Self Description -  Growing, shifting

Her Inner Light -  playfulness 

Her message to women everywhere -  "You already have the answers.   Take an exhale."

Crystal Higgins' story is one of growth through transition.  Hailing from the Midwest, she was the first in her family to attend college.  Driven and down to earth, she was successful in building careers across different industries, including wine, web development, digital advertising, public relations and social media.  Also agile, Crystal has done well in corporate environments as well as startups and the nonprofit sector.  But it wasn’t until she created a position for herself — a yoga teacher who is also a marketing consultant for wellness professionals — that she arrived at being herself.  

Some years ago Crystal divorced from her husband who had been her sweetheart since high school.  During this painful experience that rocked Crystal's core, she examined how to rebuild her life.  On the day of their separation, Crystal was struck by an acute clarity to become a yoga teacher.  Yoga had long been an important part of her life.  Practicing had helped her move through childhood trauma, and in adulthood it has helped her tap into her feminine strengths, namely of embracing vulnerability while staying grounded.  “Practicing yoga cracked open my life, and I realized I wanted to teach yoga through a feminine inspired practice.  I want to help women find their way back to their strength and resiliency."

Crystal made swift and necessary changes to follow her clarity of purpose.  She moved to Kithira Island, Greece, where she immersed herself in intense teacher training.  Upon completion, she returned to the Bay Area where she shadowed an experienced yoga teacher.  When she felt ready, she began to teach and establish herself in the yoga community. 

After a few years of teaching, Crystal took the marketing skills that she had honed from previous careers across different industries and applied them in the yoga world.  From consulting, strategy and execution, she helps yoga teachers, studios as well as other wellness professionals examine ways to broaden their market.  Guided by her feminine-inspired yoga practice, Crystal follows both her intuition and linear thinking to best serve each of her client's unique needs.  Her work includes leading marketing workshops, launching outreach campaigns and creating social media plans.  But more than the tactical stuff, Crystal says, “My philosophy is to help clients see that marketing can actually be a continuation of their teachings outside the yoga studio.  It’s yet another way to inspire their students and make the mindfulness practice more accessible.”   

After only a few months of launching her marketing business (http://crystalmarieyoga.com), Crystal already has a full client roster.  She continues to teach hatha and restorative yoga.  By bringing clarity, presence and sense of purpose both on and off the mat, Crystal is able to attune to the needs of those she serves.  She feels tremendous joy in building her life around both teaching and consulting.  "My work feels truly authentic to who I am.  I get to be myself everyday!"

Crystal is proud that she took charge of her life in a moment of crisis.  She believes in each woman’s ability to draw clarity and strength from within.  “We have instincts that are strong and potent.  We tend to mute them.  Or we don’t give ourselves space to listen.  But the most powerful thing we have is that inner knowing.”  When she followed her inner knowing to become a yoga teacher and later to launch her own business, Crystal encountered doubt from those around her.  “Everyone told me it was such a risk I was taking, but I actually felt it was riskier not to do what I knew I should do.”  Crystal continues to tune into herself, watching for shifts underneath the surface and creating space for transformations to unfold.