“5 Things You Should Do to Optimize Your Wellness After Retirement” With Adri Kyser and Beau Henderson

Spend more time with family and friends and stay socially active. As human beings, we crave connection and a sense of belonging. Staying socially active and spending time with your loved ones can boost your mood and decrease your chances of feeling depressed, isolated, and lonely. My dad is 75 years old and still going strong. Being surrounded by his family and extended family gives him a sense of belonging and keeps him engaged in the family dynamics.

As a part of my series about the “5 Things You Should Do to Optimize Your Wellness After Retirement” I had the pleasure of interviewing Adri Kyser. Adri is an international wellness expert who has spent the past 15 years helping highly-driven women stop feeling stressed and overwhelmed and start living a happier, healthier and more fulfilling life. Using her Enlightened Alchemy method, she has helped thousands of women worldwide achieve everything from reduced pain and stress to increased confidence and productivity. When she’s not busy hosting retreats around the globe in exotic locations like Bali, Greece, and Peru, she’s being featured on iHeartRadio, Amazon Prime’s “The Focus” and Elephant Journal.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?

This is such a wonderful question. As as a child, I always wanted to become a Lawyer. I wanted to help people, make a difference and fight for the underdog. I went to Law School in Venezuela for two years before moving to the US. Little did I know, my life would take me on a completely different path. Today, I’m living my childhood dream of making a difference in people’ lives using health and wellness instead of being in a court room.

My health and wellness journey started from a personal need to heal from chronic pain naturally. What I didn’t know at the time was that years of buried memories and emotions were taking a toll on my health. All caused by being bullied as a child, encountering racism, and feeling not good enough. After trying conventional treatments with only temporary results, I knew I had to go deeper and address the physical, mental, and emotional parts of myself and not just the physical pain. I didn’t want to live the rest of my life taking medication like I was eating candy just to manage my pain.

During this time of personal development, I got the best trainings and certifications. I changed my diet and I worked on taking better care of myself which ultimately helped me become pain free and heal from the inside out.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

Oh, my goodness, there are so many. Most definitely one of my favorite stories is traveling to China to lead a training event.

What many people don’t realize is that I when I first moved to the US in 1995, I was exposed to hurtful remarks about my accent and being an immigrant (outsider). I was very self-conscious and I didn’t speak to anyone except my mom and my husband for quite some time. I felt like I had lost my voice…

Fast forward many years later, that same young woman who was once voiceless and ashamed for not speaking perfect English is now speaking and teaching in front of hundreds of people on a regular basis. You can imagine my excitement when I was invited to lead a training event In China for a group of 60 people. It was surreal.

I still mispronounce words to this day, but I have learned to love and embrace my accent. It is now one of my biggest assets.

Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?

My funniest mistake happened many years ago, thankfully before I started speaking in front of large groups of people.

I remember asking my husband to take a picture and I kept telling him to make sure the camera is in “focus”. He answered: “wait what???” I responded again, make sure the camera is in “focus”. I don’t want to see a blurry picture (this is before digital cameras).

Bless his heart I don’t know how or why he did not burst out laughing. The word I thought I was saying (“focus”) was being pronounced very differently. I was telling him to “focus”, but it sounded it like “F*** us. Make sure the camera is on “F*** us”. We laughed so hard! Lesson learned and I’m happy to announce “focus” is now perfectly pronounced during my lessons and speaking engagements.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Yes, definitely. I was blessed, early in my career, by the guidance of my yoga teacher and friend Shiva Rea. She helped me become a better teacher and through her mentorship, I’ve learned various lessons that helped me grow my business. For example: going to her international retreats and working behind the scenes helped me build a solid, successful foundation of how my retreats have been run for the past 10 years. Another influential person is Pat Quinn, he helped me craft the way I share my story on stage in a way that is powerful and inspirational, helping me connect with the audience.

Would it be too cheesy to mention my mom and my husband? They both are instrumental in my life and business. They believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. My husband held down the fort and took care of our son when I traveled out of the country for weeks at a time. All the long-distance business travel and time apart, but he never complained! My mom accompanied me to several of my international events and her loving support and guidance was such a blessing to have so far away from home. I don’t know if I would have been able to accomplish as much as I have without their help, support and unconditional love.

