Yogi, Athlete, Life Coach - Adrienne Hengels

I went to my first Yoga Life Coaching workshop with Deborah Williamson back in November, 2008 because a message about this training kept showing up on my facebook page. My calendar was conveniently cleared so I said, “why not?” I’m so happy I did because that training changed my life. I was at a point in my life where I was asking everyone on the planet for advice. What should I do, how should I move forward, I couldn’t make a decision and I was stuck. At the training, I realized that no amount of advice was going to help me but coaching was the answer I needed. With my team of coaches, I realized that I was in the driver’s seat of my life and they helped me to see the root of what was holding me back. It wasn’t what I was going to get from the decision, it was a fear of being judged by it. Once I realized fear was paralizing me from moving forward, I had space to make the right decisions on everything in my life.

My life changed for sure but not so much in just becoming a life coach but in the way that I started to look at my life. As I look back, I don’t think I attended the training to become a life coach but more as an opportunity for me to sift through my life and learn how I could help others through theirs as a yoga teacher. The training taught me to become more open to coaching and more willing to take leaps of faith out of my comfort zone and into my zone of genius. I don’t think I even had intentions of being a life coach, but because I had a life and I learned the skills of how to coach, by golly…I could be a life coach!

Fast forward a year and a half and the opportunity to attend Yoga Life Coaching presented itself again. My schedule was totally blocked and the training was across the country but something told me I had to go. So I got subs for all my classes, rearranged my schedule which included flight change fees for my parents visit, sacrificing triathlon training, and I didn’t care. I was psyched!

This time I showed up in a different place to learn. We always do – no matter how many times we watch a movie, read a book, it always lands differently based on where our lives are right now. This time, as I listened and I applied what I already knew (while also learning more), I returned home as a coach. I have had a lot of extremely powerful and purposeful conversations since returning. I have noticed how much I have stepped into people’s space and not allowed them to figure things out on their own – not wrong, but now I’m choosing differently. I am noticing how much we are all yearning for coaching without even realizing it – some of us want advice, a quick fix and all but often times we really want to figure it out on our own, but we all just need someone to help us work through the places we are stuck. We all want a lasting change, something permanent, a creation of new life-changing habits and practices.

I am experiencing a sense of “liberation!” because it feels so freeing to let go of me trying to fix everybody and everything in my life and instead let people be as they are and come into the answers on their own with a powerful conversation that moves them forward.

Adrienne is an International yoga teacher, and thrives on teaching her students to live everyday of their life from truth… not just about getting into poses with foreign names, not about perfect form. Instead, teaching about- life… making mistakes, learning from them and empowering each student to show up at their best, to let their guard down, work out the stress of life, find some internal stillness and taking their “workout” off the mat and into the world.

Even more interesting is that 7% admitted to actually doing it. That’s one in 14 people!!!

Read any of those articles and you will find that the fling caused more damage to not just the parties involved but those around them – even big name corporations…errrr, our whole country almost fell apart…remember that one?

So why are bosses and employees still sleeping together more than ever but with increased productivity, inner peace, and a real connection?

The new way to sleep with your boss is of course in savasana (final resting pose in a yoga class). There are something like 15 million people doing yoga now and it’s a good chance that one of those people are going to be your boss. So why not?

One guy even got a leg up on his job because he indicated on his resume that he was an advanced yoga practitioner.

Imagine interviewing over some down dogs. Every employer wants an employee who is:

Balanced: Check out my tree pose. I could hold tree pose and conduct the next staff meeting like celebrity yogi, Seane Corn.

Confident: My yoga teacher holds us in this pose while she tells us a story about Arjuna the fearless warrior. I swear the burning sensation in my legs and arms is the piercing of Arjuna’s arrow thru my body.

Creative: I turn my world upside down everyday… handstands, headstands, pincha mayurasana… they give me a fresh new and creative outlook on life.

Flexible: Double dare me to put my foot behind my head.

Reliable: Of course I will bend over backwards for you…wheel, camel, even drop backs.

Smart: I know when to take child’s pose.

Consider: If your boss comes along for your lunch hour class, you’ll never have to rush back to work. Meditate on that!

