I met Ellen in 2002. We immediately shared a connection that began with a shared love of yoga and deepened over many years in the Modo studio owner community, as mothers and as friends.
Ellen’s devotion to be fully herself, and to a life lived straight from her heart, has taken her on wild and wonderful adventures and led to incredible creations. She continues to bring the Modo Pillars to life.
Ellen has a unique blend of Warrior strength and honest, heartfelt vulnerability that has shaped her journey on and off the mat. As a former college athlete and marathon runner, she embraced yoga with a fierce determination, finding in it not just physical transformation but a profound inner shift. Ellen’s passion for fostering community and healing is an incredible inspiration as are the many life experiences that began with opening the VERY first Modo Yoga studio in the United States—Modo Yoga Northern Kentucky (in a strip mall beside Dunkin’ Donuts to boot). This was long before yoga was considered anywhere close to mainstream or ‘normal.’ Her passion for freedom then led her and her family of 5 to sell their home, their cars, their furniture and almost all other earthly possessions that didn’t fit into their Journey of the Globe. On that journey, Ellen created a fully curated World School program, which was the seed for her children’s education all the way through to University.
I chatted with Ellen about Modo, world schooling, the Ohana Girls Project, and her upcoming film while I was walking up the mountain in Montreal on a beautiful fall day, and while she walked the Nosara beach in Costa Rica with her surfer’s heart, unfettered by the blazing sun at noon.
Jess: Hello my sweet friend. What a joy it is to chat with you always. I’m going to start by going WAY back! What do you remember about starting your Modo Yoga practice?
Ellen: I found Hot Yoga on the Danforth by chance when Michael had been drafted to play for the Toronto Raptors. I was newly out of college, married, and couldn’t work, so I volunteered a lot. People always say to me, “I can’t do yoga; I’m not flexible enough.” What I love to say is that if you can breathe, you can do yoga. Jess, I played tennis in college and was a huge runner. I couldn’t even touch my thighs, or kneecaps when I began.
My body opened up and this not only created space physically but awakened my heart and spirit more than I could have ever imagined.
I remember my first class. It wasn’t just about the practice; it was about this incredible teacher who felt like an earth angel. It was you, Jess! You reminded me of myself, deeply connected to service. I learned about your work in Latin America for people with disabilities. I just wanted to be around you! I was only 22, not thinking about kids, but I remember asking about your childhood. You talked about your amazing mom, who I can’t get enough of ever, and Waldorf School.
Fast forward ten years, I found a Waldorf School in Cincinnati that transformed me as a mother. It changed our family’s rituals and priorities. When I think back, it all threads back to you. My first experience was one of that Danforth community.
Jess: Well, it definitely touches my heart to know that I have supported a powerhouse like you in any way. I remember a lot about that time too. And your teacher training—so long ago now. Tell me what you remember about your Modo Yoga Teacher Training.
Ellen: When we left Toronto, I continued to find hot yoga studios in various cities Michael played in. I introduced my mom to hot yoga, and she started doing it with me! You and I stayed connected and would send messages to each other. When you told me about the Modo Yoga Teacher Training, I thought, “Oh my god, I would love to spend a month with Jess!” I posed it to my mom, and we signed up. Two months before the training was to begin, I found out I was pregnant with Taylor. I postponed it to the following summer.
I remember my mom and I waking up at five in the morning for our training, and there were so many long days! I was pumping and almost dropped out. My mom knew there was a bigger purpose, so she dropped out herself, took care of Taylor, and I finished the training with her help!
Less than two years later, I felt the call to bring hot yoga to Northern Kentucky.
Jess: I will never stop being amazed by your determination, Ellen. It is truly one of a kind. What led you to open the very first Modo Yoga studio in the United States?
Ellen: What led me to open the studio was the desire to create a vehicle for greater health and peace in the community. I felt a deep knowing that it had to happen, even with a newborn and an adoption.
I opened the studio intending to build community rather than teach, but I had to step in when my manager faced some serious issues. I was committed to growing this community, even with just a few students at 6 a.m. for months. I was teaching at 6am, 9am and 12pm every day, and between classes I would pump milk for Shae. I had 3 kids and a studio baby—four babies at once!
Word spread and by the end of year one, people were pouring in from Cincinnati. We won Best of Cincinnati multiple times. It became a hub for connection, bridging communities in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati. This was something very special back then, because no one used to come to Northern Kentucky since Cincinnati was where all the great shops and restaurants were. The studio started to be a bridge between these cities.
