If you have the intuitive desire to be a Certified Dharma Coach, but you’ve found yourself thinking “Well, who am I to be a coach? Why would people pay for my guidance?”Then imposter syndrome is what’s keeping your full-bodied Yes! from coming through.
And truth is, you’re not alone. In this episode, I have a beautiful conversation with Lauren Leduc, a Dharma Coaching Institute (DCI) graduate and mom who’s created a thriving coaching business and has even landed a book deal!
She shares how her journey didn’t start this way and how she suffered from imposter syndrome, anxiety, eating disorders, shame, and family expectations. Even so, she still built a successful yoga practice with multiple studios, but then 2020 struck and she lost the joy in her business in the chaos of the world.
She then shares how she now has secured a book deal for her first work as a published author and has built an abundant coaching business, while getting to be home to raise her daughter. This is a story about a mother who overcame her challenges to build her dream life, and how you can too.
Pre-order Lauren’s book here: https://www.laurenleduc.com/embody-yo…
Connect with Lauren on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/iamlaurenle…
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Transcript
Episode #493: How This Mom Got A Book Deal + Created A Successful Spiritual Coaching Business with Lauren Leduc
By Sahara Rose
[00:00] Sahara
The more individual we actually become, the more one we actually become, because when we celebrate our individuation of like “I am this sparkly spectrum of light. I am this flavor of ice cream. I am this cord of music. I am, you know, all of it”, we’re like “Wow, then together, we create a tapestry”. And to me, that really is the vision of Dharma Coaching Institute and just this new paradigm shift of let’s celebrate and honor our differences because we all are one at the end of the day. And that’s the beauty of it because then we stop judging and we start loving, and there’s so much freedom in that.
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[00:48] Sahara
Welcome Lauren, to The Highest Self Podcast, it’s so good to have you here!
[00:52] Lauren
Sahara, I’m so excited to be here, thank you so much for having me!
[00:56] Sahara
Yes! And the first question I would love to ask you is, what makes you your highest self?
[01:02] Lauren
So, I think, right now, for me, it’s really looking with compassionate awareness at every single part of myself, and especially the parts I find hard to like or love, and embrace that. And I find, the more I love on those parts of myself, the more, again, awareness and compassion I shine on that, the more, I don’t want to say they start to fade, but the more I am able to identify with the awareness itself. And really, like, hold myself with compassion while I’m in this beautiful truth of who I am. And I’m able to, like, watch all these parts of me that change and shift, and like, love on that.
And for now, or, I think, lately, for me, like, anxiety has come up every once in a while, limited beliefs around ageing, maybe, like, a sense of urgency in a way, feeling like I’m not enough, that’s come up throughout my life. And it’s so amazing, really, to be able to step back from that and love on it, love on her and give her what she needs so that I can just be in my wholeness.
[02:16] Sahara
So beautifully said! Yes, it’s when we can accept and love all parts of ourselves, that things actually do shift.
[02:23] Lauren
Yeah.
[02:24] Sahara
You know, it’s when we’re in resistance, that that thing persists and we can look at all areas in our lives.
So, I’m really excited to bring you on the Podcast today because, you know, you’ve been listening to the Podcast for a long time, you did Dharma Coaching Institute, now, you’re about to be a published author. And you wrote this amazing book all about embodying your inner goddess, while also having a one-year-old baby at the same time.
And I get a lot of, you know, listeners, they come up to me when they meet me at events, they’re like “You know, I really want to write a book, I want to put myself out there, but I’m busy, I have kids, I don’t have time”, you know, all of these different factors which are totally legitimate.
And sometimes, and I know, I used to feel this way before having my book, I was like, well, there’s certain people who are just, like, authors and artists, and, like, content creators, and it’s like, I don’t know, you’re, like, born that way or something, I don’t know, us, mere mortals, we’re just not that.
But you just decided to cross the threshold and you decided of like “No, I want to share my wisdom in this bigger way”, so, I really want to dive into your journey. But tell us first, where were you before, because you’ve had a yoga studio and you’ve been teaching for a while, but where were you before you got on the spiritual journey and what propelled you to dive into it?
[03:40] Lauren
Yeah. I would say, this might sound, like, pretentious, but I’ve always been spiritually awake, I have, since I was a kid. I’m from Kansas City, Missouri, and I was born into the Bible Belt and I was raised as an Evangelical Christian, and when I was a little girl, I felt that, like, so much in my heart, and I loved connecting with God. And as I got older and my mind started opening and I had a lot more exposure to different types of people and to the world, and I was a veracious reader, too, so I was exposed a lot to different ways of life in that way.
