Yoga & Life: From Challenge to Choice, Personal Stories and Program Secrets, From Top Yoga & Life Coaches
()
About this ebook
Related to Yoga & Life
Related ebooks
Yoga for Life: A Journey to Inner Peace and Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yoga Beyond the Mat: How to Make Yoga Your Spiritual Practice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yoga Wisdom: Warrior Tales Inspiring You On and Off Your Mat Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFierce Medicine: Breakthrough Practices to Heal the Body and Ignite the Spirit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Journey Into Power: How to Sculpt Your Ideal Body, Free Your True Self, and Transform Your Life with Yoga Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The American Yoga Association Beginner's Manual Fully Revised and Updated Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Become Your Own Bliss Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFinding More onthe Mat: How I grew better, wiser and stronge through Yoga Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Daring to Rest: Reclaim Your Power with Yoga Nidra Rest Meditation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYogini's Dilemma: To Be, or Not to Be, a Yoga Teacher? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDo Your Om Thing: Bending Yoga Tradition to Fit Your Modern Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Art of Attention: A Yoga Practice Workbook for Movement as Meditation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5True Yoga: Practicing With the Yoga Sutras for Happiness & Spiritual Fulfillment Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Modern Yogi: A Guide to Living on Purpose and with Intention Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStrong, Calm and Free: A modern guide to yoga, meditation and mindful living Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yoga Mind: The Yoga Sutras According to A Course in Miracles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYin Yoga: An Individualized Approach to Balance, Health, and Whole Self Well-Being Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yoga: For Beginners: Your Guide To Master Yoga Poses While Strengthening Your Body, Calming Your Mind And Be Stress Free! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYoga for Women: Gain Strength and Flexibility, Ease PMS Symptoms, Relieve Stress, Stay Fit Through Pregnancy, Age Gracefully Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYoga 365: Daily Wisdom for Life, On and Off the Mat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/552 Weeks of Yoga: A Personal Journey Through Yoga Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGuided Meditations For Overthinking, Anxiety, Depression & Mindfulness: Beginners Scripts For Deep Sleep, Insomnia, Self-Healing, Relaxation, Overthinking, Chakra Healing& Awakening: Beginners Scripts For Deep Sleep, Insomnia, Self-Healing, Relaxation, Overthinking, Chakra Healing& Awakening Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTen Days to Daily Yoga Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow Not To Teach Yoga: Lessons on Boundaries, Accountability, and Vulnerability - Learnt the Hard Way Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYoga Through the Year: A Seasonal Approach to Your Practice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYoga of Courage and Compassion: Conscious Breathing and Guided Meditation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Yoga Life: Applying Comprehensive Yoga Therapy to All Areas of Your Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Body, Mind, & Spirit For You
You Were Born for This: Astrology for Radical Self-Acceptance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't Believe Everything You Think: Why Your Thinking Is The Beginning & End Of Suffering Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Power of Your Subconscious Mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Energy Codes: The 7-Step System to Awaken Your Spirit, Heal Your Body, and Live Your Best Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need: Twenty-First-Century Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Game of Life And How To Play It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shadow Work: Face Hidden Fears, Heal Trauma, Awaken Your Dream Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Becoming the One: Heal Your Past, Transform Your Relationship Patterns, and Come Home to Yourself Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Complete Papyrus of Ani Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lost Books of the Bible: The Rejected Texts, Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Element Encyclopedia of 20,000 Dreams: The Ultimate A–Z to Interpret the Secrets of Your Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Practicing the Power of Now: Essential Teachings, Meditations, and Exercises from the Power of Now Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Psychic Witch: A Metaphysical Guide to Meditation, Magick & Manifestation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Secret History of the World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Great Cosmic Mother: Rediscovering the Religion of the Earth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It Starts with Self-Compassion: A Practical Road Map Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Course in Miracles: Text, Workbook for Students, Manual for Teachers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Holistic Herbal: A Safe and Practical Guide to Making and Using Herbal Remedies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Experiencing God (2021 Edition): Knowing and Doing the Will of God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gospel of Mary Magdalene Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Feeding the Soul (Because It's My Business): Finding Our Way to Joy, Love, and Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5ATOMIC HABITS:: How to Disagree With Your Brain so You Can Break Bad Habits and End Negative Thinking Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wild at Heart Expanded Edition: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Be Here Now Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Think and Grow Rich (Illustrated Edition): With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Yoga & Life
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Yoga & Life - Becky Center
YOGA & LIFE
YOGA & LIFE:
FROM CHALLENGE TO CHOICE PERSONAL STORIES AND PROGRAM SECRETS FROM TOP YOGA & LIFE COACHES
Becky Center
with 10 Emerging Women Leaders
Yoga & Life: From Challenge to Choice, Personal Stories and Program Secrets, From Top Yoga & Life Coaches
Published by AMJ Productions & Publications
Copyright © 2018 by Becky Center
All rights reserved. Neither this book, nor any parts within it may be sold or reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
ISBN: 9781642370119
eISBN: 9781642370126
Printed in the United States of America
CONTENTS
Introduction
Follow Your Heart's Compass by Rachel Wainwright
Balanced Being by Brady Crews
Embody Your Essence by Candace Smith
Life Unlived by Neill Williams
Cruising Through Life By Kim Hess
Sanctuary By Ariel Ollivier
Live Like a Lotus by Felicia Jordan
Sacred Symmetry by Elysia Vetter
A Tidy Life by Beta Shad
Life by Design by Lynnie Long
Embodied Voice by Becky Center
Introduction
Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.
~ Paulo Coelho
The intention of this book is to motivate you to create the life you choose to live, and not to settle for anything less. Each author has overcome her share of heartache, loss and challenges to get to where she is today. Each has chosen to share her story as an inspiration for anyone willing to see themselves in another.
