While Alec has started reaching more people with podcasts and videos, he’s still struggling with getting people to schedule strategy sessions with him. Cate quickly identifies that Alec isn’t using his public yoga classes to their full potential, which is probably the case for a lot of yoga teachers who are also yoga health coaches. We look for new leads before we effectively mine the ones who are right in front of us on a weekly basis. The easiest way for yoga teachers to more effectively draw people into strategy sessions is by theming yoga classes with the habits of ayurveda. Move your yoga students through a curriculum week by week that relates to the habits you teach as a yoga health coach.

Use a scarcity mindset and offer free strategy sessions related to your curriculum to the first 3 people who schedule with you after class. Specificity, scarcity, and value are key!

What you’ll get out of tuning in:

• How yoga teachers can use their public yoga classes to generate interest in strategy sessions.
• Why subbing other people’s yoga classes is an outstanding opportunity for yoga health coaches.
• How to use specificity, scarcity, and value to fill your courses!

Links Mentioned in the Episode:

• Body Thrive
• Yoga Health Coaching
• Living Ayurveda

Show Highlights:

• 0:00 – Alec has started reaching more people with podcasts and videos, and he wants to know how to get more of those people to schedule strategy sessions with him. Cate quickly identifies that Alec can use his public yoga classes to more effectively draw people into strategy sessions by theming his classes with the habits of ayurveda.
• 13:00 – We have to help people connect the dots between their health concerns and what we’re offering through yoga health coaching. Once we’ve exhausted the potential of the people who are in front of us on a weekly basis, we can start to look at secondary sources: the people who know the people who we know. Ask for referrals!
• 19:50 – Once we’ve identified our target audience, we can get really specific about who we’re offering sessions to: for example, people who are constipated. Plan the theme of your yoga class to coordinate with the theme of your strategy sessions and ask your yoga students to refer people to you. Offer incentives for referrals.
• 22:22 – The wellness market is moving toward guided evolution, and that’s what yoga health coaches do! Point out the value of a strategy session. Move your yoga students through a curriculum week by week that relates to the habits of Body Thrive. Use a scarcity mindset and offer free strategy sessions related to your curriculum to the first 3 people who schedule with you after class. Specificity, scarcity, and value are key.
• 31:45 – Cate also suggests offering yoga classes only to your annual pass members or offering your annual pass members benefits that aren’t available to students who only attend your public yoga classes. In this way, you build interest in your annual pass and perhaps end up with people on a waitlist to join your course. Invoke curiosity.
• 33:25 – Subbing other people’s yoga classes is another easy way to generate leads. Start with an introduction that tells the students what you do in your habits course: “I help people . . . .“

Your Favorite Quotes:

• “If someone is coming to you to feel better in their body, and they’re overweight and they have an autoimmune issue and they’re eating their main meal of the day past 6 pm, I don’t care what you do in your yoga classroom, you cannot help them until you address that as a habit.” — Cate Stillman
• “This is where the market’s going too, is to guided evolution. . . . That’s what we do! We do guided experiences.” — Cate Stillman

Guest BIO:

Alec Hurley is a yoga teacher in the San Diego area and a life long surfer. He is the founder of Higher Self Wellness and an avid practitioner of ancient wisdom and spiritual practices which he infuses into his public yoga classes and group program “The Art of Connection”. He is professionally trained as a Chef and incorporates the ancient wisdom of “food as medicine” into his culinary creations. Currently enrolled in the Yoga Health Coaching program, Alec is adding the practices of personal and planetary alignment into his modern healthy lifestyle toolkit to help shift the collective into deeper states of connection.

You can download a Free guided meditation here to get a deeper sense of what he is all about.

Amarylis is a prenatal yoga teacher who was looking for a way to continue to work with her students after they delivered their babies and support them in the early years of motherhood. After watching Cate’s work for a couple of years, and with a passion for ayurveda, Amarylis took the plunge into Yoga Health Coaching, despite her doubts about whether or not she could afford the cost of the program.

Amarylis enrolled in YHC during a time of huge transition. Her marriage was dissolving, She didn’t have much of an income from her yoga teaching or her work with nonprofit organizations, and she knew she would have to figure out how to support herself and her daughter. She was done with the scarcity mindset and knew she wanted to make more money.

Amarlyis has enrolled nine members in her YHC pilot, and she has paid off her tuition. She knew she could serve others in a bigger way; she just wasn’t sure how to do it. Yoga health coaching is that way. Amarylis did the work and trusted that her members would show up, and they did. She has learned that the investment of money translates into an investment in yourself.

