Team Spotlight: Libby Nicholaou

Meet Libby Nicholaou (she/her), LoveYourBrain’s Yoga Program and Outreach Operations Manager! Libby joined the LoveYourBrain team in July of 2021, and since then, has relaunched our in-person Yoga Program, revitalized our Clinical Connector program, and continues to innovate our program outreach!

We sat down to learn a little more about Libby, and how she helps LoveYourBrain create affirming spaces for our community!

Libby, can you share a little about how you discovered LoveYourBrain?

I first learned about LoveYourBrain through my friend and colleague who works at lululemon, who connected me with Kyla in 2020 and the conversation I had with Kyla left a lasting positive impression on me. About a year later, I saw that LoveYourBrain was hiring and knew I wanted to join the team due to the organization's alignment with my values.

You’ve brought experience in building community and creating affirming spaces with you as you started at LoveYourBrain. What does an affirming space mean to you?

This is such a good question and topic. To me, an affirming space is one where the facilitator creates a brave container where each person’s whole self is welcome. They do this through, bringing an awareness of the possible intersections of each person’s identities and honoring the complexities that carries; being curious about people’s experiences by asking caring questions that create expansive conversations; holding space for people to deeply listen to themselves and each other space; acknowledging the uncontrollable presence of biases and privileges as well as the potential for harm they may bring and providing some tools for harm reduction; centering resilience of the group and each person. 

LoveYourBrain strives to create a sense of belonging for our community in all areas. How do you see this showing up in the Yoga Program?

The development of belonging and community over the course of the six week LYB Yoga program is beautiful to experience. People come into the first class as strangers and after that very first class are exchanging phone numbers and staying late to talk with each other. By the sixth and final class they may be having a birthday celebration at the studio after class. People often say, “I know that when I walk in this room I don’t have to explain myself or try to hide parts of myself because I know you all get me.” Hearing that goes straight to the heart. The Yoga program is about 45 minutes of yoga which aids an internal sense of belonging, followed by 30 minutes of community conversation, which opens up space for a contagious spread of belonging to move throughout the whole group.

Can you share a favorite memory you’ve made while at LoveYourBrain so far?

I feel fortunate to have many favorite memories in just six months. Attending the retreat at Wavus this past Summer was pretty incredible. The LYB community is so brave and loving. I hadn’t met anyone in person before arriving and left with fond memories from interactions with so many people.

Interested in finding a community through LoveYourBrain Yoga? Our in-person programs have returned to select locations across the US.