Natalie Pierson is a certified personal trainer. Natalie has been a long-time fitness trainer as well and also participated in a figure competition a few years ago. We talk about her life experiences in this podcast and how she ended up traveling to India to dive deep in her own spiritual healing and helping people around her to find their inner self through meditation and praying.
What influenced your decision to participate in figure competition?
She received an invitation from her friends. Natalie had been a personal trainer for two years back then and felt connected to her body. She wanted to see the possibilities she could do with her body and if she could stick to a clean diet for the competition. Natalie hired herself a coach to prepare for the competition.
What did your clean diet look like?
Natalie had a regimented diet plan. She would have timed meals for her. In breakfast, she would eat three eggs along with spinach. Three hours later she would eat four ounces of fish with green beans followed by three-ounce chicken three hours later. Everything was super precise. It was very hard initially but Natalie fell in love with the process later. The actual experience of standing on the stage comes and goes, but the effort that she put in leading to the competition was worth it. Natalie used to train twice in a day, in morning and in evening. She would help her clients in the afternoon as well.
What was it like to stand on the stage and be judged for your external image?
There was a part of Natalie liked it because she worked and trained hard for it. Although at one point she did realize, she started to view herself as an object as well and had to make sure she was in the best shape of herself so people would look at her and appreciate her based on external appearance. Natalie was in the top ten in the competition and performed very well for a beginner.
What did you learn about yourself in the process?
Natalie enjoyed the process of training. Natalie learned that she had the ability to adapt herself per the situation. She realized that when she sets her mind on something, she can achieve it. She realized she could discipline herself and put all her focus on things she really wanted to do. She realized she always wanted to learn more about her core, her deep inner-self and the competition helped her in this regard. The continuous struggle to know more about her core values led her to practice yoga.
What did you do after the figure competition?
Natalie got into yoga practice. She had been doing it for 12-15 years but was not a regular practitioner. She had heard of some of her friends who had traveled to India to learn yoga and she wished she could do the same. She eventually packed her bags and left for India exactly seven months after she had participated in the figure competition. On her arrival in India, Natalie went straight to an ashram and lived there for some time. She left behind her job and her apartment.
What is it like to live in an Ashram?
Natalie met people from all over the world in the ashram. It is like a house where you must do chores. You have certain duties to perform and should not expect someone else to do your work. There is a schedule that you must follow.
Describe a typical day in an Ashram:
Natalie would wake up at 5 in the morning and would follow all the Ayurvedic practices like cleansing her body, taking a shower early in the morning. After that, she would gather with her group in an outdoor courtyard where they would meditate and perform mantra in a group. After that, Natalie used to walk by the Ganga River which was near the ashram. She would connect with nature, and come back around 8AM back to Ashram. In this time, she could go to the nearby shops, prepare food for her lunch or attend lectures by a lady in Ashram. She would talk about Bhagavad Gita, a classic book written in Sanskrit.
How did it feel to come back to New York from India?
It was hard for Natalie to come back because life in New York is a fast-paced life. In New York, you have to make things happen, there is no room for error or mistake. In India, she was taught to just sit and be with herself, learn about herself and it was completely different. She had learned these new tools like yoga and meditation but did not know how she could integrate them into her practice. With the help of a few private clients who had known Natalie from a long time, she was able to resume her practice in Ney York as a personal trainer. Slowly and gradually she started to bring in more yoga elements in her practice and in her personal training program.
What does living your purpose mean to you?
Living her purpose means living authentically and living a transparent life that she is satisfied and happy with. She loves what she does and she thinks that is her biggest achievement.
What is the best advice you have been given?
The best advice for her is to come back to yourself, to come back to your heart. You are responsible for your joy and happiness. The key to happiness is to take that self-responsibility and realize you are solely responsible for your own joy.
How can we connect with you?
You can follow her through her website. Her website’s URL is
You can also register for an upcoming event of personal training from the following link.
Other Links
12 West 27th St. 9FL. NYC
To Book : (212) 675-9355
Monday 12-8pm
Thursday 12-8pm
235 S. 1st st. Brooklyn
Take a Class with Natalie
Next Event : July 29th
6:30- 8:30pm
Sacred Sounds Yoga
163 Bleecker St.
Kahlil Gibran - POEM
Read this, and memorized it while in India.
My favorite poem.