Jo Standing shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Jo , a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
When I was working in Vancouver for over eight years I was immersed in and still am immersed in a world of wellness facilitation. I facilitated yoga sessions for people at the Justice Institute of British Columbia, corporations, a commercial production company, a gaming enterprise, studios, and the nicest centers for community gathering. Women hired me to facilitate for them in their homes, for exclusively themselves and their families. It was a whirlwind of constant travel around the vast metropolis of Greater Vancouver including West and North Vancouver, Burnaby, Yaletown, and Richmond. I started in Fort Mitchell, KY on just a Contrology Pilates Certificate and branched out to study Mediation, Conflict Resolution, Negotiation, Creative Writing at renown Vancouver, British Columbia places, and of course 880 hours of Yoga that became an entry way for my full-time schedule the years to follow.
My next hurdle was transitioning back to the United States. I had the experience of being of creative service to the public by way of being a writing coach. I’d meet people by phone and work with them, asking questions that might provoke greater self-knowing, and then transcribe both what I heard them saying, and what was said in between their words. In my transcontinental travels, I met a Ret. Army First Sergeant at the food line in Denver International Airport. I grew interested in their life’s work as they were transitioning from being a military service member toward becoming a civilian. My work became to be their writing coach, and it was a very thorough task. A memoir was being produced yet it came to a screeching halt when it came time to reflect on the war days. Whereas I hadn’t asked of the writer to cover any ground of a specific nature, and never suggested writing about that chapter of his life, I was affected when it was impossible for him to carry on with his out loud searching of self. He completely gave up the writing project, and asked for me to help his girlfriend write about what she wanted to.
The notion that I wasn’t able to help him through his Post-Traumatic Stress plagued me. It was tough. I didn’t want to live disillusioned that one day this soldier would just return to the writing desk with his self-connection intact. Her story resonated with me, and his thinking abilities were worthy of being shared. So, I started studying counseling and coaching, and earned diplomas for both, started a non-profit a little over two years after that when back home in the United States, for military personnel to air grievances, and then developed two modalities centering around a resurrection of self during the midst of personal hardship. One being Repairative Yoga, and another being a self-navigation tool called the Identity Association Model. Both of which I beta tested with the United States military to get live time feedback between the years of 2020 and 2024.
This work is profound, and the path is rich, yet there’s something naturally challenging about steering your own boat all the time and oftentimes working within a bubble or vacuum. Fortunately, people have answered my ongoing requests for support with my deep dive into the psychological realms. With all the beta testing under wraps, action is now front and center. I am called to pick up the phone and connect with the business sectors that may greatly benefit from the use of my modalities. The last time I picked up a phone and sold someone on anything was when I was nineteen years of life in Miami, Florida and had just moved back with family after life altering experiences in New York and Los Angeles. I was curious about the behind the scenes production end of film masterpieces. So, I asked a Miami production company if I may be a Production Assistant. They said YES, and I interviewed with two older white gentleman. One was convinced to hire me after my earnest answers while the other had only one question for me, “Are you the makeup artist?” I have always enjoyed my eye makeup aka warrior paint!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My company in 2025 is called Able & Keen, we offer navigation strategies for the workplace and world at large as well as a division called Resoulution Yoga. Please learn more at www.unifyingyou.com and at www.resoulutionyoga.com.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
My Dad told me once I’d make a great architect. At the time, I thought it was just because he was on a lot of medicine but just this month I realized that it is a valid statement. Our lives are born from the lines we draw. What we make of the intersections of our lives determine our growth points or lack thereof. I always both drew lines and untangled them between myself and my aims and in a way that makes for a structurally sound vision. People may not always see my angle until years later, but it was there all along.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
Rejection. Thankfully, I have.a great boxing teacher, friend, and partner, who speaks so rashly that my sensitivities are safeguarded now by thicker skin.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
That if you merely visualize your thoughts as being transient that they no longer hold energy in your psychosomatic field. Thoughts are way finders to greater self-adjustments. The human mind is a potent and strengthening place to therefore both allow to roam and conduct greater self-navigation from within as spurred by the heart place.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If immortality were real, what would you build?
A way to push reset. 🙂
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.unifyingyou.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsjostanding
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jostanding
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@itsjostanding/videos
- Other: https://www.resoulutionyoga.com
Image Credits
Denver headshots.