Jess: Unreal, Ellen. I’m SO glad that you followed your heart! Fast forward about 8 years, how did you decide to leave this community that you built, sell everything, and embark on a world-schooling journey, traveling to over 30 countries?
Ellen: Flying to Ethiopia to adopt Kya broke me open. The level of poverty and starvation I witnessed felt urgent. I realized I wanted our girls to experience the world beyond Kentucky, to understand their place in it. This led to the vision of world schooling.
I remember when everything was for sale in our house. I had everything for every holiday, clothes, furniture, a full library, games, everything. One of the students and dear friends from the studio said to me as she cried, “How are you getting rid of all this, Ellen? It holds all your memories. I’m crying for you.” And I said, “Melissa, stuff doesn’t hold the memories. The heirlooms don’t hold the memories. It’s our hearts, it’s our minds.” I said “I don’t want to pass on Waterford Crystal and China and endless books and heirlooms of art to my children and weigh their tapestries down. I want to pass on well-used Lonely Planet adventure travel books and a lifetime of experiences.”
My film Untethered dives into how I let go of societal expectations, realizing that experiences matter far more than material possessions. I’m excited for you to see it!
Jess: I cannot wait. And I can’t wait for the world to see the incredible humans that the girls have turned into as a result of all of these adventures. They are so incredible. Tell me about how the Ohana Girls project began? Tell me about the program itself and its mission.
Ellen: In today’s world, we see how vital emotional intelligence is, even in adult spaces. Corporations, families, communities—everything thrives when we learn to navigate our emotional bodies. It’s the foundation for physical and mental health, for connection with self and others, and even for healing our planet.
This program launched almost four years ago, and little did I know how much my girls would need those tools. When their dad left, it wasn’t just the physical abandonment but the emotional abandonment that shook them. He had always been their protector, and suddenly, he was gone. But because of this program, they had the resources and the inner strength to face it. They learned that everything they need is already within them.
For me, Nosara (Costa Rica) was such a portal. I don’t know if I’ve ever shared this with you, but I need to. After having my three babies and opening the studio, I was overwhelmed—especially after Shae was born, and the manager left. My mom suggested I see an astrologer. I showed up at this woman’s house, and the first thing she said was, “Do you know what Mercury in retrograde is?” I didn’t, and she told me I was going to be in it for the next eight to ten years. She explained it could be a tumultuous and challenging time, but I had the choice: react negatively and let it break me, or embrace it, harness the challenges, and use them to grow and find ease. That was the first wake-up call.
Then she told me something that gave me chills: she saw me moving to a place near the beach, but not just any beach—a place where the jungle meets the ocean, close to the equator. At the time, I had no idea what she was talking about. But years later, when I first landed on Playa Guiones in Nosara, I knew instantly—this was it. This was the place she had described, the place I was meant to be. We settled here as a family and made this our home base for world schooling.
Nosara, Costa Rica, is a magical place for me. I remember thinking that I was surrounded by healers here in Nosara, and I wanted to share their wisdom with the girls to give them these incredible tools. I remember you were part of our very first live training and you said to me, “Ellen, this could be so much more, you can share this with so many people and create such an impact.”
And that’s what I did! The Ohana Girls program offers 19 modules designed to equip girls with tools to navigate life’s challenges. This initiative became vital for my daughters, helping them realize their inner strength to face adversity.
Jess: Wow, that story about the astrologer is one I’ve never heard. That’s so wild! And I can’t wait to hear how youth across the world can benefit from this program! Ellen you still teach in Nosara, how do you integrate your travels and cultural experiences into your yoga teachings?
Ellen: Wow, traveling through the world became a deep part of me—not just physically but on a cellular, emotional, and spiritual level. Leaving the comfort of the studios I taught in over those eight years was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. My studios and community felt like my purpose, and letting go was heart-wrenching. As a mother, I felt a calling, and when spirit moves you, you must follow, even when it’s difficult to let go.
I didn’t realize how profound it would be to take my practice outside those familiar walls. I found myself rolling out my Manduka travel mat on long boats in the Mekong Delta and meditating on temple hillsides in Thailand. I practiced every day, often in tears, overwhelmed by awe for this planet.
