Today we’d like to introduce you to Brooke Snyder.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The initial sound of rolling out my Yoga mat reminds me of when I open up a thick paperback I borrowed from my local library. It’s comforting, it’s familiar – it feels like home. It tastes like that first sip of hot cocoa on a snowy afternoon or looks like an explosion of color in the sky in late summer as the sun begins to set. Peaceful.
I take a deep breath when I roll out my Yoga mat.
Now let’s cut the Zen crap for a minute and let me tell you something about Yoga.
My Yoga. I’ve brought my heartache, my confusion, and even my anger to my mat. I’ve brought my sore body, tight hips, and junky left shoulder. I’ve even cried through savasana. “Time After Time” played softly in the background and there I was in a pool of my own sweat and tears.
I’ve also breathed my way into the part of me that is naturally light-hearted. I’ve laughed when I’ve attempted and flawlessly kicked up into half-moon on one side and was a total mess on the other. Day by day, practice by practice, I started to notice a shift within me. My heart no longer ached. I had clarity and the upset subsided to triggers – then flashes – of anger, but I was no longer up to my neck in it. These negative emotions no longer consumed me.
I could breathe freely.
Often I get asked, “So, what got you into Yoga?” when they see me awkwardly stretching by myself.
What brought me to Yoga wasn’t a desire to lose weight. The short version is my life changed or rather, I changed my life. At 30 years old I ended my marriage (I like to call it my practice marriage because that’s exactly what it was), moved back home with my parents, broke, broken-hearted, car-less, and jobless. I chose to start fresh.
Of course I wanted to work out and sweat, but I went to Yoga because my heart just led me there. I discovered a place where I could connect to myself in the comfort of a heated room. I needed a place to heal, where for 90 minutes, I was completely present and linking my breath to my movement.
Yoga Means “Union.”
Imagine cultivating a feeling of oneness within yourself? Developing a level of self-trust where you can let your instincts speak louder than your fears. Where you can ride the waves of your own internal chaos but just as much, reach clarity and find a sense of calm.
We all have “light bulb” moments, where time seems to stand still and there’s a spark or a flash, because it happens in an instant, and then a shift in our perspective. We learn something about ourselves that we hadn’t fully uncovered and this new thought changes the trajectory of how we view ourselves and maybe even what we do next.
The first time this happened to me was when I was in crow pose. I found myself thinking in between breaths, “You are literally and physically holding yourself up.” In that moment, I felt myself reconnect to my power and independence.
Day by day, practicing Yoga showed me the power of progress. It allowed me to see myself as capable and comfortable asking if I can do that, what else can I do? This very simple question translates to life off your mat.
What Else Can You Do?
The answer is plenty. The answer lies in the potential of you trying.
Many have this misconception that in order “to do Yoga,” one has to be able to contort themselves into a pretzel, show up feeling peaceful or have a calm mind. Or they see themselves unable to “sit still for five minutes.”
That is simply not true. I am proof.
The mind is never calm – how can it be when we have upwards of 70,000 thoughts per day? Practicing Yoga creates a little bit of space and breathing room between you and your thoughts.
Yoga offers a space for you to work through every emotion – Zen or otherwise. And let’s face it – we all go through tough times. Like my Mom used to tell me, “We all have beating hearts. And if you have a beating heart, you don’t escape pain.”
I’ve learned through my experience of practicing, that more often than not, we don’t like feeling or sitting with negative emotions (who does really?) and that they manifest in our bodies. Feeling fearful, worried, upset, etc. are all part of the human experience. I’ve learned the sooner I simply acknowledge and accept how I am feeling, especially if it’s negative, I feel a little bit of freedom. Why does it feel like someone is sitting on my chest and I can’t breathe? Oh, yeah, that’s anxiety. Then I ask the question, “why I am anxious?” From there, I face my thoughts and feelings, decide how I want to feel and what to do with it. No feeling is final; we can lock ourselves in the prison of our own thoughts, but we are also the ones who have the key to freedom.
