251: 29 Lessons in 29 Years (Part 1) with Sahara Rose

Namaste, it's Sahara Rose. And welcome back to the Highest Self podcast. A place where discuss what makes you your soul's highest evolvement. Oh my goddess sister Queen, I am so excited to share with you that Rose Gold Goddesses is open. We are accepting new members for the most high vibe community on the interwebs and in real life as well. What Rose Gold Goddesses is, is your sacred sisterhood collective. We have our very own app with all types of content to support you on your spiritual journey. From all of my master classes, I upload content specifically for Rose Gold Goddesses. From manifestation to launching a podcast, to writing a book and everything in between to support you on your journey of becoming itself. There are thousands of like minded women who are there to connect with you. Whether you want to meet out for a cup of ceremonial cacao or talk about your dharma or whatever it is that you need support with at this time, Rose Gold Goddesses has got you. Consider it your spiritual gym membership with all things to support you on your journey of becoming your highest self. So you can come join us at rose gold goddesses.com Again, that is rosegoldgoddesses.com and we are so excited to welcome you in. This is an annual lesson that I've been doing. I did my 27 lessons in 27 years. Two years ago, my 28 lessons, and 28 years last year. And today I am so excited to share with you my 29 lessons in 29 years. Now I'm going to be real with you. I actually recorded this episode originally right on like the last day of 2019. So, you know, I figured my birthday's in two weeks, I have already learned all the lessons, so I'm going to record this episode. And Universe was like, oh, you say you want a spiritual path and you learned all the lessons. When there are two more weeks left, you have not learned all the lessons yet. So here I am now, just a couple days before my birthday and you know, I'm still probably gonna learn another lesson like tomorrow and the day after and the day after. But I feel like I'm almost at the point that I've learned all the lessons. But when you're on a spiritual journey, the lessons don't stop. They don't stop. So welcome to the Highest Health podcast. If it's your first time listening, I'm obviously a really weird host, but I just keep it real about the spiritual journey and I'm here to help you see that it could be fun and playful and effortless. And at the Same time challenging and full of obstacles that you can still learn from through fun and joy. So I've been doing this episode for the past two years now that I've had this podcast two and a half years since High Self Podcast began, because it really helps you see that I am also a human on a human journey of learning lessons in Earth School. What I believe is that this Earth is a school that our souls chose to incarnate to in this body at this time, at this place. Like, I know you're probably looking at the news right now like, holy shit, what is going on? But your soul actually chose to incarnate at this time because you're part of the cleanup crew. You are a part of. Of the sacred mission to uplift the vibration of the planet. And if you just look at modern history, past thousand years or so, there has been a lot of separation. There has been a lot of scarcity, There has been a lot of war and violence and chaos and poverty because we've forgotten. We've forgotten the truth of who we are. We have forgotten that our minds are connected to our bodies are connected to each other, and that all of us are connected as one. And this shift that we are experiencing, that you are a part of, and that is why you are listening to this podcast, is a shift of global consciousness. And it's been incredible just for me to witness over the past decade how many more people have become a part of it. And how many more people are practicing meditation and going to sound baths and talking about their breath work or their ayahuasca experiences. And that's normal. And not just because I live in Los Angeles, but I was just, you know, giving some speeches in Georgia at Atlanta, Georgia, and just as popular there. And, you know, I have so many friends who are moving to Texas because of the spiritual community. So it's. It's really happening everywhere. And we could talk about the shift. I've spoken about it extensively on this podcast, but the shift was real. This year, it has been the most incredible year of my life, personally, and I think it has been for a lot of people, because we are just becoming clearer than ever before of why we are on this planet and how we can best serve. And we're finding the right people who we can connect with. So I want to share with you my 29 lessons that I've learned in 29 years. Now, 29 is kind of a lot of lessons, so I might go deeper into some than others, but I'm going to try to get to all of them in the next hour or so. So let's dive in. So lesson number one, my most valuable lesson of this year is the power of sisterhood. This year has really been focused on my relationships with other people, and I've never had a year in my life before that was like that. So in April, I birthed the idea of Rose Gold Goddesses, the sacred sisterhood collective honoring the goddess within. And it came out of my own need and desire to connect with women on a deeper level and to have people that support you, especially when you're on your spiritual journey, because it can be very difficult, and people might think you're crazy, and it could feel very isolating because you want to talk about all of these different things that people don't want to talk about, and they just don't get you. And because they don't get you, they think you're out of your mind. And I know I experienced that firsthand, and I knew that so many people in my community have, too. And that is what led to me to essentially downloading the idea of Rose Gold Goddesses, which honors each of the goddesses every single month. We are working with Lakshmi, Saraswati, Durga, Kali, as well as Athena, Aphrodite, Yemaya, Isis, Oshun, Anyas, goddesses from all around the world. Because goddesses don't just exist in one culture. They are actually in every single part of the world from pagan and shamanic backgrounds. Regardless of where in the world you come from, we are all indigenous to this earth, and the goddess has always existed across culture from China to Peru, and we are awakening to her power. So I began working with the goddesses, teaching goddess retreats when I was 23 years old in India. And it was something that I really missed and wanted to have more in my life. And it kind of brings me to the second point of you must allow yourself to evolve. Because I really built my career. A lot of you guys probably know me for my Ayurveda work. You know, When I was 21 years old, my body started shutting down. I went through massive health problems, went through perimenopause, so stopped creating hormones, estrogen, testosterone in my body, which led to all sorts of issues, from premature osteoporosis to tons of digestive issues, hair fall, weight loss. My body was just shutting down. And that is what led to me on this path of trying to heal myself, which led to me discovering Ayurveda, which led to me moving to India, studying Ayurveda for two years, which led to me so deeply Wanting to share this work that was