Selena Maisonpierre is a radiance coach, yoga teacher and model based in New York City. Recently, after taking one of her classes at Sky Ting Yoga, I found that I was instantly drawn to her style, which blends mindfulness, movement and breath work. She has a calming confidence that left me feeling energized and present. In her coaching work, which launched in November 2020, Selena cuts through wellness trends to help people unravel the core of disconnection and reignite their intuition, clarity, love for life and radiance. She has a truly inspiring, empowered perspective that encourages one to seek expansion and joy!
Getting to Know Selena
Hometown
Seattle, Washington
Currently living
Brooklyn, New York
Astrology sign
Capricorn 🌞 Gemini🌛 Scorpio ↑
Entry to wellness?
Oh my gosh, I have to go way back. First off, I feel really grateful because I grew up in a very healthy household—but one that was not trying to be. My dad was a fisherman, so I was raised eating fresh seafood, and my mom had a salad dressing company that she sold at the farmer’s market. So, as a kid my favorite foods were salmon and salad, and my mom only cooked with olive oil and a lot of vegetables… right off the bat I had that foundation. I was also very athletic… I was always on sport and dance teams. It was kind of when my dance team ended and I went to college that my interest in wellness became strong enough to support itself without movement through dance or my parent’s influence. It was also probably a little bit of disordered eating that led me into it also, feeling confused about what to eat. I had to ask myself—how do I want to take care of my body. Self study drew me deeper, and eventually I started yoga which accelerated it all for me.
How did you find yoga?
I woke up randomly and said, I’m not going to dance anymore, really for no reason! But I just knew. All my friends were on the dance team, so I had all this free time and I joined the YMCA to take yoga classes. I continued with it since I was 17 year old… not really recognizing all that the practice was. I did my teacher training when I was around 25 and living in New York. Yoga teacher training can really be beneficial for anyone—whether you want to teach or not—it expands your consciousness so much. I don’t think people realize until they go to the training… all these doors just open. I remember in my training there were 25 people and everyone’s lives just dramatically changed, in really beautiful ways. The last few years I have been a lead teacher on Sky Ting’s 200 hour training, and gotten to witness how people transform. It usually starts with that little spark of interest in yoga as exercise, and then it becomes so much more. Especially if you don’t have a group of friends or community that are interested in wellness, teacher training can be incredibly expanding.
How did your career evolve into coaching?
I had been teaching yoga for about 5 or 6 years, and I always knew that was the right direction for my career, but it wasn’t the end all be all. When Covid hit, everything in yoga kind of just stopped. Now it’s all online, but for a while I was like, what am I going to do? I feel really grateful for the space that Covid gave me, because I was able to really think about things… I was going to go back to school online for nutrition, but it didn’t feel right for me. I have an aunt who told me she observes how women in her age group (50s) get told what to do from the doctor, but then they get home and don’t do it. They need someone who’s changing their habits—a health coach. I had this light bulb moment of oh, that’s the direction for me. I went to get certified as a health and life coach; I started that at the end of last summer.
I have basically been studying the material since I was 17 through self study, and in my yoga teaching experience. It’s all so related… I wanted to dive deeper than diet, I wanted to talk about relationships and the way people show up in the world, because those dynamics change everything. My role with a lot of my friends was kind of a coach already… people always came to me for advice. I kept noticing how people were dimming their lights. I realized, we all have a radiance—in order to let it shine, we have to keep our light strong. That’s when I started asking, what does it mean to keep our light strong?
What do you find dims people’s lights?
I think it often stems from fear, and lack of trust in oneself. Trust and fear. For example, if you’re staying in a toxic relationship, some piece of you doesn’t trust you to deserve more or that you can meet someone better, so you keep yourself in an unhealthy situation because you’re afraid. Same with career. If you really hate your job, some piece of you doesn’t believe there’s something better out there for you. So you stay in this limiting space instead of allowing yourself to free fall and open up. So many times in my life, I had to freefall. When I did that, the world expanded. You have to trust that is going to happen for you. It’s all about listening to your intuition. You know, in my 20s, I feel like I never knew what I wanted, and I see that with women all the time—we say we don’t know what we want, but the truth is we do know what we want, we’re just afraid to ask for it, even in ourselves, and we’re scared to receive it.
When have you had to free fall?
I felt like a black sheep moving from Seattle to NYC. It was a painful break away, but I trusted I would meet the right people. That’s going to happen multiple times in your life; you’re going to evolve, you’re going to change, and it’s sad, you don’t want to lose friendships, but that evolution is a part of your experience here on earth. It’s important to continue to shift your beliefs and identity as you move forward on your journey so you can love yourself, and not get hung up on broken relationships, or be nervous that your friends don’t like you anymore. Remember you might not be connecting right now because you’re growing in a different direction.
