Beauty Boss: Mandy Ingber, Celebrity Fitness Expert & Creator of Yogalosophy
Mandy Ingber is one of Hollywood’s top celebrity fitness and yoga instructors whose A-list clients include Jennifer Aniston.
Our latest Beauty Boss is Mandy Ingber, celebrity fitness and wellness expert, New York Times Bestselling Author, and creator of Yogalosophy—the popular workout program that combines yoga poses and toning exercises into a hybrid workout while emphasizing the union of the mind-body connection to get people into their best shape ever.
Prior to her success in the fitness and health industry, Ingber had a flourishing and busy career as a young actress in TV, film and theater. At the age of 14, she booked her first role in the original company of Neil Simon’s Tony-award winning Broadway show, “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” with Matthew Broderick. She also played Annie Tortelli on “Cheers” and was the memorable Polly in the cult-classic movie “Teen Witch.”
Since then, Ingber has become one of the top fitness and yoga instructors to the stars with a long roster of A-list clients that include Jennifer Aniston, Helen Hunt and Kate Beckinsale, among others. In addition to creating Yogalosophy, Ingber is also a New York Times Bestselling Author and has published several books focused on helping people lead their healthiest and happiest lives.
We chatted with Ingber, who shared the inspiration behind Yogalosophy, secrets for success, wellness tips, and more.
When was Yogalosophy founded and what inspired its creation?
Yogalosophy was founded in 2006. It was inspired by my own journey with my body. Having been really hard on myself, I learned to love my body into shape. It’s my version of body positivity that I had been teaching since I trademarked and branded myself as Yogalosophy in 2006, when Jennifer Aniston and I did an eight-page spread in SELF magazine, based on the yoga practice I was doing with her, post-divorce. At that point, there was a demand for my brand of wellness.
My goal was to bring the philosophy of yoga into every aspect of our self-love.
Ingber’s New York Times Bestselling-book, Yogalosophy: 28 Days to the Ultimate Mind-Body Makeover, features recipes, body-sculpting workouts, wise insights and thought-provoking anecdotes in each chapter.
Tell us about your journey in the wellness/fitness industry.
My journey began when I was a child growing up in Los Angeles with a health-conscious family. My father was body-obsessed and was always incredibly physical. He liked to create athletic games for my brother and me called The Kid Olympics. We were always making muscles and contorting our bodies to copy our father.
He was an amateur cyclist and rode 50 miles a day, weight-lifted, wrestled, ran, practiced yoga, meditated, and brought a vegan diet and macrobiotics into our family in the mid 1970s. As a result, I followed suit and it propelled me into over-exercise and anorexia. I was a gym rat and would work out three to eight hours daily and basically starve myself. Eventually that all backfired on me through injuries and unsustainable mental patterns.
I decided in my early 20s to just love myself at any weight. I went from an anorexic 85 pounds to 135 pounds (which was quite an extreme weight gain). I learned to accept my body and its shape. Once I stopped yo-yo dieting and just loved myself as is, I learned a lot about positive self-talk. After years of high-impact aerobics and pushing myself, I found spinning in 1991, just after I had been physically assaulted and was thawing out from my years as a working actress.
Suddenly, I was just learning how to be still in my body. Johnny G., the originator of indoor cycling, was the only instructor and I was there when he was building the bikes—and I found my stillness on the bike. Even though I had been practicing yoga since I was 7 years old, the real zen came from sitting still in the middle of so much motion and connecting with my breath, as well as the things I was telling myself. The positive self-talk. That was the origin of my teaching.
I became a very successful spinning instructor in 1996. I found this motivational speaker in me that was seminal in the rest of my teaching over the years. I learned that the same energy I had used to take myself down, when turned outward, could power a room of a hundred people.
Teaching spinning was my bread and butter for years. I was a local celebrity, even garnering the title of “Best of LA” in 1998. Helen Hunt touted me on the red carpet the day she won her Oscar. My classes were hot, filled with studio executives, record executives, famous actors and musicians.
I immersed myself in a yoga teachers training after a breakup just to have another tool in the certification toolbox. I had already been practicing yoga for 30 years. As with spinning, yoga came at me from several different angles. It happened just after my father died. I thing my dad was working some angel magic on the other side. I then got several different opportunities at once, including Jennifer Aniston when she was going through a hard time and she loved the yoga. I already had a strong celebrity clientele.
Jen sort of pushed me out even further by talking about me in Vogue. Suddenly, I was in all the magazines. Then I self-produced my first DVD and that was a huge seller. From there, endorsement deals, speaking engagements, retreats, a store—at that time I also had merch. Then I wrote my first book, which became a New York Times bestseller and made me a New York Times bestselling author. I wrote another book after that—just one foot in front of the other.
Ingber, who was a successful actress growing up with roles in film, TV and theater including the hit series “Cheers,” will be featured in a play at the Hollywood Fringe Festival called “UNAPOLOGETIC” on June 4, 5, 25 and 26.
How does Yogalosophy help people get into shape?
The philosophy of loving your body, caring for your body and feeling good in your body—framing it that way is the most important aspect. Yogalosophy, my yoga workout download, pairs a toning exercise with a yoga pose for a 35-minute total body workout. It’s now a digital download. It kicks butt!
