Q&A with Rosie Acosta, Author of YOU ARE RADICALLY LOVED: A Healing Journey to Self Love

Q&A with Rosie Acosta, Author of YOU ARE RADICALLY LOVED: A Healing Journey to Self Love

(Tarcher/Perigee; February 2022)

From the award-winning host of the Radically Loved podcast, comes an invitation to discover the healing power of who you are, body, mind, and spirit. Rosie Acosta is a world-renowned yoga and meditation teacher, host of the top-rated iTunes podcast, Radically Loved, and author of YOU ARE RADICALLY LOVED: A Healing Journey to Self-Love (TarcherPerigee/February 22, 2022). But life hasn’t always been so rosy for Rosie. A first-generation Mexican-American growing up in East L.A. in the 1990s, the odds were stacked against her. Surrounded by inner-city gangs, drug-use and violence, Rosie was a troubled teen who struggled with depression, anxiety, and self-doubt.

After being arrested at age fifteen and with prison on the periphery, Rosie knew she had to make a radical choice: continue on a downward spiral or take deliberate steps toward a healthier life. Up until this point she dismissed spirituality and wellness as something people like her didn’t embrace, until she unexpectedly discovered that yoga offered her a ladder–and she began to climb.

She vowed that if she made it out of East L.A. alive, she would help others achieve the same level of empowerment that helped her get through hardship. In YOU ARE RADICALLY LOVED, Rosie leads readers through the essential spiritual practices she used to create a radically loved life. Part memoir and part guide, Rosie integrates the arc of her own difficult journey as a framework while presenting meditations, movement practices, and journaling questions for identifying and honoring your own radical truths.

Rosie understands firsthand that learning a spiritual practice doesn’t come naturally to everyone–this is what makes her so relatable and why her community has grown exponentially over the past twenty years. The Radically Loved podcast is a go-to resource in the spirituality and mindfulness sphere, with self-love always being at the forefront. She has interviewed some of the world’s inspiring thought leaders and best-selling authors (Arianna Huffington, Elizabeth Gilbert, Deepak Chopra), garnering more than 300,000 monthly subscribers and over 3 million downloads. Rosie has been featured on the cover of Yoga Journal and teaches a wide range of students–from the East Los Angeles community to Olympic athletes, NFL champions, NBA All-Stars and veterans of war. YOU ARE RADICALLY LOVED is a natural extension of Rosie’s teachings and her unique way of using yoga and mindfulness as a too–a wellspring to draw from–in order to help others access their potential and overcome adversity in the same way that she did.

INTERVIEW WITH ROSIE ACOSTA

Why did you write YOU ARE RADICALLY LOVED?

Anytime I’ve gone through something difficult, a breakup, loss or just dealing with life, I’ve always turned to books for solace. I love writing, because it’s been the easiest medium for me to communicate my feelings. It’s the reason why I started my website. I wanted to create a place where people can go to for support, inspiration, guidance, to live a life of love and connection. 

What do you hope readers will take away from the book?

This book is an invitation for readers to write their own story, to create a life full of support, and tools that they can turn to when they don’t feel radically loved. It’s a book about self-inquiry and spiritual empowerment. One of my first readers said that this was “the working class’s guide to spirituality” and I really love that! The book is a flashlight for those who are/or have been in a dark place and are ready to emerge and begin the process of healing.

 What was your publishing experience like, from query to finished book?

Ooof, this is a big question. The query process was easy because I was completely clueless. I had no idea the depth and work it would take. Coming up with a table of contents and sample chapters was easy at first. Once I got into the book proposal, which is basically a business proposal, it got real.  I got rejected 32 times, and by the time I got the actual book deal with a new agent I had changed the premise of the book entirely. I also re-wrote the whole book two different times. It was a bear.

 YOU ARE RADICALLY LOVEDis structured in a unique way: part memoir and part guide, you integrate the arc of your own difficult journey as a framework while presenting meditations, movement practices, and journaling questions for identifying and honoring the reader’s own radical truths. How did blending these components help you simultaneously tell your story while providing guidance?

In order for me to write a prescriptive book, I wanted to show readers that these practices were tried and true. I thought of instances where they made the most sense during pivotal moments in my life. As a student of yoga, I know the importance of the Mind, Body and Spirit connection. Yoga means union, and I wanted to integrate all these components in a simple and effective way for the readers to have their own experiences. So as they are going through the book and my story, readers are prompted to think about their own journey. The invitation is always present. By the end, they have had a full physical experience of what it means to be radically loved, even if they just follow the takeaways at the end of each chapter.

You grew up in East Los Angeles in the 1990s surrounded by inner-city gangs, drug-use, and violence. How did your childhood impact you?

