Inner Workout’s CEO is trading the daily grind for the daily joy — and inspiring us to do the same.
– KEYS SOULCARE
Taylor Elyse Morrison is leading a wellness movement that puts the self back in self-care. After being stuck in an endless loop with burnout and overwhelm, Taylor decided to turn inward for answers—paving the way for Inner Workout, her digital sanctuary made for those looking to build the skill of self-care.
As a yoga and wellness teacher, Taylor is putting her passion for human development and leadership at the forefront of her platform. Not only is Taylor creating a community of changemakers, but she’s also guiding every member to put themselves first so they truly transform the world.
We chatted with the master facilitator to get an inside look at Inner Workout and what’s ahead for this blooming online platform.
HOW HAS YOUR DEFINITION OF SELF-CARE CHANGED SINCE STARTING THE PLATFORM?
Self-care was this thing that I did outside of my life. [Self-care] often required buying something. Now, the way I talk about self-care is listening within and responding in the most loving way possible. That has been a shift for me; an opportunity for me to listen and to see what is actually going on and what I need. Sometimes, that’s something that involves spending money. But a lot of times, it’s taking a moment to breathe or asking my husband for a hug or doing something creative.
WHAT INSPIRED THE 5 DIMENSIONS OF WELL-BEING BEHIND INNER WORKOUT?
They’re inspired by this [Eastern] philosophy called the koshas. When I was in yoga teacher training and I was introduced to the koshas, it was like, wow—there’s all of these parts of me! The five dimensions of wellbeing are very much my interpretation of the koshas and the research around these [concepts].
LET’S HEAR ABOUT YOUR INNER WORKOUT BOOK. WHEN DOES IT GET RELEASED?
It’s coming out in March 2023. It really takes our self-care assessment—which measures your wellbeing across the five dimensions and 14 sub-dimensions to give you three recommended practices based on your results—and expands on strength-finders for self-care. You can read the book front to back and learn a lot about self-care and inner work, or you could take the assessment and go to that section [of the book] to focus on that. Inner Workout has lots of exercises and stories about my relationship to self-care, personal development, and mental health.
CAN YOU SHARE MORE ABOUT YOUR CREATIVE APPROACH TO THE INNER WARMUP PODCAST?
I was doing this other podcast, which was more traditional with giving advice and talking about different kinds of self-care and personal development concepts. I got to a point where I was like, I keep telling everyone that they’re their own best expert, but here I am, like telling them what they should do. If I really thought that the person listening was the expert, I would interview them. So that was the idea for Inner Warmup. It’s like an audio journaling prompt. Most episodes are less than 20 minutes. We [ask] a question, and I normally share my answer with a little bit of context or research around the question. There’s a built-in pause where you can actually sit with that question.
I wanted to give people this space where you can sit in this podcast to reflect, and you can take with you beyond the time listening to the podcast.
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM INNER WORKOUT IN THE COMING MONTHS?
I’m teaching a free workshop all about the myth of certainty. There’s so much in life that we can’t be certain of, so I’ve been playing with this idea of what’s beyond certainty. We’re also doing a four-part workshop series called “Free and Clear.” It’s all about building your personal mission, your vision, your values, and your definition of success, which has been so core to how I’ve built my career and my life. I literally just started working on a digital product for later this year that I can’t share yet, but I’m really excited about it!
I feel really grateful for all of these ways to connect with people to do work that feels really life-giving to me. [I’m also grateful] to see the changes that people are making in their own lives as they engage with different content and community and experiences.
WHEN DO YOU FEEL YOU’RE MOST CONNECTED TO YOUR HIGHEST SELF?
In the morning and when I’m in nature. I just feel really connected, both to myself and to something bigger. I like my mornings to feel sacred. I have time to do the things that I want to do and explore. Mornings are “me time” and I love it.
WHAT IS YOUR ULTIMATE VISION FOR YOUR WORK?
To help people connect to and care for their whole selves so that they can create an aligned impact. Adrienne Maree Brown talks about how no one’s special, but we’re all needed. My work is to get people to a place where they really know themselves well, so it becomes apparent how they can contribute to creating the type of world that we all want to live in.
WHAT IS YOUR ULTIMATE VISION FOR YOUR INDIVIDUAL SELF?
The word that came to mind was just joy. My vision is to just be present and joyful in my life. That looks like having the people in my life feel really cared for. It looks like making an impact. It’s being generous, whether it’s being generous with my time or with whatever money I have to share. And having fun! I spent so much of my life taking things seriously, and there’s already so much that’s serious. I’d rather have fun.
WE DEFINE LIGHTWORKERS AS THOSE THAT BRING AND SPREAD LIGHT IN THE WORLD AS WELL AS POSITIVITY. SO WHAT MAKES YOU A LIGHTWORKER?
I’ve had a few people tell me recently that the fact that I allow myself to change gives them permission to change and let go of versions of [themselves] or ideas that [they] had that weren’t serving them anymore. Through a little bit of shadow work, [I realized] I felt a lot of angst and guilt for how I’ve evolved and how my career has evolved. I felt like it should have just been a more linear process, but we are allowed to evolve and change to get to know all of these different versions and aspects of ourselves. I think that’s part of what makes me a lightworker.
Permission slip: you are allowed to change and evolve. What old habits are you starting to release? Let us know in the comments!
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