Episode 281: This Is Real with Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts
Doree and Kate talk cheese, jet lag, and the underrated sun protection of an umbrella before talking to celebrated Peloton yoga teacher Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts. She speaks about setting boundaries, becoming a parent in your 40s, her yoga teaching journey, and how music inspires her classes.
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Transcript
Kate Spencer:
Hello, welcome to Forever 35 a podcast about the things we do to take care of ourselves. I'm Kate Spencer.
Doree Shafrir:
And I'm Dory Shafrir
Kate Spencer:
And we're not experts.
Doree Shafrir:
We're not, we're two friends who like to talk a lot about serums.
Kate Spencer:
Did you put a serum on today?
Doree Shafrir:
No.
Kate Spencer:
Not to put you on the spot. Not to put you on the spot.
Doree Shafrir:
I didn't because, partly because I just put on some, my skin was feeling kind of dry this morning actually, and I put on the skin fix triple lipid peptide cream, which is a moisturizer that I usually only put on at night because it's kind of thick, but I felt like my skin needed that extra quenching.
Kate Spencer:
It Was calling to you to be quenched.
Doree Shafrir:
It was. So I just put that on and some sunscreen and walked the dog and it's kind of a weird day here. Henry isn't in camp right now and our nanny is sick, so it's been just sort of like a, we're recording and playing with him, having him watch tv. It feels like a little bit of a weird day here.
Kate Spencer:
I know. Those days. Where it's like you don't know what day or time it actually is. You're just kind like, what's happening? I just got to get through this day.
Doree Shafrir:
Totally. And I have to say also I've been, well, we've been trying to save money first of all, so that's sort of the backstory. But also I've also been feeling just a little lazy, and so my lunch lately has been half a bag of the Trader Joe's chicken cilantro, frozen wontons.
Kate Spencer:
Yum. I love those. So good. That's not lazy. That's fantastic. You're feeding yourself and taking care of yourself.
Doree Shafrir:
They're so good. They're so easy. They just crisp right up.
Kate Spencer:
Cook them in some oil.
Doree Shafrir:
Cook them and some oil. They take six minutes to cook. I put a little bit of soy sauce on them and just like go to town.
Kate Spencer:
Do you have any other favorite prepared Trader Joe's items?
Doree Shafrir:
Well, I do think their fried rice is pretty good.
Kate Spencer:
Oh, their fried rice is very good. I
Doree Shafrir:
I actually think it's obviously not gourmet the way they, but I think most of their Asian food is pretty good. They're Japanese, they're Korean, they're Chinese. It's all
Kate Spencer:
Their soup dumplings are
Doree Shafrir:
Oh, Henry yum. Henry Is obsessed with their soup dumplings. He will take down a whole package of them and just he loves them, loves. They also have really scallion pancakes. They have good Korean pancakes. They have good jap che. I think their Asian food is where they shine. I have not loved their frozen Mexican food.
Kate Spencer:
What the tiny chicken tacos?
Doree Shafrir:
I don't think they're that good.
Kate Spencer:
Oh boy. I polished off some of those yesterday. Speaking of lunch.
Doree Shafrir:
I don't Know. I got those a couple times and I was like, I'm not really feeling these.
Kate Spencer:
Wow. That's okay. To each their own. Their Shumai is good. Well, I'm looking,
Doree Shafrir:
she's scrolling.
Kate Spencer:
I'm scrolling through. I think, look, you raise a good point, which is like fed, just like you take care of yourself by, you're getting a meal. That's great. And I think Trader Joe's, I stock up, I mean between Trader Joe's and fucking Costco, I'm pack it freezer. My freezers are full. I do. We went through a major bean to keto phase for a few years and then we had the situation where we couldn't, the trader joe's didn't have them.
This is always a crisis when you get into a relationship, like a long-term relationship with a frozen trader Joe's item. And then especially when your kids are into them, that's all my kids were eating for lunch with these. I would be toasting up these taquitos every morning and then one day and we would stockpile them and they were gone. And so that was a tough one. I like their burritos. I mean, their croissants are amazing. If you've ever done a Trader Joe's croissant situation, you leave them out and they puff up and then you bake them in the morning. I think their pizzas are good. I like their frozen gnocchi. I'm trying to think of what's in our fridge right now. I believe we have a teriyaki barbecue teriyaki chicken floating around in there. I always stockpile the frozen rice to always have on hand. The cauliflower nochi is delicious.
Doree Shafrir:
Kate, I also do just want to note that in the Patreon discord there is a thread of Trader Joe's Recs that people have been adding to.
Kate Spencer:
Well, there was a Costco rec for a while as well. Yeah, I love Trader Joe's and I know we've discussed Aldi and I believe they're from the same family company. And so you can get similarly wonderful frozen items. But I mean there's, so to truly honor what you can get at Trader Joe's, you have to break it down by category because we haven't even gotten into, I mean, I could do a whole conversation about Trader Joe's crackers. There's so many great different crackers.
Doree Shafrir:
Totally. Their pita crackers are really good. Oh, so good.
Kate Spencer:
So I mean, they're cheese. Sometimes I'll find a video that's like, I'm a cheese monger and here's what's great at Trader Joe's and I saved that video real fast. Oh, Kate,
Doree Shafrir:
I have to say I threw Matt a little surprise party for his birthday.
Kate Spencer:
I'm Sad I missed it.
Doree Shafrir:
I'm sad you missed it too. You were missed. And I put together a little cheese plate from Von's.
Kate Spencer:
Ooh.
Doree Shafrir:
Which just like a regular old grocery store here in Los Angeles.
Kate Spencer:
And were you proud of your work?