Change Your Thoughts. Change Your Life.
I reached a point at the end of August 2016 where I realized that my life wasn’t changing in the way I had wanted it to. Everyday felt like being on a treadmill, set at a zero incline and 2.5 mile an hour pace. I needed to face some old judgements and beliefs about myself and work on changing them. I realized that my life wasn’t changing because of my limited belief system. This and only this was holding me back from achieving my dreams. Dreams that I had questioned at one point. One late afternoon, I found myself hysterical in my car outside of Trader Joe’s parking lot. It was down pouring, which didn’t help, because everything just felt like doom and gloom. I can distinctly remember feeling the heaviness in my heart and being on the phone with my mom, where I said to her: “Maybe I should just give up this dream. Maybe it’s not meant to happen for me. Because it’s not happening.”
In order to work through this confusion and upset, I needed to get quiet. I took a month off from social media and focused on “scrolling through” my own greatness. I started meditating everyday using the app Headspace, which I still use to this day. I listened to podcasts and Brooke Castillo’s “How to Believe New Things,” truly helped me transform my thinking. The questions, “What Do I Believe Now?” “What Do I Want to Believe?” and then Practice Believing It,” was my first step towards seeing myself as whole and ready to contribute on a bigger scale And for the first time ever, I believed in my bones that I was worthy of love. The kind of love that I set out to find when I ended my marriage. But guess what? You really do have to love yourself first before anyone else can. Once I had clarity, made peace with my past, stopped clinging to expectations, and saw myself clearly everything changed.
For the past year and a half, I’ve specialized in bringing both movement and meditation to businesses and organizations to help team members reduce stress, improve focus and concentration and ultimately feel better. I want for everyone of all levels, all ages, and all abilities to feel better when they first arrive on their mat or in a conference room. Currently I am enrolled in The Life Coach School’s Self-Coaching Scholars and training to become a Certified Life Coach this coming August. Talk about full circle.
I’ve truly enjoyed teaching and teaching to other teachers. I am in the process of developing a program and methodology that blends both Mindfulness Training, Meditation and Life Coaching.
Wherever you are in your life, filled with joy, sadness, doubts, if you are the least bit curious about Yoga and Meditation, bring all of your feelings (your beating heart) and meet yourself where you’re at: physically, mentally and emotionally. We know that moment to moment these things can shift and change. And how lucky are we that we get to decide. We get to choose how we show up.
Think of it this way: nothing would ever get done, you would never evolve into the person you are now, and the person you will be tomorrow, if you always found a way to hide from yourself or bury yourself under a list of excuses or worse, what others think you should do or not do.
Are You Afraid?
Okay. Be afraid. But show up anyway. That is the true definition of courage: to feel the fear and do it anyway.
My mission is to help you uncover these hidden gems within yourself that get lost underneath all of the noise, and truly experience the power of transformation within your mind, body and spirit. I am determined to show you that you are more powerful, more knowledgeable and stronger than you give yourself credit for. That you don’t ever have to settle, that you have the power to change your thoughts and change your life to serve your greatest good. That on the other side of dark, there is light. There is love.
To trust that no matter what, you can begin again. From moment to moment. From Pose to Pose. One Rep, One Breath At A Time.
Has it been a smooth road?
Choosing to leave a steady bi weekly paycheck and six figure salary in order to pursue teaching full time was the best decision I made, and I am so lucky to have the support of my family. Having said that, moving back home (for the third time) is not where I want to be in life. It is where I am at the moment. A springboard.
Looking back, what “hurt” more was staying unhappy. Staying stuck in the same. I am uncomfortable being comfortable. It’s a lot of why I love CrossFit and Power Yoga and hard things! It’s why I thrived in a sales environment for 13 years. For the intensity. For the push. For the “YEAH! I did that!” feeling.
I am not someone who is ever going to stay at the same deadlift weight. I am going to work harder and reach for more. I am going to keep loading up my bar.