This book is the continuation of ten inspiring conversations that began with each of the authors. Consider this your behind-the-scenes look into the lives of your local yoga teachers, coaches, healers, and mentors. The authors are powerful women from all over the world, bringing their unique experience. Each of their presence adds a richness, depth, and wisdom to be gleaned.
Each author is a professional life coach; honored to connect with you if you need support. They met through the Yoga2Life Core Coaching for Effective Change program through Coach Training Alliance, which I was leading at the time. I could see something special in each of these women, and as I got to know each one on a deeper level, it was clear that there was something BIG going on – something I knew we had to share with the world.
Then I had an idea...
After the coach training program ended, I remained in deep conversation with each woman. I watched as their businesses grew, as each woman began creating the life she had always dreamed of. I knew each woman’s story; the journeys they had been through. I also knew the power of the lessons they had learned, and the masterful way they teach and guide their students.
I shared my idea with them – let’s publish a book, sharing our journeys and the secrets that helped us along the way.
My intention was to simply showcase each of these women for the powerful, wise women they are. To show the world the inspiration I could see in each of their stories.
What happened went far beyond what any of us imagined…
The preparation for this book was a series of in-depth conversations, recalling the journey each woman had been through to get to where she is today. Many tears were shed as we all remembered the hard moments of our lives. All of us learned something new about ourselves in this process.
Then something interesting happened…
As we remembered the details of our personal stories, we could also see what we needed during that time. The more we worked on this book, the clearer our past needs became. Through each conversation, something much more life-changing than a book chapter was being created…
Upon the completion of this anthology, we had created new programs of our own. All the energy we had put into the conversations to create this book allowed each of us to see deeper into ourselves; to remember the needs we had when we started our journey into personal growth.
Who better than us to help others through the challenges we faced along our journeys?
You hold in your hands the motivation that has inspired each of these extraordinary women to overcome EVERY challenge they have faced along their journey. Take in their wisdom. Allow their stories to become your stories, and see yourself clearly reflected in each shared experience.
As you read each story, reflect on your own life experience. See how similar the author’s stories are to yours; or how different. Immerse yourself in the experience, and see what you can learn about yourself in the process.
To get the most out of this book, use the journal questions at the end of each chapter. Each woman has taken the time to craft her questions to lead you through a process of illumination. By placing your full attention on the journal questions it is like having a conversation with the author. If you treat each chapter this way, you will have had conversations with eleven coaches by the time you finish this book.
If one conversation can transform your life, imagine what you could do with eleven!
Follow Your Heart's Compass
by Rachel Wainwright
"Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid,
and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be."
~ Joseph Campbell
As a young girl, my favorite cartoon was The Care Bears. Their motto was, Caring is what counts.
They would stand together with love and radiate light. They called this the Care Bear Stare; its purpose was to bring joy into someone’s heart. I knew then that I was a Care Bear, and I was going to heal a lot of hearts.
With three older brothers, I was taught to stay tough; vulnerability was a weakness. I learned how to stifle my emotions early. There were times when I felt like I was going to explode, so I would dance the feelings away in the secrecy of my room. Dance became my way to release stress. Music became my medicine; movement my therapy.
When I was seventeen, I went through a brutal snowboarding accident, which required three surgeries; then I lost my grandmother and several friends. Even my dog died. With no tools to process this amount of loss, I turned to alcohol and marijuana to numb myself. I didn’t know anyone making a living doing what they loved. I didn’t even know that was possible. I believed that you were either a starving artist or a robot with a career.
I went to the university to make my parents happy but began to develop severe stomach pains. I didn’t know anyone making a living doing what they loved and I believed that you were either a starving artist or a robot with a career. Persevering through the pain, I imagined that once I finished at university, I would move to LA to pursue my dream of dance. Life had a different plan for me…
Upon graduation I was diagnosed with cervical cancer.
This was a wake-up call I didn’t know I needed. I was athletic, thinking this equated with being healthy. My body showed me that without tools to handle stress, everything inside me turned toxic. I didn’t end up moving to LA. I stayed in Canada to get the treatment I needed.
I took my first yoga class at the recommendation of my massage therapist. I felt pain in my body, my mind chattered ceaselessly, and I felt sadness in my heart. I did not enjoy this experience. It brought out all the feelings I had hidden deep inside. However, with every exhale I learned how to release the tension in my body. The more I practiced, the more present I felt. I began to feel a sense of peace, a sensation that kept me coming back. With practice, that bliss started following me off the mat. That’s when I started on a new trajectory.
I realized I had to make some changes. I opened my heart to the possibility of a life so awesome I wouldn’t need a vacation from it. A life where I wouldn’t feel any difference between work and play. I was done being just a dreamer; I was ready to be a dream-doer. As I sat in silence, I began to see the deeper meaning of my life. It was through my yoga practice that I cultivated this connection to my whole self. I was inspired by yoga and grateful for all it had given me. I wanted to deepen my knowledge. So, I completed my first yoga teacher training.
Time passed, and my passion grew. Catapulted by inspiration, I cultivated the courage to leave my comfort zone and become an entrepreneur. I opened Exhale Yoga Studio and it became a sanctuary for people to come be their true self. I felt blessed to see students’ energies shift during class each day.
But owning the studio became a tough swim upstream. I worked to exhaustion. I maintained a profitable business at the expense of my own health and happiness. I was drowning.
A couple years after opening the studio, I traveled to Brazil for a friend’s wedding and realized how depressed I was. I remember staring out into the ocean and wanting to become one with it. The thought of taking my life, allowing myself to sink into the abyss, felt more peaceful than living the way I was. Thankfully, I had the courage to share my feelings with my husband and friends. They sat with me as I cried.
I cried for all the times