YOGA NAMASTACY
Powerful Body. Peaceful Mind.Yoga, lifestyle, and self-realization.
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
Day 11 of 65 Days to 65🌻
Fulfillment isn’t about having nothing. It’s about nothing having you.
Yoga teaches non-attachment, not that we shouldn’t enjoy abundance, but that our happiness doesn’t depend on it.
Neuroscience explains why.
When we chase happiness outside ourselves, we’re chasing dopamine. The new car, the promotion, the perfect dessert… the excitement fades, and we’re left wanting the next thing.
Fulfillment is different.
It’s the deep contentment that comes from living your purpose, serving others, and being aligned with who you are. After teaching an intense 50-hour yoga training, I’m physically tired, but deeply fulfilled. That’s a very different feeling than a temporary high.
Another lesson I’ve learned: the most attached person rarely thinks they’re attached—they simply think they’re right. Awareness is the beginning of freedom.
And after decades of yoga, meditation, and inner work, I’ve come to understand Shakti, the accumulation of life force. It’s not that I’m pushing harder. It’s that years of practice have created a quiet inner power that allows me to move through life with more ease, trust, and intuition.
True abundance isn’t measured by what you own. It’s measured by what no longer owns you.
✨ What is one attachment you’ve learned to loosen as you’ve gotten older?
Day 10 of 65: The Life of a Yoga Teacher
People often see the hour I spend teaching a class.
What they don’t always see is everything that surrounds it, the planning, studying, creating, holding space, answering emails, setting up the garden before sunrise, cleaning up after everyone has gone home, and continually being a student myself.
Tomorrow begins with Yoga in the Garden, where we gather beneath the trees to move, breathe, laugh, and reconnect. Then we continue inside for our Summer Sanctuary Workshop, exploring how essential oils can support the chakras and deepen our connection to body, mind, and spirit.
And Monday through Friday? It’s time to shift gears again as I prepare for a full week leading 50 hours of Vinyasa Teacher Training guiding the next generation of teachers who will carry this practice into the lives of so many others.
This life isn’t always easy. There are long days, early mornings, and plenty of behind-the-scenes work.
But every time I watch someone stand a little taller, breathe a little deeper, or reconnect with a part of themselves they thought they’d lost, I’m reminded why I chose this path.
Yoga has never just been my career.
It’s been my life’s work.
And after 40 years of teaching, I still feel grateful every single day that I get to do what I love.
✨ Here’s to living your purpose, even when no one sees the work it takes to get there.
4 DAYS. 3 SPOTS. ONE TRANSFORMATIVE WEEK. ✨
My 5-Day Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training begins Monday, July 20th, and there are only three spaces remaining.
This training is for aspiring teachers, current instructors seeking continuing education, and devoted students who simply want to deepen their understanding of yoga. You do not have to want to teach—you only need the desire to learn, grow, and experience your practice in a more meaningful way.
Together, we’ll explore:
✨ Intelligent, creative sequencing
✨ Alignment, modifications, variations, and props
✨ Teaching different bodies, levels, and abilities
✨ Working skillfully with injuries and limitations
✨ Breathwork, meditation, philosophy, and reflection
✨ Practical teaching experience and confident communication
✨ The connection between body, breath, mind, and soul
You may attend in person at Soul of Yoga in San Diego, join us live online, or combine both options throughout the week. We will meet you where you are and support you every step of the way.
This is more than learning how to lead a yoga class. It is an opportunity to become a more conscious student, a more confident teacher, and a more connected human being.
July 20–24, 2026
In person + livestream
Only 3 spots remain
Swipe through to learn more, then visit the link in my bio or scan the QR code to reserve your place. 🧡
Day 9 of 65 to 65 🌿
For much of my life, I searched for answers with my mind.
I analyzed.
I planned.
I tried to think my way through uncertainty.
But the older I get, the more I realize that the mind doesn’t hold the answers.
The answers live in the heart.