then changing my health and changing my mind and realizing that my mind and body are connected, wanting to share that work with other people. And that led to me having the idea that I'll just write a book on it, because I clearly can just write a book, even though I've never done it before. I've never met an author. And, you know, that almost like naivete was bliss because I just started to write this book and I didn't have a book deal, didn't know where I was going. I just started writing, writing, writing. And that process took me two years of really figuring out what to put in this book, how to do it, this, that, and also because I didn't have a book deal, I didn't know anything even about that process. I just knew I needed to share this work. And I was blogging. I started blogging when I was like 19 years old. So I was blogging and social media and just sharing the message. And so Ayurveda was a big part of my life. It was my original large scale mission that I really had to share. You know, I had other projects going on, like my clothing line, Saraswati Couture, made of recycled sari material by victims of sex trafficking. I had visions of creating a superfood skincare line and was kind of making them at home and selling them on a small scale. But when Ayurveda came through, it was so massive. And eventually I got hired to write the Idiot's Guide to Ayurveda, which I talk about how that process happened on this podcast. If you want to really go into my story, there's an episode, how I discovered my Dharma, episode 228, which I recommend you listening to, and the first four episodes of this podcast. But I just wanted to give you this backstory to guide you to where I am now. So Ayurveda, finally. I wrote the book on it. And then I wrote Eat Feel Fresh. And I spoke on so many different podcasts and stages and created my Eat right for your mind body type 12 week program and masterclasses and so many things. And I really helped bring Ayurveda to the mainstream world. I got so many people who had never even heard this word to begin practicing it in their lives, to begin sharing it with their families, and also hundreds of people to become practical Ayurvedic practitioners. So it has been a huge dharmic soul contract that I incarnated on this planet to fulfill in my past life. I was one of the original Scribers of Ayurveda. So Ayurveda was essentially channeled by Rishis in ancient India, in northern India, which is exactly where my ancestors came from. And in that past life, I was one of those people that were prescribing it. And I could see that the message was getting very religion focused and patriarchal. And that's not what I resonated with. I wanted it to be for the people and I wanted it to really include the feminine. And that was not the direction that it was going into. So I said, I'm going to come back one day as a female and bring Ayurveda to the people, put it into their own hands so they can heal themselves and bring the feminine back into it. So that is what I incarnated in this lifetime to do. And that was my first major soul mission on this planet, which was a seven year soul mission that completed when I finally published my second Ayurveda book, the third one that I wrote, the second one that I published, because the first one I wrote Eat Right for your mind body type, I turned into my online program. Then I wrote Idiot's Guide to Ayurveda, which is part of the official Idiot's Guide series, which you'll see at any major bookstore, and went on to become the number one best selling Ayurveda book globally. And then I wrote Eat Feel Fresh, which is my modern approach to Ayurveda with plant based recipes and how we can use Ayurveda in today's contemporary world. So I could feel after that book came out, which was October 2018 of Eat Feel Fresh, that my soul contract was completed. I did what I had to do. I helped bring Ayurveda into the mainstream. I mean, people were resharing my dosha memes that I was the first person to do that on social media to do the shit vaat issei shit kapha se created shirts just like helped make it really buzzing. And I was so happy that I had done that. And I could also feel that my soul has so much more that it wants to discuss and talk about. And I could feel myself, you know, not really feeling jammed out, excited about explaining again, okay, what's vata, what's pitta, what's kapha? For the like 10thousandth time, you know, guys, I've probably been on a thousand different podcasts besides this one and it can get really exhausting repeating yourself. And I could just feel like, wow, I don't want to spend my whole entire life just repeating Ayurveda I love Ayurveda. It changed my life and there's a lot more to my life and how I see Ayurveda as the predecessor. I see health as that thing that you need so you can self actualize, so you can live your best life. I don't see see it as the end goal. You know, when you're sick, all you can think about is getting healthy. How can I feel good again? But when you're healthy, you can focus your energy on other things. And I was finding myself well at first I was working as a Ayurvedic practitioner, seeing clients one on one and then with the programs and then with the things that I was getting stuck in, just conversations about illness, like constantly talking about people's just health issues. And some people love that and some people, doctors for example, they want to do that forever. But I wanted to create. I wanted to bring art and beauty and dance and spirit to this world. And I wanted to have conversations on the meaning of life and past lives and soul awakening and Dharma our soul's purpose. And that is why I started High Self podcast. Because I wanted an outlet to talk about more than just Ayurveda. Because that's what I was doing, doing with my entire day of writing these books which are like 14 hour day, 6 month long processes. So this year, after Eat Feel Fresh came out in October, I did my book tour. I was touring around until December and I was like, okay, this year it's going to be something else. I don't know what it's going to be. You know, I had different areas I was interested in. I had done masterclasses that I hosted on Abundance Mindset, which I hosted last November of 2018, and sex money Magic, which is all about sacral chakra and using sexual energy to heal your body. So there were all of these different areas I was interested in, but I didn't really know the real direction of this year, especially because I was getting married in June. I got married this year, June 2019, which I've done some podcast episodes about just the whole wedding process and lessons learned and all of that stuff which I recommend listening to. That episode came out this July. So I really gave myself that time and space, especially the beginning of the year, to focus on my wedding and to focus on, you know, these moments that I would never get back of planning, like what are the tables going to look like and the daily schedule and my bachelorette party and the night before, what are we going to do? And our Persian ceremony and Hawaiian ceremony and all of these different things. And I really just was present the entire experience because I knew that I wouldn't have this opportunity again. At least I hope not. And I wanted to really be present and be part of all of it. And I also, like, love wedding stuff. That, for