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Growth, Mindfulness & Matcha with Saraya, Founder Of Awaken By Saraya
26 Plays14 days ago
Today I’m speaking with Saraya about stepping out of our safe bubble, uncovering the roots of limiting beliefs, and noticing how we grow when we move beyond what feels comfortable. We were introduced through Elles Ottens, who Saraya worked with for a year before starting her brand, which played an important role in her personal journey. We talk about supporting friends as they evolve, her journey creating Awaken by SVD, discovering what makes matcha truly mindful, and how rituals can bring us into the present moment. We also reflect on social media, meaningful connections, and finding space for stillness in a world of endless content.
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Transcript
Introduction to Saraya and Awaken, the wellness brand
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to Connected with Eva. Today I'm joined by Saraya, founder of Awaken, someone who is truly passionate about mindful living, well-being, and helping people reconnect with themselves through simple meaningful rituals.
00:00:16
Speaker
Inspired by her own personal journey and love for intentional daily routines, Saraya created Awaken, a wellness brand centered around ceremonial matcha and the importance of slowing down in the busy world.
00:00:30
Speaker
Her work is a reminder that small, mindful moments can really shape how we feel and move through
Overcoming Limiting Beliefs and Personal Growth
00:00:36
Speaker
life. I wanted to start with a different angle today because we spoke before on the phone And you said something that I felt really connected to, and it was about your journey with limiting beliefs.
00:00:51
Speaker
Sometimes we'll see things in black and white, and I like to differentiate that from reality, which is that life is always a journey and you're always improving and expanding. So I'd like to hear about that.
00:01:04
Speaker
What was your view on life? What were your experiences like before you set out on the journey to work on your limiting beliefs? I think I just had enough of limiting myself. Like I knew I had these things inside of me, but I was just scared to set certain steps and I was afraid of failure. That was my biggest thing that limited me in making certain decisions.
00:01:30
Speaker
I mean, I still have that now, but now I have tools, which before I didn't have. It's not that i see my journey before as something different. It's just all part of the same journey.
00:01:43
Speaker
But I do feel that now, as I said, I have the tools to navigate a bit better. And when I feel these insecurities come up, I know a little bit better how to not deal with them, but to actually understand what they mean.
00:01:59
Speaker
to actually dive fit a little bit deeper and to understand where they're coming from and why am I thinking like that? And, you know, to not give it as much importance, but to actually understand why. Because it's not true.
00:02:12
Speaker
i can do anything i want to. But why am I thinking that I cannot do it? Like, what is that thing that is trying to stop me? And then I can work on it and do it anyway. Because I think we all get scared of certain things, especially if we go outside of our comfort zone.
00:02:27
Speaker
It's just to learn to do it anyway, because what's the worst that can happen? That's really it. When I was younger, i would ask myself the question, can I die from this?
00:02:38
Speaker
I don't think so. So maybe well I'll just do it. But then, of course, that stops at a certain point.
Role of Accountability and Mentorship
00:02:43
Speaker
The journey I went through for a year, what I told you about with Alice on the hypnotherapy, that was not just the limiting beliefs, but also the core beliefs where they came from. Using this motto of, can I die from this, is only limiting to a certain point in the end. Because if I don't work on what's stopping me at my core, how can I push myself further?
00:03:07
Speaker
But now I can. It's so fascinating because of my own journey and specifically with your brand and creating a brand, which could feel scary to people, right? Yeah, but that's why i started the coaching with Alice, because I was scared to start. The thing that for me counted the most was I've always been very scared of failing.
00:03:26
Speaker
I don't like to fail and I used to see myself already in certain aspects as a failure. choosing for modeling instead of going to university, these things that were weighing quite heavy on me, maybe also because of some people around me. And that's okay, but it shouldn't affect me personally. Now I know that I didn't know it before. The journey with Alice was exactly at the moment when I was like, okay, I would love to do something for myself. And I know what I want to do.
00:03:52
Speaker
But I'm so scared to make these steps. And I was finding so many reasons why not to do it instead of focusing on why to do it. And she also helps with accountability. I really needed that in the beginning. Now it's fine because I hold myself accountable, but I didn't do that in the beginning. I needed someone that was watching me, hoping for me, believing in me that it would happen, that it would be a success.
00:04:16
Speaker
That really helped me create also that belief in myself. Now I don't need someone else to do that for me. I have it internally. And then sometimes when I feel like, oh, but maybe, know, maybe it's better if I do this or maybe I shouldn't do that. I now see when I do that and I try to be conscious of it and go against it. I'm like, no, I'll just try. I'll see what happens. No, I i mean, I can try anything that I want. And if it feels good, it feels good. If I'm just trying to stop myself because I'm scared, then I'm going to do it.
