Women In Wellness: Kayla Mason of Awake & Relaxed On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Be your own biggest cheerleader! No one is going to be as passionate about your business or cause as you are. You cannot rely on others energy and enthusiasm to drive your project, you just need to dig deep, keep cheering yourself on, and take one step at a time.
As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kayla Mason of Awake & Relaxed.
Kayla is a multi-passionate entrepreneur whose thrill for mindful living landed her an invite to the exclusive Mindbodygreen Revitalize event in her first year of business. Kayla has grown a combined audience (across platforms) of 103K and remains keen and focused on making an impact in the wellness space, bringing new concepts and technology to light. Years of experience in different sectors, including eleven years in industrial engineering, have all added to Kayla’s entrepreneurial toolkit.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
Sure! I am a corporate engineer turned multi-passionate, self-employed entrepreneur. I worked in construction management and engineering for eleven years building natural gas plants across Canada and the US. When my then career brought me to Kansas City, I realized that I was on the verge of burnout and started to seek out wellness modalities within the Midwest. I began studying ayurveda and Chinese medicine; picked my yoga practice back up after a long break and became a certified instructor. I dabbled into multiple businesses from teaching yoga at corporate offices (while still working full time), to yoga workshops, and making juice videos online. This all led me to where I am at now; owning multiple mindful rentals and a health & wellness business and blog called Awake & Relaxed which talks about conscious living from the inside out. Under this umbrella, I am about to host my third annual wellness summit that will showcase local and national brands and providers, as well as take on taboo topics that are hitting the wellness world.
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?
One of the most interesting things that happened since I started my career in mindful rentals and wellness was a Tiktok video that I had go viral. I still remember the day that it was featured on Yahoo. One of my co-workers messaged me and said “I think I just saw your face on Yahoo?”. It was super exciting, and I jumped at the opportunity to make content and maintain my audience, for a bit…. from that came an 8 month hiatus from the platform, I was feeling uninspired and well, stuck! Lesson learned for me was — that’s ok! I am now back on Tiktok and making video content when it feels fun and alive in my body.
Another, very delightful experience, was applying for and receiving an exclusive invite to the MindBodyGreen Revitalize event in my first year of business! If you know of MBG, you know that they are the OGs in the wellness world, prior to GOOP and others showing up in the last few years. This was huge! Unfortunately, covid happened, and the event has been cancelled ever since. At that time, I felt so connected to going, I could feel it in my bones! I had also spent a lot of time in gratitude thinking about the opportunity and surrendered to knowing that any outcome would be the right outcome for me. It was a very freeing moment and I hope to get the opportunity again someday.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about a mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
A mistake that I made early on in my entrepreneurial ventures was spending too much money before seeing a return. I was still working full time as an engineer, making a great paycheck, while also building up my wellness business. I could justify losing money in one area because I was still making it in another. This made my side business more of a passion, instead of an actual functioning business. I wish I would have been a bit more resourceful, but I traded money for time. I still believe that sometimes it costs money to make money. But I also believe that you need to be honest with yourself about financials, and pivot from there.
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?
Awake & Relaxed is the umbrella through which I provide my take on health and wellness trends, offer tips and tricks for how to optimize your healing, host community events and gatherings, and educate on various topics. The aim is for the A&R community to take the journey together, being awake and aware of what’s going on in the world around us, while also allowing our bodies to be at ease during the process. That’s the ultimate goal. If I can provide a space and setting for people to learn from one another, to connect and share, then I believe that is a step in the right direction that will leave a positive ripple effect. I also work very hard at making A&R a safe space for people to express their thoughts and opinions (to me), whether I agree or not. I think we can be a little bias in wellness sometimes, and I prefer to openly recognize that everyone’s journey is so different. I am always open to hearing someone out. I don’t block a person when they disagree with something I have posted or said. I simply ask them if they can explain to me where they are coming from. Nine times out of ten, we end up with a better understanding of where each other is coming from and leave on a friendly note. I hope that encourages them to do the same.
With mindful and eco-friendly rentals, I hope to allow lower budget travelers a place to unplug and recharge. Wellness traveling shouldn’t be exclusive. There needs to be more affordable options. I hope my homes encourage people to take a moment to reconnect with nature, to feel inspired by the colors or design, or to get some much-needed rest. I spend so much time and effort thinking through every detail, color, piece of thrifted furniture or find that goes into a space, they are literally infused with the joy I have while creating them. A smudge every now and then doesn’t’ hurt either.
