Sarah Lisa Yous / F’lowMe Yoga
You can find the original version of the interview here.
Sarah Lisa Yous is a yoga teacher and certified Reiki healer living in Zurich who loves to travel, lives a plantbased lifestyle and passionately shares her fascination for Yoga. She also recently started filming her own online flows so her students have access to her classes from anywhere in the world. Sarah shares everything about her mindfulness practices, daily routine, natural beauty products and what keeps her grounded while teaching, working at her job in finance and creating her virtual classes.
Tell me about yourself.
I am a yoga teacher and certified Reiki healer based in Zurich. I worked for a travel agency for a long time, visited the beauty industry briefly working for Dior, had a job in the watch industry for a short time and found my way into finance where I currently work parttime. I work at my office job three days a week and the rest of the time I teach yoga. It’s the perfect balance for me. I teach in different studios, such as Balboa, Gobinde and soon at the new Sattva yoga & plantbased kitchen. Once a month I teach a two hours class which is always based on a special intention and theme. In addition to that I started creating my own online video flows which you can find on my website or on youtube. One of my students came to me and said she would love for me to film a class so she could do it while she was on vacation. I thought it was a good idea and since my boyfriend works in online marketing and is pretty talented in photography and film making, he was the perfect partner to help me create my first video. He now helps me with filming and cutting the videos which is great since it’s a lot of work. After the first video I got a lot of great feedback so I want to keep making them.
What inspired you to become a yoga teacher and reiki healer?
I tried yoga for the first time when I was eighteen years old at the fitness center I was member at the time. I didn’t really get the point of it though as I was still very much in a fitness mindset, thinking I had to power myself out for a good workout. I didn’t return to it for a few years until I was about twenty-four and going through a stressful time in my life. I was studying business management and found myself in a relationship that was not working out, causing me a lot of stress. These circumstances led me to pick yoga up again. At first I only went once a week but I noticed how good it made me feel, without even knowing what exactly it was. I loved it and started going to yoga classes regularly, three times a week.
It wasn’t until I went on a vacation to Bali with my current partner that I got more open to the idea of teaching yoga. I was totally taken aback by the many different yoga styles and teachers Bali had to offer. I had only always done yoga for myself, as a way to reconnect with myself until that point but the idea of creating my own signature style and sharing what yoga had given me with others made me very excited. Back home in Zurich I found out that my yoga teacher was hosting a 200h yoga teacher training and I saw it as a perfect chance for me to get immersed in the world of yoga to be able to start teaching. During the training I finally started to understand why yoga had always been so good for me. I learned why the practise was based on breathing and why meditation was such an important part of it. Ever since, I love teaching yoga and sharing how it has benefitted me with others. I now go to Bali once a year for more trainings, I have done another 300 hour training, two 50h Yin Yoga modules and I am a certified Reiki healer level 2.
Since my practise is a very dynamic Vinyasa style practise I wanted something calmer to balance that which I found Yin yoga provides as a very meditative yoga style.
What do you love about teaching yoga?
I love to share my passion, to connect with like-minded people and to help others finding peace and create a more joyful, more conscious lifestyle. My job is done when I see people leaving happy and relaxed at the end of a class.
Tell us more about Reiki.
Reiki is a treatment that heals through touch, it is a thousand of years old tradition that has been practised in the east for a long time. It works by channelling life force, prana in yoga, which activates self-healing in the body. By laying on hands, the body gets the energy that it needs in order to heal. Reiki naturally knows where to go, so physical, emotional and also mental issues can be treated. I like to combine Reiki with my Yin classes, as Yin is a very calm practise and it combines beautifully with Reiki. Since doing Reiki, I have also changed how I assist and adjust people in my yoga classes. My touch is very gentle, more on an energetic level. I try to just give an impulse for the person to adjust the pose by them self. It is all about how it works for them in that given moment since I can’t know how far they can go and what is comfortable for them.
What have been the biggest challenges throughout your professional career so far?
The biggest challenge for me has been to find an occupation that makes me happy and fulfills me. I now have the perfect balance with teaching Yoga and working at my corporate job part time. A lot of people ask me why I don’t leave my office job to teach Yoga full time but I am actually very happy where I am right now and that’s the most important thing. I don’t see a reason to change anything or grasp for more or something different, if I am happy with what I have right now. It is important to me to listen to my inner voice and do what is right for me in any given moment.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
This is a tough question, but I definitely hope to still be sharing my passion for yoga and maybe have a family. I am very happy at the moment with all I have and I believe everything will turn out the way it is meant to be.
Take us through a day in your life.
Every day is different. Some days I teach, some days I work at the office and some days I do both. Mondays and Fridays I have two classes and use the rest of the time to prepare the flows for the week. I like to create my flows very intuitively, I get on my mat and start my practice which then builds the foundation for my classes.
