy Bunch (25:04.778)
Literally.

Bonnie (25:30.301)
And that can look like a lot of different things depending on the class. But even so, you really, it's not like a dance class where you're trying to perform, unless of course you're in a performance sort of yoga place, which there are those places. I do not go to those places. Like it's your own, it's your own kind of like experience. And it's a pause experience. I just think every time I teach a class, I'm like, these people just want to move and breathe and rest.

And how do I give them space to do that? And that doesn't, that's not exactly what it looks like in other places. And I really try to approach teaching or like going to classes where it's an experiment place where there's room for me to find freedom to move. And if we can give each other that kind of space in the yoga room, that's something different and so that you were able to have or feel that kind of sense in yourself, they're like, Oh, there's room for me to like.

fill into whatever I'm feeling and the body is an excellent tool that helps us tap into some of those things. Where the feelings, you know, like putting ourselves in, like if you're feeling like you're having to expand massively, depending on, you know, your stance in the yoga room, if you're standing there in star pose, you're like, okay, so this is what I'm going to have to do.

And all of a sudden in your brain, you're like, I'm gonna be standing in front of all of these people and I'm gonna be like this in my body. I have to fill myself up from the inside out and like give myself permission to be there. I think you're like, oh, okay, okay. Right, or when you're like in a small space, right? Like think like child's feels, think of something or a bind or you're wrapped. You're like, oh yeah, I just wanna hold myself. And why do I wanna hold myself? It gives us.

like this reflection space.

Missy Bunch (27:29.022)
It's the best. I do yoga for like my mind, you know, like obviously I love the movements, but it's like the mind. When I'm lifting weights, I can't think the way I think when I'm flowing. It's just different, which I know you lift also, so you get it, it's just different. And yoga is kind of

Bonnie (27:29.34)
Mm.

Bonnie (27:37.664)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (27:41.59)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (27:51.729)
totally different.

Yeah.

Missy Bunch (27:57.922)
the closest to dance I can get to without finding a dance. Like I cannot find a dance class for the life of me. So it's like yoga gives me those like odd positions that a dancer would. Those are the things I crave. Cause I'm a modern dancer. So we like really asymmetrical crevice movements and there aren't that many adult modern dance classes as you can imagine.

Bonnie (28:01.769)
Hmm.

Bonnie (28:18.103)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Missy Bunch (28:27.53)
So it's in San Diego, there were a ton actually, I used to go three times a week. And then I moved here to Arizona and it's like, they don't exist. It's just not a thing here and my heart is literally shattered. But I'm accepting it all. I go to yoga more now. But yeah, I love what you're saying about the way poses feel and make you can feel exposed or you can feel.

Bonnie (28:36.731)
Hmm.

Bonnie (28:44.367)
Yeah.

Missy Bunch (28:56.782)
nurtured and protected and take care of yourself. You're like, wow, I didn't know I want to stay in this pose for five more breaths. Normally I don't like this pose, but today, hmm, hello. So cool.

Bonnie (29:05.059)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (29:10.085)
Right? Yeah. It really is like, I'm like, there can be, and I, I teach a, I teach a different way. I, and I like hearing you talk about modern dance because I have a lot of dancers who will find me in yoga and be like, oh, this is where I want to be because it is this weird mixture of traditional like yoga, but it feels dancey. I never danced. I always wanted to be a dancer. Um, but I felt insecure about.

being seen, which is a great conversation because now I'm like on the interwebs, here I am being seen, right? So I've had a journey. And then two, like there is, it's so fucking beautiful to watch dancers have the control that they do. But the control they have is like this mixture of like strength and grace. And so when I talk about flow yoga to people and I'm like, if you're coming to my power yoga class,

Power to me is the combination of strength and grace. And that is what we are going to do. This isn't about pulsing. This isn't about like trying to like burn out your leg and holding a bent leg position for like seven poses in a row. Like we're doing something different here. So.

Missy Bunch (30:24.77)
Mmm, yeah, you sound like my jam. I'm taking your class now. I don't wanna do all the, I like the, I like what you said, yeah. Strength and grace, that's it. Dancers are so strong in the weirdest positions. But do it while you're smiling and make it look easy.

Bonnie (30:27.601)
I'm sorry.

Bonnie (30:34.265)
There's. Yep.

Bonnie (30:46.053)
Yeah, well, I think there's an aspect sometimes of mobility that's missing within yoga. And so I really tried to bring that piece and it is, and I talk about it when I talk to in flow school teachers and I instruct in the way of like a human gait, like the way we walk, we automatically are doing opposite arms with opposite legs. We don't even think about it. And then we switch, but that is not how flow is approached or teaching yoga is not approached.

to sequence in that way. And there has been prescriptive sequences that have come from like Ashtanga yoga, from like tradition of yoga, the vinyasa, where it's like more creative sequencing, not like such the, like demand, you have to do it this way, right? There's a little bit more freedom for teachers to create, but there's still like a strong leaning towards sun salutations and like, we're only moving in the sagittal plane, primarily. There's a lot of people who don't go lateral. And so,

Really, I like try to help teachers be like, okay, let's like use movement science. Let's talk about gait Let's talk about why that's important and how that impacts then your flow if you think about sequencing that way You're gonna have to use some brain but really Ultimately, you have to tap back into your body to be like but what it was is the body actually want and how do we use? yoga poses in a way that the body actually wants naturally and It changes the feeling of the flow and that's why I think people think it feels like dance

Missy Bunch (32:11.982)
That makes all the sense to me. I love your brain.

Bonnie (32:17.762)
I think I'm just, I'm really, I'm really continually trying to figure out, I'm like, but how do I actually say the thing that we're doing in flow school? Because it's something so different. And there's definitely pushback from my traditional yoga world to be like, but we're going to lose like the essence of yoga. I'm like, no, we're not. This is just putting it together and anyway, we're constantly like learning and innovating. So yeah.

Missy Bunch (32:19.03)
Sounds juicy.

Missy Bunch (32:39.39)
Yeah, and it's you get to be you and attract who you attract. Right? The end.

Bonnie (32:43.645)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, the end. The end. Oh, I.

I love that, you know, when I was a kid, I imagined myself, I played the piano since I was a kid. I don't play a whole lot now, but I would sometimes we practice the piano and I would imagine myself up on a stage, big black grand piano, I'm on a stage. I am in a very bright red dress and I am playing on stage in front of all of the people.

This was a vision I had as a child. I do not want to play the piano in front of everybody on the stage. No, I think I would go for a red power suit now. Like maybe not red dress. Like, I mean, like give me something that like, you know, like maybe something different, but red, I'm actually, I was really anti-red for a while. I'm coming back to red now, which is interesting. But all that to say, I think in my own kind of exploration of where do I want to go and what can we hold in our nervous system,

Missy Bunch (33:27.562)
in a red dress.

Bonnie (33:51.361)
like the vision for our lives, which you are sharing here. You're like, wow, this is not the vision I even had for my life, to have a house. And yeah, I said that I wanted to be on this stage and with this person and in this orbit. And that was 10 years ago where I get that because I think there's been parts of me that I'm like, I'm going to speak on some stages. Like I have some things to share to help people with. And I don't, why I don't, the price tag doesn't matter to me that whatever I'm just

I think that there's, I think that's where I'm going. I don't know the timeframe for that. And I have a very small opportunity for some presentations stuff this next, in a week from today. And so I think also hearing your expansion moment and the gift of timing and

the gift of patience and the gift of trust in all of this.

Bonnie (34:52.389)
Yeah, it's just really beautiful. And I'm so excited for you. I'm so excited for the way that this is challenging your perception of yourself and giving you the opportunity to say like, oh, Missy, like I'm this person. I'm still like the silly person. I'm still like the person with the kids who have like now painted the entire back deck.

while I was out of like not watching them. Okay, great. That was from your stories yesterday. But also I'm this person and I actually can be all of these things. So fucking powerful.

Missy Bunch (35:31.586)
I love my kids so much. That's the center of my orbit, right? Like I would, they're just, ugh. The smell of them is intoxicating to me. You know, I love being a mom. I love being a mom. I don't love what it did to my body, but I love, that was a whole nother, that was a different kind of expansion, right? Yeah, I appreciate that a lot. What I've learned about this,

specific expansion process so far, it's been three days, is you don't get to choose. So if you ask for a portal to be opened, you don't get to choose what compartments get abundantly filled, right? Like, oh, you ask and you shall receive. I'm only going to do it in

Bonnie (36:21.349)
Hmm.

