SharedBliss: Interview with Global Yogi, Sally Brown

Dr. Sally Brown, Yogi &
Children's Advocate

Listening to: A new favorite way to start my mornings.

Bliss: Yesterday I met a friend for juice at the Whole Foods Co-op; I had not seen her for too long, and we talked until I could barely talk anymore. And now this morning, I am meeting a woman I taught creative writing to a couple of years ago for coffee to discuss her...writing. Excellent.

This is one of those interviews that comes from the wonderful and whimsical, twisting and turning connections that can happen when you write a blog.

I first "met" Michael when he wrote to me asking me for advice about starting his own blog. He was a fellow follower of the Kundalini path of yoga. Eventually, through many emails, he told me about a trip he took to India, where he got to study with Gurmukh. Amazing!

We kept writing back and forth now and then. We became "friends" on Facebook. He started nursing school. (Go, Michael!)

And just recently, he told me that the woman who organized his trip to India was a true Blisschick and perhaps I should contact her for an interview.

Dr. Sally Brown found her path and is walking it...all over the world. She combines her love of yoga and her love of travel and she combines them in a way that allows her and many others to help children in far away lands.

She wrote up her answers and sent them to me from Cambodia! Though it is not formatted the same as it usually is, I wanted to keep her answer the way she sent it to me -- one continuous narrative:

I truly believe the two keys to success in life are PASSION AND PERSEVERANCE.

You must find your passion in life regardless what age you are.

I was bedridden for a year in third grade with rheumatic fever when family and friends started sending me postcards from all over the world. I knew at that early age that I wanted to travel the world -- either as a "stewardess" or by joining the Peace Corp. I followed my passion and have since traveled to over 130 countries.

After high school, I pursued my degree in education to become a teacher in the Peace Corp. At the age of 20, I was approached by the senior flight attendant of a local travel club/airline and joined their ranks as a flight attendant. I was blessed to travel most weekends and still pursue my education. Through the years and after two degrees, I went from flight attendant to CEO/President of the travel club. My love of travel has never diminished (I am in Cambodia as I write this).

Even after my two daughters were born, I traveled with them by taking a nanny if need be.

Both have traveled to over 40 countries themselves and have great appreciation for the opportunities they were given.

In 1998, I started a non-profit while still working at the travel club. Ambassadors for Children was formed to offer short-term humanitarian trips and sustainable projects around the world to serve children. My life had been blessed so much that it was time to give back.


Ambassadors for Children is currently in 18 countries across the globe.

I have learned that if you give, you get back so much more.

To make sure I maintain a sense of balance in my life, I went through yoga teacher training. Teaching yoga is one of the most blissful things in my life. I opened a center, Peace through Yoga, in 2003 and gain so much satisfaction in teaching my students the joys of yoga.

Through my yoga practice, I try to meditate once a day. Just being on the mat five or six times a week, however, connects me to a higher source. There are four types of yoga: the physical type that most westerns are aware of. Karma Yoga is the act of service. Jnana Yoga is the act of self study so learning is never ending. Bhakti Yoga is the act of worship, chanting, singing, etc---praising a higher source.


These areas of yoga affect my life in what I read and the music I listen to.

My recommendation to any one on the journey of discovery is the following:

* Find your passion -- professionally or personally

* Persevere -- set goals and stay focused

* Find balance in your life -- physically, emotionally, socially, mentally, and spiritually

* Give back -- This can be with your time as a volunteer or financially. Know that you have that responsibility.

* Have faith -- Once you are on your path, have faith that it is exactly where you are suppose to be. Let go, let God.

I have so many favorite quotes, including Margaret Mead: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.

My favorite part of this interview is right toward the end when she reminds us how important it is to have faith, explaining that she means to stay on your path once you are on it.

I think this is something missing today in many of our lives -- a sense of long term commitment. We are so lucky to have so much information available to us, but sometimes it is a handicap. The grass is always greener -- or maybe there is something better than grass -- on the other side of that fence right there.

We try something maybe, if we are lucky, for a year or two, and if we don't see the results that we want, we move onto the next thing.

The Dalai Lama gives us a great visual when he talks about this problem. He says that to get to the top of the mountain, you must choose a path and stick to it, or you will just end up further and further from the top, because in your inability to choose and then stick, you will actually dig a ditch as you walk round and round and round the base.

So, are you walking slowly and steadily toward that top, or are you standing in a ditch?