me, is fun. I've always been dreaming about my wedding since I was a girl. I'm one of those people. So, by the way, it totally did not go as planned. It was better in many ways. And there were obstacles and challenges, too, like my transportation not picking me up for an hour, which I talk about in that podcast episode. And I learned from it. And I also, by the time that that wedding stuff was done, I was freaking ready to get back to work and to really create something. So as soon as the wedding was done, we went through a pretty hellish time trying to find a home. But even through that, learned a lot of lessons and then launched Rose Gold Goddesses. And this has been the most incredible initiative that I've ever been a part of, and so inspiring to see the connections and the relationships and the inspiration that is happening through Rose Gold Goddesses. And I'm just so excited to expand it. Like, it's my full focus this year to how can we expand it to be the ultimate spiritual gym membership for every conscious female on this planet? And you can learn more about that on rosegoldgoddesses.com so the overall lesson was to allow myself to evolve. I allowed myself to evolve from Ayurveda to being a bride to Rose Gold Goddesses. And then even since creating and launching Rose Gold Goddesses, allowing myself to evolve as a leader, as someone who, like, like has a team of people. I've never, ever in my life had that. And honestly, even today, it's still pretty hard because I have always done everything from designing my website to email funnels. Like, anything that you see, I've created myself. And I've always been very resourceful. I have seven planets in Capricorn, but I'm really allowing myself to evolve as a leader and how to inspire people and how to have everyone on this shared mission and how to have the right people on the team. And that in itself has had a lot of its own challenges because, again, I've never gone to business school or taken business courses or had a business coach or anything like that. So I think that a lot of us, we go into our careers because we're so passionate about what we're doing, and then eventually they turn into a business, and then eventually that business and Running the business has to become a focus of ours. So it was no longer just me like writing my books and creating my content. But I actually really didn't have time to do that as soon as Rose Gold Goddesses came to be, because I was so busy creating that and launching that and figuring everything else around that out that it really put me into a more leadership Pitta Durga role, which frankly I hadn't been a part of and was never really my goal or intention. And it taught me a lot. It taught me a lot about myself, it taught me a lot about trust, it taught me a lot about creating something that is larger than me. And this is something that I really seek to continue to do. I continue to grow my team and have like the most epic team of like conscious badass females who are all about the mission and to be the best leader possible. So allow yourself to evolve, whether it is in your career, whether it is in your personal life, whether it is in your interests, your friendships. I mean, I have evolved in every single aspect of my life this year. And I know that when I do next year's episode of 30 Lessons Under 30, I'm going to be a different person. I also want to share that this year is my Saturn return. So if I completely change, don't say I didn't warn you. I think we're all always changing, no matter what is happening astrologically, I think that this time of global consciousness rising is accelerating our shifting. And I believe that we go through, you know, especially in our 20s, et cetera, we go through periods of very rapid transformation and I'd still going through it, which is incredible because some of you guys have been following me for 10 years. You know, February of 2010 was when I started my blog, Eat Feel Fresh. So I have some of you guys who have been following me for a decade, which is to me insane. You've so seen so many shifts. But I was a food blogger and from a food blogger turned into more Ayurveda, turned into more spirituality, turned into, you know, Goddess and Dharma and who knows what's next? So keep allowing yourself to evolve. Remember you are a person before you are a brand. And this is my, my query with personal branding, because to build a brand like Coca Cola, like that took them 50 years. Do you think you're going to be the same person 50 years from now? I'm not even the same person like 50 minutes from now, you know, so it's really hard to build a personal brand and have it be so like, aesthetically you Curated because you're changing all the time. Like, sometimes something that is beautiful or cool to me is, like, cheesy to be a second later and to just allow yourself to go through that and you don't have to fit one box, you know, there's gonna never be someone that totally understands you. And I think that that's also important. Like, surprise people, you know, A huge evolution that I had was really my. So my word for this year was fun. I remember reading an Instagram post of a friend of mine, and he shared that his word his year before was fun. I was, like, fun. And then took me, like, a while. I was, like, fun. Like, I mean, I'm not really focused on fun. Like, I'm focused on spiritual growth. I'm focused on abundance. I'm focused on my business. Like, fun. Like, fun is just that thing that happens to you in between everything else you're doing. It's not really an intention. It's just supposed to just happen. Right? And that is how most of us think of fun. We think that fun is just gonna happen along the way. Just like we think sex is gonna happen along the way. Like, no. As you get older, you gotta schedule that shit in. It's not gonna happen, let me tell you as a married woman. So we have to make intentions around the things that matter to us. And I realized at the beginning of this year, fun matters to me. I love having fun. I am a fun person. I'm a fun person to be around. Not gonna lie. I'm a good friend to have. I wasn't making that a priority in my life. I was working constantly, and I love to work. Work is fun for me. But I also wasn't, you know, doing the things that I used to do when I lived in India and Bali, which is like, go to a drum circle and belly dance classes and all of these things. So this year, I started my twerk class in February, which was amazing. And I started to share videos of my twerking with you guys on my Instagram at I am sahararose, which, like, so sparked a twerk illusion with so many conscious women who are like, oh, my God, yes, it's okay for me to twerk and be spiritual. I don't have to be one or the other. I don't have to wear, like, mala beads or booty shorts. Like, I can do them both. And also realizing that your body is sacred. Your body, your movement is spirit in form. Your movement, your sexuality is energy flowing through your vessel. You are always connected. And in fact, when you are at moments of orgasm is your highest point of connection. And this is what the Magdalene Manuscript is about. And Isis, sex, magic, and all of these beautiful spiritual texts are exactly about that. But in our modern patriarchal society, we like to paint the Madonna whore picture. To people. You're either a Madonna, a virgin, a wife, a mother, but not