Doree Shafrir:
I was. I like, you know what, this is decent. This is decent.
Kate Spencer:
So it was kind of like a charcuterie board situation.
Doree Shafrir:
I did get some little salamis. I didn't have a ton of time. If I had really had time and more money, I would've really done it up. But I was pretty pleased with the result of just a quick, slightly frantic trip to Vons and grabbing a bunch of cheeses and bread and crackers and fig jam and salami.
Kate Spencer:
There's a lot you can do with a charcuterie board. I made one, I kind of followed, I googled how to make a simple Trader Joe's charcuterie board and I had some fruit and I tried to style it and I put they're little dried oranges that are coated and sugar and so delicious on the edge, and it was very pretty. I've actually been thinking how I want to try to make pretty charcuterie boards. for whom I guess I'll have to host, which gives me anxiety. But I think I would like to charcuterie again,
Doree Shafrir:
Kate, I would like to experience your charcuterie.
Kate Spencer:
Okay. I'll have you over for a charcuterie, a trade to a charcuterie board.
Doree Shafrir:
Just have me over
Kate Spencer:
Just you and I'll give you just a giant Your own charcuterie board. Yes. And then I'll be like my grandmother and sit there and watch you expect you to eat all of it.
Doree Shafrir:
Yes, exactly.
Kate Spencer:
Well, I do just want to shout out that I am wearing a serum today. I did wash my face and I'm wearing, brilliant light multi correctional repair serum.Klur's brilliant light multi correctional repair serum. It's their vitamin C serum. I love it. I love their prods. And that is what I put on my skin today. And then, do you know what I put on? Okay. Can I take you on a little bit of a journey?
Doree Shafrir:
Yes, please.
Kate Spencer:
Okay. So I became obsessed with bringing stuff along to kind of get through jet lag. My family just recently traveled to Japan, which was an amazing experience and something that was recommended to me online was from this company called de Mamiel. It is like a natural skincare line from the uk and they make something called altitude oil. Which Is this little bottle, they call it an inhalation essence, carry it with you at all times to keep a clear head and energize your mind when constantly on the go. So me being me, I bought one based on these recommendations that I had run online. And I did find it very nice when I was feeling a little tired to just sniff it, but they also then sent me some samples of their other products and I'm loving them and they just sent, it's the kind of thing where you get the box and there are these couple tiny samples, which I love when people do that.
And so I don't know anything about this brand. I only came to it because I somehow stumbled upon an article about this oil for jet lag. And right now I have their products are all, I will say they're in a high price range. And so I'm already like, well when these samples run out farewell to you, I've loved and I've lost. But they have this daily moisturizer, it's called Exhale Daily hydrating Nectar. And it feels so good and it has zinc in it for a little bit of sun protection. And then they have this oil, Doree, that I have loved and it is their summer facial oil. And I have a tiny little bottle and it's almost gone. My skin feels so soft the next day after using this at night, which I often feel like oil doesn't quite, my skin doesn't quite respond, but whatever's going on in this summer, oil by de Mamiel, handmade in England, it says this is the shit.
Doree Shafrir:
Okay.
Kate Spencer:
Anyway, that was a journey I went on with this brand. I do like their altitude oil. If you are extra like I am and you want to sniff something while traveling, I recommend it, but I don't think it's needed. It's travel aroma therapy is what they have. They have a lot of interesting products.
Doree Shafrir:
Okay. Well thank you Kate for that Rec. Now, Kate, how are you doing with your travel and
Kate Spencer:
Well, the jet lag has been extreme.
Doree Shafrir:
Yes.
Kate Spencer:
And luckily we came home and my kids have about a week. Well now it's a few days before school starts, so we are just kind of trying to reset and get back into things. And I'll talk more about my jet lag drama. But it's challenging. It's really challenging. But this was our first time traveling as a family to another country. My children are 10 and 12 and they did great. And it was going to Japan has been a bucket list dream of mine. And we only were able to go to Tokyo only. We were fortunate to be able to go to Tokyo, but we didn't travel really outside of that area. But I would like to go back and spend as much time there as possible. And let me tell you, I embarrassed my family many times because there is so much amazing sun protection to be offered around every corner.
Doree Shafrir:
You sent me some really good photos.
Kate Spencer:
Now I have to tell you, and I haven't told you this yet, but I'll tell you this on the podcast, I bought you a couple things, but I also want to honor the fact that you have decluttered and I don't want you to feel like you have to take on new products.
Doree Shafrir:
That's very nice.
Kate Spencer:
So I just want you to know, you can be like, thanks for the thinking of me, but I actually don't need to add anything to my space right now.
Doree Shafrir:
That's very sweet. But I will take your specially bought Japanese products. Thank you so much.
Kate Spencer:
Biore, we walked into a store and the biore sunscreen selection. There was just a wall of not just the watery essence, which I love, but other biore, sun, other. And I lost my freaking mind. And then I had to give a speech about why European and Asian sunscreens are better than American sunscreens and how your
Doree Shafrir:
Kids like, okay, mom
Kate Spencer:
And my husband. They were all just like, Okay. And then the amount that I, and then we had to packed very light and so then the rearranging of things, in order for me to bring back a bunch of watery essence sunscreens.
Doree Shafrir:
Oh my God, that's so funny.
Kate Spencer:
It was a lot. It was a lot. But I felt very seen. I felt like I bought an umbrella. I bought a UV umbrella.
Doree Shafrir:
You felt seen by Japan because
Kate Spencer:
I was like, yes. To me felt like a country that
Doree Shafrir:
Take sun protection very seriously.