I started really questioning so much. And there was a lot going on in my life while I was doing this questioning. I was doing a lot of exploring, I was also really, like, internalizing patriarchy in a lot of ways, like, once I crossed the threshold into adulthood, or into, like, adolescence, so let’s say 13-14 getting more ascent or difficult around 15-16, as I was becoming a woman. And I had, sort of, the removal from spirituality for a while and it was really, really hard. I had a grieving process, I didn’t completely give up believing in something bigger than myself, but I just really didn’t know what that was. And to be quite honest, it was really hard for my family, when I told my father that I had stopped believing, he told me that he had failed at raising me.
And, you know, around that time too, I developed a really difficult eating disorder, I was this super high achiever, I was such a good girl, like, such a good girl and trying so hard every single day in so many ways. And it was like, maybe around age 16, the wheels just fell off and I really, like, crashed and burned, and at the time it was really difficult but I went into the hospital and treated the eating disorder, and it was just the start of a really long healing journey. But that gave me the gift of therapy, introspection, things like affirmations, spiritual practices really outside of the realm of Christianity, that, before then, I had no exposure to. In fact, that was my first introduction to yoga.
And this was in, like, the early 2000s, so, yoga, maybe in LA, it was big, but definitely not where I lived, and I wasn’t really something – I had heard of it before. But there was this character on a show called, I think, Animaniacs, either that, or Tiny Toons, we can look it up, but she was, like, a yogi duck, like “Hm, totally”, and floated around, like levitating. And a lot of kids I knew weren’t allowed to watch it, simply because she was a character. So, that’s how limited my exposure was to anything, really, like, beyond Christianity, beyond Mid-West.
So, yes, I had this first experience with yoga in the hospital, and it wasn’t acrobatic or anything like that, it was mostly, like, breathing and meditation and I just felt so at peace. So, that really planted a seed inside of me of what I would be doing later on.
I would love to say, like, and that’s when I found my dharma and my life just went up from there, but that definitely was not at all. I had to do a lot of exploring, a lot of trial and error, and really, like, make a lot of mistakes to eventually get to the point where I had some clarity around, like, why I’m here, what my connection to Spirit is and, yeah, what I should be doing with my life – dharma.
[07:17] Sahara
Beautiful! And then, how, in your journey, did you find Dharma Coaching Institute, and what inspired you to sign up and become a Soul Purpose and Spiritual Life Coach?
[07:26] Lauren
Well, let’s fast forward, about ten years from where I just was. At this point, I’d been a yoga studio owner for several years, I’d been leading international yoga retreats, I was co-founder of a yoga festival that was local, leading yoga teacher training, had definitely gotten a lot more certifications since then. I was in this, like, very embodied state with my dharma, I was living my truth, and serving, and having so much fun, and feeling in joy, and at a good place in my marriage, and I felt “Okay, I think this is the right time to bring on a baby”. I didn’t think that I would become a mother, I always did, like, when I was little, because that’s all I saw, were, like, people getting married when they’re in their early 20s and having kids right away. I realized that wasn’t my trajectory, and I thought that since I had taken on so many student loans that it wouldn’t be responsible to have a baby. But here I was, this was, like, Fall of 2019, and March, I became pregnant, and the world shut down. And basically, around the time I got pregnant, I was scrambling to put my business fully online, and we went into lockdown.
I’ll say, my husband is also an entrepreneur, he’s a taco restaurant owner and they had to shut down as well, we went through this, like, I don’t know – there’s this juxtaposition of, like, this very, like, beautiful and joyful time, and very, like, internal and nurturing, and also, the chaos of the world and having to keep up as entrepreneurs.
So, I had my daughter, a beautiful home birth, in November of 2020. And at this point I’m, like, keeping up with regulations and just trying to pay my employees and keep things afloat. And I’d lost a lot of the joy in my career while experiencing, like, the biggest, wildest, most beautiful love and motherhood. So, this went on for a while, as everyone knows, it was a hard time for everybody, and I was starting to just feel so burned out, I was so tired. There’s something called matrescence that happens when you have a baby and it’s like, I don’t want to say you don’t know who you are, but it is a huge identity shift and it’s a like a tremendous lifestyle shift. And I waited till 36 to have her, so I was used to really doing whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and that changed really fast, and not just because of her, but because of this pandemic.
So, I just wasn’t sure what to do, I closed one studio, because I had two open at that time, and I found your Podcast. I actually had heard you years before, on a comedy podcast, yeah, and some of my students had your Ayurveda book and told me about it. And I have no idea, like, how I stumbled upon your Podcast, but you did an Episode that was affirmations for burn out, do you remember that?