What advice would you suggest to your colleagues in your industry to thrive and avoid burnout?

The best piece of advice I can give is to find your zone of genius and work from that place. We are all capable of doing multiple tasks but that does not necessarily mean we should be doing every little thing when it comes to running a business.

Find the areas or aspects of your work/career that you are passionate about the most, that brings you the highest level of fulfillment, and where you feel you are making the most impact. Then get help and hire the right people to take care of the other tasks that you don’t necessarily love. This will help you become more creative, feel more fulfilled and use your gifts efficiently to make a positive impact in the lives of the people your business serves.

What advice would you give to other leaders about how to create a fantastic work culture?

Take care of your coworkers, employees, and team members. Make them feel valued and appreciated. Let them know you value their work and feedback. When we work together towards a common goal in a positive environment, we increase performance, creativity, and create better communication between team members.

Give them a reward for reaching a goal, send them a “thank you” gift or birthday gift. Small details go a very long way.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. Retirement is a dramatic ‘life course transition’ that can impact one’s health. In some cases, retirement can reduce health, and in others it can improve health. Can you share with our readers 5 things that one should do to optimize mental wellness after retirement? Please share a story or an example for each.

1. Spend more time with family and friends and stay socially active. As human beings, we crave connection and a sense of belonging. Staying socially active and spending time with your loved ones can boost your mood and decrease your chances of feeling depressed, isolated, and lonely. My dad is 75 years old and still going strong. Being surrounded by his family and extended family gives him a sense of belonging and keeps him engaged in the family dynamics.
2. Practice Meditation and brain exercises. Many scientific studies have shown that Meditation is fantastic for the health of your brain. It helps to reduce stress, promote metal clarity, increase memory functions, and improves your sense of self and wellbeing. In 2011, Sara Lazar and her team at Harvard (read about her research here) found that mindfulness meditation can change the structure of the brain! Isn’t that amazing? Her research found measurable changes in brain regions associated with; a) memory b) sense of self c) empathy d) stress. These changes appeared in subjects who practiced mindfulness meditation for only eight weeks. Brain exercises keep your brain stimulated. They also increase focus and promote brain health.
3. Find a hobby or become a mentor — having someone you can mentor, volunteering your time to a project or social cause you care about and/or finding a hobby that brings you joy are essential for your mental and emotional health. These activities help you cultivate a sense of belonging, bring a sense of fulfilment and focus, and keep you engaged in the community.
4. Keep learning and/or try new things — this helps to keep your brain active and performing at it’s best. It also creates new behavioral patterns and creates new nerve cell connections and neural pathways that slow down the aging process of the brain. (connecting distant areas of the brain based in new habits and behavior)
5. Travel- I love to travel and explore new locations, meet new people, and learn about their history and culture. Science has proven 5 health benefits of traveling abroad including a reduction of stress and a lowered risk of depression. This study also points out that travel brings a deeper sense of joy and happiness. More than any material possession can provide, traveling will help you create new memories, experiences, and learn new things all while keeping you physically and mentally active.

Can you share with our readers 5 things that one should do to optimize their physical wellness after retirement? Please share a story or an example for each.

1. Stay active — go for a walk, take on gardening, play golf, or find ways to stay physically active. Physical activity will help your body stay healthy and strong. According to the article “Dancing can reverse the signs of aging in the brain”, dancing, remarkably, has a profound effect on reversing the brain’s signs of aging. (This study was recently published in the journal of Frontiers in Human Neuroscience) I firmly believe that physical, mental, and emotional wellness is essential for a healthy, happy and fulfilling life. Staying physically active can do wonders for your overall health and the quality of your life. Remember, we don’t stop moving because we grow old. We grow old because we stop moving.
2. Eat healthy — a healthy diet is a foundation for great health. It helps your body get the nutrients it needs to perform at its best. A healthy diet can help you sustain a healthy body weight, increase your energy levels, and reduce risks of disease. After all, you are what you eat. If you choose highly processed food that are full of empty calories on a regular basis, you will feel tired, lethargic, and deprive your body of what it needs to function at its optimum level. A bad diet increases your chances of heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood sugar levels, and even affects your mood in negative ways.
3. Give Yoga, Tai Chi, or Pilates classes a try. These mindful practices are excellent resources to keep your body and mind healthy, strong, and agile. They also help reduce stress, promote a sense of well-being, and boost your mood and mental focus.As we age, we tend to lose our balance more. Yoga helps you work on your balance. Practicing Yoga on a regular basis greatly reduces our of risk of falling as we get older.
4. Travel- I love to travel and explore new locations, meet new people, and learn about their history and culture. Science has proven 5 health benefits of traveling abroad including a reduction of stress and a lowered risk of depression. This study also points out that travel brings a deeper sense of joy and happiness. More than any material possession can provide, traveling will help you create new memories, experiences, and learn new things all while keeping you physically and mentally active.
5. Get a pet. Having a pet brings happiness, love, and companionship. All key emotions for physical and emotional wellness. A dog is a man or woman’s best friend and you will be more likely to get out of the house and take the dog for a walk. Having a cat or a dog can also help lower your blood pressure and reduce stress.

