Today we’d like to introduce you to Natasha Samson.
Hi Natasha, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My story is an interesting one. I was originally a full-time engineer; I became a team lead, associate, and then a director within ten years of practice. I was a major manifestor, powering through and accomplishing all my career goals just to realize that I was not happy. I was in a job and a relationship I was not happy with, pushed toward the idea of buying a house, marriage, and having children. I was deeply averse to the prescribed path I was on and felt like there had to be more happiness in life than this. I knew the relationship I was in was unhealthy and going to lead to further health imbalances and depression.
It was somewhere between the age of 28 and 31 where I realized everything was “wrong”. Questioning how did I end up here? Can I get out? What happens if I do? There was a lot of fear to overcome, and I knew I needed a way to build up my confidence and strength to make a change.
Both my grandfathers and one grandmother had passed away from heart or blood circulation issues, and I also had my own circulation issues showing up, not being able to kneel down without my legs falling asleep (among other sprouting health concerns I didn’t know about) and at around the age of 30, I had thought that there must be a way to prevent or heal these things earlier through food or create teas or something. I had a desire to help heal people through food. I also had a real connection to yoga since I was in university and decided to take my yoga teacher training (YTT) while still working full time. A YTT really is a “hero’s journey” experience, it had broken me apart, forced to let all the pain come out of the cracks. The beautiful thing about the “journey within” is that it slowly puts you back together a much brighter and happier way. After completing my YTT, I had the “elixir” and wanted to share that with the world.
Through this training, I was introduced to Ayurveda which incorporated all the things I wanted to learn about: food, herbs, and so much more, like daily rhythms, cleansing, meditation, yoga, breathwork and the psychology of it all. I had found what I was looking for and then had to figure out how to learn more and start helping people. Shortly after this training, I left my partner and the city we were living in. As an engineer, I made the big decision to move from a large company to a small one, then from a small one to contracting my time out and starting a business. This gave me the time to get more education in Ayurveda and Yoga and start offering consultations, counseling, and classes to people on the side. I incorporated my business and created two brands under my corporation to allow the money to flow through both brands.
Over the following 5 years, my business went through many seasons – and so did I. I stayed dedicated to my meditation and yoga practice and continued to unveil, face, fight and finish the narratives, barriers, limited believes and self-worth understanding I was holding on to. This is where my love for psychology and yoga philosophy began and my fascination of digging deep into the “root cause” of the choices we have made and how to move away from this to a place where we can thrive. I wanted to help my clients and students with the same. As COVID-19 hit the world, I pivoted to online and took the “forced slowdown” to really dive deeper into my physical health having mostly focused on my mind previously. This was also the time I really had to learn what it was to be an entrepreneur and what it takes to move from getting by to growing and reaching more people. I was always geared towards working hard and staying curious, but my mediation practice is what offered the ease of flow through this journey, feeling certain about what to do next, what opportunities to say yes to, and sitting in a high vibration more often than not. I believe it is the one thing everyone should take on their journey.
It is an old paradigm to be “successful“ by working hard and compromising your health and relationships in the process. I believe that if you reach “success” and have compromised the health of your mind or body, that does not offer inspiration. I believe that folks are starting to see this as the new shift. I also want to be part of that message, helping folks understand the power behind the practices of Ayurveda and Yoga that can have you running at your top performance so you can give your gift to others from an overflowing tank.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Challenges and opportunity for growth really. As an engineering team leads from my past, I learned early when to delegate something and what to keep for myself. There came a time in my business when I needed more cash flow to delegate the work that needed to be done by folks with great skills I had no desire to nurture. Applying for business loans and grants, betting on coaches and courses. I did not have any family money or outside support to move this business forward. No one in my family was an entrepreneur, so this was also unknown territory in my existing community. I had to maintain working as an engineer part-time for a very long time. There was still no happy medium between how much engineering work I needed to do to pay rent and time left over for my business, in addition to the funds needed to pay my sub-contractors to help the business move forward.
I also sell experiential education. I did not have a tangible product to buy, nor wanted to offer a coaching service to promote, so it made it hard to find the right mentorship. I never liked the idea of selling to someone’s “pain point”, inducing anxiety so to purchase a course, this does not align with my values, so the standard way of marketing education was also not for me.
Outside of the business challenges, there are of course the personal ones. The growth journey is never smooth, growth takes a lot of work. You get thrown around, tested, and even sideswiped by some emotional trauma you thought you figured out already. For this, spiritual community, great friends, supportive family, inspirational coaches and perspective and purposeful podcasts are helpful. And also, the tools from Ayurveda and Yoga guide me to know what foods, habits, and movement practices to choose to bring my mindset back on tract, have perspective and move forward.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Nourish Ayurveda & Yoga?
I help people get more from their life. The way you move through your day, the choices you make, all affect your mind, body, and soul. I open people’s eyes to the simplicity and cascade effect of their choices. I am knowledgeable when it comes to Ayurveda & Yoga specifically how it relates to individuals in their everyday life. I explain this seemingly complicated science in a way that is very accessible and easy to digest. Anyone who comes to my talks (retreats, workshops, etc.), leave feeling inspired and equipped to make choices they know will improve their life. It is an amazing thing to be able to help folks with this. From reducing stress, getting rejuventative sleep, reaching optimal digestion, determining the root cause of suffering in the mind, and knowing what habits to choose on a daily basis in real-time to change your mood. Fascinating stuff. I call all of this the cream in the coffee though as the work we do on the inside is the real strong stuff and where I like to play.
I offer life-shifting retreats, workshops, courses and speaking engagements. In person and online. I will be launching a series of e-books in 2023 and 2024. I am available for one-on-one counseling, Ayurveda consultations and private yoga.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
My podcast go-to is Jay Shetty: On Purpose, I will sometimes venture off and listen to folks he has had on his podcast like Lewis Howe: School of Greatness or others on investing and entrepreneurship.
Books are a part of anyone’s journey, and many game changers for me are all around self-development whether spiritual or otherwise. I have been fascinated by the topic of surrender and the power within the act of surrender talked about by great teachers like Alan Watts, to the Michael Singer’s Untethered Soul. I have studied the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali and other epics like the Bhagavad Gita.
A resource that is needed for the entrepreneur’s journey is a good mentor and coach; I recommend finding one you are drawn to.
Lastly, I would say that meditation is key, and in Ayurveda, considered the first and last medicine.
Contact Info:
- Website: nourishyoufirst.ca
- Instagram: @natashasyoga
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natasha-samson-p-eng-91b3045a/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIzu3foAmfXS1r1ms19AHyQ
Image Credits
Kristine Cofsky or theportraitsessions Rob Dumont