to be fucked, or you are a whore. You are slutty, you are sexual. You're someone that I'd have sex with but not love. And this is what the patriarchy puts into our heads. It puts us in our heads with movies. How many movies? She's either the slut or the good girl. With stories, with myths. This is a perpetual thing, and this has been my year of eradicating that in my radar. I am both. I'm to be loved, and I am to be fucked. I'm not gonna choose bitches. So that awakening has been a huge evolution of mine because it sparked into sharing a lot more of that on my social media and on this podcast, sharing more of that with my family. You know, I come from a lineage of, like, strict, traditional. Like, I was never told what sex was, and then when I was, it was like, that, you're never gonna do that until you're married. Like, that was never a conversation. And, you know, my grandmothers were both in child marriages and didn't even get to pick who they married. Like, that is literally where my blood comes from and rape. So I came from a background where women are extremely suppressed, especially in their sexuality. And, yeah, this lifetime was about, like, oh, hell no. That shit is stopping with me. No, no. So honestly, a lot of people are like, oh, my God, when you're married, it's game over. But actually, for me, marriage has given me more freedom. I feel like being married has given me almost this, like, anchor and rock of, like, I don't have to worry about that area of my life. Like, I know it's good. We have a very easy relationship, and we just get each other. And we also are very focused on our dharmas, so we let each other that freedom to be. And I feel like it's allowed me to actually tap more into my sexuality and exploring that, because I know that I'll be fully supported. And, like, I don't care if some church people judge me on Instagram. You know, I know who I am, and I don't have anything to prove. So this has been an incredible evolution that I've had, which led to me really diving back into tribal fusion belly dance, which is a style of belly dance that infuses belly dance with different tribal modalities of dance. So it infuses odissi, which is a classical Indian dance, various temple dances, Balinese dance, Persian dance, as well as popping lock. So it has this kind of cool, like, poppy effect to it. Look it up. Tribal fusion belly dance. This was a dance form that I practiced back in India. When I was living in India, I was die hard tribal fusion. I actually discovered it in Bali and in India. That's all I was doing. And I ended up performing at tribalfest. But, you know, when I came to la, there were no tribal fusion belly dance teachers. And I stopped doing it. And I stopped doing it for five years completely. Like, you know, sometimes I'd go to ecstatic dance and be belly dancing, but I wasn't, like, practicing. And especially at the time of writing my book, discover your dharma, which I also wrote this year starting in August, and I just turned it in in my chair. So August to December, I was writing this book while managing my business and doing other things, and belly dance came back into my life. And at first I was like, oh, my gosh, I don't have time to belly dance right now. I have a book tray membership to launch book tour, all of these things to manage. And the belly dancing ended up helping me with all of that because it allowed me to tune back into my body and to ground and to connect to my feminine and to embody. And this is truly my spiritual practice. And I've been on really a journey this year of, like, what does my spiritual practice look like? You know, is it seated meditation? Is it tantra? Is it this? Is it that? And I just keep coming back to what is so obvious for me, which is it's dance. That is how I connect to spirit. That is how I feel the most aligned. That is when my headspace is a clear vessel and I am so present and in my body. And sometimes like, even I'm like, that's not meditation. Like, meditation is just like sitting down and saying the mantra. And that also is a very powerful form of meditation, which I'm also now practicing. And movement is also a very powerful form of meditation. And certain meditations resonate with different people. But, like, for me, dance, especially sacred dance, temple dance, Wow, I feel so aligned. So I've allowed myself to evolve with that. Sharing that on social media. I shared a video of myself belly dancing in Mexico, which, like, somehow went viral. And that was actually really interesting because, you know, everyone has a normal body, including myself. And I was kind of surprised because in the video I'm like shimming. I'm doing a drum solo. You could see it on my Instagram at I am Sahara Rose. Scroll back to like late December and I'm wearing a white outfit. And in the caption I'm like, this is a, you know, Egyptian cabaret style drum solo dance. And like this is where it comes from. And also like don't be afraid to let it jiggle. Like in belly dance we let it jiggle and that's the beauty and the art form of it. And for so many years I've not been comfortable with myself of making it jiggle. So feel free. And for so many women, they're like, oh my gosh, like your body looks like mine. Like, you're so brave. Thank you for your courage of sharing this. And to me it was really interesting. Like I'm very grateful for all of those comments. And I'm like, wow, like why is it an act of bravery that just like a regular human with a regular human body is like sharing a video of themselves dancing? Like the fact that I don't have six pack abs, the fact that I have like above like whatever 15% body fat, whatever the ratio is that makes someone skinny in our society, that, that's courageous. Like to me that's actually kind of sad because it shows that we have only seen bodies that look a certain way, stick thin, you know, six pack abs or Victoria's Secret or, or very thin looking bodies which you know, if you're born with that like rock that body and love that body. I've also been in a smaller body too that was naturally that size because I was dealing with all my vats and balance, digestive issues etc, so I totally know there's such thing as skinny shaming as well too. And also, you know, there are so many spectrums of different body sizes and we as in our media, if you look at every single actress, pretty much every single singer and for sure every single model, they're, they're thin and now there is a plus size movement happening. But even with the plus size movement, a friend of mine who's a plus size model talks about this a lot. It's like you're either super thin size 0 or you have to be a certain weight to be considered plus size. So a friend of mine, Danica, who was a plus size model, she was I think a size 14 or something when she became a plus size model. And then when she naturally just started to eat healthier, she dropped down to a size 12 or 10. And she lost all her gigs because they said, oh, well, now you're too thin to be plus size, but you're obviously too big to be a normal model, so we just don't want you anywhere. And it just really got me thinking that, you know, I'm all about the body positivity, movement and also it should include a wide range of bodies, not just hyper thickness thin or plus size. There's so many spectrums in between and that's probably percentage wise where most women are at. And I