Missy Bunch (36:28.178)
You ask for it and it goes whoosh, right? Because you opened that, we'll call it a portal, whatever you want to call it, and you don't get to choose the door that's, right? You ask for it so it all comes in. And that is maybe some advice I would give to someone going through this is going, why does it all happen at once? Because that's how it has to happen. We don't get to be like, you know what? In the fall, can you?

Bonnie (36:43.213)
Hmm.

Bonnie (36:52.981)
Hmm.

Missy Bunch (36:58.326)
just postpone that opportunity when I'm over here and the house is settled and my kids are in daycare and all that, you know, like that would be a lot more convenient. Right, but this is like, we're moving cities. They will have no child, I have no childcare. I have no help. That's happening. I'm going live for six days. I could have said no.

Bonnie (37:09.753)
Yeah.

Missy Bunch (37:26.25)
I could have said, you know what, timing's not great. I just bought a house for the first time. I don't know what to do with my hands. But you go, yes, I will figure it out.

Bonnie (37:36.429)
Yep. Yes. Hell yes, you will.

Missy Bunch (37:42.674)
Yes, you just say yes, you say yes, and then it's all yes and you're just so. And then, you know, a month, two months, three months, a year from the current state you're in, you're like, why was I freaking out so much? Wasn't that big a deal? Everything always works out is totally fine.

Bonnie (37:55.942)
Right.

Bonnie (38:01.013)
Yeah. And you're absolutely right. You know, I think opening the portal is a great way to put it, like, why not? Like, the portal is open, it's boring. But I think, I wonder, I guess, it's more of I wonder. I wonder if it feels like it's all the things because we're paying attention.

Bonnie (38:23.897)
because maybe one thing is like rocks us and then all of a sudden we're looking at everything with that new lens that all of a sudden we're presented with.

Missy Bunch (38:31.76)
Mmm.

Missy Bunch (38:34.882)
That's a good inquiry for sure. Cause you're like, cause you're, you're kind of like this now perked up. And now it all, I see what you're saying. That too, that too, that like red car theory, like how many red cars did you see on your way here? And you're like, none. Well, if I gave you a hundred dollars for every red car that you saw, how many would you see? You know, and you're like 10.

Bonnie (38:40.499)
Mm-hmm.

And you're like, oh, and this and this and this.

Bonnie (38:49.326)
Yeah.

Missy Bunch (39:02.638)
So many red cars on the way here. Yeah, so that actually makes sense. You're kind of, your frequency's higher, your vibration's higher, you're more alert, your eyes are open. You're kind of like buzzing with electricity.

Bonnie (39:13.157)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, because if you're looking, I mean, truly, I must say, right now you're saying, okay, I have to become a new version of myself. I have to grow what the belief is in myself to be able to deliver to just like who I am as a person, to what I have to offer, to like me knowing the words to say and also being okay if I don't know the words, to like trusting myself. I have to step in here and grow. So you're looking at growth. And so then it makes sense that...

You're like, oh, now I have to grow here. Oh, I'm going to grow. I'm growing over here too. So now growth just becomes like lens, lens is growth now. Here we are. Go. You're like, what's the equivalent of protein for my soul? Okay, cool. Like I need that.

Missy Bunch (39:51.414)
The filter, yeah, yeah. Lens growth, yeah.

Missy Bunch (40:03.126)
Yeah.

Cool. Yeah.

Missy Bunch (40:11.052)
Man.

Bonnie (40:11.153)
Oh gosh. Okay, so you're teaching online, you are creating programs for people, you're being asked to grow and be able to teach others. And like the, I think, I don't know, I wonder if part of what you're thinking now too is you don't know what comes next, right? And I think for myself sometimes I...

I'm like, well, I'm just gonna do this thing and I'm gonna figure it out. That's 100% I know you have that vibe or you're like, whatever, we'll do that, then we'll do the next thing. But I think if you're gonna have this opportunity and be exposed to more people, there's gonna be things that you do next. And I think it's maybe also the trust of, you're gonna be able to do that. You're gonna be able to hold that. And that's like, I wonder if that's part of the processing though. You're like, ah.

Missy Bunch (41:06.922)
Yeah, like, if I do a good job, do I get to be invited to do another one? Or if I never hear from them and I get ghosted? Does that mean I didn't do a good job? Or what you know, there's no I don't know. It's so new that I don't have things finalized. There's been very little conversation. Just like welcome aboard. Well,

Bonnie (41:14.458)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (41:18.681)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (41:25.433)
Yeah.

Missy Bunch (41:34.562)
Contact you soon. You know what I'm like. What does being on board mean?

Bonnie (41:36.813)
Yeah.

Missy Bunch (41:43.978)
What am I on board for?

Bonnie (41:44.561)
I'm sorry.

Bonnie (41:48.473)
You know what?

Bonnie (41:54.833)
Actually, I wanna ask you a question first. My question is, what is something you're really proud of?

Missy Bunch (41:56.814)
Okay.

Missy Bunch (42:07.135)
like personally.

Bonnie (42:08.525)
Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (42:10.958)
I'm like, I can go a lot of directions with this. I, yeah, true.

Bonnie (42:12.365)
Yeah, I mean, you could go and you can say more than one thing.

Missy Bunch (42:19.742)
I am proud of how I move forward with fear. It is a skill that I have developed over time. And it's never, never easy.

Bonnie (42:26.916)
Hmm.

Missy Bunch (42:40.77)
That's something I'm very proud of.

Bonnie (42:44.977)
Hmm.

I love that. I love hearing people say they're proud of themselves in some way. It's not something we are always like, I'm so proud of myself, I did this. But like, we're doing the things. And especially, I've been thinking about more and you had commented actually on this Instagram post that I had shared. That was actually from the podcast where I...

was talking about women claiming themselves and how much I love watching women claim themselves and that you can feel it. And the way that it lights me up when that happens. And yes, non-binary, yes, men too, but like women, I love watching women claim themselves. And I think it's like, I identify as a woman. So that is where I can speak from most directly. And...

and watching you and having like this, the small front seats to your journey and to see and hear, well, not to see, to hear about your past and where you're like, I didn't have the cheese. I didn't have like this luxury of this thing. And now I'm buying a house. And...

to watch you claim your life and the way that is going to impact and ripple your children, the way that is going to affect your entire community and like what you are able to give because of you claiming yourself and what you have to offer and your voice and who you wanna be and where you wanna go. Like it changes the whole fucking world.

Missy Bunch (44:34.206)
Yeah, it does. It does when we all do it, you know?

Bonnie (44:37.354)
Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (44:41.566)
It really does.

when my students go through my program, it's so emotional for me, and they will never understand why I am so emotional about it, but it's that, right? So if I teach you what I can about how to help someone feel better in their body and move without pain, you have no idea the ripple effect of that.

Right? You get rid of 20 year knee pain. Now that person's nicer to their spouse. Their spouse is kinder to their kids. The kids don't fight as much because their mom was nicer, but the, you know, it just, or the whoever, then the dog doesn't get smacked or what, like, I mean, it just, it doesn't end. It doesn't end. And that's the crazy, this is why I love coaching professionals because I can only see

Bonnie (45:20.177)
Thanks for watching!

Bonnie (45:32.318)
Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (45:42.35)
however many clients per day, right? There's a very limited ceiling on that. But if I can teach one professional and they can teach all of their community one thing, it's like the world, literally, we could change the world. Right? So it is, it's overwhelming. It's beautiful.

Bonnie (45:53.881)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (45:59.781)
Yeah.

Bonnie (46:05.893)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I think to go to this idea of, well, what if I don't know enough? And what if they're going to find me out? And even in this moment where you're looking at that and I come back to you and I had heard this, I don't know where I heard it from, but somebody had said, well, what changes for the people that you could be talking to, being with, helping, whatever. What happens in their life?

if you don't do it.

Bonnie (46:38.157)
what changes or doesn't change. And all of a sudden it's not about you, it's about what they get. And to be like, you just happen to be the conduit. And I love that about like Elizabeth Gilbert, writing big magic, like you're the conduit for the creativity, you're the conduit for the thing. And then they are gifted that through you. Make it less about you, make it more about like the thing you're giving.

Missy Bunch (47:09.17)
100%, like, yes, right? I am the vehicle to deliver a thing. My last lesson I taught last week, I opened with this Maya Angelou quote, which I named my daughter after her, her name's Maya. I'm gonna say the quote wrong, but it's basically, I stand as one for 10,000.

Missy Bunch (47:41.026)
And I had to read this quote over and over and understand what. And she's saying I stood as one, but represented all the people behind me or that couldn't be where I'm at or whatever. And I'm just like, wow, I stand before my students and I'm not the smartest person you'll ever meet. I.