00:04:45
Speaker
I feel that you grow so much more when you push yourself outside of that comfort zone, do the things that make you feel uncomfortable. You grow when you go outside of that, when you remain inside your little bubble where everything feels safe and comfortable, you'll never grow. And I think even with a business, it will limit you. It might still work, but it will definitely limit you. And I think if you go outside of that, it will bring so much more, not only for yourself, which is most important.
00:05:13
Speaker
Like you'd have to do it for yourself. first and then for everything else. That's very interesting what you said there about having someone almost to be accountable to.
00:05:24
Speaker
And it's something that I've read about and heard about quite a lot, how when you're starting something, be it business, a creative journey that's outside of the norm, you need a mentor at the beginning.
00:05:38
Speaker
People always say, you know, find your mentor or find someone who, like you said, will be there for you. The people you know in your life, they might not understand what you're doing.
00:05:48
Speaker
They might think it's, you know, outrageous to think that you can ever do something like that. Or even why should you, right? Right. I do also think that when you start something for yourself, it might be a passion project or a company or whatever, you really understand who your friends are and who are not. It's so true. You really understand who has your back, who wants to support you. If I meet people that I love, that I love what they're doing, or have friends when they start a business,
00:06:18
Speaker
I will try as much as I can to
The Value of Connections and Networking
00:06:21
Speaker
support that. The reason we're speaking to each other is because of Alice who connected us. And this is about the energy of people wanting to help other people, wanting to connect other people.
00:06:35
Speaker
And it's such a beautiful thing. Me and Alice met for a recording about a few weeks ago. And since then, she's connected me to so many people.
00:06:46
Speaker
And also not even just her, other people as well. And it's like, wow, this is so fascinating, but also because this didn't happen back in the day. So I started, you know, internalizing and rationalizing things because I was like, what in me changed?
00:07:02
Speaker
to create the possibility of this happening. The reality we live is a direct result of our thoughts and our conditioning and if we've done any work or not.
00:07:13
Speaker
So if you see a change, you might want to stop and be like, m what happened here? What did I do here? So sometimes it's like so fascinating. Yes, I think it's just planting those small seeds.
00:07:25
Speaker
We, in a way, almost expect the visible changes in our lives to be so big. And if they're not, we're like, oh, yeah, it's okay, but you know nothing nothing's really happening. you know I'm just doing this thing, but I want bigger. But it's the small things. There are signs of progress.
00:07:43
Speaker
And I think also in this case, right, with the people helping to connect, it's also when you do good. So when you give back without expecting return, this happens more. That's what I noticed.
00:07:56
Speaker
Because I saw how Alice... dust things. And I was like, that's such a beautiful way of doing things. And so I started to do it myself as well. So where can I connect people? Where i can I help people? It only works if you do not expect a return. If you really do it out of the goodness of your heart, because otherwise the universe will see it. And I've noticed that these things that you give without an expectation for things back, they return in the end. So maybe not in the same way, but in different ways.
00:08:26
Speaker
It's all about a two-way street in the end. Not with one person, but in general.
Challenges and Transparency in Matcha Sourcing
00:08:32
Speaker
So true. Why did you get into matcha? I've been drinking matcha for the last 10 years, but I already lived in Italy 10 years ago and was extremely difficult to find good quality here. Of course, back then I had no idea what good quality was. So I went to this matcha cafe that was here and I hated it.
00:08:50
Speaker
It's like, okay, well, I mean, i have to find a substitute for coffee because it gives me migraines. And so I kind of continued drinking it because it was like, okay, it should be giving so many health benefits.
00:09:01
Speaker
It wasn't giving me a headache. I used to go to China down here to get my matcha, which of course was definitely not matcha. But then throughout the years, as I'm originally from the Netherlands, it was a bit easier to understand what matcha was and to find good quality. And so...
00:09:15
Speaker
and My mom got on board with this matcha addiction. And so we we started to taste this like different matchas. And it was very difficult to find good and especially stable quality.
00:09:26
Speaker
But ah after a couple of years, I started to look a little bit more into it because I was like, okay, I'm drinking this every day. I have a holistic nutrition background. I love nutrition, especially whole food, plant-based, you know? So i was like, okay, I have to understand what I'm actually putting into my body because I cannot be drinking this every day and not knowing what it's actually, you know, supposed to do or what quality it's supposed to be.