Kate Spencer:
Yes. And I often feel like as an American, I'm like, well, just cook me up. Just cook me up in this sun. And oh my gosh, I was also really blown away by, it was super hot. It was extremely hot and humid and I have always been an umbrella for the sun. Will that do anything? And I was sold when I saw everybody had them. And then I bought one finally halfway through the trip and it was like, I can't wait to be that person who is now an umbrella user.
Doree Shafrir:
Are you going to do that here?
Kate Spencer:
I don't. I want to. I might. Yeah. Okay. When I walk my kids to school and it's a mile each way and it's like I wear my big hat, but the umbrella is a big hat for my body. Umbrellas are body hats, umbrellas are body hats
Doree Shafrir:
umbrellas are body hats.
Kate Spencer:
It's taken me all this time to realize
Doree Shafrir:
I am so glad you have come to that realization umbrellas are body hats.
Kate Spencer:
They're body hats. Now, I went on the last day, I went to go buy one other thing that I wanted, which was the city exclusive perfume from La Labo, and I walked there and I brought my umbrella because it was sunny, and then on the way back it started raining. I still had the umbrella up and then it shifted so quickly and it started raining and I was like, you truly are the most,
Doree Shafrir:
That's a good thing you had that.
Kate Spencer:
Yeah, the most useful tool known to mankind. The umbrella.
Doree Shafrir:
Wow.
Kate Spencer:
Changed my life.
Doree Shafrir:
Wow, okay. This is exciting.
Kate Spencer:
So we had an amazing time. It was really special.
Doree Shafrir:
Do you want to tell people while you were there?
Kate Spencer:
Well, yes, sure. So Anthony, my husband co-wrote the book of the musical Beetlejuice and we got to go see it open in Japan. It's being performed in Tokyo and it's touring and it's a Japanese cast. The show was so great, it was such a cool experience to get to see it in another language. The Star is a very famous singer and actor in Japan named Jesse.
Doree Shafrir:
Oh, wow okay.
Kate Spencer:
He was very handsome and he was great. It was really neat. Also, it's always, I'm very proud of Anthony and I was very fun to just get to be like, can you believe this is happening?
Doree Shafrir:
So Cool.
Kate Spencer:
This is bonkers because I've known him since, as I've mentioned on the show, he was a temp working 24 hours a day trying to make it musical theater. So Proud wife
Doree Shafrir:
and look at him now.
Kate Spencer:
Proud Wife. Proud wife, proud wife. And you know what? And now he's married to someone who cares about his skin and keeping him safe.
Doree Shafrir:
He's the lucky one.
Kate Spencer:
He really? Yeah, he won out
Doree Shafrir:
He really did.
Kate Spencer:
Well, thank you for letting me go off on that.
Doree Shafrir:
Oh my gosh. Of course. Should we introduce our guest?
Kate Spencer:
Yeah. I am very emotional about our guest today because as I believe we established in our interview, I have a deeply para-social relationship with this person and she handled that in stride. I feel like I kept being like, how do you feel about how you've specifically changed my life?
Doree Shafrir:
No, I think you played it Cool.
Kate Spencer:
We're talking to Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts, who is an internationally celebrated Peloton yoga teacher. She is a scholar who is highly regarded as a leader and a new generation of yogis who are passionate about expanding the visibility of who is commonly seen as teacher. She's been on the cover of Yoga Journal. She has been featured in countless media outlets and she is in addition to Peloton, best known for her work with yoga and teens and making connection between literacy, development, storytelling, and yoga. She founded yoga literature and art camp at Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, which is no, excuse me, after receiving her doctorate in educational studies from Emory. When we say we are not experts, what we are then suggesting is that there are people who are, and Chelsea is truly an expert in I think in yoga and the ways in which it can be a tool for so many things. And she's just such a fantastic teacher. I love her.
Doree Shafrir:
She also has very calming energy and a very calming voice.
Kate Spencer:
If you have ever taken any of her yoga classes or her meditations online or maybe in person, you will know that to be true. She's a great instructor and just brings so much warmth and knowledge to the experience and as she did to our conversation. Well, before we get to Chelsea, Doree, let's remind folks that you can visit our website forever35podcast.com for links to everything we mention on episodes. You can follow us on Instagram at Forever35podcast. You can join our Patreon for more podcast content that's at patreon.com/forever35 and favorite products that we love can be found at shopmy.us/forever35.
Doree Shafrir:
All right. We'll be right back.
Kate Spencer:
We are very excited about today's guest because she's someone who has been in our homes in a magical way via the Peloton app. Yes. If you have not guessed, we have Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts on the show today. Amazing Peloton instructor and so much more, and I'm like giddy with excitement. So thank you for doing this because it's so funny taking, as a person who takes a class with you, you've been with me through a lot of stuff as I know you have for Doree and for many other people, and that's a powerful, it's such an interesting kind of role to have to really settle into, I imagine.
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
Yeah, it is. First of all, thank you so much. And I'm just filled with so much joy when I hear that anyone has been touched by the way that I share yoga and meditation, and so to know that it gets folks through those challenging tough times, that's what really brought me and got me coming back to the practice. Those tough and challenging times, of course, the practice made the joy even more potent. It made it more meaningful. I think that my joyful moments stick with me a little bit more because of yoga and meditation, and also those moments of deep suffering, those moments of what in the world is going on. Yoga, meditation certainly have helped me navigate those moments too. So I'm glad that it is doing something for someone. Oh my gosh.
