156: How to Grow your Business the Holistic Way: Growth over Burnout with Crystal Zinn

CRYSTAL ZINN [00:00]

And so, that just quiets down the noise. And most of the time, it's just the noise and the misunderstanding that's blocking us or preventing us from seeing the way forward. So, what we say in yoga is yoga is 90% waste removal.

[MUSIC]

CAMILLE WALKER [00:25]

So, you want to make an impact. You're thinking about starting a business, sharing your voice. How do women do it that handle motherhood, family and still chase after those dreams? We'll listen each week as we dive into the stories of women who know. This is Call Me CEO.

[MUSIC]

Welcome back everyone to Call Me CEO. This is your host, Camille Walker. If it's your first time here, welcome. If you are back, thank you so much. We talk about women building businesses and particularly mothers building businesses, how you balance all of the things.

And today is special because we're talking about how to create balance and building a business the holistic way, which I think is a really wonderful thing to dive into. I am joined here with Crystal Zinn of Crystal Zinn Yoga. And she helps with anatomy in somatic schools and breath work, meditation, yoga. She works with personal clients and with corporate. But what she really loves is retreats and working with people one-on-one.

And so, today we're going to talk about how to create the steps of balance and growth in your business the holistic way and how I like to say is without the corporate burnout because I feel like that is doing the opposite, the yin to the yang of that. So, Crystal, thank you so much for being here today.

CRYSTAL [01:45]

You're welcome. Thanks for having me. This is so exciting.

CAMILLE [01:48]

I love that you're here. Now, I would love to tell everyone that we met at a networking event. And I haven't been to a networking event in a while. And immediately when I met you, I was like, "Oh my gosh, I want to work with you. I want to collaborate with you." You just have such an amazing energy. Please tell everyone about you and your background and what got you into yoga.

CRYSTAL [02:09]

Thank you. That was so fun. I'm glad you mentioned that event because that was a one-off. And that whole week had been really serendipitous for me. And so, when we had got there, yeah, it was just a whole night of like, wow, I love these women. And I love Camille. And I can't believe how much we have in common. But that was really fun.

I'm glad you stayed connected. I've really enjoyed binging your podcasts and some of the things you're into and have felt personally just seen and supported in a way that what you're providing, we don't get by our communities or the people around us. So, thank you for that, first of all. Thank you for the beautiful intro.

What do I want people to know about me? I just feel like the main thing is not really about me, but it is about what I've learned and some of the things I've grasped onto and what I really want to shine through me, which is the truth and the light in all of us, especially women.

And so, every time I teach, I try to keep this higher purpose. I keep secondary focus just above my head. And I did want to mention some specifics in case any of you pick up on it and it helps any of your listeners in the podcast, I like to share some of my practices. And I keep that primary focus in us being supported as humans and as sisters.

And raising the next generation is a big piece of what your listeners do. And if I keep that purpose and I keep that alignment in my daily practice, then the other things I do are just passionate and creative. And I do love to train horses. I actually didn't grow up in Utah. I do love to go snowboarding now that I'm here. And I do absolutely love these holistic tools and business.

So, for a long time, I did spend some time with these two wolves inside of me thinking that they were in contrast and that they couldn't live peacefully together where I wanted to impact more people. And I really enjoy systems and networking and community. But I also really enjoy rejuvenation and quiet time and grounding. And I really value the nuclear family, whatever that means for you. I just really value close deep connections and friends and things like that, miracles that happen in private, important things that are self-fulfilling that the whole world doesn't have to know about.

And those things seem like they're in opposition. Camille already mentioned yin and yang energy. Let's just simplify it and say the yin and yang energy and myself and I have spent a lot of years creating a system and doing things that I love, participating in business retreats, family, and all of these things and trying to continue to find what is the method and the system of balance in these things? And some have more of one energy than the other. But I love to bring the message that whatever you think, whatever you're afraid of, wherever you feel like you're missing out, you're not. The answer is inside and the answer is in the balance.

CAMILLE [05:30]

I love that. And I think that that can feel very out of reach for many. What does that even mean? What does the balance mean? And how do you attain that? How did you find that balance for yourself when you were first getting into yoga and finding that energy within yourself and what you do?