What does self-care mean to you?
Self-care to me means taking care of my mind, body and spirit. It means making sure that I live in tune with my nature. For that, first of all, I need to know myself. I have to know who I am, what brings me peace and what brings more disturbance. I need to know what is good for me in order to do what I need at that moment. For me this means managing my energy and working with tools like meditation to look inside. Self-care can also be not taking an appointment or seeing a friend when I don’t feel like I have enough energy for it. It’s about setting healthy boundaries. It is about creating a lifestyle that brings peace and freedom into my mind and body.
I lately used a quote in my class which suits very well: We are not free when we are doing just what we like. We are only free when we do what our deepest self likes. And there is getting down to the deepest self. It takes some diving.
What does your morning routine look like?
I have a light alarm which simulates the sunrise to wake up. I got it when I got back from Bali because I always got up with the sun when I was there and I wanted to bring this back home because I noticed how good it was for me. Then I have a glass of warm lemon water and a little bit later my coffee, which is a must. A lot of times I take my cup of coffee back to bed because I have noticed that I just need that time to myself in the morning. I can’t get up and rush into the day. Then I shower and do my breathing exercises which help me to be calm and grounded. After showering I do my meditation and yoga flow if I have time. I am a Vata type in ayurveda which means I am very active and airy and I need this morning routine to ground myself, it is very important to me.
What is your evening routine?
I love to have tea before going to bed or now in the winter a golden latte. I also try to be in bed before ten so I can get my eight hours of sleep. It’s not always possible because I teach late some nights but I try to make it a priority because sleep is so important for me to feel my best. Sometimes I meditate if I feel like I need it.
What kind of exercise do you do besides yoga?
My other passion besides yoga is horseback riding. I ride twice a week and it is very meditative for me. Being with animals and in nature gives me so much and lets me recharge like nothing else.
What is your approach to nutrition?
I have been vegetarian for almost five years and I’m vegan ninety percent of the time. Eating this way was a natural process for me because I just feel my best eating plantbased. I have noticed that it is good for my body but also for my mind. I am very sensitive, and I have noticed a big difference not eating meat for my mental well-being. I also love animals and I don’t want them to suffer, so that’s a big reason for me to be plantbased too. Plus, it helps the environment which is just as important to me. My motivation to live a plantbased lifestyle started with it being better for myself but then slowly grew into all the other aspects and reasons as well.
What is your clean beauty non-negotiable?
I’m a coconut lover. My parfume, my facemist, my lip balm, even my shampoo is based on coconut. I started to buy my beauty products at Greenlane which is a store and online shop for natural beauty products in Zurich. I like the brand Herbivore, I use their face mist. As a body lotion I mostly use natural almond or coconut oil that you can buy at any supermarket. The one thing I have found tricky to find is natural deodorant and make-up. For the rest of my beauty routine I try to stay as natural as possible though and I also try to use mostly vegan products.
How do you bring mindfulness into your day?
I try to set the tone to mindfully start into my day with my morning routine. I try to be mindful overall, to be mindful of how I talk to others and how I treat the environment.
What are you grateful for?
For my life. I am so thankful I have found my passion in yoga and that I can live my passion the way I do now.
What brings you joy?
So many things. Teaching a yoga class brings me joy. Helping a friend at the office brings me joy. Being with like-minded people brings me joy. Connecting over a passion as we do right now brings me joy. A walk in the forest, spending time with my family, my god-daughter and my boyfriend are all things that make me feel very joyful.
Where do you find inspiration?
Bali inspires me and the yoga teachers I follow. Then there are little things that inspire me in my daily life, like something someone says to me or something that I read. But I think life is my biggest teacher and I can learn something or draw inspiration from so many situations that occur to me.
What little things do you do in your life in order to make a difference in the world in terms of sustainability?
There are so many things that can be done but of course no one is perfect. I try not to use plastic bags and I eat plantbased, which already makes a big difference from my point of view. I also try to shop bio-organic and local products whenever I can. Overall I reduced “shopping” habit which means buying less clothes, shoes and bags. I own less now compared to a couple of years ago. The last few years I have also tried to travel more consciously by only traveling long-haul once a year. This year with my Bali and India trip I haven’t reached that goal but I try to stay conscious of it.
What was the last book you have read?
A Journey Home by Radhanath Swami, the Swami I visited in India.
Favorite podcast to listen to?
I prefer to read at the moment, I haven’t really gotten into podcasts yet.
Favorite app?
Favorite clean beauty product?
Coconut oil
Favorite dish to cook?
Green vegetables like spinach or brussels sprouts at the moment and curries, as well as smoothies and bowls, I cook very Bali-inspired.
Favorite indulgence?
Vegan Ben & Jerry’s ice cream
A big thank you to Annabelle from Essentielle for this interview. Check out her blog on http://essentielle.life/