I don't have a conventional academic background. I am weird and funny and silly and I like to say the word fricking a lot. That's fricking crazy. You know, like that's how I, you know, I have all these flaws. Like I'm gonna eight mile myself right now. Like there's all this stuff, but I do it because.

the consequence in a good way, right? Like the results of that is the gift you get for me just trying.

Here's what I've learned in the last 14 years. I'm probably gonna screw something up. It's probably gonna be messy. Here you go. I love you so much. Now take it and make it your own, like a wizard, like a magician, right? Like, here you go. Twist it up, mold it up, toss what you hate, keep what you love. And that's the...

Bonnie (48:57.358)
Mm-hmm.

Mm.

Missy Bunch (49:09.054)
magic of neurology, right? Is we all have a brain so it can help anyone, whatever your profession is. I've had people that work at McDonald's go through my programs, all the way to people that are actual practicing physicians. I teach it the same.

Bonnie (49:28.785)
Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (49:29.778)
Missy doesn't change. You're getting the info the way I deliver it. Do what you will. Right. So it's cool. And then, you know, that person's like, I'm doing this for me and my family or my kids. And this person's like, I'm trying to actually help my patients. It's like, great. I teach it all the same. Here you go.

Bonnie (49:44.409)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, and in this way of everybody getting the knowledge so then they can ripple the world, right? I just love this. I'm like, we're all like, we're dropping into a big lake and it's like, it's getting weird in there. But.

Missy Bunch (50:01.659)
Yeah!

Bonnie (50:07.065)
It is all of us claiming that we're like, hey, wait, I can know more or I can ask questions or I'm worthy of like more information or I could share this or I could, and creating some sort of belief in self, I think, when we step into these kinds of spaces. And very much like we were talking about where you're like, it really does change the world when we all do it is for me, it feels really important that if I show up in a room,

And I bring my energy where I'm like, I'm not trying to be small here, people. Like I'm going to be here. I'm going to be silly. I'm going to like say the things I'm going to wear the clothes that are going to like make me feel good. I looked at my closet this morning and I was like, okay, what's going to make me feel sexy? Like that's how I'm going to get dressed. Like that might look like I have a sweatshirt on that day. Cool. Like it doesn't really matter. Like the, what the clothes are. It doesn't, it doesn't, doesn't matter. Right. But if I can walk into a room and you are doing the same.

And then the next person is doing the same and the next person is doing the same. And my claiming myself does not mean that there's not room for somebody else to claim themselves. And we do it like that. Like, that's why I love this conversation. That's why I fucking love you, Missy. Cause like, that's what you're doing. And that's like, there's space to do. And what I really want people to know, and like, and I talk to like, I'm like, own the hell out of your voice, like own it, like be it like, cause there's so much room and.

because we can feel it in each other. Like I can feel it in you, Missy. I know that like, you're delivering so much value, you're delivering it as you in the way that is most authentic for you, which is why it is making the impact that it has. That's why you're getting the opportunities you're getting because you're doing it in your way with your voice and you're being honest and you're being real. And...

When you are moved, it's moving other people. And so it totally makes sense to me.

Missy Bunch (52:09.25)
That is the line. When you are moved, it's moving other people. There's your new swag. Swag? Swag. When you are moved, you are moving other people. That is crazy. Yes. You know, that is one thing I love about you is you have this whole thing, right? But then in your bio, you're like, also though.

Bonnie (52:15.005)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (52:19.95)
Swag. Yeah, others are moved when you are moved. Absolutely.

Missy Bunch (52:39.842)
Do a little click, click right here. And there's this whole other version of you that you're not hiding. You have it right there. It is who you are. That piece of that, what you're expressing there is in all of us. And we're all terrified to share that piece of us for all kinds of different reasons, right?

Bonnie (53:01.965)
Mmm.

Missy Bunch (53:05.91)
I used to be way more comfortable before I had kids. And now I'm like, okay, this is what I'm working with. How can I feel that way with this body that I currently have, right? I'm breastfeeding. For me, that means holding on to weight. I am like the opposite of what all textbooks say, right? Like you're gonna breastfeed, you're gonna lose so much weight. The second I stop breastfeeding, I will lose like 10 pounds, right?

Bonnie (53:15.905)
Yeah.

Missy Bunch (53:35.018)
So it's just how my body is. I don't know what the thing is with that, but it's a choice I'm making and I have to choose it powerfully and accept what it comes with and be a little bit uncomfortable with my body, like a little bit, right? I'm like, okay, that's different. But she's still me. I'm doing it for a reason. The baby's so happy and cute and beautiful, just smile, sleep. I was just telling my husband,

Bonnie (53:41.371)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (53:58.87)
Mm-hmm. It smells good.

Missy Bunch (54:04.918)
when she's done feeding, she is a different baby. She's so happy. Nothing can upset her. She's just so happy. And it's like, how could I stop that because of a pounds on a scale agenda? Right?

Bonnie (54:09.713)
Hmm.

Bonnie (54:25.069)
Hmm... Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (54:26.674)
If it was for a different reason, yes, you should stop if your mental health is suffering or all, you know, all the other things. But like if it is strictly about a circumference at the belly button. And you see that baby giggle and smile and be so it's just like, I can't. It's like, you know what? I love being 10 pounds heavier. Fine.

Bonnie (54:36.094)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (54:44.301)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, and just so somebody who maybe doesn't have social media and is finding this podcast, like you're referring to my Sexy Sunday Instagram. And I have a Sexy Sunday podcast that I haven't had a new episode on for a second. But I used to have as part of this podcast, because if we're talking about the practice of paying attention, that shows up in sex, that shows up in like relationships, that's all the things. So I used to have a monthly, let's talk about sex.

episode that I eventually broke off to have its own podcast. I used to have what is my sexy Sunday Instagram kind of all together on my Carat Bull Bonnie one. But I split it for a couple of reasons. One, because it felt like I could really lean in harder on both topics. And number two, Instagram doesn't like a lot of nudity or talking about sex. And so I would like to have an account that I do business on to make sure it does not

get punished. So for me that worked out well. And it has and that's like, again, like that is not how I began on Instagram. So like to write poetry or to talk about sensuality and eroticism and the way that is and is not sex and the ways that we like

Missy Bunch (55:42.673)
Right.

Bonnie (56:03.193)
that I explore. Like so much as like, it's like my own play place. I'm like, this is me being like more than one thing. I can be mom. I can be like my own boss. I can have this house. I can also be a lover and I can also like play creatively in these other sorts of ways. And my hope is that, that we all like tap into that space as we are. We're all more than one thing and it's scary. And we have a lot of stories we've been told.

to us or what we've told about ourselves. And anyway, so just like, thank you. Thank you for that acknowledgement. And I think it feels good to me actually when people work with me that I have put out so much about myself that sometimes I get pleasantly surprised when I'm working with flow school and I'm working with other teachers and they reference something or we have like some sort of like, I don't know, sexual innuendo or something or they'll say something. I'm like.

It's like this reminder in myself. I'm like, ah, like I don't have to hide any part of myself. Like this gets to be like part of how I show up. They already know this about me and I get to show up as my whole self and be like, yeah, I'm a mom and yeah, like I had sex in that one place and you heard about it. So sure. And also we're going to talk about the human gate and like holding a class and building a space. Like, okay, cool.

Missy Bunch (57:09.136)
Mmm.

Missy Bunch (57:28.654)
Thanks for watching!

Yes, all is welcome here.

Bonnie (57:35.617)
Yeah, so I just love, thank you for sharing about like your journey with your body. I, and I've loved leaning into creating spaces. I call them body celebrations, like their experiences where people have, and portraiture is part of it, like get pictures of their body where, how do we celebrate the body that we're in? And having a big conversation, a literal conversation. And then also like a,

Missy Bunch (57:36.558)
That's so cool.

Bonnie (58:01.677)
this experience of seeing and being seen and seen by somebody else's camera is a totally different than like you looking in the mirror, which is already hard for some of us, you know, to like look in the mirror. So yeah, thank you for sharing about, you know, your cute baby and your body and.

Missy Bunch (58:18.49)
Yeah, I love, love that. Oh yeah. I was gonna say, I thought you meant your other page, but I love, I love that about you. It's wild. I'm currently onboarding an assistant who, okay, never had one of those before. Just, I write my own emails. I film my own videos. I edit my own, I write my captions. I do it all. I do the whole everything, 100% of it, right? And...

Bonnie (58:25.701)
that too.

Missy Bunch (58:47.298)
for this last lunch I had, I had someone help me plan stuff out. Anyways, we went on a celebration. We talked for like six hours at a restaurant. It was amazing. And she just paused, cause the body stuff came up and she said, you know, did you realize that in your most uncomfortable self, right, I'm the most uncomfortable in my body.

