Sharon Smith Carter, a clinical somatic movement educator and yoga teacher based in Ontario, Canada, represents what’s possible when experienced practitioners combine decades of expertise with strategic business guidance. Her journey from running a thriving pre-pandemic studio to rebuilding as a solo practitioner—then expanding into online classes, mentorship programs, and sold-out seminars—offers valuable lessons for wellness entrepreneurs at any stage.
Her Instagram is @sharonsmithcartermovement, her website is sharonsmithcarter.ca, and she serves clients both locally in her Ontario community and globally through virtual offerings.
Teaching Movement for “Seasoned Bodies” After 26 Years
Sharon primarily teaches gentle movement and somatic classes for what she calls “seasoned bodies”—bodies she’s aged with as a teacher over more than two decades. She’s learned from them, learned alongside them, and developed deep understanding of how bodies change over decades and how that impacts mobility and daily life.
Her approach helps people move in gentle ways that support what they do day-to-day. She encourages them to lean into what they CAN do rather than focusing on limitations.
Sharon blends 26 years of gentle Hatha yoga teaching experience with 13 years of somatic movement instruction. As a clinical somatic educator, she works one-on-one with people to help them recognize where they’re habituating tension and how that might limit movement potential.
Alongside direct client work, Sharon mentors somatic movement teachers and develops continuing education programs both independently and in collaboration with colleagues.
For practitioners listening who nod along thinking “Yes, I want to do all that too”—the question becomes: how do you build a sustainable business around that depth of expertise, especially after major disruption?
The Two-Part Journey: Pre-COVID Studio to Post-Pandemic Rebuild
Sharon’s business journey breaks into two distinct parts.
Pre-COVID: She had a studio with other teachers working for her, offering classes six days a week. The business was thriving with established systems and community presence.
Post-COVID: She returned to teaching basically how she started—just on her own. But she was at a different life stage. Her approach had evolved. Her energy distribution had shifted.
It was like building a business again, only with different circumstances, different resources, and different priorities.
The challenge many experienced practitioners face post-pandemic is similar: How do you rebuild when the landscape has fundamentally changed? How do you honor where you are in life while creating something sustainable and fulfilling?
Sharon needed help focusing on her strengths, identifying what she’s truly passionate about, and cultivating that into authentic offerings. She needed to let go of noise in her head and find a clearer path forward.
One critical factor in her success: working with someone who understood movement practitioners from lived experience. She wasn’t talking to a business person who didn’t understand what she actually does. The coaching came from someone who knows the language, the challenges, the unique dynamics of movement-based practices.
That understanding made all the difference.
Many wellness practitioners struggle with the transition from thriving pre-pandemic businesses to post-pandemic reality. Learning how to rebuild strategically rather than just replicating what worked before is essential for creating sustainable practices that honor current life stages and energy levels.
The Class Transformation: Building What’s Right in Front of You
When Sharon first began coaching, her classes existed but needed strategic development. The shift that changed everything was simple but profound: building classes by leaning into the people who were already leaning into her, rather than looking beyond what was right in front of her.
It sounds simple. But it’s easy to get caught in the trap of chasing new audiences, new platforms, new strategies while neglecting to nurture and expand what’s already working.
Sharon loves teaching in-person. That’s what jazzes her up. The reciprocal give-and-take from students to teacher creates energy that keeps her going. She takes that excitement into online work, which she’s actively building.
She entered the virtual world out of necessity after COVID—it was the only way to maintain business as an in-person practitioner. In Ontario, studios got shut down completely. Adapt or be done.
The challenge with virtual work: people aren’t reached the same way. With an in-person business in her community, word-of-mouth worked beautifully. Online requires different strategies—social media presence, content creation, email marketing—skills many experienced practitioners never needed to develop during their peak studio years.
Sharon learned about social media and getting visible online while maintaining realistic expectations. She doesn’t need to be a phenomenon. She just needs to get out there because she wants more people in her classes.
And it’s working. Slowly but steadily.
Just this past week, after returning from winter break, students told her: “We love you showing up on social media.” That feedback took her aback, but more and more people are reaching out. It’s all positive momentum.
The growth is visible. Followers are increasing. She’s a beautiful writer with natural storytelling ability. When she grasps a concept, she takes it and runs—an amazing skill for business owners.
People from years past are reconnecting. During the holidays, encounters in the post office and grocery store resulted in “You came up on my feed! I love it! We’re going to follow you.”
She’s rebuilding community—not exactly rebuilding, but reforming it differently. Now she has in-person community touchpoints when she’s out in the world and in classes, PLUS an online community supporting her content. All of it creates momentum and keeps her going.