[10:24] Sahara
Yes.
[10:25] Lauren
Yeah, at the end of 2021. And something, like, clicked. It relit my inner fire, I have a lot, I have a lot of inner fire, but it was feeling so low after such a hard year, plus. And I felt like, energized, again, with my studio, but I also felt that my priorities really shifted with having a baby. I really wanted to be home with her, I didn’t want to be out teaching tons of classes. So, as soon as I heard about Dharma Coaching Institute, I didn’t know, like, whether or not I was going to become a coach, I thought, like, it was a possibility and, like, a way to expand my dharma and be with my daughter at home, but I signed up, I think the first day, and yeah.
[11:12] Sahara
And the rest is history.
[11:13] Lauren
Yes.
[11:14] Sahara
And how do you think the experience shaped you? Like, how did you shift throughout those six months?
[11:21] Lauren
I think, in so many ways. I’ll share a story from my first day. So, I was really nervous to be at home with my daughter and do this course. I had led my yoga teacher training online and she kind of came in and out, but I just, I hadn’t really seen anyone professional before, like, have a baby with them, or have their kids, and I was really nervous. And of course, we come on the first day and there’s like hundreds of faces on Zoom, and I got put into a break out room to practice coach, and I, like, had my daughter off camera and, like, trying to feed her tomato soup, off camera, to keep her happy, and the person who popped up on my screen in the break out group, had her daughter with her, who was homesick. And immediately, I just felt like phew, totally at ease, and we were able to connect. And just spoiler alert, this person is now my best friend and my podcast co-host.
[12:21] Sahara
Oh my god! The way that Spirit brings us together, even in a break out group!
[12:26] Lauren
Absolutely, yeah! We kept getting put together too, after that, which was, like, I don’t know, so coincidental. Totally, like “Here’s your soul sister”. So, that was, like, the first way it changed, was just knowing that I could continue to develop myself and expand while also being a mother. And I’d seen people be working mothers before, but it always felt really compartmentalized. So, it gave me, like, the confidence and hope that I could have this really, like, kind of, integrated and messy life. And for me, it is why it’s working.
So, beyond that, I’m a traveler, I love traveling and I couldn’t for, you know, various reasons, the pandemic and the baby, and I suddenly connected to all of these folks around the world who are like-minded, and so that felt like home to me. And then, trainings, for me, are like candy, I love to learn. My first yoga teacher training, I was very nervous in becoming something new, but ever since then I’m just like “Please, give me a great training”. So, I was just, like, drinking in the content and it provided so many skills that weren’t just for this particular career, like, they helped really fortify what I was already doing while giving me just important life skills, helping me listen better, for instance. So, while there’s all this wonderful content and learning all this skill, this community of beautiful people, there’s also the sense of accountability. So, beyond all of the wonderful, like, in-person time together, I had my time with Rashida, who is my bestie now, as well as time with other coaches.
[14:09] Sahara
You know Rashida is the Rose Gold Goddess community manager now?
[14:10] Lauren
Of course I know! Yes!
[14:13] Sahara
I love her energy so much, yeah!
[14:15] Lauren
She’s amazing, yeah!
[14:16] Sahara
Yeah!
[14:17] Lauren
So, beyond her, I even was meeting with so many other coaches and really receiving a lot of accountability and support for my dreams. So, it became this container where I could really grow and act on a few ideas and things I’d had for a long time. So, it paid off in so many ways.
[14:36] Sahara
Oh my gosh, you have a whole podcast, you’re best friends, this book coming out, which we’ll talk about, but it’s so beautiful because sometimes we think like “Oh, there’s Spirit and there’s technology, and they’re different”, and it’s like, Spirit can work through technology, of like, you hearing the exact podcast episode that you needed.
And the reason why I made the Episode of affirmations for burn out was, because I was burned out, so I was like “Let me just say the affirmations I need to hear”, and it was what you needed to hear and it was like those little breadcrumbs that guided you to join DCI, which, your yoga teacher training had totally prepared you for because you’re aware of the concept of living your dharma, your soul’s purpose, and the chakras, and the koshas, and all of these things, which led to you realizing that you can be a mom in her, like, beautiful, maternal energy while working.
And yeah, it’s like, when we think of working women, we think of, like, the daycare in the office building and like “Oh, great, you can drop your kids off at daycare in the office”, but it’s like, what about just having them in your lap.
Like, back in the day of the tribes, we didn’t need to separate children from adults, it was all interrelated. And you know, giving women that permission of, you don’t need to put your life on pause just because you had a kid, and you don’t need to pretend you never had one either, it’s like, you’re a mother, like, matriscense literally changes your brains chemistry that like, it’s just as much as puberty.