00:09:49
Speaker
And that's when I understood a bit better what it was, how it should be. And then it was even more difficult to find good quality and especially what I was looking for and was getting a little bit upset because then I also slowly understood that so many brands just use so many fancy words and so many marketing terms and so many nice stories about their matcha where they do not always have so much true to it.
00:10:14
Speaker
I was getting a little bit pissed. i was like, okay, I'm spending so much money on this, but I cannot trust what they're saying. And so i was like, okay, I'll maybe do some research myself. I'll try to find it myself for myself.
00:10:25
Speaker
I started contacting farmers and associations to get in touch with other farmers because not all farmers are very easily defined online. Luckily, i got in touch with really good associations and people who were super happy to connect me and teach me, which I still am very grateful for because it's such a beautiful thing if you're willing to share your information without.
00:10:46
Speaker
wanting something. So I started getting like so some samples from Japan. I tried about 25 tea farms in different regions. And then I quickly understood that even matcha that has the organic certification often is still contaminated with pesticides, heavy metals, and molds. And coming from this holistic background, i was like, okay, but...
00:11:06
Speaker
I really don't want to put this into my body, especially with all the benefits that matcha brings. Why should I go and contradict that with all these negatives? And unfortunately, this is something that happens not only with matcha or tea, it also happens with fruit and veg,
00:11:22
Speaker
The organic labeling system, you have to pay for it and there has to be certain standards, but it doesn't mean that the product is actually clean. like It's better to find the source of companies and companies that actually care about traceability and are open.
00:11:37
Speaker
and The more information, so not always, but most of the time, the more information that they can give about the background of a product and the more details they can give, the better information. So this tasting and testing and trying lasted about two and a half years.
00:11:51
Speaker
The idea was
Mindfulness and Stress Management Practices
00:11:52
Speaker
there. had everything laid out. I kind of made a little business plan and then I got scared because it was time to actually put it out there. I got really scared. I was like, okay, but if this fails, I don't have my money anymore. So then I saw like Elle's videos and i was like, okay, this would be perfect. Maybe i can, you know, invest something in myself first to make sure that I'm ready for this. I don't think you're ever completely ready, but at least, you know, not be as scared because the more scared you are,
00:12:21
Speaker
The more limiting you are to yourself and the more limiting you will be to your company or whatever it is that you want to do. Pretty much by the end that I finished my journey with Elle was when I was one month away from moving back to Milan from Dubai.
00:12:37
Speaker
And I had planned that kind of out with her. i was like, okay, I would like to go back then to Milan. She's like, okay, why not, you know, put that as a date. So we kind of worked towards that and having that was really, really helpful for me to have that timeline. So I knew like, okay, then I'm going to be back in Milan. What do I want to do? How do I want people to get to know this brand? And what do I want Awaken to stand for? And For me, it was very clear from the beginning. i wanted to be transparent and informational and not based on consumerism, but on its ritual. Because for me, making my matcha in the morning is my sacred ritual.
00:13:12
Speaker
Together with taking some time for myself, it helps me with managing my stress. When I was in Dubai, also had some health issues because of extremely high cortisol levels. So that's when my little ritual became very sacred. It's very rarely that I go a day without it. I also travel with my matcha and wherever I go, I find a solution because I just don't want to do it without it. It brings me so much. It grounds me, relaxes me, and it kind of interrupts my cortisol spike in a sense.
00:13:43
Speaker
Since it helped me, i didn't just want to bring the matcha, but my whole ritual around it. I prefer someone ordering two packs of matcha in a year instead of every month. If that's you know what they feel like, that's okay for me. But to be very mindful of it shouldn't be something that's over-consumed, consumed in a rush.
00:14:01
Speaker
Even though the benefits are amazing and all of that, with such a rich tradition behind it, we should not go too far from it and stay in that present moment. And instead of hosting to others, host to yourself. Like take those five to 10 minutes for yourself. I mean, what's five to 10 minutes? I think everybody has screen time higher than five to 10 minutes. You're talking about slow living and the importance of like really taking time and also to connect to yourself.
00:14:26
Speaker
The tradition is a tea ceremony where they take a very long time to host to other people. and I think taking time and being in the present moment because you're not going to watch your phone while you're being hosted at a tea ceremony. You have to be in the moment, present, and appreciate the art of the ceramics, be grateful, savor the cup of matcha that you get. And I feel like you shouldn't go too far from that. Those little messages of being present, taking time, i think those are important things that we nowadays often forget. We're always such in a rush to, you know, go to the next day and days are flying by, and years are flying by, but find some time every day where you're present, where you check in with yourself, you check in, i don't know, with your surrounding. Be mindful of what you're doing instead of just going on autopilot and just, you know, going through the days.
