Hillary Skibell
Get to know the radiant Hillary Skibell
Hi Hillary, it’s so nice to sit down and have this conversation with you! You’ve been teaching with us for a while now and having you teach classes outdoors during the height of the pandemic was such a beautiful offering for our students! We’re so grateful you’re part of our Metta Yoga family! In a nutshell, why do you teach yoga?
I am passionate about sharing the yoga practice with as many people as I can so they can connect to their bodies, minds, and hearts. It’s exciting to see students embody their true radiance and power and learn to trust their intuition and ability to co-create with life.
Yoga has been an evolution for me. In the beginning, I was drawn to the practice as a way to strengthen the body and work with the mind. Over time, the practice became a path to open the heart and uncover greater joy, love, and connection with community.
And then… it became a way to work with energy and attune to the pulse and flow of life. I believe we all have our own unique way of communicating and partnering with this animating field around us, signaling to us, and supporting us. If we can harness that power on the mat and let this infuse into our lives, that’s where the magic happens!
I teach so others can feel their strength, their heart, and their magic!
Guiding people to be their best and most authentic selves is beautiful. What inspired you to begin this journey and to take that first step in starting your yoga practice?
In my early twenties, I was living in San Francisco and working in graphic design and advertising, and still figuring out next steps on my path. I was always drawn to the mind / body connection and remember writing in my journal that I wanted to teach yoga and healing workshops around the world. At that time, I had never even taken a yoga class. The seed was there. Even though it took a few more years, a part of me always knew that yoga would become a passion and a part of my life.
It’s amazing that the seed was there before you even embarked on a teacher training! It sounds like teaching yoga is something you were meant to do! In your classes and in your personal practice is there a pose or a series of poses that you love to teach and love to practice?
I love half moon for the expansive feeling of radiating out in all directions. I love backbends for the simplicity of opening our hearts to life. Child’s pose is a beautiful way to ground and connect with the earth. It feels like a sacred gesture of offering and allowing. An invitation to release and receive.
Such a diverse set of poses, but I can see in all of them, that the heart is wide open. The visual of half moon and radiating out in all directions is so powerful! And that sweet surrender of offering and allowing that we find in childs pose is just magic.
You’ve started teaching a new class, Soul Fusion Flow, on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 7:45 in San Rafael. Can you elaborate on the class for students who may not have tried it yet? What’s it all about?
Soul Fusion Flow grew out of my own desire to work my body in new ways as well as my need for a fresh dose of inspiration on the mat.
The Soul Fusion Flow experience is a blend of yoga, fitness, and personal transformation. It’s a fusion of strength and grace, sweat and soul. Classes combine familiar vinyasa flow sequences with doses of cardio, core, and focused movements that target specific areas such as inner thighs, outer hips, or arms.
The classes build in such a way that the yoga allows the body to warm up before we move into more dynamic sequences. We then return to yoga for grounding and centering before the next burst of intensity. The blend of movement, music, and meditative pause offers an uplifting experience while inspiring healing, integration, and deeper sense of embodiment. While classes are strengthening and energetic, the pacing invites moments of reflection and surrender with a final well-deserved rest. Students leave with a burst of energy after class. Morning classes are a great way to set the tone for the day!
I love the evolution and transformation that can come through a dynamic yoga practice. You also taught outdoors with us for longer than anyone else! Do you like teaching and practicing yoga outdoors?
There is something very grounding and healing when practicing outdoors. I love tapping into the power of the elements as a way to feel rooted and fluid, strong in our core and yet spacious as the sky!
That makes sense! It connects us in a special way with the seasons and teaches us how to be present on multiple levels. Over the years and the transformations, have you uncovered a pose that you don’t enjoy?
I’ve backed away from headstands over the years and have learned to accept it is just not right for my body.
Trusting the inner teacher and accepting the outcome and knowledge of your body in particular poses is such an advanced yoga practice. Listening to your inner wisdom is such a practice! If you could give someone new to yoga one piece of advice, what would it be?
