It’s Never Too Late To Chase Your Dreams

From the materialistic dream of Hong Kong to the discovery of yoga

I have lived in five different countries in the last ten years of my life.

I’ve had a dozen different jobs in my life : selling frozen cakes in Hong Kong, meeting with waste recyclers all over South East Asia and Australia, teaching French to Tibetan refugees in India, guiding Chinese tourists all over the holy land of Israel and selling diamonds in the Israel Diamond Exchange are among the numerous jobs I had.

If you look at the path I have followed so far, it looks unpredictable and without any logic.

I don't know where I will be in one year or what I will be doing, but it is ok

So to make a long story short, I was born in France, have spent most of my life there. 

After I graduated from a business school, in my twenties, I moved to Hong Kong as I had a great job opportunity in a Sales and Marketing position in a French company that was doing something noble, waste recycling.

I was living the expatriate dream in one of the most bustling cities in the world.

There is a famous sentence in Hong Kong that says « work hard, play hard » that gives a general idea of how it looks like to live in Hong Kong in the expat community.

When I wasn’t working, I would spend at least four times a week drinking, partying, eating big meals at restaurants, in shopping center and spend the money in bags, shoes and clothes. I was not having any physical activities, I was often sick and prone to all sort of health conditions.

I discovered yoga at that time.

I immediately felt in love with and started practicing in a consistent way.

It was bringing me what I needed the most at that time: regain my health, physical strength, emotional balance and confidence.

After three years consistent and regular practice, I could feel physical and mental changes happening.

In the meantime, the company I was working for, was closing its office in Hong Kong and I had to look for another job.

The idea to be jobless was scaring. This idea conveyed by the society that, without a job, you’re nothing and that people define you by your job, is what I used to hear all my life and was deeply anchored in me. So So I jumped on the first job offer that I had.

 

To stay in a job that you don't like but brings your material comfort or to quit everything and look for what will fulfill you?

Right before starting, I knew that I’ll hate this job, but I tried to convince myself that it could be good for my career and then maybe I’ll be able to do something better after.

This is typically the kind of thought I decided to totally ban from my way of thinking after I started practicing yoga, that it will be better after. When I will find my soulmate. When it will be holiday. When I will be retired.   Life is too short to think about after, I learned how to think in terms of now.

In this new job, my main duty was to sell frozen cakes to restaurants and hotels.

After one year in this job, the situation became very comfortable, I was earning a fair amount of money, I was settled in the company as I’ve already proved myself.

But spiritually speaking, I was feeling empty inside and the feeling of wasting my time was killing me.

It was a profoundly meaningless job, I was filling my head with figures, the turnover of each month, figuring out how to sell better, faking my behavior in front of my boss and my customers.

I was losing my soul. Nothing there allowed me to grow, to learn or to stimulate my mind. Being seated in front of a computer most of the time, and having to carry heavy samples of cake all day, I also ended up having constant pain and tension in the cervical area.

I was feeling trapped in a situation and was not sure which direction to take to change it. 

As I was looking around me, none of my friends were happy in their jobs, and I kept wondering, why? Why shall we accept it? 

Every time I would ask, people would answer "because this is life". 

 

But I couldn't accept this answer, this was not life, not the life that I wanted.

I was desperately looking to learn and grow and I thought at some point to go back to Paris to continue some studies in humanitarian work as I was craving to have a job which would have an impact of society. 

But I was too afraid of change, to start everything from zero, not knowing what I would gain from this change. I was submerged by doubts and felt paralyzed to do any move.

As I was questioning more and more my way of living, I got contacted for a job position, I passed the interview successfully and got a nice job offer to be relocated in… Singapore.

I decided to give it a try and once more, I quit my job and told all my friends and family I was moving to Singapore.

But destiny decided something else for me. It turned out that my work visa in Singapore was rejected by the local authorities meaning that I had the job but I was not allowed to work there. So I was jobless one more time.  Where to go now, what to do next? My instinct told me, enough, don’t jump on the first job that will come, take your time to settle and think about what you really want.

 

No more fear of change, as there is nothing to lose, only things to learn and earn

The idea came at that time. I decided to go to India to do my yoga teacher training.

This was the second milestone that brought me where I am now. 

So circumstances, luck, and instinct pushed me toward this direction: I booked a one-way ticket to India.

I didn't know yet that it would be such a rich and extraordinary journey and now with I can say with hindsight, a life-changing experience. I ended up staying in India for nine months to travel across this magical land and started to understand what was under the emerged part of the iceberg called "yoga".

I was diving more into the other aspect of yoga such as meditation, chanting, dancing, women circles, community work, tantra philosophy and much more.

I started teaching yoga. I was living my dreams: to travel, to teach yoga, to meet inspirational people, to be free, and to learn new things about the world and about myself every single day.

And of course, a travel would not be a real travel if there was not a pinch of love in all this! I met with someone from Israel whom I felt in love with, traveled with and went through some of the richest and unique experiences in my life. You never chose who you fall in love with and my choice explains the following part of my journey and why I later moved to Israel (here to read my post about Israel)

I went to India looking looking for myself.

I didn't find all the answers but I came back with a few certitudes: I didn't want to be back to work in the corporate world.

I wanted to keep living only doing things that I loved and were meaningful to me.

A lot of people told me that they admired what I have done, that it was courageous to quit everything and to go look for my dreams.

I always tell them that it’s how life should be, life worths being lived only if you go chase for your dreams.

Later on, I took a one year training to become a certified life coach, and completed numerous courses to go deeper into the inner work, working on my core beliefs, core wounds, inner child, 
shadows and more. 

In my coaching practice, I use some of the tools I've experienced first hand to transform my own life.

They’re derived from modern psychology, tantra and yoga.

They've allowed me to become the yoga teacher, life coach and women I wanted to be and create the life I was dreaming of.

That's why today, I'm so passionate about sharing these tools and supporting other people doing the same. 

If you want to know how I can help you switch frustration and a lack of direction for clarity, beaming confidence and a deeply fulfilling life, contact me here and I can send you some information.

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