I get vulnerable in this one. In this episode, I was interviewed by Neeta (my DCI co-founder) to talk about my experience of family disapproval, fighting with my father and having no idea what my path was going to be before writing my first book. I share this story so you can see that even people you see shining their lights did not start that way – in fact, I am who I am as a result of overcoming the obstacles I’ve overcome! I hope this story helps you see that transformation is possible, even when you don’t have any examples around you of anyone living their purpose.

Doors are now open for Dharma Coaching Institute to become a Certified Soul Purpose/ Spiritual Life Coach! Click here to learn more and join us!
wwww.dharmacoachinginstitute.com

Intro + Outro Music: Silent Ganges by Maneesh de Moor

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TRANSCRIPTION

 

Episode 426: How I Was Able to Overcome Family Disapproval Around My Career + Dharma with Neeta Bhushan
By Sahara Rose

[00:12] Sahara
Namaste, my name is Sahara Rose and welcome back to The Highest Self Podcast, a place where we discuss what makes You, Your Soul’s Highest Evolvement.

[00:20] Sahara
I am really excited to share today’s Episode with you because it is a vulnerable one. It is the story of my family’s disapproval around me stepping me into my Dharma, living my purpose, deciding to write a book without a book deal or a business plan, and them thinking I’m out right crazy, and all of the fights after that!

[00:42] Sahara
So, a lot of people look at someone who has achieved any level of success and think “Oh, they must’ve had it so easy”, “They must’ve had a family that supported them”, my life isn’t like that, and I wanted to share more about my story, especially for those of you who haven’t heard it yet, because I definitely did not grow up in a family that was all around me, living my best dharmic life, at all. In fact, it came with a lot of obstacles, and these obstacles, in fact, helped shape me and helped me gain the strength and courage and confidence that I need to step into my soul’s purpose, as painful and challenging and confrontational as it was.
And I share this with you because, not sometimes, but all the time, our life’s biggest challenges become our greatest gifts, and they become the things that we share and teach upon.

[01:39] Sahara
For me, my relationship with my father was that because it was, and still often is, quite rocky, and it can be very challenging when you’re not even quite sure about your own path and you’re in this place of “Can I do it? Can I not?” and the people around you are telling you “No, you can’t”, “No, you’re going to fail”, “No, this isn’t going to work out”.
And I wanted to share this story because I get so many messages from you guys who feel the same, who also have parents who tell them “Are you out of your mind? You want to quit your stable job? You want to become a spiritual life coach? You want to do this and that?” and it can be so hard when you don’t have any examples around you; you don’t know anyone who’s “made it”; you don’t know anyone on the other side; you don’t know anyone living their Dharma. And I was the exact same way, in fact, I share, in my story, when I first met people living their Dharma, I would ask every single person “Are your parents okay with this?” because I had never lived in a reality of people who had completely paved their own path, regardless of what their family thought about it. And especially if you grew up with parents who immigrated here from another county, this idea of following your dreams is flat out unheard of. And we’re so lucky that we get to have the survival needs met, that allow us to even ponder purpose, self-actualization, fulfillment.

[03:07] Sahara
So, while our parents did not have everything that they needed for them to flourish, what a blessing and honor it is for us to be able to stand upon their shoulders and to acknowledge where we came from. And instead of trying to make our parents proud, let’s focus on making our children proud, and all of the generations to come, for the ways that we were able to transmute and leap past many of the obstacles that intergenerationally have been passed along. I’m talking, in my lineage, child marriage, female suppression, no woman in my family has worked before me.
So, it’s so important for us to realize how far we’ve even come, in one generation, and that this is big work, and our soul assignment is to be here doing the damn thing. And sometimes it takes hearing someone else’s story to remember that it’s possible for us too.

[04:07] Sahara
So, this conversation was first on Neeta’s podcast The Brave Table, she is my co-founder in Dharma Coaching Institute, which is the first and only soul purpose training institute. So, it is an accredited school that, in 6 months, will train you to become a Soul Purpose and Spiritual Life Coach.
So, we teach you everything around, not only finding your purpose, but finding the courage to take action upon it, and also to be able to heal anything that may be showing up or blockages that are preventing you from really owning and sharing your gifts.

[04:42] Sahara
So, if you are interested in joining us, doors are open right now for Dharma Coaching Institute. This is going to be such a transformative journey! I have had so many students quit their corporate jobs or use it to supplement their own spiritual journeys; busy moms, to CEOs, and everything in between, and it has been such a beautiful experience to witness people step into the Dharma Coaching Institute container, just simply feeling this intuitive calling that there is something there for them and they didn’t know “Am I going to be a coach or not?”. “Am I doing this for my education?”, “Am I doing this for my career?”, “I’m not sure, but I’m feeling called”, and to witness the transformations that happen after, from creating your own retreat center, to being the first person in your family to hit 6 figures, and everything in between. So, it has been such a divine honor to be able to be a doula for so many Dharma coaches.
And if you are feeling the intuitive hit to join us or to learn more, then head over to dharmacoachinginstitute.com that link is in the show notes. And again, doors are open right now, they won’t be open again for another 6 months, so if you’re hearing this right now, this is your opportunity to join us at dharmacoachinginstitute.com.

