We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Baer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Ashley , thanks for joining us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.
The defining moment in my career came out of a personal experience when for the second time I almost died from going unconscious while driving a car. The first time I was pregnant and going through a divorce, and the second time was on the anniversary of my mother’s suicide when I went unconscious while driving on a freeway. I shouldn’t be alive today but I am because I believe it is to share this story of how one can affect physical and mental health through breath. While no medical professional even neurologists at The Mayo Clinic could find a medical reason for my going unconscious, I healed myself. I had been collapsing for what seemed like no apparent reason for over twenty years. I now know it was the stress I carried in my mind from years of trauma.The last two accidents were on highly emotional days losing my marriage, and remembering my mother’s suicide and it was through these accidents that I discovered I had ten brain lesions. I had been an educator teaching special education specifically Language Arts, and Social Studies, and I was working as a mediator for a school system in what also was a stressful job. These near death experiences forced me to look at my stress level and mental health and when I did, I discovered yoga, mindfulness and meditation. When I realized the effect these practices had on my mental and physical health, I changed my entire career. I became a Yoga teacher, and I studied mindfulness and I knew I had to bring these practices into schools. From my training I created a program, The Mindful Breathing Program, and I now teach teachers and children how to breathe for stress, anxiety and depression. When I am not working with educators and children, I coach personal clients ranging from teachers, to nurses to even NFL players how to manage their stress through mindfulness.
Ashley , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
My whole life has been a story of resilience and overcoming struggles and suffering. During Covid, I lost the yoga studio that I loved, and owned with my business partner. What I learned from that loss is that loss is not always a bad thing. At the time, I had to pivot, and change from a studio to a personal business. I learned not to judge loss as the end and that often it is the beginning of something new. Through mindfulness I have learned acceptance of the present moment, and that if it is happening, then it is meant to happen and there is nothing you can do about that. The day after I announced we had to close the yoga studio during the pandemic, I received an email from a complete stranger offering me a space to teach on his farm which he uses as an event space for weddings and he had converted a barn into a studio. He linked his website in the email and I was surprised to see it was a beautiful farm I had seen on a drive years ago. When I met with him, I asked him why he was offering me this, and he said, “I don’t know. I got the feeling I was supposed to,” and from that moment I was all in. I still teach weekly there and from that partnership I teach yoga classes, workshops and hold mindfulness trainings there which has become integral to my business. Financially, it has been more lucrative than the yoga studio. There is that saying that when one door closes another opens, and by accepting the loss of the studio, my personal business grew, evolved, and has transformed into more than it ever was. Flowing with loss and change is part of life, and one never knows how things will end up, and the ability to recover and bounce back stronger can happen if we are open to it.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
The healing journey to me is an unlearning- unlearning old programming from childhood, from society, and from life. One of the main lessons I have had to unlearn is about self-care and self-love which I was programmed to believe was selfish, or ego-based. Women in general are taught to care for everyone but ourselves, and to give of ourselves even at the expense of what is good for us. I think that has been the hardest yet most rewarding lesson to unlearn that I am worthy of putting me first, and putting my energy into myself which has truly transformed my life, my mental health, and even my career. Once I focused on my own well-being instead of trying to fix everyone else, my entire life evolved. I changed careers, my health, and now I help others do the same. At the root of that is always self-focus, healing, and self-love. Children with trauma tend to blame themselves, and I was no different. I took on the messages that I was unworthy, and unloveable. When I began to love myself enough to care for myself, it opened up avenues in my life that I never expected. Each day I begin with self-care- drinking water, moving my body, and sitting in stillness. Breath is the nervous system’s love language and I give to myself daily, slowing down, noticing, and truly loving all of me even the flawed parts within me. I live my life now for me, no longer trapped by old stories, programming that I am not good enough, or I am selfish to take care of me. If not me, who? No one is coming to do it for you. Self-care, and self-love is not selfish. It is transformative and healing. I highly suggest it.
Contact Info:
- Website: mindfulnesswithashley.com
- Instagram: @missashleybaer
- Linkedin: Ashley Baer
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FtlFazdisk
- Other: https://insighttimer.com/ashleybaer https://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/Page/52787 https://coolchangepodcast.com/podcast/ashley-baer https://coolchangepodcast.com/podcast/ashley-baer-64 https://www.educatingmindfully.org/post/coming-full-circle-transforming-my-painful-past-into-my-present-purpose https://www.betterlisten.com/collections/ashley-baer
Image Credits
@wanderstowonder