Meet August Perez | Contemplative Psychotherapist

We had the good fortune of connecting with August Perez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi August, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
In traditional meditation practice, there is an instruction given to help practitioners balance their mind between concentration and relaxation: “Not too tight, not too loose.” A simple guide that has many applications on how to hold the mind and body in the formal practice of meditation. If a student finds themselves feeling sluggish, sleepy, or uninspired with their practice, they could try “tightening up,” their posture, sitting a little bit straighter, and focusing their mind a little sharper. Likewise, if a student is feeling anxious, restless, or constricted in their body, they could try “loosening up,” by relaxing their muscles or softening their eyes.

I have found that, “not too tight, not too loose,” has started to apply in all areas of my life, including the work/life balance that always seems to be in flux.

Up to the point of opening my private psychotherapy practice in the spring of 2019, I had never run or operated my own business, but instead had always worked for someone else. It was a slow process to learn how to best set my own schedule, manage my own finances and payment schedule, and start to plan for taxes. At first, work life balance looked like spending any extra time and energy on the crucial details of my business and setting my practice up for success for both me and my clients. Being the boss had its perks, but it first just felt like a lot of work and effort every single day to keep expanding and attending to what is demanded of a credible private practice. Some days I had to “tighten up,” my focus on how much time I was allotting my business while slowly pulling away from the non-therapy related work I did for others. Other days, I had to “loosen up,” by forcing myself to slow down and rest, even when it felt like I didn’t have time to.

It felt like this rock back and forth between the balance of constriction and expansion has only deepened, sometimes surprising me, forcing me to yet again find balance between tightness and looseness. It feels like my business is in the gap in-between when constriction stops and expansion begins again. The first half of this year felt like a maturing point for my practice, bringing my attention to strengthening the foundation by focusing inward. Now this second half of the year slowly feels like an expansion phase of looking at how the next growth spurt of the practice and business will progress from where it already is.

On the personal end, the balance is constantly shifting between self care, time in nature, time spent with loved ones, times spent alone, time spent working with clients, time spent on professional development, time spent with the creative arts and everything in between. The idea is that balance is not static. We cannot just set the scales and leave them there. Balance is dynamic and requires attention and focus in how we navigate the flux of life.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I have always felt the call to help people since I was young and when I discovered the path of therapy, it felt more like a “coming home” to this calling rather than beginning my career or business. The focus of my work is the healing of the relationship we have with ourselves and with others, something I am constantly bringing into my own relationships and my relationship with my clients. This work has deep meaning and I hold it as sacred. Turning this calling into a business has been a test of dynamic creativity and flexibility. Balancing my financial security with my self care, all while doing this in the best and most beneficial interests of my clients is something that needs constant attention. This aspect of having to keep focused on the details of each client and their personal journey while balancing the practice at large is one of the aspects of the business that I deeply enjoy and find it a way to exercise different gifts of organization that I feel I am somewhat good at. I say somewhat because I am always finding ways to constantly improve the efficiency of the whole in order to meet the needs of each client I work with.
The biggest challenge in running a business and working with people is that sometimes, even with the best laid out plan and the purest of intentions, things will still fall apart or crash and burn. When you are the boss, there is no one else to hide behind, so owning my own insecurities of making mistakes is something I am constantly working with and trying to model to my clients that it is still workable, even if it doesn’t feel like it.
This business is one where I strive to meet people where they are at with an open and compassionate space. Building a business model around this focus is creative and one I didn’t learn in school nor was modeled for me by the capitalistic system we live in. It feels risky to open a thriving business during this time of great tension and unknown in our world, but I have found that when we make our business about people and not about the bottom dollar, a thriving that heals takes place for client and business owner. I try to make therapy affordable and accessible so that the people who need to find me can. I cannot reach everyone like I wish I could, but I have a large capacity and want to find ways to constantly bring the focus back to my clients, present and future.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Whenever someone comes to visit me, I always feel inspired to try and show off as much as I can of Beautiful Colorado. So if we had a week, we would start in Boulder grabbing brunch at the Dushanbe TeaHouse, a gorgeous historical landmark that also serves amazing food, tea, and drinks. Then we would walk around historic Pearl Street, grab a coffee at Ozo, and then go up Boulder Canyon to see Nederland and ride the Carousel of Happiness, built by hand by a Veteran working through his PTSD. Then we would travel back down to Boulder and grab some food at Sherpa’s, a family owned restaurant that serves up the most delicious Tibetan and Nepali cuisine. I always get the Tibetan noodles with beef and veggie momos and house chai. Before leaving, we would squeeze in a hike up Sanitas to look out over the valley.

