1,000 Awakenings: #5 with Erin Smith

To know Erin is to adore her. I met this woman years ago when she was very pregnant with her “surprise” baby (you’ll read more about that below). She was passing out blocks and dropping truth bombs in her yoga class like it was nothing.

Although small and petite in physical stature, Erin is large and powerful in presence. She’s one of the most fun loving, wise, deeply compassionate human beings I’ve had the great pleasure to know.

I trust that if you don’t already know and adore this brilliant woman, you will soon. Enjoy.

Q. What does it mean to you to live an awakened life?

ERIN: An awakened life is one of present-moment contentment.

Q. What put you on the path of awakening?

ERIN: I like to say I got three wake-up calls, but I kept hitting the snooze button. I got pregnant after being on the pill for 16 years. My daughter’s birth was followed by a year of postpartum depression and hormonal insomnia. To round out the Trauma Trifecta, my husband started having panic attacks and spent two years on various meds before getting a bi-polar diagnosis. It finally led me to getting serious about what sort of existence I want to lead and what kind of legacy I want to leave.

Q. What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone about deepening their connection to themselves and their spirituality?

ERIN: Sit down and shut up. I say this with love, but we will never find the connection we so long for without mindful awareness.

Q. If you could wave a magic wand and everyone on planet earth would wake up with one quality or ability, what would that be?

ERIN: Curiosity

Q. What’s the biggest difference in yourself from your pre-awakened state and your current awakened state?

ERIN: The direct results of a mindfulness practice are more neurons in the areas of our brain responsible for resiliency, compassion, curiosity, and gratitude. These characteristics are highly amplified (and deeply revered) in my current state.

Q. What would constitute a perfect day to you? Can you describe it for us?

ERIN: Meditate on my couch. Drink coffee with my family as the sun rises. Spend the day solo hiking in the woods behind my house, pausing often to sit on a rock and write or ponder. Maybe I listen to an audible and maybe I try to name all the birds I hear. I might take my dog. Back with my family to cook dinner (carbohydrates, obviously) and play cards. Then a glass of bourbon by our fire fit under the stars.

Q. Do you have a favorite book you can recommend to readers?

ERIN: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Q. What’s the best way for folks to connect with you? Include website and/or social handles or any other ways of connecting.

ERIN: You can check out my website here. I also post a lot of articles on Facebook and Instagram.

Q. Can you tell us more about what you do and what makes your heart happy?

I’m the published author of Sensible Wellness for Women, Kentucky’s 2018 Newspaper Columnist of the Year, a yoga teacher, certified mindfulness coach and the host of the OM channel, an online yoga channel for Vimeo.

I own and operate the OM place in Winchester. I’ve helped develop and implement the BE project, a science-based mindful schools program currently in use in several central Kentucky school districts.

I want everyone to make friends with mindful awareness, eat real food, move their bodies, get outside, and hit the pillow a little earlier.

When I’m not standing on my head or typing on my trusty laptop, you’ll find me reading, playing guitar, hiking in the woods, enjoying a glass of bourbon, or snuggling with my people and beloved cockapoo.

If you want to make me smile, ask me what what I’m reading.