YOGA NAMASTACY
Powerful Body. Peaceful Mind.Yoga, lifestyle, and self-realization for women at every age — without dieting or excessive exercise.
Testimonials
As a long time yoga student, I have continuously searched for a mentor since I moved to Southern California 10 years ago. It seems that the yoga community is inundated with some very young teachers who have the asanas down perhaps but not the wisdom, introspection, and reflection of the purpose of yoga, notwithstanding, living the lifestyle. In taking your classes, I see that you exude something in which I’ve been searching in a teacher. You’re bright, deep, reflective, and knowledgeable.
Stacy McCarthy was my very first teacher in my very first yoga class. The class that was and continues to be, one of my life’s most transforming moments, for I was elevated to a place I describe as the unknown. I was beyond changed, I was elevated. Fear and trepidation quickly dissolved through a voice that was soft, kind and reassuring. Although challenged by movements and terminology out of my fitness vocabulary, Stacy’s clear and concise instruction guided me through movements I never knew I could perform.
2021 IDEA World Instructor of the Year / Co-Creator of the First College-Accredited 200/500-Hour YTT / 2,000+ Trainings Delivered Worldwide
Get to Know Stacy
Stacy McCarthy is an Integrative Wellness expert, celebrated speaker, and yoga specialist known for transforming lives through a holistic approach to yoga, lifestyle design, and self-realization.
Named the 2021 IDEA World Instructor of the Year, Stacy co-created the first College Accredited 200- and 500-Hour Yoga Teacher Training and has delivered over 2,000 trainings to audiences as large as 1,000 people, speaking at events around the world.
A former full-scholarship athlete at Colorado State University with a degree in Exercise Physiology, Stacy spent years in the corporate world before answering the deeper call of yoga. Today she teaches women — at any age — how to have a powerful body and peaceful mind without dieting or excessive exercise.
Stacy lives in Rancho Santa Fe, California with her husband Tom, where she teaches at her in-person Yoga Nest and welcomes a worldwide community of students through her online platform.
“A lot of people find yoga intimidating.
My mission is to guide them past that fear. To give them the confidence to get on their mat and live their fullest life.”
On the Blog
The Vinyasa That Meets You Where You Are
A new way to flow, breathe, and belong on the matThere is a moment I will never forget. A woman in her early fifties walked up to me after class, eyes glassy, and said, "I think this is my last yoga class. I just can't keep up." She had been showing up faithfully for...
She Is All Around Us — A Mother’s Day Story That Will Stay With You
There was a season of my life that I will always hold as one of my most profound yoga laboratories. For six years, under one roof, three generations of women lived together — my mother, myself, and my daughter. Three women. Three seasons of life. One kitchen, one...
My story and what science now confirms
When Your Shoulders Surprise YouThere was a time when my shoulders felt almost indestructible. As a young athlete I was an All-American swimmer, a World Champion Hall of Fame freestyle frisbee competitor, and a lifelong mover. My shoulders carried me through decades...
On the Gram
Swipe for a little magic. ✨
We adopted our sweet DD when he was 5, so we never got to see him as a puppy… but thanks to a little cyber imagination, here he is as the cutest tiny pup. 🐾💛
And the second photo? That’s me as a 3-year-old yogi , clearly already practicing lotus pose, joy, and a little bit of mischief.
Maybe yoga was always in my bones.
Maybe DD was always meant to be my soul-pup.
Either way, this makes my heart so happy.
Paws, poses, and pure love. 🐶🧘♀️✨
Drop a paw 🐾and namaste 🙏. If you love paws and poses🤍
Welcome, new friends. I’m Stacy McCarthy, founder of Yoga Namastacy, yoga + wellness educator, , speaker, and lifelong student of this practice.
For over four decades, yoga has been my path for building a powerful body, a peaceful mind, and a more meaningful life.
Here, I share intelligent yoga for strength, mobility, longevity, and soulful living, blending ancient wisdom, modern science, breath, alignment, philosophy, and a little humor along the way.
My work is rooted in the belief that yoga should meet you where you are. Not where you were 20 years ago. Not where the media says you should be. Right here, in this body, in this season, with this breath.
Drop a note or emoji and say hello😊
I’m so glad you’re here.
🌿 The jungle had something to say.
And I showed up to listen.
I just returned from a sacred week of my life, teaching and learning @HouseofAiA, deep in the Yucatán jungle, alongside visionary leaders at the Holistic Leadership Council.
We practiced yoga on open-air decks with Ganesha watching over us. We breathed. We moved. We sat in the kind of stillness that only ancient trees and jungle air can hold.
Outside the yoga shala stood a little sign that stopped me every single time:
✨ “Spiritual transformation in process. Do not disturb.” ✨
Sweet friends, that sign was for all of us.
