Sarah Maria
MIA, JD, Certified Meditation Instructor and Ayurvedic Lifestyle Counselor
Free
Body Image and Personal Empowerment Expert
Sarah Maria Quick Facts
- Main Areas
- Body Image and Personal Empowerment
- Career Focus
- Author, Speaker, and Business Owner
Sarah Maria is a body-image expert and personal empowerment specialist who teaches people to love their bodies no matter what shape, size, age, or ethnicity. She leads workshops internationally and conducts one-on-one consultations with individuals and couples, empowering them to love themselves and live their dreams.
An extremely accomplished woman, Sarah Maria earned a BA in Theology, graduating summa cum laude, and then earned her MA in International Affairs from Columbia University, graduating at the top of her class in all subject areas. She later earned her law degree from Stanford University.
But woven into her outstanding achievements academically, Sarah Maria experienced an intense hatred of her body. Starting at age 14, she began a vicious cycle of 500 calorie diets, bingeing, and purging. The pain of this cycle motivated her to investigate holistic healing and spirituality. As with everything she does, Sarah Maria pursued these disciplines with a passion. While pursuing her academic career, she studied and practiced yoga, earned a diploma in Ayurvedic Lifestyle Counseling as well as certification as a Chopra Center Meditation instructor. After graduating from law school, Sarah Maria opened a healing business, Ananda Healing Arts, offering yoga instruction, Ayurvedic and nutritional counseling, and massage therapy. After seeing how many people were controlled by self-hatred and discontent with their physical appearance, she founded Break Free Beauty, a company committed to teaching self-love.
Sarah Maria has developed a concrete and practical approach to helping people love their bodies. She teaches a five-step program that takes people from self-loathing to self-love.
She communicates her knowledge and expertise with individuals and couples of all ages in workshops, seminars, speaking engagements, and on-on-one coaching.
Her passion is sharing this signature system with others so that everyone, no matter what their body looks like, can learn to love and cherish themselves. She helps clients love their bodies, connect with the soul, and live their dreams.
"I am committed to helping others learn to love their bodies and to use their struggles as the doorway into the spiritual path. Connecting with spiritual essence transforms body loathing into a sense of love and gratitude, leading to fulfilling lives of joy and vibrancy."
Articles by this expert
SelfGrowth articles and saved writing connected to this expert.
Article
Letting Life Live You
If you are like most people, you think you are doing life. If you are like most people, you live by your to-do list. You get up early—maybe you work out. You go to work, take care of the kids, eat food, deal with your boss, figure out how to sell your house... For many, life itself is one big TO-DO. In reality, however, life is much more about being and less about doing. The exquisite blessings of life are not delivered based on how much you do. No, life’s greatest treasures, life’s pleasures, life’s bliss, life’s ecstasy, are based on being.
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Love and Freedom
One of the defining themes of my adult life has been this something that I refer to as Love. When the universe forced me into personal crisis a few years ago, it slowly became apparent that a key issue was love. Ever since then, my life has become, in one form or another, a meditation on love: What is love? How do I love myself? Why does my heart feel broken? Will I ever feel loved? How do I love and be loved? Does love exist? Is it just an idea, or is it something real?
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Live the Mystery
How willing are you to live in the mystery? How willing are you to live the mystery? Or another way to ask this question is how willing are you to allow the mystery to live you? You see, you live in mystery. Or, better said, you are a living mystery. Very few people are ready and willing to accept this mystery. The mind wants to figure the mystery out, seeking to grasp and hold onto the mystery.
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Self-confidence from the Self
In my experience, there is only one real way to increase your self-confidence, and that is through Self-confidence. Self-confidence, with a capital “S”, comes from focusing on the Self, your true Self, your actual Self. Self confidence with a small “s” comes from looking for stability, safety, and security, in that which is inherently unstable, transitory, and fleeting, which is never ultimately effective. Let me explain. . . A lack of self-confidence, or low self-esteem, comes from the ideas, beliefs, attitudes, etc.