In your experience, what are 3 or 4 things that people wish someone told them before they retired?

1. Start saving money as early as you can. If you think you’re saving enough money, you are not. Save some more.
2. Invest your money wisely and find someone that you trust to help you manage your investments.
3. Make a plan and review it every year.
4. Go for the experiences, you don’t need all of the extra “stuff”.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story?

Yes, “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz.

One of the author’s four agreements is “Always Do Your Best” and the way he presented it opened my eyes. As a child and young adult, I often replayed the words “You’re Not Good Enough” in my head. My response was always to hold myself to a higher standard, work harder, and try to be perfect. By doing so, I was always trying to prove my worth to others.

When I read this agreement, I realized that I was judging myself unfairly and being extremely hard on myself. A sense of freedom started to take hold.

This “aha” moment came full circle when my then 8-year-old son was about to take his Black Belt test in a large gymnasium full of spectators. Over 20 well respected adult black belt experts were about to judge him as well.

I asked my son if he was nervous and he said. “No momma, all I can do is my best”. Thanks to the book, and confirmation by my son, I learned a life lesson that has stayed with me all of these years.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I am passionate about educating, creating and maintaining overall wellness in people. It’s a movement I’m currently trying to promote because I feel an overall, multidimensional approach to health is lacking in our communities. My approach focuses on maintaining a balance between physical, mental, and emotional wellness. This overall balance is the key and essential for optimum health.

I would love to see more businesses, corporations, and schools make yoga, meditation, and comprehensive wellness accessible and part of their daily agenda. It’s important to teach children and provide adults with the proper tools to cope with stress in healthy ways.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

Absolutely. It’s from Theodore Roosevelt; “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

There were so many times in my life when I played small. I was self-conscious of my accent and I was afraid of being judged and criticized. Thankfully, my desire to make an impact and be a role model for my son helped me step out of my comfort zone and step into my power. Every time I fell, I got up again. Every time I hit a roadblock, I found my way around it. Every time I made a mistake, I tried again until I learned to do it right.

I would not be doing the incredible work I do today, if it wasn’t for stepping into the arena and following my calling.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them :-)

Yes, I would love to meet Ellen Degeneres! Ellen and I are best friends, she just doesn’t know it yet! What I love most about Ellen is her funny, caring, and authentic personality. She is an incredible source of inspiration and a role model for kindness, giving back, and truly caring about people.

Every time I watch her show I laugh, and I cry. When I see how she helps people in need or how she recognizes the good work others are doing for their community, I start to cry in a good way. Each time I see this, I say to myself, “I want to help others and make a positive impact on people’s lives just like that”. I think it’s the meaningful human connection that makes me emotional every time. I get all choked up just writing about it. As an added note: When I watch Ellen, my husband and son frequently bet on how soon I’ll start crying!

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

https://www.facebook.com/adrikyser

https://www.instagram.com/adrikyser/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/adri-kyser-e-ryt-872b2b11/

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!

About the author:

Beau Henderson, editor of Rich Retirement Letter and CEO of RichLife Advisors LLC, is a best-selling author, national tv/radio resource, and retirement coach/advisor, with over 17 years’ experience. Beau is a pioneer in the strategy based new model of holistic retirement planning. He can be followed on Facebook here or on Instagram here