When in our lives have we ever slowed down this much and appreciated? Oh, we can go for a walk in the fresh air. You know, when in our lives have we just stopped and spend that much time with family and connecting with family and getting to know family? So it's, I would say it's been a blessing. And the fact that I have friends all over the world, you connect with these people and you're like, how are you like what's happening for you
and you'll get to hear? I've gotten so much closer to a lot of people that I used to know that I now know very well just because of this, this virus.
Welcome to The Yoga Den. Are you a stressed out cog in the corporate wheel? Do you find yourself asking, What am I doing? and Why am I doing it? Then The Yoga Den is the place for you. I'm your host, Ryan Spence, aka, The BigLaw dropout writer, yoga teacher, and your guide on the path to wellbeing through yoga. Yoga helped me find my purpose, changed my mindset, and my life. And in this podcast, I'll share how to live a life of intention., not
reaction. Each week, I'll be talking to a varioety of guests, uncovering pearls of wisdom to help you fighure out if where you;re heading is where you really wanna go. I won't find your purpose for you. But I'll help you plan the route. So sit back and grab a drink. I've been expecting you. Welcome to Episode Four of The Yoga Den Podcast. This week's guest is another corporate escapee. Someone else who has made the switch from the corporate world to the yoga
world. Sara Riad is an ex-corporate events planner turned yoga teacher. Originally from Egypt, Sarah is now based in Singapore. And in a short time has built up a regular following of students online, teaching multiple classes a week to students from all around the world. This week's episode could have been two, even three times the length, we had so much to talk about. And we got deep into
some issues. Some of the things we discussed were how yoga teacher training transformed Sara's life, her mission and her passion to empower women through yoga, particularly women going through pregnancy and post pregnancy. And how taking a step out of the corporate world took her step closer to her purpose. I really hope this episode resonates with you as much as it did with me. But for now, grab your headphones, grab a drink. And let's do this. Sara, welcome to The Yoga Den.
Hello.
How are you doing?
I'm fantastic. thrilled to be here today.
Excellent. Very good to have you here. So to give the listeners a bit of context, because that's why I seem to have been doing on the last few episodes. We met during a yoga teacher training, which I think we'll both agree was a life changing experience. That whole training. Absolutely. Yeah. And you basically straight out of the gate are out teaching. See you over Instagram, you're teaching internationally. Tell me about that. Oh, wow. Um, I left the yoga
teacher training. And I did my prenatal postpartum right after that. And then I got straight into teaching online because I couldn't find a studio job. Yeah. And it's been fascinating. I am reaching people who are friends and family are coming. They're coming back. And they're asking, like, how do we join your next class, and so on and so forth, which has been fascinating. And so exciting. And the more I'm teaching, the more I'm reaping the benefits
myself. Not financially, but just like the the passion is coming to me. Yeah, the longer I teach, does that make sense?
Makes perfect sense. I think, for me, I found the same. It's that whole the energy you get from teaching from leaving a class where the students are happy and satisfied it so yeah, it's it's quite unlike, like anything you think about beforehand, right?
Absolutely. And the thing is that most days, I'm like, Oh my god, I need to teach him so nervous. What do I do? What's my sequence? How do I teach this? How do I change it up? And then walking out of that class, I'm like, Okay, I know what I did wrong. But at the same time, I feel amazing. And the questions I'm getting from people and like, Oh, this hurts, this shouldn't hurt, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, Okay, let me have a conversation with you.
And either we talk like separately, or I wait for everybody to drop out from the Zoom call, so I can address the questions one on one so that there's no some sort of embarrassment.
Yeah, yeah. Cool. I think it's good. I mean, I was speaking to somebody earlier about teacher training and, and Blair's, Blair Hughes, our teacher his words from the beginning were that you need to get out and teach like, this is all about getting you ready to teach. So yeah, it's great that you and many of our other classmates are already out there teaching as well. It just to kind of you learn by teaching, I guess you learn more yourself.
I agree 100%. And every time I teach a class, I have to say, I take something away from that a learning experience for myself, or a piece of feedback that somebody just gives me and it rings a bell in me. Makes sense. Yeah. Sometimes it hits a very sweet spot where you know, you need to improve on one thing. And when somebody says it to you, it means Okay, wow, it means a lot.
Yeah, because that's the thing, you need real people to give you feedback, right? We can all sort of read the books and practice on our own at home. But when you've got real students in front of you with real bodies, that feedback matters. And that's what's gonna help you grow as a teacher. So, taking a slight step back, like me, you are a corporate escapee. So you used to be in the in the corporate world. And then yoga stole your way. So like it has
for so many of us. So what I want to talk about that what you were doing, and kind of what brought you to yoga?
Sure. It's told me a way in a very graceful sense, actually. I used to, well, I studied hospitality in the US, I worked there for a bit, which I had a blast in, and then move to Egypt, to Cairo where I'm from, and started working for the hospitality industry there and then moved to Singapore. And something was just not right. I was seeking something, but what I was seeking was not. I wasn't finding, okay. Until I found yoga, what, five years ago, I would say, and some were during
one Shavasana. I was like, Okay, this is what I need to be doing forever. It was one Shavasana It was a tiny, tiny studio in Cairo, Egypt, okay. And it just clicked. And I knew deep inside me that I needed to be a yoga teacher, I didn't know how I didn't know when I didn't have like, any clear direction as to where I would go and how I would get there. Because it was so far fetched at the time. Being attending a yoga teacher training is super expensive. Yeah. And I couldn't afford it.
I always wanted to do it. But I couldn't afford it. I didn't have the time working my corporate jobs. And then when I finally move to Singapore, got in the corporate world, and then I've been thinking every time I apply for one, something happens. I like to believe it's my persistence. And my, my partner's support is what made it happen eventually. Because no, you don't give up if this is what you want to do you keep pursuing it. And here I am.
Yeah, follow your dreams. Definitely. It's that persistence in that discipline to kind of get you to where, where you think you need to be and where you want to go. So what was it about the corporate world that led you to go? or Why did you leave the corporate world and sort of get on this path that you're on now.
So I'm, it's a bunch of things, it's really a bunch of things. And I was always trying to find what it is that I'm destined to do. And you know, soul searching, whatever you call it. And I try to do the things that I love, but the more they don't make sense, the more they're causing me a lot of issues. I've been in the corporate world, not as long as you for sure. But I reached the point where I am showing physical symptoms, okay, as, okay, I am not feeling it today.
And as a woman who is cyclical, not every day is the same. So expect me to go to work and perform the same exact way every single day is actually impossible. But a lot of women don't know that a lot of the world doesn't know that. And the more I pushed myself, the more I made me feel worse. So physically, mentally, emotionally, I was just not feeling that I am who I am. And I lost my father, two years ago, september two years ago, and I had stopped yoga. A couple months before he got sick, okay.
I was I was doing yoga religiously. A few months before he got sick, I stopped yoga, I was distracted by a bunch of other things. And then after his passing, I was also distracted by my emotions. Until I was led back to yoga slowly. And that's what healed me. I mean, I, there's nothing easy about losing a father. But at the same time finding yoga again, led me back to myself and to try to discover how to heal myself from the pain that I was living every single day essentially.
Well, it's a it's a common theme, I think, for people who go on to deepen their practice, and maybe even teach that. Yoga hasn't necessarily always been a constant. It's been and it's gone away. It's
been there, it's gone away. But there's, there's normally a point where there is some sort of trauma or tragic loss or, or something maybe not as serious but but still quite grave what what brings them back to yoga seems to kind of like once it's got ahold of you, it kind of seems to keep pulling you back. And it sounds like that. That's what's happened to you. I mean, it's definitely what happened to me as well. So yeah, yoga is as healing. healing power is a is a
powerful thing. It really, truly is. And what is quite nice about that is that it's obviously, you saw it that way for yourself. And it's what you want to give to the people that you're teaching. Do you think that's what is leading you down the route that you're going down in terms of the sort of women through pregnancy and post pregnancy?
