Empowered Practices: An Interview with Isabelle Campbell

Want to tap into more self-empowerment & improve your relationship with stress?

Isabelle Campbell explains how.

Isabelle Campbell is Commercial Finance Director at the Financial Times, a yoga and mindfulness teacher and also an accredited coach and speaker. She works with businesses and individuals on all aspects of wellbeing and personal development including work-life balance, resilience, stress management and personal brand. 

Our Head of Wellness sits down with Isabelle to find out more about her journey and to discuss how we can tap into more self-empowerment & improve our relationship with stress. 

1. Isabelle, tell us about yourself and how you have got to where you are today?

I am a finance professional, my day-to-day is kind of corporate & finance, I’m also a mother of 2 little boys and I’ve had a strong Yoga practice for most of my adult life since my teen years. So that’s always been there in the background but what I found when I got into working life, was that I really struggled with my wellbeing and ability to cope with things, the more responsibilities I took on in life, the more I struggled.

I just got to a point after having my first son where I felt like I really wasn’t coping, I wasn’t burnt out per say but I wasn’t fulfilled and I wasn’t content. So I started to use my Yoga practice to embed some of those ideas about being more present and not having to reach all the time. 

Since then, I have set up my own training practice working as a coach and a speaker. I’ve also taken on a stronger yoga practice doing my teacher training and training as a mindfulness teacher. I had my second child, so the treadmill of doing more & more hasn’t stopped at all but what has changed is my mindset and the way I approach life. 

1. When we get to a point where we’re reaching burnout and experiencing high levels of stress we often feel that the only option is to quit everything & start again but that can lead to more stress, anxiety & fatigue. Though quitting our jobs and jetting off somewhere hot to become a yoga teacher might seem appealing, it’s not often accessible or financially sustainable. What’s your advice on this? 

It’s really common now for people to want to escape life when things get stressful and move to a different place, romanticise retreating and starting again but it’s really important to remember that feeling happy and empowered in yourself comes from within. 

We look to externalise happiness so much – if I can just go on that yoga retreat, or go down to 2 days a week at work or if I can just earn that salary – whatever it is – then I’ll be happy, then I’ll be fulfilled. Actually knowing that I have the power within me to reframe my situation and modify my mindset, that’s what has been powerful and empowering for me. 

10 years ago I didn’t have my coaching business, I didn’t have children, and I was in a more junior job so I had far less responsibilities but my PERCEPTION of what I could cope with was low and I just thought I can’t do this. Fast forward to now and I have far more responsibilities but most of the time (not always, as it’s a working progress!) I feel able to cope and that is down to my mindset and a belief that I can. 

1. What are the kind of things you bring into your day-to-day to help keep that mindset going and to keep you mindful & present? 

Firstly, we have to be careful not to try to complete wellness and approach it like another to-do list that we’re ticking off – I’ve got to go to yoga, to journal, to do affirmations, tick tick tick –  as that can create more pressure! 

It’s not about becoming a wellbeing expert but it’s more about the day to day – I don’t have to sit and do formal meditation, though I love that and it’s great – but I can bring mindfulness into my life, especially during busy periods. For example, yesterday I had a lot going on, it was my son’s birthday, I was putting out the washing and listening to a podcast about burnout & mindfulness and on it they said ‘every day just take 10 minutes to do nothing’. 

For me, it’s as simple as taking those moments out of the day to be, rather than do, and bringing awareness to those moments.

Awareness is key to all types of change. Being aware of your own response to things, to your own inner monologue, to the voice that was saying – you’ve got to do more or you’re not good enough – and becoming aware of that and saying – OK, that’s interesting, I would never speak to a friend like that but yet I speak to myself like that. 

So awareness was number one and then building on from awareness was reframing and challenging those thoughts. Asking yourself – is it true that I can’t do that or that person is better than me? Not necessarily so let’s start to reframe things.

• We know that levels of stress are higher than ever and often doing nothing can be really challenging! How can we really drop into those mindful moments without being distracted? 

It’s about becoming aware of the response or perhaps resistance we have when we’re presented with the opportunity to do nothing throughout the day. Try saying to yourself – OK, in this moment I’m going to do nothing, I’m going to put down my phone, I’m going to breathe and I’m going to switch off. 

For example, when you’re walking through London, instead of absorbing yourself in your head or in a podcast or on your phone, just look up a few feet higher than you normally do and that becomes a mindful experience and you’re absorbing something different. 

A lot of the time our nervous system is heightened because we’re always needed & there is always something else we can respond to. It’s all about resetting your nervous system and being aware of that response. The power in learning how to give those signals to your nervous system is huge! 

For me, what it gave me was space to choose my response and I believe that giving yourself the space between the action and the response is empowering. It can be really hard not to have an instant reaction and this is all about noticing that. 

It’s about taking the time to notice your reactions and begin to develop the awareness to choose how you respond and create these very small, but impactful mindset shifts.

1. It’s great to hear that small changes can be empowering, so finally where can we practice these tools? 

Watch the full interview & series on Wellness TV on a free 30 day trial.  In this series Isabelle shares the empowered practices that have helped her to manage her relationship with stress and lead a happier, healthier and more balanced life.

https://wellnesstv.moreyoga.co.uk/new_watch/empowered-practices—interview-with-isabelle-campbell-

About Liz Joy Hardie

Liz Joy Hardie is Yoga Teacher, Holistic Wellbeing Coach and Head of Vibes at MoreYoga, co-running our MoreMind Project with Stephanie Minchin, coordinating events, content and workshops focused on better supporting our communities mental and physical wellbeing. After starting her career in the fast-paced world of luxury fashion Liz came to Yoga after being diagnosed with Malignant Hypertension and Generalized Anxiety and left with the goal of helping others to lead healthier lives holistically. Liz went on to spent a year working at the Safe Childhoods Foundation in Indonesia, an NGO committed to combatting organized crimes against children, she began to understand the true benefits of Yoga, Meditation and Psychology as therapeutic tools and describes this as a time of total transformation.

Now back in London, Liz is passionate about helping people achieve a healthier, happier lifestyle through her work. She loves bringing people together, encouraging authentic connection and is happiest when facilitating retreats, workshops and events based around Yoga, Positive Psychology and Holistic Wellbeing.

Liz teaches Hatha, Vinyasa, Yin & Restorative Yoga, specialising in teaching Yoga, Mindfulness & Meditation to improve stress & anxiety. She combines this with her work as a Holistic Wellbeing Coach & is dedicated to spreading Joy through her work.