Nikki Wong, Certified Baptiste Power Yoga Teacher, lululemon ambassador, writer, mommy, lover and beach-bum-to-be shares the magic of yoga to the California Bay Area. You can also experience her classes on iTunes podcasts or at www.nikkiwong.com.

Read on to learn how Mary is incorporating her skills, energy and passion into several life-changing projects for herself and the world around her:

WHEN DID YOU ATTEND YOGA LIFE COACH TRAINING AND HOW HAS YOUR LIFE CHANGED SINCE ATTENDING?

I attended my first YLC in December 2009 at Yoga on the Lake in Kohler, WI, then in Costa Rica 2010 and then in August 2011 at Wicked Good Yoga in Wiscasset, ME. Yoga Life Coaching ™ training helped me to see that I create my own life and gave me courage to start creating on a bigger level.  

Since that first weekend in Wisconsin I’ve had so many life changes, from enrolling/graduating from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition as a Health Coach, completing a 200 hour teacher training  with Debbie Williamson and TIMBo training with Sue Jones of YogaHope, and near completion of my LIVE LOVE TEACH 500 hour teacher training.  

Yoga Life Coaching ™ with Debbie got me from believing that I wasn’t good enough to create my life to going out and getting the education I wanted so that I could throw the doors open for my own health & wellness business, Real Vibrant Health, and venture across the world to meet and love strangers who need my help.

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH YOU RIGHT NOW? 

In addition to teaching yoga and coaching clients for my business, Real Vibrant Health, I’m packing for my first trip to Haiti, which is thrilling and scary all at once.  I’m working with Sue Jones & YogaHope, (an international organization that uses yoga and other mind body tools to aid women in recovery), to go out on a service trip for earthquake victims in Port Au Prince, Haiti – mostly women & children, and many who have suffered from sexual abuse due to the proliferation of “tent cities” all throughout the country after so many homes were destroyed.  Our goal is to to empower these displaced women & children through yoga and mindfulness tools so they can rebuild their lives and stay safe.

As I throw myself into the fundraising process for this trip and thoughts of how I personally can make a difference, my entire life is expanding. I feel like I CAN make a difference.

WHAT WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT CONCEPT FROM TRAINING FOR YOU?

I really started to see a shift in my own life when I began to focus even more on contributing to other people’s lives and well being, which is one of the major themes in Debbie’s teachings.  That’s a big part of what I’m doing now with YogaHope.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU?

I am still  fundraising for my Haiti trip and am dedicating my efforts and work on the project to my mom, who passed away a little over a year ago.  I still miss her every day.  She was amazing and strong in so many ways and always willing to help anyone who needed it.  I go to Haiti in July, and any funds I raise above and beyond the initial amount will go directly to women and children in need.

I will also continue to work toward my 500 hour teacher training with LIVE LOVE TEACH.   Debbie and Philip & Stacy of LIVE LOVE TEACH help me  to see things in a way I hadn’t seen before. To grow in your life you have to continue to seek learning and constantly evolve into something better than you could have ever imagined.

HOW CAN PEOPLE FIND YOU OR REACH OUT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR BUSINESSES OR RELIEF EFFORTS IN HAITI?

My website is: www.realvibranthealth.com, and phone number is 603-369-0656.  I can also be emailed directly at mackinnonboyd@gmail.com.

I’m also happy to meet new people in the community and share how Yoga Life Coaching ™ with Debbie has allowed me to create a life much bigger than I could have dreamed it on my own.

If you’d like to contribute for my Haiti efforts, you can do it here: www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/marymackinnonboyd/marymackinnonboydsfundraisingpage

While there, I did a few episodes with Toronto Yoga Teacher, David Good.  David will be coming to Midwest Power Yoga (my studio) in July.  I wanted to share David’s “Good Yoga 100″, because I loved it when I saw it yesterday (and when it originally appeared in Elephant Journal).  Check it out below!

CLICK HERE for David Good’s Good Yoga 100

Here’s how it works:

(1)  Buy your package anytime between today and June 1st (as supplies last).

(2)  On June 1st, your package will automatically activate and will continue until August 31, 2012.  Your included classes do NOT start UNTIL June 1st.