Being born into this human experience is a gift, even if we don’t choose where we come from. When we connect deeply with ourselves, we discover a shared connection with the world and each other. During our travels, we often found ourselves in places where we didn’t speak the language, yet there was an unspoken connection—whether sitting with other mothers or watching our kids play together. This shared energy reaffirmed that through connection to self, we feel connected to others and to this beautiful planet.
At Modo (which was called Moksha at the time), we emphasized living green, but it wasn’t until I immersed myself in different cultures that I truly felt inspired to live those values. This journey has changed me, deepening my practice and perspective on life. Through these experiences, I now share a deeper understanding in my teachings.
Jess: One of our pillars in Modo is Live to Learn. I feel like you truly exemplify this pillar. How does the idea of lifelong learning influence Ohana Girls and World Schooling? Can you share a transformative moment from your world-schooling journey that has profoundly influenced the way you live and teach today?
Ellen: Oh Jess, this one is everything. It was always of utmost importance when I led the studios. I held monthly teacher meetings and invited different teachers to introduce new healing modalities to support the principle of Live to Learn, not just for ourselves but for the community.
I was always connected to the Live to Learn pillar, but I truly began to feel its depth when I opened the world to my girls as their great classroom.
One of the first experiences that opened my mindset was in the northern jungles of Thailand, just below the Myanmar border. We stayed with a fifth-generation rice farmer for four days, sleeping on bamboo mats. The goal was to understand what it takes to till a grain of rice—its heart, soul, and sweat. During those days, I saw my girls in heaven, asking if they could live there for months. Michael and I were thrown out of our comfort zone, our backs aching. I could do my yoga practice, but I also needed a shower!
What became clear through that experience was that this is world school. Learning through others’ ways of living is at its heart. As we walked through the bamboo forest, the family took us on a 12-hour adventure. We created irrigation systems with bamboo, cooked rice in it, and learned about the healing plants around us.
That experience opened my eyes to endless learning. Curiosity comes alive in children when they engage with the world—smelling different environments, seeing animals, and connecting with people. Now, eight years and over 35 countries later, I always dreamed of taking Kya back to her homeland of Ethiopia, but it never worked out. Many said we shouldn’t go due to civil unrest and warned us about traveling alone. A friend connected me to someone in New York who assured me it was safe.
Our three weeks there were profound. It was a rite of passage for the girls and me, our first trip alone together, but also one of the hardest. We left Addis Ababa and hiked six hours into the highlands, where we volunteered and connected.
Then we traveled to the Yomo Valley on the Kenyan border, home to unique tribes living hours apart. The Mersey tribe, Hammer tribe, Kensey tribe, and Dinesh each had their own rituals and markings. The Mersey tribe wore gigantic lip plates, while Hammer women wore calfskin skirts, clay in their hair, and bells on their wrists and ankles. They danced, sang, and chanted together in a vibrant display of life.
Every experience and relationship we have weaves into this curriculum. Living to learn is part of life. In Japan, every detail—from culinary arts to pottery and tea ceremonies—reflects mindfulness. The way people move through Tokyo, the world’s most densely populated city, showcases thoughtfulness over reactivity. It was beautiful to courageously take the girls to Japan, even though many said I shouldn’t. It felt right and tied together the essence of world school: the heart of learning, living to learn, staying curious, and being mindful.
Jess: I think people’s first question about world schooling is, “what if the kids want to go to University?” Can you tell me about your own kids’ journey with world schooling and tell our readers what you’ve shared with me about your university interviews with the girls?
Ellen: When I stepped on this path, I transitioned from traditional school to Waldorf. After that, I began homeschooling the girls when Michael took a coaching job about an hour and a half from our home in Northern Kentucky. With the balance of leaving the studios and taking the kids back and forth to school, maintaining our family rituals felt impossible. That’s how I started homeschooling, Jess. It was meant to be a year of exploration while Michael tried his college coaching job. I thought, if we do anything, we’ll explore all the state parks in Kentucky, embrace the outdoors in that Waldorf way, and see how it goes.
In academic terms, the year was a massive fail, but in experiential learning, it was fantastic. That experience became the springboard for what we thought would just be a year of traveling the world and pulling the girls out of school. I brought workbooks for math, vocabulary, and English. Science, history, culture, and nutrition were all learned through our travels.