CRYSTAL [05:50]

That's a great question because I think the first thing we feel is the imbalance. I think that everyone would raise a hand if they're listening right now and would say, you know when you're out of balance, right? You have some great information on that. I think that's the messenger. And typically the pain, the pain points or the suffering or the emotions or the things not happening in your business that you want to have happen are the messenger first.

And so, that's how you find it. You don't necessarily find it by happening on it and going, wow, that felt great. Now, I have arrived, right? We usually go, something's wrong, something needs to change. And so, that's how I came at it as well where there were a couple of things that weren't working for me. Maybe people I was collaborating with, I didn't feel fulfilled. The product of what I was producing didn't feel super aligned. And it didn't feel like the essence of what I wanted.

There are some outward measurement things, like money or growth or results or events that I could say I wanted something different. And so, that's when I started finding the balance. I'll give you a specific example. I took recently three years off completely of teaching and my business. And the biggest thing that I learned and you probably felt some fear when I said that, did it? I wonder.

CAMILLE [07:29]

I have not fear. It's more curiosity. What did you do? What instigated that pause? That's what I thought.

CRYSTAL [07:37]

This is interesting because we think that we can't do that. We think that all is lost if we stop, right? And that was instigated by COVID mostly. And so, this is probably a common story that people can relate to. But it was also pressure buildup of imbalances and things that I was feeling stressed.

Work-life balance was out of whack. So, things at home where people were unhappy and there were comments being made about the work-life balance and balls were getting dropped. And then, COVID happened. And so, instead of trying to push through, I decided to really employ some of the practices.

And the biggest thing I learned was nothing is lost. Actually, the opposite happens. And that's when I started bringing these practices into every area of my life and my business. And the results, Camille, have been just for me exactly what I want. It feels so good in my body. And it feels so good in my business. And the things that I'm producing feel really balanced and good.

So, I think that answers the question of what instigated it. And I think a lot of people can relate to that. But I think where I meet a lot of people is that faith in the other side and telling someone they're going to get a result that seems counterintuitive does have a lot of, you're really good at curiosity, but I do see a lot of fear and anxiety and lack and loss surrounding those kinds of ideas.

And I do want to mention that because that's okay. And that's normal. And I did feel that. It did take me quite a while to continue to sit with that and say, now, it's been long enough, right? I've done this for long enough. So, now, can it be over? And then, I got in a really bad car accident. And then, it wasn't over. I had to go inward and take a longer break and dig deeper and refine some of my systems and my tools even more.

CAMILLE [09:45]

Okay. Now, I love that you shared that and I think that is absolutely relatable. It's interesting because I shifted my focus from working in the mortgage business in 2008 to having a baby and losing my job in the same year, 2008. That was a big shift, right?

That was actually what initially turned into me creating online business and then has grown into this beautiful experience of my life. But then, also the pandemic was another pause. And it's interesting because it's shared. This for the first time was globally shared. It was this moment of pause and break. And this isn't working. Let's reset.

So, I would love to hear what are practices or these tools that you're referring to, of getting into that zone of being able to have that faith overriding the fear and that balance and that growth? How do we start? For us that are listening and thinking, okay, this sounds great. How do I do that?

CRYSTAL [10:49]

Yeah. I think for me, the biggest thing and the thing I like to teach the most is simple breath work. Because simple breath work, even though we have heard it a million times, is the only access to your autonomic nervous system. That can reframe it into rest and restore instead of fight or flight.

So, if you have heard it 1 million times to take a deep breath, but you've never actually done it, I would invite you to notice that distinction. And then, try it. So, when you start some sort of breath practice, and there's a lot of stuff on YouTube, and Camille can link some of my stuff I put out for free, and you begin to breath practice, immediately, your body has to turn inward. And you have to employ your parasympathetic nervous system.

So, everything now that we were outsourcing, so we'll just stay in the vein of women entrepreneurs, right, and not really talk about mommyhood. But I think that everything that I say equally just goes into mommyhood, right?