[05:55] Sahara
Well, without further ado, let’s welcome myself and Dr. Neeta Bhushan to The Highest Self Podcast.

______________________________________________________________

[06:02] Advertisement

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with

[07:31] End of Advertisement
______________________________________________________________

[07:33] Interview

[07:33] Neeta
Alright! Oh, my goodness, I’m so, so excited to finally welcome Sahara to The Brave Table! Welcome, all the way from Miami!

[07:47] Sahara
Girl, it’s good to be here!

[07:49] Neeta
Okay! Well, woman, I think we need to set the stage, and the table, and let’s go back a little bit, as to how you discovered your Dharma?

[08:03] Sahara
So, for me, as a child, I always knew that I was here to help people, that was always this natural knowing, and I thought helping people meant to sacrifice your life. So, I would look at people like Mother Theresa and Gandhi, and I’m like “I know, I need to help people, so I’m going to join the Peace Corps”, and that’s what I thought I was going to do. And from there, I decided to actually go into Human Rights, and I was working with Amnesty International. I went to college in D.C. and I was studying International Human Rights Law and I thought that was going to be the trajectory of my life, but I felt so, creatively, unfulfilled. I’m also a very creative person and I love to speak and share and work with people. And I found that in these NGOs, you are really disconnected from the people that you want to be helping. And I knew that I didn’t want to spend my life just raising money from the next fundraiser, and all that fundraiser money is going to the next fundraiser, and I just felt so bureaucratic, but I didn’t know that my whole life was set up to do this thing and I’m like “So, what am I going to do?” and I really wasn’t sure. And I would look at other people and I’m like “Well, their life looks cool, should I work at L’Oreal make up company? Should I be a real estate agent? Should I do this, should I do that? I have no fucking idea! Maybe they know.”
So, at this time I was going through my own health journey and I had all these digestive issues, which turned into Amenorrhea and I stopped getting my period for over two years. So, when you don’t get your period for two years, your body goes into Perimenopause.

[09:36] Neeta
Perimenopause?

[09:37] Sahara
Yeah.

[09:38] Neeta
And you were 21?

[09:39] Sahara
21, so my body…

[09:41] Neeta
Meaning that…

[09:41] Sahara
It’s shutting down. I went to bone density issues, they told me that, likely, I’m going to become handicapped, early in life, they told me I’m obviously never going to be able to have children, and I had all of the symptoms that someone would have if they had zero estrogen in their bodies, when I’m 21 years old, and I need that to build my bones and my body, for the rest of my life. And I went to so many different doctors who kept prescribing me different medications.
So, take hormone replacement therapy, take anti-depressants for your digestion, it’s like all these weird things.

[10:15] Neeta
Oh my gosh! Right!

[10:15] Sahara
And I just intuitively knew that the root cause of this is not the fact that I haven’t been taking these medications, but it’s something deeper, but I didn’t know what that was. So, that brought me on a holistic health journey, and from studying different holistic health systems, I learned about Ayurveda.
Ayurveda is the world’s oldest health system and the sister science of yoga, based on the mind-body connection. So, for the first time, with Ayurveda, I felt completely understood. Taking an Ayurvedic quiz, when I got the results Vata, it was like my personality, my health issues, everything.

[10:49] Neeta
It’s totally you!

[10:50] Sahara
Yeah, it was completely me, and it put together pieces of the puzzle that no doctor was ever able to before.
So, I became obsessed, I wanted to learn everything I could about Ayurveda, and just went down this rabbit hole of really just focusing so much on, not just Ayurveda, but spirituality and just diving deeper into the mind-body connection.
So, I realized that, and as I was doing this, I was healing my body, and eventually I could digest food without being in pain, and I could sleep. because I had really bad insomnia before that, and I was healing my body, holistically, and I knew that so many people could benefit from this wisdom. So, I received the download of “Well, what if I wrote a book about this”, especially for young Millennial women like me, because so many of them are reaching out to me (I was blogging at the time) saying they had the exact same issues. So, I decided “Okay, I’ll write a book on this!” And I had never met an author in my life, I didn’t know anything about writing a book…

[11:48] Neeta
Because why not?!

[11:49] Sahara
Write a book.

[11:50] Neeta
As you do!

[11:51] Sahara
And I decided I would set off on this journey and focus on this, and that’s when my family was “Wait, wait, what?! This Ayurveda thing is okay for your hobby, but it’s not what is going to pay for your bills!”

[12:07] Neeta
Don’t you just love when they do that?! My God!

[12:10] Sahara
Yeah! So, at first they’re like “Okay, you’re crazy! When are you going to apply for your job or get your real estate license?”

[12:16] Neeta
What cult did you join? Yeah.

