If you want to build a dream, you have to be willing to take the risk of stepping out of your comfort zone once in a while. Trying something new can be terrifying, but having the courage to go after what you really want in life despite your fears is the fastest and most effective way to achieve your goals. Today’s podcast guest crossed an ocean to go after what she wanted!
In this episode, part one of my interview with yoga pop musician Leyla, she talks about her big step of moving from Switzerland to New York City to build a dream that combines her love of both music and energy healing to inspire others to reconnect with their highest selves.
This Expert Series Guest Interview Has Two Parts:
1806 Take a Risk and Build a Dream
1807 Connecting the Dots on the Bumpy Road to Your Dreams
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Transcript: Take a Risk and Build a Dream
Nathalie: Hello everyone and welcome back to The Vibe Shifting Show. I have a special guest for you today. We are talking with Leyla!
Swiss-born artist Leyla has a background in Reiki Healing, Kundalini Yoga, sound healing, and musical theater performance. She truly believes in the healing power of music and the ideals of love, compassion, unity and equality.
By infusing her music with sound healing techniques, an innovation that she calls “yoga pop”, Leyla hopes to inspire people to reconnect with the divine power that is already within them. Her new single “Legion of Light” is an empowering anthem of strength, hope, and an affirmation of humanity that speaks to these uniquely troubled times. Welcome, Leyla, I’m so excited to have you here today!
Leyla: Hello, it’s so nice being here. Thank you for having me.
In this #podcast episode, we’re talking with #yoga pop musician Leyla about the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone to build your dream, and her new single #LegionOfLight! Click To Tweet“Legion of Light”
Nathalie: So I’m going to jump right into this. I’m very excited. I have not had a musician on the show before, so this is very exciting for me.
Leyla: OK.
Nathalie: You recently released a single, and it’s called “Legion of Light”. And when you contacted me by email and sent me the link for this I went and I checked it out on YouTube. And I think I’m going to, if it’s OK with you, we’ll put the link for the music video for the song in the notes for today’s show.
Leyla: Yeah, of course. Thank you.
Music for Our Troubled Times
Nathalie: I have to say, I absolutely love the single. I just think it’s such a beautiful song. And I think it’s just so needed, especially in the times we’re living in right now. I think everybody is finding it difficult these days.
Nathalie: There’s a lot going on in the world and I think a lot of people are finding themselves just feeling overwhelmed and frightened and not really knowing how they’re going to handle all this, and what’s going to happen next in the world.
Nathalie: So I think there’s a lot of fear, and a lot of frustration, maybe a lot of anger, and just a lot of despair in the world right now.
Nathalie: And I think that.
Nathalie: Yes.
Nathalie: ….sorry.
Leyla: No no go ahead.
Nathalie: I was just going to say I think that this song that you have just released, I think it is really going to help heal people.
Nathalie: I certainly found as I listen to it I always feel better after I listen to that song. I actually went, I picked it up on iTunes, and just this morning I had it on repeat as I was prepping for this show because it’s just such a beautiful song.
Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone Can Be Scary
Nathalie: Now, this song, you actually co-wrote the lyrics to this song with Aimee Proal, who has written songs for Kelly Clarkson. Is that right?
Leyla: Yes. Originally we wrote this song together. But it goes through many different stages of song doctoring. So, in the beginning everything sounded very different from the end result. But, yes, we did work on this together.
Nathalie: Was that lots of fun to do?
Leyla: Yes. I mean, in the beginning I was a little nervous, like…
Nathalie: I can understand that!
Do you get nervous if you have to do something new? Find out how stepping out of your #ComfortZone can help you reach your goals! Click To TweetEmpowering Yourself to Take a Risk
Leyla: Because I… you know, she has done a lot of… she’s worked with great people, and I didn’t know her. And it just… that’s me. I always get nervous if I have to do something for the first time.
Nathalie: Have you worked with other people before or was it just nerves because this was kind of a high level kind of thing?
Leyla: Yes. I mean, I’ve worked with other people before. But it’s just, that’s what I need to work on. And that’s, I guess that’s why I’m also writing these songs. I also need to empower myself. I’m not, you know… I’m on my way, too, and working through stuff. And I do get nervous when I do have to do things for the first time.
Overcoming Our Difficulties
Nathalie: I read something… I can’t remember who said it, but somebody said something along the lines of “what we teach best are the things that we ourselves need to learn.”
Leyla: I believe that, too. I think that it’s… We can go from victim to victory. And the things that seem most difficult, we can overcome them, and then we can help others with that.
Nathalie: I agree, absolutely. And I think in a lot of cases… I think Steve Maraboli actually said something along those lines, as well, that the ones who are best at healing others are that good at healing because they have been broken themselves.
Leyla: Yeah, I definitely believe that.
The Insight to Help Others
Nathalie: Yeah. When you’ve had to deal with any kind of difficulties like that, it gives you the compassion and the insight, I think. You’re better able to understand what other people are going through…
Leyla: Mmm-hmm, that is so true.
Nathalie: So that you’re better able to sort of reach them where they happen to be, and to help them through that into their next stage.
Leyla: That is so true. I completely agree.
Leyla’s Journey
Nathalie: Now, your background I would think, would definitely take a lot of that into account. You have a background in all sorts of interesting things. Reiki, Kundalini yoga — I don’t know if I’m pronouncing that right?
Leyla: Yeah, yeah! That’s right!
Nathalie: …Sound Healing… These are all just fascinating areas. How did you get involved in all this stuff? Where was the starting point for you in all of that?
