A Practice for Recalibration

I made you an audio if you’d prefer to listen here. (private link)

At the end of 2024, I realized I no longer identified as a "business coach." Not because I'd fallen out of love with the work—I still love helping people build their big business dreams. Something felt off: like a stuck gear or a slightly off-pitch guitar string. My gut was telling me to step back from the fray and find a way of working that made room for all of me.

I needed a recalibration.

If you've followed me since the early days from small-town health coach, yoga teacher and studio owner, travelling trainer and business coach, then you've noticed a non-linear career trajectory (with similar themes). But at one point in my life, I was singularly focused on my goal-oriented life trajectory: I was going to be a researcher.

My dream as a young girl was to work in a Think Tank, surrounded by people who were similarly committed to using intelligence, skill, logic, and creativity to solve the world’s most intractable problems.

Some of those intractable problems intersected with my own life these last few years, resulting in some communication gaps.

There are many reasons. A divorce. A cross-country move. Another cross-country move. A new baby. I gave you the bullet points, but not context.

My divorce was considered “high conflict,” entailing almost 7 years of frantic attempts (mine) to encourage resolution, repair, or at least a re-focus on the child involved.

As these interpersonal challenges crept further into my day-to-day life, I had to choose the kind of parent I wanted to be. The logistics of managing a complicated teaching and travel schedule as the Director and Lead Instructor of a training center proved untenable and impractical for my new life as a solo parent. My child needed my presence. So I prioritized their needs over my career.

As humans do, I adapted: I built online programs, centered my business on coaching, but in 2018 I temporarily shuttered my online business and training programs for a serious reason (stalking is real and dangerous).

Those years became a long search for a new path.

I found new forms of joy and new kinds of work: supporting mission-oriented organizations, providing fractional Co-CEO consulting for micro-enterprises, and working in the AI industry. Tech is an ideal industry for a solo parent crunching out work between school-drop off and pick-up— or at the “Toni Morrison” hours (before the light comes and the world wakes)—because the machine never sleeps.

My work in AI sparked renewed intellectual enthusiasm: paired with an equal amount of existential dread. Outsourcing my brain to the machine on the daily, along with so many others, gave me a glimpse into humanity’s trajectory.

It made me question everything (again). Yes, it is amazing and intoxicating and exciting and—if you’re obsessed with learning—the most exciting piece of technology ever to exist. But that still doesn’t answer the question: Why? To what end are we building?

To further exploit the most vulnerable?

To flatten our differences and become a homogenized summary of data points spit back to us in identical-sounding, if oddly worded, simulacra of cognition?

To collectively co-opt (read: steal) the intellectual property of every creator since the dawn of the internet age in order to re-package and sell back to us?

To outsource our most precious of human gifts —deep thinking and creativity— to a planet-destroying, water-guzzling, superpower that is the developmental equivalent of a toddler running with scissors? (a polymath MENSA-level toddler is still dangerous: arguably, more so).

Eventually, I could no longer handle the cognitive dissonance that left my nervous system wrecked and my mind restless with the implications of the tools I was helping to build.

To cope, I returned to a practice I call the 3 Rs: Reading, Releasing, and Reclaiming.

The first R: Reading

The first step is the most restorative. Reading things that move and inspire me is a genuine respite, and the more I read, the better I feel.

As I've grown older, there is less time for the reading I love most: poetry, spiritual texts, vintage knitting patterns, historical fiction, magical realism, biographies, YA sci-fi, scientific papers (I know. I’m strange).

Making reading a deliberate practice again—with a joyful rather than productive focus— improved my life immeasurably. It also served as a kind of brainwashing in the best possible way: like giving my brain a restorative slow dance in the rain.

The research backs this up.

A large study following nearly 20,000 middle-aged and older adults across 15 countries found leisure reading was prospectively associated with better health, well-being, daily functioning, lower cognitive impairment, and greater longevity. A 2024 evidence review on reading for pleasure reached the same conclusion: volitional reading is linked to meaningful gains in wellbeing alongside cognitive benefits.

The freeing part: genre matters far less than the habit. Graphic novels, children's books, home-decor magazines, vampire romances, the complete works of Vladimir Nabokov—the act of reading for pleasure carries the benefit. *Books appear to confer a particularly strong longevity advantage over newspapers and magazines, so lean toward books for the most benefit.

But the headline holds: Just read something.

