This week we do a deep dive into yoga, mental health, and building a career that is in alignment with your health and dreams with Jeff Grace. Here’s a little more about Jeff in his won words:

I began practicing yoga in 2001. I was attracted to it because of both the physical and psychological benefits you can gain from developing a personal practice. Yoga has helped me to improve both my performance in several sporting pursuits and my overall wellness.

I am trained in vinyasa (flow), hatha, yin, restorative and advanced therapeutic yoga practices. I also have 20 years of experience in the coaching profession. During that time I have developed a unique and proven teaching methodology that has help many people achieve their athletic goals at every level.

I have now applied that methodology to what and how I teach people while on the yoga mat. Throughout my life I have dealt with many health challenges which have included athletic injuries such as shoulder tendinitis, several bone breaks, multiple concussions and a herniated disc.

My most significant and life altering injury was due to a car accident that happened in 2010. The injuries I sustained in the accident led me to eventually need spinal surgery. After my spinal surgery my medical team and I used yoga as part of my rehabilitation.

Incredibly in five months we were able to reach our goal of getting of becoming healthy enough to take my 200-hour yoga teacher training.

I have also been challenged with a mental illness. In 2001 I was diagnosed with Bipolar II Disorder. Since that time I have been able to develop and use a wellness plan that has been very successful. A big part of that plan is my personal yoga practice. Although I still suffer the symptoms of this illness they have become a lot less significant. A huge contributing factor in my wellness has been the mindfulness practices involved in yoga and my improved body awareness, which allows me to have a greater understanding of how my symptoms effective not only my emotions, but my physical wellbeing.

Because of these experiences I have gained a huge insight on how to apply a yoga practice in a way that helps promote wellness both physically and psychologically.

You can learn more about Jeff and his work at his website http://www.excelwithgrace.ca/.

Here are a few of the videos Jeff created for listeners of this podcast:

A Morning Yoga Practice to Start Your Day the Right Wayhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viBBQmEomIAA Yoga Practice for a Sound Sleephttps://youtu.be/q6m2Z2EPUaQ

Enjoy the conversation!

If you’re interested in getting a copy of my new book The Ripple Effect you can get it here!

If you found this information interesting and helpful please consider signing up for our monthly newsletter with health and performance tips, articles, videos and other insights.

I’m on twitter, Linked In and Facebook.

Also please subscribe to this podcast in iTunes!