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Women In Wellness: Author Beth Shaw On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Give up sugar — A diet high in refined sugars can lead to all sorts of health issues like lower immunity, digestive issues, obesity and more serious problems like Type 2 diabetes or heart disease. As the leading cause of inflammation, giving up sugar will increase your overall health by strengthening your immune system, improving sleep quality, and increasing energy levels.

As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Beth Shaw.

Beth Shaw is the author of four best-selling books on health and wellness. A pioneer in the Wellness, Yoga & Fitness space in North America, Beth is the CEO and Founder of YogaFit Training Systems Worldwide Inc the global mind-body education school, YogaFit.

Beth is a go-to yoga/mindfulness expert in the media and has been featured in numerous fitness, business, and consumer publications Beth is a frequent speaker at universities, conferences, and Fortune 500 Corporations. Beth educates others on Health & Mindfulness in the workplace and conscious business.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?

I was stranded in Istanbul Turkey doing a YogaFit Training on 9/11 — the experience taught me that life is short and that we should take time in life to make a positive contribution to the planet as that’s what I believe we are here to do. The experience also taught me to be present in the moment and SURRENDER to what is and give up what we cannot control.

Also taking groups of people to India every year to the birthplace of yoga Rishikesh has shown me that when we have expectations in life we often get disappointed, I have learned from taking thousands of people to India every year that life gives us the energy that we give it, I have watched people who had expectations get very disappointed and people who have a positive attitude have a very positive experience while traveling abroad.

Additionally I have learned from traveling to Saudi Arabia and Japan that we must act in accordance with what the local cultures are and adopt a mindset of going with the flow and learning that cultural differences are real and need to be respected.

Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The biggest mistake I made when first starting was to not hire a proper business trained COO to handle all business operations so that I could focus on presenting, writing and creating content. Not having a well trained business person was a mistake. I have since spent three years gaining Harvard Business School Alumni status by participating in the Harvard OPM program, I have also joined several business organizations like EO, WPO and done the Goldman Sacks 10k Small Business Program

Also in the early days of starting, I was not strategic — I have since learned to be that person

Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

I am the founder and CEO of the largest Yoga Mind Body school in the world, YogaFit — We have transformed millions of lives in 25 years — teaching people to take control of the health on every level — We have taught over 250,000 teachers who then share the gifts of yoga and mind body health with many others — We have a robust community service program that gives people a chance to take yoga who normally would not — We have instigated over 3 million hours of community service work teaching yoga to those who are disadvantaged. ADD LINKS TO YOGAFIT COMMUNITY SERVICE

I also host the radio show MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY on Voice America — we cover all topics related to mental and physical health and we have over 30,000 listeners a month. Guests include Dr Pam Peeke, Dr Edward Group, Dr Nick Perricone, Dr Patrick Porter and many others

We empower listeners with simple tools to get their health back on track.

Here are some links to episodes of Make America Healthy

https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/4057/make-america-healthy

https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/137327/anti-aging-and-longevity

Neuroplasticity & Brain Retraining

Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.

  1. Give up sugar — A diet high in refined sugars can lead to all sorts of health issues like lower immunity, digestive issues, obesity and more serious problems like Type 2 diabetes or heart disease. As the leading cause of inflammation, giving up sugar will increase your overall health by strengthening your immune system, improving sleep quality, and increasing energy levels.
  2. Give up Gluten — As a common allergen, gluten negatively affects the body by exacerbating arthritis, producing brain fog, inducing bloating, and causing gut issues. Not considered to be nutrient dense, eliminating foods with gluten from your diet will prove to be an essential lifestyle change you didn’t know you needed.
  3. Drink more water — More than half adults in the United States don’t drink enough water. It is recommended that adults drink at least 64 ounces of water throughout their day. By increasing your water intake, you will improve brain function and physical performance by increasing energy and relieving fatigue. Drinking enough water will flush out any toxins in the body, promoting weight loss and improving skin complexion.
  4. Exercise 30 min every day — It’s no secret that there are numerous health benefits to working out. By incorporating at least 30 minutes of exercise into your day you will notice a reduction in stress and fatigue, improved cognitive function, an increase in productivity and a greater self confidence.
  5. Try intermittent fasting — There is a reason why more and more people are trying intermittent fasting to optimize their health goals. Interested in learning more I invited renowned anti-aging doctor, Nick Perricone, onto my radio show Make America Healthy as he went over the vast benefits intermittent fasting has on countering aging and aiding weight loss. When performed correctly, intermittent fasting can regulate insulin and hormone levels throughout the body so you can burn more fat and extrude more waste. Here is a link to my show featuring Dr. Perricone

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?

The entire world should practice yoga and meditation — also everyone should try plant medicine and connect with the divine source of energy.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

  1. Get a mentor
  2. Join a professional organization
  3. Take a business course for small business owners
  4. Learn to think BIGGER
  5. Hire people smarter than you

Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?

Mental health is my biggest passion now, we are in a dire mental health crisis and people need self directed tools. People need to be empowered to take control of their own physical and mental health.

What is the best way our readers can follow you online?

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bethshawhealth/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yogafitinc/?hl=en

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethshawyoga/

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/BethShawWellness/posts/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YogaFitInc/

Thank you so much for this. This was very enlightening!

Women In Wellness: Author Beth Shaw On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.