Bonnie (59:14.906)
Hmm.

Missy Bunch (59:15.51)
how I am now, right? Cause I've always been a very specific way, which is small, right? Like a size two, four my whole life. Then I had complications with pregnancy, bedridden, all the things, right? Medically restricted from exercise. I gained 50 pounds. I'm 4'11", okay? That is a lot for someone my height. Anyways, everything, you know, postpartum, breastfeeding, all the things. Second pregnancy, also horrendous.

Postpartum, also horrendous. And she goes, the last four years of your life are the most challenging for a parent and a mother. You're the most uncomfortable. You're the most not put together. Like this is the most I like don't do my hair and makeup. And I'm always just kind of like, here I am. When before would be fake lashes, perfect hair, matching cute outfit, right?

because I had time for that. And it's the most successful that I've ever been in business, relationships, opportunity. I mean, I see these videos and I'm like, I'm so postpartum in some of these viral reels that I'm like, you can literally tell I'm postpartum, right? Like if you are aware enough and how, why that's the one.

Bonnie (01:00:19.493)
Hmm.

Missy Bunch (01:00:43.746)
That's the one that goes viral.

But like the cute outfit, hair, full makeup, full, hehehe doesn't. So the whole thing is wild. So before four years ago, I was a certain way. The last four years, I'm a different way. And in the hardest season of motherhood, right? They're young. I have a three and a half year old and a 16 month old. And how could it be the most successful time? Whatever success means to you, you know, the most.

Bonnie (01:01:00.101)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (01:01:15.364)
Yeah.

Missy Bunch (01:01:16.554)
Abundant, I'll say. What a crazy thought. I'm still thinking about this because she presented this thought to me and I've been reflecting on it ever since.

Bonnie (01:01:20.378)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (01:01:24.717)
Yeah.

Well, thinking about if your values, if your values are authenticity and vulnerability and being raw, being real, like this is you, like it totally makes sense where you're like, oh, okay, so I lean in and do this. I mean, it's really fascinating to me. Let's talk about business and being a mom here. So you do have a partner that you're living with. So you have a little bit of a support in that way. So you're not like solo.

parenting trying to like also like jump on a Zoom call. Like that is and there's a lot different kind of ways that can all be shaken out. But so this current moment you do have a partner, which is awesome, but you that you're also breastfeeding. You're also the one getting pregnant and having these children. So if it's in this past four years, that's also the time you've been pregnant, had babies, been postpartum like twice.

Missy Bunch (01:01:59.25)
correct.

Bonnie (01:02:23.985)
Like how?

Bonnie (01:02:28.145)
How did, did it already feel like your business, was this because of like COVID? Was there a COVID, a piece of like launching into this iteration of your business? Because to bring on, and I had talked to a lot of parents where people wanna work online and they're like, how do I do this? And I'm like, and they say that they have very small children and they are the primary caregiver. And I tell them, please give yourself a lot of grace. It's gonna take slower.

going to go slower and it's going to take longer than you think it is because you have so little time and attention to give it because you have these people that actually will die if you don't pay attention to them. Yes. So how did you find that balance? Or I don't want to use that word, but like stepping into that, even if you're saying these last four years, this is like...

Missy Bunch (01:03:07.971)
need you.

Bonnie (01:03:20.633)
This is a giant fucking time. This is the time that you've had your little kids. Is it, has it been propelled at all by having children as well? We go like, oh, I'm gonna do this. So I'd love to hear about that.

Missy Bunch (01:03:31.766)
Yeah, that's what I have learned very recently as I was reflecting on this. And it's kind of odd to say, but kids accelerated and, what is this word? Like boomed everything for me exponentially because I was forced to prioritize and choose and,

Bonnie (01:03:59.013)
Hmm

Missy Bunch (01:04:01.686)
with kids, you can't procrastinate a task. You cannot. There's, right? When I had no responsibilities, I didn't have to keep humans alive. It could take me a week to write an email, right? Like, I gotta write this email or I gotta make this post or whatever it is. But if you only have a four hour work block and you have two private clients, that means you have two hours to get.

Bonnie (01:04:06.814)
Mm.

Missy Bunch (01:04:30.914)
your emails responded to, write the copy to your post, get it, like all the things, right? So it's actually made me so productive in such a small time. I would love to be raw, authentic, and vulnerable about what that actually looks like because people over or underestimate what they can do in a certain amount of time. I work four hours a day. That's it.

Bonnie (01:04:41.543)
Mm.

Missy Bunch (01:05:02.454)
total clients teaching emails, filming, editing, like that's it, right? But because I only have those four hours a day, I am so productive. And when I am not working, I am fully present with my family. My phone goes away and I am present from 4 or 5 p.m.

all the way until about 8 a.m. the next day. And that seems to be shocking for a lot of people. But it's because when I'm online, I'm really online because I know that phone's gotta go away. So I am like, brrr

Bonnie (01:05:56.27)
Thanks for watching!

Missy Bunch (01:05:57.49)
I don't have a choice, right? I can't be on my phone with my kid, you know, so I put it away. She has to be laid down with that night to go to sleep. So it's typically me. So I'm going down at like 8 p.m. And then in the morning, the baby wakes up and I'm with her at five. Then the toddler wakes up and the whole thing. So until they're out of the house, I can't even check my phone anyways. And when I do, I always regret it. I always regret it.

Bonnie (01:06:23.733)
Mmm.

Missy Bunch (01:06:25.762)
throws me off, someone made a weird comment or an email stresses me out. I'm like, why did I do that? So I don't do that anymore. So your question was, you know, how did the last four years, yeah, I was about 50% online already when COVID hit because I had moved so many times. I was in San Francisco when I met my husband in Chicago. Right, we met online. So I moved to Chicago.

Bonnie (01:06:33.55)
Hmm

Missy Bunch (01:06:54.482)
start taking online clients because they're like, you've been training me for 10 years. Like, what am I supposed to do? I'm like, work on my left. Like, let's do this virtual thing. I don't know. Then from Chicago moved to San Diego. So then I had San Francisco and Chicago clients online while I lived in San Diego. And then that's when the pandemic hit. So I was already very savvy with Zoom. And like, people were like, what Zoom? And I was like, oh, frick, I already been doing this for five years.

So then it just kind of full force went into that. And then I was pregnant. My baby was born in 2020. And I just started calculating like, how am I gonna take maternity leave as someone in this industry with no things to support it, right? And I was like, okay, I have to make this much money by a certain date if I'm gonna take three months off, started focusing on that, did it again.

Bonnie (01:07:41.473)
Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (01:07:53.378)
just kind of make my own maternity leave. I took four months off with my last one, genuinely four months, like did not work.

Bonnie (01:07:54.326)
Yeah.

Missy Bunch (01:08:03.382)
So that's what happened with kids and the internet and postpartum and breastfeeding and pregnancies and two miscarriages all in that same time. Yeah, those crushed me. I mean, oh my gosh. But the first one I was completely, I just, first of all, right, I'm like, I'm Missy Bunch. This could never happen to someone like me.

Bonnie (01:08:06.576)
Yeah.

Bonnie (01:08:12.674)
Oh my gosh.

Bonnie (01:08:18.501)
Mmm.

Missy Bunch (01:08:32.966)
All organic, uh, fair trade, non-GMO, like my lifestyle. Like how could this happen to someone like me who lives and breathes hell? Well, clearly it doesn't discriminate, right? Then I have a healthy baby, second one. So my first miscarriage was 12 weeks. I had a baby, super healthy. My third one was 14 weeks.

Bonnie (01:08:42.33)
Hmm.

Bonnie (01:08:55.291)
Oof.

Bonnie (01:09:03.232)
Oh.

Missy Bunch (01:09:03.382)
I was like, I mean, I'm already showing, cause I start to show it like 12 weeks just because of literally, there's no torso. Oh, you're probably like, I love pregnancy. You tall people. Okay. The doctors laugh, right? Like my last rib and the top of my pelvis, there is maybe a two inch

Bonnie (01:09:09.881)
Well, yeah, because you're shorter. Like, I'm like 5'9". Sorry.

Bonnie (01:09:19.685)
I guess so now.

Missy Bunch (01:09:32.446)
space there. They're just like your babies are external, right? Like there's nothing. So I was already showing the whole thing. And in my mind, these are the real words I was saying. I was like, I already paid my dues. Like how could this happen again? How could this happen again? I already did that. Like I've already healed and picked myself up piece by piece by piece by piece.

Bonnie (01:09:36.089)
Yeah.

