Some people teach movement. Asia Nelson lives it.

I've known Asia for nearly 20 years, first as my Ashtanga yoga teacher and, more recently, as the incredible guide behind my own teacher training certification. What always stands out is how much presence and care she brings to every moment. Whether she's teaching, moving, or sharing knowledge, Asia makes it look effortless, the kind of effortless that only comes from deep experience and intention.

Through her business, The Movement Life, Asia helps people reconnect to their bodies, build strength that supports them for life, and move with curiosity and awareness. She’s not just teaching postures. She’s helping people rebuild trust in themselves.

It’s an honour to share her voice in this edition of 6Qs with Christine.

1. What first sparked your love for movement, and how has your teaching evolved over the years?

   I was always an active kid, and gravitated to weight lifting in high school. But I wandered into the movement practice I have today by accident during undergrad when I'd signed up for a taekwondo class that was WAY over my abilities and had to replace it with something in the same free time slot. I randomly chose this "yoga" thing I'd never heard of or done before. I arrived at the first class in a cold gymnasium with a few dozen people and a rubenesque "older" blone instructor (she was probably 35, lol) who called herself "Satchi", and I proceeded to struggle with these yoga positions far more than I felt I should for someone as strong as I was. I was humbled - and hooked. 

   
   

   I took every class Satchi offered, including at her home. She gave us printouts of certain postures and I taped them to my bedroom wall and practiced every day. I was in love with this quietly challenging movement infused with breath and meditation practices. It felt like it was bringing me to life, down to my deepest layers. I'm so grateful for those simple classes. Years later when I built my own yoga teacher training course, I encouraged my students never to underestimate the impact their classes might have, even if they're tiny or in humble spaces. 

   
   

   Over the years I went from student to advanced teacher, and from intensive, vigorous Ashtanga practices to gentle, meditative movement when I began to deal with low back pain. That pain haunted me for 13 years, and led me down many paths until I found my healing in the movement I teach now. Thanks to this specialized joint-strengthening, I've been pain-free and stronger than ever for nearly seven years. Like so many years ago when I found yoga, I've now become devoted to joint work, certifying in it and sharing it with my clients through my online membership and certification courses with my business, The Movement Life.

   
   

2. You’ve taught so many students (including me!), what’s something you wish more people knew about learning and growing in movement practices?

   That you and your body aren't separate things. I've stood in front of packed rooms and watched people enact their emotional and mental struggles in their bodies: pushing past limits, ignoring what they're feeling, giving up, sleepwalking through the moment, searching for the next distraction like a smoker lighting a new cigarette off the end of the one they already have in their mouth. But there's richness in letting all of that go, taking a few slow breaths, quietly feeling your feet or back on the earth, and then moving with intention. I don't teach particularly "woo" classes, but embodiment isn't that woo, really. It's about being able to build a relationship with yourself by being present, listening, and being fluent in the language of your body. When you can do that, worlds open to you. Nothing is more exciting to me than teaching someone to do that.

   
   

3. When you’re feeling unmotivated or disconnected from your own practice, how do you bring yourself back?

   I do the same thing I'd do if I were practicing: I listen to myself. I slow down, take a few breaths, and ask myself what I need. Then I wait patiently for the answer. Sometimes I need a break. Most of the time I just need to start and lean into the momentum. If I'm really hitting a wall, I go to my own teachers for inspiration by letting myself kind of graze in their fields for a while.

   
   

4. What’s something you’ve done lately that scared you, but you did it anyway?

   The past five years have been an almost constant answer to this question. When Covid lockdowns hit in 2020, everything about my business was in-person so all of it was shut down. My certification course was set to begin in three weeks, and it disappeared overnight. For almost two years, I was one of those small businesses who had to find footing in constantly shifting economic sands. 

   
   

   But in the midst of it, I looked for opportunities. I took the time to figure out how to build an online movement membership, which is going strong to this day. I trained with one of my favourite yoga teachers to get my 500hr advanced certification (and brought eight of my own grads along, which was a delight). I rebranded from Pranalife Yoga to The Movement Life, which is more true to what I offer now. I just kept getting up every day and doing what I could. Many of us haven't actually 'recovered' from that global pandemic, but I think we're evolving into something new. I'm always trying to stay awake to what that is, and how I can be part of it.

   
   

5. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received (or something you find yourself telling students over and over)?

   At 48, I've accumulated a lot of great pieces of advice so it's tough to choose one that stands out. I would say, though, that I think about this quote from yogi master BKS Iyengar a lot when I'm moving with people: "Yoga [I would say any mindful movement practice] is nothing more than developing a deep-seated trust in oneself." We have so much innate, instinctive wisdom in us that's accessible the moment we're able to quiet the disruptions within us, and be still enough to receive it. Just about anything we need to know how to do, we can discern with that practice. 

   
   

   I also love when people really get what it means to grasp that injuries happen when the forces acting on or in us exceed our capacity to bear them. There's a lot of wisdom to be mined from meditating on that truth.

   
   

6. What’s lighting you up right now, whether in teaching, movement, or life in general?

   I've been moving through waves of grief these past few years, from the loss of my youth as I enter perimenopause, to the grinding changes to my business, to the loss of my father to cancer three years ago, and recently the end of my 10-year long relationship and the loss of my sweet dog just last week. Grief has been calling me back, over and over, and I've been learning its lessons, the main one being that when I lean into what I fear (without being reckless), I discover new depths and capacities, and become more and more at home in myself. It's strange to discover that deep grief is actually a way to deep peace, if we stay with it and feel it fully. 

   
   

   Regarding movement specifically, I'm still just jazzed every time I get to work with someone who's suffering with joint pain, and see the freedom return to their bodies when they thought they were stuck on a path to inevitable decline. They suddenly feel that same kind of passionate commitment to this joint-focused movement that reminds me of that first day I did yoga, when something in me came to life and I knew I'd found more than just some challenging postures.

Bonus Question: If you could time-travel and take a class from any teacher in history (movement, philosophy, anything!), who would it be and why? Homer's The Odyssey  changed the way I approach life so profoundly, I would love to experience it being performed orally as it was originally, and to get a real-life feel for the places Odysseus travels in the story. My other passion, besides movement, is writing, so being able to study one of the foundational storytellers of all time would blow my mind open in the best of ways. I'm assuming if there's time travel, there are babelfish to translate. ;)

But actually, I think the best teachers are yet to come.

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Know someone with a creative spark?

I’m always looking for inspiring people to feature in 6Qs with Christine. If you know a creative thinker, maker, or storyteller whose journey deserves a spotlight, send me a note! I’d love to hear from you.