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The past month or so I’ve done a lot of reflecting on my 2013. For it to make sense, I really had to look back to 2012, when my journey into entrepreneurship really started and the flux I live in began. I felt I couldn’t adequately move forward in 2014 without understanding where I’m at in the big picture.
So for those of you who are new to this community, let me recap the past few years.
2012: The Year of Entrepreneurship
In early 2012 I quit my job and set out on a journey to own my own business, make money on my own terms and set my own schedule. I was living in Boulder, CO, but I knew I’d only be there for a few more months before an entirely new journey would begin. In the middle of 2012, I moved to Wichita Falls, Texas to be with my boyfriend who is in military training.
At the time, it seemed like quitting my job was a big deal, and it was, but in reality it was going to happen anyway because I was moving to Texas. I just took matters into my own hands and decided to be proactive about having a new job by the time my butt made it down south.
The business I started was a social media consulting company and I took on clients to help them with social media marketing and communications for their businesses. I soon found this didn’t make me happy.
So I switched gears and decided to focus on teaching yoga instead. I was very fortunate to be able to do this in Texas.
2013: The Year of Yoga, Relaxation & Wellness
2013 was all about wellness for me. I was coming off a year of A LOT. A major move, quitting my job, starting my own business and finishing up with a mastermind program that changed my life. I needed to figure out what I really wanted, I needed to make money and I needed to do it in a sustainable way. So I dedicated 2013 to relaxation. It’s what is hardest for me to do, and what I needed to learn most. I figured if I took that on as a public project, writing about it on my blog, then I’d become an expert.
Turns out I learned a ton about relaxation, but it’s still a really hard practice for me. I’m a high-energy, go-get-em’ kind of person with way more ambition than is sane and a real desire to succeed.
In my relaxation explorations, made possible in part by my time in a slower-paced culture than what I was used to, I found what I needed. I found the practices that keep me balanced and I regained the energy I had drained out in 2012.
Near the end of this past year, I moved away from Texas to Arizona. It was a symbolic changing of the tides kind of move, just like the move from Colorado was to Texas. This time there was a lot of uncertainty. I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to go in.
2014: The Year of Dedication, Discipline & Ayurveda
That’s why I’ve been pretty quiet over the past month or so. I’ve had a lot of plates spinning up in the air, and it’s time to start picking and choosing. Instead of moving for the sake of moving, I need to start moving in a solid direction. Otherwise, I’ll never get where I’m trying to go. Thing is I don’t know where it is I want to end up.
Part of my personal practice has become accepting that although I don’t know where the road will lead me, I still need to get on the road. There will be exits along the way, so that if I absolutely must, I can get off at a rest stop and take a break to reassess. But if I don’t keep moving down the same road, I’ll be driving myself, my family and YOU in circles until the end of time.
And so we come full-circle to 2014. Almost as if we’re back where we began. But we’re evolved. Relaxation and balance are still integral themes to the work I do. Teaching yoga is still a joy. But it’s become more about how I live my life – my entire lifestyle – that is important to me. And I hope I can shed some light for you on how you might choose to live yours.
Health and wellness are massively broad umbrella terms for what it is I seek to achieve in my daily life. I still do not believe that balance is a myth.
I’m on a journey to explore how to live a healthy, wealthy, balanced lifestyle in the modern world. And I’m really glad you’re along for the ride.
In 2014, my focus is shifting more towards the ancient science of Ayurveda. I’ll have more to say about this soon, including lots of explaining, but for now just know that yoga and Ayurveda were developed alongside one another in India thousands of years ago. Yoga is the physical practice that helps you unite your body, mind and spirit. Ayurveda is the medicinal side that helps you balance all the inputs and outputs you encounter every day.
Our Wellness Wednesday newsletters will continue to feature yoga practices – flows, meditations, and relaxing stretches. But I’ll also be including cooking demonstrations, informational mini-lectures and potentially even interviews with Ayurvedic experts.
Introducing Ashley Josephine Wellness
This site is no longer dedicated to yoga. It’s dedicated to overall health, vitality, and wellbeing, from a yogic perspective. It’s no longer Ashley Josephine Yoga. It’s Ashley Josephine Wellness.
This is what feels right right now. Won’t you come down this road with me?