Bonnie (01:09:45.67)
Hmm.

Bonnie (01:09:51.312)
Yeah.

Bonnie (01:10:03.225)
Yeah.

Missy Bunch (01:10:04.562)
I mean, it's, you know, makes me viscerally ill, but all in that four years, right? All of that. And now here, you know, it's, here we are, 2024, April, and what?

Bonnie (01:10:12.678)
Wow.

Bonnie (01:10:20.677)
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Well, I think when it's, you know, when my kids are, I have an 18-year-old, a 16-year-old. Yeah, so 18 and 16, and I have a 12-year-old that's about to be 13. So I have three kids, and my oldest is about to graduate high school in like two months, which is wild. But when they're little, you're just kind of in it, and you just kind of do the things. And I think it's fascinating that

Missy Bunch (01:10:28.246)
I was wondering, okay, 18 and 16, okay.

Bonnie (01:10:50.137)
our brains and bodies can adjust like they do. I mean, then now, like nowadays, if I like get woken up at like two or three in the morning, I'm like, wow, that shot my entire tomorrow. We're like, when you have little babies, you're like up multiple times. You're like, it's fine. This is just normal life. Like you just kind of like go into it where I'm like, oh, wow, I can't believe I did that now. But you do kind of, you're like, no, this is the season. This is a season that you approach things. And I think maybe there's probably,

people within our orbits who are like, I wanna work online or I wanna do business things or I have kids and, or I'm pregnant or like all of these sorts of things that we are holding because we're more than one thing. And I like your example of, with little kids in specific, there's a lot of time of hands-on. And so to be very choosy and say, I am going to work, this gives me a lot of...

pleasure to actually work and to contribute in this way. There is a way that this is supporting. I think it's successful in that it is helping other people be able to live healthier, productive, like better lives. And it is supporting you and your family in a way that allows you to have the safety and security and trust in yourself and in situation that you can continue to give. And so it's like all of these things, but I love the-

very like tangible thing that you are giving is saying, I have four hours. I have four hours go, like there's not like, there's not time to like mess around, like there's no transitions, cause transitions, like when I, in this kid week here, my kids are here every other week. And when they're here and there's not school, transitions kill productivity and creativity if they have like a mom.

answer in the middle of things. And even though my kids are older, I'm like, oh, I have to drive this kid to a thing, then come back in and work. Like all of those transitions, you lose momentum in that. And so if it's possible to like stack together time and say, ready, set, go, this is my task list. And there's some like support you can get for like helping set that up. But I think that's such a really useful thing that you've like even just shared because I think there's a lot of people that want to do things and are like, but how do I even start?

Missy Bunch (01:13:08.358)
Yeah, and it takes a while to figure out that dynamic that is possible. They were three-hour work blocks at first, and I'm very lucky that I have a partner that is my total peer. Like, we are an incredible team. We are extremely good at communication. I believe my parents sent him to me.

Bonnie (01:13:14.913)
Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (01:13:37.974)
right, because they're both gone. And it was like, well, we'll give you this, you know, like here's your gift. It's like, thank you so much. So he's able to do that dance because he has a similar job. And I know not everyone is in that situation, but we both work from home. I give him his block and we switch. He gives me my block and we switch. But those, we tried a different system initially, right? And those transitions.

I wish someone told me that back then. The transitions are.

Bonnie (01:14:10.37)
It's hard.

Missy Bunch (01:14:10.77)
It's too much. Even just driving a kid to somewhere. Even if I'm driving them to daycare, that's something in my time block, whatever, right? So it takes a while to figure out the necessary dynamic in the schedule, but it is so doable with communication, trial and error, and just being okay with adaptation and...

Bonnie (01:14:15.918)
Yeah.

Missy Bunch (01:14:38.898)
nothing can be concrete with the little ones because someone's always, they threw up or this or that. The other day I was going to Trader Joe's and the little baby, the baby just threw up all over herself and I had no extra clothes and I was like, that was my one hour to go grocery shopping. So we are headed back home because she doesn't have an extra shirt and I can't walk her around naked in the store. Like, what am I gonna do?

Bonnie (01:14:44.781)
Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (01:15:08.446)
You know, so then it's like, OK, I have to order delivery today, which actually takes a really long time, even though it's convenient. You still have to like do the thing and you just always have to adapt and shift and you just can't be attached to any.

Bonnie (01:15:18.01)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (01:15:24.333)
Yeah, parenting I think is such a big teacher that I think all the time that I'm a better leader in all the places I show up because I'm a parent, because of the lessons I've had to learn in parenting. Not that you couldn't learn them other places, but just like you, it's kind of an intense, lovely, beautiful, monstrous job, like all of the things of being there and something that I adore. I adore being a mom.

and have definitely gone on different path of being like, of course I'm gonna be a mom. Of course I was gonna be a mom. I think I always thought that. And then being little kids and that's just what I was doing and then being like, but I wanna be more than just like my kids. And finding, we are on a continual path of discovery. Well, who is this version of myself? And now when they're older and thinking, man, these people are like the coolest people.

And to get to a front row seat to like watch people become and step into themselves, like what a, what a gift.

So.

Missy Bunch (01:16:33.422)
That is wild. You have whole grown humans.

Bonnie (01:16:38.133)
Oh yeah, like my oldest is like six, four. He's like strong as fuck. He's like, like he's lifting and he's like, oh yeah. Oh yeah, he's a man. So it's wild.

Missy Bunch (01:16:44.237)
What?

Missy Bunch (01:16:49.686)
Here, I have a question for you. Is that allowed on your podcast? What would you say to me, right? Cause I have two littles, like what, if you could tell me like one or two things, what would it be now that you have 18, 16 and almost 13?

Bonnie (01:16:52.049)
I... yeah.

Bonnie (01:17:11.268)
Um...

Bonnie (01:17:16.217)
I think, you know, like so many people are saying, like will say like, oh, the time goes so fast, like appreciate the, like the things now, even though they're hard. I don't even wanna say that because like, that's just like true. Like we all know that time like moves. I think, what would I say? I'm gonna give you something that I think people wouldn't say and that is to make more videos. Make more little videos of the random little moments, like.

when they're eating food or when like just to hear them, just to hear their voices, not even to capture, oh gosh, this is gonna make me cry.

Bonnie (01:17:55.689)
not even to capture anything important, just to hear their voices.

Bonnie (01:18:03.665)
because my 18 year old is about to leave. He's gonna go to college and I'm gonna miss him so much. And honestly, just to hear their voices. So I would say that, like at the randomest time, at a time that doesn't feel important, make like, even if it's a 30 second clip on your phone, just make little videos. Like that's like such a... Uh...

a non-thing that I feel like would be said, but that's truly one that I have thought of often.

Bonnie (01:18:40.022)
and to...

Bonnie (01:18:43.545)
And the other thing that I'm proud of that I have done with my kids that I would say is to make every topic okay to talk about.

which is work for all of us as parents because it's maybe not the things we grew up with and thinking about sex and relationships and our bodies and mental health and having the home be a place where they can test out their beliefs or the things they've said or like heard or things that they're learning and have that be like, you have to have a place where you can talk through those things and figure it out. I love.

that I feel like I've created that space where the kids feel like they can come to me and we can talk about anything. And I don't know that I necessarily set out for that, but I think if I could say something, be like, we have to do our own work around our bodies, right? You're like, okay, I guess I'm gonna be 10 pounds heavier. How are you gonna, how do we translate that into non-body shame, but also like...

like expansion of what body means and like, like all of the things we had to, we had to think about sex. We have to think about, I grew up as a Mormon kid. I was Mormon up until like seven, eight years ago. So my culture shift of what I was taught or told her what was okay to even experiment with is so different than what my kids are having. And to make that be okay and to have to learn it at the same time as my kids and to let myself.

evolve and not have to be right.

Bonnie (01:20:22.381)
I don't have to be right. They get to teach me too and I get to learn. And I tell them, I'm like, this is my first time being a parent with y'all. So like, we're doing this together. I'm like,

Missy Bunch (01:20:33.71)
Seriously. So what age did you start noticing the invitation for those conversations to be starting to present themselves?

Bonnie (01:20:52.409)
You know, I think some kids maybe won't talk about things in general, they might not. I think it will depend a lot on people's brains, right? Like people come with their own version of spicy brain. But I truly think that if we are paying attention, kids ask a lot of questions. They point out a lot of things and making it a non-issue where we're like, hey, you remember, like, or like a sit down kind of conversation,

talk about it as it comes. And when there's a question, don't shy away from it, even if you're a little uncomfortable, say it as neutral as possible and present it as other questions or like, I'm not sure I'll get back to that the same way as we would with any sort of client. Right? And like, they're just our kids, like we're there to like learn with them to not try to prove.

a rightness or anything. And so I don't know that I have a specific age. I would just always answer the questions that they had and not think that I had to push further. And then I could be like, is that where there, is that the answer that's gonna satisfy it? And then there's always going to be something more, a bigger question or a more in-depth question as they get older. And I don't know, I think trusting that timeframe is like, you don't have to push it.