Well, to back up a little bit. And address your point about yoga is healing and whatever. Amber Sawyer, my teacher said, that yoga meets you exactly where you are, and exactly when you need it. It just walks into your life transforms you in a way that is unimaginable. And a lot of people don't understand it until they actually experience it. You hear about yoga, and the studies of yoga and the physical movement and the mindfulness behind it. But you don't really get to experience it until you've
actually started doing it. Yeah. So yeah, I fell off the waggon for a while. And slowly when I started to pick it up again, it was bringing me closer to who I am. And it was making people's lives around me. Much better, like the people I surround myself with. Yeah, it was improving their lives as well. In a way that is incredible. And I cannot say how and why I entered into the prenatal postpartum world. I knew I wanted to, but I still can't pinpoint what it is that brought
me to it. Okay. I have to admit that during the training, there is training when amber walked in and gave us a two hour workshop. I was blown away and heard from them. Yeah. And the next two days, I was like, how do I make it work? How do I take time off work? How do I how do I make it work to just attend her training, I made a work, I signed up, I registered, and here I am today again. And the more I teach prenatal, the more I am blown away, every single
class, I just feel amazing. Just being able to communicate something that helps people, especially during the most vulnerable time. It is not a vulnerable time, pregnancy is a powerful, powerful, powerful thing. But a lot of our societies and our culture has deemed it vulnerable, which is not the case. I feel so strongly about that. It's not the case, a pregnant woman is so powerful. And the more the more they get empowered. It's just beautiful to witness, beautiful to observe.
Yeah, I think that there is this notion. In the Western world, I think mainly that pregnancy is it's kind of almost like an illness and that a woman who's pregnant is quite delicate and needs to be taken care of. Whereas when you contrast that to other parts of the world and see what women who are pregnant, what they do, like how they carry themselves and what they're doing right up until they give birth and how they are after birth. It's just seems like it's a powerful
thing, as you say. But it's also a natural thing. It's what the body is meant to do. And it's what women are meant to do. So there is that kind of disconnect between the between the two worlds in terms of how it's treated.
I would say absolute disconnect. It's treated like oh my god, you're pregnant. This Oh my god, you're pregnant. Be careful. Oh my god, you're pregnant. Don't go out. But no, when you're pregnant, you're powerful. You're growing another human. Have you? And I'm sure you've witnessed that with your wife? Because you have two kids, you know, is yes, it is it is not a time that people should be fragile with a pregnant woman, they should be supportive, like,
What do you need? You know, how, how can we help you have an empowered and powerful pregnancy? How can we help you learn about what you need. So you can have an empowered birth, something that you choose, and especially I don't want to get into that too much now. But especially with the Western medicine, and all of that has become very, it's a huge disconnect disconnects a woman from her body tremendously. And there are, I mean, women have been giving birth naturally in
homes for years. And this whole hospital, medical epidural type of world has just emerged like 75 years ago, around 75 years. And it's it, the more I'm learning about this, the more it makes me sad and angry, because how is this not common knowledge? Yeah, how are we so brainwashed by word of mouth, what we hear around us, and so on and so forth, that we don't have empowered pregnancies?
I think it goes to questioning because, again, going back to our training, we're told the yoga is a form of, it's a form of self inquiry. So you look into yourself and you by looking at yourself, that makes you question everything outside of yourself. And you start to look at the world differently. And, and so when we talk about yoga, and the benefits of yoga for people, people always sort of focus on the physical. And you know, it's the usual things. I'm not flexible enough, or I can't do
this, I can't do that. But actually, what I'm trying to get help people to understand. And one of the reasons for this podcast is that it's so much more than that. And with what you just said, they're giving you that questioning ability, both of yourself and of the outside world, is a really powerful thing. And this starts to make you see the world in a different way.
I hundred percent agree with what you're saying. It's after the teacher training, I was even talking to Blair and our colleague, yoga teacher, JP. And as like, if you go into that room, and they give the same, you didn't get what you need. It's a training, something huge shifts, and something huge has to shift. Actually, no, I take that back. It doesn't have to shift for everyone. But if it shifts, it's magical. It's It's incredible. And yes, I agree with you. Going back to the
eight limbs of yoga. They're eight limbs. None of them are Asana except one. None of them are about the movement and how flexible we are. Except one. Exactly. And even me as an amateur yoga teacher, it was mind blowing to know that, Oh, my God, yoga is not just about moving. It's so much more. It's spiritual. It's mindful. It's a whole. It's a way of living, essentially.
Yeah, it is. And that's very much what I'm about and what this podcast is about. It's yoga as a foundation for your way of living. And then having everything everything flowed from that. So whether you practice for an hour a day, or 15 minutes, or whether you can do a handstand, or you can barely touch your toes, it doesn't really matter. It's about living the whole thing. And, and like I'm none of us are experts. Nobody is mean, you're
always learning. I mean, I left the training, just thinking, wow, I thought I was going to get a lot of answers. And now I have more questions are more things to study. And that's the beauty of it. You can never you can never know it all it's this continuous journey. And the more that sort of people can recognise that and just just try it out. I think they'd be surprised at how, how much better that they can feel and how much differently they will see things.
I mean, yeah, look at us now Who would have known we'd be here recording this podcast together after our teacher training who would have known we'd cross paths to be like my yoga teacher training got cancelled in Bali twice. I booked Singapore a few times before I could nail one down and I have zero regrets. I don't want to look back. I mean, looking back, I don't want to look back and you know, I don't want my past life. I'm shifted. I not much has changed but also
a lot has changed. You know what I'm I'm still living in Singapore. I'm still married. I'm still loving life. But I'm noticing every single day that there's a lot more to appreciate, to life than the life that I was living, waking up every morning, reporting to someone and, you know, leaving work late and not having time for family or exercise or yoga or anything, any space released, just be myself. And the moment I get on the minds, it all comes back and I start to question why
am I doing what I'm doing? Why am I not pursuing this? And then I had one conversation with my husband, he goes, What are you waiting for? And, and as supportive as he is when he he says stuff like that? I'm like, Oh, okay. Tell me more.
Yeah, it does make a big difference having having that support. Because there are many people have stereotypes about yoga, and about yoga teachers and all the rest of it. And it's still not seen as a proper career by a lot of people or a thing that you can do, you know, mean as, as your thing
effectively. So having that support makes makes a real big difference, because it means that you're not having to have those battles at home, you know, meaning you can have them outside if you wish, or you can choose to ignore them. But not having to have them at home is a is a real, a real blessing.
Yeah, I hear you completely. And who's to say that we have to go around explaining that it's a career, even if it's not a career, if you decide to be a yoga teacher, and you decide not to call it a career, but it is actually here. Who am I to judge? Or who anyone else to judge? Like, what is this yoga teacher stereotype? What is it somebody explained? that it goes against the yoga, or we have a yoga teacher stereotypes, archaea? Essentially? Yes, if that makes sense. Yeah, it
makes it makes perfect sense. I'm with you. We are we are definitely speaking the same language. So actually, one point just to go back that you said, and you said you were an amateur yoga teacher, and you're not. You're out there teaching. So you know, we, we all, were not amateurs, where we're all at different places in terms of our experience, but we're out there. We're teaching people we're giving them. We're holding space for them. We're really giving them that moment.
And they appreciate that. So yeah, we
Yeah. I mean, you have to start somewhere. We have to start somewhere. Exactly. If you're somewhere is two people on Sunday morning. That's that's perfectly fine. I mean, I started doing prenatal and I'm liaising with two studios in Cairo. And the moment they send me a text that we have one sign up, I'm like, Yes, I'm going to impact one person, either positively or negatively open to that, because not everybody will resonate with. But at the same time, I will impact someone. And
it doesn't matter. I blocked my calendar to hold this class. Yeah, if one person shows up, if five people show up, I'm still gonna hold the class. And when somebody says, Oh, it's only me, do you want to reschedule? No, you've booked the class. I'm here for you, you know? And it's, it's been incredible. Incredible. Really?
It is? Yeah, I had to send anything on Monday. I'm, I have one person that says to be three people, and then two can make and one person says, Oh, yeah, I mean, it is or I just don't want to do that. Yeah, you're here. I mean, you take the time to come here. I'm here. Let's have a class. And I think that's, that's what some people don't get as it's not about you as a teacher. It's about students, and it's about what they need, and what you can
give them. And if you look at it through that lens, then it completely changes what being a yoga teacher is, right. So yeah, it's not about it's not about ego, it's about holding that space and letting people get what they need from that time. Cool. So you were saying that you visually had a couple of trainings in Bali that you had to counsel and obviously ours in Singapore was was cancelled a couple of times? Because of the
Big C word COVID. So 2020 Yeah, has been an interesting year for lots of people for many reasons. In many ways, despite some of the setbacks, it's been a real breakthrough year for me. What's it been like for you?