think that what was so healing and opening and revealing for so many women and just like seeing my belly fat jiggle is because they just saw themselves like their body that, you know, is doing well for them and also not completely toned and loving that and honoring that it can dance and move and jiggle and create art and beauty and. And I also wished the focus was more on the dance form and the art. And I think that as a society, we just aren't there yet. Like when we see a dancer, we're not thinking about the dance, we're looking at her body. You know, I know I've definitely done this throughout my life of, oh, this. You see a singer, oh, she has such a good body. Why aren't we paying attention to her singing? Oh, this actor has such great abs or legs. Why aren't we paying attention to their acting? We instantly want to judge people on their bodies and say if it's good or bad or like ours or not. And I think that the only way that this is going to go away is for just like more people of different sizes, colors, spectrums, everything to just share their bodies and for it to not be a thing, for it not to have to be commented on and judged on. Because for a second when I was getting all those, oh my God, you're so brave and so courageous for sharing your belly fat with us. I was like, whoa. Like, you know, you could kind of take it offensively. And I was. And then I was just like, you know what? Like, if this is what's healing for people, I'm glad to be a part of it. But it was definitely revealing to me and so something I want to do more of in this next year of my life. My age, 29, is more dance videos, more art forms, especially dance and dj. We take a quick break from this episode so I can share with you an amazing opportunity. Are you interested in having a career focused on health and wellness? Well, if so, then the universe is calling you to become a holistic health coach. I am offering this incredible deal, a discount of $1500 dollars off my Alma mater Institute for Integrative Nutrition which is the world's largest nutrition school with guest teachers such as Deepak Chopra, Chris Carr, Dr. Hyman and Dr. Andrew Whale and so many others. It is split between six months of health coaching programs teaching you hundreds of nutritional theories including Ayurveda as well as six months of business coaching. And as an additional bonus, I am offering a webinar where I will take teach you how to use social media to create a thriving career as a health coach. On top of that, I have created a private Facebook community just for the highest self podcast listeners who are becoming health coaches to connect with each other, meet up with each other and support one another on this journey. So if you're interested, send an email over to Sahara S A H A R AAT feel fresh.com with subject IIN again Saharaet feelfresh.com with subject IIN and I will personally send you back the email that will allow you to get a 1500 dollars off discount as well as my business coaching webinar and the private Facebook group. I'm so excited for you to begin your journey as a health coach. So this summer I went to DJ school again. I had just gotten married. We were supposed to move into a house. It didn't end up working out and we ended up being houseless for a month, staying at random like motels. And it was super stressful. We didn't know where we were gonna end up being. I had my book due. It was due September 1st. I hadn't done any of the writing of it yet. And I had Rose Gold Goddesses to launch. It was the craziest, most stressful and intense summer of my life. You guys have heard some podcast episodes of me going through it. Rejection is redirection, right? So true. And something just told me sign up for DJ school. You know, DJing was something that I have wanted to do since I was in college. I've always had this fantasy of me being DJ SARS and DJ sars. I had my whole thing prepare to get infected. This is sick. Put your, put your, put your masks on DJ sars. That was my whole shrill. I actually don't want to go by DJ SARS anymore. But I respect that this has been a long standing dream of mine. So I was so busy. I had so much going on the last time. The last thing I need to do in my schedule is now throw on DJ school on top of this. But I don't know when spirit tells me something, I just got to go do it. So I looked up different DJ school programs and found a school called Scratch Academy, which I super recommend and signed up. So it was two times a week for like two and a half, three hours each time. And I'll be honest, every single time before class, I was like, I don't wanna go. I don't have time to go. I have so much I need to be on Zillow. I don't even know where I'm gonna be living tomorrow. I'm so stressed out. Oh my gosh. But because I paid for it and I'm a Capricorn, I'm just gonna go. So I would go, oh my God. Like maybe like leave class early. And then while I'm in class, I'm like, oh, yes, this is vibe, this dancehall music. Ooh, that sounds good. With this 2000s hip hop, this genuine right here. And I would walk out of that class buzzing, just like listening to my music in my groove. And suddenly it didn't matter that I didn't know where we were going to move tomorrow or how I was going to get all this stuff done. It didn't matter anymore because I had music and I had dance. So it really helped me in that difficulty time of my life. And then when DJ school ended and I finally, you know, your final performance is to perform in front of the class and do a DJ set. And throughout the class I was like, I don't think I'm gonna be able to do it. Cause I thought DJing was like, you literally press play and you just choose your songs. And it just was like how good of a playlist you put together. And that's not the case especially. Cause we were learning on vinyl, which is like the old school, like that method. Because this academy, Scratch Academy, was created by J Master J of Run DMC. So it's like OG, like 90s style hip hop. You really learn how to scratch. And I respect it because a lot of DJs these days don't know how to actually DJ on a vinyl. So it's kind of like learning how to drive a car on stick. Like, I learned how to do it the manual way, the hard way. And it's great because it allowed me to really understand the ropes of it and was definitely more challenging, which is why I was like, I don't think I'm gonna be able to do the final performance. But I finally did it. I was shaking. Like, guys, you could put me on a crowd to speak in front of a thousand people. And I'll, like, be like, okay, cool. But DJ in front of, like, the five other aspiring DJs in my class, I was, like, shaking and nervous and, like, oh, my God, like, literally, like, my hand was, like, twitching the whole time because it was something so new and foreign to me. And I just want this to be a reminder to you to put yourself in experiences that you're a total newbie, that you don't feel comfortable, that you're like, holy sh. I have no idea what I'm doing. And I feel like I'm really bad at this because it's in those experiences that you grow. And especially if it's something that you wanna do, there's nothing that feels better than, like, looking at how far you've come and saying, like, I had so much fear around doing this. But the fact that I didn't listen to my fear and I let my excitement guide me is what brought me here. So in this coming