NOTE FOR CURRENT AUTO-PAY CUSTOMERS:

We will give you the same price break as those who purchase the package above by automatically giving you the month of August free.  This means that you DO NOTHING except continue to enjoy classes and you will get the savings.  We like to reward our longtime customers first, instead of just creating deals for new customers.  Enjoy this complimentary savings on us as a thank you for all your sweat & dedication to MPY.  We love you!

CLICK HERE TO BUY THE SUMMER SPECIAL  (3 months unlimited yoga for $150 total).

It was an email blast from the folks at the Wanderlust Festival.  The newsletter was an invitation to anyone who would like an opportunity to teach at one of their festivals this year.  The opportunity involved a video contest on why one should teach at Wanderlust.

Before I even finished reading the whole newsletter, a debate was already happening in my head.   One of me said, “Wow!  Here’s my chance!  What a great experience it would be!  Let’s do it!”   The second half of me said, “What!?!  No way!  That’s a lot of pressure!  You’re not ready to teach at a festival, silly, silly you!”  And for a moment the second half’s voice got louder and louder and I could hear myself make up all sorts of excuses like, “I’m on the beach and I don’t have a good camera.  It’s not gonna look good unless it’s in a studio and what kind of pose could I be able to do since my body has been so stiff from all that traveling?”  The list went on and on…

Until, I got a grip of myself and said STOP!

I hear a third voice in my head.  I think it’s Deb.  I swear it was Deb.  She said, “take the first step.”  What would that be?

So I declared, “YES!  I’m gonna enter the contest.”  That was the first step I needed.  To decide whether I wanted to enter the contest.  The rest worked itself out.

That third voice then said, “Be a little scared (fear = excitement = possibility).”  Was I scared?  Heck yes!  scared the yogi toe socks right off my feet!  My heart still races when I think about the possibilities of winning.   This is a good sign….

Then my voice said, “how am I gonna do this?  what am I gonna say?  what pose am I gonna do?  where am I gonna do it?”   Before I could go on, the third voice said, “Make shit up.”

Of course!  I’ve learned well from the queen of making shit up (Deborah Williamson, herself!)…And finally, I could not help it…. I was actually having fun filming the video.  I didn’t care what people were gonna think of me… (ha!  I actually beat the third voice to that one).

So here it is… my video entry for Wanderlust’s teaching position contest.   Help me win by clicking on the link below to Wanderlust’s facebook page and LIKE my video.

To view my video:  click here

Where in your life can you apply Deb’s top 10 list for the greatest life ever?

Deborah’s Top 10 List for the Greatest Life Ever:

• Laugh until you can’t breathe at least twice a day.
• Do for others.
• Create community.  Reach out to someone new every day.
• Make shit up.
• Surround yourself with people who challenge you.
• Be real, firm and fair.
• Be a little scared (fear = excitement = possibility).
• Break the rules.
• Don’t care what people think of you.  Just care about THEM.
• Take the first step.

Wednesday, April 25 at 6:45 pm
Root Down Yoga La Crosse
Details & Sign up here: http://www.rootdownyogastudio.com/special-events.php?options[ids]=55&

Brahmacharya is interpreted by many to mean celibacy or sexual abstinence.  When I first read this I thought: “This is going to be easy!”  In the past week, I have come down with laryngitis and pink eye, and my husband has shingles. “Hey there, wanna apply my back ointment?” (uhhh, NO) is  about as sexy as it gets around here.  And unless watching me get down and dirty with my Neti-pot could be considered foreplay, I was pretty sure my poor, scabby husband could handle a week of abstinence.  Celibacy: check!

However, upon further research I discovered that many yoga scholars consider the fourth yama to mean non-excess, or the practice of moderation.  This applies to not only sex, but also to food, work, shopping…pretty much anything and everything.  Brahmacharya calls us to walk the tightrope of life with a sense of balance and equanimity.

Certain life situations may cause us to teeter on that tightrope: an illness, the holidays, a new baby, or in my case, selling and buying a home. One minute you are in a daily groove, and then BAM!  Something happens to change up your routine. Before you know it, you are standing in front of an open freezer eating Chunky Monkey out of the carton and calling it dinner.

The thing is…was it really all that sudden?  Or were you just not paying attention?  Did my husband and I really suffer a collective immune system collapse, or were there subtle warning signs of impending back scabs and eye goop that we happened to ignore?