Doree Shafrir:
No, it was funny because I hadn't done yoga in a little while, and then I did one of your classes, I don't know, a couple weeks ago or whenever it was, and I said to Kate, I told Kate that I had done your class and it just really calmed me down and brought me to a good place. And then the next day your publicist reached out about you coming on the show, and I was like, this is weird, because I was just talking about her. So I don't want to say that I manifested this, but you were in my head. So thank you. And I echo everything that Kate has been saying. You're just a really meaningful part, I think, of both of our lives. Thank you. Thank you. We do like to start all of our interviews by asking our guests about a self-care practice that they have. So is there something that is meaningful for you right now in terms of self-care?
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
That's a great question because I feel like it could be easy for me to miss these moments of where I see self-care because it was funny, I was just talking to my husband Shane about this, where I was just like, wow, I really committed and dedicated my life to making sure that I took care of myself. I was like, I think I did this on purpose. I was like, I chose something that would encourage me, if not force me. I usually don't like to force anybody to do something, but sometimes I need that for myself because I will often, I reference when my teacher, my jaya says, is to drink as I pour. And oftentimes that's the hardest advice for me to follow. So right now, I would say that my self-care practice would be practicing those boundaries because I think that I can go and I can do the massage, I can get the facial, I can take a yoga class, but unless I am finding those healthy boundaries in my relationships with what I'm offering out into the world, whether it's traveling to get there or the time away from my family, that has certainly been so, I've had to say no to some things where at this point in my career, it's like, is this the right thing to do? But I just know in order to take care of myself right now, I would say my self-care practice has been drawing those healthy boundaries. Yeah.
Kate Spencer:
Is that something too, that becoming a new parent has added a layer of clarity in terms of setting boundaries? Has that made it easier or almost required it more?
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
It has required it more. It certainly has not made it easier, more than, because this is uncharted territory for me. We waited later in our marriage to have a baby. I'm experiencing things for the first time that I'm just like, whoa, I've entered this stage in life and I can honestly say I've never changed a newborn's diaper. These things that I'm just like, whoa. And so I have to lean into those practices. It's not just a luxury. Even married with not having Noble yet, I still had space and time to just like, what am I going to do today? What am I going to eat day? What am I going to, which way is the wind going to blow? And now, no. So I have to rely on these self-care practices in my yoga meditation practice in order for me to show up for myself and for my family. Yeah.
Kate Spencer:
Have you ever had a moment as a practitioner where, and maybe this is very common for people who are teachers of yoga and meditation, but these offerings that so many of us receive and as part of our self-care practice, but find yourself not caring for yourself. I mean, I think maybe that's kind of what your teacher was saying, right? You give so much to others in service of caring for themselves, and then you can one day be like, wait a second.
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
Right.
Kate Spencer:
What about myself?
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
Yeah. I'm not saying that you have to be a parent in order to understand that, because I certainly understood the value in that, and there is something about knowing that, okay, I have this little being that I wanted to be here, and I'm the one who, me and my husband we're the ones who chose for, and I feel like this obligation where I'm just like, I have to go until I burn out to serve this little boy, to serve this child. And I'm just like, well, what did they say? The math ain't math on that, honey, if you go until you burn out, then are you really going to be able to be here to enjoy your life with this child? And so I just want to make sure that I'm taking care of myself. So I remember the sleep deprivation. Sometimes that happens and it's like you don't have the help all the time. I know that I'm in a position of privilege in many ways of being fortunate to have a partner, so hands-on, but sleep. Sleep, where I remember it in those first weeks, even with the help, there was something in me that was just like, no, I need to stay up to make sure that he's okay. It is just like,
So I talked to my therapist and we got through it. I'm still getting through it because I imagine that that is just a preview to how I'm going to show up at these different stages in life. I'm just at one stage in this journey, and I know that y'all are parents, and it's just like I'm at one stage in this journey and who knows what the next one will be like. So buckle up buttercup and continue your practices, and that's what I'm doing
Doree Shafrir:
As a mom who also became a mom for the first time in her forties. I was almost 42 when I had my son. I do think it hits different when you're in your forties and you have your first kid. At least for me, I felt like I was bringing so much of my own stuff and history to having, and he was so wanted. And sometimes I found it a little bit hard to relate to other moms of babies. A lot of them were at least 10 years younger than me
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
Yeah, I wonder about that sometimes too.
Doree Shafrir:
And don't get me wrong now, some of my closest friends, but we're kind of in different life stages except for this very big thing of having babies at the same time. So I don't know. I always meeting other moms who also had their first kid in their forties. I think we have a unique perspective.
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
Absolutely. Oh my gosh, I don't even know where to begin sometimes where just in this conversation right now, I know that he is being cared for. And I also just heard him crying and I was like, excuse me, I'll be right back. And I'm just like, no, Chelsea, this is where you are right now. You know that he is being cared for. So those are those moments where I'm just even creating those boundaries with myself has been something that I don't know if I would've had that in my twenties or thirties, honestly. And that is all the love and everybody has their trajectory of when they encounter certain lessons. And for my unique journey, I don't know if I would be able to navigate parenthood the way that I'm doing it right now, had it been earlier. So there's that piece too.
Kate Spencer:
Yeah. Can I ask you about how you first came to yoga and how your relationship to your yoga practice has changed and evolved and flowed since then?
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
Yeah. So I started in my early twenties right after I graduated from Spelman College. That's the hat that I have on right now, the 1881 when we were founded. And so I definitely stepped into adulthood, womanhood, came into myself through that experience at Spelman, and I remember that's where I started to hear about these practices. I'm from Dayton, Ohio. I certainly had seen things on TV of people doing these breathing exercises, but it was always interpreted as woo woo and so esoteric, so intangible to a little girl in Dayton, Ohio. So it was just like, oh, okay, that's that. And then I got an opportunity to go to my first yoga class, which was a hot yoga class. I went to yoga because I thought that it was going to help me lose weight. I felt like I was really out of shape in my early twenties because I had been very active in high school, came to college.
