Tell me, what do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
-Mary Oliver
Let me help you design your meaningful life
Are you exhausted? Overwhelmed and burnt out? Are you spinning in place?
Maybe you are all of these things, but don’t know where to start. I’ve been there. I made Shine Life because I couldn’t find a path, but I knew I needed one.
Nine years later, this little program has become a means for hundreds of people to take control of their lives and their health.
Maybe most importantly, its given hundreds of people the tools and the structure to live the life they choose.
Does this sound like you?
Life has changed for you and it’s left you spinning.
You made the choice to be more fulfilled in your career or life, but need a structure to keep your focus and energy strong.
Maybe life has changed for you—menopause, Covid, job or relationship loss. Life can leave us in pieces, but these big changes can also drive us to create a better life. Where do you start? How do you start? Can you fit this in when you are already exhausted?
You need guidance, and structure, and support.
You are a cancer survivor.
You thought that when you finished treatment and were (fingers crossed) cancer free, your life would be back on track and better than before.
But instead, you are physically, emotionally, and mentally changed, and not for the better.
You want to feel in control. You want to know what you should do to prevent a relapse, to sleep better, to reduce brain fog.
You want to live with joy.
You live with a chronic illness.
Your life is dictated by pain and fear of a flare up. You have gotten no answers. Maybe medication made things worse or you haven’t found the right one. You’ve heard that lifestyle—yoga, meditation, nutrition, self care—helps, but don’t know where to start. And let’s be honest, you ‘re scared to try them. What if it makes things worse?
You are tired of living around your disease. You are tired of being defined by it. You want to feel better.
I’ve been where you are.
I’m Sara and I’ll be guiding you every step of the way.
I’m a cancer survivor with rheumatoid arthritis and chemo induced menopause. I changed my career and moved across the country nine years ago. I’ve been exhausted to the bone and in such a deep state of fear and stress that I would wake up with a start almost immediately after falling asleep, for years.
I felt deeply alone. I spent a good amount of time hiding and numbing. But I knew that was making everything worse.
I looked for a program like Shine Life and couldn’t find it.
I wanted to be inspired, connected, and most of all, I wanted tools that were research backed. If I was going to invest my time and energy into building a better life, I wanted proof that it would work.
So I made a program that would do all these things.
I also took a good look at myself and thought about a structure that would work.
I committed to three weeks of integrating the elements I researched into my life, calling it a Seasonal Jumpstart. Three months later I did it again.
Nine years, a yoga studio, nineteen Jumpstarts, and hundreds of participants later, I keep Jumpstarting right along with you every season.
Every Jumpstart I think, I need this right now. And I hear the same from my students.
Every Jumpstart I also hear from someone that this program changed their life. These past few years, I’ve heard the need and I’ve heard the impact from more and more of you, as we all faced down impossible circumstances.
As we all stood in fear, sadness, and frustration, these past two years, my little program helped us all to take hold and right the ship of our lives, regardless of the circumstances.
Imagine if you…
Had a clear vision of the life you want to live.
Had research-backed tools and a structure to help you get there.
Belonged to a community of like minded people working together to change their lives.
Could personalize your path to make your vision a reality over the long-term.
Make your life Shine
Shine Life is a year long program made up of four seasonal Jumpstarts of 21 days each. In between, you’ll have support, community, and access to daily yoga classes and special programs. At it’s core, Shine Life addresses the big issues that keep us from living (or even envisioning) our best lives—a feeling of chaos and lack of control over our bodies, choices and lives. We use research-backed tools and step-by-step approaches to integrate practical tools into your every day.
Yoga Prescription
Yoga is the secret sauce. Learn to cultivate movement, breathing, meditation, and rest as a means to make your every day more steady while gathering the resilience you need for hard moments.
Sleep Hygeine
Create a structure from the moment you wake up that will help you finally start to get a good night’s sleep. You will have all the tools, research and support you need to rest and heal again.
Detox and Nutrition
Break the cycle of food addiction, build your knowledge and skills, learn to use food as medicine to support energy and focus, improve digestion, decrease inflammation, improve sleep, and heal.
