My Face Yoga Journey - Part 2

Thank you to all those who took the time to read the first part of my story last week (My Face Yoga Journey – Part 1).

Today I am sharing with you my journey of transformation from being a Face yogi to a Certified Face Yoga Teacher to a Face Yoga Coach.

Just to give you a bit of a perspective, let me start by sharing with you a bit about my personal life before face yoga.

Before I started my Face Yoga business, I was a homemaker taking care of my home, raising 2 beautiful kids, and helping out my husband part-time with his business. My schedule was packed, and I barely had time to think about anything else. But there was always this little voice in me that kept telling me that I am meant to do more.

I wished to have a career of my own and do something that would bring joy to my heart, be in alignment with who I am, where I could use all the skills I have, and most importantly do something that would make other lives better. And apart from all of these, I also wanted the flexibility to work on my terms and timings.

Looks like too much to ask for…… right? Well…….. not really!

"And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

I was already practicing Face Yoga and was reaping its amazing benefits. I was blown away by the way it had changed my life both internally and externally. It was around this time I came across the Face Yoga Teacher’s Certification course. Something told me that this was the one for me. It seemed to perfectly check off all the boxes on my wish list.

And just like all those stereotypical love stories, things were not easy. There was a lot of opposition and resistance from all the well-meaning loved ones who taught that I had gone crazy to invest in something so unheard of. I won’t blame them. All they knew about Face Yoga was that it involved making some funny faces. Being a Face yoga teacher is an unconventional choice of career simply because most people had not even heard about it. To be fair, from their perspective it was a big investment that seemed risky and probably guaranteed to fail.

At times like these, when everything seems to be against you, the only thing that keeps you going is the belief you have in yourself. I had so much conviction in my choice that everybody had to give in.

I went on to study Face Yoga with the Best Face Yoga teacher on this planet, Fumiko Takatsu and got certified as a Face Yoga Teacher.

If you thought the story ends here……..let me tell you,….. this is where the story begins. And yes…You will have to put up with me for a little longer.

Learning something successfully does not necessarily mean that you can have a successful career with that. I am a lifelong learner. I love to learn, and it comes naturally to me. So, the easy part was done.

Now, comes the most difficult part, how am I going to make a career out of what I learned? I have always had a love for teaching, and I knew I would be a wonderful teacher. So that wasn’t an issue. But what I didn’t know is how to market and sell my services. So, I decided to lead with what I was good at and that was teaching. I started making educational posts based on my learnings and conducted a live mini workshop on Facebook and wished that someone who needs my services will find me.

"And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

I know that I already used this quote above and its repetition here is not accidental.

My very first client approached me after seeing a post on Facebook. I cannot say how grateful I am to this wonderful woman for placing her trust in me when she had no clue what she was getting herself into. Her transformation in 6 weeks was amazing and that gave me the confidence I needed to move forward.

At the time I was working with her, I was also working on creating a program that could give my clients a step-by-step guide and videos to follow along and practice, as I continue to coach them week after week. I wasn’t merely interested in teaching face yoga. I wanted to provide women with a system that will enable them to imbibe all aspects of face yoga starting from their lifestyle to awareness to learning the nuances of working out facial muscles based on their specific concerns and make them feel supported along every step of their journey. In other words, I wanted to transform them and make face yoga a way of life for them just like it is for me. I wanted women leaving my program to feel empowered knowing that they can age on their own terms, confidently and beautifully.

This led to the creation of my 12- week transformational coaching program, The Face Sculpting Method.

While I was in the process of creating my program, a beautiful woman whom I had never interacted with before appeared from nowhere asking to learn face yoga from me. I told her that I wasn’t taking on any clients as I wanted to focus on creating my program. She told me she’s ready to wait. She knew there were other face yoga programs, but she said she wanted to learn from me. I was super happy to hear that but I kind of thought she was insane to wait on me as she knew nothing about me except for one short 5 min video she had watched where I demonstrated a face yoga pose.

She might not know this but at that point, to have somebody ready to invest in my program way before it was ready was a big morale booster for me to keep going. Then the same thing happened again. I had another lovely lady whom I never knew before approach me for classes, and guess what?? She was ready to wait too.

The transformations of these first few clients who generously shared their experiences and pictures helped me bring a few more women into my program. The faith and dedication these women showed in the process and their desire for a holistic transformation was exemplary. They soon referred the program to their friends and family. I had more wonderful women join in who all came from different walks and phases of life and also different locations across the globe. This created space for a small community of women who are fierce about feeling good, shared a similar outlook towards life, and are supporting each other along the way.

As I am helping these women transform, I am also growing in my own journey as a Face Yoga Teacher. I have realized that it’s not just enough to teach Face yoga. What many women need is also a big shift in their mindset. They need to be coached through the process rather than merely being taught the actual content in the program.

For some women, the coaching starts with helping them value themselves and make time for face yoga, for some women, it’s about navigating through the face yoga journey when they are going through trying times in their personal lives, for some it’s about keeping them motivated when they don’t see instant results, for some it’s about helping them see the beauty within themselves and gain back their confidence, and for others, it’s about just keeping them accountable and on track through the program.

Apart from mindset, another big realization was the understanding that every woman is unique and so are their concerns. There are no cookie-cutter solutions or one standard formula that works for all here. Many times, it wasn’t the concern itself but the underlying issues leading to concerns that needed to be addressed first. In other words, treating the cause rather than the symptoms.

And that’s how I transformed from a Face Yoga Teacher to a Face Yoga Coach.

I feel extremely blessed and grateful for the path I have chosen and the opportunity I have had in making a difference in the lives of the women who chose me as their guide on this journey of self-love.

I don’t take anything I have for granted. I work towards upgrading my knowledge, going deeper, peeling off the layers, and studying the mysteries that lie beneath the skin in an effort to offer the best results for my clients. I am also learning the strategies behind running an online business so that I can reach more women who are in need of my services.

I am amazed at how life can change when you start believing in the possibilities and sincerely work towards your vision. This is just the beginning of my journey and I know there are endless possibilities to where this can take me as I continue to change lives, one face at a time. 😊