It was a big transition. And so a lot of the things that I would approach, they were just too hard running, walking, all the things. And so I was like, okay, I hear that yoga is accessible and depending on where you're reading or seeing yoga, it could have been an opposite experience. It could have been like, that ain't for me because you got to look the certain way. And so my approach was very physical. I thought it was just a workout. And then later on in life, I understood that it could be a tool that would help me through one of the biggest traumatic events of my life, and that was losing my best friend to gun violence. And so it wasn't in that moment. I said, oh, I need to go to yoga to get through this. It was just like, I remember this practice.
It wasn't like I was going every day at the time, but I was like, I knew how I felt when I was on the yoga mat and I felt whole, I felt safe, I felt really planted, and these were all the things that I was yearning for during this experience. And so I decided to go all the way. I ended up being a school teacher, an elementary school teacher for eight years. And in those first years of teaching, I also got certified in yoga. And fast forward a couple of years later, I was just like, what would happen if I started introducing the things that I'm learning in yoga and meditation to my students? And so I taught, I integrated, and then that's when I went to do the PhD program at Emory to really look at the impact yoga could have on how we interpret the world. And so now I'm a Peloton, and it's just like that's a whole nother story,
Kate Spencer:
A thing that didn't even exist when you were first starting with yoga, who would've ever thought
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
Exactly. And when I finished that PhD program, that took five years for me to finish, I had a decision to make. I was either going to apply to tenure track positions or I was going to continue to teach yoga on a scale that I knew I could reach more people. I could reach the general population if I chose to go in the other direction. And so that's why I am where I am today, teaching in the mainstream ways on this platform and how I got to connect with y'all.
Kate Spencer:
Okay. Well, let's take a quick break and we'll be right back.
Doree Shafrir:
One of the things that you just mentioned when you were talking about how you came to yoga is that you kind of thought initially people had to look a certain way to do yoga. And one thing that I have always appreciated about your classes is it seems like you bring kind of your whole self to the classes and you're a black woman and there are not that many kind of black women leaders in the yoga world. And I guess I'm just wondering how does that feel for you? In some ways, it seems like you have to kind of be this icon for this whole community, but at the same time, you are a real role model. So I'm just wondering how you feel about that.
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
Well, one thing I'm grateful for is, again, the age part of it, because with the age and the years that you accumulate on this earth, you get that experience. And so I think a lot of times, because I don't lead with my age, I don't talk about it a lot. I think people assume that I may be younger than what I am. And so I always love that I can hold and carry some of the things that I have to navigate. And I know that it's through experiences in my age that are helping me with that. And so it feels like I can be this chameleon sometimes, and I can go into spaces and I can be in the conversations. I'm very, Shane. My husband actually is way more attuned to the tiktoks and the pop culture and things like that. And he keeps me.
And now we have a 10 month old, so I'm like, wow, I just got even younger because I'm going to have to keep up and know what's going on with him. So it feels like a huge responsibility that I know that I have made it to this point in my life that I'm able to step into, had this opportunity. I even say when I started yoga, when I was way more into the physical postures, when I was showing more of what I could do with my body, which I think is beautiful, and there's power in that. I don't know who I would've been if I would've gotten the power that I sometimes get in spaces or the access, I'll say when I get to certain opportunities, how I would use that had I not gotten the experiences and the skills and the, I don't know. So on the one hand, there are moments because I'm human, I'm whole where I'm just like, wow, time is running out. I got to get it done. And then on the other hand, I'm like, girl, you are right where you need to be. This wouldn't come together in any other way unless it was exactly ordered in this way with your age being what it is with you being exactly where you're planted. And so that's what it feels like. It feels like a huge responsibility that I've waited my entire life to step into.
Kate Spencer:
Oh, I just got chills. I wanted to ask just about the research and the focus you've done on connecting yoga to literacy and storytelling. When this is just interesting to me as a person who's done yoga for a long time and is a writer, I would love to know what you've seen and what you think folks get when we connect or when they connect yoga and this kind of artistic creative side of themselves and both sides they may have never accessed before until you've introduced it.
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
I love that. Well, the one thing is that as an educator, I'm an educational researcher, and so I'm always fascinated and intrigued by the ways in which people learn process information and share information. Oh, interesting. And so anytime that we can have a full way of sharing who we are, whether it's through sound, through the written experience, through the art, I really believe in those multiple intelligences. I believe that the student who may not be as strong in verbally expressing themselves may be able to express themselves through art. Perhaps that student is attuned to their body. So that's what I was drawn to, the literacy that we understand about our own bodies and about our connection to our bodies. And then the other component was I just thought about the things that I wanted when I was a young girl, when I was a young person, period.
When I was reading in the eighties and I was obsessed with Ramona Quimbee, and that was the closest person that I saw myself to. And I was like, well, how powerful could it have been to actually see my hair, imagine my accent from Dayton, Ohio, all of those things. And I just thought about when I was a little girl, there weren't a lot of representatives of me in literature, and I loved to read, and I loved that it shifted my perspective so that I could go to a whole nother world and see the world through another lens. But not too many times had I ever seen it through my lens. And so it was important for me to normalize girls who self-identified as girls and as black girls or brown girls or girls of color, however that was for them, that they normalized that their stories were being centered.