CAMILLE [12:0]

Yeah, it can work both ways. We all need to breathe. Yeah.

CRYSTAL [12:03]

Yeah, we do it in both places. So, when things feel unattainable or there's not a solution present right away, the first thing you should do is breathe. And you could even write that on your hand. And it's phenomenal how many times we get ourselves in these positions, especially in our business and don't do that.

So, you're writing an email and you can't figure out how to say it right or you need your VA like what Camille does or you need this other thing in your business or these things and you're like, who's the person? I don't have enough money. How do I go down that avenue?

I saw that you were getting these up on YouTube. And I wanted to say, I'm so excited for that and good job. And also, entering a new space like that takes all of those steps. And so, it's a lot of times in entrepreneurship that we can't figure out the next step.

So, the pause and the breathe is the most important thing. And what that does to you is it takes all your outsourcing, where you're looking for the answers in, who do I hire? And what do I do? And all of these things outside of you and it shifts all of your somatic, your body focus, your brain focus internally.

And then, the second thing you do is you remember. And so, you go back to a remembrance that you're alive and your heart is beating. And I am. So, that would be the second thing I would suggest doing is find a mantra. And I'll give you the mantra "I am," if you're new to that.

And "I am" starts teaching you your intrinsic value in here that goes with you anywhere you go. That will be present in whoever you hire or however your business model changes or looks or I love what you said about that pause between putting things online and having a baby and losing your job.

I can imagine the things that came up and the questions in that space. But the remembrance that wherever you apply yourself, "I am." Wherever you are, that's where you are. And so, that just quiets down the noise. And most of the time, it's just the noise and the misunderstanding that's blocking us or preventing us from seeing the way forward.

So, what we say in yoga is yoga is 90% waste removal. So, conceptually in a lot of my practices, it's not that you're missing anything. And you need this tool and you need that tool. And it's not another entrepreneurial thing like add this, change this direction, employ these services. It's the yin to the yang. It's the opposite. It's the stop and remove all the things in the way. And that is where you come back to a center, that yin energy can begin to attract the things that are more aligned with you. And it is effortless.

CAMILLE [15:11]

I love that. It was only just recently that I realized that yin yoga was the definition of the less is more. Letting go is what gives you the bounty, which I've heard in different ways. It's like that energetic exchange. What is it that you're putting out into the world? I just never defined it that way, which I think is really interesting.

And I love the concept that when you allow that energy to turn inward, it creates more of an understanding of purpose and an inner knowing. And so, that's something that I'm very passionate about is individuals finding their purpose and their inner knowing. And there's really no better way to do that than to pause and to breathe and to reflect.

I'm curious when you have people do this or practice the "I am," do you have them choose a word, "I am," and then a statement or do you have them simply just say, "I am and I exist. I am a being. I am here. I am present"? How do you handle that piece of it?

CRYSTAL [16:16]

That's a great question. And you are really good at this. I really like watching when you pause and you focus on the family and you bring those practices in. And that's funny that you recently realized that about yin yoga. Yin yoga has become my favorite thing.

I think to answer your question, the "I am" is the simplest form. And I work a lot in recovery and with trauma survivors. And, actually, this is an important tangent because I ran into someone who's currently in their psychology degree. So, I always love the new research coming out.

And he was saying the correlations that they're drawing between entrepreneurship and cases of diagnosed ADHD are becoming more prevalent. And so, they're trying to figure out is it the chicken or the egg? And they're diving in.

There's five really big trauma researchers right now that have beautiful things out that I can send you some info on that are tying ADHD to childhood trauma. So, if you follow the dominoes and you go through childhood trauma, at the very least birth trauma, and we've all been born, so we're human. So, we all have something. And trauma, I don't want to frame it as something really awful having happened to you. Because some of us have that story. But some of us don't have such an intense story.

And we still are conditioned by our culture and our learning and our parents' learning. And we still label that as trauma, meaning that you weren't allowed to self-discover and align. So, the current definition of trauma is being unseen and unheard. So, that is something I think everyone can relate to. So, I just don't want to use that word in a way that scares people off or have people say, that's not me.

