Shine your Light. Find A Tribe.
Wow. I can hardly imagine the person I used to be before joining the YogaHealer tribe. I never thought I would pay so much money to be part of a progressive community and it was the best investment in myself I have ever made.
Before I joined, I thought I was living with integrity and in a healthy lifestyle. However, as it turns out, I really wasn’t. Ayurveda had been introduced to me by Maury Cooke who came to one of my yoga classes at the gym with his friend William who suggested my class to him. He introduced me to his Ayurveda teacher. I did a consultation with his Ayurvedic practitioner and began making changes. After taking my pulse, looking at my tongue, and asking me questions about my poop he told me I shouldn’t eat salads! WHAT? And I needed to do savasana 3 times a day. He gave me a list of foods to eat and not eat.
I left feeling overwhelmed and intrigued by the weird practices and questions he asked me to do. I began studying Ayurveda on my own for 3 years and could not get myself into bed early or get up before the dawn. When I did do those things I felt better. I saw the results and they were not enough to keep me on track. I found out later doing it alone is the hard way.
My health habits started to improve with very little traction, no accountability or community. I started listening to Cate’s podcasts and became very curious about being one of her health coaches. I had already decided I wanted to add coaching to my offerings. I didn’t want to be a lame coach simply telling people what to do with their lives and pretend I had the answers. My desire was and is to learn how to serve effectively to get clients to their desired results and goals while having a blast!
When I had my first call with a YogaHealer person I was stoked. I knew I needed a community of yoga teacher friends who cared about integrity and the lifestyle of Ayurveda. I yearned to learn how to coach people into their potential in a fun and life-giving way. Yes, I love serving with teaching yoga classes, and I wanted to guide people into life-sustaining results instead of just an hour of feeling better. I longed for more depth and community than even my progressive classes can offer.
As a certified health coach I watch as people become happier, healthier, more authentic versions of themselves. It is SO rewarding. Everyone also becomes less stressed and more centered. The habits are life sustaining. Actually, I’ve learned when we don’t live in rhythm with nature and our bodies natural cycles, unpleasant aging quickens. They call it Parinama which is living out of rhythm. It is one of three causes to disease according to Ayurveda.
Also, what I help people do is not what western doctors know about… how to live so the body heals itself. When and how you eat is just as important as what. Ayurveda looks at the person as a whole; body, mind, spirit. When you take care of the body and live in rhythm with it is self-nourishing and healing. I know, I am experiencing a full life of thrive.
With the support of my peers, I was able to create morning and evening rituals, a routine for plant-based eating, I left an emotionally abusive relationship, I quit smoking, I dove deeper into meditation and asana. I became a healthier, happier version of myself. With the joy I have now, I feel called to help others find what I have found. It is inside all of us. I couldn’t have accomplished what I have in the last 2 years without the support of an evolving tribe focused on holistic health and prioritizing growth. And without a leader who spoke the truth to me when I needed to hear it.
We all have blind spots and that is where a dynamic community can come in and gently guide you in the right direction. (if they are trained on how to and have the balls to do it.)
Humans are communal. What does your community or communities look like? I wanted to find people who were thriving and acknowledged the sacredness of life. I found them. People, mostly women, who know it is spiritual to continually evolve. What do you want in your community? What do they do? What are their values? Do not simply read on, close your eyes and feel, what it is like to be with your future peers in your ideal community.
The community I have created for my coaching clients is a fun, evolving, dynamic group of people. For example, a month ago we skipped our meeting to go to a mantra movie together! One of members is in a Kirtan group and it was cool to watch as some members got to learn what and why she does what she does in her band. We all bonded and the depth of the connectivity increased.
Mantra Movie Picture
Since we prioritize our growth and do not hold anyone else in the group to show up the same way as they did in the past it allows for identity evolution consistently. This could look like a member who used to identify as a coffee drinker, stopping and becoming the kind of person who drinks green smoothies in the morning. They may share that as their brag. We are changing who we are in real time and support each other’s positive shifts! We brag about our achievements.
If you are curious to learn more about what we do, talk to me. I do a free discovery session with folks who are curious about Ayurveda and how the body heals itself. If you are not sure you are ready, hangout in my facebook group called Yoga Life Hacks and receive all the free goodness I offer. I encourage you to find a group of people who are doing what you want to be doing and spend time with them.
If you commune with others who are doing or starting to do what you want in your life, you will gain enormous amounts of traction simply by being around them. Find humans with similar values and similar goals. I invite you to be conscious about who you are spending time with and why.
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
Do not try to make habit changes the hard way like I did at first, which is alone and with the wrong crowd. Join a tribe of likeminded peeps so you are better equipped to shine your light out into the world.