The next two Rs: a dialectic within yourself

Releasing and Reclaiming work together.

Each begins with a single question:

What do I want or need to release?

What do I want or need to reclaim?

That's the whole practice. The tricky part is answering honestly. Ask the question, then let your intuitive self answer — the first thing that surfaces is usually the answer (the "why" is less important and often comes later).

After a few years of this practice, I noticed clear patterns.

Releasing, for me, usually shows up as something that drains my energy: mindless scrolling, obsessing over headlines, being less-than-present with my children, rumination, self-recrimination, complaining.

Reclaiming, for me, usually shows up as a nudge toward practices that restore or joys I’ve forgotten: a walk in the woods, my art-journal practice, morning pages, planting flowers, gratitude lists, reconnecting with a treasured friend, knitting a sweater, crafting a poem, playing the guitar. There is an untapped well of joy to be found in activities that challenge you just enough. And daily life is full of simple pleasures that oft go unnoticed and unclaimed (see pictures from my garden below for a perfect illustration of this point. The audacity of those zinnias

There's a good reason this simple inventory works. Contemplative practices that build present-moment awareness are consistently linked to stronger emotion regulation — the capacity that lets you notice what depletes you and choose what refills you, instead of running on autopilot.

This type of self-inquiry is a virtuous circle of mutual emotional aid —self-care that is more than self-centered navel-gazing. Engaging in this type of contemplative inquiry creates the inner conditions that nourish mental health.

But it isn’t enough: if the contemplative practice is the rain, the social determinants of health are the soil. And research consistently shows that these factors far outweigh any mental health maintenance, emotional housekeeping, and self-work in action. This is an important distinction in a society that discounts the impact of its own dysfunctional systems on individuals and marginalized communities. Creating the conditions that nourish health begin at the structural and societal level. It is far too much to ask of any one individual.

Yet, the daily actions that nourish the conditions for mental health, emotional regulation, physical well-being exist in the literature and in one’s own ancestral line —if you exist, you’re living proof that your ancestors, despite all they endured, were survivors of the fittest caliber.

These practices are simple, not always accessible. That doesn’t mean they don’t matter or that we abandon those practices. For the sake of humanity, it’s time to double down on them.

Emotional regulation is violence prevention.

Social connection is addiction-prevention in practice.

Mindfulness is conflict resolution training.

And in an increasingly violent, disjointed, divided, polarized world, we need more people committed to modeling the best of humanity’s qualities: compassion, empathy, connection, creativity, care, insight.

When little girl Kellie envisioned working as a researcher in a Think Tank, this is what she thought the work would entail: humanity’s brightest and most diligent scholars, putting their heads together with care, compassion, and creativity to solve the world’s most intractable problems.

Now that I’m older, it’s clear that the initial spark of career aspiration was filtered through the rose-tinted lens of childhood: a childhood full of trauma, emotional neglect, and intellectual isolation.

Yet, the practices I’ve been drawn to over the years, the studies I’ve pursued, have been gently guiding me back to that original career aspiration.

An Inner Recalibration

I hope you’ll try the practice when next you need your own Inner Recalibration. I can't promise it will help you as much as it has helped me. But if you try it, will you let me know how it goes?

Read something.

Release something.

Reclaim something.

That's the whole practice — and it might just awaken the insight you've been too busy to hear (until now).

TL/DR

• The 3 Rs — Reading, Releasing, Reclaiming — is a simple daily practice for awakening intuition

• Reading for pleasure is linked to better well-being, cognition, and longevity.

• Releasing and Reclaiming are practices that protect and restore a connection to your own insight, skills, forgotten strengths, and resourcing practices.

• Contemplative awareness strengthens emotional regulation, resulting in better choices: for oneself and for the world.

Try the 3 Rs this week, then tell me what surfaced. I read every response.

Thanks for being here.

Grow your Healing or Coaching Business Beyond one-to-one Sessions

An Epistle on Expansion

Or, making the case for growth even if you’re not maxed out on 1x1 services (yet)

Dear Reader:

As a fellow 1x1 service provider for most of my career (Yoga Therapist, Wellness Coach, and Business Coach), I humbly offer the following case for expanding your work beyond the bounds of 1-to-1 or premium services as early in your career as possible.

Indeed, this applies whether you’re building your private client practice or currently maxed out with private clients.

