Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Beston.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Today, I’m the proud owner of The Greenhouse, a yoga and inner wellness studio in Palos Verdes, California. It’s been a winding road here. More than 20 years ago, I moved across the country from Boston to Los Angeles. (I still consider myself a Bostonian at heart.) I have since unintentionally learned how to pronounce my “R’s” and have taken an imperfectly perfect path to where I am now as a yoga and wellness teacher, studio owner, writer, and mind-body coach.
I spent the first chunk of my adult life behind a desk. Fresh in L.A., I was hired by a fellow displaced East Coaster who happened to grow up a few streets away from me in Quincy, MA. I then worked as a writer and editor for Yahoo Shine, an online women’s lifestyle magazine, and TakePart, a site that pioneered socially conscious storytelling. Even if the corporate world wasn’t the perfect fit for me, this time was rich in relationship-building, and my love of language, poetry, and narrative still finds its way into my classes.
During my time as an editor, I completed my yoga teacher training as a way to deepen my own spiritual practice, never with any intention of teaching. As my practice deepened, so did my desire to show up in the world in a way that felt aligned with my authentic self. I wanted to show up in my life feeling alive, period, which I’d somehow lost along the way. About ten years ago, sitting in traffic on the 405 in tears, completely burnt out from the corporate world, I realized my need for change was an emergency, quit my secure job, and started teaching. I have been teaching and running my own health and wellness business since. (Tears on the 405 are a rare occurrence now.)
I’m a lifelong learner. In 2018, I obtained a degree in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in spirituality and mind-body practice from Columbia University, which has deepened my study and the offerings in my business even further.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of my favorite things about walking the yogic path is that I consider myself a forever student, both on and off the mat. Everything and everyone can be a teacher if you allow them to be. Even (especially!) Our wrong turns end up teaching us something about ourselves, and our biggest challenges often end up being our greatest offering to others. I certainly know what it feels like to step away from who I truly am, to try and make many square pegs fit into a whole bunch of round holes. The beautiful and humbling thing about yoga is that it reminds me almost daily of the power of surrender, trust, and coming home to Self. Yoga, for me, has been an unraveling of all that I am not. This is, by its nature, a beautifully messy process, as well as a daily and lifelong practice. I feel as if I am exactly where I am meant to be at this moment in my life, and that came with many speed bumps and potholes along the way.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My offerings and teachings blend ancient wisdom with modern science while pulling from the traditions of yoga, spiritual healing, positive psychology, somatics, and mindfulness. In my yoga classes, I try and promote a welcoming and safe environment that realigns people with the natural gifts within—vitality, strength, joy, and intuitive intelligence. I believe a spiritual practice—and this can come in so many forms—offers a pathway back to our own divine, radiant nature and wholeness that already exists within each and every one of us…
It’s a gift to be in community and share space at The Greenhouse with so many special people —to grow, move, breathe, and heal together. There is a sign that sits on the windowsill at the front door of our studio that says, “We need each other.” And you know what? We really do. That’s what it’s all about.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up.
Toes in the hot sand and mud pies in the backyard with my mom. Listening to the Celtics game on the radio with my dad in his pickup truck. Rescuing animals and building tree forts. Making up dance routines with wild abandon to Paula Abdul or Madonna. Pool hopping in neighbors’ pools and playing kickball with my siblings and friends until dark and on the best nights … until after the streetlights came on and the crickets began to sing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sarahbeston.com
- Instagram: thegreenhouse_pv
Image Credits
Jeff Mizushima
Body Moves Photography
