Tell me about your vision. My vision, Harry,
is a tiny one. My vision is just for world peace.
Wow. Tell me more about that. World peace, when
put like that, might sound like a lofty goal.
But if you break it down, what world peace really
is, is a world made up of peaceful individuals.
So in my work as a meditation and mindset mentor,
I feel honored to help people make small shifts
that are doable, actionable steps that yield
huge results in how present, how peaceful they
experience their everyday life. Wow. Tell me
more about that. And how did you get to that
individual level? When I was 17, I was blessed
to meet who became the world's oldest yoga teacher,
my mentor Tao. And she lived until she was 101.
She was this magical, sparkly -souled human.
And being with her for 20 -plus years, studying
under her, assisting her, traveling with her,
I got to see... the impact of making a difference
of reminding people the magic they already possess
of helping them turn that light and that sparkle
back on from within and when i saw that transformation
i became addicted to it so i felt honored to
continue in small part what she had started in
her lifetime and i thought if you work with the
individual if you remind everybody that they
already have those Dorothy red shoes on. They
have everything they need. They just might have
forgotten how to access it. So if you can help
turn people's sparkles on one person at a time,
then they go back into their family world, their
work life, their social life, and they are rippling
bigger than they could even imagine. So the impact
spreads. So if you start with the person where
connection is the easiest, one -on -one, soul
to soul individual to individual you can really
change the whole world because of the ripple
wow thank you for sharing that what would you
say like how like i understand that you uh your
vision is world peace but if i dive into the
why of what you do what would that be Well, I
don't know if you could relate to this, Harry,
but there are times in our lives, seasons, chapters
that seem difficult. Maybe you have tragedy,
illness, loss, divorce, death, whatever it is.
We go through seasons of challenge. And I was
in one when I was 17. And it was a moment that
was really challenging in my personal life. And
then while traveling, I just had a glimpse of
a feeling of peace. And for one moment, I felt
connected. I felt calm. I felt present. And that
first glimpse into it started my obsession. How
do I access that feeling more often? And once
I became practiced at feeling that way, and more
often than not, I was living my life in this
peaceful experience, then I became addicted to
how do I share this with others? So I started
going deeper into my dive into meditation, into
yoga, became a certified yoga teacher with my
teacher, my mentor, who I mentioned. And I really
started helping people have that feeling in studios
and on mats. As the years went on, and then we
faced a circumstance no one could have predicted
with COVID, what that enabled me to do was take
the message out of the studios, off of the mats,
and bring it to people where they needed it most,
whether it was in their homes, with their families,
or in their workplaces. And I started doing more
executive high -performance coaching, keynote
speaking, and connecting with people so that
they can receive these messages, whether or not
they had a practice of meditation or they had
ever done yoga. This was the great equalizer.
Yeah. Well, tell me more about that. How was
that the great equalizer? So I loved the feeling
of being in a studio, of teaching people the
power of their breath, how to connect their breath
with their movement, how to use their body as
a vehicle towards their peace, exhaust themselves
physically so that they can really relax, rest,
recharge. That was really satisfying. When COVID
happened and things switched to virtual, I wasn't
getting the same connection teaching yoga virtually
that I had teaching it. personally, in person.
So I started thinking, okay, there's a reason
for this. And by necessity, the course, which
is actually the basis of what my most recent
book was on, Best Life Ever, was born. And this
enabled me to use a different kind of platform
so that connecting virtually made it possible
to reach more people in other states and other
countries and time zones. And once a week, we
would meet for about an hour. And it helped me
solve a problem that I didn't recognize that
I had had, which was when you create immersive
experiences, Harry, if you do a retreat or if
you have anything that's full immersion, maybe
a weekend away, it's easy to create the peace,
the serenity, the experience there. When you
go back home to your real life, real life happens.
Maybe you have a flat tire. Maybe the same dishes
are in the sink from when you left. Real life
enters the picture. So how do you maintain that
feeling that you created and felt on a retreat
after coming back to your real life? Well, because
of COVID and because I started connecting with
people through my course virtually, we would
meet once a week and then we would use the seven
intervening days to play with our action steps.
