Interview With Bold Journey

Bold Journey is a storytelling-format magazine designed to inspire and cultivate creativity within the community.

They featured me for their category CONFIDENCE: “Champion Mindset: Building Confidence & Self-Esteem”

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sophie Malahieude. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sophie below.

Sophie, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

Confidence and self-esteem find their roots in self-love. It’s not about vanity, but rather about appreciating who we are.

For the longest time, fear ruled my life. I was afraid of not performing well at work, of not being a good mother, of not meeting others’ expectations. So, I threw myself into constant learning — reading books, attending classes, and undergoing training after training. It was exhausting! not to learn but to feel insecure. However, it is through self-reflection that my journey led me to gain two insights. First, when I stop comparing myself to others I open a door of creativity and become who I am supposed to be. Second, when I own my personality I am free.

As we start to be the person we are meant to be, we appreciate the life we have and become grateful. We become confident of our own truth.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am deeply interested in the ability of each person to heal themself.

I believe that a holistic approach to life, which considers diet, exercise, emotional well-being, and mindfulness, Supports us in unlocking our potential.

I am originally from France, a multicultural woman who has lived in Germany and the United States. My life philosophy is deeply influenced by Vedic disciplines, Yoga, and Ayurveda, which I encountered in 1997 during my time in Germany.

Despite language barriers, I felt an immediate connection to these ancient practices, which emphasize self-awareness and harmony with nature. It is from my heart, that I learned about Yoga. My teacher also introduced me to Ayurveda’s principles. In my view, Yoga is the path to developing our consciousness, while Ayurveda allows us to understand our connection with nature.

In 2004, after relocating to the United States, I decided to become a Yoga teacher. This path was pursued while caring for my two sons, one aged 5 and the other just 1 at the time.

As a Yoga and Ayurveda Wellness Consultant, I teach, in group classes and private sessions, how to easily and naturally incorporate these age-old principles into daily lives. I believe that when people achieve physical, mental, and emotional balance, it benefits not only themselves but also the wider community.

Lately, I have focused on emotional balance through a philosophical lens. We can free ourselves by learning from our unprocessed emotions.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

To begin with, cultivating self-love is essential for developing harmony within ourselves, with others, and in our environment. This skill is significant because if we don’t confidently answer questions like “Am I deserving of others’ affection?” or “Do I esteem myself, value myself, respect myself, and trust myself?” with a resounding yes, navigating life becomes challenging. I’ve come to understand that in order to genuinely love others, we must love ourselves first; self-abnegation doesn’t pave the path to happiness.

Secondly, I’ve gained insight into detachment through Vedic teachings. Detachment serves as a fundamental principle in alleviating suffering and achieving harmony. I’ve found its relevance particularly significant in parenting. As a Vedic saying goes, “Our children are from us but not for us,” illustrating the concept of detachment. Love and detachment are intertwined; We can love deeply and unconditionally without forming attachments. Attachment leads to bondage and expectation. What is true for attachment regarding love is true for possession too. We can enjoy our possessions, knowing that the next day they might not be there anymore. When we nurture a sense of detachment, we liberate ourselves from suffering. I like to remind myself that I am borrowing from the Universe, my loved ones, my health, my house…

This leads me to the third skill that has been most beneficial to me: living in the present moment. Living in the present moment isn’t complex, but it does require practice and intention. It implies giving our full attention to whatever task or interaction is at hand, whether it’s folding laundry or having a conversation. While it may seem like we don’t have time to slow down, embracing the present moment saves time and reduces stress in the long run. As we live in the present we appreciate what we have, we don’t regret the past or worry for the future.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

Many books really shaped my growth, but I picked two because I happened to read them together. One is Stephen Mitchell’s translation of The Bhagavad Gita, and the other is Byron Katie’s “Loving What is”.

The “Bhagavad Gita” is a philosophical text, while “Loving What is” is more of a modern thinking book. They both dig into a similar concept but from different angles. Reading them together really did wonders for me.

The “Bhagavad Gita” offers many teachings but the one that was the most relevant for me is the sense of duty. It’s all about doing what you need to do without expecting anything in return, just for the sake of doing it. And within that idea, there’s this important aspect of aligning your duties with your own sense of values.

From “Loving What Is,” one key lesson sticks with me: When you do something for others expecting gratitude or acknowledgment, you’re setting yourself up for suffering if it doesn’t come. However, when you act for yourself, you find contentment within.

I read these two books when we had just moved to the United States. With two young kids and no family around, it felt like we were starting from scratch. I was hustling to create a life for us. Whenever I felt the weight of it all, even something as simple as cooking dinner, I’d repeat to myself, “I do what I have to do, and I do it for myself. Seeing my kids and husband fed makes me happy.” That mindset really carried me through that challenging first year in our new home.

Even now, I still approach everything I do with a strong sense of purpose and duty.