year, something that I'm gonna be doing a lot more of is DJing different conscious events. I lead something called Goddess Dance Activation, which is dancing your different goddesses, connecting with them through movement. I also do a manifest dance. So dancing your manifestation, holding into your heart, embodying it through movement. Because, again, how we manifest things is. Is embodying it first, feeling it, and then that's how it happens and actualizes in real life. And then also dance your doshas, which is embodying Vata Pitakov, which is actually something I created when I was living in Bali when I was 23 years old. And finally, full circle has come six years later, and I'm really going forth and facilitating it. So I did my first public DJ gig for my 29th birthday party, which just happened this past Saturday, which was awesome, in front of, like, 30 of my friends. And again, I was so nervous the day before, I was like, I'm not gonna do it. I'm not ready. I don't know. I don't know how to do this. And also, it was a silent disco, so you don't have, like. You can't hear everyone out loud and have your, like, headset in. You just have the headset in, so you kind of have to just nail it. You can't, like, hear the song, see if it sounds good together or not. So that was the challenge. And then once I got on that stage, like, two songs in, I'm like, fuck, yes. Like, this is my Dharma. And just, like, seeing everyone's energy and, like, how excited they were, with the next song, like, I put, like, Pass that Dutch by Missy Elliot and like, hey Ma by Cam' Ron and, like, epic, like, Native American tribal stuff by A Tribe Called Red and Reggaeton J. Balvin and, you know, all of these. My favorite music. And just to see the crowd's reaction, Holy crap, gave me such a high. And also to be able to, like, dance up in that DJ booth and, like, twerk and belly dance and, oh, my God, it was powerful. So you're gonna see a lot more of that from me this coming year. So this is a very long number, too. I'm definitely not going to get into all of these this long, but it was a huge thing for me this year and a huge thing for a lot of people. I'm seeing a lot of people evolving, transitioning, changing, and a lot of people feeling guilty about that, which you should never feel guilty about evolving. You came to this planet to evolve. It's the only reason why you're here. We are on a moving planet that is circling around the sun, that is circling in our galaxy. Everything is moving at millions of miles per second. And if we think that we are the one thing that's gonna remain the same, that's a lie that we're telling ourselves. Truthfully, there's no such thing as stability. It's just an illusion because nothing is stable. Everything is changing, and everything is moving. So we have to honor that and see what is working with me at this moment and then transition out of it when it's not. Like, nothing is a life sentence, including a relationship. Everything should be a choice. You should be choosing your husband, you should be choosing your career. You should be choosing everything in your. And if you live your life that way of really filling your life with things that you want and things that bring you expansion, you're gonna get so far. Not to say that there's not gonna be challenges. Not to say, like, all those times that I didn't want to go to DJ school, or I didn't want to do all of the email sequences of my launch, or I didn't want to lock myself up my entire vacation rewriting and editing my book. Cause that's what I literally spent all of the holidays doing. But, like, my small self didn't want to because I'm like, I want to be in the pool or I want to do this. But, like, my higher self, hundred percent wanted to. It knew that that was the thing that would bring me the highest expansion. So, like, you know, work doesn't have to feel like A drudge. And something that I write a lot about in Discover your Dharma. Like a. A little coin term is put it in the work, like W E R K. And that has such a different vibration than the word work. Like, when we're like, oh, I'm working. It's like something that someone else is making you do, like, oh, I have to go work for my boss. And it sucks, and work sucks. And that's kind of the paradigm we have around work. But if it's like, oh, I gotta do some work, work, work, work, work. It's like that Missy Elliott that has a positive, an upbeat, and a aspiring vibration to it. And it's something that I want to do. It's like, go to work. Like, I feel like crumping when I hear that. Right? So that's the energy that you want to have around your life. You just want to crump it out. Oh. So. So that brings me to my third lesson, which is the universe has better plans for you than you have for yourself. Now, this is a lesson that majorly surprised me this year because I was going about my daily life and I get an email from this editor I had met from Yoga Journal a year prior. And a friend of mine, Rosie Acosta, who's been on this podcast, was on the COVID of Yoga Journal, like, in December of 2018. Yes, December 2018. And when they were doing her cover, and she's like one of my best friends, I was so happy for her. And then when they were doing her cover, she was supposed to show a day in her life and she did a podcast interview. She interviewed me on her podcast and that's it. And it was right when Eat, Feel fresh had come out. So we did the podcast interview and, you know, I met the editor and that's it. We weren't in contact. And I get emailed year later this September of her saying that she was promoted to become the editor in chief, and she asked me to be on the COVID of Yoga Journal magazine, which is international print magazine in all of the airports, bookstores, CVS's, Whole Foods, like, literally everywhere that magazines are sold. So I was like, oh, my goddess, yes. What? And it was just such a reminder to me of both points, Lessons three and four. The universe has better plans for you than you have for yourself. And also number four, which is treat each person like a goddess or God, man in a human form. So this has been a reoccurring theme of me in my life. Everyone I meet, I truly treat as if they are goddess or God. Man. And what that means is I honor them completely and treat them the same way I would if Saraswati walked in the door. So clearly, when I had done this podcast with Rosie, the editor in Yoga Journal was impressed. And I fully showed up at that moment. And I was kind to the editor and obviously emitted positive vibrations to her. And that is why when she had the opportunity to choose one person to be featured for her very first cover of Yoga Journal, which is the January 2020 issue of bringing in the Entire New Decade, and now they only have six issues a year, so it's like, gonna be out for two months during the holidays. Like, holy freaking shit. She thought of me. And I was like, oh, my God. It's like I could have just never planned this for myself. I could have never expected it. I could have never seen it coming. It was not on my vision board. I was not manifesting it, like, consciously, but we are always manifesting things subconsciously. And essentially I showed up as my highest self in that moment. And I continued to throughout the year. And she had just been watching my journey of transitioning from Ayurveda to the Goddess work to empower