As I continued on this path, I considered enrolling in a mainstream accredited homeschool program when we landed in Nosara. When the stacks of books arrived for each girl, I realized there was no way I could have them sit at a desk and go through those books.
Our journey of world schooling has been led by intuition. Nothing was paved. There was no curriculum. As I walked with the girls through our first year, I began to see what the sphere of world school encompasses. I call it the seven seas: culture, connection, confidence, and climate, among others. Through this lens, I focused on our month-long experiences in each country. We ensured we had homestays, explored the environment, engaged in multi-day hikes, enjoyed culinary immersions, connected with local artisans, and learned about the music and dance of each place. We looked for ways to give more than we took.
As we took this journey over the last eight years, family and friends often questioned, “what about their test scores? How will they ever get into college?” I would smile and reply, “I don’t know. I just trust.” This approach feels aligned with what my girls and I believe most children need today—a sensorial way of learning by engaging with the world to find their unique compass.
Taking ourselves out of our comfort zones builds resilience and flexibility. Witnessing other cultures, crafts, and ways of thinking unleashes creativity. In a deep, cellular, and spiritual way, I feel this form of schooling is valid even without accreditation or a direct path. Still, I faced judgment from close family members. I kept reminding myself that the physical and emotional health of my girls comes first. We maintain our family rituals and rhythms. Nobody feels stressed. Why does stress need to be part of kids’ lives?
Even for Taylor, despite my strong academic background from Villanova, I told her, “If you don’t want to go right to college, you don’t have to. You could take a gap year.” She replied, “Mom, I’ve seen the world. I know myself well because I’ve learned through these experiences. I’m ready for college.”
Last year around this time, I felt nervous. I had to write the curriculum and document everything we had learned together. I wondered how to fit our worldly experiences back into the traditional educational framework. I found an advisor who helped me. She said, “Ellen, what you have done is more than most colleges offer. There is a way; it’s all about how you write and structure it.”
So, I wrote the World School curriculum. It became a beautiful self-reflection on what we had truly learned and how the girls had grown. Then Taylor had to write her essays, one of which reflected on her school experience. She mentioned, “I might not have had traditional science or biology classes, but I’ve seen the bleaching of coral reefs off the coast of Australia and dived in the South China Sea. That was my classroom.” Her perspective moved me to tears.
It was a big trust game. I wrote the curriculum and the reasons for it while she applied to four schools: Eckerd College in Florida for marine biology, UNC, Point Loma, and Pepperdine. I threw in the application for Pepperdine, even though I had never visited.
I was nervous. Would she get accepted? Ironically, she opened her first acceptance letter at my parents’ house in Kentucky, where they had often questioned my choices. That letter was from Eckerd College, offering her a $25,000 academic scholarship.
Incredibly, all four universities accepted her, each offering significant scholarships. The president of Pepperdine noted that he had never seen such a well-rounded education and was impressed by the world school curriculum, which aligns with their focus on experiential learning.
I share this not to brag but to express relief.
Jess: Oh absolutely. I remember talking to you about this over the years. And to me this is not only a story about the curriculum but about following your deep instincts and the incredible learning that flows.
Ellen: Yes! And not only does this approach work, but schools are also seeking students with a deep yearning for curiosity—the very pillar of Live to Learn.
How do we begin to redesign education and life out of the box? It’s about dissolving the walls of traditional systems and thinking differently. Trust is essential; that’s all I really had to lean into.
Perhaps it is about returning to where we should be—recognizing that learning surrounds us always. In the brief 18 years of childhood, can we reframe our approach and trust our children will be fine? They are here with a purpose, and it’s our job as parents to guide them into the world, welcoming connections and teachers to unlock their magic through experiences.
My greatest joy is to listen to the whispers of your heart. Trust what you intuitively know is right, even if it goes against societal norms or educational systems. That whisper will persist until you move forward with it.
I walked into the deep, dark jungle, guided by my heart’s light. It has always been my compass. You may not know what you’re doing, but trust that you’re heading in the right direction. Your heart won’t steer you wrong.
Jess: Sage advice born of experience Ellen. Look forward to hearing about the world school curriculum, the Ohana Girls Project and watching your film, Untethered, soon!
Jess Robertson is Modo Yoga’s Co Founder, Senior Advisor, and Community Documentarian. She is also a writer, musician, yoga teacher and Co Founder of the New Leaf Foundation. She lives in Montreal, Canada with her 2 kids.