Being Soul-fish: Feeding Her Soul First, To Help Others

Lauren Doyle walks through the door in a bright, royal blue dress, as cool and fresh as she is. I had the opportunity and honor to sit and talk about her experience of finding SWIHA after ten years of being immersed in the corporate world, which she says wasn’t a bad place, but she had the feeling she could do more with her life. I can also verify that Lauren is very funny— we laughed the entire interview— however, humor was another element that was missing from her life in this line of work. Down the road, doctors later diagnosed her with early onset arthritis and told her she wasn’t to do any strenuous exercise. After months of little standing, no cooking, and stuck in a bed, she realized she needed three things to be ‘full’.

“I need to be creative; I need mental nourishment, and physical activity.”

Lauren loved healing and working with tinctures and aromatherapy oils/options and she found herself asking one day,

“I love these earthly things. Why am I not doing that?”

 “I felt like my soul was dying.” [She laughs.] With her infectious smile and bright eyes, she continues, “Yes, I love being dramatic. But it was true: I called it ‘Soul-scouting' for the Soul that’s dying. [We both laugh] I was surrounded by people working the corporate ladder, and I just watched them live in fear and stress. That’s when I knew I could better serve my community. I was inspired to help people in this field, and the thing was, I knew I could help them.”

This Southwest Institute of Healing Arts graduate decided she could reframe her strengths from corporate and help bring physical and fitness changes to those still in it.

“I wanted to be a liaison between conflicting personalities.”

She describes her educational journey at SWIHA as “coming home to Self.” Lauren graduated from Spirit of Yoga with her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training certification, the Certified Hypnotherapy program, and the Life Coaching program.

“I fell down the SWIHA rabbit hole. I wanted to do everything. I still do.”

Lauren found significant healing through yoga. Within the first two weeks, she had two major breakthroughs. The first was a physical experience in her first and second chakras (of seven energy centers on the body). In uttanasana, or forward fold, she found herself taking deep breaths, and all of a sudden she felt an ‘unsnagging’ or a release. This shifted so many things, from the arthritic pain to things of the mind. She found the importance of self-care and how balancing in her life is of the upmost important. This was life changing! There was a second huge ‘Ah-ha!’ moment that brought her flying back to an old memory from when she was twelve. She had this sudden feeling of resonance relating to a ‘statement to God’ that she made:

“Please give me the weight of the world

and I’ll take their pain,

because I am really strong and I can handle it.”

The beauty and selflessness of that profound, fearless statement is inspirational. This is why clients or yoga students who find themselves in front of Lauren can feel safe and know that she will meet anyone where they are at and together, you find a road to more peace and understanding of yourself. In addition to her yoga, her experience with the Life Coaching classes solidified her needs to be more flexible and self-centered, that is, staying centered within self.

“One of the most valuable things I recall learning, was that everyone is doing the best they can with the tools they were given. Attempting to always apply this simple, yet profound, lesson to everyone I encounter has expanded my ability to empathize, understand, and ultimately connect with individual people and to not paint them with a generic brush.”

Lauren was surprised to see how well hypnotherapy and yoga went together. She calls it a ‘match made in heaven’, and she noticed during her time at SWIHA, that there was a deep connection between all the modalities. She gave a great example of the practice of Yoga Nidra (yogic sleep) and other ways she experienced Guided Imagery during a yoga practice.

In this graduates own words:

“Life Coaching expanded my abilities to connect with clients and supported many of the principles found in Yoga, such as meeting people where they are, letting go of whatever isn’t serving our greatest and highest good, and the list goes on.  Hypnotherapy truly completes this package by connecting the principles of Life Coaching-

moving forward, letting go of anger, releasing fear-

with the meditative, peaceful, and high vibration aspects of yoga.  For me, hypnotherapy can be an incredibly deep and relaxing form of meditation and connection to self, or the sub-conscious.  It can also be a powerful tool of transformation when it’s used in conjunction with struggles or mental blocks that have been identified through life coaching.” 

You can find Lauren in West Mesa on Dobson Road, just south of Baseline in the Regus Business complex. Her business is Bodhi Building where she teaches the wonderful blend of yoga and hypno. She also just earned her certification in Yoga for PTSD and is in the first stages of creating workshops and classes or the First Responders out of the Gilbert PD and Fire Department! Usually she sees her clients in her office, however she also offers personalized yoga instructions or groups up to five people at their home or location of their choice. Skype or FaceTime are also options for yoga, life coaching, or hypnotherapy and the focus of the session can range from releasing physical fitness  limitations caused by injury or the natural presentation of the body, as well as mental constraints like depression, anxiety, anger, and stress. She utilizes all three of her specialties as powerful tools to help identify the root of the issue and find a solution.

One of the last things Lauren shared with me:

“I am so profoundly happy. I have moved from darkness to the light, come home to myself, and now I can radiate it out. It’s been such a wonderful journey and I couldn’t have found this at any other school.”

Find Ms.Doyle online at


 www.bodhi-building.com

 www.facebook.com/bodhibuilding

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