Meet Laura Garran | Yoga Instructor, Executive Coach – teaching people to breath

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

Hi Laura, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
For years, this quote really brought me comfort and direction, especially when life’s decisions seemed overwhelming. I used it so often that my older sister found a print of the quote and it is still on her refrigerator today. It’s attributed to Joseph Campbell …’We must let go of the life we’ve planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.’ I think this quote really speaks to me because I realized that sometimes we plan and plot for something and try to control all variables, it’s like swimming against the current and when you just let go – the current can take you to new and unexpected places. When I let go of the planning of my next career move, opportunities would present themselves. An opportunity to move to Australia on a 3 year expat position was never in the plan (in fact, I was pretty dismissive of looking for a role at the next level, for fear of failure), once I opened myself up to the potential of a new role, living in a different country, I decided to go with the flow and take one step at a time. Each discussion, each piece of the puzzle of moving across the world with my husband and daughter started to fall into place. I had to trust in the unknown, I had to give up control and what I had thought was my next (albeit ‘safe’ move in my career in Denver). The opportunity built my personal and professional confidence beyond measure.

This move, and the confidence it brought, allowed me to be honest with myself that I was longing for something different, and I had the newfound strength to articulate out loud what I really wanted to do, which was teach yoga and help others build more joy into their lives through the use of coaching modalities. I launched ‘Living With Intention’ in 2021 after completing my Registered Yoga Training (RYT200) and more recently have obtained my Executive Coaching Certificate through Berkeley.  

What should our readers know about your business?

Living With Intention is where my 30 experience as a HR professional coaching others, my passion for the benefits of mindfulness, and my yoga teaching training tools all intersect. I know from personal experience that the choices we make on a daily basis of how we breath, what we eat, how we choose to spend our time, can drastically reduce negative stress and drastically improve our capability to find joy. Finding joy in the everyday, through building of intentional habits is why Living With Intention was started. I practice what I preach and sharing some of my journey is part of the connection with people. I am not afraid to talk about the hard stuff- parenting, my mother’s death,  perimenopause, and mid-life therapy are all part of my story and my learnings. People who want ‘real’ strategies to move away from living a life that isn’t fulfilling, people that want to show up as a better leader, employee, partner, and most importantly people who want to show up better for themselves, those are my people.

My company is still small, and I am building organically through word of mouth, referrals and people who ask about the changes I’ve made in my life. I would say that the biggest struggle at this time is not rushing the work. I am lucky in that this is long term strategy for me – this is potentially a company that I will build upon long into the future; for now, I continue to work in a Corporate HR role. I work a part time corporate career because I love the people I work with and I believe that I am still adding value to the projects I am asked to work on. There isn’t the financial need to put all my egg is one basket so to speak, so I am thankful  I can build the company slowly -with intention! However, at times, that is the challenge because once you put yourself out there and say you are starting a company – somehow there is an internal unrealistic expectation that says that overnight you will have a full book of business. Which of course, is not really how it happens for most new small start-up businesses.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I am lucky to live near Red Rocks so  a weekend stair climb at Red Rocks is the #1 recommendation if you are in Denver for the first time! The activities just outside of Denver are amazing, some of my favorites include a walk down the creek path in Golden, followed by a Golden Mine Cupcake (gluten free!), a stand up paddleboard or kayak at Bear Creek/ Soda Lake in Morrison. Oh – and there is an amazing new restaurant nearby called Hungry Goat (scratch kitchen in Morrison). This summer I attended the Evergreen Rodeo with my family and last month I was invited to attend a Kirtan Music performance in Boulder – 2 very different new experiences for me that I thoroughly enjoyed. There is something for everyone in this state!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My Shoutout is to my husband Steve. He has always been my biggest fan – he believes in me when I don’t believe in myself. He keeps me honest when I try to deny the calling to do something different. He leads with ‘we’ll figure it out’ so when I started to calculate the risk of leaving a corporate career full time to move into a part time role – he was right there with me. When I start to doubt my skills and list all of the things that I am not good at, he steps in to remind of the things that I am. He sings my praises when I cannot find the strength to sing my own.

Website: www.lwilg.com

Instagram: livingwithintentionlg

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/laura-sims-garran-7583b02b

Image Credits
personal photo