Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Harpinder Mann, Co-Founder of Harpinder Mann Yoga & Womxn of Color Summit, located in Los Angeles, CA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I am Harpinder Mann, RYT-500 a yoga teacher, mindfulness educator, and community builder currently living on Tongva Land (LA). My practice is rooted in my spiritual background of Sikhism and Buddhism and ancestral roots in Panjab, India - this informs my desire to teach yoga authentically as a spiritual practice.

Teaching since 2018 and practicing since 2013, I teach in a way to help people mindfully connect to their bodies with curious awareness, to bring a sense of healing, peace, and stillness, and create more meaning in their lives.

As the co-founder of the Womxn of Color Summit, I am actively working to decolonize wellness by creating community and providing accessibility to healing spaces for BI&POC. My work sits at the intersection between social justice and healing.

I work 1:1 with folks on reclaiming their power & intuition to be free, am passionate about working with pregnant people, teach at recovery centers and to kids with autism, and lead events and speak at organizations such as Tulane University, Grindr, Ogden Museum, Decolonize Birth Conference, Lightning in a Bottle, and many more.

Tell us about yourself

Now, as a full-time yoga teacher with Harpinder Mann Yoga, mindfulness educator, community builder, and co-founder of the Womxn of Color Summit, I have the great joy and blessing of sharing my love and reverence for yoga. To work with folks of color to help them mindfully connect to their bodies with curious awareness, to bring a sense of healing, peace, and stillness, and create more meaning in their lives.

I encourage myself and my students to show up in their fullness – to honor their humanness, not to need to pretend to be anything other than what they are in that moment. This is how we show compassion to ourselves and begin to transform.

I am actively working to decolonize wellness by creating community and providing accessibility to healing spaces for BI&POC (the global majority) through my 1:1 work and with the Womxn of Color Summit.

Yoga is a spiritual practice and holistic self-transformation process that goes on for a lifetime(s). It’s a path of liberation and reminds us of the true purpose of yoga – for us to remember the nature of who we are – Purusha, the eternal Self that is perfect, timeless, and complete.

This is why we take care of our body and mind with so much discipline, care, and attention in yoga – they are the vehicles that take us through life and bring us closer to the ultimate goal of realization and liberation. So we practice stilling the mind to step into being the witness, the observer, and realize the nature of who we are – this is Self-realization.

This self-discovery and awareness are essential to spiritual growth.
I believe that when we take this time to learn about the true purpose of yoga and practice ourselves experientially, we become more aware of all the beautiful things in our lives and better equipped for the challenges. This practice, for me, is about accepting the realities of life’s highs and lows and returning home to a place of inner peace.

The more we heal ourselves and grow, the more yoga teaches us to help others, to be of service – seva. It is a path of both self-realization and selfless service. We practice connecting to our heart’s ability to care deeply for ourselves and all beings around us – we all have the ability to make a profound positive impact and create social change.

And this is where my life and work sit – at the intersection between social justice and healing. This is what I teach and the type of heart and service-centered folks I get the profound honor of working with.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

All of the beautiful relationships I have made and cultivated over the last couple of years.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

At times it can be lonely, and you are the one making the game-time decisions!

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Have a support system that will be there for you as you go through the highs and lows of starting, running, and growing a business. It is truly a roller coaster, and I wouldn't be as far as I am without my partner, in-laws, business coach, yoga teacher, and wonderful friends.
  2. Remember to take care of your health. This can look like finishing work by a specific time, working out daily, eating consistently and well, drinking enough water, meditating, and spending time with loved ones.
  3. Understand there will be times you will need to pivot and adapt. Don't become rigid or stuck to your plans.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Mindfulness is the energy of being aware and awake to the present moment. It is the continuous practice of touching life deeply in every moment of daily life. To be mindful is to be truly alive, present, and at one with those around you and with what you are doing.” – Thich Nhat Hahn.

I often ask myself: how can I keep coming back to faith? What does it look like to trust in my life’s path? To create enough stillness and spaciousness in my body and mind so that I can hear the voice of my inner wisdom, Self, and God more clearly?

This is also how I work with my students – to get them to see another voice is loving, compassionate, and wise. However, we need to be listening deeply. And that’s why we practice. Mindful living in this way helps us attune to the present moment, intuition, and happiness.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.harpindermann.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harpindermannyoga
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harpindermannyoga/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/harpindermann_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mannharpinder/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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