What you’ll get out of tuning in:

• Why investing in Yoga Health Coaching sometimes involves a change in mindset about “spending” money.
• How Yoga Health Coaching is just the right combination of growth mindset and solid business practices.
• Why sometimes the only obstacle you really need to overcome is your mindset.

Links Mentioned in the Episode:

• Catch Yogahealer Black Friday Sweet Deal-EXTENDED!
• Yoga Health Coaching
• Amarylis’s website

Show Highlights:

• 0:00 – Amarylis is getting ready to launch her pilot coaching group. As a prenatal yoga teacher, she was looking for a way to continue to work with her students after they delivered their babies and support them in the early years of motherhood. After watching Cate’s work for a couple of years, and with a passion for ayurveda, Amarylis took the plunge into Yoga Health Coaching, despite her doubts about whether or not she could afford the cost of the program.
• 6:08 – Amarylis enrolled in YHC during a time of huge transition. Her marriage was dissolving, She didn’t have much of an income from her yoga teaching or her work with nonprofit organizations, and she knew she would have to figure out how to support herself and her daughter. She was done with the scarcity mindset and knew she wanted to make more money.
• 9:40 – Amarlyis has enrolled nine members in her YHC pilot, and she has paid off her tuition. She was enrolled in Living Ayurveda at the same time and was able to schedule her pilot during a time that made sense for her.
• 13:40 – Amarylis has learned that the investment of money translates into an investment in yourself. The power of yoga health coaching lies in the support and accountability of your group.
• 15:25 – Yoga Health Coaching is just the right combination of growth mindset and solid business practices. Amarylis knew she could serve others in a bigger way; she just wasn’t sure how to do it. Yoga health coaching is that way. Amarylis did the work and trusted that her members would show up, and they did.

Your Favorite Quotes:

• “I finally had a conversation with Grace. And I was like, ‘Yes, sign up!.’ And I remember distinctly telling her, ‘I’m signing up for this, but I want you to know that I am terrified.’ And she was like, ‘Good! You’re in the right place!’” — Amarylis Fernandez
• “I just decided that I need to make more [money]. Not just that I need to make more, but I want to make more. And I believe that I can make more; I just don’t know how. And I’m going to find those people who do know how . . . . I’m going to start surrounding myself with those people who do have that same mindset.” — Amarylis Fernandez
• “It feels so good. And it feels so fulfilling. And it’s creating a model for the people who you want to serve. And creating a structure that makes it available for them. . . . There’s just so much power in the structure of Yoga Health Coaching.” — Carly Banks
• “I knew that I needed the structure and the step-by-step model that Cate has laid out for Yoga Health Coaching so that every single week I know exactly what I need to be working on.” — Amarylis Fernandez
• “It’s very empowering when you get to step into your own dharma and your way of serving in the world.” — Amarylis Fernandez

Guest BIO:

Amarylis Fernandez is a yoga teach, a yoga health coach in training, and a mother. Not so long ago, Amarylis was totally frazzled, ungrounded, and desperate for change. And she realized things wouldn’t change until she did. So she did.

Now, Amarylis is on a path to guide women into vibrant living amidst the beautiful chaos children can bring. She spent a transformative month living at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health getting my 200 hour yoga teacher certification. She earned her 85 hour pre/postnatal certificate through the Bhaktishop in Portland, Oregon. She’s trained more than 200 hours in Ayurveda with Cate Stillman of Yoga Healer, and specialized in Ayurveda for pregnant mamas and new mothers through Sacred Window’s Ayurvedic Doula programs.

Amarylis believes the transition into motherhood is a wild and wondrous ride that can be aided by yoga in all forms: postures, breath work, meditation, mantra, and help from your tiny guru(s)! She also knows the potent life transformations that occur when the wisdom of Ayurveda is incorporated into daily rhythms. Connect with Amarylis on her FB page and get more info on Amarylis’s website.

As a yoga health coach in training, the last year has been very intense for Tracey. She started Body Thrive in 2017 feeling pretty depleted. She went to the Yogahealer retreat in March 2018 during a time of introspection, knowing that the changes she was experiencing in Body Thrive and YHC meant that she needed to let go of some things in her life that no longer aligned with her identity. What happened during and after the retreat amounted to a deep dive into long-held beliefs, doubts, and shadow issues.

Tracey’s transformation culminated when she was ready to fill her pilot program. She filled 10 spots in one week! She attributes her success to living the habits of Body Thrive.

