"I'm ready to make the rest of my life the best of my life."
Born in Taiwan, I moved to the U.S. at the age of 13 for a better education. Living in Los Angeles County for most of my life, I embrace and appreciate the amicable weather, diverse culture, and superb food scene. Life after college was about making a living to pay back student loans and working hard for that corner office one day. Decades later, the wealth and status I assiduously pursued were slowly affecting my health and negatively impacting my relationships with loved ones. That office with a view I earned along the way no longer felt like a fair exchange. Acting upon the need to balance life and find inner peace, I turned to yoga teacher training. Little did I know, my life's direction was about to shift, and I got closer than ever in finding my purpose.
Before starting the yoga teaching journey, I spent two decades working in various positions that involved sales and marketing and banking at private and publicly-traded organizations. The satisfaction of those jobs came from promotions and increases in salary, and not necessarily the work itself. I plugged away and put my best foot forward every day for that next advancement despite feeling out of balance and exhausted constantly. Stress compromised my not-so-strong immune system on a frequent basis. "I'm busy with work" became an overused excuse to get out of doing things with people who matter to me. The need to re-examine life started to feel urgent, and I shifted my attention to yoga for salvation.
Through learning and teaching yoga, I found helping people is where my true passion lies. It energizes me to hear from my students that our practice together has enabled them to release tension in the body, increase mobility, and sleep better. Some will share the positive impact that they experienced physically and mentally as a result of doing yoga with me. The sense of contribution to others' well-being fuels my inner fire. I feel alive and grateful to show up for others, engage with others, and offer my service to make a difference. I've always been a believer in connectedness where things happen for a reason, and everyone is a part of something bigger. Studying yoga has reinforced the same philosophy and validated my belief in social responsibility.
One year into teaching yoga, I left my promising banking career behind to work on my own in finance and accounting, and to free up time to teach more yoga classes. Two years into teaching yoga, I discovered coaching that expanded my visions and prepared me to serve more people than I could ever imagine. Coaching emphasizes the connection to inner wisdom and the power of listening and being a keen observer. Through life coaching, I feel empowered to help others see beyond the self-imposed limitation and make what they want in life possible. My roles as a yoga teacher and coach complement each other quite well and perfectly manifest my inner passion. Both professions require an extensive amount of training, practice, as well as a thorough study of oneself. The learning process will be lifelong, and I'm thankful to be where I am and to do what I love. I'm excited to see how this journey unfolds and thrilled about the opportunity to serve others.