As you read this letter, consider the wonder of these words reaching through the ether to greet your eyes on the magical fantastical creation you now hold.

Through this device and its connection to the internet, you have access to millions of teachings that provide insight into better health, greater well-being, and more purposeful living.

Before the digital age, this type of learning was layered beneath circles of privilege and kept behind ivory towers.

It is a wonder to have access to this once-cloistered information—and all at your fingertips.

Digital courses democratize access (to an extent).

In time, it is my hope, that more healing, helping, and self-development teachings will be shared even more widely for more meaning, engagement, and well-being outside the circles of privilege of higher education, whiteness, able-bodiedness, and neurotypicality.

In my view, sharing the skillset you’ve carefully curated over the duration of your career is an act of social justice: widening and improving access to powerful healing and helping tools the world needs. 

All humans need these tools, not only those who can afford to pay a premium rate for your one-to-one services. Even more so if you serve an underserved community that is hard to reach.

I know you don’t do the Work for fame, money, or bragging rights. 

You do it for the mission 

You do it because it changed your life

You share this Work for a healthier, happier, and kinder world

There are more people who need what you are sharing—and the world needs your insight.

This letter is an invitation, yes, and it’s also a rallying cry.

If you’re a healer, helper, or change-maker and you AREN’T on fire about lighting up (more of) the world with your gifts…maybe there’s a good reason. 

But if that reason is that you don’t know where to begin…

Let’s start together, right now.

In your 1-to-1 services, you provide a safe container for clients to facilitate their own transformation. Your clients come to you with frustrations, pain, suffering, and problems…and your valuable work provides a solution.

There are so many “problems” your work solves.

Think of a few right now. Then:

Pick one and dig deep, and..

Think of the people who need that problem solved …right now.

What do they need to get that problem solved?

How can you provide a solution in the most effective, time-sensitive way—that isn’t 1-to-1?

People have pain that you know how to reduce, symptoms your support helps them in resolving or mental barriers your techniques breakthrough.

You can only reach so many as a 1x1 service provider because your time and energy are finite.

What if…

You create a resource, a guidebook, a mini-class, a workshop, an on-demand training they can access focused on that specific issue? 

You don’t have to deliver a massive group course, create a clunky membership site, or become internet-famous to expand your work in a mindful way.

What if…

You deliver a single, targeted solution in a way that feels aligned with your goals and your values: that specific people will benefit from again and again.

a mini-book

an on-demand guide

a curated course

a private podcast

a signature talk 

a protocol 

a series class

a Retreatshop

Expanding a small portion of your work to a wider audience allows more people to benefit from your gifts while allowing you to honor your commitment to equity, inclusion, and access.

What, then?

Need more ideas? Join us in the Kula for my full idea brain dump today plus a special invitation to a new way to work with me (hint: DIY is soooo last year. DIT is where it’s at!).

Kula Conversations // WHY IT'S TIME TO CREATE YOUR COURSE ALREADY! The ins and outs of course creation, Kula Conversation-style, today at 1 pm Eastern (10 am Pacific).

You'll learn ...

Where to begin (it isn't where you'd expect)

How to structure for maximum results (and client rave reviews)

Why you want to do it now (and your first action to take!)

See y’all there!

xo,

Kellie Adkins, MS, C-IAYT

Business Alignment Coach + Yoga Therapist

Founder | the Wisdom Method

Accountability sells.

The power of accountability is undeniable.  Psychologists use it. Universities use it. Large organizations use it.

So now the real question is, are you using accountability to grow your business?

As far as I see it, there are two types of accountability—personal accountability and peer accountability. When you're a consciousprenurial spirit like yourself, you need both.

Personality accountability is your own sense of responsibility.

Successful entrepreneurs don't just own a business, they actually Own It. The success of your business doesn't depend on the wholesale supplier, the summertime slump or the new-years-resolution crowd.

The success of your business depends on your strategy and your actions.

If you truly believe this deep down in your core, you already have a strong foundation for your business success.

But don't get too excited, there's more.

Peer accountability is where things get challenging. As entrepreneurs, we are so guilty of creating this little bubble for ourselves. I myself am guilty of not seeing daylight for days on end. Projects, launches, client calls...who has time for a community?

@@Truth is, your business can't succeed without community. @kellie_adkins  #consciousbusiness @@

Community promotes growth by holding you accountable. If you've read a single book or article on goal setting, you've read about the power of writing things down. There are entire books dedicated to preaching the gospel of putting your goals in ink as a path to achieving them.

