Today we’d like to introduce you to Jen Wyatt.
Jen, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
The story of Wander Free Wellness begins in my late 20s, although the foundation was set much earlier. I was working a job that was stressing and burning me out to the max and I had recently experienced significant loss and tragedy in my life. The accumulation of a variety of stressors started to take a significant toll on my body, and I wasn’t able to find help through conventional medicine. I had my 8-year yoga practice, which carried me through and supported me spiritually and emotionally, and I was looking for something to help me physically with some minor health issues I had been experiencing.
I found an amazing functional medicine doctor and naturopath named Stephen Cabral in the Boston area. He helped me to change my habits and heal my body from the inside out. The amazing thing about this experience was that when my body started to feel better, my mind and soul came alive. It helped provide the energy to pursue something that was entirely for me – my yoga teacher training.
I completed my yoga teaching training during the fall of 2015 at Back Bay Yoga in Boston. What started as a curiosity became a passion by the end of the training, and I knew I wanted to combine my loves of yoga and holistic health – two practices that saved my soul – into a way to help others.
After teaching yoga part-time (around my full-time work hours) for almost two years in Boston, I decided to pursue my dream of a seasonal yoga and wellness business, one that combines the healing powers of nature, the outdoors and travel with yoga and holistic wellness. I moved to Naples, Florida in Fall 2017 to pursue this dream in the winter months – and I teach paddleboard yoga, beach yoga, private sessions, workshops, and plan retreats. Summer 2018 will find me back in New England with the same goals – to help others heal through yoga, holistic health tips, workshops, outdoor yoga in nature, and local and international retreats.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road is never smooth! There are always going to be struggles. For me, the toughest struggles are the mental ones. I’ve realized through this process that it’s mostly our own minds that hold us back – not the circumstances. We can accomplish so much more than we typically think – we only need to have the guts to try and to believe.
Some of my struggles were physical – hustling to make ends meet with multiple jobs and a schedule that left me little time for my own self-care. It has been a tough road to learn to both take care of myself and build a business. Illness and injury are just a couple of the tolls that a lack of self-care took on my body. I’m so happy to say that after struggling in this area for so long, I have now learned the importance of channeling that tortoise energy, rather than the hare – sometimes you can make even more progress when you slow down and take care of yourself. There will always be sacrifices when building a business, but I do not believe in sacrificing your health. It’s important to take care of your body now so that you can sustain this business for your entire life (or however long you want to have it)!
Many of my struggles were also psychological, with confidence and “imposter syndrome”. Those voices in my head telling me “who are you to lead a yoga retreat?” or “who is going to want to take a class with you? There are so many better teachers out there.” My biggest lessons were to learn to believe in myself and what I had to offer the world, regardless of what others were doing. To “feel the fear and do it anyway.” And I’ve become so much stronger in the process, as I realize just how much can happen when you put yourself out there and aren’t afraid of the outcome.
My advice for women just starting their journey is don’t be afraid to mess up. Don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t be afraid to be told no. And if you ARE afraid… do it anyway!
I now view everything that happens in my business as a learning experience. I am trying new things constantly – I like to experiment. Some of them work, and some of them don’t. I’ve launched classes or retreats and had great success – I’ve also launched classes and retreats and had no one show up. Some might look at those as “failures,” but I don’t see it that way. I like to say, “It’s all learning.”
Each time you stumble, just simply get back up. You may be bruised, you may be tired, and maybe you’ve slowed down. But don’t ever let the stumbling deter you from your path. If this is the path your heart is leading you down, you can’t just hop off when it feels hard. And you know this. Keep going, stay positive, learn from it all and as cliche as it sounds, you MUST ENJOY THE JOURNEY! The journey is the destination.
Please tell us about Wander Free Wellness.
I am a yoga and mindfulness instructor, outdoor yoga guide, stand-up paddleboard yoga instructor, retreat leader, and holistic health advocate. I combine yoga and mindfulness with fun and unique experiences such as getting out into nature, creating art, listening to live music, and travel. My teaching style is lighthearted and accessible, with a focus on mindful alignment, tuning in and truly listening to our bodies, and tapping into the power of the present moment and our own innate wisdom.
As a brand, I am so proud to have created Wander Free Wellness. The mission of Wander Free Wellness is to facilitate healing and self-discovery through yoga, mindfulness, holistic health, nature, travel and art. It’s a community designed to help connect and lift each other higher in our purpose of finding and expressing our truth, and in supporting each other on our journeys.
At Wander Free Wellness, the journey is the destination. This community is for the Free Wanderers – those who want to feel free to be their truest, weirdest, and most authentic selves. Those who aren’t afraid to wander off the well-worn path and outside the box – or for those who need some support in finding the way out. The explorers who live life with a deep curiosity for the world around them, love learning, and crave new experiences. Those who accept that sometimes you need to wander, in order to be found.
What sets me apart is that I am about more than just teaching people yoga or how to eat healthy. This is a way of living, a lifestyle, that helps people heal, grow and expand through learning to connect with themselves, with like minds, and with the beautiful world around them. I have always had a gift for drawing people together and creating communities around me – and now it’s time for me to create a community on an even larger scale.
In addition, Wander Free Wellness is set apart because we are a traveling business – we wander free! Right now we are located in Southwest Florida in the winter months and all over New England in the summer months. But who knows where the future will take us?
Right now, Wander Free Wellness is mostly in-person classes, workshops, and retreats – but 2018 will be a year of greater expansion into the online community!
Were there people and/or experiences you had in your childhood that you feel laid the foundation for your success?
I absolutely feel that my experiences growing up set me up for success later in life. I have to acknowledge my parents for instilling in me the mindset that I could accomplish anything that I put my mind to. They encouraged my sister and I to do what we felt passionate about, and were adamant that with commitment, time and practice we could achieve anything.
As an academic super achiever and athlete through my school days, I learned the value of hard work and persistence and learned the tenacity it takes to be successful. I learned that things don’t always come easy, sometimes we stumble and fall; but it’s the people who brush themselves off and keep going that continue to be happiest and most successful.
In addition, my childhood played a huge role in my interests of nature and travel. In my small rural town in NH, I grew up playing in the woods, hiking our local Mount Monadnock, and swimming in lakes and ponds. I felt connected with the forest, the animals, and the earth around me and this played a huge role in how I want to infuse nature into my business in order to help others. I also caught the travel bug at an early age when I would receive postcards and hear amazing stories from my grandfather who traveled solo around the world, always meeting interesting people and experiencing new cultures. Nature and travel have both been so healing to me throughout my life and now I want to share that with others.
Pricing:
- Women’s Wellness Weekend Retreat in Acadia National Park: $460 (September 14-16, 2018)
- Discover the Azores ~ A Nature & Yoga Retreat: 1495 euros (October 14-21, 2018)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wanderfreewellness.com
- Email: jenwyattyoga@gmail.com
- Instagram: @jenwyattyoga
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/wanderfreewellness
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/jenwyattyoga
Image Credit:
Oana Dragan, Ian Gercken, Lauren Somero
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