Understanding how to leverage both in-person and online presence creates a hybrid model that’s sustainable and scalable. Learning to build community across multiple touchpoints rather than relying solely on one format protects practitioners from future disruptions while expanding reach.
The Content Creation Learning Curve
Content creation represented Sharon’s biggest learning curve. Multiple aspects required development, and the most valuable element was having support beside her rather than being told “You can look that up” or “You can figure out how to do that”—the approach many business coaches take.
Having someone work alongside her to learn what lands for people, understand terms like “hooks” and “CTAs,” create authentic content representing who she is in ways people relate to—that made the difference.
Near the tail end of a three-month Instagram makeover course, Sharon experienced what she describes as not quite life-changing but close: the information, independence, and confidence in showing up became incredibly valuable. That’s the golden egg in marketing.
Her Instagram handle is @sharonsmi thcartermove ment (spelled S-H-A-R-O-N Smith C-A-R-T-E-R movement), and practitioners can see her work in action there.
She does an excellent job breaking down what’s happening in seasoned bodies, why they might feel certain ways, speaking to their true desires, and leading them to next steps. Her content authentically represents her expertise while serving her audience’s needs.
Launching Mentorship: The Guide with Grace Program
Throughout her career, Sharon has mentored in numerous programs—yin yoga and somatic movement training. She recognized a gap: when people learned movements in training, emphasis was heavily on HOW to do the movement, but an area wasn’t covered in her experience.
That area: how to sequence plans, classes, or programs in ways that land in people’s nervous systems. Not just showing “I know A, B, C, and D,” but creating movement literacy for students. That literacy must also come from practitioners themselves—developing ability to have movement literacy so they don’t need scripts. If they get sidetracked, they know exactly where they’ll end up because they understand the movements deeply.
Working with coaching support, Sharon developed a small mentorship program called “Guide with Grace: The Heart of Crafting Classes, Workshops, and Series.”
They’re building it slowly and steadily. Approaching the third iteration since summer, she’s learning how to craft classes and series. The program stays relatable through conversations, questions, and one-on-one mentorship that often doesn’t continue after practitioners finish initial training.
Many teachers work independently. The closest colleague might be in another province. Virtual mentorship allows gathering in community for discussions—always beneficial.
The program meets virtually, so practitioners can attend from anywhere. Her first cohort included participants from Australia, Finland, New York City, and British Columbia. Sharon is based just outside Toronto.
The next round launches in February—Wednesday nights at 6:30 PM Eastern time, hour-and-a-half sessions for small groups of practitioners wanting additional guidance.
The mentorship filled in 10 days for a recent in-person seminar collaboration. Practitioners came from Tampa, Georgia, and Edmonton to her studio in the lakes. The collective gathering reinforced that there’s more knowledge to offer, that at 66 years old with decades of experience, she’s still on the runway, still relevant, with much to contribute.
Experienced practitioners often have untapped potential for mentorship programs that serve both their businesses and their professions. Learning how to package decades of expertise into structured mentorship offerings creates additional revenue streams while honoring the depth of knowledge accumulated over teaching careers.
Wisdom for Experienced Practitioners: Lean Into Your Strengths
For practitioners who’ve been teaching a long time, stuck in day-after-day routines where social media and tech feel daunting but they genuinely want to launch into this world, Sharon’s advice is clear:
Lean into your strengths. If you’ve been teaching a long time, you have a body of work—so much to draw on. It’s about reframing skillset in different ways, not just showing up on the mat teaching class.
What do you know? What do you embody? What knowledge can you pass on? What would you have wanted to learn when starting out?
After 26 years, Sharon has countless things to offer. Other long-time practitioners do too—things that can shortcut struggles for newer teachers, help them not sweat certain challenges.
Consider the current world and how virtual aspects extend reach to people with specific interests beyond just in-person local clientele. This expands everything.
You can do it. Reach out to support that can provide stepping stones to get there.
Wisdom for Beginning Practitioners: Invest Early
For practitioners just starting out on their own or gaining experience and confidence in growing practices (online or in-person), Sharon’s reflection is powerful:
If she could turn back time, she wishes she’d invested in this type of business coaching from the very beginning. It thin-slices everything, letting go of nonsense, noise, and distractions. A clearer path. Learning how to set things up properly.
She used to do “one and done”—put something out (like a newspaper ad from her early days) and if someone didn’t see it, that was it. Done.
Now it’s: continue, continue, continue to show up. You’re not bothering people. You can find the sweet spot that feels comfortable for you as a practitioner regarding how much to show up on social media.