[12:18] Sahara
Yeah, and it was like “What cult did you join?” So, after I graduated from college, I went to India and I spent that first year of studying Ayurveda and teaching health and sanitation in the slums, and they’re like “What is she doing?! This is not the plan! What is going on?!”

[12:36] Neeta
Going off course.

[12:38] Sahara
And as I was diving deeper and deeper into myself, the more I realized that I don’t want to take advice from my parents, who are not happy, they’re not living their purpose and they’re making these decisions out of fear. So, I began seeing people live completely different experiences, like people in Bali who are Tantric Life Coaches and Reiki Masters, I’m like “Wait! I didn’t even know this existed! This is possible?”

[13:03] Neeta
Pure joy!

[13:05] Sahara
“Do your parents know you’re here?!” I would actually ask everyone I met “Are you parents okay with this?”

[13:12] Neeta
“How did you get them to say yes?”

[13:15] Sahara
And some of them were like “I haven’t spoken to my parents in a decade”, and some of them were like “My parents are here with me”, and I realized so much of my life I spent for my parent’s approval, of wanting to get that whole star and wanting them to say “You’re worthy of love.” Especially my dad, who grew up in Iran, where, the only way he was worthy of love was by being smart, so, for me, I felt that same thing.
And I was really at this crossroads, because the more I would see these people taking completely alternative life plans, it showed me it was possible, but at the same time, I had this idea in my mind “Well, that’s possible for them because they’re white” or “That’s possible for them because they don’t have the same background that I have”, I wish I was Sally, whose mom didn’t give a crap, my parents will kill me, I can’t!

[14:05] Neeta
They have a plan for you and it has to be fulfilled!

[14:08] Sahara
Exactly! And then I also wondered, too, because a lot of them did struggle, financially. So, I’m like “Is it possible to make money and buy organic food from Wholefoods and live your purpose? And also, are these people special? Maybe they have a purpose, but I don’t!”
And so, I was really at this crossroads of “Do I have a purpose?” Is this just the Santa Clause story they tell you of when you’re a kid of “Follow your dreams”, and you get older and it’s like “No, you weren’t actually supposed to follow your dreams.”

[14:36] Neeta
You’re supposed to get a job!

[14:37] Sahara
Exactly! So, I wasn’t sure and I was extremely confused. And during this time, the tension with my family was getting worse and worse and worse, and I came back to Boston, where they live, and I was living with them for 2 months at this point, and we were fighting every single day. And especially with my father, he was just – I think a lot of time, immigrant dads think they need to be angry and harsh in order for you to make a change.

[15:03] Neeta
And overprotective.

[15:05] Sahara
Yeah, but it was coming, it felt, to me, really hateful, it felt like he didn’t understand me. So, he would call me a loser, he would call me a failure, he would call me a lost and confused hippy who doesn’t know what she’s doing in life.
And I remember this one fight that I had with my dad, that he was just yelling at me “You are such a disgrace, I sacrificed my entire life for you and this is how you repay me? You are dead to me, you are the scum of the earth!” And I went down stairs to the playroom I used to play in as a kid, and I was just crying, on my knees crying, and I looked up at my dolls from when I was a kid, and I was like “What did they do all this for? Why did they bring me to this country? Why did they tell me to do what you love when here I am, doing it, and I’m dead to him?” And then I realized “Well, if I’m dead to him, then I have no one else to live for but myself”, and I’m not going to try to get that pat on the head of “You’re good enough, you’re our good daughter”, fuck it, I’m going to live life according to my terms.

[16:12] Neeta
No more perfect daughter!

[16:14] Sahara
Exactly! So, with the little money that I had, I was able to book a flight back to India, I stayed in a hut that was 100 rupees a night.

[16:24] Neeta
Stop!

[16:25] Sahara
Less than $2/night, for a year, with rats in it. Some nights I would look up at my mosquito net and my mosquito net was 6 inches away from my face because there was a rat on it, that had fallen, and I would try to throw my shoe to get the rat to go away.

[16:42] Neeta
Boy, you went deep!

[16:44] Sahara
And because, I didn’t have money, but I just knew that I needed to have the space to be able to write this book, and I knew that this book needed to happen, and I was willing to let go of everything in my life to see if it’s possible for me, because I knew that if I died with this regret of not knowing what I was capable of, I would actually end up just like my dad, feeling really hateful of people who are following their dreams.

[17:07] Neeta
Wow! Oh, that hits a lot of wounds there! Oh, yes! And I think so many of our listeners, I know, it’s a big one, she just dropped a big one! Mic drop! Because this is, kind of, the immigrant parent story, and this is the immigrant parent story for so many of us, and it’s kind of like – and you and I’ve talked about this, you know, the length of, they had to struggle, your parents, my parents, they came here for a better life, for sure. And your dad is so accomplished, however many PhDs, but our parents, they worked and they want, they only know what they know.
So, how did you, kind of, then, your journey, kind of, took a different turn, because now you’re like “Alright, now I’m going to live on my own because my dad basically disowned me”, how was that next chapter for you?