And also, I think we just pay attention. I think we just like, we show up with them. We're like a full ass. And I love how you're saying, you're like, okay, I'm gonna be working. I'm gonna be with my kids. I'm like, you know, if you didn't do it that way, it'd be 50-50. And nobody wants half an ass cheek. They want full ass. Full ass as like, business time, full ass as mom time, full ass as partner time. Like, give me all of it, right? Like, yeah.

Missy Bunch (01:22:43.378)
Yes, exactly. That's very helpful. I appreciate it because it's, again, are we out there asking other moms like how to do stuff or what their experience was? Not really. We're googling stuff, you know, so it's a hard place to navigate, you know. I'm sitting here with a three-year-old and I'm like, I just asked her to put her shoes on 10 times. Like, is that normal?

Bonnie (01:22:59.323)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (01:23:04.721)
Yes. Yeah. Mm hmm. No, it's normal. Yeah, that's normal. It's true.

Missy Bunch (01:23:06.75)
You know, like I literally like, is that normal? Or do I have some kind of like, is it me? Is it, right? But if you don't ask, you don't know that it's normal. So then you're in your head, like I'm the worst parent or she's something.

Bonnie (01:23:20.397)
You're totally right. Actually, here's one that I remember in specific because at the time my ex was in grad school and I was stay at home mom, I had my two oldest were very little and there was a whole bunch of other moms, we all had little kids. And so we did have some of these kinds of conversations. And I remember, I have no idea who it was, but I remember there was a conversation we were having about helping the kids get ready to go out the door and how...

they might be in the middle of something. You're like, okay, it's time to go. And the kids freak out, right? And there's a lot of pushback. And I remember like hearing the suggestion of like, what if we like gave like, or somebody has shared that, you know, they give their kids a 10 minute warning, be like, hey, in 10 minutes, it's gonna be time to put your shoes on, or it's gonna be time to go in 10 minutes. And then you come back. So it's a little bit more work on our part as parents to like, like prep them and be like, hey, in five minutes, like remember, we're gonna be going. So their nervous system,

is already not that we said the word nervous system at this point in time, but then like the kids are like, oh, okay, cool. We're going to be ready to go. But I remember doing that and noticing such a difference and not, and it's like such a small thing. You're like, well, yeah, of course, that totally makes sense. But I think as an adult, when I'm, I had a kid come to me and they're like, okay, mom, my friend's ready for to be driven home now. And I was like, I, I'm, I'm in the middle of something. I didn't even know I was going to have to do that. Like, can you just,

Give me a second. Like, it totally makes sense. It totally makes sense.

Missy Bunch (01:24:52.814)
That is so helpful. It is like that. When a child is playing, it's like when you and I are working. And if someone were to interrupt you and say, put your shoes on, you're like, do you, I'm working. Do you, do you see what, right? That's how a kid feels. They're like, I'm working, right? I'm literally in the middle of this puzzle and you're like, put a shoe on, you know, so.

Bonnie (01:24:58.051)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (01:25:09.189)
Do you?

Bonnie (01:25:13.937)
I'm in the middle of something right now.

Missy Bunch (01:25:20.402)
No, that is how I like the timer, the heads up. Okay, just that's really because it does work. I have this ginormous timer and it actually does help her, my toddler. And she goes, I'll put the timer on, mommy, and she'll walk over and do it herself. And I'm like, wow, she really resonates with that. It's a visual one, you know, so that's very helpful. Thank you.

Bonnie (01:25:25.797)
Hmm.

Bonnie (01:25:29.016)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (01:25:37.005)
Yeah, totally.

Bonnie (01:25:42.022)
Yeah, yeah, random. I love it. Cool, okay, I wanna ask you, I think a couple things for yoga teachers in specific before we wrap up. And well, yoga teachers, et cetera, we'll put an et cetera on that. Especially since you have some, because you like yoga, because you go to yoga once a week. And...

Missy Bunch (01:25:52.528)
Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (01:25:57.084)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (01:26:07.893)
we have talked zero things about your eye expertise. Like you're talking about eyes all the time and the way we look at things and the brain. I think about the brain a lot. I think about the brain with pain and I have what would be classified as a chronic pain with my left SI and it's like doing rude things currently this week, which is rude. We don't like that, but that's a different, we're gonna go there right now. But I think about

pain science and I think about eyes, I think about breath and I think about all these and the ways that we're asking people to move and in yoga in specific. And it was about a year and a half-ish ago when my hip, like my hip slash low back started doing the things that it's kind of will do now. And it changed some of the way that I sequence or I think about sequencing, which totally makes sense because...

than when low back flares, you don't want to fold. And there's so many people with low back pain. And so playing with some variation of all these things. So anyway, all this is to say, I love the science of things. And I think there's a mixture of, low back is a really interesting sort of one to think about because it's not just one thing. Just like we're not one thing, like it is so not one thing. There is a lot of like,

as cheesy as it sounds, I really think there's a lot of perspective and positivity that has to be tapped into for your own healing and that I definitely, and worth the focus on like, what can you do versus what you can't. Like it's the same way as like, you're like, okay, look, everything is growth. So now you have the lens of growth and you're looking for that. We're looking for the red car. So I think there is a part of that in our journey. But this is a lot of words to say, I would love for you to talk about

eyes in particular with yoga and what you have noticed. I would just love to hear what you've noticed first of all with going to yoga classes and the experience of being told to look at different things and how that pertains to your understanding of the brain and of eyes right and how maybe that could be tweaked or like

Bonnie (01:28:28.153)
How can the movements and the experiences that you teach that are quite simple really, you'd be like, do this, in a way that would work well in a yoga room?

Missy Bunch (01:28:42.062)
trying to make sure I hear the question properly. It's with my experience and how the eye movements are coached in a yoga session or yoga class, what would I say could be tweaked to enhance someone's experience or... Am I saying the question properly? Okay. So one thing I will say is

Bonnie (01:28:44.322)
Yeah.

Bonnie (01:28:54.278)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (01:28:58.788)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (01:29:02.093)
Yes. Correct.

Missy Bunch (01:29:11.27)
I love yoga for the eyes and inner ear health in general, because there are so many positions that are not forced upon you in a normal environment, right? Like you reach for your cup. Like we don't lift our arms over our head in our society ever, right? Like the only time you reach your arm over your head is to grab a coffee cup or a water glass or a plate.

So just that a lot, right? Just like all these little things. So when you're flipping in wild thing and you're doing this and triangle, I am always like, I'm so glad there are people in the world using their vestibular system in different and unique ways, especially based on what the teacher is telling you to do, right? So great question about small tweaks.

I'm trying to think of, I've never been asked this, so I have to like really think about, right? Yeah, like what I would.

Bonnie (01:30:11.857)
That's great then. That's exactly what I want. Well, actually, why don't you begin with why? Like, why would this even be for somebody who is like coming from like yoga lens who has no knowledge of even why they would even need to tweak their eyes? Like, will you share like a short blip of like why this even might be important?

Missy Bunch (01:30:32.782)
Oh, I would love to. Yeah, so why eyes anything, right? So it depends on what the goal is, but if we're just talking about a very general brain health, why should I care about eyes question, inquiry, statement? The eyes are the most important survival sensory input dominant mechanism that we have, right?

Bonnie (01:30:33.893)
Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (01:31:00.446)
So if you cannot see a saber-toothed tiger, you are dead. Right? That's how the brain experiences it. If you look up these two funny looking things called the homunculi, there's a sensory homunculus and a motor homunculus, they are a representation of what your brain thinks you look like. And it looks really weird. It has really big hands. And when you notice this homunculus,

Bonnie (01:31:23.983)
Hmm.

Missy Bunch (01:31:30.366)
either one, has really big eyes, really big nose, a huge mouth, a huge tongue, and you have to look at it and go, hmm, why would the brain give that much real estate to those specific things? Hands, eyes, tongue, mouth, ears, because it's all for survival. If you don't have hands, you can't eat. You can't make a tool to build your house for shelter, whatever the reasons, right? The eyes guide

and heavily influence the way that you move and experience the world. The eye itself, the eyeball, has six muscles attached to it, each eye. So there's 12, right? I like to go like this. You guys can't see me, but if we had six muscles on one eye and six on the other, each of those muscles is innervated by a nerve that comes out of your brain. So if you said to me,

Missy, I don't love reading. I get about 10 pages in and I fall asleep. Or I get angry. Or I throw the book. Or being on my phone. Ugh. Right? I'm thinking to myself, these eyeballs don't like to go in towards the nose. Because anything that's close to your face, your eyes have to come towards midline. Kind of like your cross-eyed.

