We caught up with Lizzie Brown, CEO and Founder of Yoga Wake Up, to talk about self discovery, the healing powers of yoga and how her morning routine is crucial to a productive day.
Brooklinen: When did you discover yoga and what does it mean to you?
Lizzie Brown: I first began practicing yoga in my mid-20s as a tool for recovery. I was decidedly not interested in the “spiritual-ness” of yoga, preferring classes called Yoga for Athletes and Power Vinyasa. Over the last decade my practice has shifted entirely and now I seek out nurturing teachers that speak to kindness and love and leave me all warm and fuzzy in savasana. Yoga is so healing, physically, mentally and spiritually. It meets you where you are in life. As long as I have a body, I will practice yoga. That’s what I love about it - that it gives me what I need in that moment.
What led you to come up with Yoga Wake Up?
I can’t really take credit for the idea -- my brilliant husband dreamt it up in a yoga class. The teacher had the lights low and was whispering to please make yourselves comfortable with blankets and a bolster for a pillow, imagining that you were still in bed. She then gently eased the class through poses on the floor until they were brought to standing in tadasana, when she announced, “Good Morning”. He wondered, “What could the world be like if we all woke up like this?”
Within days the first ever “yoga alarm clock” was born.
Describe your wake up routine. How has Yoga Wake Up played a part in that?
I cannot express enough how much it has changed since we started this app five years ago! I used to be a chronic snoozer and now I wake up with a pep in my step…really! We have a daily livestream at 8am PT on weekdays so I am up at 5:45. We use a combo of Yoga Wake Up and a sunrise alarm called Hatch Restore. We set everything for 15 minutes before we need to be up and luxuriate in the slowness, stretching and yawning open until our Yoga Wake Up has ended and we’re wide awake. Then we make the bed and I head to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. Breakfast is usually egg salad or avocado on toast and a tall glass of water.
What have you learned about yourself through quarantine?
That I am resilient. We all are! I continue to be in extraordinary awe of how humans have taken this shitstorm that is 2020 and innovated, persevered, and found joy.
What is your go-to Brooklinen product?
I am obsessed with the candle collection because just like Yoga Wake Up, they revolve around our days. My favorites are Wake and Dusk! His and Hers waffle robes are also my Xmas wishlist to level up our morning game to a true spa experience!
What do you hope people gain from people using Yoga Wake Up?
We’re all about helping people hone their morning routine, and upon first using Yoga Wake Up, we’re betting you will. But we have a bigger mission and that is serving yourself so you can better serve others.
If it’s up to me, you will find your yoga practice on our app, come to love the teachers and get hooked on the experience, and then channel the empathy, kindness and love you feel throughout your practice, extending that forth into your relationships and into the world, inspiring that kindness in others.
Interested in trying Yoga Wake Up? Click here for a special 25% off your subscription!
