We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sara Marby. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sara below.
Sara, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
Via the long and winding road, that’s for sure. It took me about 20 years to recognize and fully step into my purpose. Despite the many obstacles, wrong turns, and outdated maps I followed, ultimately it was my innate and ever-present curiosity that led me to the right path, and my natural willingness to take a leap of faith and facilitate great change in my life that brought it to life.
I spent the first 40 years of my life living into and through the expectations, goals, and responsibilities of others, seeking validation from people and circumstances outside of my own self. I was very “successful” at it, but it also left me completely bereft of any true joy, deep satisfaction, or sense of a meaningful life. There was nothing “wrong” with my life, it just didn’t belong to me. It wasn’t mine.
I was living in New York City, had a lucrative career, and a lifestyle many might envy. Suddenly, I was in the middle of my life, facing the realization that I was lost. I had hit a wall where there wasn’t enough money, things, promotions, or people to fill the gaping hole that resided in my heart and kept me up at night. I had found myself on someone else’s path, participating in a journey that wasn’t mine.
Was it too late to course-correct? How do I find my path? What does my journey look and feel like? With these questions swirling around in my head, I made the bold decision to leave New York City and begin the biggest and most important quest of my life: to seek my own path and purpose.
I made a promise to myself that I would only choose to say yes to and engage with the circumstances, people, and things that brought me joy. That provided deep satisfaction for me. Despite others’ expectations, opinions, or approval. I simply chose myself in every situation. This led me to the right circumstances, the right people, and the right opportunities, and steered me onto my own right path towards my purpose.
I continue to fully embrace this attitude and way of life today, and it never fails to keep me moving not only forward, but into the fulfillment of my true purpose in life, one that brings me true joy, deep satisfaction, and a sense of profound meaning in my life.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Residing at the core of who I am is a Seeker, a Seer, and a Sage. I am a seeker of true knowledge, a seer of the unseen, and a sage of the sacred. And it is my life’s purpose to share what I learn, what I find, and what I know with others.
I am founder of The AlcheMystic and specialize in Mystic Arts education, including yoga, emotional energetics, earth wisdom, tarot, and astrology. I am most known for my ability to weave ancient mythology, yoga philosophy, depth psychology, energetic anatomy, and the intuitive arts together as powerful alchemical tools for deep self-inquiry and self-knowledge. Together with somatic and breath practices, it creates the space for soul recognition and clear self-understanding, allowing us to powerfully shift and transform our wounds into wisdom.
I am currently undertaking an advanced deep dive into yoga philosophy, and the devotional practices, rituals, and rich history of this ancient tradition with my teacher Kaya Midlin. It is my third foray into the study of this profound practice of self-inquiry and self-knowledge, and it is the absolute foundation for all of my work. The beauty of this study is that it is ever-expansive, and you gain deeper understanding each time through. I can’t wait to share this with y’all!
In truth, along with myself, my business is moving through a major renovation (you know, it being my Saturn return and all!) and my offerings are currently being updated, and the way I offer my work is shifting. I am in deep contemplative and creative mode, which has alluded me these past 3 years, and am excited about what is to come!
Be on the lookout for an updated website, an exciting and informative mystic blog, new in-depth and life-shifting opportunities to work with me, and (FINALLY) my new podcast – AlcheMystic Airwaves!!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
RESILIENCE. TRUST. FAITH.
For some of us, these qualities are strong, innate, and easily accessible. For others, they need more attention and cultivation to be front and center, easily accessible. Regardless, these qualities must be conscious, tended to, and nurtured in all of us, no matter what journey our life purpose takes on us.
Resilience: we must develop the capacity to keep going in the face of obstacles, mistakes, perceived failures, and disappointments. This doesn’t mean “just dust yourself off and keep going.” Resilience requires us to accept the circumstances that don’t work in our favor, the relationships that go wrong, the betrayals, and the woundings of life, to process their effect on us, and to release the emotions and attachments of those effects. Turning wound into wisdom, pain into purpose, keeps us moving forward, resistant to future downfalls, and stronger for the longer journey of life.
Trust: we must learn to not only listen to our own inner knowing and intuition, which in itself can be a challenge, but then to trust it – to follow it and take right action accordingly. This is about cultivating your own inner compass, and trusting its wisdom to lead you in the direction you are meant to go in, regardless of any outside influences that might suggest otherwise. It is not always an easy quality to abide, but it will never fail you.
Faith: we must be willing to take big leaps in our life on the path to fulfillment, purpose, and meaning. We use the qualities of trust and resilience as the support system for faith: the belief and understanding that the universe is always conspiring on our behalf. We must be willing to surrender to the unseen workings happening in our favor, without needing to control, or know exactly what is happening or how it is happening or when it is happening. We must simply take the leap with complete faith that the net will be there; that the universe will not give us anything that is not meant for us, it only brings us where we are meant to go.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
It isn’t just one person. It is the community I was able to cultivate at the beginning of my own journey towards purpose. By making a commitment to myself to choose only the circumstances, people, and situations that brought me joy, it put several people in my path that have become not only my dearest friends, but my greatest teachers, mentors, and supporters. They are wise and courageous mirrors reflecting my true self back to me, providing a safe container for my own deep excavation, profound healing, and deep-rooted understanding of my Self and my purpose.
It is a community of people whom I deeply respect and honor, who have become family, and who continue to encourage, support, and light the way forward for me on my own path. I believe having a strong, honorable, and supportive community is absolutely necessary to the success of everyone – no matter their path or purpose.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.alchemysticyogi.com
- Email: sara@alchemysticyogi.com.
- Instagram: @sarathealchemystic
Image Credits
AdLib Photography Ana Griess
