We recently had the chance to connect with Emily Celis and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Emily, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned about your customers?
It surprises and delights me every day that our clients show up to do the very personal and challenging work of getting vulnerable with themselves and the relationships they hold most dear by talking about it in therapy sessions and uncovering what’s not working or feeling right in their lives. It inspires me to no end to support my clients along their life path and to hear the stories of all the clients who my therapists are working with and how they show up to do the hard work of life! Wow! I certainly found myself in the right “work” when I get to be in awe of the incredibly resilient human spirit day in and day out at S.A.G.E.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
S.A.G.E. has been a trailblazer in the field of holistic health and wellness since the early 2000’s, long before it was mainstream. We created our space because we believe in a world where we don’t just exist and get by, rather we guide our clients to live in such a way that they can look back at the end of their lives and say “that was worth it”. And by the way – we all believe this at S.A.G.E. and live this in our personal lives too! This is meaningful work and that’s why we call our business a movement, because we aren’t “making sales” we are changing lives with every healing session that one of our clients powerfully chooses to attend. We treat our client’s healing process with reverence, knowing it is a privilege for our clients to trust us and show up to do this hard work. We hope you’ll come along this journey with us – its called The Feel Alive Movement. #thefeelalivemovement
It all started out with Co-Founders Emily & Joseph becoming friends, later life partners – and countless hours of conversations and nerding out about how combining physical, mental and spiritual wellness was key to taking themselves and others to an entirely different plane of existence.
S.A.G.E. stands for Stillness, Awareness, Guidance and Education and The S.A.G.E. Method, created by Emily & Joseph, is a simple yet profound approach for individuals to keep coming back to themselves and live a life beyond mediocrity and into the space of truly knowing themselves and living deeply. When we are solid individuals we create immeasurable strength as a community.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
As a child, I was told what to believe and as I grew, that choice didn’t shift…I was still told what to believe and how to be, even though it was under the guise of “me choosing it”. As I began to seek knowledge in other ways than what was being fed to me, I realized that I DID think some different things than what I had been taught and I began to create more safety for myself in exploring many different belief systems which had previously not felt safe to do.
Being an independent thinker is important to me. Freedom is powerful. And now I aim to create safe spaces for others to locate the courage within to start listening to that inner voice that will guide them to really start living the life that was meant for them.
Is there something you miss that no one else knows about?
Sometimes I still find myself wishing for what was a “false sense of safety or knowing”- I used to think I had all the answers. As I have allowed myself the freedom to explore different thoughts and ways of being – even the holistic approach to life – I find that there is SO MUCH gray area. Gray area in not knowing the exact right answer or the exact direction to take. So much of life is “gray” and it isn’t always comfortable because it requires us to get still, and get in touch with our inner selves to feel into the next best step for us. It’s so much easier to defer to an outside source and just say “tell me what I’m supposed to do”. But the important growth is to learn how to discern what’s right for us. So…truth be told, sometimes I wish I could go back to things being “easy” again…where ignorance was bliss…but my reality shows me otherwise and that I have to lean into the gray area, the nuance of life. Ahhhhh life!
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
Some people might look at me and think – oh she has got it all together – in a way that isn’t quite aligned with what is my lived reality. I have a lot of things in my life that are really working for me but what people don’t see is how much work and effort I have put into what is currently going on for me or what’s NOT going well. People don’t see the days when I lose my temper, cry about how overwhelmed I am and the times when I don’t know how I can go on doing what I’m doing. There are metaphorical “deaths” all the time in my life as there are in anybody’s and I wish others would show more of their struggle with reality. Going through the “winter” or birth-death cycle is how we get to the next “blooming season”. We have to allow things to die/fade and then we can step into the next version of ourselves. I have shed more old versions of me than I can count. It has been very difficult, but I do have a steadfastness and perseverance within me that keeps me moving forward and wanting to progress – and I value that deeply.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
Rushing.
I would walk slower. Take more time to gaze into my children’s eyes. I would prioritize more time with my life partner. I would also require a lot more quiet time to reflect on how I am intentionally living out my last days and spend as much time as I need alone to make sense of it all. It’s all about the people, who I hold dear, and how I’m connecting with them. I would definitely DO less and BE more.
Contact Info:
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sagewellnessctr/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sagewellnessctr
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sage-holistic-health-and-wellness-center-santa-ana?osq=SAGE+Holistic+Health+%26+Wellness+Center
- Youtube: https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCuW8ap9Z7XzhPUph2eehX8w
- Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s-a-g-e-holistic-show/id1449538993