An amazing breakthrough as well. For me, it's been so much change from the beginning of the year into I'm an event person, so I like Having events and planning them and working in that field. And the moment the COVID-19 hits, there are no events, and they're shrinking by half quarter, and then less and less and less every single day. So that was
quite crazy to witness. So that was the first major shift, the second major shift with the lack of travel that we were going to have yet, which was still everybody's impacted by that, so I really can't complain. And then I would have to say that without this virus, I wouldn't be here today. As much as it is a curse to a lot of people and globally, as much as I am cursing it as well. But equally
grateful for it. Because I was able to pursue what I love, I was able to get some quiet time to disconnect and really get I mean, I knew my husband, but who would have thought we would be stuck at home for what, two, three months? Yeah, three months, face to face, just the two of us. And I mean, we've grown so much. So my relationship with my husband, my relationships in general. And the fact that, okay, how do I make something good out of what's happening? How do I
maximise this time? How do I use the time to be grateful to slow down and so on? But how do I, what do I do? The one thing that's been in the back of my mind for the past five years was yoga. How do I become a teacher? How do I impact lives, the way my teachers have impacted me. And COVID was gifted me that really, I signed up to Bali. And I had to cancel a few trainings there. Just because we couldn't travel anymore. It was paid for blah, blah, blah. And I was supposed to leave a few days
later. And then lockdown happened. And actually, I don't regret it. Because here we are. Now again. I don't regret it. And I had met with Blair to talk and discuss, like, what it's like to be his student, and all all of that. And I knew that this is what was right for me. Yeah, at the time. And I'm so glad I pushed through, I took the training. And if it wasn't for Blair, I wouldn't have met Amber. And if it wasn't for Amber, and Blair, collectively and individually, I wouldn't
have been here today. So I'm eternally grateful for all the opportunities this year has, has given me the running around, and the slow paced It started off crazy. Yeah, but then when in our lives, have we ever slowed down this much and appreciated? Oh, we can go for a walk in the fresh air. You know, when in our lives have we just stopped and spend that much time with family and connecting with family and getting to know family? So it's, I would say it's been a
blessing. And the fact that I have friends all over the world, you connect with these people? And you're like, oh, how are you like, what's happening for you? And you get to hear, I've gotten so much closer to a lot of people that I used to know that I now know very well, just because of this. Yeah, Iris. And it's been an incredible shift in
in a positive way. I mean, I feel very sad for the people that have struggled with COVID or have lost their lives because of COVID or live in countries where they don't know what to do because they're they don't have enough funding, etc, etc. But at the same time, I mean, it's life. Yeah.
And it's, it's a reframing, isn't it? It's, we can look at things that are bad in inverted commas. And we can carry that negativity with us. Or we can accept what it is and then try and sort of reframe it and try and make it work for us or see how it can work for us. And that doesn't necessarily discount the people who who are struggling and is still struggling. But it's just in order for you to be in a position to help anybody else.
You have to help yourself. And by helping yourself get to a position where Yeah, it's not all sunshine and rainbows and I mean, it's not all positive, but taking the positives out of it, accepting the negatives and then them pass. You're then better equipped to to help others get through the situations that they're going through.
Yeah, and I don't know if you remember Blair saying this he goes, your cup has to be so full. So you can give people out of that. exactly that. Other than giving people out of a half empty cup. Yeah. And I am, I am a half empty cup. I've always been. But I have to admit that, that that has changed. That has changed. Extremely. And it's it's the other side of the spectrum for me. I've always been like, What bad could happen? What's, what's the half empty? Half cup empty side of this? And it was
terrifying. Always thinking about what? What's the worst that can happen? And all of a sudden, okay. How do I how do I get myself out of that? Yes, I lived there for so long. And being there for so long. Unless you realise it and you slowly come out of it. You really don't. So yeah.
And would you say that it's the yoga that's made the difference in terms of your reframing? Or have there been other factors as well.
I mean, it's been definitely my the support of my family, as well as the yoga and the support of my family to pursue the yoga which they know I'm very passionate about. And they knew it would help because it it has before. And I don't know what to say, but forget the Asana. The fact that you can sit even for five minutes and meditation every single morning, just reframes. Like, I'll give you an example this morning. I didn't want to meditate. I was so restless.
What did I do? I started opening every single drawer, every cupboard, and I started clearing out stuff. And then by the end of it, all of a sudden, I'm coming. I grab my notebook, and all of a sudden, I'm writing stuff down like questions, inquiries. What does this mean? I'm reflecting on conversations, I had three, four or five weeks
ago. And because I had that time, that was my meditation, I wasn't talking to anyone I had no TV on, I was rummaging through drawers and clauses trying to clear things that were no longer needed or necessary, or that no longer serve me. And that really helps give clarity to my mind. So meditation is not just sitting cross legged, with your hands on your thighs, trying to focus. I'd happened for me this morning without
needing to do that. And I didn't realise it until 30 minutes before I got here, when I my husband walked in, and all of a sudden, I had these big conversations I wanted to did this come from? Like, um, I was I was rummaging through stuff this morning. And as I was doing that, it all came up. And it's as simple as that. It's not complicated. It shouldn't be intimidating. It's for anyone and everyone who just wants it is interested in it.
I think it's a really interesting way that you framed it as well, because there is this perception that meditation. It's like, it's like the asana people say, they can't do the asana because physically, they can't do it. They're not flexible enough. People say they can't meditate because they're restless, and they can't sit still. Or they can't cross their legs, whatever. And they're always these barriers that people put up that they have to do things in a particular way.
And going back to what you said earlier, which you said, Amber said to you, but I know Blair lso said in training is that oga meets you where you are. So oday, you might be able to eet, you might sit in child's ose, and you might just do that or five minutes. And that's ine. And then tomorrow, you ight be able to balance five inutes, you know, it's not, t's not linear. And it talks to ou, it tells you about ourself, I remember days when 'll be in a balancing pose. And
t's just effortless. And then here's days where I literally eep falling over. And because 've done the training and ecause I am now more aware of yself, both my body and my ind, I know that it's my mind sn't stay in my mind it. My mind is not concentrating and not focusing what I'm doing. That's why I'm falling over. So it, it goes back to the reframing once you understand why something's happening, you can then better deal with it. And you don't beat yourself up as much as well.
What you're saying is like music to my ears right now. Two key words out of what you said right now, and I've been delving deep into those two things is one, it's not linear, huge, and the mind body connection. If your mind is disturbed, you will not be able to find balance in your physical body and I believe I believe that religiously because, you know, not every day on the mat is the same. And people who
practice everyday know that. And it may be intimidating for people out there who haven't tried yoga before who are like, Oh, I'm not so good at it. But who, who said, there is good and bad? Exactly, you just do you.
And I'm more and more believing into that, that you just, I've spent some time beginning of my class just connecting people to their bodies, just to, you know, little, little tiny words that even if you don't know anything about the mind body connection, it may, I don't know if it does every single time, but it may just click. And for me if it does, hallelujah, yeah. And the other thing that you mentioned is linear. I was just talking about that. Nothing is linear. But our world is so linear.
Yeah, it is frustrating, frustrating, incredibly frustrating, I cannot even emphasise that.
it's true. I mean, it is I mean, let's just take that, let's just take it as a child and education is like, is your child and then say, as you know, I've got two boys and five and three. And sometimes it's fascinates me just to watch them and watch how they move. Because you realise and you understand how the human body is supposed to move. And it does, it just moves freely. There's no self conscious in I mean, they just sit wherever is comfortable and
how it works, and it's fine. But then there's a point, obviously, where you send your kids to school, and then they forced us a desk, and that's where it begins. And then you have to go through school, and then you go the second school, and then you have your exams, and then you have to go to, you know, and then there's this linear line, which you're expected to follow. That's the expectation. And that expectation, in my view, to serve to kind of shrink your
aspirations and your dreams. So then you start to think, within the box that you're expected to think within. And so I'm very sort of much focus now about trying not to let them get into that box, because I was in it for so long. And and many people are, and many people don't get out of it. But if you can have that expansive thought, and I mean, teacher training, again, I'm gonna keep coming back to it. It's definitely that it's expensive thought notions are thrown up where you're like,
wow, I never thought of that. I never even knew that happened. Why wasn't I told this at school? Why wasn't I told this by my parents, then you just start to sort of become more creative, more open to sort of the way that things can be not the way that things are.