[18:06] Sahara
Yeah, so that next chapter, I had a beautiful sense of freedom that happens when you stop living for someone else. You stop trying to prove yourself or be like “Hey, I did this, I did that”, and all those micro ways that you do that, and I had the space from them to really start to think about all of the beliefs that I was given, that aren’t true to me. You know, even like little things like “Oh, if you like a guy, completely ignore him because that’s how you’ll know.”

[18:34] Neeta
That’s how you get them.

[18:35] Sahara
And I’m like, well that’s what I was taught by my Iranian cousin so I’m like, who am I attracting if the only guys who come up are the ones I won’t make eye contact with, who am I attracting here?

[18:47] Neeta
Look the other way! It’s like the biggest Bollywood movie where you’re in the fields and your hair is just like…

[18:53] Sahara
Pretend you hate them and see who perseveres. You’re going to get a fucking stalker if you do that!

[18:59] Neeta
That’s so true! There’re going to be at your house, red flag ladies, red flag! You do not want that!

[19:06] Sahara
Exactly! So, I started to just rethink all of these beliefs. So, that next chapter, for me, it looked like, I had this idea, there were a lot of children and younger girls, because in Goa, there’s a lot of sex trafficking, and these are women who have escaped from sex trafficking, they were selling these recycled sari materials. So, I had this idea of creating a pants line that I called Saraswathi Couture, made out of recycled sari pants. So, that became really my first business that I had, and I took that business, and my fights with my parents continued, this time just on text message going back and forth, and I felt like “Okay, I need to some back and fix this chapter, because every time I’m doing yoga or meditating or on ecstatic dance, this guilt is killing me. So, even though I’m here, the guilt, it still follows you.”
So, I decided to go back to the US, but this time I had my Saraswathi Couture business, and I would go to different music festivals and I would van. So, my dad started to see that “Okay, she’s able to provide for herself, she has some sort of business”.

[20:09] Neeta
She’s taking risks!

[20:11] Sahara
And so, the relationship started to get a bit better, and I lived with my grandma at the time because I still wasn’t creating enough money to be able to live on my own. So, any money that I would get, I would give into getting my book edited and graphic design, and just trying to get my book off the ground, that eventually, I met this girl who introduced me to a literary agent, and that literary agent pitched my book to 30 different publishers. And I was so excited, this book, I finally finished it, it took me 2 years to write this book, it was called “Eat Right For Your Mind-Body Type”, it’s my modern approach to Ayurveda with my plant-based recipes and finally she’s pitching it to Simon and Schuster and Penguin Random House, and Hay House, and guess what, Neeta?!

[20:55] Neeta
What?

[20:55] Sahara
They all rejected me!

[20:58] Neeta
Oh my gosh!

[21:00] Sahara
All 30 of them rejected me!

[21:02] Neeta
Oh my God!

[21:03] Sahara
And they echoed back the exact same fears that I had in my head – “No one cares”, “You’re not a doctor”, “You’re too young”, “No one cares about Ayurveda”, “It’s never going to happen!”
So, at that point I was like “Well, maybe my parents were right?” Here, I did everything…

[21:20] Neeta
You did it all!

[21:21] Sahara
Rejected! Here’s a big wall in my face! So, I’m like “I guess I’ve got to study for my real estate exam!” But every time I would study for an exam, I would literally start crying, and I’m just like “I couldn’t have gone through these health issues and gotten this far, just to do this!” Again, some people might love real estate, it’s just not my thing.

[21:41] Neeta
Right!

[21:42] Sahara
And a week later, that exact same literary agent emailed me, she’s like “By the way, I got approached by the Alpha Group at Penguin Random House, who does the Idiot’s Guide books, they’re looking for someone to write “The Idiot’s guide to Ayurveda”, and they had someone who was there, there’s six months that they give the author to write a book, she was four months into the six months, and it was so much work that she quit. So, they’re looking for someone to start to finish, to write a 400+ page textbook on Ayurveda in 2 months, so, she’s like “Are you interested?”, I’m like “Sure, I’ll take anything at this moment”.

[22:13] Neeta
Oh my God!

[22:15] Sahara
So, I had to apply. So, I went to Barns and Nobles, I read every single Idiot’s Guide out there,
“Idiot’s Guide to Mowing Your Lawn”, “Idiot’s Guide to Gardening”, “Idiot’s Guide to whatever the fuck”, and I’m staying up all night and I wrote the Table of Contents, a 16-page detailed Table of Contents, they’re like “Okay, this is interesting, write the first chapter”, so then I go back, read all the Idiot’s Guide books to just get their tone, because, you know, it’s very like…

[22:39] Neeta
Of course.

