Heart of the Village Yoga

Zoe Anderson has pursued her lifelong passion for all things athletic, originally incorporating yoga as an alternative to warm-ups and stretching. Moving from New York to Vermont, and attending a Heart of the Village aerial yoga class, the concept of body and spirit integration opened the door to more inspiring wellness practices. It wasn’t long before aerial yoga, ashtanga power-yoga flow, yoga philosophy, and functional strength training became her weekly go-to practice. Zoe focuses her practice on core awareness, strength, total body wellness and recognizing the importance of moving from a strong, centered core.

Zoe recently completed 500 Hours of Yoga Teacher Training with Heart of the Village Yoga. In 2021, She obtained her certification as a Pain-Free Performance Specialist (PPSC), a cutting-edge functional strength training program utilized by personal coaches at Heart of the Village Yoga.

When not at the studio, Zoe can be found at another studio as Art Director and Commercial Illustrator for a Vermont-based art licensing company in Manchester.

Find out more about Zoe in the Q&A below.

Q: How old were you when you started practicing yoga? Why did you start practicing yoga? Why are you passionate about yoga? What is your favorite yoga pose?

A: I loved hearing about Kirsten’s experiences growing up with yoga in her family and having fun with poses at a young age. My mother taught yoga too, in the early 70s, exposing my brothers and I to all the books with pictures of poses. We still laugh about the Swami Vishnudevananda yoga book and having a great time challenging each other, folding into knots like rubber bands, using up our boundless energies. This was the basis of how I approached my younger life with expending as much energy within my physical self by participating in a lot of athletics, yoga included. It wasn’t until arriving at an older, more limited range in motion self that a body friendly yoga became more prominent. It turned my attention to the philosophy and an even greater energy that lies within all of us and the connection to all things. This was my beginning of diving into the yoga teacher training, and all the hidden jewels and tools it has to guide us to brilliant purpose. I will be forever journeying towards this goal of joyful living, learning and gratitude towards all those that allow me the space to teach what I know.

Though, I still have that kid in me that just wants to have fun on the mat, trying out arm balancing and inversion poses. Maybe not the ones that involve knots but I still have this idea in my head that I will walk on my hands!

Q: What is your favorite breathing practice?

A: Discovery of the importance of the breath was one of the last things that I took the time to slow down and see the expanding benefits, especially counting breath and falling into the gap. I love that space of silence and connection to the place where I will always be the student.

Q: What do you like to do when you’re not practicing yoga?

A: There are so many things to do in life, I have a tendency to be selfish and go off for hours on a solo ride on my bike, or work on art or all the projects that many of us pile up in the garage. But I am teaching myself to go beyond my community of one +cat and enjoy going to places to see other towns in New England and just be out there with others.

Q: What is your favorite song?

A: There is this song that I’ve loved since my Mom would jack up the volume when the Stones came on. It’s an odd song for lyrics, but the extraordinary voices that come to a crescendo in “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” always leaves me just a little more Bhakti joyful. I believe we all get what we need.

Q: What are three things on your bucket list?

A: So many places in this country I have not seen and want to explore. Its kind of like never revealing the books everyone knows but you’ve never read, I’ve never been to Niagara Falls nor the Grand Canyon, but then there’s also India!

©2022