The Forward Women

A yoga teacher, a mum of 2 and can be described as enthusiastic, friendly and confident

Q1) Introducing Candice Kelly… I am Candice, 33 years old and I am originally from South Africa. I have now been in Australia for over a decade, have 2 beautiful girls with my husband, a yoga teacher and very proud to call myself an Australian citizen.   Before I started my family, I owned my own yoga studio where I made amazing connections, had the ability to make the space beautiful utilising my interior design skills and loved sharing the business with my husband. I have always practiced yoga and it was my vision and dream to become a yoga teacher and own my own studio.

Q2) Describe yourself in 3 words

• Enthusiastic: I can be excited about the most mundane things. Whether it is something for the family, or the kids or business – I am always excited and ready to go. 
• Friendly: I am approachable, friendly and easy to have a conversation with and;
• Confident : I am strong, I don’t doubt myself and I know what I want

Q3) What do you think your greatest attributes are and why? 

I believe my greatest attribute in my strength.

I always believe I can do hard things and I do not allow myself to stay in a situation or relationships that don’t serve me in a positive way. I feel this has helped me to get me to where I am now.

My other attribute is compassion. I am always happy to help out my friends and family. I am happy that I can contrast my strength with also a softer side to myself. This helped me to be a better mum and wife.

Q4) When did you start teaching Yoga? And why? I have always practiced yoga, even in South Africa, but I became a yoga teacher 10 years ago when I first came to Australia as it was my dream.     I become a teacher, to learn how to live and maintain a balanced state of mind. You don’t need to practice yoga every day to have that mind set. A balance state of mind in everyday of life if helpful, especially in challenging situations.   I wanted to learn how to look after myself and be kind to myself and spread these learnings (physically and emotionally) to my clients.

Q5) What do you love about yoga?

Physically I love how strong it makes me, also at the same time flexible.

I have little to no tension in my body, which is great to be active with my kids.

Mentally, I love how it chases away anxiety and allows me to gain control over my thoughts. I love how it brings me to the present and helps me to disconnect from thoughts that don’t matter.

From just doing a couple of classes, you can take what you have learnt and practice it throughout your everyday life. Can be as simple as stopped while you are in the kitchen, closing your eyes and taking 10 deep breathes. You don’t have to get in your car and go to a yoga class to reduce your anxiety in the moment.

Q6) What are the benefits of yoga & what are the benefits for women in particular?

The benefits of yoga are:

• Improved flexibility and strength
• Stress relief
• Improved mental health
• Reduction in body inflammation
• Reduced anxiety
• Improved sleep and
• Improved heart function.

There is a lot more improvements but these are the main benefits.

For woman in particular, I would say, the benefits from postpartum yoga are amazing. The classes are focused on strengthen your pelvic floor, focused on small gentle movements and help with feelings of frustration, anger and depression ~ all emotions that most new mums go through. A Yin class is also a perfect class if you are after a time for relaxation/ soft movements.

Q7) What advice would you have to women out there who are looking to get into Yoga?  My advice would be to do your research and ask questions. Example is if you are a beginner, you don’t want to step into an intermediate, power class. It won’t be enjoyable and you won’t want to return.   Yoga is for everyone. It doesn’t matter how ‘inflexible’ you are, you just need to know what want from your practice and do your research to determine the best class for yourself.   My final advice is find a yoga studio close to home so you actually go.   If you are a beginner and want to come to one of my classes I would recommend:   Friday 9:30-10:30am at Club Lime at Norman Park (Hatha Yoga) ~ ideal of beginners Thursday 5:45-6:00am : Hot yoga at Goodlife in Carina ~ more flowly workshops   I aim to support beginners by modifying the pose, giving options or helping you utilise the props available.

Q8) How do you manage yoga teaching and being a mum?

The chaos in the beginning stressed me out and it didn’t take long for my husband and I to realise it didn’t work us. Whilst this doesn’t always work for everyone ~ it was implementing a strong routine that worked for us.

It allowed me to feel the balance when I started back at work. I had to allow for work time, quality family time, me time and husband time. Balance is hard to get but it is achievable if you can figure out what you need to do.

The past year we as the family, have had amazing balance. To achieve this, I had to drop some yoga classes because things changed as the kids got older. Even if you get “balance”, unfortunately it changes as the child change and their needs change.

My recommendation is checking in with your partner and talk through what you are struggling with and is there anything you can do, to change that situation.

My tips/tools to do this are:

• Communication with your partner once the kids are asleep because if the communication is not clear: it can cause stress or confusion & often how fights  start
• We plan our life on the good old fridge calendar as we see it every morning.
• Sundays are family days and we try to implement something active at the same time. It also allows the opportunity for the girls to talk to us and
• Allowing me time: spent relaxing on my phone, reading a book or going for a walk

Q9) What is your go to quote or mantra?

“It’s not what you cannot do, it’s what you can do”
 We can do hard things

Q10) Moving forward, what is next for yourself?

I am pretty content with my life at the moment and enjoying the school life. I am grateful that I have a job that is flexible with school times and allows me to basically be a stay at home mum in the meantime. Potential next steps, when both girls are at school, would be to re-open a yoga studio and experience it again once life is more stable.