But a list of goals in your diary pales in comparison to telling your kula that you're going to launch your next program by January 20th, 2015.

I am all for stress reduction in life–I am, after all, a yoga therapist. But, we get by with a little pressure from our friends. (That is how that one goes, right?)

I've been an entrepreneur for over a decade. I have read every goal-setting book out there. I have prayed and meditated on business success.

I've written more Dear Diary letters about my business dreams than I care to admit. But nothing is as powerful as telling a group of like-minded people what you want to accomplish.

Well, that may not be entirely true.

The only thing more powerful than telling them, is them being there to support you, share their knowledge and check in with you regularly.

But it's not easy to find these people.

It's challenging enough to make regular friends once you graduate from college. (Why do you think I went back to college? Ok, that's maybe only part of the reason.) But finding friends who have chosen the uncharted path of consciouspreneurship? It can feel impossible.

It's taken me most of my career to create a network of women who are determined to be wildly successful at doing amazing work in the world.

But I found them.

And now I'm inviting you all together so that we can hold each other accountable. But I couldn't stop there. (I mean, have you ever known me to be the type to invite you over just for appetizers? I think not!)

I want to support all of you— I want to give you all of the resources that I've spent time creating over the last several years. And I want to give you information on the topics that are of most importance to you—the topics that are going to help you get shit done.

So what exactly am I calling this secret society of conscious entrepreneurs committed to whole health, mindful wealth + balanced business?

Conscious Entrepreneurs (kula).

If you're ready for the accountability necessary to grow your business mindfully, just click on over here.

Redefine Success

What is your definition of success?

I’m obsessed with this question.

Success is a loaded word, with different meanings to different people. 

What cultural messages are you receiving about “being successful”?

What have you been taught about success?

What are your beliefs about success?

Have you considered defining success for yourself: in life and in business?

How you define success is an extension of your beliefs and values.

Defining success on your own terms is essential to building a meaningful business: one that is founded on your purpose and provides you the lifestyle you desire.

Here are some definitions of success:

 \\ Success is a realization. Intentional? Karmic? Divine? (You decide.)

\\ Success is the result of hard work.

\\ Success is the natural counterpoint to failure.  

\\ Success is equivalent to freedom: financial and otherwise.

\\ Success is an expression of our meaningful work in the world.

\\ Success is the outer manifestation of a life well-lived.

Uniting the inner and the outer elements of success is what I call sacred success.

Sacred success is ultimately about harmony of inner and outer: alignment at all levels.

• Inner conditions and qualities like state of mind, beliefs, core values, aligning actions with intentions, committing to an inner experience that fuels specific outer expressions.

• Outer conditions and qualities like arranging our life around our values, remaining productive with our time and harmonizing the outer energy (money, time, business vision/ goals) with our inner intentions.

In a counter-intuitive shift, creating a personalized definition of success in this way, becomes less about us individually and more about claiming our rightful place in the world.

I Invite you to take a moment to tune out cultural messages and tune in to your own inner wisdom —in service to redefining success on your own terms.

If you're in business now—or heading into business —define success on your own terms.

Success may (or may not) be X amount of money each year, or being internet-famous, or having a maxed out coaching practice.

Dare I say: until you define sacred success for yourself—you're still stuck on the hamster wheel of turning your purpose driven business into a J-O-B.

And because this single exercise alone could make the difference between building a sustainable business you love and financial (emotional, physical) suffering — I'm adding an incentive.

Answer the powerful question below and share it with me on Instagram — tag @thekellieadkins and use hashtag #SacredStrategy. I'm giving away 3 Sacred Strategy sessions —to help you align with your sacred definition of a successful business —and you could win one!

*not on Instagram (gasp!)? Hit me up on Facebook instead.

Powerful Question:

\\ What is your personal definition of success: in business and in life?

Prompt: What does it mean for you to be successful? Is it related to .... 

(check all that apply and give details) ...

• an amount of money in the bank?

• an impact in the world?

• a feeling in your heart?

• a state of being?

• outer aspects like house / car / possessions / lifestyle / travel / fame or recognition?

• inner aspects like freedom / choice / time / healing / fulfillment?

Go ahead, put it out into the world. Head on over to Instagram and tell me your success story.