On this Earth Day, the jungle reminded me of something I want to pass to you:
The earth doesn’t need us to be perfect. She needs us to be present.
I’m sharing the full story, the magic, the teachings, the transformation in my newsletter this week.
If you want to come with me back into the jungle through words, sign up at the link in my bio or head to yoganamastacy.com 🌿
Drop a 🌿 below if you’re ready to come home to yourself.
There’s something incredibly humbling about this past week… the reminder that this work meets people in every season of life.
From filming new content for yogis aged 75–95 witnessing strength, grace, and presence in its purest form…
To guiding busy moms carving out a few sacred moments for themselves…
To supporting entrepreneurs building their vision with intention…
To teaching my advanced college students as they deepen their practice and step into leadership…
And now, here I am in the Yucatán, teaching at The Holistic Leadership Council Retreat surrounded by growth, curiosity, and a shared commitment to living well.
Different ages. Different paths. Different needs.
Yet the thread is always the same: meeting each person exactly where they are.
This is the joy of what I do. Not shaping people into a practice, but shaping the practice around the person.
And behind it all, I continue to mentor a small number of yoga and wellness teachers each year those who feel called to not only teach, but to build something sustainable, aligned, and truly impactful.
Because this work isn’t just about movement.
It’s about creating a life and a livelihood that feels as good on the inside as it looks on the outside.
Grateful. Inspired. And just getting started. ✨
Happy 30th to my son, @tommymccarthy 🤍
From the moment you came into this world, I knew you were here to do something meaningful and watching you step into your purpose with such vision, courage, and heart has been one of the greatest honors of my life.
You’re not just building a company… you’re helping people expand their minds, break through limits, and live more consciously. That’s legacy work.
I am so proud of the man you’ve become brilliant, driven, compassionate, and deeply committed to making a difference.
May this next decade be your most expansive yet. The world is better because you’re in it.
I love you endlessly.�Mom ✨
I used to think my shoulders were indestructible.
As an All-American swimmer, World Champion frisbee competitor, and decades-long yoga teacher, my shoulders just worked. Thousands of planks. Thousands of chaturangas. No complaints.
And then, sometime in my 60s, a quiet whisper: ‘Why does this suddenly hurt?’
No injury. No accident. Just a new conversation my body was starting with me.
If you’re a woman in your 40s, 50s, or 60s asking the same question, you are not alone. And you are not doing anything wrong.
What I learned surprised me, challenged my assumptions, and ultimately transformed how I move and teach.
Not less movement. Better movement.
New blog and videos on healing your shoulders. Link in my bio.
Today reminded me why I fell in love with this industry in the first place.
Not for the workouts. Not for the accolades. But for the people.
I had the privilege of leading a fundraising yoga class at Bay Club Carmel Valley for Augie’s Quest to Cure ALS, and as I looked out across the room I saw something that deeply moved me… some of the very people who helped shape the fitness industry quietly sitting in the front row as students.
No spotlight. Just presence.
These are individuals who built the platforms many of us have stood on for decades. And there they were… breathing, moving, supporting a cause bigger than all of us. That’s leadership. That’s legacy.
Bay Clubs across California and the Pacific Northwest set a bold intention to raise $1 million toward curing ALS. The final number isn’t in yet, but what I witnessed today was already a success , community in action.
I often say: We may come to yoga for flexibility or strength… but we stay because of connection.
Today was connection in its purest form.
Many people know Augie as the inventor of the Lifecycle or call him the Steve Jobs of Fitness. I simply remember a kind human who believed fitness could change lives. And today, that ripple continues.
After all these years of teaching, moments like this still humble me. Because at the end of the day, what matters most isn’t how many classes we teach…
It’s how many lives we touch.
Grateful to stand alongside a community that continues to lead with heart.
Movement is the vehicle. Connection is the medicine. Purpose is the why.
With gratitude always.
Today the mat becomes something more than a place to practice, it becomes a place to unite for a cause. 💙
Honored to host a special yoga class today in support of Augie’s Quest and the mission to find a cure for ALS.
Joining us are some of the very people who helped shape the modern fitness movement:
✨ Kathy Smith – global fitness pioneer who inspired generations to move.✨ Tamilee Webb , the iconic star of Buns of Steel.✨ Kathie Davis , cofounder of IDEA, the world’s largest health & fitness professional organization.✨ Gilad Janklowicz beloved Hawaii TV fitness star and host of Bodies in Motion, who brought fitness into homes around the world.
These icons didn’t just lead workouts, they helped build an entire movement dedicated to vitality, strength, and living fully.
Today we gather as a community to move, breathe, and contribute to something bigger than ourselves.
Movement with purpose.Community with heart.Yoga in service of a cure.
Grateful to share this space with such extraordinary leaders and friends. 💫
Thank you @bayclubs for committing to raise 1 million dollars for the cause!