What Tracey and many other yoga health coaches have found is that Yoga Health Coaching is so much more than a business course. Because we go through the program we are learning to teach, our own personal growth is exponential. If you think YHC might be for you, your first step is talking to Grace.

What you’ll get out of tuning in:

• How personal growth leads to professional success.
• How Yoga Health Coaching evolves our identities.
• How the service provided by yoga health coaches is far more valuable than any “quick fix.”

Links Mentioned in the Episode:

• Yogahealer Shop
• Catch Yogahealer Black Friday Sweet Deal
• Why it’s Better to Gift Experiences to Evolve
• Yoga Health Coaching

Show Highlights:

• 2:48 – As a yoga health coach in training, the last year has been very intense for Tracey. She started Body Thrive in 2017 feeling pretty depleted. She went to the Yogahealer retreat in March 2018 during a time of introspection, knowing that the changes she was experiencing in Body Thrive and YHC meant that she needed to let go of some things in her life that no longer aligned with her identity. What happened during and after the retreat amounted to a deep dive into long-held beliefs, doubts, and shadow issues.
• 9:30 – Tracey’s transformation culminated when she was ready to fill her pilot program. She filled 10 spots in one week! She attributes her success to living the habits of Body Thrive.
• 14:35 – Yoga health coaching is service. You’re not selling a product. You’re guiding others through a process that facilitates self discovery. Sometimes that can be a hard sell. Not everyone is willing to step outside their comfort zone and put in the work.
• 18:00 – When it comes to the Yoga Health Coaching course, taking the long view is extremely important. Knowing we don’t have to do everything at once or know exactly how things will work out is calming and liberating and allows for our own personal growth. If you think YHC might be for you, your first step is talking to Grace.

Your Favorite Quotes:

• “This process of doing the work . . . you have to do the work; you have to look inside; you have to peel back your layers. And it hurts, and it’s hard . . . but the depth is so beautiful! And what you can uncover, and how you can grow from being in that depth is something that I never could have expected.” — Carly Banks
• “It [yoga health coaching] is service. And it’s service in the most clean way. You’re not buying anything. . . . There’s no quick fix. It’s not easy. You’re creating practices and it’s a process.” — Tracey Thiele
• “I signed up for a program that would help me build a business. What I got was a program that changed my personal life.” — Carly Banks

Prior to YHC, Rachel was working at a job that showcased many of her innate skills: organization, structure, opportunities to speak and to lead. She also owned a brick and mortar yoga studio. She excelled in both businesses, but something wasn’t right. Rachel was working 60+hours a week.

Following the birth of her son, it became obvious that her work schedule would not foster the connection she wanted to build between them. This was the spark… the moment where she accepted something needed to change. She took the leap and enrolled in Yoga Health Coaching.

In this interview, Rachel is super honest about how her mindset can stop her from moving forward. It almost always comes down to fear. But in this community we get comfortable with our fears. We play the edges of them, and seek new truths so we can overcome them.

Three years into her YHC career, Rachel is now making the same income she was while working 60 hours a week, except now she only works 20-25 hours a week. Same money. A THIRD of the hours. Doing work that really fills her up on her own terms. And the flexibility to be with her family whenever she sees fit.

What you’ll get out of tuning in:

• How our fears keep us in our comfort zones.
• How YHC provides the structures and systems we need to be successful.
• How YHC is a platform for both personal and professional growth.

Links Mentioned in the Episode:

• Yogahealer Shop
• Catch Yogahealer Black Friday Sweet Deal
• Body Thrive
• Yoga Health Coaching

 

Show Highlights:

• 0:00 – As moms, sometimes it’s hard to define what a good work/life balance is. For almost 20 years, Rachel worked as a liaison between land management agencies and a local college. She often put in over 40 hours per week. She also owned a yoga studio and taught 8-10 classes per week. After the birth of her son, her heart wasn’t in her work anymore, and she found herself talking more and more about yoga and health.
• 6:50 – Becoming a parent changes your priorities. Even when you’re really good at your job, you might start to wonder whether it still suits your identity and whether it’s in line with your dharma. Rachel realized that in order to do the work she really wanted to do, she had to step out from behind the desk.
• 10:50 – Many of us have been taught that we need a job with a “benefits package.” For Rachel, it was hard to break away from that mindset . . . until she realized that the benefits package wasn’t benefitting her. So she started making a list of all the things that were holding her back, and she began to realize that most of it was fear.
• 16:20 – Identity evolution is an ongoing process. Even after we make a big leap, there is always more work to do; there’s always a next step in our evolution. The 10 habits of Body Thrive help us ease through those transitions.
• 18:20 – Rachel was part of the first group of yoga health coaches. She recalls sitting down with Cate for a strategy session and making a plan. It took Rachel another two and a half years to leave her desk job. But she “followed the breadcrumbs” and put in the work. She no longer works a desk job. She no longer owns a yoga studio. She works between 20 and 25 hours per week and this year her income will be what it was when she left her 40+ hours a week desk job.
• 21:40 – When we learn and practice the habits of Body Thrive, when we do the work in YHC, we start to get really clear on what matters most. We experience personal and professional growth simultaneously.

