If you are a fan of daytime dramas, you may recall the characters of the young Lucy Cooper Spaulding on Guiding Light and the so-called “psycho” nurse Barbara Graham on One Life to Live. Both were played by Sonia Satra, and it led to more roles for the actress (including the films Hyacinth, Intrepid and The Drum Beats Twice, and the limited TV series The Men Who Built America and American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story, not to mention an array of producing credits). But Sonia Satra, who still acts, also had another path in mind…life coach, entrepreneur and mind body expert. And now she has authored her first book, What If It Were Easy: Using Movement & Mindset to Create Success in Life, Love, and Business, which officially launches on Tuesday, October 17.
“I didn’t major in acting in college, but I did take classes, I studied in Los Angeles, and I started to do the L.A. thing thing…meet people and get an agent,” said Sonia Satra. “I also began studying mindset at that time because you get rejected a lot as an actor and I noticed that the people who were working seemed to be able to persevere through that. So, that was really the beginnings of mindset for me.”
By definition, mindset is a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you will interpret and respond to situations. And Satra’s book, What If It Were Easy: Using Movement & Mindset to Create Success in Life, Love, and Business, breaks down, by chapter, how to build up strengths and eliminate barriers, and the process of transformation by integrating the mind, the body, and the emotions to create lasting change.”
“Once I started studying mindset I was so passionate about it, and I kind of became the friend or the person that people would come to asking for advice,” remembered Satra. “I had a coach before anyone had a coach or knew who that was. And I decided to get a life coach certification and learn about the available tools to really help people.”
“Then I had a baby, went back to acting, was raising my child, was coaching, and I got into public speaking. But I felt I was not successful at anything because I was trying to do everything,” she added. “At the time, I realized how dedicated I was about really helping people and that was the path I knew I needed to pursue.”
When two opportunities arose for Satra simultaneously, one for a speaking gig and the other to audition for a recurring role on a long-running, and still current, TV drama, Satra decided to go for the speaking assignment and, ultimately, the life coaching.
“It was the hardest decision I had to make on my life,” she remembered. “But I walked away from the opportunity to potentially land the part because I felt this was the time to really go hardcore into speaking and coaching.”
Ultimately, Satra was named the president of the NYC National Speakers Association in 2012 and she started the Women’s Empowerment Hub.
“I would do a workshop with a specific theme, and then we would do an adventure to embody it. And that became the beginning of combining this mind and body philosophy (and, in this case, adventure),” noted Satra, who is also a certified NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) Practitioner, a holistic health coach, and a certified fitness instructor. “That opened that world and put me back where I think I was meant to be; helping people bust open, break through fears, and go for what they want.”
Through the Sphinx Code wisdom system, which is defined as “distilled knowledge from the ancient wisdom systems of numerology and tarot,” Satra is described as a “catalyst.” That is the person who helps catalyze people into what they are supposed to do.
“I knew all these mindset tools, yet I remember feeling tired and overwhelmed as I was running on the treadmill at the gym shortly after having my second child,” said Satra. “Then I thought, wouldn’t it be great if I could just be effective and efficient and do these mindset tools while I was working out? What if I had a vision board, or somebody was asking me questions, and I just could imagine and visualize what I wanted?”
“That was the day that I created that,” she noted. “I came up with the name Moticise, which is a hybrid of motivational exercise. Then I started to develop it and beta test it, and I did a DVD. At the time it was just this idea that was going to make my life easier. But then I learned that when you move and when you exercise, your brain opens and there is the neuroplasticity. We grow new brain cells and it is an optimal time to be creative, be more focused, make better decisions, and to problem solve. And that led me to create this coaching process for people while they are moving.”
Moticise – A Wellness Program for Movement for Self-Improvement
Combining movement with mindset, Moticise is described as a motivational fitness program that integrates coaching into exercise, merging aerobic exercise with the mindset tools to help tone your body, focus your mind, and achieve your goals.
“Basically, Moticise is an integration of a seven-step coaching process done to movement. It includes a specific order of questions that are really targeted, some visualization, some affirmations, positive self-talk, and it is intended to tap into your body intelligence, your creativity, your confidence, and your motivation,” said Satra. “There is a chemical thing that is happening and it elicits this sort of opening in your mind that helps you be more creative and solve more problems.”
“My book really shines a light on Moticise. There are coaching tools in it, but it is all about this whole idea of combining movement with mindset and around a specific goal,” she added. “As a result, I have had people come up to me with brand new business ideas. I have had people build and sell their companies, get promotions or go for something entirely different. And there are so many other goals, like weight loss or finding the right partner.”
“Moticise shifts your mindset and, inadvertently, gives you a workout too,” she said.
On the heels of the launch of What If It Were Easy: Using Movement & Mindset to Create Success in Life, Love, and Business, Sonia Satra remains committed to her work as a mindset and fitness thought leader. But she has not abandoned her career as an actress. Prior to the current actor’s strike, she finished the film Gretsky’s Office, about a women’s hockey team. And she has a part in the upcoming six-episode Netflix docudrama Cowboy Wars, which tells the true story behind the thirty-second shootout between lawmen led by Virgil Earp.
“The title What If It Were Easy is intended to give yourself the freedom to achieve what is possible,” said Satra. “It is not like, hey, everything is easy. But it can be easier if you do not put any blocks in the way. And my goal in writing this book was to teach you all the mindset tools to succeed.”
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