Oh, my God, how do I respond to this? I couldn't agree with more. Again, I think, I think from the moment we started having these conversations, you and I have clicked and so aligned, and it's beautiful to see. I agree, because the conversation I've been trying to have with the people around me for so many years, it's like you have structure your entire life, until you graduate college, and then all of a sudden, you're out in the world on your own trying
to figure it out. And that's the exact words I used, maybe six, seven years ago, when I felt the same, like you have structure from the day you're born until you graduate college, and then you have to figure it out on your own. And then again, when you are into the workforce, and you're not aligned with what you're doing, and then you have to figure it out again. And it's so like, you need to do this, you know, who said, Who said that? This is how it's supposed to be you know what I'm saying?
It angers me a lot, because it's people put you in a box. And this is the box that you stay in your entire life. And if you especially in a society, like mine in Egypt, where it's a third world country, and I mean, we don't have a lot of that you're put in a box and you stay in the box. If you're born around money or born with money. If you're born Christian, you're born Christian. If you're born Muslim, you're born Muslim. And that defines your feet and your
destiny. And then the moment you decide that this is not defining my fate in my destiny, you'll become a rebel. And nobody wants to hear you. Nobody wants to talk to you. You're like this person who did that. What does my mother going to say? What is my father going to say? What are my cousin's gonna say? And it's super limiting. And it makes me very sad because you're Put in that you're already categorised. People know who your parents
are. They know what they do they know which college you've gone to, they know how much money you have, on average, obviously. And anything outside of that is just, whoa, what are you doing? And everybody's talking about you? And no, no, this is not how it's supposed to be because every person is born different. Regardless of which box they were placed in, they have should have the ability to find themselves. And like you said, people are born and they die in these boxes and people emerge
and take a different way. And I agree with you the teacher training I, I, if you were to ask me if everybody can take their 200 hour teacher training? Yeah, I would definitely tell them to absolutely go for it. And the the moments of clarity that I'm getting that I'm sorry, that I was getting, during these trainings, just sitting there dozing off, like, Oh, my God, I have no idea where this came from. But now it all makes
sense. Yeah. And I'll give you as I I don't know, if you remember me sharing, but I did share during the training, that every time my husband and I go on vacation, the first day, it was after Blair was was sharing about suppression in the city. And going out in nature and all of that and how that is? releases. Yeah, yep, exactly. And in that moment, hours, I, oh, my God, every time I leave the city to go with my husband on vacation, I get an emotional
release. The first day, I either cry, or get angry, or get frustrated, and I just release it all. And I don't understand what's happening. He doesn't understand what's happening. And now we do. Yeah, I do. And I explained it to him, obviously, because I own him. But at the same time, like, I'm sitting in a room with 14 other people, and this came up, you know, more people need to just delve deep
and moving and breathing. And all of that just emerges all of these emotions and feelings and patterns that have self awareness that we need to delve into. Yeah, that makes any sense.
Yeah, no, it makes perfect sense. Excuse me. And I think, when we're talking about the, the corporate world in particular, so much of what we've just been talking about is relevant. So when we talk about not taking the time to slow down, I mean, that's very much the case. I mean, it's always about more, so is about, just
keep pushing forward. You know, I mean, success isn't, isn't like you get there and you you've won, it's like, okay, but but more keep going keep going, you may have to do that keep going. And you then either you're off that personality where that works for you, or you feel you have to conform and sort of, I suppose go back to the box analogy, be in that box, because that's what you're expected to be in to be successful. And that's what then
affects you. And that suppression that you talked about is that, which is why people get sick, right? It's like, there's always that thing where you'd be working if you're working so hard. And then you'd be waiting for your your holiday or vacation to arrive, and you go on holiday first, every holiday you'd be sick. Because suddenly your body has time to breathe, and all of this comes out. So if you don't have the awareness of yourself, you can't
notice that that's happening. So the stress and everything that goes along with that just seems normal, because for everybody else, it's normally it's expected. It's just like you're working out, you're supposed to feel like that. But once you know yourself and you know your body in your mind, you can intuitively know when something is off, and what's causing that
as well. And so for me, that's if people could take that away from yoga, by yoga, whether it's a physical practice or meditation or anything else. That's, that's the key. I mean, that's what they need to do have that awareness. And then you can start to then figure out what you're doing. If that works for you. And if it doesn't work for you, okay, what are the alternatives?
Yeah, yeah, very much so. And yeah, you see people all over the world. I'm like, I'm suffering from this. I'm suffering from that. Like when was the last time you took time for yourself? When was the last time you exercised? When was the last time it doesn't even have to be about exercise or meditation or yoga. When was the last time you just sat down out of stress to ask the questions. What am I doing? Why am I doing? Yes. And I mean, I'm only almost 28. And people live entire lives
and decades of this. I'm so grateful that I'm here today to be able to talk about this and hopefully inspire their people with you along my side. And at the same time, just tell people that what they're feeling is valid, because I know, even if people don't talk about it, it's there. The stress, the mental exhaustion, the physical exhaustion that comes out, like, oh, why am I getting sick every
month? I kid you not Ryan, the days that I was not doing the things that I liked, and I was dragging myself to work or whatnot. I was getting sick. Two, three times a month, sometimes. Sometimes less, sometimes more, depending on the month, but it was projecting in my physical body. Way more than I actually anticipated. And I, what I used to do is good doctor, take these medications and fix it. But it never really got fixed.
Yeah. Doesn't get to the root cause, right?
Yeah. And the sad truth is, it's very hard to get to the root cause. Yeah. It's very hard. I mean, with the help of my family, I was able, okay, you're feeling like that, because you've been through a lot the last few months. No, yes. No, I'm like, I start to sort of question it. But then now that I have complete clarity, yeah. Every time I've been told, or every time I've been sick, I think back like, what is the root? Cause? What is
making me sick? And honestly, Ryan, since since I've been working from home and started the yoga teacher training, knock on wood, I have not been sick, like I've been before. I have not been able to say, Oh, I'm taking a sick day or I'm tired. Nothing. Yeah. I mean, if I want it on the days that I want to stay at home and do nothing, I'm just honouring how I feel. Yeah, that day. And I have, honestly, I now have the freedom to say, Okay, today is Monday. But I
don't want to do anything. If I want to lay in bed all day, or if I want to watch TV all day. Yeah, I am allowing myself to do that. Because I'm not doing nothing. Yeah, I am resting. And that's not nothing. Yeah, that's, that's very valuable. It's a very valuable thing to be doing, if that makes sense.
Yeah. And that's, I, it took me a while to, to accept that because there is that thing where, well, there's time here, and I should be doing something. And you should always move. But it's like, an if anyone is listening, who does any kind of sport or training or whatever, they always say the rest days, that's where that's where it happens. That's where you build the muscles, that's where your body gets stronger,
and it repairs itself. And if you don't allow it space to rest, it will just keep breaking itself down, breaking itself down until it just breaks and just doesn't do what you want it to do. And the same goes for the mind, it's a whole thing you have to allow that space to it's a sort of Ying Yang, where you kind of you power yourself, and then you kind of take a step back. You can't keep pushing yourself to that limit all the time, because it's just not sustainable.