you, woman. And it inspired her. And again, it all ties together. The sisterhood, the evolution, the universe having better plans for you and treating each person like a goddess. Because all of that brought me to the Yoga Journal issue. And the Yoga Journal issue was also my ultimate way of being of service. Because the whole issue is about how I've dedicated my life since childhood to being of service. From, you know, working in the slums of India to building orphanages and community centers in Peru and Thailand and Vietnam and Nicaragua, and, you know, literally knowing that this lifetime was completely about being of service since I was a child. And also honoring that, that could be joyful and fun and doesn't have to be a sacrifice. So I believe that even that issue has nothing to do with me, and it has everything to do with the message. And I am just a conduit of the message. And. And I'm grateful to be able to share that through my vessel. So that was a huge treat. And then also there's one that hasn't manifested yet, but I know is going to this year. I can feel it coming. And, wow, if this opportunity happens, it's really gonna be a game changer. And this would be like, I had done a lot of healing inner child work because I had this, like, horrible dream about my dad that showed up for me of him dying and just like, you know, our relationship and all of the things I wish I could have said to him, which led me to a process of writing him a letter of all the things I wish I could say to him, and channeling a letter back from him, and writing a letter to my inner child and channeling letter back to me. And it was this really cathartic experience with a lot of tears. Like, it was one of the hardest things I've actually ever done. I was really sobbing, and it made me realize how much pain I had inside of me related to my father wound. And my father is still alive, but we don't really speak that much. So that was like, huge awakening that I had that there was still some work that I needed to do to clear that before 2020 began so I could begin with a clear slate. And honestly, as soon as I did that, the next day I had a phone call for this opportunity that would literally change everything, everything for me. And I truly believe that that happened because that residue I had of sadness and anger towards my dad was holding me back from the highest, highest possibility for me. And because I went face forward, I saw that there was some resistance, some anger, some sadness towards my dad. And instead of running away from it, which most people would probably do, I was like, okay, let's dive in. Let's see what's happening here. And really letting myself go there. And because I did that work and I transmuted it, I was able to bring it to light and vibrate at a higher frequency than I ever have before, which led to this phone call, which we will see. How I manifest is I just remain in alignment. I don't obsess over things and pray for them all the time and put them on my vision board so I could see them. That's just. I've never manifested things that way. I've always manifested things by, like, I set the intention. This is what I want. And now I'm going to go about my daily life of being my best self. And it will happen when it's the right time. So it will happen. And I'll keep you guys posted. Lesson five, some seasons are all in pitta style. Some seasons are chill kaffe style. Stay present during all of them. So I had different seasons in my life this year. So the beginning of the year, wedding more personal, focused, more focused on, you know, my wedding dress and this. And, you know, I definitely went a bit wedding crazy, but it was more of a kapha period of time. And then this summer was like full pitta from, you know, July until the end of the Year was very pitta, especially, you know, writing the book and launching and all that stuff. But then also in October, I went on my speaking tour. So I spoke at probably 20 different events in a two or three week period of time from New York to LA to Miami. I spoke at Google, the IIN Institute for Integrative Nutrition conference, Mind Bodygreen. I've recorded an E course with Mind Bodygreen which will be out soon. I spoke at just like so many different like dinners and this and that and then hosted rose gold goddess parties in Miami, Louisiana, New York, posted picnics hosted, discover your dharma workshops, discover your dharma meditations. Like there were days that I had like two speaking engagements in the same day that I'd go from one to the next and it was cray. And right before I left, I was actually having nightmares of me being kidnapped in my own life. Like I was like held as a hostage in my own life. And I think what it represented was like, oh my God, what did you get yourself into? This is going to be so crazy. But it's my own life, it's my own choosing. I chose all of this. But then like, you know, you know that feeling right before you're going to go on vacation where you have like all of this anxiety around going and you really don't want to go anymore. Even if it's like a vacation that you totally planned and you were excited for but like right before you're going, you really want to stay home. That is how I felt like times a million because it wasn't a vacation. It was like a lot of me showing up and speaking and like having to be on my A game all the time, hair and makeup every day, which is so like not my thing. So I just stayed present during it all. Like, okay, what is happening today? And just, okay, I'm speaking here and now I'm moving here and now I have to record this and every single day, just fully showing up, keeping my daily practice. I exercised every single day, put on a YouTube workout even for 30 minutes, and drank my, you know, different herbs and just tried to stay as balanced as I could throughout the process. And I ended up having a of bunch beautiful time. Like everything went perfectly. Every single talk I gave, I like impressed myself. I'm like, where the hell did that just come from? Like, wow, like I really came through and I really believe it was because I fully, instead of getting overwhelmed and in the moment and well, what's going to happen tomorrow? I'm going to have energy for this, like overthinking getting in my head about it. I was just like, this is where I'm at. I'm going to fully show up in my biggest expression right now. And then when it was done, I would be like, I want to do that again. You know, it's like, you just went through a roller coaster. You're going to want to do it. I don't want to do it. And then you go through the roller coaster and you're like, let's go again. That is how I felt. So, yeah, I really felt on purpose and on fire and, like, good. Like, in alignment, actually. So it ended up being a beautiful experience. And then when I got back, it was. I wanted it to be more of a kapha period of time. That was my intention of really, like, grounding in and doing some more deep inner work and like, just like, reconnecting with. With my home and my vessel again. And. And then again editing my book, discover your dharma and really focusing on that. So there are different seasons, vata seasons, which are more creative and writing. There are pitta seasons, which are more action oriented, and then kapha seasons, which are more chill. So honor whatever season you're in. Don't stress yourself out. You