I am going to offer series and workshops and whether 3 people or 30 people attend, I will have made a contribution from my heart and soul. Other struggles include time management, learning pacing and self-care, constraining focus and the difference between consumption and creation. Oh, and snowstorms. Because when I don’t teach, I don’t get paid (however the beauty in this is knowing that I am going to have a program that pays me no matter what the weather!)
I am however getting more comfortable with the quiet. And to not tie my worth around achievement. Just having my back no matter what. And that is the beauty of teaching: that no matter what information comes your way, you can handle it.
I spend a lot of time doing thought work and being a support system for myself. Being my own cheerleader and coach. (Being my own best friend and partner before I can be someone else’s)
Trusting that the people and opportunities that come my way are all meant for my greatest good.
Learning to trust in myself, in the work, and embrace the ebbs and flows, the trials, the attempts, the cancelations, etc. while ENJOYING the journey (without having it all mapped out perfectly) Being open to surprise…
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Brooke Snyder Wellness story. Tell us more about the business.
I am a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer (CF-L1), Licensed Broga® Instructor, Meditation Teacher and 500 Hour E-RYT Accredited through the National Yoga Alliance.
I’ve trained with Master Trainers, Jacqui Bonwell of Sacred Seeds Yoga School, Elyse Foster of the Mukti Yoga School, Robert Sidoti, Creator & Co-Founder of Broga®
I am passionate about helping people of all ages and abilities realize the tremendous benefits of moving, sweating, and being still on a daily basis. My classes are led from a place of empowerment and encouragement, giving you the chance to reconnect to yourself, to maximize your performance off the mat, and to strengthen and lengthen your muscles, while relaxing your mind. I blend Vinyasa Yoga, functional movement, high-intensity interval training, bodyweight exercises, and meditation.
I am most proud of taking YEARS of training and studying and creating a customized Mindfulness Training that I have shared a number of organizations, studios and teacher training groups.
I have taken a chance on myself – to be myself – and inspire others to do the same.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The term “Mindfulness” is everywhere and has become somewhat trendy. At the same time, if we can teach people how to accept and support themselves through the fluctuations of being a human being, that’s powerful.
The point of learning how to Meditate or Mindfulness Training so to speak is so you can practice taking all of your scattered thoughts and fragmented attention and gently take back your energy towards integration and centeredness so that you learn how to respond versus react. And catch yourself in the difference.
Meditation gives us the necessary space and breathing room between all of our thoughts and feelings and what we do with those thoughts and feelings (our reactions).
When we practice observing ourselves, we get to practice in the pause of it all.
Sharon Zalzberg shared on one of her many fabulous podcasts: “Mindfulness is clear comprehension put together, knowing what’s going on without being caught in habitual reaction. Knowing what’s going on without being caught in habitual reaction. To perceive without past history or judgement or obsessive future thoughts. This is what’s happening right now. Our experience arises and our reaction is so fast that sometimes it feels like one thing. They’re enmeshed. We practice to make the distinction between the arising of our experience and what we make it mean so that we see the space between the two.”
We can know what we are thinking as we are thinking it versus believing that every thought is a fact. We can understand how we are feeling as we are feeling it because we are able to label the feeling. We have endless options when it comes to our thoughts and feelings.
We can choose moment to moment and bear witness to ourselves in a relaxed way.
My approach to teaching is rooted in helping you focus your attention through a variety of techniques. I am even more dedicated and passionate about working with your mind in a way that goes beyond just improving concentration and focus.
Where you can choose moment to moment what to think, how to feel and live deliberately and authentically connected to the core of you. That no matter what life throws at you, you’ve got it.
No feeling is final. And things can change. How do you work with yourself versus against?
Where I would like to see this expand is within the school system. That’s kind of a hint as to where I am focusing my efforts next.
Contact Info:
- Website: BrookeSnyderWellness.com
- Phone: 617-893-8945
- Email: Brooke@BrookeSnyderWellness.com
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