It’s not about the pose or posture, but in the attempting and exploring and willingness to show up. We start to create new possibilities from the inside out. It is a practice, some days everything clicks. Some days we feel off balance. It is all a part of the journey. Find the flow that works for you. Whatever it takes to feel more peace, joy, aliveness, and connection on or off the mat, that is yoga. Keep playing and keep practicing.
Such wisdom! And your advice to “find the flow that works for you” can hold true off our mats as well. How do you practice yoga off your mat and out in the world?
For me the practice is like a compass that brings me back to my truth, my heart, and my connection with something bigger. When I get thrown off, it helps me come back to center.
When I feel caught in reactivity or challenged by circumstances, I try to take a step back and see the bigger picture. I’ll ask myself, what do I need to shift internally and what action do I need to take externally? Sometimes the action is pausing until there is clarity around timing.
I think the practice really begins when we step off the mat and into our lives. Are we able to stay grounded and open hearted more and more of the time? Are we speaking our truth, expressing our creativity, trusting and acting on the whispers of inspiration that flow in?
Listening to and honoring our inner teacher seems to be a recurring theme. It’s so important not only on our mats, but in the way we approach, interact and respond to the world around us. As much as we’d love to live in Savasana in the studio, we have to be out in the world the majority of our time. Speaking of, what is your favorite thing to do other than yoga?
Hiking…movie watching. (Mostly streaming these days, but I still love movie night and popcorn).
It’s like you’re reading my mind! Ok, Hillary, that leads us right into the speed round… what is your favorite movie? Streaming or otherwise…
Since I can’t think of my favorite movie, I’m going to switch it to shows. I have been having fun watching Hacks and Ted Lasso, and I’m super excited about the new season of the White Lotus.
And… where is your favorite place to be outside of the studio? You mentioned loving to hike…
I love being at the beach, Mount Tam, on a lounge chair in the backyard.
Sounds like bliss to me! What books are you currently reading?
Someone just gave me Fleishman is in Trouble. I’m excited to read it before the movie comes out as it looks like a fun cast!
Do you have a musician or band of the moment? Any go-to faves?
I really love it all! From 70’s to pop country, to top hits. I’ve recently added Nathaniel Rateliff and the Black Pumas to my playlist. It’s also been fun to listen to remakes and cover songs. Read My Mind by Golda MA and I’m on Fire by DJ TAZ Rashid are a few!
I’m totally going to look those up! We’re almost done - thanks for sticking with this! When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Either an actress or an interior designer.
I can see that… If you could be an animal, what would you be?
I’m thinking my cat Sophie has a pretty good life taking naps and lying in the sun. I’ll take some of that!
Me too, me too! Cats (& all animals) can teach us so much! What is your favorite quote?
Don’t give up before the good stuff happens.
Nice - can we add that it’s all good stuff? Alright Hillary, what is your favorite food?
I always love Sushi or Thai. And that little piece of chocolate for dessert!
I think I’d like to be a cat, or maybe a chocolatier… or a cat who eats chocolate in the sun? Sounds like a divine way to go!
Is there anything else interesting that you’d like to share with our Metta Yoga community?
It’s so exciting to see more and more students return to the studio. I love the collective energy that we are creating and growing and I’m grateful to be a part of the Metta Yoga community.
We love you, Hillary!
You can practice with Hillary on Monday mornings at 8:15 in Corte Madera (Fiery Flow), Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 7:45 in San Rafael (Soul Fusion Flow) and on Saturday’s at 10:00 in San Rafael (Steady Flow). Her classes are also livestreamed!
Reach out to Hillary via social media at the following:
Instagram: @HillarySkibell (https://www.instagram.com/hillaryskibell/)
Spotify:hskibell (https://open.spotify.com/user/hskibell?si=8c6a71a3b13b42e2)
Personal website: http://www.breathingroom.net
