Rising Stars: Meet Christy Cole

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christy Cole.

Hi Christy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Yoga is growth. Yoga is love. Love for ourselves, love for one another.

Yoga isn’t about making every situation light, bright, or carefree — but rather, bringing the light of our perception, and the fortitude of our spirit, into the dark places. It is about acknowledging our strength and encouraging the beauty of our grace.

Yoga is observing, accepting, and embracing the struggle — the highs, the lows, the scars, the scratches, the chaos, the stillness; the poetic vignettes of our cosmic fairytale…

Yoga is recognizing that your spark of magic is worthwhile. That your glowing ember deserves to be loved, supported, and nourished— By you. Your tribe. Your community.

Yoga is surrounding yourself with those who fan your flame — encouraging you to grow, to reach, and to stretch.

Yoga is love.

Love is why I yoga.

***​There was a time not too many moons ago that I would have looked at the aforementioned vignette and scoffed— “well that all sounds nice, but it’s JUST stretching”.

Contextually, at that point in time, I had tried a few yoga classes and felt like they were a “waste” of my time when I could be doing a “real” workout… You know — running, CrossFit, conquering 14’ers…

As you may have guessed, I tend to be a “Type A” personality by nature — Often finding myself over-committing, and attempting to tackle an ever-elongating checklist of things to accomplish. While I feel very proud of all that I achieve in any given day, there is validity to the statement that there can be “too much of a good thing”, and I would be lying if I didn’t acknowledge the fact that pretending to be “Superwoman” didn’t result in excess stress.

As I am sure many caregivers can relate to, we do an excellent job looking after others — but don’t always excel at taking care of ourselves. Although I frequently encourage others to relax, to take time for themselves— I often struggle with applying my own advice in this arena. Personally, I have found that I am able to meet the “checkbox criteria” of health (I eat well, I exercise, I go to the doctor, I clean with natural products), but I don’t always take the time to focus on my emotional needs— to breathe, to meditate, to center…

I have SLOWLY come to realize that health is an all-encompassing harmonious balance between spirit, mind, and body. IT IS NOT A CHECKLIST. It is an ever-evolving entity that touches every aspect of our lives. It is our relationships, our jobs, our friendships, our workout routines, our diet, our body composition, our genes, our religion, our physical habitats, our hobbies, our sleep habits, our stress levels, our relaxation techniques, our experiences, our attitudes, and ultimately our outlook on life.

So a few years later, steadied with a new mindset, fantastic yoga instructors, and the support of the “peanut butter to my apples” (my amazing husband), I have been catapulted into the “yogi” lifestyle — a life that is free of the “guilt” or “shame” associated with self-care, or self-love.

It is pretty incredible how a few deep breaths can center your thoughts, calm your body, and bring focus to your entire life.

​It has transformed me into the woman I am today.

***And Who Am I???

***The Poetry:
​I am a woman of passion. I like to get my hands dirty. I wear my heart on my sleeve. Love is my anthem.

I believe that there is nothing more beautiful than someone following their “spark”, their heart, their “true north”. So I seek to inspire, to empower.

I work with my hands. I put pen to paper. I create sculptures. I handcraft cards. I give away little pieces of my heart.

I smile at strangers. I compliment what I like. I refer to people in terms of endearment. I say “thank you” and genuinely mean it.

I believe that what you put out into the world comes back to you. Kindness is magic, and grace is contagious. In order to positively impact in someone’s life, you don’t have to have all the answers. You don’t need fame, fortune or followers — you just have to care.

I believe that it costs nothing to dream, and everything not to. I am not afraid of doing the work— leaning into the uneasiness, opening myself up for potential “failure”. Rather, I am afraid of not trying— of looking back and thinking “what if”.

I am not a victim of circumstance, I choose the life that I lead. I may not be able to choose the cards that I am dealt, but I can choose to make the most of them. I will not allow autoimmune disorders, heartbreakers, liars, cheaters, or thieves steal my joy. I will not let the world make me hard. I am the author of my story, the CEO of my life, the artist of my canvas— and I am going to create an effing masterpiece. The only person that I am destined to become is the person I decide to be.

So…

I eat slowly, sing loudly, hug tightly, and breathe deeply.
I rock messy buns, hats, scarves, layers, and the quasi-frequent F-bomb.
I celebrate the “wins” — big ones, small ones, and everything in-between.
I embrace my old soul, waking before the sun peeks its head out, and often going to bed soon after it sets.

I am a work in progress. I am an optimist. I am soft. I am vulnerable. My heart is easily broken. But there is strength in my fragility.