Trusting Her Intuition
Leyla: I’ve always been on a spiritual, sort of, healing journey. I would say since I’m like 14. I did my first meditation… I took my first meditation session when I was 14. And I’ve always… I do not know why, but since a child, I’ve always relied on my intuition rather than my intellect. And I always followed that. And, usually, I pick things by how I feel and what makes me feel good and what I feel drawn to.
The Power of Music
Leyla: But also, I came to New York to do a musical theater program and I just knew that music was so powerful and connects everyone in the world, no matter where you come from. And I wanted to understand why is it so powerful. And that’s also why I got into doing a sound healing program. And that led me to learn more about energy work. It’s sort of like a snowball effect.
It’s About Figuring Out What Speaks to You
Nathalie: That’s amazing. What you were saying there, about following the things that you’re sort of drawn to, that make you feel good. In this field that I work in, the light worker field, this is kind of the ideal that we’re all sort of aiming for, right? Figure out what speaks to you, what touches you, and do that. Do more of that, right? That’s as simple as it gets.
Leyla: Exactly.
Nathalie: That’s the ideal. And here you have been doing this since you were so young. I think there are a lot of us who are going to hear that and just think “oh my gosh, how did she figure this out that early?”
Leyla: Yeah.
Nathalie: I’m over 40 and I’m still trying to figure that out!
Leyla: I mean, I honestly don’t know. But it wasn’t always easy. And I think it’s not easy for anyone. And there were sometimes obstacles in the way, but I just didn’t give up.
Building a Dream Without Support
Nathalie: Was it hard for you… you were born in Switzerland?
Leyla: Mmm-hmm. Yes.
Nathalie: Was it hard for you to cross an ocean and follow this musical program in another country, on the other side of an ocean? That must have been scary.
Leyla: I mean, in a way, yes. It wasn’t hard for me to leave. I’m not like… I’m a very free spirit and independent. But, what was hard is that this was a really big dream of mine since I was a child. And, just the way I grew up, I was not supported in my dreams. It was the contrary.
So, I had to do this all on my own. And figuring it out, and getting everything together, and that was kind of hard. But, at the same time, I think if you really want something, and it aligns with you, the universe helps. So I got all sorts of things helping me that I didn’t expect.
‘I think if you really want something, and it aligns with you, the universe helps.’ Listen in as musician @lightofleyla shares her story in this podcast! #BuildYourDreams Click To Tweet“I’m Going to At Least Try”
Nathalie: That’s extraordinary, too, right there. Because I think most people are in that situation where they aren’t supported in their dreams. I think that’s a very common situation.
Nathalie: But for you to have been in that situation and still have figured out what you wanted to do, and to find the courage to follow that path at such a young age is just, it’s extraordinary to me that you were able to do that.
Leyla: I just decided I would regret… This is my dream. This was my dream. And I couldn’t lie to myself. And I would’ve been unhappy. And I just said, I’m going to at least try. If I fail, that’s fine. But I didn’t want to, you know, grow older and say I never tried.
Nathalie: Wow. There is so much wisdom in what you are saying.
Leyla: Thank you.
Find Your Gift and Share it With the World
Nathalie: And I’m just blown away by how quickly, how early you figured all this stuff out. Because, again, when we’re talking this light worker field, this Law of Attraction stuff, all this area. It’s… the things that you are saying are at the heart of it all.
This is what we’re all aiming for, right? Is to reconnect with the things that are most important to us, the things that speak to our souls, the unique little spark of magic that each of us has that we are here to give.
Fear and What Other People Say
Nathalie: And, so often, we don’t end up sharing that gift with the world, for whatever reason — because we’re afraid, because we just have been told that our dreams are ridiculous, or that they don’t matter, or that they’re childish.
And what you said about you would be unhappy or you would be disappointed in yourself, I think for so many people what happens is we just end up living with that. And assuming that that’s just the way it is.
Leyla: Yeah.
Nathalie: So, everybody’s doing that, everybody is like that. I guess that’s just part of growing up and just being an adult in this society, is being miserable, being unhappy, doing something you don’t want to do because that’s just the way it is, right?
Leyla: Yeah.
Stepping Out of the Paradigm of Fear
Nathalie: And it’s just… One of the things that makes me happiest in the world is when I come across people who have sort of bucked that trend, stepped out of that paradigm, and have decided to go the other route and follow their hearts and are doing something that they love, something that enjoy, something that lights them up.
Because when you do that, you inspire everybody else around you. And you add something wonderful to the world that was not there before, that could not have been there, until you put it there.
This has been part one of my interview with musical artist Leyla. Be sure to tune in next week when we talk about the bumpy road to building a dream (it’s not always smooth sailing!), the various healing modalities that Leyla has studied along her journey (and how the dots only connect when you look back), and how Tibetan singing bowls and sound healing techniques were worked into Leyla’s new single “Legion of Light” to create a unique listening experience specifically designed to activate your crown chakra and connect you with your divine purpose.
About Today’s Guest Expert:
Swiss-born artist Leyla believes in the healing power of music and the ideals of love, compassion, unity, and equality. By infusing her music with Sound Healing techniques, an innovation that she calls “Yoga Pop”, Leyla hopes to inspire people to reconnect with the Divine power that is already within them. Her new single “Legion of Light” is an empowering anthem of strength and hope that speaks to these uniquely troubled times. Connect with Leyla on her website or through her Facebook page.