Have you ever felt unseen or unheard? Then, yeah, that can cause your body to set in some patterns so that you can be seen and heard. So, our deepest desire is connection as humans. So, if you follow the dominoes back to ADHD and then entrepreneurship and this isn't everyone, but this is a broad stroke that you might see some similarities in. When you're working with those kinds of categories, the simplest things are the best. And getting into your body is the best.

So, saying something really simple like "I am," then the very next baby step after that would be, "I am safe." And even better than adding affirmations or other things, it would be better to get into your body because it's a big leap for us who are in this world and may be used to self-development and self-evolution and self-help books and all of these kinds of things. It's more comfortable for us to say, "I am strong and know how to feel that in our body."

A lot of times a lot of business owners and mummies don't even know how to do that. When you ask people to say, get up in the morning in the mirror and say, "I am beautiful and I am strong and I am capable." But if you don't believe it in your body and in your nervous system, that's just a false practice. In fact, it may actually create the opposite. It may actually make someone aware of the gap that they don't feel beautiful and they don't feel strong.

So, it's better to say "I am" and it's better to say "I am safe." And it's better to say, "This is my body. These are my elbows. This is my belly. These are my legs. This is my head." And then, let the intrinsic value of the "I am" come into gnostic. We call it gnostic. G-N-O-S-I-S, gnosis is intelligence. It's a learning. It's a knowing in the body, not in the mind.

So, we probably all know and you can probably think of a scenario where you knew something in your mind, but not in your body. Has that ever happened to you? And then, when you knew it in your body, that's gnosis. When has that happened to you?

CAMILLE [20:24]

I have always felt very in-tune with my body, but never so much as when I did Hypnobabies, which was practicing self-hypnosis for doing unmedicated labor. Yeah, and it blew my mind. Because with the first baby, I did an epidural. The second one, I had planned to do an epidural. It didn't work well. It was New Year's Eve. And anyway, it was such a nightmare because I had Pitocin in me. The baby was posterior. And it was just like such a traumatic event for me.

And then, I thought, gee, the guy tried to give me the epidural at the very end, but it didn't work. And so, I thought maybe my body is resistant to this for whatever reason. So, what other avenues are there? So, I started practicing self-hypnosis through Hypnobabies. You can find it on my YouTube channel. I actually have a whole series about it.

But that was the first time that I even got a glimmer scratching the surface of what our mind and body connection is capable of and what the body can know where the mind was like, how is that even possible? Because I was trained to think only the most excruciating pain is possible. That's what I've been taught. But through self-hypnosis and practicing Hypnobabies, it was like so mind-opening to me of the power of our body and the inner knowing that can develop there. So, I actually delivered two babies that way. And it changed my life.

CRYSTAL [22:04]

I'm going to go watch that series. Wow. Thank you for telling me that. Yeah. I think this is the hump we're trying to get over. So, in an intellectual imaginative way, it's like there's something accessible to us as mommies and as entrepreneurs called embodiment or integration, which is like I want to be that. I want to be that mommy that is calm and collected and present with my children and able to set my traumas and embarrassment and shame and things aside and be able to support and show up for my children.

And there's a part of the woman that's a bigger part usually that wants to be able to show up in her truth and authenticity and feel comfortable in that and show up in business in that and show up in the inner knowing that we're always stifling down, which is we do need to approach this like this. We do need this break. This does take care of this. All of those parts that we imagine if we could sit there and imagine ourselves showing up as the entrepreneur and the business owner that we want it to be and picture scenarios and how we're handling it, and then being honest about that gap between our body knowing it, like Camille wanted to have these babies a certain way and baby one didn't happen exactly that way and baby two didn't happen exactly that way, but you can see it. And you knew it somewhere. You knew that this was possible.

And to get pragmatic about it, we can show up in business like that. We can and it's a beautiful thing. And it changes the world. And we need to. And us women need to. And it's not a conflictual thing. Pragmatically, when you asked me about my practices, it takes a daily meditation or at least a consistent meditation. And that meditation has to be on root-grounding qualities of "I am, I am safe," creativity, I do teach chakra courses.