Stress Management
Research shows us that stress dramatically influences cancer risk and autoimmune disorders, but we already know that. Learn to cope with the way stress effects you and structure your life to keep it at bay.
This is your year.
How Shine Life will change your life
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See it.
Get clear on your vision for your life, so you can take the conscious steps you need to control the direction of your life.
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Build it.
Integrate proven tools into the structure of your life to build a blueprint that will heal and empower you—body, mind and heart.
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Grow it.
Give yourself the time and space to decide what works for you and what doesn’t.
Questions?
Payment Plan
Easy Monthly Payments
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$5707 value
Your Price: $2447
Best Value!
1 Easy Payment
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Why You’ll Love Shine Life
Structure
This is a prescribed program with a clear structure both during the Seasonal Jumpstarts and for the rest of the year.
We are already overwhelmed. We don’t need a lot more information thrown at us or more things to check off our lists. You will know exactly what to do and will create a structure to fit the tools that work for you into your life.
Step-by-Step Guidance
I am with you every step of the way. I participate in every seasonal jumpstarts and check in with you regularly.
You’ll also meet with me one-on-one to create a personalized blueprint each season.
Tools that Work
Everything you are asked to do is backed by research. There’s a lot of misinformation out there. This course guides you through it and gives you tools that work— because they have been researched, tried, and tested.
Community
You are not alone. This program builds lasting community through retreats, daily checkins, and weekly deeper dives.
Seasonal Programming
One of the great pleasures of the program is the seasonal focus of the Jumpstarts. We tap into the rhythms of the season to support our work rather than fight against it.
And, the seasonal structure gives us a chance to start again, every three months.
Growth
The tools you learn over this year are yours forever. The program gives you structure and the support to integrate them, but it also gives you knowledge that you can use to live well for the rest of your life.
Curriculum
This is what your year will look like
Preparation.
The preparatory phase will:
Set you up for success
Give you guidance for beginning the program on day one
Help build a community of support
Familiarize you with the platform and how to access everything you need
Give you the evidence for the practices and tools we will implement
Give you time to think about what you want and plan a path
Foundations.
This is a self-paced course, meant to be done prior to your year, or whenever you need a refresh. Foundations is an overview of the LifeSupport program, the key elements ( yoga, sleep hygiene, detox and nutrition, stress management) and how to integrate them into your life. We will reference the key elements throughout the program.
Recorded Presentations on:
-Yoga philosophy as a framework
-Habit building using research-backed practices
-Journaling to get past the monkey mind
-Cohen and Jefferies “Mix of Six” for Anticancer and a healthier life
-The research behind the daily eats—foods that decrease inflammation, improve immunity, focus, and energy, and decrease cancer.
-Science-backed habits that help you fall asleep and stay asleep
-Why connection is good for our health
Retreat.
We will hold a three hour retreat to help really sink in and connect while marking the start of the program in a special way. Includes intention setting and sloughing off; an all levels flow, and a restorative yoga class with guided relaxation and crystal singing bowls. Students who are local to Shine have the option to participate in person. The retreat will be designed with virtual students in mind.
At the Beginning of Each Season
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Retreat
We will hold a three hour retreat to help really sink in and connect while marking the start of the program in a special way.
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Personalized Blueprint
Meet with Sara one-on-one to develop your personalized program.
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Manual and Workbook
Each season comes with it’s own manual, resources and workbook.
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Seasonal Intention Box
Delivered to your door. Tangible treats to help you start your jumpstart right and stick with your intention.
Seasonal content.
Fall Jumpstart
Organ: Digestion
Focus: Nurture
Yogic Framework: Prakrati & Purusha ( the self in the world)
The fall is all about settling into routines and taking better care of ourselves. This season is about overfilling our cups with rituals and care so that we don’t become depleted by the demands of our lives.
During the 21 Day Fall Jumpstart, you will:
Embrace the call of autumn to begin settling down
Incorporate rituals that help bookend your day and support better sleep and calm
Learn how to support your digestion and why it’s important.