Tell us about your published books.
My publisher SEAL Press is under the umbrella of Hachette. They are a women for women’s publishing house, which is fantastic. Everyone who works there is a woman and I love that. They started in the 1970s and their first book was helping women get out of abusive relationships. Yogalosophy: 28 Days to the Ultimate Mind-Body Makeover was their first New York Times Bestseller. I am really proud of that, because I love that I was a part of elevating them. It feels like such an honor and a win-win.
The book has my Yoga/Tone routine as the base, as well as three optional meal plans. It’s like a creativity books-meets-a-wellness/fitness book. Each day has a unique intention and includes a playlist, a breathing exercise, a variation on the basic routine, a cardio activity, a journal prompt, a pose of the day, and an anecdote that reflects the intention. It’s based on a lunar cycle, which is 28 days—also the time it takes to break a habit and set new habits in place.
Yogalosophy for Inner Strength is a 12-week program and is a companion to help you get through grief. I wrote it when I was going through a heartbreak and I designed it around the heart. It features takeaways about how to uplift yourself through intentional action; basically a happiness program. It has a different routine for each day of the week. It includes a recipe of the week, different healing modalities, and other woman who are experts are incorporated into the book. I love the book, it feels very personal.
Ingber’s second book, Yogalosophy for Inner Strength: 12 Weeks to Heal Your Heart and Embrace Joy, is a 12-week wellness program that uplifts and strengthens the alignment of mind, body, heart, and spirit during times of adversity like loss, transition, grief, or heartbreak.
Tell us about the astrological consultations you offer.
I offer astrology readings that help as a coaching guide. The astrological chart is a map, a blueprint of all of the different aspects of the self and what you are really here to live out and express. I like to approach the chart and go in there with the person and ask a lot of questions in order to help define their natural talents, skills, desires and lessons. Each of us has an area where we are challenged and learning lessons, as well as a place where things are easy and lucky. I help to frame that and I share the timing of things, too. My goal when i do a reading is the sense that the person is as they are born to be and that they are located in the perfect place at the perfect time. I like to help give each person that sense because I believe it to be true. My readings are done via Zoom, and I include an audio and visual recording. They are about 75 minutes and cost $300.
Future plans?
I am feeling excited about all of the things I am not planning. I am actually diving back into my original career. Acting is pulling at me. I’m doing a play at the Hollywood Fringe Festival called “UNAPOLOGETIC” on June 4, 5, 25 and 26. I’m currently booking astrology readings at info@mandyingber.com. I’m writing a memoir. I’d also love to be in a thriving romantic partnership and am planning on that!
Who inspires you?
I’m inspired by people who choose to be happy, like my grandmother who passed away in 2016. She came from Russia and was estranged from her own family. Both my grandparents were Holocaust survivors and refugees. My mom was a refugee who was born in an internment camp. I was inspired by their effortless ability to laugh and have a good time. My grandmother was hilariously funny, loved to play poker and have a good time. She would always sound excited to hear from me and tell me to have a wonderful day. ”If you want to sing, sing. If you want to dance, dance!” I bow to that kind of optimism.
I’m inspired by my brother, who has had a very difficult life with a lot of setbacks, but he’s always very polite and looks at himself deeply.
I guess I’m inspired by people who keep trying. I’m basically inspired by humans who wake up day after day with our individual hardships and joys, and continue to move through in whatever way we possibly can in a world that is both magical and devastating.
Secret to success?
Love the entire journey of being alive. Be able to spin anything into learning and a gift.
Ingber also offers astrology readings via Zoom that help her clients as a coaching guide, and is currently working on a memoir.
Beauty secrets?
Be childlike. Be present. Be confident. Smile.
Wellness tips?
Sleep! I need at least eight hours. I never knew that before. It’s become paramount to my health.
Drink water. I drink three liters a day.
Move your body daily (aim for seven days a week, get five.)
Meditate. Even five minutes a day will do.
No extreme diets. Find a moderate, manageable way of eating. Fewer processed foods, more whole foods.
You’ve got to have a treat. I don’t deprive myself, therefore I don’t need to binge.
Count your blessings.
Best advice?
Accept things and people as they are. My father used to say, “Accept people and their limitations.” I finally understand what he meant. I try to take care of my own large emotions. Start fresh every day.
How do you like to relax?
I love a cup of tea, and going to a spiritual bookstore. I love the library. I love walking around the bluff by the ocean and neighborhood walks of all sorts. I love hanging out with friends. Taking a hike. Driving up the coast.
I love listening to KCRW and participating in all their events. I love one-off experiences. Travel. Looking at other people’s pets.
For more information, visit her website and follow her on Instagram: @mandyingber
[Photos by Gene Reed; book images courtesy of Mandy Ingber]
Kamala Kirk is a University of Southern California graduate and has been an editor/writer for more than a decade. She has written for E! Online, Total Beauty, TravelAge West, Malibu Times Magazine, and many more. She resides in Los Angeles and is a proud pug mom. Follow her on Instagram: @kamalakirk