Your Favorite Quotes:

• “The work that I’d been doing so long . . . became the thing that I hid behind.” — Rachel Peters
• “I still am working on really believing in myself and that I can do this. And that I really can help people.” — Rachel Peters
• “You create new patterns in your thoughts by repeating the new truths to yourself.” — Carly Banks
• “Which one feels better? Fly the desk, or like . . . fly?” — Carly Banks
• “One of the beautiful things of YHC is to learn the steps, that it’s a system and it works.” — Rachel Peters

Guest BIO:

Rachel’s – As a Certified Yoga Health Coach and the Founder of Embody Ease and the Easeful Living Community, Rachel leads women on a yearlong journey to dissolve perfectionism and embody daily habits that promote clarity, ease, and inner connection. She is a wife, mom, and lover of wild places and contributes to her local community as a yoga teacher and teacher trainer in Prescott, AZ she also serves as the leader of the Coaching Team at Yogahealer. Check her website and facebook page.

Does your coaching beg the question? And the next question? If you are concerned that you just don’t know enough about Ayurveda or health or life or fill-in-the-blank to coach, I have a question for you. What do you think it takes to be effective at coaching?

We live in the information age. People almost always already know what they need to do. If you have ever tried to give the average person advice, then you understand the futility of adding to the already neglected pile of information. What people need is to be invited into an epiphany of their own. As a coach, you can facilitate this by asking the next, best question. Repeatedly.

In fact, I challenge you to only ask questions and refrain from giving advice. Offer 5 (be willing to do 10!), 15-minute sessions (about any area of life) where you practice the art of listening so that you can ask better and better questions. Questions so direct that they pry open the heart of your clients and allow them to be seen in a way that is profound. It is rare that people have deep, meaningful conversations about their own life. It is even more rare that they have an unbiased, inquisitive ear listening for the words beneath their words. Words that want out but may never have been spoken before.

When you hear a lilt in their voice or a clip in their cadence, that is the indication that the conversation wants to turn in a different direction. This is where you can choose to be bold. Summon your courage to allow the conversation to takes its course without your direction. The shakti is palpable at these points in the conversation and She wants to be heard. Listen. Ask about what you just heard, “I heard your voice change, what is that about?”.

There will be a temptation to guess or direct what comes next. Resist the temptation to lead. Continue to dance, with the shakti in the lead, as you breathe deeply, listen broadly, and remain curious. Keep your body relaxed. If an idea pops into your head about what to ask next, go with it. Even if it seems unrelated. You do this work because you care, not because you’re an expert, and your care is rooted in the wisdom of love. Let love lead.

You have probably heard of the idea that our reality is a reflection of our beliefs. What a conversation heavy with questions does is anchor the container of intimate conversation so that our beliefs about ourselves can be exposed to the fresh air of inquiry. And whatever doesn’t stand up to that inquiry is seen for what it is – limiting, and usually false, belief. Use the following questions (inspired by The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier) if you need something to grab onto but I encourage you to preference your intuition:

• When did this first become an issue for you?
• What do you really want?
• What’s stopping you?
• If you don’t get on the other side of this, what will it look like in 2, 5, 10 years?
• If X were solved, what would change for you?
• What’s the real challenge for you?
• Anything else?

At this point, after about 14 minutes, you will have already wanted to give advice. You may have accidentally given it. You may think you know what they need to feel better. You may think you know exactly how to resolve their issue. Make no mistake, your advice would be stellar. But don’t give it. Intelligent, eager-for-help people regularly find reasons why good advice won’t work for them. Ambitious, effective people will rebel against being told what to do. It doesn’t matter if you’re right. Autonomy matters. Instead, ask them what was the most valuable part of this conversation. Take note of what they say. Then thank them for trusting you and ask if they would like you to follow up with them next week. If they say yes, in your follow-up you can give them one small next step to take.

Effective coaching requires good questions which demands deep listening which necessitates space. Give them space. Space in between your questions, space to hear themselves talk, space to be blown away by the obvious next step that they now can see they should take. Space for their epiphany.  