[16:01] Lauren
Yeah.
[16:02] Sahara
So, it’s like, of course you’re going to shift. And that’s what I love about, like, coaching, because you get to be your full self and that’s actually what you’re here to teach from. You know, it’s not about memorizing or figuring everything out, it’s about “This is my life, and it’s messy, and these are the obstacles I’ve overcome, you know, and here’s my daughter, and here’s this, and here’s that, and like, this is from the space that I get to coach from”, being in life, not separated from it.
[16:30] Lauren
Yeah, well, who wants to learn from that?
[16:33] Sahara
Right.
[16:33] Lauren
We want learn from different people.
[16:35] Sahara
Yes.
[16:37] Lauren
We can relate to how we live out lives.
[16:39] Sahara
Exactly! And are doing it right now and not, like, so long ago. Like, I see a lot of people, they’re like “Well, I don’t know, I haven’t figured everything out in my life, I still struggle, I get anxious sometimes, this, that”, and it’s like, perfect, because you know what it’s like to wake up and be anxious. Imagine if I said “Twenty years ago, I remember I was once anxious, I’m trying to remember what that felt like”, it’s like, that’s not helpful for me. It’s helpful for me to know how are you creating the life that you have today with the exact same triggers that I’m also experiencing today.
[17:09] Lauren
Yeah. And I think that’s super important to keep in mind. From a teacher’s standpoint, I lead yoga teacher training, I just started my sixth year of it, and I will never forget how I felt the first day of my yoga teacher training. I was nervous, I didn’t think I was good enough, and so, I’m able to share that with my students, like “Hey, I bet I know how you’re feeling right now and I’m here to put you at ease”. And it’s important for me to keep putting myself in these situations that are new and unfamiliar, and that I might be, like, horrible at, I don’t know, because it helps me serve others.
[17:45] Sahara
Exactly! And that’s what makes a good teacher, to continue to be a student and to continue to put yourself in new containers and have new levels of awareness, because, you know, whether you want to actually coach or not, learning the skills of coaching, especially with spiritual life coaching, it’s going to help you with your relationships, your friendships, your romantic partners, your child bearing, like, everything in your life.
And, you know, for me, right now, like, I go back to my coaching tools when I’m in conflict with, like, anyone, you know, I’m like “Okay, am I active listening? Am I giving enough space for them to talk? Am I trying to come up with the solution or am I allowing them?”, you know. And it’s like, these things, when you integrate them into your life, it’s like, it is the secret recipe, you know, because everyone wants to be heard, and everyone wants to be seen. It’s like, a lot of these things we, kind of, subconsciously do, but since we haven’t named it, we’re not always. And then, once you learn these things of like “Okay, this is how you have, you know, powerful conversations and have these big high-mileage questions”, then you’re like “Oh wow, imagine if I consciously started doing this, how magical life could be!”
[18:54] Lauren
Yeah, absolutely. And for me, it put a lot of skills and knowledge that I already had into a different context, and it really helped me level up in a lot of ways. So, while I do one-on-one coach and do, like, readings, as well, with people now, I hold space for groups, that’s where I really shine. I love, like, course creation and I’m able to listen, able to allow for a lot of pauses, and able to ask the powerful questions so that people can come to their own conclusion and connect with their own intuition. So, I’m incredibly grateful for expanding myself in this way.
[19:32] Sahara
Oh, we’re so proud of you, we’re like “Yes, she’s thriving!” And you were in our Soul Strategy Mastermind and you have a book coming out! So, tell us about that, what made you decide “Right now, I have a one-year-old daughter, Covid, now’s the time to write a book”, how did that happen?
[19:49] Lauren
Yeah, it’s funny, I was looking through my notes app the other day and I actually found, like, a few book ideas from, like, years ago. So, it’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but I think a few things needed to happen in my life to really be in the place of wisdom to write this particular book.
So, really, I was on a walk one day and the download for, like, the whole book came, not word for word, but the outline, and the container and the structure, and the vibe, and really the thesis.
[20:21] Sahara
The same thing happened to me with “Discover Your Dharma”, one transmission, two hours, wrote the entire book proposal. And that’s when you know it’s divine.
[20:29] Lauren
Yeah. And for me, you know, I’ve spent so many years honing my intuition and I know not to shut her out. So, I got this download and I’m like “Okay, I’ve got to do this. I’m going to do this”. So, I wrote my outline, I think, that day, and then I had support from my fellow coaches, and especially Rashida too, because we’re met weekly now, for the last, like, year and a half, and I did it, I just did it!
