From Job Loss to Founder: How a “Career Pause” Built a New Profession

The story of Gwen – ZestForLife

“Can I really change my career path by becoming a Yoga teacher?” is a question we often get.

We would like to share the story of Gwen, who found her change!

In 2017, our student Gwen found yoga. At the time, it was simple. She practiced through online videos to feel better, have more energy, and manage stress. It helped, but she never thought it would shape her life. 

Then everything changed. She lost her job, along with the sense of stability she relied on. It was not just about work; it was uncertainty. What now? Where do I go from here? 

Instead of rushing into the next opportunity, she chose to pause. That pause led her to join our four-week Yoga Teacher Training in the Netherlands. Not to teach and not because she had a plan; she just needed space to step away and reset. 

During those weeks, something shifted. She realized yoga was more than poses. It became a way to understand life, think clearly, and respond differently. She left without a roadmap, but with confidence. 

She started teaching slowly. A few classes grew into something consistent, then meaningful, and eventually something real. 

Today, she is the founder of Zest for Life Yoga. She teaches full-time, offers group and private sessions, leads workshops, and continues her education in anatomy, breathwork, and therapeutic yoga. She also built an online platform and launched a podcast to extend her work beyond the mat. 

What started as a pause became her profession. Looking back, losing her job felt like everything was falling apart, but it became the beginning of something she had never imagined. 

A career transition isn’t just about learning new skills; it’s about building the internal resilience to lead. Gwen didn’t just learn to teach yoga; she learned to lead her life. 

If this made you think differently about yoga as a career, you can consider exploring our 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training in Europe at Our Netherlands Ashram 

Read her full story below:

We asked Gwen her story, and she shared it in detail:

I discovered Yoga in 2017 almost by chance.

At the time, I was looking for a way to energize my body in the morning and manage the stress I was experiencing at work. What started as a simple physical practice quickly became much more than that.

For the first few years, I practiced mostly on my own through online classes and books. Yoga helped me feel better physically, but I knew there was much more to learn. When I lost my job in the South of France, I decided to take a four-week Yoga Teacher Training with Arhanta in the Netherlands.

When I joined the training at Arhanta, I wasn’t looking for a new career. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to teach Yoga. 

At that point in my life, I had gone through several difficult years and had recently lost my job. More than a professional opportunity, the training felt like a chance to pause. It gave me four weeks away from the noise of everyday life, a space for introspection, learning, and self-care at a time when I needed it most. 

For the first time, I was introduced to the deeper layers of Yoga beyond the poses. The training opened the door to Yoga philosophy, its rich and complex history, its cultural context, and helped me see Yoga as a practice that can influence every aspect of life, both on and off the mat. 

One aspect of the training that has stayed with me throughout my teaching career is the importance of deep relaxation. At Arhanta, I was introduced to longer, Yoga Nidra-inspired relaxations that allowed students to truly rest and recover, rather than simply ending a class with a few quiet minutes in Shavasan. Over the years, this has become one of the signatures of my teaching. While students often come to class for the movement, many tell me that the final relaxation is the part they remember most and the reason they keep coming back. 

Looking back, I see those four weeks as an important turning point. I didn’t leave the Ashram with a clear plan to become a Yoga teacher, but instead I left feeling more connected to myself, more confident in my choices, and more open to possibilities I hadn’t considered before. Those four weeks planted the seeds of what would eventually become my teaching career.

I still remember my very first day at the Ashram wondering whether teaching Yoga was really for me. Helping others had always been part of who I was. I was the person offering advice, supporting friends, and trying to help people find their way through challenges. Yet after several difficult experiences in my personal and professional life, I wasn’t sure I wanted to put myself in a role that centered around people again. What I didn’t realize at the time was that Yoga would become the way I could channel that part of myself. As my understanding of the practice deepened, so did my desire to share it. For the first time, I could see a path that combined my love of learning, personal growth, and helping others. 

In 2020, my husband and I moved permanently to Bonaire, a small Caribbean island that had captured our hearts during a previous visit. Soon after, I started teaching Yoga professionally.

I founded Zest for Life Yoga and have been teaching weekly classes on the island since 2021, creating a space where both residents and visitors can develop a Yoga practice that feels supportive, sustainable, and relevant to their lives.

Over the years, what started as a handful of classes grew into a full-time career, allowing me to dedicate myself entirely to teaching, studying, and sharing Yoga. Today, I teach weekly group classes and private therapeutic sessions, lead workshops, and regularly organize fundraising initiatives that use Yoga, breathwork, and meditation to support local causes, collaborate on community events, and support students both in person and online. 

Alongside teaching, I continued to deepen my education.  I returned to the Ashram in 2022 for my Advanced Yoga Teacher Training and have continued my education every year through studies in anatomy, physiology, breathwork, meditation, nervous system regulation, and myofascial release. I am currently working towards becoming a Yoga Medicine® Therapeutic Specialist, allowing me to further deepen my understanding of how Yoga can support people in a practical and meaningful way, especially through individualized therapeutic Yoga practices and one-on-one guidance.

In 2025, I started recording Yoga classes from my garden on Bonaire and created the Life Lab, an online library of practices. After years of teaching, I realized that the tools, lessons, and experiences shared on the mat each week should not disappear when class ends. I wanted them to remain available for students who wished to revisit a practice, repeat what felt good in their body, continue learning between classes, or simply access Yoga when joining in person was not possible.

Around the same time, I launched the Yoga that Works podcast. The podcast grew from a desire to continue conversations that often started on the mat and extended far beyond it. Each episode draws inspiration from my own practice, experiences during classes, questions from students, and conversations with guests who bring knowledge from their own fields of expertise. Through these discussions, I explore how Yoga can be applied in practical and meaningful ways to support everyday life.

What started as a personal practice has grown into a full-time career and a community that continues to inspire me every day.

Perhaps the biggest result is that I found clarity and confidence in a path I had never imagined for myself. I arrived at the training unsure whether I even wanted to teach Yoga. Today, teaching Yoga is my full-time profession, and for the past three years I have been able to make a living doing work that feels deeply meaningful and aligned with my values, while helping others build healthier and more fulfilling lives. 

What motivates me every day is the same thing that first drew me to Yoga years ago: the possibility of creating meaningful change through small, consistent practices. Whether I am teaching a group class, working therapeutically one-on-one with a student, or recording a practice for the Life Lab, my goal remains the same: to share tools that help people navigate life’s challenges with a little more ease, resilience, and self-awareness.

Looking back, enrolling in that first Arhanta training was one of the best decisions I have ever made. The training gave me much more than a certification. It gave me the confidence to change my life.

 

Want to meet Gwen yourself?

You can find her at ZestForLifeYoga here:

www.zestforlifeyoga.com
and Instagram: @zestforlife.yogabonaire

 

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