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“Yoga was really the one thing that made me feel at home and at peace,” says Mel Mah from the front seat of her automotive. The California morning is shiny behind her as she explains the clarity and steadiness her practice has brought her as she transitioned from skilled dancer to yoga teacher, mentor, and filmmaker.

Her Early Years of Yoga

Like a lot of us, Mah began her yoga practice during a time of non-public turbulence. Born and raised in Toronto, Mah moved to Los Angeles in 2011 to pursue a profession as a dancer. She Distanced from her family and friends, she was barely out of her teens when she was learning to navigate the entertainment industry while acclimating to a totally different country.

It wasn’t a straightforward time. “Most of my friends are still in college and I’m here in LA paying my bills and auditioning and it was just rather a lot emotionally,” says Mah.

It was during this transition that she found her yoga practice, which ultimately became her way forward. “I used to be questioning whether or not I made the fitting decision,” she says. “Yoga was the thing that kept me centered on my path and allowed me to trust that the challenges were there for a reason. They were teaching me something.”

Mah looks back on this as her turning point. On the suggestion of a friend and mentor, Mah decided to take yoga teacher training through CorePower Yoga. She questioned whether or not she would teach, until she was asked to begin a yoga program at Millennium Dance Complex shortly after the training. It was during those early teaching experiences within the attic of the old studio on Ventura Boulevard that Mah witnessed the profound effect that yoga could have on others.

“I remember once in a three-person class, one person got here as much as me at the tip, teary-eyed, gave me an enormous hug, and said she had never felt that way before,” Mah says. “That have gave me goosebumps.” It was the primary time she felt, ”Wow, like we will actually help people through this.”

It was that moment of clarity early in her teaching profession that made her wish to learn more in regards to the philosophy and what she calls the “spiritual depths of yoga.” Grounded in mindfulness, self-discovery, and private experience, her teachings advocate for an unwavering dedication to private growth and galvanizing others.

“I actually have at all times stayed true to that: the very best teachers are the very best students. So I’m consistently practicing, learning, studying, reading, and doing the whole lot I can to be a student in order that I can spread probably the most information to other people through my teachings,” she says. “I never consider myself as the next figure or authority. I’m on the identical page as you. I’m chatting with you, you’re chatting with me. That is an exchange.”

For Mah, the practice of teaching is as educational because the study of yoga. “I feel the attractive thing about teaching is that you just’re learning a lot about yourself as you might be guiding,” she says. “Especially after I was in my twenties, teaching was like therapy for me. You pull from your individual life. That’s your inspiration.”

An Expanded Approach to Yoga

Mah’s commitment to continuous growth and learning is reflected in her understanding of yoga because the pathway to uncovering your truest self. She continues to show what she knows. Throughout her yoga experience, she toured as a dancer with pop stars including Alicia Keys, Nicki Minaj, Justin, Bieber, Britney Spears, and Katy Perry. She attributes all of it to mindfulness.

In 2016, Mah founded You Got This, Girl!, an organization focused on empowering women through mindfulness, yoga, and community. “After I completed this huge dream of mine, which was dancing on a world tour for Janet Jackson, I used to be literally like, I would like every woman to feel this fashion, like ‘I literally manifested this dream,’” she says. “That’s the idea of all my work with You Got This, Girl—encouraging women to consider their wildest dreams are literally possible.”

Mah’s mission is to encourage women to find their purpose and cultivate confidence in themselves. She conducts workshops, coaching programs, and one-on-one mentorships, emphasizing the idea that ladies can achieve the life they desire—and that this may occur through mindfulness practices.

She is grateful to have been raised by very strong women, including her mother. “I remember after I was younger, she would say to me, ‘You may do anything you ought to do.’ It wasn’t until I got older that I used to be like, ‘Oh, not all women were trained to think this fashion due to society we live in.’”

Mah encourages her students to seek out stillness, embrace the current moment, and tap into their authentic truth. By doing so, they’ll connect with their inner joy, intuition, and positive qualities, resulting in fulfilled moments as they pursue a fulfilled life.

Her Current Teachings

Similarly, Mah credits yoga with guiding her toward her next creative pursuit: storytelling through filmmaking. Drawing parallels between teaching and directing, Mah highlights the importance of using her voice, holding space, and guiding energy in each practices.

“Dancers just don’t get to do this. You’re following someone’s instruction, you’re behind any person as a backup performer. I used to be just seeing how that wasn’t really aligned with who I used to be anymore as I used to be growing as a soul,” says Mah.

Once more, her dedication to authenticity was rewarded. Her award-winning short, “Dear Mom,” was released in 2021 and quickly drew acclaim. The storyline addresses the connection between a lady who unexpectedly learns she’s pregnant and reaches out to her estranged mother.

“Teaching yoga actually segued me into this whole latest path, which is what I teach after I coach,” explains Mah. “These practices will literally keep you on the trail that you just’re meant to be on, which could mean that your whole entire life has to shift. But after that transitional period, you end up in a spot where you’re like, ‘This is ideal. This is strictly what I would like to be doing.’”

Throughout Mah’s transitions, there was her ever-expanding experience of yoga. In 2019, she traveled to Bali and studied tantric yoga, which she describes as “rather more meditation focused.” That have caused her to alter her approach to teaching.

Mah’s current approach helps others slow their racing minds enough so that they can turn into still and remember their authentic selves. “In that place of truth and stillness is where you do not forget that all of us have a purpose and you’ve distinct gifts given to you that you just are supposed to share with the world,” she says.

Whereas we tend to consider our purpose as a profession, Mah believes purpose is definitely an essence. For those who concentrate on it with mindfulness, she says, then it naturally expresses itself in every area of your life. And, inevitably, it leads you to what you are supposed to do and share with others.

Recently, Mah and the mental health brand Calm launched Each day Move, a brief, gentle, accessible movement practice. The five- to seven-minute videos are designed to assist people loosen up and focus and might be incorporated into any a part of the day. Because the series’ release in January, the practices have been viewed multiple million times.

It’s one more outlet for Mah’s mindful movement revolution. “The whole lot might be solved in presence, and that’s really the ability of yoga,” says Mah. “After we tune out the past and the longer term and are available back to the now, all of the answers are there. All of the success, joy, peace, intuition, and positive qualities that we’re on the lookout for are within the now. So, it’s rather a lot simpler than we expect in an effort to live a fulfilled life.”

Together with her dedication to private growth, her concentrate on empowering women, and her belief within the transformative power of mindfulness, Mah continues to encourage others to embrace their most authentic selves, pursue their desires, and find purpose in each moment.

Practice with Mel Mah this Wednesday, May 24, at noon ET/9 am PT as she takes you thru a Each day Move practice of mindful movement, just like what she shares on Calm, in celebration of Mental Health Awareness Month and AAPI Heritage Month. Join us on the Yoga Journal Instagram page.

About Our Contributor

Sierra is a author, yogi, and music lover living within the Pacific Northwest. She’s been practicing yoga for nearly a decade & got certified to show in 2018. She writes and teaches all about connection: connection to the body, to nature, and to the universal love that holds us together. She’s also the creator of Your 12 months of Magic, a moon magic journal and witchy workbook.

Free of charge yoga and witchy wisdom, find Sierra at thelocalmystic.com, on Instagram @thelocalmystic, and on YouTube.