After doing this challenge, you will have strengthened the question-asking muscle to such a degree that it will take over in your coaching sessions. After the challenge, when you occasionally do drop knowledge (possibly in the form of advice) it will land with precision and clarity. You’ll be an effective coach. Not because you know everything, but because you dared to ask the next question. Please share your experience with me, I might have a few questions!

Jenny is a spiritual guidance practitioner who has been teaching Enneagram since 2009. Until now, her work was more of a hobby than a career. There was very little structure to what she was doing, and she always felt like she didn’t have enough time. Now in the second quarter of Yoga Health Coaching, Jenny is learning and applying the YHC business structure to her own signature program.

She’s blending the group model with her one-on-one model and loving it!

With more structure to her weeks, Jenny is excited about her work and feels like she now has the time to do all that she needs to do. Her income has tripled. Her workshops are lead generation for her course. And even though she doesn’t teach the habits of Body Thrive, what she’s learning in YHC is directly applicable to her work: how to coach, how to lead dynamic groups, and how to enroll.

What you’ll get out of tuning in:

• How the YHC business structure can benefit anyone offering a wellness course.
• How to adapt the YHC coaching model to your and your clients’ needs.
• How the YHC course provides plenty of opportunities for members to share ideas.

Links Mentioned in the Episode:

• Yoga Health Coaching
• Body Thrive
• Enneawake

Show Highlights:

• 2:00 – Jenny is in the second quarter of Yoga Health Coaching. She is learning and applying the YHC business structure to her own signature program. Jenny is a spiritual guidance practitioner who has been teaching Enneagram since 2009. Until now, her work was more of a hobby than a career. There was very little structure to what she was doing, and she always felt like she didn’t have enough time.
• 6:35 – Through the habits of Body Thrive, yoga health coaches learn how to structure their days to be more easefully productive. Like many wellness pros, Jenny felt drained by one-on-one sessions with clients. In YHC, we learn how to maximize our time and our impact by working with groups.  Jenny is blending the group model with the one-on-one model and loving it! With more structure to her weeks, Jenny is excited about her work and feels like she now has the time to do all that she needs to do.
• 10:20 – Jenny offers a 9-month group course. Her income has tripled. Her workshops are lead generation for her course. And even though she doesn’t teach the habits of Body Thrive, what she’s learning in YHC is directly applicable to her work: how to coach, how to lead dynamic groups, and how to enroll.
• 15:18 – YHC content isn’t limited to the course work. Live calls and an online forum provide plenty of opportunities for members to share ideas.

Your Favorite Quotes:

• “I think it’s totally adaptable. I’ve just been plugging in my thing. It’s been easy for me.” — Jenny Faulkner Campbell

Guest BIO

Jenny has a Psychology degree from Middlebury College. She has been teaching the Enneagram since 2009, and has been Certified and Authorized by Don Riso and Russ Hudson of the Enneagram Institute.

She also has a Certificate in Spiritual Guidance from Rowe Camp and Conference Center. Jenny offers Enneagram teaching and Spiritual Guidance over the phone, via Skype, or in her office in Holliston. Jenny is available to travel and offer a program designed specifically to meet your needs.

As a Yoga Health Coaching enrollment coach, Grace Edison hears a lot of different versions of fear getting in the way of stepping into potential. On an evolutionary path, fear arises because inevitably, a part or parts of you have to die in order for you to step into your potential. When we realize that fear is normal and that fear can be a good indication that we’re where we need to be, it becomes easier to navigate through the fear.

A lot of wellness pros find themselves repeating the same patterns rather than advancing on an evolutionary path, and sometimes they don’t even realize it. Yogahealer enrollment coaches, like Grace Edison, are experts at recognizing those patterns and helping potential course members recognize them too. Recognizing the patterns and being willing to change them, even in the face of fear, creates a peak performance mindset that can catapult you into your evolutionary journey.

Are you ready for an evolutionary journey? Talk to Grace!

What you’ll get out of tuning in:

• Why fear arises when you’re on an evolutionary journey.
• How many wellness pros get in the way of their own professional growth.
• What steps you need to take to get out of your own way.

