Meet Kat Parks of Be Easy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kat Parks.

Hi Kat, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Born and raised in Miami, Florida, I absolutely LOVE the sunshine (that’s even my Instagram handle: @kat.loves.sunshine), so it’s no surprise that I have been absolutely loving my last two years in Scottsdale!

My husband Dr. Ryan Iskenderian and I moved out here at the end of 2019 after spending five years in Washington state, where we created our own five-star wellness center and yoga studio, called Via Vita Chiropractic & Wellness. For each of those years, my yoga studio was voted the #1 studio in our town, and Dr. Ryan and I got to share our unique brand of joy and wellness with our patients and students.

Ryan and I had met in a yoga class that I was teaching nine years ago in Orange County, California, where I graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Positive Psychology from Chapman University. Soon after we met, Ryan completed grad school as a Chiropractic Applied Kinesiologist, and we moved from California to Washington to open up Via Vita before we got married in 2015!

During our time at Via Vita, beyond running my yoga studio and working for Dr. Ryan, I got to explore the wide world of essential oils and have now become a blending sorceress, having created over 70 custom roller blends for people, events, organizations, and intentions. I love creating personalized “Soul Blends” for people, and my other most loved rollers are my “Empowered, Connected, & Whole” and “Nirvana” blends. Beyond rollers, I also create essential oil sprays, which I charge and fill with all kinds of hippie magic, like infrared light, sound bowls, reiki, and mantras.

I have been teaching yoga (primarily Vinyasa Flow, but also restorative, yin, and primal flow) since 2013 and have over 1,500 hours of teaching experience, plus many additional hours of continuing education! I currently teach weekly Flow classes on Saturdays at 11:00 am at CA Yoga Barre in Old Town Scottsdale, where I design classes that are challenging and empowering, with appropriate modifications for all levels of practitioners.

Last but certainly not least, I am a certified Face Yoga Method instructor! The Face Yoga Method was created 17 years ago and includes over 80 different poses, facial exercises, and release techniques that can help to reduce or prevent wrinkles and fine lines, create symmetry, and release tension around the face, head, and neck.

It is an all-natural alternative to Botox, fillers, and facial surgery, and gives us the opportunity to create greater confidence, find deeper awareness, and love ourselves more! I have absolutely fallen in love with the practice, and it brings me so much joy to share it with others.

I have a deep desire to share the extraordinary effects of yoga, face yoga, essential oils, and positivity on the body, mind, and spirit, while inviting my students and clients to breathe, self-reflect, and smile!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Honestly, the journey has been rather smooth!

Like the adage “when you know, you know” about finding the right partner, everything has fallen into place, even if it may not have felt like it at the time. Running a yoga studio and wellness center with your fiance-turned-husband can definitely be challenging, and we learned a lot about how to communicate with each other during that time, which has helped us as we transitioned into our new business, Be Easy, here in Scottsdale.

The hardest part of our journey so far was leaving the amazing patients and students we had back at Via Vita in Washington state when we decided to move to Arizona. The move was something we considered back in 2017 when we visited AZ for the first time together, then we came out again for five weeks in 2018 to make sure we really liked it.

During that visit, we met some of our new best friends here and fell into the groove of Arizona life. When we returned to WA, we had the daunting task of sharing the news of our move with our clientele, and packing up our life to move across the country!

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Be Easy is a wellness and lifestyle movement, created by me and my husband Dr. Ryan Iskenderian. For years, “be easy” was one of our favorite reminders and affirmations to say to one another, so when we transitioned our life from WA to AZ, we decided to rename our brand to this joyful aphorism.

Dr. Ryan is a chiropractic applied kinesiologist, working with patients in our wellness center in Scottsdale as well as virtually. I teach yoga and Face Yoga, and create custom essential oil blends. Together, we offer workshops and have an online platform (patreon.com/be_easy) where we share videos, yoga classes, mantras, and more!

At our wellness center space, we have a little yoga studio set up that we rent out for private classes and for recording videos or hosting online workshops. We also have a room full of fun and healthy tools (inversion table, foot massager, infrared light, biomass, and ultraviolet device cleaning station) for our clients to luxuriate in.

What sets Be Easy apart from other wellness centers is our myriad of offerings from a fun, loving couple who want to share the message of ‘be easy’ with as many folks as possible! We are proud to create a movement of being easy in our currently tumultuous world.

I’d truly love for readers to know more about Face Yoga, which is a fun, healthy, and all-natural alternative to injections, fillers, and surgeries. While med spas are a dime a dozen in Scottsdale, and we all want to look our best, there are many potential long-term side effects of utilizing these services.

For those who are looking to create symmetry, reduce and prevent wrinkles, and utilize their facial muscles in a dynamic and beneficial way, Face Yoga is the thing for you!

I am one of very few certified Face Yoga instructors in the country, and with my extensive background in teaching yoga, my additional inclusion of essential oils, and an aura of fun and joy around the experience, I believe that together, we can change the world one smile at a time!

Additionally, I would love for readers to know about my custom essential oil blends! They’re not only available in our wellness center, but also online at etsy.com/shop/BeEasyNow.

What matters most to you? Why?
My freedom, peace, and joyful spirit-matter the most to me – because without these things, I believe life would be a whole lot harder to move through! And also my cat, Michael. And my husband. But mostly my cat.

Pricing:

• Private Face Yoga Session – $75
• Custom Soul Blend – $35
• Empowered, Connected, & Whole roller – $50
• Nirvana roller – $50
• Divine Love rose spray – $24

Contact Info:

• Email: be.easy.now.fam@gmail.com
• Website: patreon.com/be_easy
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/kat.loves.sunshine
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/kat.loves.sunshine
• Twitter: https://instagram.com/be.easy.now
• Youtube: https://facebook.com/be.easy.now
• Other: www.iamdrryan.com

Image Credits:
Noelle Johnson and Kim Butler