Today we’d like to introduce you to Angela Smith.
Angela, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Yes… Once upon a time, I was a practicing chiropractor, emphasis in holistic health, nutrition, & weight loss, working at a nonprofit, as director of nutrition. I had worked there for 5 years.
And then this series of events happened:
-I had just come off a break-up, dealing with my own body stuff & struggles, and the nonprofit had budget cuts my salary was cut to 1/3 of what it was, effective immediately, the day before Thanksgiving 2012.
-A week later, I received word that a life-long friend of mine was in the hospital and wasn’t expected to leave. I flew home, back in Kansas City to say my good-byes, helped move her kids into their aunt & uncle’s home, and came back to San Diego to start my own business helping women transform their relationship with the body. She passed away as a result of being in conflict & struggle with her body and I knew right then & there that this was the work I was meant to do.
I”ve been coaching & supporting women around body stuff ever since. And it’s become so much more than just body stuff. It’s evolved into the relationship that a woman has to herself and life through the body, It’s about self-trust, body trust. Knowing self, believing in self, tapping into body wisdom and the soul wisdom, that we all have that is felt through body. It’s about being led by body, understanding body — the wisdom inside, the ecosystem, the needs which all work together. Body has wisdom, it knows what to do for itself if just given the support and opportunity to do so. To know and honor the body’s rhythms, cycles, and timing.
Living Wild Abandon” has come from that place. That complete, whole relationship that a woman has with hers”elf through the body, connected to soul & spirit. It was inspired by random, abandoned grocery carts seen nowhere near a strip mall, store, or supercenter. Kinda a funny story… At first, it was about the cart being abandoned, like, used and left behind. That reminded me of living an abandoned life…. like, as in all the ways that we self abandon, those tiny little betrayals that we do daily, especially as women & especially around body.
We disconnect or distance from the body, when it feels like the enemy, or not good enough, or falling short of any expectation that is put upon us by society. Finding a way back to self, knowing and trusting self through the body, being so in tune and attuned to self and body, that’s living wild abandon. Living by soul & spirit through the body. In sync.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Hasn’t been a smooth road, totally. There have been some challenges along the way, for sure. But at the same time, those challenges have led me to where I am now, and where I”m going in the future.
Most of the challenges were how to share what I did with others. It was often hard for me to even explain because it wasn’t really about “weight loss” per se, but that’s typically what most women think of when we talk about the relationship with the body.
My jam is all about relationship and connection. That’s how my biz is built.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into Dr. Angela Smith, Living Wild Abandon story. Tell us more about the business.
I’ve been coaching & supporting women around body stuff ever since. And it’s become so much more than just body stuff. It’s evolved into the relationship that a woman has to herself and life through the body, It’s about self-trust, body trust. Knowing self, believing in self, tapping into body wisdom and the soul wisdom, that we all have that is felt through the body. It’s about being led by body, understanding body — the wisdom inside, the ecosystem, the needs which all work together. Body has wisdom, it knows what to do for itself if just given the support and opportunity to do so. To know and honor the body’s rhythms, cycles, and timing.
“Living Wild Abandon” has come from that place. That complete, whole relationship that a woman has with herself through the body, connected to the soul & spirit. It was inspired by random, abandoned grocery carts seen nowhere near a strip mall, store, or supercenter. Kinda a funny story… At first, it was about the cart being abandoned, like, used and left behind. That reminded me of living an abandoned life…. like, as in all the ways that we self-abandon, those tiny little betrayals that we do daily, especially as women & especially around the body. We disconnect or distance from the body, when it feels like the enemy, or not good enough, or falling short of any expectation that is put upon us by society.
Finding a way back to self, knowing and trusting self through the body, being so in tune and attuned to self and body, that’s living wild abandon. Living by soul & spirit through the body. In sync. I’m known for helping women transform the relationship they have with self through the body.
I”m known for making it light-hearted. –“Grounded in science, infused with spirit, delivered with heart and humor” — for writing and the creative way of sharing my message, my outside the box perspective regarding life, wild abandon or self -abandoning.
I”m known for this saying: “Body is here FOR you. For the sole purpose of an for you and your life experience. And is responding always to, what is being asked of her, the demands that are being placed on her, and what she is fed in both food & thoughts.”
I’m most proud of this company for the core message of self-love, compassion, kindness. Of aligning with other organizations, giving back, Of uplifting the human spirit.
What sets me apart is this:
I teach and encourage my clients to tap back into how the body feels physically and how they feel about themselves because of the body. How they think or speak about the body. How to tap into intuition through the body, that knowing that we all have but gets drowned out when the outside physical becomes more important than the being inside.
To tune into body cues, clues, sign & signals. To tune into pain & energy, to get curious about it rather than jump to the conclusion that its wrong.
Other approaches offer meal plans, medications, exercise without consideration of how those things make an individuals body feels or function. They don’t take into consideration how emotions or feelings affect body function or efficiency. How so much of our day to day schedule demands actually go against the body’s natural way of being — timing and rhythms. Most of us are walking around in a constant state of physiologically stress, naturally distancing from body’s needs and signals.
I help them tap back onto that vital information. And I’m so honored to do so…
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Hmmmmm, luck…? I don’t think so much in terms of luck, good or otherwise. I”m more about God having my back, I expect good luck to happen.
Of course, I have been in a few “wrong place, wrong time” scenarios but I never really looked at it as bad luck, more along the lines of there’s something for me to learn or get about that “bad luck” thing happening.
I feel like “good luck” is what happens when you move through life connected to self, soul and spirit, guided by desires, inklings, intentions, and intuition…
Contact Info:
- Address: 8441 La Mesa Blvd. Unit C
- Website: www.DrAngelaSmith.com
- Phone: 8587174644
- Email: docangela@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/docangela/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/angela.m.smith.94. https://www.facebook.com/LivingWildAbandon/
Image Credit:
Jill Fleming Photography
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