Links Mentioned in the Episode:

• Yoga Health Coaching
• Join The Fall Yogidetox

Show Highlights:

• 0:00 – As a Yoga Health Coaching enrollment coach, Grace Edison hears a lot of different versions of fear getting in the way of stepping into potential. On an evolutionary path, fear arises because inevitably, a part or parts of you have to die in order for you to step into your potential. When we realize that fear is normal and that fear can be a good indication that we’re where we need to be, it becomes easier to navigate through the fear.
• 4:55 – A lot of wellness pros find themselves repeating the same patterns rather than advancing on an evolutionary path, and sometimes they don’t even realize it. Metrics are useful indicators of where you are: income, impact, network, and integrity metrics are particularly useful.
• 10:25 – Because Grace speaks to yoga health coaches before they decide to enroll, and she is able to witness their growth through the program, she has a unique advantage when it comes to determining what makes a person successful in YHC. It simply comes down to the person’s ability to recognize that they are in a repetitive pattern and to be willing to change that pattern, no matter how much fear they experience. This creates a peak performance mindset.
• 15:33 – The role of Yogahealer enrollment coaches is to make decisions from a peak performance mindset. Part of that involves pointing out how, where, and when people are getting the way of their own potential.
• 23:00 – Thinking that you need to prove you can do something before you get help with it is a common way of getting in your own way. It’s a backwards way of thinking. If you align to a proven process, like Yoga Health Coaching, you’ll prove it to yourself along your growth path. And if you’re with a group of people going in the same direction you want to go, your growth will happen so much faster.

Favorite Quotes:

• “The more you’re in a peak performance mindset, the better able you are to take risk. So rather than it feeling risky, it feels like stepping into potentiality. It feels like stepping beyond and through the patterned self.” — Cate Stillman
• “Like Marcus Aurelius said . . . , the obstacle is the way. Where you’re in your own way, that’s the way.” — Cate Stillman
• “No one ever got out of their own way alone. Ever.” — Cate Stillman
• “Before it’s a skill set, it’s a process. . . . It’s developing a process. It’s breaking down the inertia of the old pattern and the old way of doing things.” — Grace Edison
• “The quickest way to evolve is to get with a group that’s going in the direction where you want to end up.” — Cate Stillman

Guest BIO:

Grace Edison lives in British Columbia, Canada. She’s a mom of twin 8 year olds, a Yoga teacher, studio owner, and Yoga Health Coach — and she also works for Cate Stillman in Admissions at Yogahealer! More than anything, she loves to make people laugh and has a not-so-secret dream of doing stand-up comedy. Grace has a strong passion for empowering others to take their health and wellness into their own hands. She loves building authentic relationships, making people laugh, and creating supportive communities. After a long-standing relationship with severe depression, Grace has found deep relief through the habits of Ayurveda — and much credit is due to Cate and her Body Thrive program. After taking Body Thrive several times and jumping into Yoga Health Coaching, Grace came aboard the Yogahealer team.

How do you stay in touch with your role as a flagbearer for thrive? I reach into my community for support, remember that leading the way is not always easy, and touch the place deep inside that knows this is what I am meant to do. All the jobs, trials, illness, growth and learning have made me who I am- a strong teacher, healer, coach and a flagbearer for my community.

Carrying The Flag

I sometimes compare being a health coach to being a world level olympian. I feel a thrill when I watch the US Olympic team enter the stadium during the opening ceremony. Before each Olympics the team bestows the honor of carrying our country’s flag. Flag bearers are members of the team as well as leaders chosen by teammates and coaches for their exceptional qualities as people and athletes. Yoga Health coaches have a lot in common with high level athletes- more than you might think.

Yoga health coaches are flag bearers for health. Carrying the flag is an honor in the military- the flag bearer carries a symbol of identity and hope rather than a weapon. As yoga health coaches, we bring our community hope and concrete tools to identify and align with wellness. Awakening to the true freedom and power we have to change people’s lives for the better is a gift. Share that gift and lead your community towards the victory of vibrant health.

“Being nominated to carry the flag at the Opening Ceremony is one of the greatest honours that has ever been bestowed upon me. – Todd Lodwick 2014 Winter Olympics flag bearer

How Yoga Health Coaches Carry The Flag

Yoga health coaches choose to wave the flag of health to direct others onto the path of thrive.  Since most yoga health coaches are householders, they make every-day life choices based on habits of health like the 10 habits of Ayurvedic Dinacharya taught in Body Thrive. They prioritize health in the same way Olympic athletes build their lives around optimizing performance. They embrace habits that deliver capability and health. Yoga health coaches lead and teach from a place of passion to help members of our community thrive.

Waking up every morning and embracing a daily structure in support of a goal takes a lot of dedication, hard work, and consistency. It has to spark joy. For a yoga health coach it is all about embodying the habits and authentically sharing insights to teach others. Being a health coach springs from a deep desire to help yourself and others.

