452: Sorelle Sessions #5 | Pizza in Testaccio, Changes to Yoga Alliance

In episode five of our Sorelle Sessions, Emma’s in Rome, Carla’s on the Gold Coast, and the chat goes everywhere. From what Savasana teaches us about death (and living), to meeting one of our teacher training grads in Testaccio, to what the new Yoga Alliance changes actually mean (spoiler: less has changed than the internet thinks). Plus two very long Italian family lunches, a $17.60 smoothie, and Carla’s first solo outing with a toddler and a newborn. GO CARLA!!! Yep, she is amazing!

In this episode:

• Why the whole point of yoga is to contemplate death, and how Savasana helps us live more present lives
• Emma’s visit to the Pyramid of Cestius and the cemetery where John Keats is buried (plus a brave attempt at reading Keats aloud (hahahaha, yes we need to educate ourselves)
• Meeting MerryBody YTT grad Barbara for pizza and pasticcini at Testaccio Market, and why we want more real-life meet-ups
• A chat about racism, migration, identity and respecting First Nations culture in Australia
• The Yoga Alliance update explained: registered yoga schools now hold “designations”, and the 200 hour is still here
• Week 8 of our 2026 200 hour cohort, and celebrating Louise, our newest Yin Yoga Teacher Training graduate
• Carla’s week: weaning, chaotic packing (wine glasses in a nappy box, anyone?) and a solo walk, park and café trip with both boys
• Italian feasts, €10 Tavola Calda and Carla’s “dinosaur pasta”
• The new 3 Day Arms & Abs Challenge inside MerryBody

Key takeaways:

• Yoga is so much more than down dogs. Remembering life has an ending helps us let go of the grasping and focus on what brings joy, peace and calm.
• Real-life connection matters more than ever. In a world full of screens and AI, putting a face to a name deepens everything.
• Don’t panic about Yoga Alliance. The 200, 300 and 500 hour designations still exist. Mostly, the naming has changed.
• Your body is built differently, literally. Yin yoga (taught the Paul Grilley way) shows how our skeletons shape what we can do, making it a powerful practice of self-acceptance.
• When life changes, start small. Time and new seasons of life are the biggest exercise hurdles. A short challenge rebuilds momentum without waiting for Monday.

Resources mentioned:

• John Keats, Ode to a Nightingale and Bright Star
• Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love
• Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet (1996)
• Pyramid of Cestius and the Non-Catholic Cemetery, Rome
• Testaccio Market, Rome
• Yoga Alliance
• Paul Grilley’s approach to Yin Yoga
• Gold Coast Greeks Facebook group
• MerryBody 3 Day Arms & Abs Challenge

Ready to get moving again?

If time or a new season of life has knocked your routine off track, the 3 Day Arms & Abs Challenge is your perfect restart. Three classes (9, 10 and 21 minutes) you can do one a day or as a triple stack. New to MerryBody? Start your free 7-day trial and do the whole challenge for free.

themerrymakersisters.com/merrybody-yoga-pilates/ or download the app: geni.us/merrybody

Feeling the pull to go deeper?

The School of MerryBody Yoga Teacher Trainings are Yoga Alliance approved and built so you graduate actually able to teach. By week 12 of our 200 hour, trainees are designing and teaching their first class. Prefer to go at your own pace? Our self-paced Yin Yoga Teacher Training is the one we loved building most, and it might just change how you see your body.

200 Hour: themerrymakersisters.com/online-yoga-teacher-training/

Yin Yoga: themerrymakersisters.com/yin-yoga-teacher-training/

Emma + Carla

The Merrymaker Sisters

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