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[21:00] Advertisement
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[24:18] End of Advertisement
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[24:19] Sahara
You just went for it, and that’s the difference, it’s like, hearing about something and, you’re right, sometimes it is a divine timing thing, sometimes it’s like you needed to incubate certain lessons and embody them more so you can really write that book from a place of true embodying the message of the book.
I think, sometimes, we have these ideas for a book, but it’s not the time yet, because there’s still lessons we need to learn and that’s actual wisdom, to be patient. However, there are lessons that you, whoever’s listening to this right now, there are lessons that you have that you’re already embodying, that someone out there can benefit from. You know, the version of you three years ago, five years ago, the book they need to read, you’re ready to actually write that book, you’re ready to speak on stages on that topic, you’re ready to coach people on that thing, because guess what, in three years from now, you’re going to be talking about what you’re learning right now, and that’s just how life goes.
So, when we stop waiting to get there and realize it’s a perpetual cycle, then we’re like “Well, if I start now, even by the time I finish writing the book, I’m going to be a different person. So, how can I wait because it’s always going to be happening?”
[25:27] Lauren
Yeah. So, I had the divine download, of course, but needed, like, the structure. So, really having a strategy and being able to implement that, made it really doable. I realized like “Okay, if I write one section a day, I’ll have this done in three months”, and wow, like, I thought this would take years.
[25:47] Sahara
Right.
[25:47] Lauren
But if I commit to it and do it every day, then I’ll have a book, eventually.
[25:52] Sahara
And there you did it. So, in three months, you wrote the whole book.
[25:55] Lauren
Yes.
[25:55] Sahara
Incredible! And simultaneously became a certified dharma coach.
[25:59] Lauren
Yes.
[26:00] Sahara
So, like, it’s perfect too because, like, people often ask me, they’re like “Well, how will I get clients, as a coach?”, and it’s like, well, now you have this book that’s coming out soon, we’ll have the link of it below, because it’s available for pre-sale, but it’s like, you have this book, you have this podcast, like, all of these things happened as a result of you really claiming yourself as a Soul Purpose Coach, and now you’re like “Okay, now I get to share my wisdom in these greater ways because I have these avenues that people can walk through”, but it’s like – so often, we’re waiting for the book, and the speaking, and the this, and the that, but we’re not doing the action we can take right now, which is, just learn how to become a coach. And then, from there, you’re actually going to get those insights, and those takeaways, and those very things that you’re repeating to your clients, those things, when they crystalize, that’s what you put into your book.
[26:48] Lauren
Yeah, absolutely. And I think, you know, same way with the book, like, I had this whole download, and an outline, and an overarching vision, but then I had to write it one word at a time and one little section at a time, and really not, like, eat the whole thing at once, eat the whole cake. And I think, you know, signing up for a coaching training is the same way, in that you have this end goal in mind, which is the certification, maybe it’s a new career, but really follow the steps every single day, and you follow, like, the joy that comes with it.
And I know, for me, and I didn’t know, like, what would come of it and how beautiful and expansive it would be.
[27:23] Sahara
So, do you have any tips for someone listening right now that, maybe just feels overwhelmed? They have a lot of ideas of what they want to create, but they also have a lot going on in their lives and they’re afraid of taking on something else, it’s going to become another thing on their to-do list that they don’t want to, so they’re, sort of, like, in this freeze where they’re not taking action, but they’re also not satisfied where they are. I know I’m speaking directly to someone listening right now, so… So, what advice do you have for someone that’s there?
[27:52] Lauren
One, is that, if this idea is coming through you and it makes you feel excited, it is for you, that is Source, that is Spirit, ready to flow through you. And it’s a big fucking ask, it really is! And it forces us to expand and step up to the plate and do more, and yeah, that’s really scary.
So, I think along with that, having support is essential. For me, having a partner to check in with and be like “You know, I’m having a hard time writing this section” or “I just wrote this and it was really activating for me”, being able to share that with others was an extremely important part of the journey.
Also, I would say, like, just completely send perfectionism out the door, let it flow, let it flow, you can edit later. I know a lot of writers say this, but, like, putting it into action is a different thing I think, it’s really, like, getting out of your own way, which comes back to, like, this is Source flowing through you, like, who are you to get in their way?
So, yeah, it’s the support, it’s the strategy and then it’s like, let’s let it be messy and see what flows through, and that can form a whole book. And often times, my best writing was when I was completely just out of my head, just totally downloading and channeling.
