Meet Jayashree Chenglath | Wellness Coach

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

What was the thought process behind starting your own business?

When I started my professional career 20+ years back, I never imagined that I would start my own business. In fact, almost no one in my extended family circles had started their own business, and the few that did had little to no success. That was my limiting belief.

Personally and culturally, I was of the mindset that hard work was the only path to success, a laser-focused “all work and no play” mentality that helped me climb up the corporate ladder. The money was good, I felt appreciated at work, and I thought I was making a difference. On the other hand, there was always a sense of existential vacuum, and a little voice trying to tell me something, but I just ignored it and bottled it up.
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Then things hit a low point when my dad fell seriously ill 8 years ago. My initial shock turned to sadness and helplessness and finally guilt about not being able to help him enough. I traveled to India multiple times a year, working the graveyard shift, while taking care of his needs and that of my mom during the day. My remote offshore work situation quickly deteriorated, my personal relationship with my spouse and friends took a hit, I was in chronic pain and it came to a point where I was almost in a state of physical and mental paralysis. I was completely burned out!

It was then that I decided to make changes in my life in order to get my life back on the rails. I started doing this by making small changes like bringing in more heartfelt positivity to my everyday life, pausing and re-evaluating my priorities, and bringing more balance into my life.

During this period of healing and self-reflection was when I made the decision to quit my corporate job in order to start my own business, to become a Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coach in order to help other working professionals prevent and mitigate the impacts of burnout. I have been in clients’ shoes, and would like to help them with some of the techniques and tools I have learnt in order to accelerate their life transformation and mend mind, body and soul.

I don’t look at it as a business, but as my life mission to spread more play, joy and fulfillment in people’s lives – it is much needed today!

What is the most important factor behind your success/ the success of your brand?

The name of my company is Simplify Being, and I truly think that my brand, my business and I encapsulate that mantra every day. For most that are impacted by chronic stress and burnout (including my past avatar), either physically, mentally or both, the most common feeling is like being a “hamster on the wheel” or playing a game of whack-a-mole. Pick your analogy, but at the end of the day, we are just going through motions of life and taking what it gives us.

I truly believe that understanding our life purpose and really focusing on the critical few things that will get us closer to our desired life, will help us prioritize and bring focus to the few simple things that we need to do in order to achieve that goal, and making them a habit by doing them consistently. So there is more being, and less absent-minded doing.

I will also tell you, I am a big believer in the Power of Play! And by Play, I do not mean just a game of pickleball or tennis. Play can be cooking and dancing to salsa music, or an important project at work, or it can be jumping out of a closet to scare a friend or family (I confess doing that to my poor, unsuspecting husband!). Play refers to a MINDSET that enables us to be fully engaged with whatever we do, losing sense of time – it’s a catalyst to bring forth heartfelt positivity, and a connection with ourselves and others. It brings us a mindset of curiosity, creativity, open-mindedness, and the ability to manage stress and negativity. This is what makes Play POWERFUL in our lives!

My program is unique since it brings my clients into this world of Play, and I can tell you from my own experience and the effect it has had on my clients, that it is the most powerful antidote to chronic stress and burnout.

In summary, I think my success hinges on the fact that I been through chronic stress and burnout and can be in my client’s shoes, having the empathy to connect with my clients, the passion to make a difference, and a unique approach to helping my clients have the best version of THEIR life.

How to know whether to keep going or to give up?

I do think that this depends on what is it you are trying to achieve and how high it ranks in your priorities in life.

For example, I knew that my two passions in life were health and wellness, and helping others. It took me more than 10 years while working in Corporate America to figure my “life purpose” or “reason for being”, what is known in Japanese culture as Ikigai.

I was able to do this by finding the intersection between what I’m good at, what I love doing, what the world needs, and what can I get paid for. There were many obstacles to getting there, but once I found my life purpose of doing health and wellness coaching and making the citizens of this beautiful planet healthier, I knew I will never give up till I realize my dream.

If what you are doing is missing one or more of these elements of Ikigai, it’s important to evaluate at what point the effort is not worth the reward.

And that starts with some simple questions and self-reflection – something I guide my clients to do when I work with them.

What makes you happy? Why?

I might sound geeky here, but I just get ecstatic when I see my clients achieving their goals, however small or trivial it may seem at the moment. I previously talked about the state of Play – being really present and absorbed in your current activity that you lose sense of time with a true feeling of heartfelt positivity. That’s how I feel when I am coaching a client that wants to make a change!

And this is scientifically proven to help with our physical and mental health conditions. It fills our body with happy hormones – dopamine (pleasure hormone), oxytocin (cuddle hormone), serotonin (“feel good” hormone) and endorphins (pain relief hormone) – and these chemicals help us deal with anything that comes our way in life! Plus it helps reduce cortisol, the stress hormone.

Apart from that, I do love being in nature. Be it a stroll around my neighborhood, a brisk hike in a neighboring state park, or a grueling slog up one of the fifty eight 14-ers in Colorado. Or it could be taking an exploratory road trip to a nearby state, or just sitting in my backyard with a cup of coffee in my hand hearing the rustling leaves and birdsong. I feel part of something bigger and greater than me – and it makes me happy!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to give a shout out to my health coaching school I graduated from – the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy (FMCA). They are truly the gold standard institute for health coaching. Their leadership led by Dr. Sandra Scheinbaum and Elyse Wagner really care about making a difference in the world, and I have built some great lifetime friendships and an amazing coaching network and support system from there!

Website: https://www.simplifybeing.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/simplifybeing?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayashree-c-0252803/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SimplifyBeing