Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Life with Bill Abel | Ep. 13

In this episode, Hannah and Amy sit down with Bill Abel, certified yoga instructor, watercolor artist, and, as Amy is happy to report, one of her own yoga teachers. Bill has been teaching yoga for nearly 11 years, and discovered his practice at 52 after a cold call from a stranger invited him to try a free class. That phone call changed everything.

Bill's story is one of the most warmly human conversations the show has had. An unexpected and unwanted divorce, a deep sense of disconnection, a body that needed moving and a mind that needed quieting, and then one unexpected phone call that became a catalyst for a whole new life. He talks about what it felt like to be stuck, how fear and vulnerability became his teachers rather than his enemies, and why the yoga mat is a mirror for who you are in life. He also introduces his inner gremlin, Richard (short for something he's not sure if he can say but learns he can), and how naming and living with your limiting beliefs, rather than trying to silence them, is part of what actually moves you forward.

In this episode: finding your catalyst, beginner's mind, fear as a sign of growth, self-limiting beliefs and the gremlin, connection and belonging, pure listening, contribution as a path to happiness, the minimalist mindset, and what it looks like to sell everything and start over at any age.

Find Bill

Bill Abel is a certified yoga instructor and watercolor artist based in North Carolina. His watercolor work is genuinely worth seeing. Bill Abel – Watercolor painter and yoga instructor in Hendersonville, NC

MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE

Baron Baptiste and Baptiste Yoga: The yoga methodology that shaped Bill's practice and teaching. Built on three principles: physicality, empowerment, and possibility. www.baptisteyoga.com

Dancing Mind Studios, Falls Church, Virginia: Where Bill took his very first yoga class after that cold call. The studio that started it all.

Two Wolves: Bill references the well-known parable about two wolves, one of fear and one of courage, and which one wins depending on which one you feed.

David Bowie on aging: Bill references a Bowie quote about getting older being the beautiful process of becoming who you were really meant to be. "Aging is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person you always should have been."

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker: For listeners who want to go deeper on the relationship between fear and growth, and how to tell the difference between fear that protects and fear that holds you back.

Daring Greatly by Brene Brown: Bill's conversation about vulnerability, belonging, and letting others see the beginner in you maps directly onto Brown's research. A natural companion to this episode.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck: The foundational book on growth mindset, directly relevant to everything Bill describes about leaning into discomfort, embracing failure, and staying in the learning zone.

The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer: For listeners moved by Bill's reflections on getting out of your head and coming into your body and your life.

CONNECT WITH US

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This podcast is not a substitute for professional mental health support. Please reach out to a qualified licensed provider if you need help.

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