How do you help people step into their light?
I developed my coaching program as a four month transformational journey. As I said, lack of trust is holding people back, which comes from a disconnect from yourself. In the coaching program we go through a journey of coming back home to yourself, then building the confidence to trust yourself and from there, radiating out. There’s a lot of tools to achieve this. As a yoga teacher, I recognize the value of embodiment, especially since so much of the world lives from the head up—brain, intellect, success, focus. That ignores 90% of who we are. I help people get into their body because it holds so much intelligence. Your intuition is all from your body—if you’re not tapping into these sensations, it's really hard to listen and trust yourself.
What is a lesson you’ve learned recently?
The way that I’ve always taught wellness is balance, now I’m learning the importance of having support. After experiencing so much rapid expansion and growth starting my business, accepting support has been integral—I have a therapist and a business coach who have helped me through this transformation.
I think the biggest thing that’s missing in wellness is the ability to change our own beliefs. There’s wellness and there’s spirituality, and that’s starting to cross over, but your ability to change your beliefs, let go of past identities, and be in this state of moving forward in your person, in your growth journey, that can transform your wellness. People try all these things to eat healthy and lose weight, but they aren’t always paying attention to the evolution of who they are. I think this is really where the idea of radiance coaching came from. We need to think about who we aspire to be and how we can make decisions now to move in that direction. Support and community are so important for this.
When you start to commit yourself to your wellness journey—whether that’s through food or spirituality, you are committing yourself to change. This is not always going to rub people the right way, they might be resistant to your change, but you have to be really confident in who you are and what you want for yourself… know that you deserve to expand.
Good things going on...
IN THE FRIDGE?
Kimchi and avocados. I make a lot of bowls
IN THE PANTRY?
Almond butter and dates—great quick energy, protein snack. I always have a bunch of different loose leaf teas like chamomile, nettle and lemon balm. Chamomile makes me feel so relaxed and sleepy.
IN THE BEAUTY CABINET?
I’m super minimal with my routine. I love the Eminence Rosehip Triple C+E Firming Oil - I’ve noticed a big difference in the elasticity and hydration of my skin.
ON THE BOOKSHELF?
Light is the New Black—It’s about living in radical acceptance and paying attention to your gifts... It’s one of those books you kind of pick up and put down every now and then.
A Happy Pocket Full of Money—I’ve started to get really into quantum physics; this book is written through the lens of wealth and abundance, but there’s so much scientific knowledge in it. For example, it touches on how time isn’t real. It’s totally shifted my mindset thinking about cause and effect… it gets very metta.
ON THE YOGA MAT
Everyday I like to open up my spine with cat-cow. I always do a forward fold. My favorite prop is a cork yoga block, for a nice supported bridge. I also love this spray from the company called I’m Outside. It’s forest bathing in a bottle, it feels like you’ve just taken a walk in the woods.
IN THE MORNINGS?
I dry brush and then shower first thing in the morning. Then I put my towel on, go to boil water in the kitchen, go back and put lotion on and then I make coffee. I have this one chair that sits in the sun and I just quietly sit there for 30 minutes, maybe journaling, but I really like to start my day slow. I try not to be on my phone—no instagram, no emails. Quiet time with coffee.
BEFORE BED?
Chamomile tea + reading in bed. I like fiction so I can really turn my brain off.
I made the recipe for lunch! Delicious... thanks Selena xx
Share a simple..
Mantra
For when you have to go somewhere like the DMV... you can set a little intention with this affirmation:
I allow this to be easy.
Inspiration
Spring time, friends and dancing - I’ll be walking down the street and smell something, and I’m like what is that?! You only get that from being present. I’m also really inspired by my close friends, who I’ve met in the last few years. When I see their success, it makes me feel so proud and inspired. The women in my tight circle are super celebratory of each other. There’s no jealousy, we all rise together. That makes me feel so warm and inspired. Turning music on and just dancing around the apartment also makes me feel great.
Recipe
Avocado Toast with Kimchi - a favorite twist on a classic, might sound weird, but it's amazing!
Ingredients
1/2 ripe Avocado
Bread of choice
(I prefer a thick slice of sourdough)
Kimchi
Toasted Sesame Oil
Sesame Seeds
Method
Lightly toast the bread. Slice avocado and layer on top of toast, lightly mashing. If kimchi is in long strips, cut into bite size pieces and lay on top of the avocado. Drizzle with toasted sesame oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
In Good Company is a series where I share perspectives on wellbeing from fellow friends, mentors and inspirations. It is an extension of my curiosity to learn what individuals are doing in the everyday to feel good—from grocery staples, reading material, to grounding morning rituals. I hope you discover new insights to integrate into your everyday.