I am a Lover. Dreamer. Wife. Friend. HealthNut. OutdoorEnthusiast. Yogini. Nerd. Optimist. Vegan. Upcycler. RegisteredNurse. YogaTeacher. Artist.

***The Basics
Hello! My name is Christy, I am the human behind Urban Veggie, LLC.

​I am a: Lover. Dreamer. Wife. Friend. HealthNut. OutdoorEnthusiast. Yogini. Nerd. Optimist. Vegan. Upcycler. RegisteredNurse. YogaTeacher. + Artist. in the lovely state of Colorado.
​
In my free time I love to spend time with friends, family, coworkers, hedgehog (Miss Pearl Pricklebottom), and my rock— aka my wonderful hubby Alex. I practice yoga every day, and love to spend time outdoors hiking, biking, and relaxing on the patio watching a good old-fashioned sunset. I whole-heartedly enjoy traveling, live music, “mom and pop” coffee shops, snuggling up to a good movie, documentaries, the smell after it rains, and apples with peanut butter. I adore spending time in the kitchen or studio creating new things — a healthful vegan recipe, a poppin’ new playlist, a fresh yoga flow, a poetic photograph… anything that gets those creative juices flowing!

“Love changes everything,
​so fill the world with it.”
​-Mr. Kid President

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oophta. As with many of us — COVID kind of broke me…

I was at a point in my career where I was on the precipice of transitioning from a “floor” RN/direct patient care provider into more of an employee wellness/RN Health coach position ***We had just secured funding/donations to create an employee wellness space (The L.E.C. “Live Extraordinary Center”) where I would teach yoga classes to hospital employees, and surrounding community members, **In addition to on-site classes for healthcare employees — I had received generous donations of massage chairs, yoga mats, props, etc to make this space a wellness oasis that would be accessible 24/7 for employees during their breaks/before or after shifts (modeled after the wellness center at Rose Medical Center https://www.5280.com/2019/02/rose-medical-center-is-showing-its-staff-some-extra-love/)

I was SO pumped to “make a difference” for employees, patients, and the “bottom line” for the hospital. Stress is inherent to healthcare–***In addition to it “feeling good” studies have shown implementing yoga into the workplace saved the average US hospital $5.13-7.86 million dollars annually in employee attrition rates, garnered an additional average of 62 minutes of productivity per participant/day, and saved approximately $3,000 per participating employee in healthcare costs per year.

Whelp — while one would hope that we could forge ahead with these plans throughout COVID (when arguably healthcare workers were at their “lowest” point in recent history… the whole plan kind of crumbled).

So I continued my work as a direct patient care provider and started to host online classes, and recently (November 2021) started my journey of organizing 3-4 “major” fundraising yoga pop ups/year where I partner with local businesses who donate their time, space, or product to the event itself, and/or as a “door prize” to attract patrons/raise funds for a “worthy” cause. ***So far we have sponsored CASA (https://www.casappr.org/about/) over at COATI (https://www.coatiuprise.com/) The Ray of Hope Cancer Foundation (https://rayofhopecolorado.org/) at The Almagre (https://www.almagrevenue.com/) & will be sponsoring TOSC (Trails and Open Space Coalition) https://www.trailsandopenspaces.org/ at our event on July 20th at Red Leg Brewery

***Tickets will go on sale on June 20th on Eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/glow-for-good-a-trails-and-open-space-benefit-tickets-354030303167?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=escb

I have been so taken aback by the wonderful community support/outpouring of love, that it has invigorated me to do this on a quasi-regular basis at rotating locations for various causes!

Trying to make something resembling lemonade out of these lemons!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Connection/putting people first is my jam. I aim to “leave people better than I found them”. This goes from small interpersonal interactions, all the way to superseding umbrella ideas of things to accomplish down the road.

My current “specialty” would be the “major” fundraisers that I spoke to in the previous question.

I host regular classes for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and send daily affirmations put into the universe on social media, and biweekly emails.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead. Together, we can: create, heal inspire.

What are your plans for the future?
I look forward to continuing my philanthropic work, and “being the change I wish to see in the world”

Contact Info:

• Website: www.urbanveggie.weebly.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/urban.veggie/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/UrbanVeggie719/
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCnnVskHrSOl_eWue2bjfI_Q/videos?
• Other: ​www.pinterest.com/urbanveggie719/www.etsy.com/shop/UrbanVeggie

Image Credits
Alex Cole Photography Bex Williams Photography Grace Gatto Photography Leigh Ray Photography Shayla Marin Photography Summit and Co Photography