And so with yoga, although I was just like, yeah, I'm going to my first yoga class, when I would go out to look for the people that I could see to give me the confidence to go to that next yoga class, no, they weren't elevated. So I wanted to normalize in yoga literature in our camp, which was the result of my dissertation, was that we can actually be centered in all the parts of us, not just when people, not when it's just black history month, not just when in 2020. I think about when there was an investment in understanding the lives of black folks. It's just like, no, this is every day no days off. And so yoga literature in our camp is a space for people who self-identify as young girls, ages 13 through 17. And we normalize that their teachers are also them, that they are reflected in that way. And their teachers are poets, they are yoga teachers. They are advocates in their community. And so that is what, while a camp is and what inspired me to bring those parts together,
Kate Spencer:
I love that so much. And I also think it's so interesting that you come to yoga as a researcher in this way of how we learn, because it's only dawning on me now. I'm like, wow, she must use that as she teaches us all these things. You show up to take your class. And I'm like, oh, la, la, la. And then now that I'm sitting here getting to really pick your brain, I'm thinking about the ways in which you must strategically really approach teaching and how thoughtful. And I think we can feel that as people who take your class. So there's a real thoughtful energy to the way you approach talking about the body, the mind, the connection, the movement that I just, it's just now dawning on me, and I think that's so beautiful.
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
Oh good. I love that. And the music. I love music. I'm a musician. Before I was a yogi, I feel like in many ways, and I just think about every Monday I go through a different genre of music and tonight is country and it's just out there. I not push and encourage myself to go outside of my comfort zone if I'm asking for students to come to yoga for the first time and get out side of theirs. And there are some bops in the country genre like, oh, excuse me. In My mind,
Doree Shafrir:
I was actually going to ask you about the music in your classes. Could you talk just a little bit about how, you just alluded to it a little bit, but could you talk about how you choose the music, how you kind of put a class together musically, and what some artists that you've discovered kind of work really well for yoga that you might not have expected?
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
So every Monday I do a thing called Music Mondays. And it was intentional in that I wanted, if you didn't think yoga was for you, that I was convinced that if I play the perfect soundtrack for you, I could get you to come to yoga. And so whether it is trap music out of the hip hop genre, gospel or country or rock, I'm going to attempt to show you that yoga is for you. All you got to do is just give it a chance and listen to the music. And so that was the intention behind using the music. That was how I started in Atlanta, Georgia. I started teaching yoga in a community center in a coffee shop. And the one thing that kept bringing people back was the fact that my playlists were fire, and people were just like, if I'm going to do yoga, it is going to be with that music. And so I've gotten letters and dms and emails from people who have said, yeah, you have made me a believer. I did not think that. I always thought that yoga was so boring or that, and they're just like, I look forward to coming to the mat because I learned something new about myself by listening to the music and putting it with the movement. So yeah, that was the inspiration behind the music.
Kate Spencer:
I took a class with you recently and you said in this class, I think it, it might've even been a quick 10 minute, 15 minute class, but you said something that stuck with me, which is that one of the reasons people struggle with yoga is because it asks us to quiet the mind. And this can feel scary, and it's something I've been thinking about a lot this year personally. What does it mean to actually quiet the mind? What does it offer? What would you suggest it offers us? And what are the moments when it feels hard or scary for you? Because I'm imagining that even for you, there are times where you're like, oh, I don't want to sit with this.
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
So I think about quieting the mind. It's really, it's funny because it's not quiet at all. It's getting louder than ever. So it's just like if we get to that place where we can use our meditation practice to quiet the distractions that are around us, even if the distractions, the sounds I live in New York City, even if the horns, the fights, the whatever that are happening outside, even if they're going on that chaos when we're able to, that's the quieting of the mind. But to me, that's when the mind is speaking the loudest when we're able to listen to actually what has been saying or the body, what the body has been saying. And so that's what I'm asking when I say it feels uncomfortable or that's what I'm saying, it's uncomfortable. And I think that there are these moments, whether it's through the media, through social media where it almost compartmentalizes yoga to be this thing that you do on a weekend, on a whim, on a girl's trip, on a, it's just like this thing that's just like, oh my gosh, and we're going to try yoga.
This is what the itinerary is, and that it can't possibly be this thing that you integrate into your life. And I think that is because you almost need a retreat to support whatever could be coming up that you have been moving fast paced through this life to not really sit with and listen to. And you're just like, okay, I can do that on a retreat weekend, but can I do that and continue to function and show up in my job? Can I continue to function and show up in my family when I'm starting to listen to things that may be showing up that happened 20 years ago that I just didn't ever want to face? And every time I'm triggered, it comes up. But when I did this meditation or this yoga practice for whatever reason, I was able to sit with it. And so for whatever reason, I was drawn to that and I went back.
And it can also stop you right in your tracks and say, oh no, that was way too much for me. And so that's why I like to remind people to continue to use the breath as a tool to keep yourself grounded, rooted, and remind you that you are okay, that you can make it to the next breath. And that's why I use music as well to support the practice. So for me, those moments have certainly been in this new transition into parenthood. I think about the moments I did have Noble in a hospital. It was an emergency C-section, so it was unexpected. It was my first experience ever being in a hospital just giving birth. I remember the moment, it was probably like 3:00 AM and they left Noble with me, and I looked at Noble, Noble looked at me, and I'm looking at him like, oh, shit, we are, I don't know if I could say that on here. Sorry.
Kate Spencer:
You can say all the swears.
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
I was like, this is real. And I just remember it was so quiet. I felt like everything in the hospital was quiet. It was just that moment and I was completely at face with reality, and that was my beautiful son in front of me. And so that's what it feels like to me. It doesn't have to be in the shape of your firstborn. It can be in the shape of that thing that you have said out loud that you really want for yourself, and you meditate on it every day and whatever that may be. That can be hard. It can be hard to speak it out loud. What if it doesn't come true? And so I feel like meditation for me, that's one of the things that are scary to speak out loud, come up, because what if they are untrue or what if they are true? And yeah, those have been the moments for me that have been challenging.