[29:16] Sahara
It’s exactly that, the Vata, the ideation, letting the channels, the creativity come through, without the editing mind. And then, the Pitta, the fire, which is the structure, and the table of contents, and the editing, and you know, figuring out your coaching business and the offer, and that masculine container, which is also needed. And then the Kapha, of the release, and the letting it go, and recharging, and grounding, and embodying, and naturally brings you back into the Vata, the air, and it’s this beautiful cycle.
And we talk a lot about this in Dharma Coaching Institute, because for me, once I realized the doshas really are a lens to view life through, I stopped beating myself up around not being where I was supposed to be, right, of like “Oh my god, today, all I did was, I worked on a bunch of podcasts, why didn’t I write poetry? I wasn’t even doing my creative stuff”, it’s like “No! Today was my podcast day and other days I’m, like, filing taxes and it’s my Pitta day, my fire day. Other days I’m resting and that’s what I’m supposed to be doing”. And we just can’t be everywhere at once. And when we realize, it’s like, we can’t have Summer, Fall, Spring and Winter at the same time, they’re different energies, we let ourselves be seasonal and there’s so much spaciousness in that.
[30:28] Lauren
Yeah. And that’s really the feminine way of being too. I used to think I was a very inconsistent person, but what I realized is, I’m consistently cyclical.
[30:39] Sahara
Yes, we’re lunar beings.
[30:41] Lauren
Absolutely. But I didn’t have the knowledge or the tools to really harness that earlier on.
[30:46] Sahara
Like, “Why am I not the same at 4:00pm every day like this guy is?”, it’s like, because he just has the circadian rhythm cycle, he doesn’t have the lunar rhythm cycle. Plus, I think we’re in tune with astrological energies, and global shifts, and the Shuman frequency and, like, all these lunar things, the solar flares and what’s Pluto doing now, and you know.
And that’s the thing, as you get more sensitive, it opens up your intuition and it’s like, I like eat a little bit off and I’m, like, out of it for the rest of the day, but it’s like, when you open yourself up to be of service, it’s like, yes, to full sensitivity, because that becomes your superpower.
[31:22] Lauren
Yeah. Actually, I talk about that in the book because I’ve always been sensitive and I’ve always thought that there was something wrong with me, and I felt like I was really different than a lot of the people that I was around. And I thought that I was really just bad at life, to be honest, and I was having a really difficult time. And I actually Googled one day “Why do I hate myself?”, I was having such a hard time that I Googled that, which is, like, sounds like such a silly question for Google, but I’m like “Where do I go from here?”
Somehow, the search result of “The Highly Sensitive Person”, that book came up, and it totally changed my life. And it really, that was one of the factors that “Oh, I can be teaching yoga”, or “I should be an entrepreneur and working for myself, because then I can be in my own energy, work with my cycles and, like, use this sensitivity as my greatest gift”.
So, I think, like, do we become more and more sensitive? Maybe, but it’s really, like, realizing the sensitivity, reframing it and just loving on it, loving the shit out of it.
[32:24] Sahara
Yes! It’s our gift because it allows us to attune, you know, attune to vibration, attune to people, attune to love, but also, that makes us attune to what’s not, you know. And when we open ourselves up, it’s like, we can feel light and shadow.
And I think that’s the beauty of becoming, to me, like, this new paradigm way of being, instead of just, like, this monotoned, always the same, always showing up of just being full spectrum.
So, I love that, as a society we’re finally making that shift and we’re normalizing it more, and we’re no longer saying “Oh my god, like, you cry so easily, something’s wrong with you”, or “Oh, you can’t watch scary movies, like, you need to grow up”, and these things are all dulling us, they’re numbing us. The fact that we can watch murders happen on tv, and not be affected by it, it’s actually concerning.
And the more sensitive we become, we, actually, are able to feel into the energies behind these things. And that’s to me what makes a really good coach. It’s not having the perfect thing to say, it’s not asking the perfect question, it’s about being attuned to the other person’s energy and, like, reading between the lines. And even if that person wants you to fix their life and tell them the solution, and “Here’s my problem, what do I do?”, to know better than that because you know that you can’t tell anyone what to do with their life, they need to learn their lessons and obstacles the most, but you can go to what’s really behind that question and why are they are asking that question, and then reframe the question right back at them and then they get these, like, deeper inquiries that can only come from within. And that is what really opens up your consciousness.
[34:09] Lauren
Yeah, absolutely. And really, like, being a mirror for people to see their own wholeness and beauty, and know that they’re okay the way they are and there’s something about that self-acceptance piece that really, like, locks the self into place in a way so that people can expand in a really, like, way that feels safe and a way that feels, like, creative and beautiful, and they can just be who they are.