[22:39] Sahara
“Fun fact for you!” And I wrote that first chapter and I was hired. So, here I was, now, I had to write a whole new book on Ayurveda in 2 months, but I just knew “You know what, it might not be my book, but this is an opportunity that I’m given right now, so I’m just going to give this my all, because who knows, I might have one year left to live and this is the only book I get to write in my life, so let me give it my all.” So, I did, and wrote that book, and then flash forward, when it was about to be printed, almost a year later, I saw Deepak Chopra at a conference and walked up to him and sent him that book, and he liked it, and he asked me to meet up with him and interviewed me, and ended up writing the Forward of that book.

[23:23] Neeta
How insane!!

[23:25] Sahara
Exactly! And all of a sudden I was like “Holy crap!” My life has so radically shifted just in this past year, and I really attribute the fact that I was able to say yes to something that was challenging, that wasn’t, it wasn’t the shiny book deal where I was going to be on the cover of the book at all, it was me just writing the book, and I took the opportunity, I gave it my all.
And I see a lot of people, they don’t take these opportunities when they show up and they wait for the thing to be handed to them, and because I did that, then, what is luck? It’s preparation meets opportunity, that when I saw Deepak Chopra, I had prepared myself by writing that book and I took the opportunity of walking up to a total stranger at a conference, and…

[24:10] Neeta
Brave moment.

[24:11] Sahara
Brave moment! And then, here we had him, writing the Forward of my book, and then from there, we created a 31-day course together.

[24:18] Neeta
Can we just – wait, wait, let me just unpack the meeting of Deepak, because had you been, already, following him and being a student of his, how was that interaction?

[24:32] Sahara
Deepak Chopra was the person that when my parents and I would get into a fight, I would say “One day I’m going to be like Deepak Chopra! One day!”, and they’re like “You’re crazy and he’s crazy!”

[24:47] Neeta
Oh, my goodness!

[24:48] Sahara
He was that person to me that was the example, the pinnacle of what’s possible because he really is one of the first people to bring Ayurveda to the US, and was such an inspiration for me. I mean, and really, to me, represented a father figure of like “Look at this person who’s this scientist and a researcher”, and has so many similarities to my father, but for whatever reason, opened up to consciousness.
So, it was just such an example for me, of like “That’s also possible.” I mean, the conference that I walked up to, he wasn’t even a speaker at, he just happened to be there, I didn’t even know he was going to be there.

[25:24] Neeta
Oh wow!

[25:26] Sahara
Spirit just told me “This is probably the only chance that you have, in your life, to walk up to him”, and I did. And the difference is, if I walked up to him and said “Oh, I have an idea for a book”, he’d be like “Yeah, good for you, everyone has an idea”, but the fact that I had this book and was done, and it was by his exact same publisher too, is what allowed him to see “Okay, she’s not just talking, she’s actually taking action on what it is that she’s sharing.”

[25:50] Neeta
And she’s being completely unapologetic in her request, and just going after it. And that’s totally you, in so many ways, in a nutshell. And you braving the way and being such a pioneer in, kind of, in this new avenue of owning your voice, and not to mention, but just completely laying down the foundation for others to discover their Dharma. Gosh, I love that story so much! It always gives me chills!
So, now that you get this Forward from Deepak, take us through this, now, because it seems like everything, then, almost fast forwarded your career and the journey into, literally, the next few phases before we then met.

[26:44] Sahara
Yeah. I feel that I really, in a way, needed that, and it was affirmation that I was on the right track, because even with my book “Idiot’s Guide to Ayurveda” coming out, I still, in the back of mind, was like “And after this book comes out, I might need to get a job” because I was barely paid for that book. So, I feel it was that affirmation and that push of “No, this is really happening. This is your life”, because I could’ve never orchestrated that happening myself.

[27:11] Neeta
So wild, so wild!

[27:12] Sahara
So, you know, the next step, after that, in Sanskrit they say “There’s two energies when you’re moving towards your Dharma, your Dharma being your soul’s purpose”. So, imagine we were all born on a highway, and that highway is guiding us to our fullest expression, who you are here to be in all of your glory, not just one career or job, but it’s you and your unique energetic frequency.
So, we’re all born on this highway and we’re driving down this highway as children, we’re in alignment, we’re being ourselves, and then people in the world outside of us, our school system, our parents, teachers, they say “Oh, get off this exit, you’ll make more money doing this, you’ll be more loved doing that, you’ll be able to fit in more if you do this”, so we go off these exits, on this highway, and the Universe responds because the Universe wants us to live our purpose, it wants us to be here, sharing our gifts, it’s why it designed us, we’re all here to solve a unique problem. So, the Universe responds in what is called Karma.
Karma is bounded action by the Universe. So, it’s like the barricades on the side of the highway that are like “Get back on track”. So, at first, those barricades are like tap, tap, tap, something’s wrong, something’s off, you feel anxious, you’re not feeling in alignment, but most people, we don’t listen, we’re like “Whatever, let me drink more coffee, get through it”, and then you continue to get off that highway. And then the Universe is like “Okay, you’re not listening”, punch, punch, punch, the thing gets bigger, maybe you’re having breakdowns or panic attacks or just feeling really out of alignment, things are kind of exploding in your business (in a bad way), and sometimes we listen, but most of the time we don’t, we think “Let me just muster through this and keep going.” And then the Universe is like “Okay, I need to do something to shake you up, to get you to really revisit your trajectory because you’re not in alignment”, and that, for many people, is their breakdown, it’s that rock bottom moment.
So, for me, my health issues were that, they needed me to wake up and to get back into alignment.
Now, as we go back on this highway, we experience what is called Kriya, boundless action by the Universe. So, that’s the synchronicities, those are the meaningful coincidences, meeting the right people at the right time. And when you get into alignment with Kriya, your natural flow it’s like, you can take a seat back and the Universe is guiding you along the way.
So, me, getting that book deal, then meeting Deepak Chopra, it put me into Kriya, and then it almost gave me permission to let myself honor my creativity. So, then I had this idea of a 31-day Mind-Body Challenge with him and he said yes, and I just, that day, recorded the whole thing. And then, you know, he had this event and we started to collaborate and then I pitched myself to every podcast that I could. I didn’t even have a podcast at this time, to start getting my voice and my message out there, I launched my podcast in 2017, I launched my first course, I just kept going and kept going.

