Taking care of your body and yourself FIRST is so crucial. I know it is counterintuitive especially for parents. The reality is that if we are not taking care of ourselves, we will have nothing left to give to anyone else.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you please share your “backstory” with us?
As a professional doula, Ozzie Ozkay-Villa is seasoned in providing guidance to those looking for alternatives to traditional healthcare. In 2010, Ozzie founded Alternative Mothers Group and later supported the opening of Marin County’s first free-standing birth center. As she became more public about her choice to medicate with cannabis, her community met her with support and curiosity. Ozzie quickly realized there was a lack of quality and relatable content and what was needed was mass education. Oov fosters community and positive dialogue around cannabis through events, website and their magazine. Ozzie is a natural community builder who believes by creating safe spaces, we can celebrate non-conventional health and lifestyle decisions.
What role did mindfulness or spiritual practice play in your life growing up? Do you have a funny or touching story about that?
Mindfulness and spirituality weren’t part of my daily life as a child. My parents always believed that people should have autonomy over how they wish to integrate spirituality into their lives.
How do your mindfulness or spiritual practices affect your business and personal life today?
As far as parenting goes, daily meditation and mindfulness has completely changed my relationship with my children; I’m much more present and patient with them. I’m able to connect with the kids at their level and stop myself from reacting too quickly. In turn, they are much sweeter with each other as well as myself and my husband.
With my business, I am a huge believer in the power of manifestation! Everything I have accomplished has been a direct result of meditation and manifestation. The more you practice it, the more you master it, the easier it comes to you.
I bring this practice to our audience as well. In a world filled with so much “noise” and technology, it’s easy to get distracted and lost touch with the things that matter most. OURSELVES and how we show up to make the world a better place. Folks are already on social media, so we feel it’s important to integrate important content into platforms where people spend the most time. We’ve gotten really great feedback and I’m proud to put positive vibrations into the digital world.
Do you find that you are more successful or less successful because of your integration of spiritual and mindful practices? Can you share an example or story about that with us?
100% more successful in every aspect of my life. I really don’t think there is such thing as “too much mindfulness”. I truly believe mindfulness can heal the world and its really great to see people waking up to this movement.
What would you say is the foundational principle for one to “lead a good life”? Can you share a story that illustrates that?
Taking care of your body and yourself FIRST is so crucial. I know it is counterintuitive especially for parents. The reality is that if we are not taking care of ourselves, we will have nothing left to give to anyone else. If you are not getting adequate sleep, you’re likely going to be cranky the next morning which will absolutely impact those around you. By taking care of ourselves, we have more to give to others.
Can you share a story about one of the most impactful moments in your spiritual/mindful life?
There are so many now that I can’t even count! I would say one of the most profound things I’ve noticed is the creativity that comes along with meditation. When I give my brain permission to sit with the silence, I get the most incredible ideas! Most of my entire business is a direct result of giving my brain the opportunity to REST. It’s amazing what you can “cook up” in your head when you actually give it time to rest and regenerate.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
My husband is really the first person that introduced me to meditation several years ago, but I didn’t fully understand the concept until a couple of years ago. If it is not something you were exposed to, it can actually be quite a difficult concept to grasp. It took me time and small bite sized pieces of content over a period of time to really develop a strong understanding and practice.
Oprah has also had a huge impact for me. I still listen to her almost every night, as well as Abraham Hicks. Two truly gifted women that present these concepts in really relatable ways!
Can you share 3 or 4 pieces of advice about how leaders can create a very “healthy and uplifting” work culture?
Encourage your team to take time to care for themselves, this will definitely boost creativity!
Foster a positive work environment by practicing kindness.
Create designated days/areas where team members can express gratitude. Maybe a white board where everyone writes what they are grateful for each week.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I truly believe mindfulness is the path to healing. At Oov Lifestyle we recognize this and integrate these practices into our brand and content. Doing an IG Live guided meditation session takes little planning, equipment and resources with the maximum amount of exposure.
How can people follow you and find out more about you?
About the author: Jacob Rupp is a coach, author, speaker, podcaster, and rabbi. He is the founder of Lift Your Legacy, a community that helps people live a more authentic life. He has a regular, syndicated column that appears in ThriveGlobal and Authority magazine. To learn more about him or to listen to the Lift Your Legacy podcast, search iTunes or visit his site: liftyourlegacy.live
Finding peace off the beaten path with Ozzie Ozkay-Villa was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
