Wellness has long been a driving force in Anna Haddad’s life. The daughter of entrepreneurial parents who immigrated to the U.S. when she was six, Haddad went on to forge a successful career in finance, all the while training for her black belt in Taekwondo. After realizing how burnt out and unfulfilled she felt by the work she was doing, she left to pursue other opportunities. While she figured it out, she began taking a teacher training program at Pure Yoga. There, she connected with a fellow yogi and launched a yoga apparel line. A few years later, she opened a successful yoga studio in Montauk, NY, and this fall, ONEYOGAHOUSE will debut in Brooklyn. A self-starter like her parents, Haddad is passionate about creating a business rooted in community, creativity, and connectivity. Leading yoga retreats around the world, she is focused on making yoga accessible and a lifelong practice for everyone in the ONEYOGAHOUSE community. Here, Haddad shares how she prioritizes wellness in her life, the lessons she has learned, and what aspects of wellbeing she still struggles with herself.
What does wellness mean to you?
It means getting really clear about the things we value, the things that are truly important for ourselves, and making a conscious choice to nourish those aspects in our lives, with proper time, support, and discernment. Wellness to me means making that choice to choose what’s right for me, to know when something isn’t working, and honoring my boundaries. I tend to overdo and over commit, and I’ve learned to choose my wellbeing and say no sometimes. It also means to unburden myself, to take a step back and see what doesn’t work for me.
What are your favorite things to do to maintain your personal wellbeing?
Taking my Portuguese water dog, Franklin, for a walk or run to the beach and playing in the ocean, soaking up nature, being fully present, and taking time for play. I also love gathering friends and family for dinner parties. Sharing the joys of cooking, laughing, and connecting is the best medicine.
Is there a specific fitness activity that you love and why?
I love fitness activities that keep me in a state of flow, where the concentration level becomes a meditative state where I am completely focused on the breath and present moment. These include tennis, surfing, paddle boarding, swimming, and of course, my self-practice—yoga and meditation.
What is your favorite healthy food, and do you have a favorite way of preparing it?
Avocados…in all the ways. I’ll get all Forrest Gump on you!
What is your greatest wellness achievement?
Wellness is defined as “the quality or state of being healthy in body and mind, especially as the result of deliberate effort.” For me, the deliberate efforts I have set and achieved towards a healthy body and mind is learning who I am at the core, the deepest part of me, and bravely following what I believe to be my purpose—of quitting my corporate career, choosing to work for myself teaching movement and meditation, and holding the light for the startup ventures despite all the challenges and setbacks. Every time I choose to be brave and follow my heart, I feel it is a great achievement for my wellbeing.
What person in wellness do you most admire and why?
I think this question is best answered by asking myself what are the qualities that I value most in a person—resilience, integrity, courage, humility—and layered on top of that, they have a skill, competency, or special talent within the wellness space. I think it would have to be my meditation teacher, Yogi Charu.
What is the best piece of wellness advice you have ever received and from whom?
The refuge you seek you will never find in the outside world. It is within you. And with that thought, I have been able to cultivate a sense of self trust, or “rejoice in the not knowing…not always having the answers. It gives me the freedom to relax, to let the answers come, to trust that better action leads to better habits, and choosing what’s right for myself.
What do you think is the most exciting wellness innovation you have recently discovered?
I’m fascinated by wellness apps that track and monitor everything from your metabolism rate to your vitamin deficiencies and sleep patterns. But in reality, the most exciting innovations are the things that make it easier for us to communicate, continue working, and bring wellness to our audience in the most positive and impactful way even from the comfort of our homes, like streaming platforms and other tools for the post-pandemic world.
Do you have a secret health or wellness tip you would like to share?
Make time for play, for spontaneity, happy to be in the present, you being you…to feel relaxed, refreshed, and joyful, because our natural state is joyful (when all the misperceptions and fears are shaken off).
What is your favorite place for a healthy vacation or escape?
Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. Surfing; running on the beach; practicing yoga every day; eating fresh, nutritious foods; and enjoying the sun rise and sun set. It’s paradise to me.
What is your favorite self-care routine?
Moving my body/breaking a sweat, spending a moment with my husband cuddling and playing with our dog in the morning, and journaling—all of these things before anything else happens.
What is your go-to for de-stressing?
Taking a long hot candlelit bath or shower with essential oils and soaking salts, then taking time to get ready, slipping on a dress and enjoying date night with my amazing husband.
What aspect of your wellbeing do you struggle with the most, or would most like to improve?
Doing less. I was brought up with the mindset that life is hard, and that to be successful you have to put forth tremendous effort to the point of exhaustion. De-conditioning myself from this belief system—this trap, really—that was modeled to me has been the biggest struggle for me, especially with startup businesses where I have had to hold so much light and energy