So, it's all about the first and second chakra for a woman, if you can be grounded and firm and boundaries and creative and loving and accepting and tolerant. Our yin and yang is contained in our first two chakras. So, pragmatically, if you can have a consistent meditation practice, I'm going to give you a couple pinpoints here. If you can have a consistent embodiment practice, whatever that looks like for you. It could be yoga. I really like yoga because it's easily accessible and they walk you through it, but it could be what I mean is a body practice for a woman and for people is very important.

So, it could be dancing, it could be basketball, it could be working out. It could be shaking, like trauma shaking. You don't even have to be good at anything. It just needs to be a body practice. So, a meditation practice, a body practice, and then this third step is pretty important. And I know Camille does this. That's an integration practice with your intelligence and your body. And it's an application practice.

So, in my world, we call it true integration or transformation, which means you practice living it. So, it's those mommy moments where you have your calming meditation practice. You've done your inner work. And then, you have an embodiment practice. So, you're taking the kids to Splash Summit or you're doing the thing. And then, this situation comes up, right? Your kid throws a tantrum. Something happens in work that you said, I'm going to handle this differently. And then, you get to practice it. And then, you fail nine times.

And then, the 10th time, like with the baby story, you get the gnosis. And that is the turning point when you have put it in your body. That's why it's a practice. And then, it happens automatically. Part of this third step, I think, is also using coaches, integration coaches, and talking to people about it and having some support in that.

So, if I had to give you my favorite three things, it would be my Kundalini meditation and dancing and yoga, and then working with my coaches and my friends to actually integrate that practice. But you could see how I brought in those three steps because that does look different for everyone. Now, I'm curious how that fits in with you because I see you doing this, but I wonder how you would describe it for yourself?

CAMILLE [26:38]

Yeah. First, what's Kundalini for us that don't know? Because I don't know.

CRYSTAL [26:42]

You don't?

CAMILLE [26:42]

No.

CRYSTAL [26:43]

It's a meditation practice. It's a meditation practice that uses movement, breath, and then long-seated holds of meditation.

CAMILLE [26:51]

And where do you find access to that?

CRYSTAL [26:53]

So, I do have a lot of free Kundalini videos on my YouTube, Crystal Zinn Yoga.

CAMILLE [26:58]

There we go.

CRYSTAL [26:59]

But there's a couple of studios in our area, if any of your listeners are local. There's one or two in Salt Lake. And there's one or two studios down in The Valley that do have a Kundalini class on the schedule. And if you follow me, because it's one of my favorite things, I often have been known to put a free event together and be like, "If you meet me in the park at 6 am, I will teach you Kundalini."

One of my best friends, too, does Kundalini teacher training. So, if you want that link, reach out. I'll be sure and give it to you. And I couldn't recommend it more. So, yeah, we have access to everything at our fingertips with the Internet.

If you're going to look it up, look it up like this. Kundalini for, Kundalini for immune system, Kundalini for stress, Kundalini for fear because that meditation system works off your endocrine system and your nervous system and some Chinese medicine. And so, it's very powerful. Pretty cool.

CAMILLE [27:57]

I love it. I'll be Google searching. I think there are other people who will be, too. That's so cool.

CRYSTAL [28:02]

Those work well for me.

CAMILLE [28:06]

So, number one, I practice meditating. I'm not super awesome at it. I have been using Apple Fitness for my meditation where I'll go based on how much time I have. So, I'll do like 10, 20, or 30-minute meditation. I actually meditated 10 minutes this morning with my son after we had done a walk and some yoga together, which was really cool. He's nine.

And so, for me, I think a big balanced piece of it is getting out in nature. I feel a lot more grounded when I'm actually in nature. So, I will do some meditative practice and being out in nature is very meditative to me, no matter what it is. So it's hiking, paddleboarding, snowboarding, walking, even just sitting on the grass.

CRYSTAL [28:52]

Because it has that element of quiet and gazing.