Week 1: Physical Nourishment
This is everyone’s favorite cleanse. We start off with a 3-5 day smoothie and soup cleanse. Super nourishing, high in fiber and easy to digest. After the summer’s more open schedule, this is time to get back on track with your daily yoga practice.
Key component of this week include: Yoga and Soup!
Sunday Discussion, pre cleanse: Benefits of eating warm foods. Nutritional powerhouses and how to incorporate them.
Week 2: Incorporating Ritual
The Autumn is one of the easiest times to incorporate a morning and evening ritual. We will add in Ayurvedic and other rituals into our day this week. We will also begin with the daily Eats and keep up our yoga practice.
Key components; Morning and Evening Ritual
Sunday Discussion: Types of rituals and why to do them
Week 3: Emotional Connection
This week we will look at how to be vulnerable and how to support vulnerability in other people for deeper connections. You’ll work on incorporating strategies into the relationships that you want to nurture.
Key Components: Relationship Strategies.
Sunday Discussion why connection is important, changing mindset for better connection.
Closing
Together, we will end the Jumpstart by evaluating how the practices we’ve introduced into our lives worked, which ones didn’t and what we can do to keep living intentionally through the next three months.
Winter Jumpstart
Organ: Nervous System
Focus: Reflection
Yogic Framework: Dharana ( concentration/ meditation)
The winter calls us into quiet. Into stillness. It is the best time to integrate time for reflection and calm while balancing the systems that govern our reactions—hormones and blood sugar.
During the 21 Day Winter Jumpstart, you will:
Reflect
Learn to rest
Integrate strategies to balance hormones and blood sugar
Week 1: Preparing
The first week of the Winter Jumpstart prepares you physically and mentally for the remainder of the month.
Key component of this week include: Self Reflection Exercises, a 24 hour water fast, a 3-5 day gentle, Whole Foods cleanse, Breathing techniques
Sunday Discussion, pre cleanse: Why fast? Sharing of reflections and goals, Sowing Intentions practice.
Week 2: Scheduling Silence
This week we start our Daily Eats , incorporate morning and evening rituals and practice one day of silence.
Key components; The impact and practice of silence, Myofasical release and restorative yoga, meditation in your day.
Sunday Discussion: For this special week, we will replace our Sunday discussion with a morning and evening meeting to prepare us for our day of silence and ending it together with meditation.
Week 3: Managing Blood Sugar and Hormone Balance
This week we will look at practices and plants that help to support calm, including intermittent fasting and herbs and supplements.
Key Practices: Intermittent fasting, herb knowledge, yoga, pranayama, meditation
Sunday Discussion intermittent fasting and herbal support for more even responses
Closing
Together, we will end the Jumpstart by evaluating how the practices we’ve introduced into our lives worked, which ones didn’t and what we can do to keep living intentionally through the next three months.
Spring Jumpstart
Organ: Liver
Focus: Cleaning Out
Yogic Framework: Saucha (purity)
Spring is a time for starting fresh and the world around us supports our growth.
During the 21 Day Spring Jumpstart, you will:
Commit to 21 days of yoga, good food, sleep habits, and rituals
Identify and shed the things you don’t need
Begin to notice what works for you and why.
Week 1: Physical Clean Out
We begin with a three day gentle detox and liver cleanse along with yoga and breathing techniques specifically to help the body detox.
Sunday discussion will be on yoga’s concept and practice of saucha or purity as a means of supporting a happier, healthier life. We will also discuss Ayurveda and Western Herbalism’s springtime focus on detox and liver cleanse.
Week 2: Environmental Clean Out
This week we start with Daily Eats or the month long Ayurvedic cleanse. We keep up as many of the practices and routines we learned last week as we can and continue them through the remainder of the Jumpstart..
This week we begin cleaning out the clutter around us--one bag per week. We also start noticing the toxins in what we use to clean our houses and our bodies.
Sunday Discussion will be on cleaning and beauty products and other external toxins.
Week 3: Emotional Clean Out
We will begin to look at where we put our time and our hearts. We will do a social media, Netflix, doom scrolling, emotional numbing of choice fast.We will focus on emotional catharsis in our practices.