00:15:15
Speaker
Today, we're like you said, we're so busy. And sometimes in the morning, you wake up, you rush to make your coffee. Then you rush, and then you rush, and then you rush somewhere. And there's so much rushing. So to create space to be grounded, whether it's with a walk or drinking matcha, it's so important because it's the one time where you can actually almost force yourself back into the present moment.
00:15:41
Speaker
I love walking in the park and listening to the birds. Yeah, same. I love nature. Nature so relaxing. There was something very sweet I found out that birds chirp or sing when they feel safe. So they feel really safe here in front of my window. yeah i have this huge tree in front of my window and there are always birds inside. Like I love sitting here with the windows open because I can just hear the birds chirping.
00:16:08
Speaker
Kind of makes you feel relaxed as well, right? When you hear birds chirping. And we feel a little bit uncomfortable when they're not there. It's apocalyptic. It's like, what's happening? Is the world ending?
00:16:20
Speaker
Something that I feel sometimes gets really scary for me is how fast time goes, but it really goes fast when you're in your own head, when minutes go, hours go, days go, weeks go, go.
00:16:35
Speaker
and you're just from one thing to the other. And if we can create that space to be present and to really live and feel and breathe every moment, then no time is wasted ever.
Reflections on Communication and Personal Space
00:16:51
Speaker
I loved when there were no Blackberries, there was no WhatsApp, there was just text, no Instagram. Also, I feel like connections were more meaningful because you had to seek each other. It was not just a text.
00:17:06
Speaker
I don't know. I missed that. I wish we could go back, i don't know, to the 70s or something where there's no social media and just the newspaper. i mean, it does bring a lot of nice things, but we have to be always on.
00:17:20
Speaker
That makes time pass by so quickly. i remember being bored when I was younger. and Now it's rarely that I'm bored. It's very difficult to get bored. And when you get bored, it might be because you're scrolling for an hour and you realize that you're scrolling for an hour after an hour.
00:17:35
Speaker
so then you get maybe get bored, but it's so mind numbing. I feel like. Like, do you ever remember the first reel that you saw when you started scrolling? No, never. Every time I go on my phone, I forget why.
00:17:48
Speaker
And I know, sometimes I know there's an actual reason. For me, for example, to send you the link to the recording. And then I go on WhatsApp and there's like other messages. It's funny because social media, I i speak about social media on almost every episode.
00:18:02
Speaker
Because social media is fascinating. It's where we met. It's where I meet most people. Most people. But we have to be really strict with ourselves.
00:18:13
Speaker
But even WhatsApp, a lot of my clients, they have my WhatsApp. And so, of course, people feel free to write me whenever they want. But if I'm at 10 p.m. at night just trying to relax and I see messages come in my work mode goes on. So in the end, I never relax.
00:18:29
Speaker
So now, for example, I've created a business WhatsApp. And I've noticed this helps me a lot because I feel less obligated to respond. Like nobody obligates me to respond, but already sending a message at a certain time, i feel like it can trigger some people. So I'm also very mindful of that myself. Like I try not to text to people outside of certain hours, especially in the weekend. I try to just avoid that at all costs.
00:18:51
Speaker
Because I try to be mindful of this and I imagine people maybe thinking the same way as I do and having that trigger. So I try to just give them that time off. I don't know when this switch happened to going from email where it's on you to go and check that. So it's a little bit more separated.
00:19:10
Speaker
Whereas WhatsApp puts it in your face like work, you know, there are tools to maybe make it better. But yeah. It's difficult. Also, with social media, it's so difficult. Like if a client writes me with a question on a Saturday evening at 10 p.m., if I'm awake, I will respond. Or I will respond on Sunday in the morning. Like it's very difficult to not do it.
00:19:32
Speaker
It's also all about boundaries in the end. I don't know. Maybe I'll have a job tomorrow and I'll get a message. Or can you bring black trousers at like 11 o'clock at night?
00:19:44
Speaker
If I don't see that message, I wouldn't bring black trousers. Exactly. What if I'm asleep? I don't know. And I also feel like nowadays, a lot of people make their urgency someone else's emergency when it's really not.
00:20:00
Speaker
I'm not a doctor. So whenever I need something or someone needs something for me, it's not life-threatening. So there's no five-minute time frame that I have to respond. Since everything is becoming so quick in our life, We kind of put this expectation on anything else as well, which is so wrong. When I started working in corporate, I had five business days to respond to emails.