[30:11] Neeta
On this spiral.

[30:13] Sahara
Exactly. And it’s that energy of Kriya, of, you’re no longer in that path of resistance, it’s more of that path of least resistance, because you’re in alignment with your purpose and the big reason why you’re here.

[30:25] Neeta
You’re no longer part of the resistance, wow! And to come full circle, I mean, Deepak has said that you are the voice of the Millennial generation.

[30:38] Sahara
Yeah, he’s been so supportive and so sweet, every single day I’m like “How the hell did that all just happen?” But you, know, I just really believe that people can feel your energy and your intention, and he met me before my first book even came out and saw that in me, and so, I’m forever grateful for him.

[30:55] Neeta
And it’s crazy, because, literally, what, three books in, he’s been writing the Forwards to every single one of the books, including “Discover Your Dharma”. Which I want to, you know, jump into because that is kind of how we met and it has literally shifted our worlds left, right, front and center, and literally, a year ago, you were here, in Austin, and we were alchemizing this next incredible project, and really birthing that together. And I think that, I mean, because you are such a testament and I think a voice for this generation of ours, where, yeah, we can heal the traumas of our parents, but also walk our own path.
Can you speak to this whole idea of what we’ve been through in the last 2 years, of the Great Resignation, and now we have this result of people, literally, discovering their Dharma?

[32:02] Sahara
Yeah, it’s a beautiful time right now. You know, Covid has, obviously, been so challenging, and at the same time, sometimes we need that sacred pause, we need to hit that rock bottom, we need to go into that Karma in order to make the change. And what it’s caused a lot of people to do is to really reconsider the trajectory of their lives – why am I living the same day over and over again? am I sharing my gifts? Am I in alignment with my truth? And for a lot of people that answer was no.
So, the Great Resignation that we’re experiencing right now is the largest amount of people in modern history to purposely resign from their jobs. They’re not being fired, they’re actually choosing to resign in order to choose jobs or careers, or start their businesses that are more in alignment with them.
What’s so beautiful about this right now is that, I think, especially now, as a business owner, for ourselves, it’s like we, even business owners want people who are in alignment with their Dharma in an organization. And there is so much room to grow, especially with companies going online, for creatives to have their part, or for moms to share their wisdom, or for people later in life or with different experiences, to begin using those experiences as their touch points and sharing their gifts in a new way.
So, I believe right now is the greatest time and opportunity for people to live their Dharma. And if you, right now, on a career that’s not serving you, this is really the time where you get to ask yourself those big questions of “Why am I here? What are my gifts? What am I excited about?”
And, you know, we have so much content to be able to support you in finding that, and know that right now, there is so much opportunity, companies are really hiring and looking for people right now, more than ever before. And if you’ve been waiting for a permission slip, this moment right now is it.

[33:52] Neeta
This is it! This is it! And it’s one of the reasons why we started Dharma Coaching Institute, a year ago. And it was really birthed, I think, for two reasons. I think to give people the, kind of, opportunity that they can begin their own journey of healing, because a lot of our students actually do this as, kind of, their own personal growth and personal development, especially if they are people of color, if they are coming from immigrant households, where they weren’t really given that permission. And I love your story so much because it is so visceral and it’s very resonant to how all of us grew up, being fearful of our parents and what they would say, and not being supported when we wanted to dream big in our own ways. It was kind of their own path for us, which is one of the reasons why Ajit and I are like “Oh my gosh, the three of us need to create our own little Avengers and our trio” because your book, “Discover Your Dharma”, has literally been such a game-changer and I think an awakening and a call for so many to help them discover their own.
And so, there’s two parts to DCI, where it’s, you can go there for your own personal journey, which a lot of our students do, but I think the other angle of DCI, and I want you to talk about that, is, you actually can change your career.

