We’re looking forward to introducing you to Lisa Touzinsky . Check out our conversation below.
Lisa , it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What is a normal day like for you right now?
I’m a nurse and began travel nursing in August. Currently, I wake up at 5:00am, head to a 6:00am class at a gym that has helped me get excited about working out again, come home and spend some time with my dog and get ready for work, work at the hospital from 10-8:30, get home around 9, try to be in bed by 10 and do it all again. On the weekends and my one day off during the week, I get after all the glorious outdoor Washington magic with gusto. (I completed this interview a little while ago. Update: I’m now in the California high desert (working 3, 12’s again, yay!) and loving it for winter. My life is still… work, time with my dog, gym, and exploring Southern California. My son lives in LA so it’s fun getting to see him regularly and I’m loving my access to Joshua Tree and Big Bear. I remember thinking a long time ago, how cool it would be if I could just move around every few months and take in new places. Now I’m doing just that and I really am in love with my life. I think it’s so cool to experience all the beauty of nature, meet all kinds of people, experience new communities, etc. It’s just a really fun way to get an amazing, first hand snap shot of our country. Seriously, if you want to feel better about the world, get out and experience it. Not everyone can move around every few months, but there’s a lot to be said for getting out into our immediate communities as well. I still LOVE my alone time and definitely gravitate to solitude, but man, I also love getting to experience things beyond my own little world.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My story and journey has a lot of purposeful twists and turns, and I really love it that way. I’m currently working as a travel nurse. Prior to this, I was working as a nurse in Boulder, Co where I also had a personal training business. Prior to all of that, I worked as a therapist and social worker. This is the first time in over 20 years that I haven’t worked in a gym in some capacity. Though I adored my clients, I don’t miss it at all 🙂. It had run its course and I’m happy to be on my current adventure. That said, I recently partnered with an amazing therapist who facilitates small group empowerment training for women. I am teaching virtual yoga to the participants as part of this really special program. I love watching women, including myself, re(discover) their sense of self. We all have times in life where we get off track; maybe tolerate mistreatment from others, sacrifice ourselves and our worth for the sake of others, or allow ourselves to be small to accommodate others. A lot of the empowerment work that’s being done in this program is around trauma bonds and the difficulty some women have in seeing the egregious behavior from others that they allow. All in the name of love, compassion, forgiveness, etc. Many women are programmed at a young age to sacrifice themselves for others. And not in a healthy way. For instance, there is some great information out there about the pairing of empaths with narcissists and this program does a fantastic job grounding itself in data and science while allowing for understanding of emotions and patterns. Anyway, I digress 🙂, but the fusing of abstract issues like emotional health with concrete physiologic science is a really cool thing to me. I am happy to be working as a nurse but appreciate the opportunity to still put on my wellness hat related to mental and emotional health. Yoga is a powerful practice. I believe that through the marrying of breath, movement, and awareness, yoga aides us in connecting to our true selves.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
I would say my identify as a trainer/wellness professional. Though I definitely consider nursing to be in the wellness field, I no longer train clients or work at the gym. It was a great career while I was raising my kids and working on my next steps, but it was definitely time for something new. I was feeling pretty stagnant and was also finding myself being disinterested in my own working out. That time in my life and the things I learned about running a business and supporting people, while juggling other life things was invaluable. But! It was time for something new. I was excited to find that once I stepped away from that work, my own joy for movement returned. I had a great gym in Washington (shout out to my 6:00am crew at APT in Renton) and have now found a gym here in California that is also a great fit.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
I think it’s a normal response to pull back from suffering, to avoid it, to try to skirt around it. Survival is a basic human instinct so avoiding suffering is often a default. I have certainly learned that there is no way around the hard stuff. Avoidance brings its own side effects. And honestly, sometimes it’s really hard to feel in the moment, but the shitty stuff is often golden. It’s part of the human experience. I like to think of pain/suffering/anxiety as a wave. You have to let it wash over you, let it subside and then know it will likely come again. There is rough water and calm water and learning to navigate both is one of the big goals of life, I think. While success is obviously great to experience, depending on how we frame the suffering, it is also be beneficial and beautiful in its own way.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
I’m pretty sure this would be consistent by people who know me well, and those that know me a little 🙂. It would definitely be said that the most important thing to me is my kids. I have two boys, 19 and 23 and they are the biggest joy of my life. Outside of my love for my family, my friends would say that being able to live a life of freedom, adventure, and joy, matters the most to me. Being able to direct my life in a way that allows me to live in beautiful places, have new experiences, and have frequent opportunities for change are my life priorities right now. They kind of always have been but now I find myself in a place, after a lot of hard work and planning, to actually be making it happen. I do think that the more we expand our experiences, the more fully we can contribute to the world.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. Are you tap dancing to work? Have you been that level of excited at any point in your career? If so, please tell us about those days.
Ha. Definitely not tap dancing, though I might wear some tap shoes tomorrow just to drive my colleagues crazy 😇. I actually don’t think we need to be crazy excited about our careers. I really like what I do, find it to be a good contribution to the world, and in general love working with other nurses, but honestly my job is my job. I read somewhere that doing something you love for work is the fastest way to end up hating it. I’ve had people mention to me that I should run wilderness programs for women… take women backpacking, provide instruction about how to do all the outdoor stuff, add a mental health component, etc. While all of that is up my alley, the idea of taking nature and wilderness and turning into something I have to do to make a living sounds awful. A quick path to feeling burned out and taxed by something I love. When you attach money to something, its whole purpose in your life changes. It seems counterproductive to take something that is a source of rejuvenation and joy and rest, and make it something you HAVE to do to pay your bills. So… no, I’m not tap dancing to work. I like my work but I save the things I’m really in love with for my life outside of work.
