Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Ronco.
Nicole, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Nicole Ronco, E-RYT, CMT, YACEP
While my journey into yoga has been neither ordinary nor entirely unique, it has been deeply personal and profoundly transformative. In 2003, I founded a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting children with cancer and their families. As I became more aware of the complex challenges these families faced -financial, emotional, and psychosocial—I began to explore complementary programs to foster connection and relieve stress. Yoga was one of our first pilot initiatives, and its success was remarkable. Both parents and patients experienced meaningful improvements and profound connections to their body and their energy, inspiring us to expand the program well beyond its original scope.
From that humble beginning, my own passion for yoga took root. What started as a professional endeavor soon became a personal calling, leading me to pursue formal training and certification. Over the years, I have earned additional certifications in yoga sculpt and kids’ yoga, and through the Christina Phipps Foundation, I received specialized training to support individuals with cancer, survivors, and others facing range-of-motion or pain limitations. I am also a Master Reiki Teacher, a certified meditation instructor, and a Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider.
My greatest joy lies in working one-on-one with students, where I can tailor each session to their needs and create a shared space of energy, awareness, and growth. Having spent much of my yoga career in Atlanta as a private instructor, I deeply value the balance, flexibility, and mindfulness that personalized practice brings, both to my students and to myself.
I recently completed my book, The Empowered Yoga Teacher: A Guide to Planning, Promoting, and Finding Your Niche, which is in its final review stages. Written for new yoga teachers, it offers guidance on discovering their voice, defining their mission, and building a sustainable teaching practice rooted in presence, humility, and care. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I vividly remember the questions I once had, and it’s from that place of empathy and experience that I share my insights.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My relationship with yoga has never been effortless. It’s been a journey of resistance and surrender, of doubt and discovery. There have been seasons, and still are, where I’ve questioned my place on the mat, when my own body has betrayed its training, my mind too restless, or my confidence too frail to teach what I was still trying to learn myself.
Developing my path as a yoga teacher didn’t dissolve all of those struggles, but it gave me a particular kind of vulnerability in standing before others, guiding them through something that still challenges me daily. You learn the poses, the anatomy, the why and the how, but you don’t always learn to accept your own imperfections: forgetting my sequence, miscuing a pose, of my voice shaking when it should have steadied. It is only through the continued practice of teaching, the continued personal reflection and the trust in yourself that you find YOU.
Yoga has 8 limbs and over time you learn to soften into the discomfort, to let go of the illusion of perfection, and to see each stumble as part of the practice itself. The struggle in becoming a teacher is exactly what you need to bring to your class. Instead of the idea of mastering yoga, it is the constant work that challenges and teaches you and allows you to grow.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I work full-time outside of my yoga business, and finding the right balance between the two has been an ongoing evolution and one shaped by many factors, including the impact of COVID. I’m deeply grateful for the lessons learned along the way. In addition to my book, The Empowered Yoga Teacher, I’m exploring new ways to share yoga and my experiences to support others on their own journeys.
While I continue to teach private sessions and a few group classes, my focus now includes developing future opportunities to share yoga, my story, and the insights I’ve gained. I also love teaching meditation and have had the privilege of leading large yoga and meditation sessions for various corporate wellness programs.
For me, yoga is a constant presence, even when I’m not fully focused on it. In fact, I’ve learned that the less I force direction, the more clarity I find. I trust that my path will continue to unfold, even if I occasionally find myself looking the wrong way.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Excellent question! I’m open to all forms of collaboration and support. As I finalize the revisions for my upcoming book, The Empowered Yoga Teacher, I’m excited about opportunities to connect with others who share a passion for growth, authenticity, and service. My goal isn’t to replicate what’s already in the market, but to listen, learn, and collaborate with people and organizations that can help me continue evolving, not just as a business, but as a teacher, mentor and a human.
You can find my contact information on my website, and I’m always open to private events, specialized projects, and opportunities to support anyone in finding their voice and their space within the yoga community. I remain a lifelong student who is grateful for every lesson and honored to witness transformation, both in myself and in those I’m fortunate to meet along the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nicoleronco.com or www.theelitepeasant.wixsite.com/yoga
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_elite_peasant/ and https://www.instagram.com/yoga_the_elite_Peasant/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theelitepeasant/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theelitepeasant108
Image Credits
Nicole Ronco