[35:21] Sahara
It’s such a beautiful opportunity because, in my own journey of not only then discovering my Dharma and then embodying it and living it, I found that there were so many people who felt that same urge and desire. Right now, if you’re listening to this, are you that friend that everyone comes to whenever they have a problem? Are you that friend that’s always giving people advice on things? Are you that friend that’s seeing things from a higher level of perspective? Do you tend to follow a lot of spiritual or personal growth Instagrams? Do you tend to listen to podcasts like this and spend your free time doing this type of work?
So, so many of us really are unofficial coaches already, we just don’t have the tools, we don’t know how to structure it, we don’t, maybe, even value our time. And what DCI allows you to do is take what’s already there, that little seed inside of you and water it, and nourish it, and put you around other people who are just like you. I mean, the friendships in there that have been created are so beautiful! And then allow you to take that natural gift that you have inside of you and create a business for yourself that you can be a Certified Soul Purpose Coach and double certification for a Spiritual Life Coach.
So, you learn all of the frameworks and modalities to help people live their soul’s purpose. So, from how to have a discovery call; how to work with the Dharma Archetypes; the Chakra System; the types of Dharma; the Blueprint. I mean, we give you everything and show you the outline of how to do a 3-month coaching practice, a 6-week, a 6-month, what to say in each and every one; and then we give you the space to actually practice. Because here’s the thing that’s missing in most coaching institutes (I’ve done a lot of them), you don’t practice, you don’t get feedback from other people. So, you graduate and you’re like “I’ve never even practiced this before, what am I doing wrong?” And of course, we have Ajit, who guides, in the last 2 months, all of the business things you need to know on pricing, structures, and we have a lawyer come in and share about agreements. So, I feel like we really go the extra mile in making sure people have everything that they need to take those gifts within them and create, it’s like that feminine and that masculine, and bringing that integration forward; and then that domino effect that happened when you step into your Dharma and then you help other people find their Dharma, who help other people, and other people, and other people. And I truly believe that the greatest way that we can change the world is by helping other people live their purposes.

[37:56] Neeta
And what a beautiful time than now, to be able to…

[38:00] Sahara
What a time to feel alive!

[38:05] Neeta
And, I mean, it really is, because we get to be the way-showers for our friend circle. And if you’re listening to this and you’re kind of like “You know what, I am the one that’s kind of sharing all this wisdom”, “I am the party starter and having these deeper conversations”, then we invite you to go deeper in your journey. And what do we have for them Sahara, to begin their journey of discovering their Dharma?

[38:32] Sahara
Yes, I love what you said that we all are those igniting flames in our own demographic, so whatever unique experience you have.
So, I shared a bit about mine, and you’ve shared on your story on the podcast, everyone has their own, but maybe someone listening to this, you know, someone in our community had a son a son who struggled with addiction and now she helps other moms whose children have addiction. Or maybe you know what it’s like to be a single mom and move to a new country, or whatever your unique life experience is.
So, there is, genuinely, coaches needed in every single demographic and every single walk of life because you can speak the same language as those people who are lawyers looking for their purpose, or nurses, or whatever your industry is. So, those things that feel random in your career are actually the things that make you a perfect coach for someone. So, yes, we’re so excited! And to get the party started, we have a free Masterclass for you. So, it’s the Discover Your Soul’s Purpose Masterclass where I jam out for an hour, teaching you about how to discover your soul’s purpose, and you can find that at iamsahararose.com/masterclass so we’ll have that link listed below too.

[39:44] Neeta
Perfect! Amazing, amazing! So, I kind of want to jump ship here and get into our igniting round! Alright, so, first question, you can take as long as you want, or as short as you want, just a couple of questions here as we wrap up our time.
Alright, so, if you can describe a magical moment that sucked recently?

[40:09] Sahara
The one that happened right before this. I recorded an entire course and my microphone was not on, and this is the second time that’s happened to me. So, you know, I’m just trying to not – the last time this happened to me, I recorded a whole course. Like, today I recorded maybe 5 hours of content that I’m having to re-record, however, the last time this happened to me, it made the content even better, even punchier because I did it before. And it’s really that example of mastery takes 10,000 hours. So, sometimes in the social media world we’re like “Oh, I wrote it once, it’s good enough”, but there is a gift in doing something again and again and again, to get even more refined.
I mean, in Japan, in sushi dreams of Gyro, they spend two years just on the rice, so, if they can spend two years on rice, I can re-record my course!

[40:57] Neeta
You sure can! You sure can! And shout to everybody who has failed really big and miserably. This is kind of, it’s a blessing in disguise, many times when you see different perspectives and different outcomes. So, it’s amazing!
So, I think the one question in everyone’s mind, as we kind of close up this loop, is, how’s your relationship with your father today?