It made me the person I am today. It created a deep level of grit and strength that I wouldn’t have, had my life been easy. I’m grateful for that experience every day. It was my training ground for adulthood. It did create trauma that I wish wasn’t there, and perhaps some unfavorable defects of character, but that’s why I practice yoga, meditation, and mindfulness. I suffered with debilitating panic attacks, agoraphobia and depression from witnessing physical violence, drive-by shootings, and watching someone get stabbed at a movie theatre. This changed my world-view quickly. Fortunately, I was able to see that life didn’t always have to be this unsound, chaotic plane. It was when I first practiced meditation that I felt what it was like to be embodied, to feel myself, to hear myself and hear that tiny voice that was imploring me to choose a different path. So I did.

 What advice do you have for people who feel that the odds are stacked against them? 

I would say that they are probably right and they should move through it anyway. I think back, and had I known how difficult life was going to be taking the steps I did, I don’t know that I would have done it. Sometimes it’s best for us to know that the facts are the facts. That’s your superpower. The odds are stacked against you, the system is rigged, but so what? Wouldn’t you rather say you tried anyway? The Aztecs have this cool saying about the earth, ‘The earth is slippery, slick’ meaning, we are prone to error, and we know this. The point of living life is to build resilience so that we are stronger and more empowered. You are already here, so make the best with what you have. We are all ‘equal before the wave’ so approach life from that place and it keep it moving. 

 Talk about the ways in which yoga and meditation impact your creative process.

The process of being still and focusing is difficult for me. If it weren’t for consistently practicing yoga and meditation and doing my best, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. There would be no podcast, no website, no book. To cultivate creativity, we must give her space to breathe and be. That requires a state of non-distraction. When I take a yoga class, I don’t have my phone in my hand. I’m listening to my teacher, moving, and breathing, which creates a process where my thoughts can have a free playground without the litany of demands or emails. 

 How did writing YOU ARE RADICALLY LOVED help you heal and clarify what’s important to you?

Healing doesn’t move in a straight line; it moves in cycles. One of my friends said that religious people believe in hell and spiritual people have been through hell.  I believe that. Writing has always been a cathartic experience for me, and some of the stories in the book hadn’t been written out or thought of, in many, many years. Those were tough– particularly the stories from my childhood and when I lost my two childhood best friends my freshman year of High School. It’s important for all of us to peel back the layers to see what’s there, to see what’s at the root of our behavior and choices. For me, it’s a helpful endeavor, one that I enjoy journeying.  I know it’s now always pleasant, but that’s why we have support groups and communities like ours.

 You have hundreds of thousands of social media followers. Does this spark inspiration for your writing? Is it a distraction?

It’s a double-edged sword. I love spending time on social media. But I will say, if I had spent as much time as I wanted to, I wouldn’t have written my book. I had to take IG breaks often. I had to go through the withdrawals of checking to see if someone had a question or commented on a post. Once you move past the initial discomfort of ‘not knowing’ it’s easy to be fully present in whatever you are engaged with at that moment. That being said, yes, my community on social media largely helped with the content–so did the topics on my podcast. I would check to see what people wanted to hear, what content they enjoyed most, and how they liked it delivered and I went with that.

 You are a renowned yoga and meditation teacher and host of a top-rated iTunes podcast, Radically Loved. Why do you think your message of radical love resonates with so many people?

I think we all struggle with the same desires, and dreams. We all want to be seen, heard, and understood. Most of our audience is U.S. based. I feel that we have collectively gone through so much in the last few years and people are looking for ways to cope, and ways to support themselves and others.  Our audience is extremely engaged and is always ready to show up heart first. We need more heart-centered presence in the world. We need more honesty, more authenticity more heart. That’s what my intention was when I first started the podcast.

 What is your next project?

Hopefully, I get to write another book! I’ve been working on the next proposal for a few weeks now. The idea has been rattling around my brain since before “You Are Radically Loved”. I love being of service, and there is a struggle that many women go through that isn’t talked about a lot. There aren’t many resources to help support them. That’s as much as I’ll say. You’ll just have to stay tuned to see if I can manifest it! 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ROSIE ACOSTA has studied yoga and mindfulness for more than 20 years and taught for over a decade. She hosts a weekly conversational top-rated wellness podcast, Radically Loved. Rosie has traveled all over the world leading workshops, retreats and yoga teacher trainings. She’s been featured in Yoga Journal, Well + Good, Forbes, The New York Post. She lives in Los Angeles. YOU ARE RADICALLY LOVED is her first book. For more information visit her at www.radicallyloved.com.

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Interviews, On Writing