And it's not normal. It's become the norm. Yeah, but it's not. It's not sustainable. It's not normal, nothing about it is. I mean, you see people who are like 30 years old, and they're like suffering from diseases that are unheard of at their age. And you come to the root cause is just stress. Yeah. Because, scientifically, cortisol when it's spread all over your body, that's what it does. Yeah, it causes disease,
it weakens everything out. It's like a it's a hormone like any other hormone, when you're you're feeling good when you're laughing when you're exercising, when you're meditating. That's giving back to the body and calming it down and, and healing it essentially. And then when you're stressed all the time. Yeah, it's taking away from all of that. Yeah, it's depleting you essentially. Yeah,
I mean, we're supposed to live in balance, right? So yeah, you have the ups and downs. But I've seen so so so many people and the times myself as well, where you're in that state, pretty much constantly you don't you're not even always aware of it either. But when you're sat staring at the screen for hours on end, or when you're kind of like stressing over an email or whether something you said was correct. All of that is contributing to the breakdown of
your yourself internally. And if you don't allow yourself that way. And that sort of come down to kind of bring yourself back into balance. It can only end one way. Yeah. So yeah, heavy stuff. But let's, let's go to something a little bit lighter in terms of yoga and yoga teachers. So as yoga teachers very much having to put ourselves out there, which for some people comes naturally and for others not the definitely didn't didn't for me.
Me neither.
So social media, Instagram in particular. It's, is it ever mindfield, and it takes a while to kind of figure out what you are and who you want to be and how you want to present yourself to the to the outside world. And know that you obviously you're now you're out there, you're teaching and you kind of done what I did and set up a separate account for you to go to try and sort of keep that that demarcation? Have you found
your your voice yet? Do you have a sense of how you want to be and how you want to present yourself to the world,
I mean, I'm doing my best to stay true to myself, because it gets very messy with the outside social world, and you want to you want more followers, but for me, it's just like, I want people that I will resonate with, don't whine, my follow list to be higher. I post when I feel and what's genuine to me, I don't post what looks good, and what might look good. It's all and I never post something that I was forced to do. Like, the days that some days, it's very hard to get on
the mat. Yeah. And it does not look graceful when you do that. And I don't post that. I post my genuine self, where, where all of this is coming, how it feels for me. And my identity. I have not still built within the yoga industry, or I wouldn't call it industry. But in the yoga world, yeah. I mean, I want to be a person to hold space for other people. That's all. I don't want to be the person in a beautiful pose on Instagram, I don't want to be the person that is intimidating other people.
Because sometimes looking at people in beautiful yoga poses is intimidating. Instead, I am working on my progress. And I am Yeah, posting a picture of a pose that doesn't look 100%. But I'm also explaining that it took me X amount of years or months to get here. I'm still not 100% there. But I'm working on it. And that's the roads. I mean, I'm already a yoga teacher. And the fact that I'm still working on all of these things, validates other people that Okay, we're not losing hope.
She's She's, she's a yoga teacher, but she's still working on this stuff, you know. And I don't want to portray myself or present myself in in a way that does not reflect who I am. Yeah, because a lot of the media is now unfortunately, lies and hoaxes and stuff like that I, I don't want to be that person. So I'm taking my time. I'm putting up the content when I feel passionate enough to put up the content. I tried to do it every day. But my heart was not into
it every day. And to honour myself and the people who follow me. I am not going to try to make it every day if it doesn't feel right. Yeah, that makes sense.
May it makes perfect sense. It's, it is a minefield, because you you teach yoga, or you something brings you to yoga. So we talked about healing before, or whatever it is kind of brings you to this thing and you discover the magic of it, and what it can do for you. And you may do your teacher training and come out of it with more questions and answers and sort of really inspire. And you just want to hold that space and teach people. But then you kind of have to start thinking about
what's my personal brand? And how am I going to position myself and when I get my photos and all this other stuff, which which kind of seems counterintuitive, but it's kind of necessary if you're going to get your message out there and help the people you want to help so you kind of have to do it. So then it's kind of finding the way to do it in a way that is true to you. As you said, as long as you stay true to yourself. There is no right or
wrong. But it's when you say when you think about photos, I need more photos, okay, what's This person's doing, they're doing that let me do what they're doing is safe that way, then you do start to lose yourself. And then you may as well be back in the corporate world. You losing yourself anyway. Right? Because you're Yeah, the difference I
or in a world where you're just not true to yourself and you're imitating someone else. And yeah, it's become so easy to look up so many yoga teachers and platforms and sequences, everything has become available at our fingertips. And in all of that, where are you? areas? Ryan? Where is Sara? Like, how do we? How do we come across as exactly who we are? And to be honest with you, most of my yoga classes are friends. And I love that because they keep coming back. Not because I
am Sara, their friend. Yeah. Because they could have come to class because Oh, she's, she's teaching a class. Let's support her. But I mean, three months later, yeah. Are they keep Why are they back? Yeah. If it wasn't, you know, affecting them in a way. Yeah, you were giving them something they needed, right? Yeah. And yeah, they're friends. But also there are a tonne who aren't and that's, that's a great accomplishment.
Yeah. No, it is certainly a great accomplishment. And I think that, also, if you do truly believe that Yoga is for everybody, which lots of people say, but if you do truly believe that, then it's incumbent upon you to share, let me share the journey, you know, me. So share, share that the good and bad, one
of a better term. You know, I mean, share, you said, yes, this might look like something that that you want to get to, but this is the work I had to do to get there and show that there is a consistency to it, there is a dedication to it, it doesn't just happen overnight, we people are just born that way. And so yeah, if people kind of put in the work, they, if, if that's what they want to get, then they
can get there. But I think also, in terms of the content that we're putting out, it's also showing that that's actually not the goal. You know, I mean, it's you can have your goals, and that's fine. But that's not the goal of the yoga as a whole. You know, it's a very small part of, of why is that you're doing and what you're trying to achieve.
Yeah, I mean, the goal is to the goal is to be there and hold space for people mentally, physically. And to be honest with you, Ryan, I've been working with people, especially prenatal, and the yoga students that are coming, approaching me on Instagram, wanting to book my zoom classes. I share my number. If you if you ever, a lot of people don't use it. But if you ever want anything, if you ever want to talk about something, if you ever need advice, I'm here
for you. I'm not just a yoga teacher, I'm here to hold space, in whatever capacity that that I can. I am not a doctor. I am. I'm not anything other than a yoga teacher. But if I can help you, or if you can call me or text me, and it will always be confidential. To ask me a few questions or pick my brains or whatnot. I always share my number. Whatapp me? FaceTime, call me, I will always make time. And that's not very
typical of yoga teachers. Yeah. Unfortunately, which should be the case, because we should be practising what we preach. And if I mean, Amber is like that, Amber, I can, I hope you're listening. I can text her or give her a call or show up to her class, and she will always be inviting. And that's what I want to. I want to carry this legacy on. Yeah, where? Yes, I am a yoga teacher. But I can I can be there for you. You know what I'm saying? I can I can hold your hand. We can get
through this. together. You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, no, I definitely do. And I think that the landscape of where we are now makes that easier. The fact that people are having to either teach on Zoom, or if you are teaching in person, you can only teach a small number of people because of the restrictions. So you're getting the intimacy that we probably didn't have before and you're having these sort of
huge mega classes. And from a teacher's point of view, yeah, it's funny because teachers always seemed like these sort of ethereal beings at the front of class. I mean, they they kind of walked in as before class started and they kind of lead you through the class. They probably did some of the poses that you'd look at and be like, What the hell are you doing? I'm never going to get there. And then class would finish and you'd leave you never really, they never it was sort of seemed
like real people. And there's interesting so as I get to know more yoga teachers, obviously be being one myself that I want to stand up in that I'm just a normal person. Yeah, I mean, I'm no different to you, I think through the training and maybe even practising longer or more consistently, but we I am no different. There's no reason why you couldn't do what I am doing. And there's no reason why you couldn't get the benefits of yoga just like I am getting.
Yeah. And there's no reason that you can't be better than I am. Yeah. As a student, by all means, if you see that you're like, Oh, my God. Yeah. And it's not intimidating. Yes. It's very empowering. To see students who are Yeah, you're better than me. Good. I mean, it's, there's nothing to be jealous of. There's nothing to be ashamed of, as a yoga teacher, if a student knows how to handstand and you don't, you know what I'm
saying? Yeah. And what I'm saying right now, is an alignment with what the yoga actually is. It's non harming, non stealing, truthfulness, and not hiding behind this yoga persona, per se. Like, I am who I am as a human. I am. Yeah, I'm a yoga teacher, because I've gone through my training, and I'm teaching yoga yet regularly and now full time. But I'm, I'm still human. Yeah.
I still have my feelings, you know. And good. I i've, and at the same time, as a yoga teacher, you're getting students who haven't done yoga before. They're like, Oh, I'm doing two classes a week in a row. And it feels amazing. If I wait until the following week, doesn't feel so good. What should I do? practice?