But practitioners really need to be there. Those balking at it need to reframe and take another look, finding someone who resonates with them as a coach.
Addressing Overwhelm: Two Major Energy Leaks
For practitioners feeling stuck or overwhelmed with all the pieces needed to fill classes, run programs, operate different business arms like mentorship—Sharon’s journey revealed critical insights.
Since working with coaching, she’s brought things into focus in ways that feel less stressful. When something doesn’t work, the question isn’t necessarily to throw it out but to ask: What can I do to make it work? Is something just not landing and needs adjustment?
Having experienced guidance matters because practitioners get ready to throw in things or say “That didn’t work, so I’m going to add this completely new thing.”
One coaching conversation stands out: “Sharon, why are you doing that? You’re tired.”
That comment brought her back to center. She tells anyone who asks: that comment alone was worth the entire mentorship because it caught her in her pattern, and she’s not there anymore.
It sounds simple, but it’s profoundly helpful. She’s building something now, realizing she needs to keep putting time in. Maybe change a word. Maybe adjust social media that didn’t land because it wasn’t clear. It’s an ongoing process.
Two huge energy leaks were identified:
Energy Leak #1: Comparison
Comparison to yourself years ago—like pre-pandemic when business looked dramatically different and was thriving differently. Or comparison to other people and what they’re doing. This is a massive energy drain.
Energy Leak #2: Scrapping and Starting Over
Having a burning desire to bring a certain offer into the world, launching it, not getting immediate traction, giving it your all without desired results—then scrapping it and starting over with something completely new or just adding more. That’s a significant energy leak.
Sharon’s approach shift gave energy back. The difference from having a studio with 16 classes six days a week (including other teachers) to offering seven classes herself feels completely doable. It keeps energy up, excitement high, and genuine enthusiasm about showing up whether online or in-person.
That energy is visible to her community.
It also freed time. She developed an amazing manual for a workshop seminar collaboration—an educational seminar for practitioners with a colleague. Her students loved it. The program filled in 10 days with practitioners traveling from distant locations.
Understanding your specific energy leaks and how to address them is deeply personal work that generic business advice can’t solve. Learning to identify what’s actually draining your energy versus what’s energizing allows you to build a practice that sustains you long-term rather than depleting you.
The Results: Best Year Since COVID at Age 66
Sharon’s transformation created tangible results. She had her best year since COVID—concrete evidence that the strategic shifts worked.
The changes weren’t about working more hours or pushing harder. They were about:
- Focusing on strengths rather than trying to be everywhere
- Building what was right in front of her rather than chasing distant opportunities
- Learning content creation skills with hands-on support
- Developing authentic online presence that resonated with her community
- Creating structured mentorship offerings that honored her expertise
- Letting go of comparison and the energy drain of constantly starting over
- Finding sustainable rhythms that matched her current life stage
At 66 years old, Sharon acknowledged she doesn’t have a “big runway left”—but she’s still on the runway, still relevant, with much to offer. The journey continues with excitement, energy, and sustainability.
Final Wisdom: Lean Into Where You Are
Sharon’s parting wisdom applies to anything—life, body, movement, or business:
Lean into where you are. Stay curious. Notice what’s possible and let that be your starting point. Take it one step at a time and notice there are resources around that can help you. You don’t have to do it on your own.
She’s deeply grateful that a friend gave her the referral to coaching that made this journey enjoyable, exciting, and transformative.
The community aspect matters too. Being part of a group where practitioners show up weekly, collaborate, support each other’s Instagram growth, and cheer each other on—that creates collective momentum no solo practitioner can generate alone.
Ready to Rebuild or Refine Your Wellness Practice?
If you’re an experienced practitioner feeling stuck in patterns that no longer serve you, or if you’re newer to business and want to avoid years of trial-and-error, book a consultation to explore how strategic guidance can help you build a sustainable practice that honors your expertise, your life stage, and your vision.
Whether you’re rebuilding after disruption, launching hybrid models, developing mentorship programs, or simply wanting to grow your classes and community—you don’t have to figure it out alone.
Sharon’s story proves that at any age, at any stage, with the right support and strategic focus, you can create a thriving wellness practice that energizes rather than depletes you.
Your community is waiting. Your expertise matters. And your next chapter can be your best chapter yet.
Related Reading
- How to Build a Sustainable Hybrid Wellness Practice (In-Person + Online)
- Creating Mentorship Programs That Honor Your Expertise and Generate Revenue
- Content Creation for Wellness Practitioners Who Hate Social Media
- Rebuilding Your Wellness Business After Major Life Disruption
- The Energy Leak Audit: What’s Actually Draining Your Wellness Practice