[34:37] Sahara
Yes. It’s like, we talk about the Five Stages of Dharma Discovery, but it’s like, Stage One: self-awareness, realizing that there’s something more to this life than just living the same day over and over again; Stage Two: self-improvement, how do I become my best self, you know, meditation, fitness, nutrition, personal growth, seminars; Stage Three: spiritual awakening, realizing I’m not a mind or a body to improve, but rather a soul to know; Stage Four: dharma development, now, how do I, all of these different spiritual tools and you know, all these different podcast episodes, I need to do hypnosis, and inner child healing, and this, this, that, what do I really want to develop and grow into.
And that’s that you did when you said, you know, “I want to be a yoga teacher”, “Now, I’m going to be a dharma coach”, “Now, I’, going to be an author”, you’re developing rather than putting your energy everywhere to figure out everything, it’s like “What’s really working for me and how can I devote myself to that and really gain mastery?”, which leads you to having your own inquiry around it, your own understanding of these things, which is then Stage Five: dharma embodiment, when you are living your dharma, full-time, and the inner you and the outer you are one and there’s no separation, and you don’t have to be one version of you at work and another version of you at home, and another version of you in a relationship, mask, mask, mask, mask, but instead, you get to be you full-time. And everywhere you go, yes, different versions of you might show up, but you’re always being you, you’re always being authentic.
And to me, the most exhausting thing is when you can’t be authentic with someone, when you have to be at the surface level because you know they can’t meet you in your truth, that’s so exhausting and it’s not how life is meant to live. And most people, you know, over 50% of people said they can’t even their dreams to their partner, which is just heartbreaking because it’s like you’re in a relationship, actually, with a stranger.
[36:30] Lauren
Yes.
[36:31] Sahara
And you are also putting that mask on as well. And that’s the beauty that I find of Soul Purpose Coaches, of like, we are that safe space, of like “Tell me your biggest dreams”, “Tell me what you really want”, “Tell me where you could see yourself going but you’re so afraid to even tell anyone because you’re afraid they’re going to think you’re stupid or delusional, or whatever else, like, this is a safe space to talk about it. And that just sets the precedence for them to self-awareness, sell-improvement, continuing on that journey and going back full circle of where we started.
You know, when you’re embodying your dharma, you realize that you are already whole and you are already perfect as you were. But we need to go through that hero’s journey of going through the obstacles and transmuting them into light because it brings back different versions of ourselves that we lost along the way. Because we do, life makes us, and we bring another layer home, and we bring another layer home, we bring another layer home, and then we offer it out into the world, we share our gifts and we share our wisdom and that brings another layer home. And, like, that’s, to me, the life path that I’m on, you’re on.
I think those of us who are drawn to coaching, writing, speaking, of like, the lessons aren’t just for me, they’re here for humanity. So, then, when you’re going through a shitty time, you’re like “Okay, this is going to be alchemized and shared to others one day, so, like, Spirit, show me my new blind spot I wasn’t aware of yet”. And, you know, you’re just in the shitty part of your memoire and then you’re going to have another one, and then you crystalize that, and it’s another one. And then life is no longer this, like, perpetual suffering, but rather this perpetual learning that you get to alchemize through sharings, so…
[38:12] Lauren
I love it!
[38:13] Sahara
That’s why I coach.
[38:15] Lauren
Absolutely. It reminds me of the Dharma Spiral, for sure, in that. Even if you are in your embodiment phase, like, obstacles are going to come up, it’s part of being human.
[38:26] Sahara
It’s like the fine-tuning, then, starts to happen of like “Oh, what were those little things that you are…”, if you are devoted to full integrity in this lifetime, those little things are going to show up. And again, it’s not here to get you, it’s like, for me, my greatest obstacles have always served my greatest gifts, always.
[38:42] Lauren
Yeah, absolutely. And that matching of the inside and the outside, that is integrity and that is that dharma embodiment. And it can be really scary if you’ve been masking for a long time, whether or not you’re conscious of it, but it’s the most freeing thing in the world.
[39:00] Sahara
And someone might be listening to this, of like “Well, if I just show up as my full self at my job, I’ll get fired, you know, if I start talking about dharma, and chakras, and this and that”. We’re not saying go do that right now, but how can you invite a little more of you to the table, you know? How can you, maybe, weave it into your conversations? Maybe that person that you think would never be interested in it, actually is. You know, and we make assumptions about other people, “Oh, they must not be spiritual, they must not”, and you don’t know, there’s a lot of undercover yogis out there, you know. There’s a lot of people that we don’t know.
