As many of you know I headed to NYC last Thursday until Sunday evening to stay with Yoga & Wellness Expert Sadie Nardini. It was a fan-freakin-tastic weekend and went by far too quickly!

Before I chat up the weekend and its events; many of you have asked the question, “how did you and Sadie connect?” and “how in the world did she end up asking you to come and stay with her?” So let me give you the coles notes version (PS for those who know me, my ‘coles notes’ of anything is about as accurate as my counting in class):

Last September 2010, on the very weekend I was to open up my new studio Simplicity for the first time, I heard that Sadie was coming to London Ontario for a weekend Immersion. I had been following Sadie on you tube for about a year at this point and teaching a lot of her Core Strength Vinyasa Flow fundamentals – so when I heard this I made the decision to post-pone opening my studio until the Tuesday after the weekend – Sept 29th. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE that I was insane for doing this; you see I had already spent a few hundred $$$ on advertising the opening day etc…but something was pulling me there…so I went.

We didn’t have a lot of one-on-one time that weekend, and I will admit I was slightly star-struck and didn’t push the bar. She went around the room and asked why we all came and a little about ourselves, I then told the room how I was supposed to be opening my studio that day and then they too thought I was insane! Except for Sadie, she looked me straight in the eye and said, “well Sista you just followed your truth”. She also proceeded on that very weekend to show us her key to her new pad in Brooklyn!

Fast-forward to January, I hear she is coming just 30 minutes away from my house and I immediately sign up, emailing her to say so and that I am stoked about the weekend. I arrive at the studio and see her, she right away comes over beaming saying hello and greets me with a huge hug…

We went out for dinner with a group that evening and I wasted no time getting right in there and chatting her up, the next day we went out for lunch and I said in passing that I would love for her to come to my studio in September for our One Year Anniversary…she simply says “done!” email Ava my booker and its on!

SWEEEEEET!

Sadie arrives to Simplicity September 23rd-25th 2011, one year to the day after our first encounter in London…how freaking auspicious is this? We re-connect and easily fall into great convo and friendly flow. I emotionally and quite literally drooling from tears (so serious here LOL), introduce her as my ‘teacher’ to my students that evening and from that point on an awesome friendship began.

We ate, had some vino and chatted up a storm about everything yoga, nutrition, our lives and anything in between – in passing one evening Sadie mentioned to me she was writing her new book and that she would love for me to co-write it with her as her Holistic Nutritionist creating 21 days of meal plans, recipes and guidelines around it… I, of course, say YESSSS and we start collaborating over Milestones napkins:) As I drove home that night and tell my husband he was happy for me but was also trying to keep it real and said to just relax a bit until the next day when I could talk to her again. You know how it can be sometimes when you are all happy, chatting and feeling the vino glow LOL. So I go to bed mind racing only to wake up at 7am to the phone – its my BF and fellow yogi Kellie messaging me saying, “OMG JP (jenn pike) you are a friggin holistic genius and Sadie Nardini has told everyone so on her Facebook page!” I, literally fall out of bed and jump up saying what? what? what? about a million times before I see it myself and start pacing my room smiling and sweating and losing my $@#*!

I pick Sadie up and she comes out all smiley. I cooly ask, Um…did you really mean what you said on your post and did you really mean it when you asked me to write a book with you? She replies with a ‘Hell Ya Girl!” and I begin to cry again (hahaha). I apologize and thank you her, explaining that she doesn’t realize what this means to me, I have been on the same path stead-fastly for thirteen years knowing deep in my gut that one day something amazing and life-changing was going to happen. I have had all of this passion, knowledge and the desire to spread it in my head for so long and now I finally have the chance to put it out there. I also explain the impact of this opportunity for someone from friggin Keswick…Sadie than put her hand on mine and said, Yes I do – I am from friggin Iowa!”

Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow when I land in NYC and life begins to change for the AMAZING!!!!

Posted in Nutrition, Uncategorized