Making the Midwest a hub for wellness. I always take inspiration from the coastal wellness trends that are hitting the headlines, but there is also so much to learn from the people in the heartland! By continuing to host wellness summits, I hope to bring some recognition to the people here and to put Kansas City on the map for the wellness scene.
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.
Habit Behaviors — You want to floss your teeth more? Drink more water? Make it easy on yourself and put the things to help you get there in your everyday sight. Floss in a drawer can easily get lost, but when it is right beside your toothbrush you are much more likely to use it. Make it easy!
Boundaries — Bottom line is that boundaries are good for the soul. It’s hard, especially for women, to put themselves first. It’s just not in our nature. Set boundaries with your time. Whether that’s blocking off 15 minutes in the morning, taking a break from work or asking not to be bothered during lunch.
Mineral Intake — Add salt to your morning water! This can also act as a cleansing routine, in the Gaelic traditions, with a pinch of salt under the tongue.
Cacao over Coffee — Don’t get me wrong, I am a coffee lover! But coffee every day just wasn’t supporting my body. Cacao is a superfood containing loads of magnesium, something that as Americans, we are deficient in. Replacing coffee with cacao a few times a week will leave you feeling more grounded and nourished from the inside out.
Speak nicely to yourself. Our stories become our reality. If you are always picking apart how you look, then you are telling your brain to always pick up on something, the negative loop will never end.
*Bonus One: Change up your space every so often (seasonally if possible)! Move things around, switch out items from different rooms. Allow for things to change. It’s a good practice.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Meditation Movement! I truly believe that most of our illnesses, at least in Western culture, stem from elevated levels of stress. If we can learn to manage that through stillness and meditation, I think a lot of mental health and health issues in general would decrease.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
- Be your own biggest cheerleader! No one is going to be as passionate about your business or cause as you are. You cannot rely on others energy and enthusiasm to drive your project, you just need to dig deep, keep cheering yourself on, and take one step at a time.
- Don’t strive for perfection, strive for progress.
- It takes discipline to bring a vision to life. If you have trouble putting your vision into actionable steps, then you need someone on your team to do so.
- It’s OK to switch things up. You don’t owe anyone an explanation for changing directions, coming out with a new business name, or changing your niche. Follow your instincts and go for it.
- The more you know, the more you know. As your journey with self-healing deepens, you may find yourself in the never-ending cycle of needing to learn more; it’s a lifelong journey and can feel like there is always a next step! Just remember to allow time for integration. We are human. Take time to enjoy being exactly where you’re at right now.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health, and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
I recently heard the term “eco-anxiety” which is essentially the fear of environmental doom. “Whatever that is”, I thought, “I have that.”. I was concerned about pretty much everything that goes along with living a modern-day lifestyle. My husband would order underwear that came in plastic wrapping, and I would start to sweat thinking about having to keep the plastic out of a landfill. Takeaway containers…don’t get me started on those. There are so many big topics that are near and dear to my heart, but sustainability has always been on the top of my mind. We see so many “Amazon Hauls” and clothing hauls on social media, and I just wish we had a more mindful approach to what is even available to us as consumers. It’s not necessarily the “end of the chain” that is the problem, but the companies producing all of these things without repercussion or incentives to do better for the environment. I travel, I consume, I purchase clothing; I am not perfect in any way. And we all have to continue living life. But the small changes I make in my daily life are just a spec in the ocean of a much greater problem.
What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?
I love exploring whole body wellness as an eco-system that encompasses mind, body, spirit and space on my blog at www.awakeandrelaxed.com. You can find me on Instagram @awakeandrelaxed where I post about a lot of upcoming events and information. And my personal tiktok (breathe.with.kash) if you like watching a mixed variety of content from mindful homes, starting an Airbnb, to juice recipes and more.
A new venture, that I’m really excited to start sharing more about is @sipsteady on Instagram. Here, my business partner and I, explore the realm on alcohol-free beverages hitting the market and are working with exciting new brands that are coming into this space.
Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.
Women In Wellness: Kayla Mason of Awake & Relaxed On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.