Aging is natural and a privilege! So why not do it joyfully?
Our next Featured Face Yoga Teacher didn’t always think this way.
It’s not easy to overcome a lifetime of beliefs about beauty and self-worth, especially when you’ve spent decades immersed in the consuming ageism of the beauty industry. Face Yoga Teacher Certification Course Grad and Face Yoga Teacher Simona shows us all that it’s not only possible to reject anti-aging beautification, but to embrace our natural aging process, becoming a beacon of light in the process! Read her story below.
Simona Rydlová was thrust into the world of big beauty earlier than most. At just the age of 15, she began modeling professionally, traveling across the Czech Republic to pose for glamorous fashion and lifestyle magazines. This was an early start to a decade of full-time life in the fast-paced, day-to-day grind of the beauty industry.
For Simona, the reality of working in “Big Beauty” dawned quickly. Before long, she was feeling the pressure to maintain an unrealistic facade of “not aging”. Around her, the consensus was that the natural development of wrinkles, gray hair, and other markers of age were enemies to conquer — for as long as possible.
On top of the pressure of work and being a mom, Simona was going through a particularly difficult period in her life — divorce. She was tired, frustrated, and disappointed. And at age 35, everything was showing up on Simona’s face.
Small wrinkles appeared on her forehead. The corners of her eyes began to drop.
At this time, Simona’s position as the Editor-In-Chief of InStyle Czech Republic meant that she was the primary target of the anti-aging mentality. She was surrounded by the possibilities of laser surgery, Botox, and the other temporary aesthetic fixes chosen by many in the “Big Beauty” C-Suite, and almost saw it as her duty to appear ageless.
Simona felt trapped and truly believed her choices were limited: either let her wrinkles speak for her, or bite the bullet and make an appointment for her first plastic treatments.
But while on maternity leave, a third option appeared: Face Yoga!
Simona had been practicing yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda for over 15 years, and the prospect of learning Face Yoga felt like a natural and exciting development on her personal path. Simona found the Face Yoga Teacher Certification Course and started turning over the possibility of a career change in her mind.
What was most important to Simona at that moment in time was that the Face Yoga Method was proven.
“The Method is logical and simple. And things like that work. It fit in my puzzle of what I [already] knew, and how I worked with women.”
So she took the leap! Simona applied for the 100-Hour Face Yoga Teacher Certification Course, was accepted, and started her Journey towards becoming a Face Yoga Teacher!
It was the beginning of a life-changing experience.
“The greatest thing is that I have a tool forever in my hands
that I [can use to] help myself and help others.
And what’s better in business than helping other people
and making them more beautiful, and happy, and healthy?
That’s one of the greatest things about it.” ~ Simona
As Simona went through the Course, she was amazed at how easy it was to progress through the Course Modules and apply the marketing blueprints.
“The Course is super well organized,” Simona commented. “It’s not just teaching you the Poses, it’s getting you ready for life.
“Fumiko and her team have it all sorted from the very beginning to the very end: Building your own Facebook page, and your webpage. They help you with marketing, and how to deal with your customers, and how to deal with any problems that may come.”
Simona also developed a great relationship with Fumiko, whose loving, giving presence was a guiding light from the start.
Within the first stages of the Face Yoga Teacher Certification Course, Fumiko asks each student to find their “why”:
“Why do you want to become a Face Yoga Teacher? What’s the big picture, what is your goal, what will keep you motivated to the end?”
Simona wanted to get certified because she knew the Face Yoga teacher career would give her the freedom that the traditional beauty industry couldn’t. Simona would then be able to pass that freedom to other women, teaching them natural self-care and self-love.
That’s what stayed firmly in Simona’s mind, not only through the rigor of the intensive 100-Hour Face Yoga Teacher Certification Course, but as she dealt with her real-life struggle of divorce.
As Simona continued her Face Yoga Journey, a new, vibrant energy began flowing back to her face. Her face changed, and so did she. “I started to smile more and my confidence increased.”
Seeing her a few weeks later for the first time, her sister said that she didn’t look like a person going through a divorce!
Still, Simona had no idea that her success with her own face was just the beginning!
Simona graduated from the Face Yoga Teacher Certification Course, equipped with all the tools she needed to start her first business.
After passing her Final Assessment, Simona began teaching regular Face Yoga classes in yoga studios as a Certified Face Yoga Teacher. Quickly, another yoga studio approached her to teach Face Yoga to their clients too.
“I held over 10 weekend workshops, from 2 hours to 5 hours long. Women in the workshops are so excited! They have so many questions, and they never want to leave!”
Before she knew it, Simona was invited to teach as part of a Yoga Conference.
Then, invited to teach at a wellness festival organized by the city.
Then, she held a workshop for 60 people at a corporate conference!
Rewarding Face Yoga Teacher Career
Simona has been interviewed and featured as a Face Yoga Teacher in many magazines, including Esquire, Elle, and the most-read women’s magazine in the Czech Republic, among others! She was also hosted on one of the best talk shows in her country!
Soon, the media wanted a piece of Face Yoga Simona too!
Her career came full circle. No longer is she simply modeling the old standards of beauty — instead, Simona is a model of the power of natural beauty! She transformed from playing a supporting role to leading the Czech charge towards Pro-Aging as a Certified Face Yoga Teacher.
Simona instantly fell in love with the sense of freedom and clarity of mind she experienced as a Face Yoga Teacher. She has redefined what success means to her, with a new focus on freedom, self-awareness, and feeling love, passion, and happiness in her career. She says she has better relationships and feels closer with the people around her.
The relationships with the Face Yoga Teacher Community were equally valuable in getting her to this place. Simona loved the support and open conversation that developed among other Face Yoga Teacher Certification Course students and grads as they worked towards Certification together.
“We weren’t only sharing how to do this Pose or that… we also share our lives. That’s women (and a couple of men) all around the world with the same intention. It’s super supportive.”
“I love doing Face Yoga every day of my life,
and I’m sure you will too.” ~ Simona
Simona says she would encourage anyone to become a Face Yoga Teacher because it’s “a simple joy!” She leaves these words of wisdom for the next generation of Face Yoga Teachers: “You really are changing people’s lives for the better, even it seems they want to only get rid of the wrinkle in the beginning.”
Thanks to her transformation through the Face Yoga Teacher Certification Course, Simona approaches age with a kinder attitude. She feels better now than she did in her twenties, and not just in looks. “I’m more open, happier. And that’s something I value the most because that feeling is the most important thing.”
You can keep up with Face Yoga Simona on her website and follow her on Instagram here!