Sunday Discussion will focus on journaling as an emotional scavenger hunt.
Closing
Together, we will end the Jumpstart by evaluating how the practices we’ve introduced into our lives worked, which ones didn’t and what we can do to keep living intentionally through the next three months.
Summer Jumpstart
Organ: Heart
Focus: Simplicity and Joy
Yogic Framework: Santosha ( Contentment)
When we are working hard to build a lifestyle it can be easy to forget why we are doing it. We all want joy in our lives. We all want simplicity. We all want an easy summer day.
During the 21 Day Summer Jumpstart, you will:
Find a simple pleasure to build into your life
Set aside a time in your day to notice the world through sensory meditation
Commit to daily movement
Learn new techniques for preparing fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables
Week 1: Physical Joy
We often think of physical joy as intense and dramatic, jumping up and down, dancing wildly. And of course it can be. But physical joy can also just be a full engagement of the senses. In this week, we will pair down and simplify in order to help our bodies work better and be more in touch with how we feel.
Key component of this week include: a 3-5 day juice cleanse, and gentle movement with breath to support intensive cleanse.
Sunday Discussion, pre cleanse: what to expect from a juice cleanse. Juice cleanse schedule and resources.
Week 2: Scheduling Simplicity
This week we start our Daily Eats with a focus on a raw food approach to meals. We start to find ways to introduce simple scheduling and practices into our lives while still doing the things we enjoy doing in the summertime.
Key components; Using summer mornings to set up your day. Guided Forest Walking. Raw Foods Diet. Mindful Eating. Setting up and surrounding yourself with beauty
Sunday Discussion: Raw Food Diet: benefits, approaches. strategies, cooking lesson. Setting the table and creating your quiet space.
Week 3: Emotional Simplicity
How does it feel to not do? This week we will take some of the strategies from the week before and plug them into our lives. This may be a tactile or creative pursuit, mindful eating, walking, yoga, or something else. We figure out what works for you to get you out of your too do list and into being.
Sunday Discussion will focus on carving out time in your schedule for simplicity and calm.
Closing
Together, we will end the Jumpstart by evaluating how the practices we’ve introduced into our lives worked, which ones didn’t and what we can do to keep living intentionally through the next three months.
Making it Stick
2 month period in between every Jumpstart
Yogic Framework: Tapas ( Dedication) and Svadhyaya (Self Study)
We will begin every habit maintenance period with a lecture and discussion on habit building literature and practices. At the beginning of each Habit Maintenance period, you’ll have a one-on-one with Sara to help set yourself up for success.
During the Three Months between every Jumpstart you will
Integrate what you committed to into your everyday life.
Edit what you did during the Jumpstart to make it doable over the long-term.
Receive the support you need to keep up the practices that make you feel and be your best.
Unlimited Yoga Classes
Available in studio and virtually.
Weekly Community Check In
The Jumpstart community will continue to check in throughout the entire year. The check in will be part social hour and part targeted sharing based on a journal prompt.
Special Virtual Sessions and Pop up Events
May include cooking classes, gardening, herbal concoctions, meditation, and yoga practices related to the season.
Closing the year.
Our program emphasizes attention, structure, and ritual. It’s important to close our program with all of these things. We will look back on our year together and personally and look ahead for the coming year.
Retreat
We will hold a three hour retreat to help close and reflect on the important work we’ve done this year.
Bonus Content
How to Cook
Learn healthy strategies for cooking flavorful foods with Sara’s video series.
How to Sleep
A video series to support sleeping rituals and practices for better sleep through your whole day
Why it Works
An ebook of our Shine Life strategies and research citations that support the work we are doing.