CAMILLE [28:56]

Yes, I love journaling. I think that's something I was really good at growing up. I haven't been as good doing as an adult. But I'm practicing. I did it on Sunday. So, I'm trying to get back into that habit. And then, I love hiking and dance. I would say that those are probably my favorites that I have done growing up.

CRYSTAL [29:19]

How have we not danced together?

CAMILLE [29:21]

I know. For me, it's like High Fitness is the closest thing I get right now. Because I don't go to dance classes anymore. But that's what I grew up doing. And so, I'll dance in the kitchen with my kids. But I'd love to go to more classes.

And then, the third thing was the practice of it. So, yeah, balance and finding purpose and passion and also hard work and hard fun. Actually, I'm more passionate about helping people discover space. And so, with my coaching that I do with entrepreneurs, it's a lot about what can you give up and replace with things that really fill you up and hiring help so that work is still getting done, but you don't feel like it has to be all you or all-or-nothing mentality?

And that's really been so fulfilling for me because it's helping women to create purpose on the side of developing their own business as a virtual assistant and creating money and purpose from home. But then, on the flip side, helping my busy entrepreneurs to create more space and time for themselves. So, it's like a full circle thing. And I love it. Yeah.

CRYSTAL [30:27]

That's why I love it so much because I see you completely embodying it. And I see you doing it for yourself. And that's why you can teach it because you did go to Australia. You did take that time off. You did say, here's this piece. And here's this piece. And I'm going to live it by example.

And I just wanted to mention and validate you that I see you doing that. And I also know, especially as a woman and entrepreneur and in the world you're in, that is not always given accolades or lift up or praised. And I just wanted to tell you, that's the way and you're doing it. And the results are exponential. And it's beautiful. And keep doing it. And good job.

CAMILLE [31:10]

Gosh, I feel amazing. Thank you. What a gift to have someone say that. Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. And I do. I think there have been times in the past where because I've been a creator and influencer for years. And it's like, look at my life. Sometimes, I'll retreat from that because I don't want to come across as seeming like the world's perfect or you need to have this perfect item or you need to buy it right now to have the life you want.

I really want to showcase it's about creating those relationships, those connections, those memories, and that relationship with yourself to see that you're worthy of creating a life that really feels fulfilling to you inside and outside of your home and your being and all of that.

So, thank you. This has been so beautiful. And I am just such a big fan of yours and everything you do. I want to follow you to every park you open any class. This has just been so fun. Please tell our audience where they can connect with you and see more about all of the things you're offering.

CRYSTAL [32:13]

Thank you. The best place is Instagram, at www.crystalzinnyoga.com because I will put up things that I'm participating in. Me and Camille mentioned earlier that there's always transitions that happen in business. And I am in a fun transition trying to bring more of these holistic practices to business right now. And I don't know completely where it will all fall and that's okay.

But what I do know is that I offer workshops and events weekly and monthly. And I do retreats quarterly. And those are sometimes for women-only if you feel safe in that space. And they're trauma-informed. And they're beautiful. And then, sometimes they're business. So, business leaders and entrepreneurs and everybody is invited. And those are beautiful.

So, I have a website www.crystalzinnyoga.com. And that will be getting dialed in even better, but that's been up for years. And the new stuff will be on my Instagram. And you can always reach out and find me on email. And I do also have a podcast where I love to bring some of the somatic practices in anatomy and shine the light on people and their respective expertise. And my podcast, it's easy to find Crystal Zinn podcast.

CAMILLE [33:31]

Awesome. Again, thank you so much. We'll link all the resources below so that you can find it. And if this has been helpful to you, please leave a rating and review that helps other people to find this podcast as well as sharing this with people that you love. This is all about helping small businesses to grow. Thank you for listening. Thank you for being here. And thank you, Crystal, so much. I've really enjoyed this.

CRYSTAL [33:55]

You're welcome. I want to say Namaste. I love you. Thank you.

CAMILLE [33:58]

Hey, CEOs. Thank you so much for spending your time with me. If you found this episode inspiring or helpful, please let me know in a comment in a 5-star review. You could have the chance of being a featured review on an upcoming episode. Continue the conversation on Instagram @callmeceopodcast. And remember, you are the boss!

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