Yeah, I said, I said this to a few people recently is that it's better if you were to do 15 minutes every day, then sort of try and do a hardcore hour and a half hot yoga class once or twice a week. Because you don't get the benefits. And I used to be there, particularly with my job and not be able to get out where you'd want to go to class. And then you couldn't make you'd have to cancel. So it was like a
class here a class there. And you leave feeling good, but you don't really get the long term benefits. So consistency is, is very important.
It's key. I, I mean, and I don't want to sound like, Yes, we have to have a daily practice. But also, if you skip a day, yeah, or two days, or three days, because you don't feel like it. honour that. You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, and that's yoga as well, right?
Absolutely. There we go. It's honour, honour, you honour yourself, honour what you feel in that moment, sometimes you'll wake up and you, you'll have the energy to practice for two hours, sometimes you'll wake up and you won't have the energy to practice and you have to force yourself on the mat. Some days. You, you don't even want to get on the mat. And you do and you feel better. And some days, you're you just don't make
it. Yeah. And that's fine. As as a yoga teacher, and I'm sure you would, you would agree with me on that. It's okay. It's, you know, life is not linear as well, just like we can't go to the corporate world, and perform our jobs linearly, every single day. The days that you don't feel like moving, and you just sit down in meditation, or you sit down read a book, or you do something that is meditative for you. That's enough. Yeah, it's
good. That's good enough. As long as it makes you feel good, and that you've gotten your few minutes of mindfulness, whether it's practice through movement, or the breath, or just doing baking or doing something with your hands. And that's more than enough, some people. I mean, they take this and say, Oh, this is not yoga. But no, it's a way of life. Yeah, find yoga in whatever you do. However you do it. And then it'll just fall into place. It's not one way or the other, or this way or the
other. It's just, it's just the way it feels for you For you. Yeah, yeah. No, that's, that's just true.
Wow. So where do you see yoga taking you? Do you have sort of any ideas or any desires, ambitions wishes,
I mean, I is growing a little bit every day and I'm grateful for that. If it continues to grow in that read every single day impacting people who want to be impacted, who want to find someone like me, to guide them through their practice and to hold space for them, by all means I've I fulfilled my purpose, the goal is not to make zillions. Yeah. The goal is not to be someone who I'm not, the goal is to be
exactly who I am. And to attract the people who want to get to know me to resonate with me who want to who are curious, like, self inquiry to probably towards me or whatever. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's hard to answer that question. Because I cannot tell you that being a full time yoga teacher is the same every day, every day is very different. Every day, you're doing different things. You're teaching different classes, you're developing yourself in a
very different way, as well. And like we said, it's not linear. Yeah. So I just hope that I reach as many people out there that want to be reached, not by force, not by power, not by, you know, being in a specific box, like we agree, like we talked earlier, but just by finding a person they resonate with, they connect with. And that's it. That's my goal. Like to reach as many people as I can, who want
to be reached. Yeah. People who don't want to be reached, by all means, hats off, be who you are, continue to stay exactly where you are, if that makes you happy. And the yoga is not something you can, you can force. It's something that you either discover, or you don't. And that's completely fine. And if people come to one class, and they don't resonate, by all means, I will give them like, Oh, I like to do Ashtanga more. Sorry, I don't teach Ashtanga.
But here is a great, perfect, sorry, teacher that will will teach you. And I don't want that student for myself. Because I'm not a business. I don't want to acquire people. Yes, I want to teach people to be who they are, and connect with who they are. And if that means coming to classes three, four times, and they're off on their own connecting to who they are. I completely agree with that. I have no problem with that. Like, don't, if you don't resonate, and you've, you're off on your
own, stay there. continue from there, you don't have to come back. Yeah. And if they do come back, by all means, you know, it's thrilling for me to see people come back. But yeah, it's a business. But at the same time, we have to take the business component out of it. Because it's the business component is important. But at the same time, it's not what the yoga really is about. You just want to empower the people
around you. And if they get empowered, and they decide to do it on their own, by all means.
Yeah, and the thing is, the thing is that the, if the business is interfering with the reason you got into it, then you've got a problem. And as soon as we have had a discussion with somebody else already today is we if you start from a place of abundance, then you'll always be fine. Because you're, you're you're never going to be stuck, things will come back to you.
And that's what I've really liked through the journey I've gone on since even taking Instagram, social media, I've met so many amazing people just through social media, who've been really helpful and supportive to me, and I have to them without any expectation. And as long as you do that, you'll be fine. Because as you say, it's all about who
resonates with who. So if a student doesn't resonate with with me, and they want to do something else, like you said, you know, people who you can kind of say, well, maybe go see this person, they'll be really great for you. And that's kind of how it goes, it all goes around things will come to you as and when they need to come to
you. You don't need to hang on to things and grab onto things and people or possessions, as you said, and there is something quite nice about empowering somebody enough that instead of them coming to your class every day, they do feel that like they're confident enough that they can study themselves at home because that's where the
real inquiry happens. You know, when you're on the mat on your own and you're trying to do something, whether it's something new or whether it's just trying to get your warrior 2 right or your child's pose, right. You know, mean trying to kind of really feel your body. You can only really do that at home because you have the space and the time. You're not kind of Trying to follow up with everybody else. So, yeah, I think you just got to just just give and as long as you give,
you'll be fine. I see,
I don't know if you've seen my post several days ago about abundance versus the lack of abundance. And recently, I've been really intrigued by this topic, like, Where do I stand? Do I have abundance? Do I not have abundance, like, Where do I stand, but come to think about it just a few moments every day, to just pause, even meditation, even in your bed, it doesn't matter how you're sitting and where you're sitting, just to pause and realise that you have that abundance in your life. And that
you're able to give. So, so long as you can give, you know, like to the maximum that you can give, and somebody out there will resonate with you, you don't have to give like, you don't have to compare your abundance with anyone else, you you give as much as you can give. And that's enough. And so long as you focus on the abundance versus the lack of abundance. You're good to go.
You're good to go. Really, it's as simple as that, like, you look at other people like, Oh, it's such a nice dress, it's so expensive. Why can I get that you feel jealous? Or do you feel happy for that person? Do you feel like you want to be in an experience that is not truly you just to be to feel abundant? Or are you already abundant as you
are. And it's been a huge topic, and I my internal debate with myself has been that like abundance versus lack of abundance, I have to be grateful for everything that I have to date. And if I was in a shittier situation, I would have to be grateful for that as well. Because no matter what situation you're in, if you just pause to find the abundance in that situation, you're golden, you're really golden. And that's what
life is all about. Just being happy, and feeling the abundance with whatever you have going for you. As long as that is a decision you made on your own, it's a decision that you know you're pursuing. And not necessarily pursuing just just feeling the state of gratitude and happiness, exactly where you are annoying that exactly where you are, is exactly where you need to be. Not more, not less. If that happens to be more in the future, by all means good.
And that happened to be more in the past and less a bit is now you're growing in different ways. So I feel like the the world they're on this has put us on a on a realm of expectation that we have to have this job drive this car own this home, that we're not grateful for what we have, and we don't feel abundant with actually what we have. And we are always seeking more. But the more we seek, the more we feel lack of abundance. And it's just a vicious cycle. It keeps going on and on and on.
What are your thoughts on that?
Yeah, I completely agree. It's the it's, like I said earlier, it's that constant striving for more, like when is enough enough, because it's like, if you imagine winning a race and you get to the finish line, you're done, right? And then you kind of you call down you stretch, you go off you go and live the rest of your life. But there isn't that in, in that sort of in the current world
that we're living in. Because if you get to what you think is the finish line, it's a case of Oh, well, okay, you you've got there quicker than we thought you would, that's great. But keep going like there's more to be had, like you've got to keep and when does it stop, and when you satisfied. And if you're not, then you can never then be happy. Because you're always going to want more than what you have. Because there always be somebody who has more than what
you have. And if you always want what they have, then you can never be satisfied. So gratitude is important. I mean, be grateful said for what you've got, and you might not have everything but you have something so find the something that you've got. And it doesn't mean that you can't be unhappy about things at times, it doesn't mean that you're not going to be in bad moods doesn't mean that you're always going to be dancing around and happy. It just means that you take the
time to notice. Okay, I have this and I'm grateful for that and I'm grateful for this and I found out. My gratitude practice, but so it's not something I do every day.