[41:22] Sahara
Yeah. So, I’m so grateful that my relationship with my father is better than it ever has been before, and he actually, now, is always “Oh, my daughter, she does what she does because of me. She takes after me so much, she’s just like me”, I mean, he’s like completely blocked out the fighting part, he’s like “I’ve always supported”, I’m just like “Whatever helps you sleep at night, bro!” But the beauty of it is, I think that…

[41:50] Neeta
They come around.

[41:51] Sahara
It helped, I think, both of our relationships needed it, that I needed to get out of the daughter-father dynamic and see him as a human, and he also, the same thing for me, not like “My child that I need to take care of, but this human with her own soul path that I’m not going to understand”. And both of us are very strong-willed, both of us are very hardworking and driven, and while he’s a scientist and I’m like a spiritual teacher, and it feels like two totally different things, the same qualities that we have within us are what have made us successful in what it is that we do. So, I’m so grateful, while he still totally doesn’t understand what I’m doing, he brags about me to everyone that he meets.

[42:32] Neeta
My gosh! I love it! I love it! Shout out to uncle! And we are so excited, we can’t wait to meet him at some point.
Now, what is one practice that’s currently elevating your life? So, it could be a practice, a ritual, book?

[42:50] Sahara
So, well, two different practices, one of them is strength training. So, I used to just do a lot of yoga and bar, and since lifting weights, it has made me stronger. Sometimes, as women, we’re like “Oh, I can’t do this, I can’t do that”, lifting heavy baggage up and putting it up in the airplane, these little things like that, and just like our mind and body are connected by cultivating more strength and stability, and my body has cultivated more of that groundedness in my mind. So, I love strength training and I love breathwork. That, to me, is a practice, and in fact, I don’t know if you know this, but when you first came to my place in the Palisades, when we hung out for the first time, we were just talking for a really long time, after you left, maybe the next day, I was doing my breathwork practice and at the very end of my breathwork, when I was kind of meditating, it said “Reach out to Neeta about your Dharma Coaching idea”, and it literally told me that, and I was like “Why would she want to work with me? She works with all these people, why would she want to work with me?” and I told Steven, he was like “I think that’s a good idea, you should reach out to her”, and I was like “I don’t know”, and I kind of sat with it for a few days, until I did and I was like “I’ll just throw it out there, who knows!” So, that breathwork was so powerful because it just landed in that seed that maybe my mind didn’t give me permission to think about, but it was in the ethers, waiting to happen.

[44:18] Neeta
Oh my God, I love that! Because there were so many synchronistic moments in those 2 months together, when we were both in LA. And look at where we are now!

[44:31] Sahara
Yeah, it’s just such a great example of, we get these ideas in life but it’s like, then, do we speak about them, do we take action on them? So, it’s like, we’re giving space to those practices like breathwork, meditation, taking walks to get the ideas, and then having the courage to take action on it.

[44:49] Neeta
Absolutely! And I think it goes back to the through line of this conversation today, is, if you’re on a highway, the highway of your purpose and kind of your greatest evolution and your greatest expansion, but if you’re not paying attention to the signs that keep nudging at you, then really, you’re missing out on some of the juiciest moments that really are calling at you to make you come alive and to really discover your Dharma.
So, and, okay, what does it mean to be brave?

[45:22] Sahara
To be brave is to honor the whispers of your soul and let them be the guiding force of your life.

[45:30] Neeta
Okay! And one final question to wrap up our conversation, describe one word that represents the season of your life.

[45:41] Sahara
Creativity.

[45:43] Neeta
Love it, love it! Oh, this conversation was so, so expansive, in so many ways! Thank you so much, love!

[45:51] Sahara
Well, thank you so much for having me, I’m so excited for this podcast to be out into the world and for it to benefit so many people’s lives!

[45:59] End of Interview

_________________________________________________________

[45:59] Sahara
Thank you so much for listening to my story. I hope this allowed you to see that transformation is possible for you too, regardless of what the people around you say and to trust that inner knowing in your heart that you are destined for something greater. And that is the only evidence that you need.

[46:20] Sahara
So, if you’re feeling the call to become a Certified Soul Purpose Spiritual Life Coach then come join us at Dharma Coaching Institute, whether you actually want to become a coach or you’re using this for your won education, your own self, inner exploration, this is for you.
So, if you love the Podcast and imagine just diving into it for 4-ish hours a week with Live Coaching and Q&As with me every week, and so much more, it is like completely stepping into a container of radical transformation and intuitive development and owning your gift and your voice, and being able to connect with others, and so much more, this is such a transformational experience and I’m just so divinely honored to share it with you. So, again, doors are open right now, they won’t be open for another 6 months, so if you’re listening to this right now, then this may be your call to come join us at dharmacoachinginstitute.com that link is in the show notes and we are so excited to invite you inside.

[47:28] Sahara
I hope you enjoyed this Episode and I’ll see you in the next one! Namaste!

 

 

Episode 426: How I Was Able to Overcome Family Disapproval Around My Career +
Dharma with Neeta Bhushan
By Sahara Rose