Meet Alex Watson | Model & Mindfulness Guide

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alex Watson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alex, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I had a dream to create moments of heaven on earth. To give people the space to unfold and come home to themselves through intentional mindfulness practices. Together, we can cultivate stillness, connection, and blissful inner peace— by tending to our inner garden our external world will blossom to its fullest potential.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Alex Watson Yoga is a project that creates moments of heaven on earth. Cultivating spaces to come home to one’s most authentic self.

It’s a project that at its core encourages one to feel more and think less. To embrace vulnerability, let go of expectations, detach from attachments, to be awake and aware in every moment.

This project was born with the intention to offer practices that are open and accessible to anyone no matter their age, physical ability, or experience with mindfulness practices. I wanted to empower people to heal themselves. To be curious about who they are. To love every piece of themselves. To unfold the layers of who they think they are, and become who they are, beyond all the judgements and opinions of the mind.

AWY is a combination of intuitive movement, yoga nidra, tantric meditation, breathwork, and sound healing. You can experience these moments in the form of events or retreats around the world. My practices will illuminate the path to help awaken radiant self love, spacious rest and rejuvenation, and blissful inner peace, and you will ultimately decide where that journey takes you.

I was a Division 1 lacrosse player at university and after graduating wanted to challenge my body in a new way so I started practicing yoga. I could barely touch my toes and definitely couldn’t do all the cool yoga poses you see on Instagram that I thought yoga was all about, but it felt good to explore my body. It wasn’t until 2019 when I quit my marketing job to pursue modeling full time that I was able to devote time to my journey studying yoga. I started with my 200 hour teacher training and during this training was shocked to learn that yoga isn’t actually about the asanas (postures) as we are led to believe in western culture, but that these were actually created so that one could sit in meditation for longer. I never had the intention of teaching when I took my training, for me it was a journey of self exploration and deepening my own practice, but learning this about yoga inspired me to study the formless aspects of yoga, mindfulness, and through those learnings became inspired to share it with people.

I was introduced to yoga nidra by my teacher Julien Elizabeth during my 200 hour training, here I was able to, maybe for the first time, completely express myself creatively, following this training I studied tantric meditation, and then breathwork. Each training exploring new layers of myself, loving myself more, and further trusting in my intuition. My life was becoming more in balance, I was in a constant state of flow. I had a vision of how I wanted to share this knowledge I was gaining, but it wasn’t until 2021 when a good friend of mine and extremely talented branding, production, and creative consultant, Maddy Pease, gave my heart a place to live outside of myself through her incredible visual storytelling.

Getting to where I am today happened in its own perfect timing. I had a lot that I needed to experience before getting to where I am today. The journey taught me a lot about patience, not having expectations, learning to trust in the process and trust in myself, learning to be willing to unlearn, to let go and create space, and the power of collaboration. The most challenging part of this journey for me has been the vulnerability. It’s difficult for me to open my heart, to be seen. Sometimes, it’s difficult to truly see myself. As a model it was easier, it was something based on how I looked which was something I was given, but as a mindfulness guide, the world was seeing my heart, the real me and that scared me. Being vulnerable helped me to begin to let go of my ego, to truly love and be loved, to let go of the idea of separateness and realize that we are all one.

These moments of heaven on earth curated by AWY are a practice of facing every part of ourselves, the parts we like and love and the parts we shy away and hide from, recognizing all of those pieces as parts of ourselves, seeing who we are, seeing who we want to be, and being humbled by the gap in between.

We are not meant to do this life alone. AWY brings you home to yourself, together. I meet myself again and again in every person that I meet. I am forever a student, learning from everyone that I’m lucky enough to guide. We were put on this earth to love and that’s what we do here, we love.

Since 2021 I’ve hosted events and retreats in LA, France, Denmark, and virtually through my online meditation offering. This summer was a full circle moment when I hosted an event at Soho House in Copenhagen for fashion week—it was incredible to see my two world’s colliding and creating something beautiful together. This November I will be hosting a retreat in Mexico and next May in Brazil and I can’t wait! Traveling the world fills me with so much joy—meeting new people, experiencing and learning from new cultures, and I’m so blessed that both of my jobs allow me to fulfill this part of my soul’s passion and purpose. I am beyond grateful for where yoga has taken me so far and excited to see where it will take me next.

A little love note:

Feel all that you can feel, open your heart to create space, unfold to become, receive what is meant to be yours, love unconditionally, meet every petal of your being, water what serves you, let go of the rest, and blossom.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m not the best at planning so I’m just gonna list a few of my favorite things!

I’d have to take her to get a matcha from my friend and favorite barista, nicely, at Hooked in Venice. We’d take a walk to the beach, have a mindful morning —when it’s early enough and there aren’t so many people it’s the perfect place to start the day in stillness with a little meditation and journaling and the sound of the waves dancing in front of you.

I love a museum and if it’s nice out The Getty is perfect. There’s some beautiful art there and the best part is that it’s up on a hill that overlooks the city. There is grass that you can just lounge in the sun, bring a book, and a picnic.

For lunch I would take her to Botanica on the east side. It’s a super cute bodega, I’m a sucker for a curated selection of local goods + restaurant with a fresh seasonal menu. I love restaurants where I’m trying creative dishes that I don’t know how to make at home.

If we find ourselves wandering through Echo Park we’d pop into my favorite book store, ‘The Last Bookstore’. One thing I can’t pass up is another book. How many is too many?

My favorite spot for dinner is downtown, it’s called Bestia. It has a middle eastern inspired menu with the sweetest sommelier to help you find the best wine to pair with your dishes. I could live off the baba ganoush with fried pita, the lamb, and the prawns.

Then if we were looking for a night cap on the east side, we’d hit Prado wine bar. It’s a little hole in the wall, with outdoor Parisian street vibes in the front, cozy, dimly lit inside with a DJ spinning vinyl, and a teeny tiny outdoor section in the back. They have a yummy selection of natural wines, my favorite.

At some point I would take her to Sam First, a cozy unsuspecting Jazz club right next to the airport. It’s a small room and you’re right in front of the band, I love how intimate it is. Jazz music fills the soul and the space makes you feel connected to it all.

When on the west side we’d cruise by The Unlikely Florist for an inspiring bouquet of flowers just because. You don’t need a reason to brighten up your space or your day.

And since I live in Venice we obviously have to spend more time at the beach. One of my best friends has a company called Bliss Beach, he is the curator of some of the best experiences I’ve had in my life. The master of cozy. I’d get the crew together, rent one of his set ups, and enjoy a sundowner in Marina Del Rey.

I also love a road trip, so if she’s staying for a week in the winter I’d take her to Mammoth for a cozy cabin weekend + snowboarding! If it’s in the summer or springtime we’d do a little getaway to Ojai. It’s a city that feels like a small village, nestled in a valley, full of orchards— they have beautiful hikes with breathtaking views, delicious local farm to table restaurants, and my absolute favorite natural hot spring.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My Yoga Nidra instructor, Julien Elizabeth, opened my world to the idea that yoga is much more than a physical practice. Through her guidance I began to trust in my inner knowing, cultivate creativity, and find my voice.

Website: https://alexwatsonyoga.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexwatsonyoga/ OR https://www.instagram.com/itsnotalexwatson/

Image Credits
Maddy Pease, Tim Meyers, Aisha Ross, Sasha Gordiyevska