World Class Athletes wake up passionate each day and work hard to achieve their fitness and performance goals. Internal fire and desire fuel the path of an Olympian and a health coach. Athletes who excel in their sport and demonstrate a high level of personal excellence might be chosen to be a Flag bearer.

“Do activities you’re passionate about – which make your heart and soul feel perky – including things like working out, cooking, painting, writing, yoga, hiking, walking, swimming, being in nature, being around art, or reading inspiring books.” – Karen Salmansohn

Yoga Health Coach Flagbearer Characteristics

Often the first things we see when we look inward are our faults. Here is suggestion: forget the term “fault” and instead identify opportunities to get better at what you love to do. Athletes analyze their performance using video and slow motion replays. With the help of their coaches they identify where they need to place their focus to get to the next level. Look at yourself through a similar lens and honor your desire to excel and serve.

Do you see great characteristics and mad skills in yourself? I am sure that your peers and clients do. When I interact with yoga health coaches -and I know many- I see amazing qualities in action. Check out  the coach of the month to meet a someone with these capabilities. While none of our coaches will be standing on the podium with the national anthem playing any time soon, they earn the right carry the flag of health everyday. As Yoga health coaches you live what you teach, you lead your community, and have you have some amazing abilities.  

You are able to:

• See and plan with a long view.
• Orient towards defined goals and success
• Take consistent steps to actualize goals
• Practice integrity- and expect it in your clients
• Shape lives with dedication and discipline.  
• Hold space for client progress
• Grow & evolve in leading your community

Which of these strengths do you see front and center in coaching your community? Celebrate and tap it for success.  Where are you focussing your energy in your desire to become a better coach? Reach out and get some extra training to keep refining your gift.

Each Olympic Games or world cup is over within a couple of weeks.. The walk and work of vibrant living goes on. Are you a flag bearer for thrive?  I’d love for you to share a victory in your journey as a health coach in the comments below.

Mariko is a yoga teacher, yoga therapist and yoga health coach who has been running her own business since 2006. The habits of Body Thrive have made it easier to strike a balance between work life and home life, between caring for others and self care. By waking before dawn to practice self care, Mariko is able face each day with a positive mindset.

Body Thrive and Yoga Health Coaching help us understand who we are and get grounded in our being. We refine our days and find time for learning and creativity. And there is no endgame. We continue to grow and deepen our practice. We’re not satisfied with “good enough.”

Our goal is “extraordinary.”

If you’re done with “good enough” and ready for “extraordinary,” have a conversation with one of our coaches.

What you’ll get out of tuning in:

• Why “good enough” is no longer good enough.
• How the habits of Body Thrive make it easier to strike a balance between self care and caring for others.
• How Yoga Health Coaches find time for learning and creativity while working and caring for their families.

Links Mentioned in Your Episode:

• Yogidetox
• Mariko Yoga
• Yoga Health Coaching
• Awake Living

Show Highlights:

• 2:00 – Since going through Body Thrive, Mariko has aligned her daily activities with the Ayurvedic, or “dosha,” clock in order to maximize her days. She wakes before dawn to practice self care and do some creative journaling. This enables her to face each day with a positive mindset.
• 8:45 – Mariko has been running her own business since 2006. Ayurveda, and particularly dinacharya, makes it easier to strike a balance between work life and home life, between caring for others and self care.
• 11:04 – Having a predominantly vata constitution and having moved from Tokyo to Singapore to London, establishing a daily routine was key to Mariko feeling grounded and focused.
• 13:47 – Body Thrive and Yoga Health Coaching help us understand who we are and get grounded in our being. We refine our days and find time for learning and creativity. And there is no endgame. We continue to grow and deepen our practice.

Favorite Quotes:

• “We talk with Cate [Stillman] about the difference between having a life that’s good enough and having a life that’s extraordinary, and I feel like this Ayurvedic shift is the difference.” — Carly Banks
• “Cate talks about spanda, meaning pulsation. . . . In my mind, balance is like this: an infinity mark. If you go to one extreme, you come back to center, and you go to the other extreme and come back to center. You need both, don’t you? All work is not good. All play is not good.” — Mariko Lavender Jones
• “I believe there is no really final end, you know? It’s always changing. We are always changing.” — Mariko Lavender Jones

Guest BIO:

 Mariko discovered her passion for yoga in 1995. After relocating from Tokyo to Singapore in 2002, Mariko gained her ‘Diploma in Teaching the Science and Art of Yoga’, certified by Svastha Yoga and Ayurveda, under the guidance of Sri A G Mohan. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, yoga was a key influence in her journey to recovery.

