Glam Guru: Elizabeth Irvine in Houston Magazine
written by Holly Crawford for Houston Magazine
Transcribed below:
Elizabeth Irvine offers health and spiritual counsel, plus a jewelry line that’s both pretty and purposeful.
Integrative health expert, yoga instructor and author Elizabeth Irvine has the secret to living a healthy and happy life— and she’s not keeping it to herself.
With a mantra revolving about positivity and self-care, the small-town Kansas transplant leads stress-reduction workshops all over the country, in eluding the Jung Center (junghouston.org) and The Houstonian Health Club & Spa ( houstonian.com). Her Soul Space Retreat, this month at Belmont Maroma Resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico is four days of yoga and meditation by the Caribbean Sea. Irvine leases spaces in idyllic locales twice a year and brings a flooring of 12 to 20 women. She’s already planning a Santa Fe retreat for next spring.
In her workshops, the age-defying 52-year-old uses a combination of yoga, the calming art of coloring a mandala, journaling and guided meditation that attendees can practice in their daily lives. “Use your daily activities like getting ready in the morning, folding laundry and doing dishes, a moving meditation to be present, intentional and cleansing,” says the slender blonde with blue-green eyes. She also helps clients create personal affirming mantras—“The simpler it is, the easier it is to remember”— to recall in times of stress or self-doubt.
It all started for Irvine in 1995, when her baby son Sam, had a rare skin disorder that perplexed his doctors. As an ICU nurse in London—where her oil and gas hubby was assigned for 15 years—Irvine found herself searching for answers beyond Western medicine, for herself and her child. “ I was really stressed, and something had to change, or I was going to lose it.” Irvine remembers. She started doing yoga every Wednesday. “I realized that on Wednesdays, I thought I was going to be okay!”
More yoga, retreats and her pursuit of integrative health followed. From acupuncture to oatmeal baths and wraps, Irvine tried everything for Sam—and it worked. “By the time Sam was 4 he was completely healed,” she says. “ It was really kind of a miracle, and that was the beginning of the journey. “She completed a two-year yoga certification and began teaching yoga. Once the family came back to Houston in 2003, Irvine hit the ground running as a yoga instructor and writer. She’s penned three books with Bright Sky Press: her newest, Meditations From the Earth, was published last year.
The newest component of her well-being biz is the Jewelery Project, which began in 2011 after Irvine fielded inquiries about the sandalwood beads she wore every day. With the help of a friend, she started hand-knotting serenity bead necklaces—some with spiritually significant crystals, or locket-like pendents meant to keep handwritten positive affirmations. “It’s jewelry with meaning, “ she says, “and each piece is unique.”
All handmade in Houston, her baubles are sold at her workshops as well as Kuhl-Linscomb, M Penner, Body Mind & Soul and the Houstonian. Irvine gives a percentage of profits to local charities. This month, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, the Jewelery Project is debuting a special collaboration with Elaine Turner, benefiting the non-profit Pink Ribbons.
“Everything Iv’e done, it was all a building block,” she says, “We just have to step out of the way and let the universe direct us.”