Doree Shafrir:
Could we talk a little bit about how you came to Peloton and what the process of getting hired by Peloton was like
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
I know it's wild, right? It's just like, where did these eighties baby, I'm always referencing Voltron. I'm like, they have no idea what I'm saying, but it's just like, how do you get all of these different people who have all these different vibes in the strongest ways and we're all here together to come together? So I think that Peloton, what Peloton does really well is that's understand talent. And I had already been doing the stuff that I'm doing now in Peloton, whether anyone was looking or not. I remember the first time I had my first yoga class that I taught at the Ashram in Atlanta where I got certified and no one showed up, no one came to my first class, or I may have been the second class. I may have showed up to the first, and then they weren't there at the second.
And I kept practicing. I remember I stayed there. I may have cried a little bit, but I practiced the duration that I would've taught the class. And I remember that moment because I was like, if it means that much when no one is watching, then imagine when someone is watching. And so I think that I just really poured into a skill, and I think that a lot of my colleagues were in the same way pouring into a skill or to something that they loved, and it finally got noticed. And so they reached out to me and they actually reached out to me before the pandemic. And it just happened that it aligned that I was starting when the pandemic had got underway. And so, I don't know, again, it's one of those moments of everything that I've done have been perfectly aligned for this to happen. And at the time, I was a global ambassador for a major apparel brand, and I was traveling the world globally to teach yoga. And then to fast forward to 2020 and to be the only person in the room teaching yoga to millions, it was a wild,
Doree Shafrir:
that's a trip
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
paradigm shift that certainly grew me up over these last three years.
Kate Spencer:
Also I'm so glad you talk about the moment you go to teach and no one is there. Because I think sometimes those are the moments where we have to decide, like you said, that's when we really decide do we love, why are we here? Are we here because people might show up, or are we here because this is a part of who we are? And as someone who has shown up to do a book signing or a book reading and had one person there, it can be very humbling. And really it takes a minute and then you realize, well, you still are going to give it the same as if you're doing it for a million people. But those are the hard moments,
And there's the moments people don't always, always see, especially via social media. What is it like, I guess now carrying, and I think you've made such a great point of all the life you have led this far has made it so that you can carry this role. But I also imagine it's also very intense as we come in and we're like, oh my God, we took your class. I know everything about your life. The Parasocial relationships we form are very intense and very real, and there are millions of us who have that with you. And I'm sure boundary setting is a big part of how you managed that. But was there a moment where you first realized what was going on, having the entire nation taking your classes along with you?
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
It was wild. I'll say I had a little bit of preparation being with the global apparel brand that I was with, but that was kind of insulated into the yoga community. I'm big in Japan, they love me in China. It's just like that's what it is with yoga. It's just like, oh, you should know about me in the yoga community. So when I come to the fitness community, it was just like, oh, okay, we've heard about her. And then because of how I showed up when I showed up my first class before I even did my premier class was a meditation, breathing, speak up with Tunde, my colleague after George Floyd was murdered. So it was just like all of those things were in position for me to do exactly what I've known that has been inside of me to provide support to so many. And so when I am in a store or when I'm in a coffee shop and I'm putting in a coffee order and somebody turns around because they hear my voice and they're like, oh my gosh, I listen to you every night to go to sleep.
That is not lost on me. I know, especially since 2020 and over the course of these years, how much that means to people, how hard it was to make it to each day, the amount of loss that we had experienced, whether it was in our own families or seeing it on tv, the change that we're all experiencing. And I know that my voice at night with sleep meditations or a deep relaxation or a tribe called Quest Yoga Flow or Beyonce Yoga Flow or whatever it was to make the day a little bit lighter. I know that it really impacted people. And I am just really humble to know that. So those are the questions that are hard for me to answer where I'm just leave it sometimes. And also, and I take that and I hope that I can continue to be a home base for so many people.
Kate Spencer:
And has it been nice getting to have the in-person classes return?
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
Yes, it is so sweet and really nice, especially when you get those leaderboard names. That's how we connect on Peloton with our name. And to see those people in person is a really sweet moment. And yeah, it's just getting back to me what yoga was in the beginning, in the first place for me, this isolated experience on my yoga mat. But I'm surrounded by so many people having their own experiences, and then we're having this collective experience together. So it's nice to see them in person.
Kate Spencer:
If you had advice for folks, I think especially with meditation, it can feel so daunting, especially the more kind of simplistic meditation seems. I know for me it almost feels more overwhelming. Is there an entry point that you suggest for people who are coming to it, not just brand new, but also maybe feeling like they can't meditate?
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
I think that it is important to remember to not let your meditation or yoga practice be yet another thing that you use to beat yourself up and to in that way. And so if you're walking into it or moving into it in that way, I think that that is half the battle. I always like to tell people with the chance of sounding like a commercial, but I'm like, I would love to practice with you. And I have meditations as short as five minutes, and people think that you need the Peloton bike or the tread, and you just need the app. And so I always love to tell people that I got five minute meditations where it's just like, oh, okay, I can do that. Let me just concentrate on five minutes. Maybe that is for the whole year or the rest of the year, but just five minutes. And just approaching it in that way and know that it doesn't have to look a certain way. You don't have to be sitting in a certain way and that it will meet you exactly where you are, but you have to be kind to yourself during the process. And that's what I hope that I'm constantly reminding folks of to be kind to themselves.
Kate Spencer:
Well, you do.
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
Good.
Doree Shafrir:
I think that's a lovely note to end on. Yeah, thank you so much, Chelsea. It was really such a treat to get to talk to you and learn more about your practice and your story. Is there somewhere besides the Peloton app that our listeners can follow you?