Since we put our house on the market, my yoga practice has slowly been replaced by shoving my kids’ toys in the dryer the frantic scramble that comes with prepping your house for a showing.  Phil practically ingests coffee intravenously, and our morning green juice has been replaced by a handful of Frosted Mini Wheats in the car (to avoid crumbs in the kitchen).

So unless you consider scrubbing the bathroom grout at 2 AM with an electric toothbrush balanced, I am pretty sure we have taken a nose dive off the tightrope.

Rolf Gates writes that the literal translation of brahmacharya is “to walk with God.” Whether or not you believe in a God in the religious sense is irrelevant; the point is to be aware to the sacredness of the present moment.  I do believe in God, and am also a painfully literal person. So last week, while house hunting in New Hampshire, I decided to put my brahmacharya abilities to the test and invite God on a date.  While Phil was busy with business meetings, I would be hanging out with God.

Things started off really well.  God and I decided to start the day with a workout in the hotel fitness center.  I even fashioned God an outfit:  a Red Sox t-shirt and some Lululemon shorts.  After about 10 minutes on the treadmill, I felt like crap.  My chest hurt and my legs felt like lead.  Normally I would push through, but I paused for a moment and (silently) asked God what he wanted to do.

“How about some yoga back in the room?”

Good idea God!  We went back to the room and I rolled out my mat.  I fired up one of my usual 90 minute podcasts, but a few minutes in I felt fatigued and heavy.  I was starting to get pissed.  Maybe I should just forget it and watch a Lifetime movie.  But then I remembered God and asked for his input.

“You are a yoga teacher, aren’t you?   Why not just move through a practice that feels good to you, and see how your body responds?” I am pretty sure I heard God mutter “duh” under his breath.

It is such a clear, simple suggestion….yet not one I ever would have thought of on my own.  My first reaction was very black or white: do a 90 minute practice or break into the mini-bar. Becoming balanced, however, means navigating through many shades of grey.

As the day wore on, I kept forgetting about God.  If we were walking down the street and God stopped to tie his sneaker, I would walk another 10 blocks before I even realized God- -or my awareness of God- was missing in action.  He was a little miffed until I bought him a carrot-apple-beet juice.

My little “Date with God” experiment opened my eyes to how scattered my mind is most of the time- and how this lack of presence leads to impulsivity and reactivity.  My frenetic multi-tasking and rushing through life makes me feel depleted and scattered.  Then I grasp at certain things (coffee, work, exercise) to make me feel pumped and productive, and then other things (wine, chocolate, Facebook) to make me feel soothed and grounded.

A tightrope walker holds a long, weighty pole in order to maintain his center of gravity. His gaze is never down but slightly forward.  I am so busy staring at my own feet that I am always teetering to one direction or another….until I eventually fall off.  And get pink eye.

Osho says: “Your center is created by being continuously aware, constantly aware.  It is a long arduous journey, and it is difficult to be aware even for a single moment; the mind is constantly flickering. But is not impossible”.

What are some simple things you can do to bring some balance back into your day…without the circumstances of your life necessarily changing?

Upon our return home, I felt pulled back into the frenetic “doing” that comes with selling a house.  But instead I went for a hike with my 5 year old daughter.  As we stopped to watch for tadpoles, she turned to me and said, “Mom, isn’t this so peaceful and relaxing?”

And you know what, it really was.

I can’t wait to knock the yogi toe socks off my students with Yoga Body Bootcamp (YBB).   YBB is a highly intense yoga circuit training without the huff and puff vein popping, breath gasping, I gotta force myself to do it workout.  However, it does involve pools of sweat, laughter, fun, and camaraderie.    The ultimate yoga high.

The biggest thing I learned this weekend came from Deb’s Yoga Personal Training module.  Yoga is everywhere and in every thing we do from every sport we play, every daily movement we make, and every person we meet.  I will never look at the alignment and anatomy of my student’s yoga pose the same way again just as I will never smile to a stranger the same way again.

Traveling from SJC to LAX to SRB to LAX to DEN to MCO, I’ve had my moments of grumpiness.  To pass the time,  I usually am in the ‘let’s meet a new friend mode’ when I travel, but not during my LAX to DEN leg.  I’ve tried to look at LAX from a different perspective, but I just couldn’t get over the crowds, chaos, and mass amounts of rudeness.   So I just crawl into my clam and stay to myself until boredom sets in.  So I decided to do an experiment to pass the three hours in this airport from hell.   Can my smile effect these drab, rude, in a hurry travelers?  