Bonnie (01:32:50.213)
Hmm.

Missy Bunch (01:32:53.578)
So I'm with one statement of I don't like to read or reading makes me tired or gives me a headache. I'm already thinking to myself, oh, interesting. That cranial nerve, cranial nerve three needs a little bit of love. It's literally requesting someone, anybody, pay attention to me. Because the symptoms, the things that you're saying tell me what the brain is thirsty for.

Bonnie (01:33:21.454)
Hmm

Missy Bunch (01:33:22.578)
So when you think of it like that, the eyeballs are innervated, the eyeball muscles are innervated by nerves of the brain. Simply moving your eyes in all the ways you possibly can, you know, you're stimulating nerves of your brain. Fact.

Bonnie (01:33:45.545)
Mm hmm. Yeah.

Missy Bunch (01:33:46.954)
The end, right? That is wild to me. That is wild. My brain can hardly handle the thought of this, right? Like, you're, this crazy lady on a podcast is telling me if I look left, right, up, down, all my diagonals in and out, circles, that I'm doing brain exercises. Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.

And on top of that, neurons that fire together wire together. So three of the 12 cranial nerves are innervated by muscles of the eye. I might've said that backwards, but you get what I'm saying. You don't think the other nerves are influenced by the health of those nerves, they are. So if you have trigeminal issues, TMJ, it's

That's called cranial nerve five. Four and six are going to heavily influence the health of five. And what I mean by that is, right, like neighbors affect neighbors. So if you can't look down and in, that could be influencing your brain's interpretation of your jaw. If you can't look to the side, same thing, because they all influence each other. I kind of picture it like if you and I were literally

Bonnie (01:34:51.086)
Mm.

Missy Bunch (01:35:13.33)
standing shoulder to shoulder hugging and I start dancing, you have no choice. You are also dancing, right? Like I'm making you if we were attached together. It's a similar example and vice versa. If I slump down and die, melt to the floor, I'm bringing you with me. So if one cranial nerve is not...

Bonnie (01:35:21.121)
Yeah.

Bonnie (01:35:37.858)
Mmm.

Missy Bunch (01:35:42.93)
as healthy as it could be, the potential, we are affecting the health of the other nerves because that's how it works, right? So this is why I am so passionate about it because, like you said, eye stuff is so simple. You can change the shape of your eye by the way that you move it.

Bonnie (01:35:52.346)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (01:36:05.146)
Wow.

Missy Bunch (01:36:09.215)
Or don't move it.

Bonnie (01:36:11.289)
Wild. This is wild. The body, like, this is, again, this is our nerdy, like, are we gonna be, deliver babies, or are we gonna be a myriad biologists? I don't know, we're gonna be here talking about eyeballs. Ha ha ha.

Missy Bunch (01:36:26.398)
and sensuality all at the same time. Like it's all.

Bonnie (01:36:28.949)
Yes. Yeah. Well, and I think, you know, there's in yoga, there's the word drishti, which is like your focus. It is. And I love the way that it can be a word that is very physical, like where are your eyes looking, but it's also like a reflection of like, where is your foundation? What are you focusing on? And that can be like, kind of like a soul sort of like analogy question, right? But I think I continually come back to the body when I teach it because there can

always be analogies drawn, but the body quite literally changes the experience of our internal processing connection of all the things. So with your eyes, with Drishti, with like the ways that he was taught, I think of like warrior two. With warrior two, it's always, almost always taught to look forward at your front fingers. I actually really love to say like, okay, warrior two,

Or maybe if you reverse your warrior, take your fingers up and back even. Like either way, like I will have people, I'm like turn around and look, if you're a reverse warrior too, look at your back foot. Look down and back. Or reverse your warrior, now look towards your back fingers and then if you look at your back fingers, now lean that ear. Like if you're looking backwards to your right hand, now lean your right ear towards your right shoulder as you're looking that way. It makes your eyes move different places. So I think I...

in my kind of like funky way of saying, okay, well, what happens if in skandhasana side lunge, everybody always draws their hands to their heart, goes into the side lunge. I'm like, but your arms can do approximately 1 million other things. So in skandhasana, what if you reach your arms backwards and now all of a sudden look backwards rather than straightforward? Or you like lean forward and you look down towards your front foot. So this experience of changing

where your head is in regards to space, like get your face low, your eyes. And I actually will talk about, I'm like, use your eye level. If your eyes are staying the same level through all of your postures, switch it up, get lower, get higher, like in your flow and look in different directions. And so, but like those things are bigger sweeps, I would say, where some of the things that exercise is for you will be like, you know,

Missy Bunch (01:38:38.338)
Hmm.

Bonnie (01:38:51.609)
in more static postures or stillness where you're like, okay, now make a circle with your arms or like to follow, you know, if you're gonna do like a, you kind of think, I think you have said like, hold your finger out and pretend like it's a basketball, draw a circle the size of a basketball around your finger. That's not necessarily something in that sort of way that's shared in yoga, but I think there's room for it.

without even calling it out as an eye exercise, but for yoga teachers to be like, I've directed so many people to you, Missy. I'm like, teachers, go learn from Missy, because I think we can include this sort of like wellness and health piece within our classes without even having to call it out, but it's doing shit.

Missy Bunch (01:39:39.89)
I am all about that. The class doesn't care, first of all, so they don't wanna know. But if you were in that lunge, rotated your torso towards the bent leg and then moved your eyes in a circle, you would blow their minds, right? No one's ever had them do that. And in my perspective, I'm looking at you as a teacher going,

Bonnie (01:39:44.689)
Hmm.

Bonnie (01:40:03.214)
Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (01:40:09.71)
Yes, because you're clearing proprioceptive maps in the brain every time you change that position and add eyes. Anything eyes, right? Because every single position has a map in the brain. There's a map of your pinky, your elbow, your thigh. It's all a map.

If you perform a movement and it's shaky, choppy, uncoordinated, I would consider that a blurry map. It's not wrong or bad, but the more blurry maps there are, each blurry map goes into the threat bucket. The brain doesn't like blurry maps because if it's blurry, it doesn't trust you. So if you were lunging, rotated towards

Bonnie (01:41:00.421)
Hmm

Missy Bunch (01:41:04.098)
bent leg and a saber tooth tiger was there. I don't trust you. You don't own that map. But if you did, cause you've been doing this for a year, whatever, it's like, cool, that's not in my thread bucket. So I love the playfulness of adding neuro into all athleticism and yoga. Absolutely. They're probably less weirded out by it, right?

Bonnie (01:41:09.872)
Yeah.

Bonnie (01:41:29.573)
Yeah, because you're already doing weird things.

Missy Bunch (01:41:31.734)
You're already doing weird stuff. So that's really, it's beautiful to hear you say you're changing stuff up. So I think the fun little things you could play with that I could leave you and your community with is messing with the reflexes that are already there. So when you shoot your eyes up, your body, that facilitates the motion of extension, right? So if you were in a pose and you felt like

Bonnie (01:41:56.271)
Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (01:42:01.07)
couldn't extend very much, shoot your eyes up. See what happens. If you were rotated to the right and you felt kind of sticky, shoot your eyes to the right and see how many more inches that gives you. Eyes left facilitates left movement, eyes down facilitates flexion. So if you were in a forward fold and your eyes were up, you would kind of be working against a hardwired reflex.

Bonnie (01:42:06.926)
Mm.

Missy Bunch (01:42:32.066)
That's not bad or wrong, but you could play with it, is what I mean, just being playful with it. Knowing, eyes up is for extension, eyes down is for reflection, eyes right is right, eyes left is left. Kind of a fun thing to play with, like Pilates people do the saw move, which yogis would call a twist, I think, right? Where you twist, twisty. So that's something fun, maybe someone listening hasn't heard of or could play with or didn't know, or you knew it, but you've never.

Bonnie (01:42:42.63)
Mm-hmm.

Totally.