After a couple days in Boulder, we would head down to Denver and go straight to MeowWolf, a fully immersive, interactive art installation that brings you into a completely different dimension of sounds, visuals, and emotional connection. Started in Santa Fe, New Mexico, MeowWolf brings together 100+ artists to create these multilevel universes, giving them a platform to showcase their talent and creative process. You can spend hours there and never fully see everything. After a fully exhausting tour through MeowWolf, I would bring me and bestie back to City O’ City, the best Vegan restaurant this side of the Rockies. We would check out Chessman park and spend time at the Botanical gardens, maybe even catch a concert at the Phillmore or the Ogden theater.

Then we would head up North and spend a couple days in Fort Collins where we would enjoy the sleepy downtown area, eat at the Silver Grill Cafe, and then go paddle boarding at Horse Tooth Reservoir. Fort Collins still has the old hippy vibe that Boulder used to have but has shifted with the incoming tech companies and big corporations.

From Fort Collins we would spend a day visiting the Drala Mountain Center, the beautiful and vast meditation land center that has welcomed and homed many people of many paths and holds a deeply meaningful place in my heart, Not only is the land itself vastly beautiful with rolling green hills, high elevation pine, and wildflowers, but it has a deep spiritual presence, like a basin that collects the energy of practitioners and ripens it. On the land is a Tibetan Stupa, a towering monument that is meant to support the practice of all who visit it. A truly magical and moving place.

We would continue our spiritual cleanse by hitting up some of the best hot springs, like the Hot Sulfur Springs, Glenwood Springs, and Indian Hot Springs. These places are all historical and unique, but all have truly magnificent waters that are worth the soaking in for a few hours.

Before bringing bestie back to the airport after our week of fun, we would be sure to catch a concert at the Red Rocks Amphitheater. I have never heard music that incorporates the acoustics of natural rock formations until coming to this venue, creating a magical experience regardless of who is playing.

And this would be a small itinerary of what it would be like to visit some of my favorite places on the Front Range and beyond, but still only captures a brief glimpse of all this state has to offer.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Out of all the questions in this interview, this one I spent the longest time trying to formulate, as there are so many people and organizations and experiences that have shaped me and my vision for my private practice into what it is today. So to encapsulate it, I give my Shoutout to the communities I was apart of in Boulder,CO and all the incredible people and connections I have made during the 12 years I have resided in this beautiful space.

One of my spiritual mentors (whom I met in Boulder) told me that Boulder is a place where people come to heal, and I find that to be personally true. I found who I am and established myself, my belief system, and my call in life while living here. And that was all shaped by people. The people I worked with at the South Side Walnut Cafe and Southern Sun restaurants in South Boulder; and the friends I met rock climbing and cycling in Boulder canyon and up Marshall Mesa; and the spiritual friends and community I found through the Drala Mountain Center, a breathtaking land center dedicated to Buddhist and other spiritual/religious practices that has saved my life time and time again; and my mentors, my colleagues, my advisors, and my cohort through Naropa University. Without each and everyone of these guides and teachers, I would not be where I am today.

Website: https://www.aeppsychotherapy.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/august.e.perez.psychotherapy/

Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/august-elizabeth-perez-boulder-co/430033

Image Credits
April Perez