So I flash a smile that looked like:

The quick (often fake) smile

The results:  Some smiled back.  Some didn’t.  Some didn’t even notice me.

So I flash a smile that looked like:

The 'ok, I like you smile and I'm really smiling at you' smile

The results: Everyone smiled back.  Some that smiled back looked like smile #1, some looked like smile #2.    

Finally, I flash a smile that looked like:

The "I really mean my smile (often a real authentic smile from the soul)" smile

The results:  Everyone smiled back.  Some that smiled back looked like smile #2, some looked like smile #3.  Then the coolest thing happened…. some said ‘hi’ and some started a conversation.   

There you have it!  If you’re gonna smile, smile like you mean it.  Involve your eyes, your cheek, your teeth… your whole being.  

Cheese Balls to Vegas - every penny counts!

Wanna know a secret?

You can go anywhere in the world, create or do anything you want and live an exciting, luxurious, jaw-droppingly beautiful life. And you can do it NOW, with the RESOURCES you have now.

That’s right.

You don’t need to win the lottery first or wait for something miraculous to happen. You don’t have to meditate and “manifest abundance.” People tell me all the time, “I want your life,” but they don’t really believe it’s possible to “live rich” without copious amounts of cash or time.

Well, guess what? You CAN. But you have to ditch the idea that you are short on what you need – time, money or anything else.

YOU HAVE ENOUGH TIME

Time is an illusion. That’s not just crazy yoga speak. People tell me every day, “I don’t have enough time to do what I love.” Well, who creates your schedule? YOU do. And who spends hours watching TV or procrastinating or multi-tasking herself to death without really completing anything, each & every day? YOU do (or you do/have an equivalent activity that’s equally unnecessary/unfulfilling to you). Fill your days with the things that feed and inspire you and ditch the things that drain your energy or don’t fit. You can MAKE more time.

YOU HAVE ENOUGH MONEY

Nothing is ever about the money or how much of it you have. Life is a transfer of energy – make your choices count! Fill your life with love and joy the way you did when you had less money and less stuff. Whether you have millions or hundreds, it’s easy to spend it all quickly without knowing what happened. You’ve got to make conscious choices to spend money on the experiences that bring you joy. Most of the time when someone says to me, “I don’t have the money” what they really mean is “I am choosing to spend the money somewhere else.” Be aware of the difference. You can MAKE more money by shifting priorities and getting creative (ie, that daily $5 Starbucks run could be, instead, that once in a lifetime trip to BALI). My husband and I save all of our small change each year and it gets us to Las Vegas multiple times with a pretty decent budget.

THREE WAYS TO HAVE MORE HAPPINESS & “LIVE RICH”

Here are a few things I do every day to live my life exactly as I want it.

(1) Ask good questions – of yourself & others.

When considering a new project or business, ask yourself, “What business am I in?” and, “How does this project elevate the world?” Begin to notice things that you do unconsciously or unnecessarily. Before you do anything, ask yourself, “Does this fit with my core values, vision, and mission? Am I giddy when think about doing it? Is this what I really want to be doing?” If you’re not adding value to your life or the lives of people around you, don’t do it!

Clear questions help you to stay focused on what you are truly passionate about. By eliminating anything that doesn’t really fit for you, you open yourself up to bigger and better opportunities. YOU are the keeper of your calendar. Only do the things that count!

(2) Be grateful for what you have.

It’s repeated too often, but being grateful for what you have really does have an impact on your overall happiness and ingenuity in life. And, as a bonus, when you’re focusing on what you have, (your current resources), you can appreciate and then use those things to create even more of what you want (not by “wishing” for it, but by taking action in your life).

(3) Focus on love (most important) and loved ones (making contributions to the world).

If your heart and head are dialed in to the people in your life and how you can contribute to each other’s lives, all of the rest just gets easier. It’s the experiences we have with people, human to human, soul to soul, that elevate the world. When you focus on making every moment count, you stop counting the dollars in your bank account. You have everything you need to create the life you want, right now, but you have to choose it.

…and never underestimate saving your change.