Not to cut you off but haven't we all? I mean, it's reality yeah all fall out of it. And it's a matter of bringing yourself back.
Yeah. It's the awareness, it goes back to the awareness, right? It's like everything. It's like, if you're not practising every day yoga, or you're not practising a meditation or whatever, it's fine, it's being aware, it's being aware of why you're not doing it. And sort of giving yourself the space because you will come back to it when you need to. But I think what the problem is, with it with a lot of the way that we live is, a lot of things are done without that consciousness without that
intentionality. So we just kind of sleepwalking through and we're not taking care of our health, where we're not thankful for what we've got, we always striving for more, without really knowing why we're doing that. You know, it's just because we've been told we need to strive for more, so therefore
you do more. But if you actually take a step back, and going back to where we started very self inquiry, and being aware of yourself, and then being aware of things externally and start to question externally, then it's like, this doesn't actually make any sense. Why am I doing this? Why do I need to go down
that route. And I'm hoping for some of the conversations I've had with people throughout this year that people who have said that they're now looking at things differently now that they don't have the long commutes, they're not always on the plane, they do have more time at home with their family, they have seen them as a different way of living, whether those people can carry that through, and whether we do now see a shift going forward, or whether it's just a blip on the horizon, I really
hope it's a real shift. but only time will tell.
I feel like it could be a real shift. Just because this is completely unprecedented. And we've been I think SARS has showed us while I wasn't really aware during SARS, but like, it has showed the world that, you know, life goes on even after a huge pandemic. And this is what we're going through today. Everybody's been able to work from home, everybody's been able to do exactly what they need to do. I mean, with with the exception of a few industries, but I would say majority of the people have
managed a way around it. And if only employers in the corporate world would understand that. Okay, let's honour the shift. And instead of going back to square one, let's see how we can mitigate a middle ground, you know,
yep, we can but hope many of us are hoping for that. Just Just to make things better for for individuals and for the world generally. So have you obviously, one of the things on the podcast, it's about helping people figure out if what they're doing is what they want to do, where they're heading, what their purpose is, and if they're on the path towards that? Do you know your purpose? Have you found it?
I mean, I cannot say I, I do know it 100%. But I have to say that I am one step ahead of where I was. And I am I know I'm working towards it. Don't know exactly how it's gonna turn out and what that's going to be between the yoga, the prenatal, the postpartum women's health. And all of that is intriguing me. So I have yet to pinpoint exactly where that is. I'm doing all of it with a lot of love, and a lot of passion. But narrowing it down. has yet to
come in my horizon. It's I would say still early, just because it's been only a few months. Yeah. But I'm grateful to be here. Because I believe this is step one of where I need to be. And step one from something that I don't want to be. You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, and exactly saying it's all about sort of micro steps. It's about taking a step. I mean, one step every day. And, yeah, the purpose question is a big question. And, yeah, not everyone knows what their purpose is. And that's fine. But once you're starting to at least have those thoughts, then you're already on the right path. Because a lot of people don't think about that. It's just you knowing, okay, this is what I do. And you just kind of keep going day by day, day by
day, day by day. But if you start to question, okay, what what am I doing, I need more meaning in my life, I need something, then at least you start to search and once you start to search, you then you're then taken off in a different direction. And so that's all that really needs to happen is for you to get to a position where you start to question that You start to search, and then you start to explore the areas that you're searching. And then
you'll find it. And what it might be one day may slightly change the other day. But it's unlikely or deviate. Because once your values are in check, then that that will kind of lead you in the direction where you feel you need to go. So, I mean, for you, obviously, there's a strong feeling of wanting to help people, we wanted to help people sort of navigate their lives sort of feel good in their bodies. That's a purpose. I
mean, it's it's broad. And yes, you could sort of narrow it down, but at least you know, okay, that's ultimately what I want to do. Let me figure out the steps together.
And I always, ever since I was in college, and out of college into the corporate world, I was asking myself, like, what am I doing? What is this job doing to me, other than depleting me and giving me a paycheck? And essentially, that's good in a way, and some people like that. But at the end of the day, like, what is the purpose? If I leave tomorrow, if I get sick, or if I get hospitalised, what does this entity mean? To me? Yeah. What
do I mean to them? what's what's the point of doing all this? Yeah. What am I doing? Yeah, so question self inquiry. And, yeah, I mean, I definitely know that I made a huge step to start working towards my purpose. But at the same time, I have I mean, to help people, absolutely. how, when, where I'm still figuring that along the way, and I feel like every single person who has their purpose and check still has these, you know, I hope I'm helping people. But when, how,
where comes along the way? Even if they've been doing it for years? And no, they've been helping people for years. If, if you're really living by your purpose, there's a humbling aspect of it. Yeah, that turns out an area of you that's like, okay, I did help people, or I hope I'm helping people. But I, I'm not satisfied. I want to do more. Yeah. And that's when you know, you want to keep you're doing what you you're born to do. Yeah. And you want to keep
going in that direction. To keep improving it to keep impacting humans more and more and more, and you're never satisfied as to how many or, or where you've reached, just because there's always an area or a group of people or a part of the world that you haven't reached, and haven't heard any of the stuff that we're talking about. And it's honestly, Ryan, it's been incredible these last few months, just because I'm learning things I've never heard
before. And I still don't know how to process it, whether to be angry that I haven't learned this before in my life when I was a kid, or whether to embrace it and be hopeful. I mean, I definitely feel a little bit of both. Yeah, but I can't pinpoint which one I feel more of. Because, like, Why Why am I just learning this? You know?
Yeah, I feel that a lot, particularly since I'm teach training. And as I do my reading of my own sort of inquiry, myself, it's a Yeah, there's a vast, vast wealth of knowledge out there, which are things that are quite important to know. And yeah, we weren't taught we were taught them and we just didn't know them. But we know them now. So I guess we've got to be thankful that we're that position where release finding them out now. And we can help to sort of pass them on as well to sort of people
absolutely. And I believe that and in that entirely to the knowledge you gain is priceless. Just pass it on to whoever and whatever will listen to you. Yeah. And it's so incredible, because there will be people who want to listen, and there will be people who are going to be like, What are you talking about? I don't want to listen to that. And what is it that we're learning if we're not willing to pass on? it defeats the whole purpose. It's, it's why we were created like, first
century Yeah. Somebody was taught something, pass it along, pass it along, pass it along, somewhere it deviated in to this crazy world that we live in now, which I'm also grateful for it because I don't think you and I would have been here if it wasn't for this. Yeah. Madness. Exactly. Yeah, exactly.
It goes back to the reframing and and gratitude as well. Be thankful for, for where we are. Okay, so as a covert escapee what three tips would you give to listeners who are trying to figure out what they're doing where they want to go?
three tips. First of all, because a lot of people are not looking there, listen to your body, your body speaks wonders, it will tell you everything you need to know. And honour that. Listen to your body, and honour what the body tells you. And after that, you're golden. The third tip is whatever the communication is that comes out of that. Do not just scrunch it in a piece of paper and throw it away. Yeah, the mind body connection is
incredible. And a lot of what happens, the body stores and if the mind can process it, the body will speak it out in a way, one way or another, it will come out. If it's a little eczema on or anything, it is anything at all, the body will start to speak. So if you're in the corporate world, and you feel stressed, and your body starts to tell you, okay, it's time to
make a change on it. Find something mindful, find something that you love, find something that you're passionate and always, always, always have something outside of the corporate world to be passionate about that. You could fall back on, essentially, I can't say I really fell back onto yoga, because it's always been a part of me the last five to six years, I in a way I definitely didn't. But at the same time, find something outside of your work that really identifies who you are to you,
and pursue that. Nothing against the corporate world, if you're all about it, do it. And if these aspects, if your body is speaking to you, if something doesn't feel right, then explore these options. Listen to your body. Find something outside of that, that makes you who you are.