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
Sure. Chelsea loves yoga. So Chelsea loves yoga is my website. You can contact us there. And then also on social media, those are my handles. Yes, Chelsea loves yoga.
Doree Shafrir:
Well, thank you so much.
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts:
Thank you both.
Kate Spencer:
Thank you.
Well, that was a real thrill to get to talk to Chelsea. And now when I take her yoga classes, I'm like BFFs now. Not really. I'm honoring the boundary, but I just think she's fantastic.
Doree Shafrir:
She's truly fantastic.
Kate Spencer:
You know what I took, I took a yoga class the day we got home from traveling. I was so zonked and I took a 20 minute yin yoga class on the Peloton app, and it really energized me. I never had had that experience before.
Doree Shafrir:
I love those yin classes.
Kate Spencer:
Normally I'm kind of like, now I'm tired. But I was like, oh, wow. I am, I'm ready to conquer the evening. Maybe that's why I didn't sleep that night.
Doree Shafrir:
Oh Interesting. Maybe.
Kate Spencer:
But it was a great, yeah, it really felt really good.
Doree Shafrir:
I love that. Well, Kate, how did not always sharing go for you?
Kate Spencer:
It's been very interesting. So I'm taking a bit of a self enforced social media break to really work on the ways that impacts my mental health, because that's a larger issue that I've been working on with my therapist. And so I really wanted to have this trip with my family and see what it felt like not to post it online or talk about it online or dig into what it meant that I didn't share, that my husband got to do this, how proud I am of him. And I didn't post it. Just really kind of digging into what it means to exist online as a human. I'm really trying to do, I don't know, it's just kind of really come up for me a lot this year. So it was interesting. I have to say it was weird at times. Oh, interesting. My brain thinks in terms of posts, and I found this when I stopped tweeting. I think I stopped using Twitter in 2018 maybe. And for so long it was hard for me not to think thoughts in how to write them in tweets. I'd have a thought and then I'd be like, And my brain would immediately turn it into a quip.
Doree Shafrir:
Oh my gosh, that's so interesting. Ever, ever
Kate Spencer:
Feel. Does your brain do this?
Doree Shafrir:
Not quite like that. But I do sometimes find myself thinking about like, oh, should I post? How should I post this? What should I say? And then I'm like, do I need to? Sometimes I feel like I need to. Then sometimes I'm like, no.
Kate Spencer:
Yeah, it's been interesting to eliminate that choice for myself and also not to be receiving validation in that way. I think I get a lot of validation from online stuff. And so
Doree Shafrir:
Totally,
Kate Spencer:
I don't know, I'm just, I'm trying to just see what it feels like. So anyway, it was good. And my intention this week is to just kind of get back on a schedule because I'm all thrown off from travel. And then as I mentioned, school starts in my house in a few days, and so that kind of throws everything into, it shifts gears extremely. So I just want to, I feel better once I have some sort of grounded schedule. How about you, Doree? How about you?
Doree Shafrir:
Okay, well, last week I said I was going to keep up the decluttering momentum, which has sort of been happening. It's not as momentous as I would like, but it's sort of been happening. This week. My parents are coming to visit.
Kate Spencer:
Oh, I didn't know that.
Doree Shafrir:
So I do feel like I need to get the house ready for them. So that will require some decluttering and going to kind of try to think about what we're going to do. And they're only going to be here, they're going to be here for three nights, so not a ton of time. My parents love to just kind of go in and out, in and out.
Kate Spencer:
Yeah. They come for a quick,
Doree Shafrir:
They come for like a quick trip. They really subscribe to that old guests and fish start to stink after three days.
Kate Spencer:
I have never heard that, but I love that so much.
Doree Shafrir:
Oh, you've never heard that?
Kate Spencer:
I love that. No.
Doree Shafrir:
Oh, that's funny. Okay.
Kate Spencer:
That's true.
Doree Shafrir:
Yeah. And they were kind enough when we came to the East coast. They let us stay at their house for six days and we probably,
Kate Spencer:
You don't stink.
Doree Shafrir:
Well, we got covid, so that kind of was stinky. Right. But we didn't know we had Covid.
Kate Spencer:
Yes, that is stinky. It sucks Covid. It's still out there,
Doree Shafrir:
But it's probably going to be a little hot when they're here. And I dunno, just kind of going to try to sort of figure that out. Go to the beach.
Kate Spencer:
Get out of the house.
Doree Shafrir:
My dad is obsessed with the beach.
Kate Spencer:
Oh he did. Okay. So he likes the beach. I feel like sometimes people are not beach babies
Doree Shafrir:
Loves the beach.
Kate Spencer:
Oh. Get him to the beach.
Doree Shafrir:
Yeah. I'll get him to the beach. He likes to beach as our friend Ken says,
Kate Spencer:
Oh my God, we haven't even talked about the Barbie movie. I loved it so much.
Doree Shafrir:
What does he say? I love beach.
Kate Spencer:
Whoops. He says something along those lines, the way he talks about beach as his job cracked me up the whole fricking time.
Doree Shafrir:
Yeah, so maybe We'll Beach,
Kate Spencer:
Your dad is our Ken. Doree. You know what I just realized? We did not mention that. You can always leave us a voicemail or text us. I apologize everybody. But that number is 781-591-0390 and our email is forever35Podcast@gmail.com
Doree Shafrir:
And Forever 35 is hosted and produced by me, Doree Shafrir and Kate Spencer, and produced and edited by Sam Junio. Sami Reed is our project manager and our network partners at Acast. Thanks so much for listening. We'll talk to you soon. Bye.