Mariko continues to study under guidance of her teachers and mentors and completed one the most comprehensive level of yoga therapist training at Functional Synergy Yoga Therapy in June 2016, which is accredited by the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Now living in London, Mariko teaches Therapeutic yoga privately, as well as Hatha and Yin group yoga classes, both in English and Japanese. Connect with Mariko on her website and Facebook page.

Mindsets are mental habits. In her enrollment conversations for Yogahealer, Grace sometimes gets the sense that something is “squashing” the urgency to evolve, to be successful. She feels that something is often mindset problems: doubt, fear, lack of knowledge, lack of network, old wounds.

Highly successful people have a big picture view of where they want to go, and they’re constantly reverse engineering that back into the day to day, focusing on what they can accomplish right now that will get them to the future they so clearly vision. For that reason, their day-to-day is constantly changing and evolving.

Another key mindset of successful wellness pros is that they invest in where they’re going and they invest bravely. They invest in where they’re going; they don’t invest according to who they’ve been or how they invested in the past; they’re continually upleveling how they invest.

What common mindsets do you see among highly successful wellness pros? How does your mindset differ from theirs? Grace would love to have a conversation with you about it. Go to Yogahealer.com/have-a-conversation to schedule your conversation today.

What you’ll get out of tuning in:

• How highly successful wellness pros invest in themselves.
• Why the day-to-day habits of highly successful people are constantly evolving.
• How your mindset might interfere with your success.

Links Mentioned in the Episode:

• YHC Have a conversation
• YH Have a Conversation
• YogiDetox Fall

Show Highlights:

• 0:00 – Your network is your net worth. A network is conversations. Our conversations are relationships. When we start to figure out which conversations get us where we want to go next, our relationships start to become very intentional.
• 3:00 – Mindsets are mental habits. One of the habits of highly successful people is asking themselves really good questions. What common mindsets do you see among highly successful wellness pros? How does your mindset differ from theirs? Grace notices that highly successful wellness pros focus on opportunities rather than problems.
• 7:15 – Highly successful people have a big picture view of where they want to go, and they’re constantly reverse engineering that back into the day to day, focusing on what they can accomplish right now that will get them to the future they so clearly vision. For that reason, their day-to-day is constantly changing and evolving.
• 9:33 – According to evolutionary enlightenment theory, in the ground of being, everything is already happening beyond time and space. There is no contraction of time or space. That is why meditation is one of the habits of highly successful people. Evolutionary impulse creates the sense of urgency that causes us to act.
• 12:52 – In her enrollment conversations for Yogahealer, Grace sometimes gets the sense that something is “squashing” the urgency, the evolutionary impulse. She feels that something is often mindset problems: doubt, fear, lack of knowledge, lack of network, old wounds. Cate explains why you don’t really want to have the skills you need to meet the challenge right now. What’s more important is mindset: Who do you need to become in order to get where you want to be?
• 15:15 – Another key mindset of successful wellness pros is that they invest in where they’re going and they invest bravely.
• 17:00 – Uncompromising self care is another habit of highly successful wellness pros. While self care is an investment of time, the monetary investment can be quite low. Highly successful wellness pros also possess a strong belief in what they’re doing. They’re willing to do the “hard stuff” to reach their goals, including long term planning and learning the skills they need to get to where they want to go.

Favorite Quotes:

• “You don’t really want to have the skills to meet the challenge right now.” — Cate Stillman
• “This is another key mindset of successful people . . . They invest in where they’re going. All the time. And they don’t invest according to who they’ve been or how they invested in the past. So they’re continually upleveling how they invest.” — Cate Stillman
• “That’s what it feels like with investment: It feels like you need to be brave.” — Cate Stillman

Guest BIO:

Grace Edison lives in British Columbia, Canada. She’s a mom of twin 8 year olds, a Yoga teacher, studio owner, and Yoga Health Coach — and she also works for Cate Stillman in Admissions at Yogahealer! More than anything, she loves to make people laugh and has a not-so-secret dream of doing stand-up comedy. Grace has a strong passion for empowering others to take their health and wellness into their own hands. She loves building authentic relationships, making people laugh, and creating supportive communities. After a long-standing relationship with severe depression, Grace has found deep relief through the habits of Ayurveda — and much credit is due to Cate and her Body Thrive program. After taking Body Thrive several times and jumping into Yoga Health Coaching, Grace came aboard the Yogahealer team.