So the magic of it was we were playing with these
tools of transformation within the context of
our regular everyday life. So the transformations
were bigger, faster, and just incredible to witness.
I'm going to ask a deeper question here. I like
deeper questions, Harry. Bring it. Yeah. So I
understand that people want to feel that feeling.
again right but i want to know why like why do
you want to bring that feeling home from whatever
you experienced to like hey let's say i go on
a mountain and i'm experiencing some kind of
peace or some kind of serenity that i'm feeling
right then i come back to uh so this is my story
actually i'm gonna say this so i was uh i went
to yellowstone a few months ago with my wife
and We were there for four days. Most of the
time was just spending driving in and out and
driving through the roads, looking at wildlife,
stopping, looking. And it was one of the best
times I've ever had going to that place. And
I really, really miss it, right? And then I want
to go back there and experience the wildlife
again and experience all those people again.
But when I come back here, I don't expect the
wildlife come to me. And experience that here.
That's not what I expect. So why would someone
want to have that experience with them when they
experience that? What would that be? Now, may
I ask you, you don't expect the wildlife from
Yellowstone to be home with you now. But I'm
imagining that you also loved other aspects.
Maybe you were less digitally connected and more.
connected to the natural world around you. Maybe
you had really uninterrupted beautiful time as
a couple. There are other aspects when you travel
that feel amazing besides the physical location
that you want to take home as souvenirs. And
to put it so simply, there are feelings that
we experience that feel like ugh. Feelings that
we experience that feel like ah. And in my book
and in my course, I call this towards and away.
That when we are moving closer towards the best
version of our lives we can imagine, that feels
like when everything's going beautifully. When
you think of your favorite song, you turn on
the radio, it's on. When you're just about to
pick up the phone to call your best friend and
it's ringing and they're calling you. Or when
you get to a light and it's turning green, you
find $20 in your jeans pocket. That feeling of...
being in a flow state, it feels like, ah, it
feels like peace physiologically, emotionally.
It feels like a full body sigh. And when we feel
like we're working hard and we're swimming upstream
and we're going against the grain, we're forcing
something, we're pushing something, we're rushing,
we're running late, we feel overworked, overwhelmed.
It feels like, ugh. And it shows up in physiological
ways in our body. So when we learn to identify
what the feeling is, we can use it as a guide
to get more of that which shows up as a feeling
of peace in our body and less of that which doesn't.
So it gives us a great indicator. We start to
tune in more with our emotional cues, our physiological
correlating responses to them. And then we start
to stack the ahs in our favor so that before
we know it, we're living more of our lives. feeling
happier, more peaceful and more fully expressed
than not. So the long answer to your short question
is it feels better. It just feels better. In
simple terms, in our body, it feels better. In
our soul, in our energy, in our happiness levels,
it feels good to feel good. And if we get to
the basis of anything we've ever wanted in life,
Almost always the answer is some version of the
fact that having that, achieving that feels good.
Thank you for sharing that. I have one more question
for you before we end today's segment. Ioana,
what is your goal for being on the show? My goal
for being on this show is that for anyone listening
today, if you have this little inkling feeling,
a tug, of something that's been in the back of
your mind. Maybe it's been there for some time.
It's there for a reason. It is there because
you have the thought and then you have that inspired
action to take after having the thought, as long
as you trust in what the goal is and your ability
to achieve it. So just know that you would never
even have the idea if you didn't already have
the ability to achieve it. So whatever it is.
Go for that. Follow that tug and go for your
dream because there's no one else that has your
unique perspective and your individual voice
that can share your specific story the way you
can. Thank you for being here today. I'm really
happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live.
I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions
as these episodes continue to move forward. This
is going to get more and more fun. We'll have
more and more engagement as well. We'll invite
people to participate in the show. And thank
you for giving us your time and attention. Have
an excellent time building out your vision and
becoming a vision pro yourself.