Monica Graves
Monica Graves is an international Speaker, Educator, and Retreat Architect who has been studying global wellbeing and wisdom traditions for over a decade. She travels the world facilitate adventure retreats, meetings curriculum + transformational workshops in Meditation, Yoga, Ayurveda, Reiki and all things heart-centered.
Monica spent 7 years as a Master Educator and Retreat Host with The Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Carlsbad, CA under the mentorship of Dr. Deepak Chopra, Dr. David Simon and many other world-renowned visionaries. She welcomed and guided guests from all over the globe on their journeys of health and wellbeing.
In 2015, she launched her company Soulbare Wellness, sold nearly all her belongings, and moved to Central America to study Mayan cultural traditions. She began weaving together ancient health and wellbeing practices from both sides of the globe to create unique, interactive offerings and prides herself in delivering content that is unlike anything you’ve experienced before.
Monica is a life lover and curious explorer on a simple, yet profound, mission – to instigate audacious, passionate, purpose-filled living within the hearts and minds of every single person she meets.
5 Questions, Answered From Monica
Describe yourself in three words:
Purpose-driven Conscious Creatress
What is the greatest challenge you have overcome/are overcoming?
A recurring challenge I face is honoring my insatiably curious nomadic spirit, while simultaneously nurturing myself with enough grounded time at “home.” But I feel like life is like this in all aspects -- we can’t have everything at once and often have very opposing desires. So for me, balancing this is really about honesty. If I can admit authentically which is more important in the moment, I can choose it guiltlessly. Knowing that the time will come for the other to take priority!
What is unique to you about your work?
One of my greatest passions in life is exploring the juxtaposition of wisdom traditions from all over the world, such as Vedanta, Reiki, Mayan tradition, Yoga, Meditation. I have such an intense awe-filled love for where and how these spiritual teachings intersect. I believe that each is strengthened by its difference and similarity to the others. My work is quite unique in that I creatively blend and harmonize these diverse global traditions, so that each multidimensional offering is unlike anything you’ve experienced before.
How do you guide clients into their own healing/inner freedom?
It’s all about genuine questioning and conscious choice-making. I teach that one of the most important things we can do on our spiritual path is to ask “How am I feeling right now?” In the body, the mind, the heart. The answer can really only fall into one of two categories, two mantras of experience - Yum or Yuck! We feel great or we don’t, and, if we’re honest with ourselves, we generally can identify why. Then, we get to take empowered responsibility to consciously choose (through food, music, relationship, environment, movement, learning, etc) that which will create more Yum and less Yuck. It’s a simple as that!
What tools have you found least/most effective in your work?
Intuition is my greatest ally, and a constricted mind the biggest foe. I’ve spent over a decade collecting “knowledge” and the certifications to prove that I know how to apply it. Which is a wonderful start, but it is only the beginning. The true work, the real transformation, comes from the energy and magic of each unique, individual moment… when I throw every single rule and construct out the window. Here, I step into total trust that the right words and processes and techniques will come exactly as they are meant to for the retreat/workshop/ceremony at hand. Luckily, they always do