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Life is a Love Affair
Life is meant to be a love affair, an actual love affair. Life, as it truly is, is, in fact, a love affair. Now you can choose whether or not to experience life as such, whether or not to join in the dance. But no matter what, life itself always remains a true love affair, an intimate dance in each and every moment. Every desire for love, every desire to love, is simply the longing within you to experience the reality of life, the truth of what you are.
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What makes a gift is the act of giving and receiving!
The holiday season is officially upon us. The history of this special time of the year is one of gratitude and giving. 'Tis the season to be Jolly, right? For many, the modern holiday season is often marked by stress and anxiety, strain and worry, apprehension and insecurity. Dreaming of the season rarely conjures up the overflowing peace, joy, and love that come from true thanks and true giving. Here are a few common stressors that might be draining your joy this season: Not enough money to buy the things you want for your friends and family.
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6 Tips to Feel Beautiful Today!
How many times have you waited for something to change so that you could finally start feeling beautiful? If you are like most women, the answer is “all the time.” Here is the problem: Most of us tend to live with the delusional belief that we somehow need to change in order to be beautiful.
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Author Interview: Body Image Expert Sarah Maria on Love Your Body, Love Your Life
Part I: Excerpts from an interview with Sarah Maria on her new book "Love Your Body, Love Your Life: 5 Steps to End Negative Body Obsession and Start Living Happily and Confidently." Question: I’ve heard many people say that disliking your body is just a normal part of being a woman [or a man in today’s culture]. What do you think about such a statement? This is a very important question that I address specifically in Love Your Body, Love Your Life. Yes, many people, probably most people, say that disliking your body is a normal part of being a woman.
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Q&A With Body Image Expert Sarah Maria
Part II: Excerpts from an interview with Sarah Maria, Body Image Expert and Author of ”Love Your Body, Love Your Life: 5 Steps to End Negative Body Obsession and Start Living Happily and Confidently.” Question: In your book Love Your Body, Love Your Life, you present the five steps for ending NBO. Can you talk about these steps? The first step is to set an Intention. This is the crucial first step in creating what you want in life, and in creating and experiencing a body and a life that you love. Step Two is to Identify and Detach from Negative Thoughts.
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How to Listen to Your Heart
For me, 2010 will be the year of the heart. In the West, most people think of the mind as being the source of insight, wisdom, knowledge and guidance. People think that the mind is where they will find the answers to life’s most important questions; it is where they think they will discover how to live. And yet for most people the mind is the seat of ignorance, confusion, and difficulty. In other traditions, and in my own experience, the heart is the true seat of wisdom and knowledge. The mind get confused; the heart loves. The mind questions; the heart knows.
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A Size 2 Is Not Fat!
Do you think that only thin is beautiful, or can you find beauty in everybody? Every woman living in today's culture knows the standard for beauty: you must be thin, young, and toned, and the thinner the better. Of course, having large breasts is a bonus. This is the message projected by the ...
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Do Women’s Magazines Cause Negative Body Image?
Have you ever flipped through the pages of a woman’s magazine and felt slightly disconcerted? The mixed messages are often enough to make even the most stable and confident woman dizzy with confusion: 10 Great Moves to Sculpt Your Butt! Drink this Protein Shake and Lose Weight! 5 Decadent ...Have you ever flipped through the pages of a woman’s magazine and felt slightly disconcerted? The mixed messages are often enough to make even the most stable and confident woman dizzy with confusion: 10 Great Moves to Sculpt Your Butt! Drink this Protein Shake and Lose Weight!
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Favorite Quotes & Thoughts from Sarah Maria
“Our bodies are our babies and need to be cared for and nurtured with the same love and affection.”
"Become a voice, a face, and a body for real beauty, beauty that honors women for whatever their size and complexion, knowing that we are all different faces of the divine, a physical representation of the infinite nature of the cosmos."
Contacting Sarah Maria
How to get started
Please visit www.breakfreebeauty.com to learn more about Sarah Maria. Begin to love yourself and unleash the power of your potential!