Bonnie (01:42:50.161)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Bonnie (01:42:59.073)
Yeah. Well, and even with, I think of half moon, for example, and there's the cue of like looking up towards your top hand in half moon or teachers will say like, or for balance, like keep your, your face, like keep looking down at the ground, you can kind of see out of peripheral vision your foot. So sometimes you can have more balance and it is a more advanced thing to also shift the gaze to look up towards the ceiling. But it's speaking of the brain.

piece of this, there's already, I think, so much of this built into yoga of taking your gaze in some different directions. And I love that. And then like small exercises of being in a basha where if you're in half moon, you're like, you could purposely, rather than just saying, look up toward your top hand. I think this is where there could be play for yoga teachers to say, like, look at the ground, tell people to look at the ground, look sideways.

Like look straight outside of it. Now look down at the ground again. Now look up towards the, like the front of the mat, like towards the front of the room. Can you look down towards like the back of the mat? Now look sideways. Now can you look all the way up towards the ceiling? Like that, you're doing brain work. You're doing brain work.

Missy Bunch (01:44:11.006)
You're literally doing, everyone's doing neuro by the way. They just don't know it. But you know, with that example of half moon, especially like I'm hearing you and I'm like, I would be so mad at you if you made me do that. But also I would love it, right? I'd be like, because I cannot look up, right? Cause I'm just, it's advanced. It's a very advanced to look up the ceiling in half moon. So like hearing you, it's like you.

Bonnie (01:44:13.909)
Yes. Yeah.

Bonnie (01:44:32.57)
Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (01:44:37.014)
you would really wake people up, right? Like if you were trying to spice up a pose, wow. Like look all the ways, holy, you'd see people falling over left and right, but then having that competitive feeling of, you know what? I would like to master this at some point. Maybe it is only for one second. I'll go back to the ground. But I love that idea of you're doing neuro. It's already infused in yoga. So giving it like a little boop.

Bonnie (01:44:41.538)
Yeah.

Bonnie (01:44:55.562)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (01:45:07.205)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Well, I, and I just, I love this conversation as a, as like, almost like a, Hey, yoga teachers, you're doing good. And also, did you know you're doing this? Cause I think we just don't know what we don't know. And all of a sudden to have this language to say, Oh, we are actually working our brains in yoga. Remember how you like leave and you have a yoga brain and you're like, what just happened is cause you, you did.

Missy Bunch (01:45:11.974)
boop

Bonnie (01:45:35.485)
So many things, you touch so many different parts of yourself. You touched your lungs, which means you touched your digestion, which also you touched your brain, which you also touched your joints. Like, you just didn't even realize that it's kind of tapping into a lot of these areas and there's ways to tap in more.

Missy Bunch (01:45:53.166)
Absolutely. I mean, tree pose, eyes closed.

Bonnie (01:45:57.313)
Yep, so hard, so hard.

Missy Bunch (01:45:59.81)
That is an advanced vestibular exercise, right? Like if you gave that to a neuro rehab person, they would be like, no one can do that, right? Like, and a yo-yo would be like, I practice that all the time, but that's very advanced. Now imagine if you're in tree, you close your eyes and you've been able to master that. You're like, I'm good. Arms are way up big branches.

Bonnie (01:46:11.94)
Yeah.

Bonnie (01:46:15.246)
Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (01:46:27.566)
Can you rotate your head to the right with your eyes closed?

Bonnie (01:46:29.957)
with your, ooh, okay.

Missy Bunch (01:46:34.994)
So in my world, vestibular training is ice closed stuff as well. Can you do it to the left?

Bonnie (01:46:42.085)
Yeah.

Missy Bunch (01:46:46.67)
Can you do it quick, right? Hold, eyes closed. Quick left, hold. So hard, so hard. That's how we progress vestibular work in my world. It's your feet together, you're standing stationary, eyes closed. Can you hold this for 30 seconds? Great, you're safe. You don't need to see a neurologist. Like I'm not worried. Cool, cool, cool. You keep progressing, right? Now, can you close your eyes, shoot your head up?

Bonnie (01:46:51.449)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (01:46:55.745)
Yeah. And I, oh, I... Yeah.

Missy Bunch (01:47:19.118)
Do you fall over? Do you not? So yeah, you might have to even just start with something super simple, but swishing that fluid, which is called endolymph fluid, if you swish it, do you own that proprioceptive map? The second you close your eyes, your visual system is no longer invited to the party, right? And that's what is the dominant sensory system. So when you take it away, how is your proprioception?

Bonnie (01:47:25.189)
Hmm.

Bonnie (01:47:33.946)
Hmm

Bonnie (01:47:39.609)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (01:47:43.374)
Yeah.

Missy Bunch (01:47:48.962)
Hehehehe

Bonnie (01:47:49.613)
But this is a really beautiful example, I think, for people who are yoga teachers to take a read in, like stand in Tadasana, stand at the top of the mat, two feet down. And if you want to lead people into playing into tree, do this eyes closed first and do these like fast, slow, look up, look sideways, because you have two feet on the ground. And then you could gradually work it into tree and that kind of gives some foreshadowing and especially because it might be something new. Give people a win.

or at least like a trial where they feel more grounded. I mean like, yeah, I can stand here in two feet and close my eyes, like, but you know, let them progress in that. So I like that. I also like that I've heard some teachers say that they had other teachers that were like, don't close your eyes while you practice. I've heard some teachers who tell students like, don't close your eyes while you practice. And some people wanna close their eyes because it taps them into the feeling.

But also if you're gonna do a chaturanga with your eyes closed, that means you're also aware of where the mat is so you don't smash your face into the ground before you like do something else. So I am always of the approach of like, why not? And also the science here where you're talking about what happens with your eyes closed and what is happening in your brain, like that is actually a really powerful thing if somebody can close their eyes, feel safe enough to.

and has the body awareness too and the practice of that. So I like that invitation here. Yeah, yeah.

Missy Bunch (01:49:17.79)
Yeah, cool. It always comes back to the goal of the human doing the movement, right? Because what's the goal, right? If eyes closed is to feel more, that's very different than eyes closed to work on my vestibular system. So it's all about how that person is in that moment, what they're up for, what's their mental capacity, their spiritual capacity.

Bonnie (01:49:37.174)
Mm-hmm.

Missy Bunch (01:49:46.794)
All the things, right? So it's the respect of where are you? Try this, play with that. It goes back to them.

Bonnie (01:49:50.415)
Yeah.

Bonnie (01:49:54.945)
Yeah. And we don't know why somebody is always showing up. Like we don't. And especially as yoga teachers, like you have a classroom of like, let's say 20 people, you're like, oh, that's, that's a lot. That's 20 different whys.

Missy Bunch (01:50:07.182)
20 different whys that day. And then I come back tomorrow and I'm crying the whole time.

Bonnie (01:50:08.829)
Yeah. Yes. Oh.

Missy Bunch (01:50:18.21)
Fastest two hours ever.

Bonnie (01:50:18.677)
So good, so fast, so fast, so fast. I love it, I love it, thank you so much. I mean, there is so much more, that's all I wanna say. I'm like, everybody, there's so much more. This is, I'm so grateful for all the conversation about real human and like the journey of all the things and also the expertise you have and I think the way that it fits within.

people, I think especially people who might be paying attention and like learning with me, who are like, let's find the science part and marry it with the woo part. Like we can be spiritual and scientific all at the same time. Everybody please go check out Missy Bunch. It's like do some cool shit with her. So like, that's like, there's so much more. There's so much more. And I love the way that you talk about.

You talk about your sister and to talk about pain you talk about like injury you talk about like there's so many tools And I think there's a lot that we can take as yoga teachers If we just don't if we don't just learn from other yoga people, but we learn from a lot of different movement Kind of expertises and focuses and they all can marry together and we can do some really I think powerful things within the yoga room

aren't necessarily PT and aren't necessarily like trying to be injury prevention, but we can bring it into the room. I think it's some powerful ways and what you have to offer. Again, I'm going to keep sharing your stuff, Missy. So thank you for today.

Missy Bunch (01:51:52.386)
Thank you for your time, your energy, your attention, for the invitation. I'm so grateful that happened and I was so excited. And thank you for just existing in a way that I see and I'm attracted to and I'm grateful that we connected. I feel that it's very rare to find humans like you that are all the things. And...

Bonnie (01:51:55.716)
Mm-hmm.

Bonnie (01:52:18.245)
Hmm.

Missy Bunch (01:52:21.266)
open to expressing it. So thank you.

Bonnie (01:52:23.929)
Yes, you're so welcome. Okay, everybody, go check out Missy and we'll see you on the interwebs, maybe in person. Maybe you will be with Missy in a week. Like by the time this comes out, this will already have happened. So maybe you were, maybe you were, you're listening to this and you're like, now I found Missy and I need to know more and hopefully you learn more. So.

Missy Bunch (01:52:44.674)
Thank you so much.