Sound words? Yeah, I call you with a with any of that. So and I think that the something you said there is it's worth reiterating, is that it's not about necessarily dumbing down the put the corporate world or saying everyone should get out now or they can't. It's just about being intentional in what you're doing and being being in what you're doing. Because she wants to be there and knowing
why you're there. Because for a lot of people and me included when I was there, you don't you you think you do when you get in. And then some way you just kind of lose your way and you know me or gets a bit murky. So it's just about being intentional, and letting your intention guide you and not just be sort of dragged along by expectation or limitations or or anything else.
Yeah. And listening to your body is really tuning into your intuition and the intention, what is what does this mean to you? Is this what you want to do and start questioning? Like, what Who am I? What am I brought here to do? What am I supposed to do? And what is it that I'm doing that is serving me? And what is it that I'm doing? That's not serving me and vice versa? It's it's easy to say, but it's so hard to execute. So and it may take years, months, even
minutes. Hopefully, this podcast, somebody listens to it and has a sudden shift. But I'm also aware that a lot of people won't. And it will take them years and years and years to figure it out. Or maybe one year or months. And that's that's okay, that's completely acceptable as long as you end up exactly where you need to be in how, where you belong, where you feel you belong, not where anyone else tells you. You belong. Yeah.
Exactly. Um, great. So we're going to a few quickfire questions before we come to the end of what's been a deep and very interesting chat as always, and I mean, as you said, we could stay here for a lot longer, but I'm sure I'm sure there'll be a part two at some point. So let's let's just dive into a few quickfire questions? So, first thing was one piece of advice you would give to your corporate self, and your maybe what you've already said, but is there anything else you can think of?
I mean, I don't know where to begin. And I don't think Ryan, there's one piece of advice I would give, because it's always a combination of experiences and trials and errors. And there is no one size fits all. I definitely wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my corporate experience. So I'm not denying that whatsoever. I appreciate it for all that it's done for me. But I also appreciate realising what didn't serve me there, if that makes sense. So there's not one thing I can put my finger
on. And there's one thing I can say is that I mean, everyone is very different. Yeah. And I mean, I wish I had one, a one word answer or one sentence to give other than what I've said, just just tune into you, outside of everything, and anyone else around you. What do you need? What do you feel? What is your emotional life? Like? How do you? How do you tap into that to figure out who you are? It doesn't matter how it could be a variety of things, a variety of steps and a variety of or many,
many years. But what is it that defines you? And how do you work towards that? Okay. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, that's that's an answer. I mean, yeah, that definitely, yeah. I can imagine my younger cop itself sort of standing there a little bit dazed. But now it makes perfect sense. It definitely makes perfect sense to me now. What's next? What's your best or most worthwhile investment of the last five years?
Oh, wow. What type of investment?
Anything, anything you've spent money on, which you think,
oh, that was financial? Yeah. That's hard. I mean, one of them would definitely be my teacher training. That's what I
that's what I thought you would say
Most expensive price that I've seen in the last in my entire life, actually,
most expensive and most transformative, right?
I mean, I, the amount of money I put into that is way less than what I got out of it. So it's worth I wouldn't say it's worth every penny because it is Yeah. and beyond. And the second best thing would be my travels since I moved to Singapore, because not because oh, I went there and had fun. But because they they grew me. They've broadened me. They they led me to who I am, in a way. Yeah. Cool. Sounds good.
Do you have a quote that you refer to often or that you try to live by?
I struggle with labels a little. And with, I mean, not necessarily a quote, but you know, just few words. Yeah, we'll just have to just be who you are. Yeah, be who you are. It's as simple as that I could have come up with a fancy quote that I was.
Sometimes the best,
the best choice but being who you are, and just taking a moment to reflect inwards, to tap into your intuition and where you need to go for you above anybody else. Because once you once you do that everything else falls into place. And I I'm from that school, like when you're a better person, everything around you. becomes better. Yeah. Okay. Not really a cool, but no,
no, be who you are. That's that's a quote. I mean, that's perfect. It's authenticity is is is important. And for a lot of us, we can lose that at times without even realising it. So, nope, be who you are. I will definitely, definitely take that on. Practice, lead or self lead.
What do you mean?
So do you prefer self practice at home or do you prefer to be led in the class
a little bit of both I I like to find the balance in that because myself practice is definitely beautiful. But I wouldn't be here or I wouldn't be who I am without my teachers. So it's important to have that balance because it's never one thing or the other. It's always, always about Yeah. Self practice for every yoga teacher is key. Agree. And it works wonders, you get to discover what you want to discover, no, no what anybody else, projects on you in a class
or whatever. But at the same time, it's nice to have that once in a while when you go into a class. I feel like my presence super arises in these moments, because I don't have to think I just listened. And actually, in a way, they heighten my listening, being present skills. So yeah, I would say a little bit of both. I wouldn't say 50/50. I would say more self practice, but, I mean, who are we without our teachers? Exactly.
teachings, you know. Exactly. Yeah. And and having that that sort of new viewpoint inspiration and new ways of doing things. So yeah, I think they're both important. And, yeah, it depends on the day as to which I prefer. At the moment, I'm craving a craving led practice, because it's so hard to get into a studio. But yeah. In class music, no music.
Um, for me, it depends. Sometimes I'll play music, and sometimes I won't. If I have a lot to give in terms of theory and philosophy, I will play this music, but if I am I wouldn't say less. I don't know how to describe it. Sometimes. The music helps the students. And I, I would after I've spoken and give my two cents of philosophy in theory. So also, balance,
balance, indeed.
Whatever feels right.
Okay dream retreat destination?
moments of silence.
There's a whole wide world out there.
I mean, Bali is the cliche, but definitely Bali. And I haven't been to a retreat in Egypt. And they've are incredible. You have retreats in the desert, you have retreats in like faraway home somewhere by the beach and stuff like that. So definitely my home country to begin with. Bali would be next just because I've been to Bali so many times, but never on a yoga retreat. And I really resonate with the with Bali and I would definitely retreat
there. Yeah. Sri Lanka, India, and the list goes on the world
A world retreat. And, you know, we've had quite a deep philosophical, beautiful conversation, so let's end it on a superficial note. Relatively speaking. Alo or Lululemon.
Oh, no. Um, you're gonna have me pick. Can I tell you about as well? I mean, I have both. I have both. I as a woman, I enjoy Lulu. Lululemon's, leggings, and Alo's, brasmix and match a bit of a mix. The other leggings. Not too much. Okay. There's a few shorts that I really enjoy. But mostly Lulu's leggings, especially the Align. Line.
Okay. And Alo's bras. Okay. Interesting. We'll see, I'll be, I'll be asking that. So a few yoga teachers as we we go through the show. So be interesting to see what the what the count is. Because we come to the end.
Yeah, but there's also a lot more,
there are a lot more than just the chip. So I thought and I own things from both. So I just thought I'd throw those two. But no, there are definitely there are definitely other a yoga apparel companies that you can frequent. So yeah, they just stick with those to say so to close out what we got going on anything coming up soon. Or tell us about your classes that you're teaching?
Well, I'm teaching classes throughout the week on zoom. So you can follow My Instagram at Sarah Sa ra. s ri ad So Sarah s RI and, and you'll find my schedule on there. I do have an upcoming optimising pregnancy through yoga, on to workshop, which is the round one went very well. And we're launching around to, and in the pipeline, there's a beginner's yoga programme, and soon to be recorded online classes.
Exciting it's always great speaking, because people always have these things going on the background is quite nice to kind of hear everyone's doing, how creative they're being and what's going on. So great. So well, we look forward to seeing more from you. Definitely. Both on Instagram and hopefully at some point teaching in real life, you know, what people used to do in the old days. But thanks for joining me here in the den. It's been
great. There's definitely a lot more we could talk about, and I'm sure we will both off mic now and, and maybe in a future episode as well.
Absolutely. It would be my pleasure. And thank you for having me. It's been incredible.
Thanks, Sarah.
Thank you.
Thanks again for tuning in to this week's episode of The Yoga Den Podcast. If you liked the show, hit subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple podcasts. This really helps to get the show out to others, and let's me know to keep creating new episodes. If there's anyone you'd like to hear on the show, or you'd like to come into The Yoga Den yourself. drop me a line on Instagram @theyogaden_podcast and
@ryanspenceyoga. And if you want to find out more about me, what I do and what I'm up to, check out the website ryanspenceyoga.com. For now, eat plants, give thanks, do yoga. Peace!