The mind is a wonderful tool. It helps us organize, solve problems, and make plans. But when it comes to purpose, love, forgiveness, and the deepest decisions of our lives, the heart always knows first.
Here’s another truth I’ve come to believe:
So many people spend their lives looking for someone to save them, inspire them, or show them the way… forgetting that they are part of that “someone.”
You are not separate from the masterpiece you’re searching for.
You are the artist and the art.
The teacher and the student.
The seeker and the path.
The masterpiece isn’t waiting somewhere outside of you.
It’s being created by every choice you make, every act of courage, every moment you choose love over fear.
Today, listen a little less to the noise in your head and a little more to the quiet wisdom in your heart.
It already knows the way.
❤️ Day 9 of 65.
Day 8 of 65 to 65 🌿
I’ve learned that healing isn’t just about doing more… it’s about creating space for what truly nourishes you.
This Saturday, we’re doing exactly that.
🌸 Hip Hip Hooray! Yoga in the Garden — a joyful practice to open the hips, release tension, and create freedom in the body.
Then we’ll move into Summer Sanctuary, a soul-nourishing experience exploring the lower chakras through:
✨ Essential oils
🥂 Summer Sanctuary mocktails
🍊 Fresh wellness shots
🌿 Breathwork & meditation
💛 Everyday rituals you can take home
I’m so excited to be collaborating with @dropintowellness. Kelowna has an incredible gift for helping people experience the healing power of essential oils in a practical, beautiful, and deeply personal way. Together, we’ll explore how scent, movement, breath, and intention can help you feel more grounded, energized, and connected.
As I continue this 65 Days to 65 journey, I’m realizing that longevity isn’t just about adding years to your life—it’s about adding life to your years.
Come spend your Saturday morning in the garden. Breathe deeply. Move freely. Sip something delicious. Nourish your nervous system. Leave feeling renewed from the inside out.
I’d love to share this special day with you. 🌿💛
Day 7 of 65 Days to 65 ✨
The world screams.
Your ego shouts.
But your spirit? It doesn’t fight for the mic.
It waits.
And it whispers.
You can’t hear it while performing.
Not while impressing.
Not while trying to be “enough.”
Because Spirit doesn’t come with adrenaline.
It arrives in calm. In stillness. In presence.
Spirit does not come in chaos or in agitation. It comes in calmness.
The more noise you strip away, the more clearly it speaks.
There’s something powerful that happens when you step away from your routine and immerse yourself in learning.
Join me July 20–24 for an inspiring 50-Hour Vinyasa Teacher Training Week a deep dive into the art and science of teaching yoga with greater confidence, clarity, and purpose.
Whether you’re working toward your certification, looking to earn continuing education hours, or simply want to deepen your personal practice, this week will transform the way you experience yoga.
Together we’ll explore:
✨ Intelligent sequencing
✨ Alignment that works for every body
✨ Hands-on assists and meaningful modifications
✨ The breath as the foundation of movement
✨ Yoga philosophy woven into modern life
✨ The confidence to teach from your own authentic voice
This isn’t about memorizing poses. It’s about learning how to see, how to serve, and how to help others experience yoga beyond the body.
If you’re ready to reignite your passion for teaching or discover it for the first time, I would love to spend the week with you.
🗓 July 20–24
📍50-Hour Vinyasa Teacher Training Week
💛 Come curious. Leave inspired.
Link in bio
Tag someone who should join you, or send me a message if you have questions!
Day 6 of 65 Days to 65 ✨
The ego is the armor we build to protect our fears.
It tells us we are separate from one another, from life, from God, from the universe itself. It convinces us that we must prove, protect, compare, and control.
But the more we remember who we truly are, the less we need the armor.
We begin to see that we are not separate at all. The same life moves through all of us. Everything we are searching for is already within us.
And when the illusion of separation begins to dissolve, the ego softens.
What remains?
Love. ❤️
Maybe the journey isn’t about becoming more.
Maybe it’s about letting go of everything that keeps us from remembering what has been there all along.
