Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Vosen.
Hi Sarah , please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ve always wanted to know “why”, and enjoyed solving problems. I was the only one in my classes that loved worksheets and solving word problems. I have a deep desire to understand, and be understood. This has led me to diving deep into how the body works, and what to do about it when it doesn’t. I am often contemplating how the mind, body, and spirit create a whole person, and the interconnectedness of humans, and the natural world, create the larger whole, as I experience more of what life has to offer and integrate that into the bigger picture.
I’ve come to realize that the dynamic nature of living things means that there aren’t concrete answers to most of my questions, which has been maddening, but also stokes my passion to keep observing the interactions and putting the pieces together, all while loving, laughing, crying, and playing. It’s no surprise that all of these qualities and questions lead me on a path from the hard sciences of math, chemistry, and physics to the biosciences and eastern medicine philosophies, with a whole lot of movement and play along the way. Gymnastics and dance growing up lead me to yoga, pilates, acroyoga, and capoeira( and so much more) as an adult. Reading The Celestine Prophecy as a teen sparked my curiosity of the energetic world and led me to acupuncture and massage school, where I met the fabulous Cait Donovan (who has now brought me to Fried)!
In 2007, after completing school, I also was certified to teach AcroYoga. Becoming a teacher and gaining the ever expanding AcroYoga community was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I LOVE embodied play, and I love to travel, and AcroYoga facilitated both. But most importantly, it provided me with an amazing community of like-hearted people that have continued to provide me with loving support and the best friendships, even though the physical practice isn’t something I do that often anymore. This practice taught me how powerful and important trust, communication, community, and playfulness are to me, on and off the playground.
In 2012, with my fellow AY teacher bestie, Sarah, and I began to fuse my favorites of Chinese Medicine and AcroYoga. Sarah wanted to try to understand CM without investing in school and I took on the challenge of helping her learn. Together we created Thai massage and flying sequences that facilitated the flow of qi through the meridians. We created a week-long intensive to learn these sequences while experiencing each of the 5 elements of CM in your body, so that you can help yourself and others with your health. It’s the most fun!
Throughout this journey, I was pushing myself to “do it right” and be the healthiest that I could be. So when I struggled to feel well, and learned that I was really burnt out and crashing, I was devastated. I was crushed that the theories and practices I was doing my best to apply to my own life didn’t work for me. I was depressed, and exhausted, and feeling completely lost and not like my usual sunshine-y and loving self.
With the help of all of the stories told on Fried, Cait’s tools, therapy, qi gong, supportive friends and family, and functional medicine(and more), I learned that it wasn’t the medicine and tools that failed, it was my operating system that was no longer working for me. Things like the childhood programming and coping patterns I created due to the lack of boundaries and emotional support I needed to help me thrive as a highly sensitive person that were no longer working to cope with life, and were breaking down, along with my body.
Since the pandemic started and I was forced to step away from work, I have been diligently working on myself on all levels to recover from burnout. I have had approximately one million epiphanies around what wasn’t working in my life, and have been slowly and surely rebuilding myself, my body, and my support structures to get to where I am today, so I can help you do the same in your life.
Once I came back to life, I started coaching others through their burnout recovery in 2022, and have been back to providing acupuncture at Serenity Acupuncture since 2023. As the Director of Coaching and recurring guest host at Fried. The Burnout Podcast, I am honored and delighted to be guiding our Fried fam through one-on-one coaching and our co-created small group recovery program, UNFRIED. It is one of my favorite things to witness when people come back to life, the sparkle returning to their eye, once they deeply get that they matter. My other favorite things are playing outside in the warm sun and laughing around a delicious dinner, with my loved ones in beautiful places.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
You may have already picked up on this from my story, but some of it was so smooth, enjoyable, and easy, and some of it was grueling, challenging, and miserable. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that struggling with the hard parts doesn’t mean that I am failing at life, it means that I am human. Letting go of judging myself for not being perfect has been a huge weight lifted!
One of the biggest struggles I’ve had to overcome is letting go of my hyperindependence and leaning into trusting others for the help that I need. In my professional life, I’ve learned that my strengths are not in the behind the scenes of running a business, and that it’s ok to delegate that out so I can focus on what I am good at, the face-to-face guiding and treating, as coach and acupuncturist. In my personal life, this has looked like asking for and actually receiving help from loved ones, instead of only giving it. This has been life-changing!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I used to be well known in the AcroYoga world for being on of THE Sarahs in Sarahpeutics, creators of 5 Element Thai.
I’m not publically known for it, but my patients have repeatedly told me for almost 20 years that my treatments and I have made the best kinda mark on their lives, and that they can’t find another acupuncturist like me after I’ve moved away, so that’s notable.
More recently, I am known as a contributor and guide in the Burnout Recovery space. Cait Donovan and I have the mission to #endburnoutculture for individuals, businesses, and eventually all of humanity! We won’t likely see it in our lifetimes, but planting the seeds for future generations to bear the fruits feels important and worth doing!
I am proud of the positive impact my work and presence had made on the individuals I’ve worked with. But, I am most proud of the deeply healing work I’ve done with myself (and my vast support team) as a part of my burnout recovery in the past 5 years. My life has 180’ed in the best ways!
I had to ask my close friends for help with this next question and they say that what I am known for also sets me apart. They say that I am a curious, kind, open-minded, non-judgemental, fiercely loyal, heart-opener that explores all things deeply. Cait’s mom said, “In our family, you’re known as truly intuitive and love personified. You know how to connect with people and how to use that connection to help them on their healing journey, whatever that may be.” What a compliment!
My best friends also shared with me that I have a unique ability to see someone’s whole experience and sift out the key factors as clues as to what’s happening, and pull out a simple solution as a treatment or suggested step forward for them to take. Also that I don’t jump to answer; I am patient and spacious in my inquiry and exploration. I also don’t have ego in my theories, so I can easily pivot when new data is available. And then less esoterically, I have a LOT of technical knowledge and mastery of theory, but also I am are an extremely embodied person so it grounds the content. Another friend said, “I appreciate your ability to consider all sides of an issue. Taking science, generational wisdom, and your own experiences into account.”
What are your plans for the future?
Cait and I are intent on growing our business in a sustainable and aligned way for both of us. I don’t seem to be as afraid of talking in front of groups as so many are, so keynoting may also be in my future, as well as training others to guide fried folks through UNFRIED. And let’s be clear, since our mission is to #endburnoutculture, if we all succed in this mission in our lifetimes, we will be delighted to have worked ourselves out of a job. I trust that we will find a new mission <3
I also hope to offer more with the other Sarah (Yovovich) of Sarahpeutics in order to continue sharing healing modalities for humans and our planet aligned with the wisdom of the 5 Elements.
I also plan to see more of this beautiful planet in person!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.friedtheburnoutpodcast.com/friedcoaches
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarah.vosen
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahvosenlac/