I do believe, especially in the past few years, with Covid and astrological shifts, a lot more people are awakening. And I find a lot of our dharma coaches, they think at first, they’re like “Well, I want to work with people in corporate, but they’re not going to be open to, like, living your soul’s purpose”, and then once they start talking about it at work, they find all their clients there and then the company ends up hiring them to teach there, because companies want a team that’s in alignment with their purpose as well.
So, the beauty is, we get to be at the forefront of this shift, but everyone is feeling it, we just get to be leaders in it.
[40:09] Lauren
Yeah, absolutely, and I’ve seen that happen already with a lot of my classmates. And I think it’s important to remember that dharma isn’t one thing that you’re doing, it’s a vibe. So, if you are embodying that vibe, it’s going to make ripples, it’s going to affect the people in your workplace. It doesn’t matter what language you’re using, what matters is what you’re admitting, and people want to know, like, what are you doing.
[40:36] Sahara
So true! Dharma, I see it as the energetic frequency that we carry through everything that we do, and it really is magnetic. When someone is living their dharma, even if it’s not ours – it’s like, when I see someone playing the saxophone, and they’re in it, I’m like “Yes! I love that!”, like the movie Soul, like, that, the movie Soul, is literally, like, all about living your dharma, I’m like “Wow, this is what we stand for here!”
And yeah, I’ve seen so many of the DCI grads just, like, fully own the different parts of themselves that didn’t fit into the box of like “I’m a mom and I’m, like, a rockstar, and I’m going to bring that into my coaching practice”, or, you know, “I’m super into tech and I’m also really into Reiki, and I’m going to bring that into my coaching practice”.
And to me, like, the most endearing people are the juxtapositions of “I’m this and I’m that”. Like, for me, I’m spiritual and I channel, and I’m a DJ that twerks, and it’s like, it’s the both/and. And you don’t have to be those two things, but it’s refreshing when we see just multidimensional people show up in their full spectrum because it gives us permission to do the same.
[41:41] Lauren
Yeah. I think it’s really beautiful, I think the world asks to be in the binary a lot. You’re one thing or another, but all of our true natures are multidimensional, we’re all complicated, messy, human and spirits in flesh, we’re all these things. And the more people awaken to that and really have the permission to just fully express, I really think that more, like, peaceful, and loving, and interesting, and artistic our world is going to be. It’s so important to do this work.
[42:13] Sahara
Yes, it’s like, the more individual we actually become, the more one we actually become, because when we celebrate our individuation of like “I am this sparkly spectrum of light. I am this flavor of ice cream. I am this cord of music. I am, you know, all of it”, we’re like “Wow, then together, we create a tapestry”. And to me, that really is the vision of Dharma Coaching Institute and just this new paradigm shift of let’s celebrate and honor our differences because we all are one at the end of the day. And that’s the beauty of it because then we stop judging and we start loving, and there’s so much freedom in that.
So, yay! Well, thank you so much for coming on and sharing today. And where can listeners connect with you and get your new book that’s coming out soon?
[43:00] Lauren
Yeah, they can go to my website laurenleduc.com and I have all kinds of goodies on there. And you can pre-order my book and get a few freebies along with that. Also on Instagram, I am @iamlaurenleduc.
[43:14] Sahara
Amazing! We’ll have that link in the show notes! Thank you so much for being here today, we’re so proud of you at Dharma Coaching Institute, we love what you’re doing in the world and we can’t wait to continue to support you. And thank you for being a shining light of what is possible for moms, for women, for all people.
[43:29] Lauren
Yeah, thank you Sahara, I’m so grateful for you.
[43:33] Sahara
Who would’ve thought, you were listening to this Podcast, affirmations on burn out and now you’re on the Podcast! I love it!
[43:37] Lauren
Here I am, a year and a half later.
[43:40] Sahara
That’s how it goes, following the flow.
[43:41] Lauren
Hey, life is pretty cool!
[43:43] Sahara
Yes, love it!
[43:43] End of Interview
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[43:45] Sahara
How inspiring was that conversation! So, if you are interested in becoming a Certified Soul Purpose and Spiritual Life Coach, head over to dharmacoachinginstitute.com, our doors are open right now for our Spring enrollment. And on the website, you can find our curriculum, we have some upcoming free Zoom calls where you can be coached by me and get a little taste of the DCI experience, see other beautiful success stories from our students, hear about them, ask us questions and just be a part of our community.
So, head over to dharmacoachinginstitute.com and you can find that link in the show notes, and we’re super excited to see you in the Spring class.
[44:29] Sahara
I hope you enjoyed this Episode, and I’ll see you in the next one. Namaste!
Episode #493: How This Mom Got A Book Deal + Created A Successful Spiritual Coaching Business with Lauren Leduc
By Sahara Rose