00:20:23
Speaker
Now people want to respond a maximum an hour. and The funniest is when people don't reply to you ever, but if you don't reply to their email, they send you a text message.
00:20:34
Speaker
Can you reply to the email I just sent? Thank you. Yeah, that happens a lot. What are other grounding techniques for you to find space, find peace, find quiet and silence?
Morning Routines and Mindful Activities
00:20:47
Speaker
I have my morning routine, which is not just a matcha ritual. but I really, really try to not watch my phone when I wake up. Because when I do that, I do not do my morning routine.
00:20:59
Speaker
So this morning, for example, I didn't watch my phone. I got out of bed, do my skincare. I wash my face. Then I go to the living room, open everything because I love to get the cold air into the house first thing in the morning.
00:21:10
Speaker
So air everything through. Then I put my little yoga mat and I do my stretching and sometimes a very tiny little workout. Then I make my matcha. If I feel like meditating, I try to pick up this habit again, but that normally happens after my movement. Or i do it a little bit together while I'm drinking my matcha, try to focus on my breathing.
00:21:30
Speaker
and if I'm having a lot of time, i love to read because when I read, it's just me and a story. I'm not really distracted by anything else. But I also like to spend time on creativity when I can. I'm trying to blend it in a little bit more. But also same with my fiancé, for example. like We both run our own business, so it's sometimes very difficult to be present without there being work involved as well.
00:21:55
Speaker
So we try to to schedule that time in now. And for example, I used to do, like last year, i did a lot of events. So pretty much during the week, I do all the computer work and everything like that. And then the weekends were full with events. So in the end, we had so little time together, but I also had almost no time for myself to recharge.
00:22:13
Speaker
So now I'm doing that a bit different. Like I plan my moments, but also to spend time with him. but I love to crochet and embroider. And these things really relax me. like I'm focused on that.
00:22:25
Speaker
It also helps me a lot, in a sense. And I think spend time on like quality relationships, think, is really important. Makes you feel good. That's so true.
00:22:36
Speaker
Also, I've been wanting to start knitting again. i used to do it when I was seven. Again, it's a very grounding thing. And you cannot touch your phone while doing it. Exactly. There's no space. Your hands are busy.
00:22:50
Speaker
And also your mind, like the maximum that you can do is put like a series on that you've already seen 100 times that you're not really watching, but just keeps you company. But you have to be concentrated
Reviving Traditional Hobbies for Grounding
00:23:01
Speaker
on what you're doing. And I feel like these hobbies were popular for a reason back in the day.
00:23:06
Speaker
We are moving back to wanting to use our hands, to be in nature, to move, to be physical, and to connect in person. And all of these things are beautiful, actually.
00:23:19
Speaker
And I'm glad that's happening. Yeah, it's very nice. I also see it a lot. I do a lot of these events and there's a lot of international people that moved here to the city and they're new. and They're really looking for these new connections. And I feel something so nice. Like I used to make friends like that, right? In school, I used to make friends with the people that were around me or, you know, going to the same school or friends from friends.
00:23:42
Speaker
And think the generation that came after that was already much more online. The real connections that we now seek in real life, I think it's very valuable. And also to foster them, yeah not just by sending reels to each other. Oh my God, how many people do you have in your Instagram where you just send reels and you get reels back and you send reels? And sometimes the saddest thing is that you haven't messaged someone for a while. So you said, you think I'm going to send them a reel rather than ask, how are you doing?
00:24:13
Speaker
And let's actually actively stop doing that and message someone and ask, how are you doing? That would be really nice, right?
Building Connections and Embracing New Relationships
00:24:21
Speaker
I feel like this should be today's episode takeaway.
00:24:24
Speaker
Let's foster relationships and really build them and water them and look after to them because that's what keeps us alive, I think, connection. Connection is so important. It's also one of the wellness pillars. So important.
00:24:40
Speaker
I do not have a huge social life. I have like a couple of friends that I'm very close with and I don't need like an immense amount of friends. like I'm really happy with the friends that I have.
00:24:51
Speaker
But it's sometimes also really nice to just stay open and meet new people because you never know, right? I've met a girl that I collaborated with last year and we're really good friends now and i can also from a business perspective can really like spar with her about ideas and frustrations keep an open mind anyway it's also nice to just socialize sometimes it's also important to keep those skills alive you never know who you'll meet it might just be the person who gives you the idea for your new venture your new
00:25:23
Speaker
Life purpose. It could be as big as that it could be as small as. To someone that understands you.