know, sometimes I do this. Like, I had a full day of, like, emails and this and that, and I'm like, why don't I do any writing? It's like, well, it was a pit today. Look at all the stuff I did do. Or if you're having a coffee day where you're chilling, you're like, oh, why didn't I get work done? You did a coffee day like you were supposed to. You're supposed to chill. Or if it's like, you know, a vata day and you're worrying why you didn't chill, you know, we're always worrying about what we didn't do. But when you honor that day and what dosha it's related to, then you're able to give yourself full permission to be there. And I did a podcast episode called scheduling your days with the doshas, which I highly recommend listening to, which is about this topic that I recommend doing of scheduling even your days according to the doshas. So this brings me to lesson six, which is you came to this planet to dance. So dance. I talked about this a bit, but huge, major part of my life activated my spirit, activated my soul, and also helped inspire other people to do the same. And this is going to be a year of more. Of more belly dancing, of more twerking, more heels, anything I Wish I was a good pole dancer. I'm really not a good pole dancer. It takes a lot of upper body strength and fearlessness of not being afraid of falling on your head, which I don't have. So I'll stick to belly dance for now and twerking, of course, and just ecstatic dancing and just, again, really activating myself in that way. And then number seven, the more you show your weird and wild side, the more successful you will be. So this was the year that I showed myself, like, in uncomfortable moments, random moments, like the belly dancing with my fat jiggling. And it has resonated with so many people. And I think before I had this, like, block that, you know, I am a spiritual teacher, so I must, like, look like a spiritual teacher and. And behave like a spiritual teacher. And clearly I've not been very good with that block. But I wouldn't say I was as blocked as most. But I definitely wasn't showing my full wild side on social media. I also wasn't even as tapped into it yet. But this year I have been. I've unleashed myself. And in doing that, I think that's actually the most memorable part for a lot of people. What I do, you know, I actually polled my Instagram audience, which is a lot of you guys. If you're following me at I am sahararose of when have you seen me at my best? Which is a really good question to ask people if you're, you know, looking for reflection on. On your purpose or anything. So I asked, when have you seen me at my best? And everyone is like, when you're DJing, when you're dancing, I'm like, really, like, not when I'm, like, writing these Ayurveda books and, like, giving these, like, riveting talks, but because they had expected that from me, you know, it didn't really maybe resonate or ring as, like, high in their head, but something that was completely different that they didn't expect from me, like, being super silly and, like, the weird things. I called Chubby my dog. And, you know, just being me allowed people to see that I'm not this, like, perfect human being, but I'm actually just, like a multifaceted one. And I do lots of different things, and not all of them are, you know, I think everything is spiritual, but it's not like, white linen robe, spiritual Namin. So I truly believe the more you let your freak flag fly, the more successful you will be, because the world needs more people in their totality. We don't need more people In a box. We don't need more people who, like, fit the idea of what they're supposed to be. We need more people who are showing up. And this is something else I wrote about in Discover your Dharma. But, like, I think it's cool to, like, learn meditation from someone who is formerly an addict. Or it's cool to learn spirituality from someone with, like, tattoos all over their body or, you know, whatever. That thing that you're really ashamed of that you think is going to make you feel like you're off or different or not going to be accepted, that is actually the thing that you should run with. That's actually the thing that is going to make you most received by your people. And that's not every person, but it's your people. Because not everyone's going to like everyone. Not everyone likes me. Not everyone's going to like you. Let's face it. Like, if you try to be liked by, like, your mother in law's friends, like, I'm sorry, you're gonna sound like a fucking Hallmark commercial. Come on. Like, you did not come here for aunt Jo to take you seriously. You know what I mean? Like, screw Aunt Jo. She has plenty of other people who speak in her language that she can listen to. And if that's not your language, don't make it be. And I think that again, like, maybe because we've had so much feedback from our parents, so, like, sound like a professional and talk like this or from our guidance counselors or whatever. We're so used to being so professional and serious. And I think that that paradigm is done, like, because of social media and the Internet. Hi. We don't want that shit. Like, article writing has been replaced by blog rating. That has been replaced by social media captions. And, like, yeah, we can complain about. And social media's ruined everything, and everything sucks. But, like, also, it's made us be able to be more ourselves and, like, not have to curate and have an editor approve everything that we say to a newspaper that's owned by a major corporate mogul that owns the entire world and is related to the Rothschilds. Like, we don't want that anymore. We want to have our own little Instagrams where we can say whatever the fuck we want. So I'm very grateful for the Internet and I'm very grateful to show my truth and every spectrum of it. And sometimes my truth is talking a little bit more like this and asking you the six questions that will help you discover your dharma. And sometimes it's talking like this. So we're multifaceted humans. We have different moods, we have different spectrums of who we are. So let it all. Let it all hang out. We want more hanging out. Oh my goddess. I have so much more to share with you. I ended up speaking for two hours on all of the lessons, so I broke it up into two podcast bits to not overwhelm me with all the lessons. Really let this integrate before we dive into the next one. So Part two is going to be out in just a couple days. Subscribe to this podcast so you can be alerted whenever it comes out. It is available on iTunes, Spotify, SoundCloud, wherever you were. Listening to this now. Subscribe so you are notified. Follow me on Instagram at I am Sahara Rose. I'll be sharing some pictures and behind the scenes over on my Instagram story, so be sure you're following me so you could see that and watch my transition and all of these memories and stuff in actual picture form. And I am so grateful for you being here. If you loved this episode, I would love if you could leave me a review in the iTunes store and as a free gift I will share with you the first half of my unreleased book Eat Right for your mind Body Type. Simply email a screenshot of your review over to SaharaetFeelFresh.com again Sahara S A H A R AatFeelFresh.com and I will send you over the first half of my unreleased book Eat Right for your Mind Body Type. Thank you and namaste sa.