Here’s Everything You Get When You Commit to Your Year
One Year Unlimited Yoga Tailored to You
($1197 value)
12 Sunday Sessions
Cooking Series
($375)
Four Seasonal Jumpstart Programs
($800 value)
Manual and Workbook
Foundational Video Library
($1300 value)
Four One-on-One
blueprint sessions with Sara
($320 value)
Weekly Check-ins
4 Seasonal Intention Boxes
($240 value)
5 Retreats
($1100 value)
Research to Supports our Practices
Sleep Series
($375)
“I wasn’t sure I would be able to do a program like this. But I needed it, and so I signed up. I’ve done every one since. It changed my health and how I looked at my body. Not as something I needed to force into submission or steel my will against. I started listening to what I needed. ”
— Connie L.
Meet your Guide.
So you know why I created this program. Here’s the reason you can trust me to guide you through it.
I’ve not only lived through crisis and live this program, I’ve spent the last seven years doing everything I can to make it the best program available.
Background
I don’t take the program lightly. I believe that it’s my responsibility to give the people who trust me at the most vulnerable time of their lives tools that work. In order to do that I built on my professional experience as a writer, researcher and program developer in behavioral health to make sure that there is support for everything I offer.
Dedication & Experience
I upped my yoga teacher trainings to include orthopedic and internal medicine modules and taught every day, sometimes as many as 4 classes a day. I learned anatomy through a Yale Medical school course and became certified in oncology yoga. I worked with patient care at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center to make two yoga videos, one for patients in treatment and one for after treatment. I presented at the annual International Yoga Therapist Conference on this very program. I’ve slowly built up my knowledge of Yoga Philosophy through self study and courses with scholar Daniel X. Presenting this year on Yoga Philosophy and Truth as part of Fredonia University’s convocation. I’ve now run 19 Jumpstarts, guiding students through every step of the way.
And for me, the education doesn't stop. I love to learn and teach. This program is my passion. This year, I completed the Art of Home Herbalism Course through the American Herbalist Guide Member school Thyme Herbal, lead by author Brittany Nickerson. And in the fall of 2022, I’ll have completed may training to become an Ayurveda Counsellor through Yoga International.
Commitment
So why can you trust me to guide you through this year? Because I made this program for myself when I was where you are. I have the experience creating programs using evidence-based practices to change lives and I am committed to it working for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Why is this a year long program?
Have you ever been to a retreat that had a big impact on your life? You probably vowed that you would stick with it when you got home. But, when you left the retreat center and got home, all the old triggers quickly came up and you lost the gains you made.
Maybe for you, it was a New Year’s resolution that you kept up for three weeks, but then little by little, life crept in.
The time in between the Jumpstarts is your testing ground. Can you keep the habits you built without the structure of the Jumpstart? The difference is that you will have support to help keep you on track.
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Why is each Jumpstart Different?
The short answer is that we lean into what each season naturally pulls us toward.
The longer answer is that we are trying to build a balanced life and make significant deep level changes.
It’s impossible to make real change all at once. So we pace ourselves and add in little by little. First, we clean out, then we simplify and build joy, then we comfort and connect with ourselves and other people, then we focus inward to find our inner compass.
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I'm not a cancer survivor is this for me?
Sure is. The program includes elements that research demonstrates are important for warding off a cancer reoccurrence, and I created it to deal with my own cancer journey. But, the fear, loneliness, and desire to take control of your life and health, to be joyful again, that translates to a lot of people’s journeys.
People from all walks of life have benefitted from this program.
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Can I do this 100% Virtually?
Yes. In fact, this is designed as a virtual program. People who live locally can also attend classes and gatherings at the studio, but every aspect of the program was designed to be done as a virtual student.
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What if I can't make all the check ins and discussions?
It’s a lot. I’ve included the checkins and Sunday discussion because they help to keep a lot of people on track and really engaged in the program. But everyone is different. Do your best to attend one live community session per week—check in or discussion and you won’t miss a beat.
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I've done the Jumpstarts with you before and loved it. Will this be different?
Yes and no. The biggest difference is that it’s cohesive and a year long rather than separate programs. We are going for big impact here! But the core of the program is the same and you will recognize many of the same tried and true strategies. The implementation of the program has changed a bit to, to emphasize the community connection and other elements that have helped people stay on track.
Lots of people do the Jumpstarts every year, this is no different in that way.