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salty bake club
This isn’t your average lifestyle podcast—it’s the kind that sneaks in like a midnight craving and lingers like the scent of warm cookies.
We dive headfirst into the deliciously messy parts of being human, unwrapping the sticky shadows with sharp honesty and a wink of mischief.
Think deep talk, humor, and just the right amount of indulgence. Who said your dark side can’t be sweet and creamy?
Wanna share you personal struggles, or ideas with me? Text me and mix your own story into our raw and unfinished podcast batter! Can't wait to hear from you on Instagram.
Follow along on IG: @saltybakeclub
salty bake club
Your Persona Is Just a Mask: Breaking Free from Self-Centered Living
Ever wonder why you feel disconnected despite being constantly surrounded by people? This week, I explore how service to others creates the deep roots of connection we're all yearning for.
Between teaching yoga and receiving your heartfelt messages, I've been reflecting on what truly brings meaning to our lives. The answer isn't complicated, but it challenges our default settings: service beyond self is where true fulfillment lies.
I dive into the fascinating etymology of "persona" (literally meaning "mask") and how our personalities aren't who we are—they're who we've practiced being. Through tiny habit changes, we can transform who we show up as in the world. This goes far beyond yoga philosophy; quantum physics confirms we're more energy than matter, all interconnected beneath the surface.
Most provocatively, I explore how even our insecurities can be manifestations of ego. That constant worry about what others think? It's still self-centered thinking, just disguised as concern for others. True service comes from a place of genuine care without expectation of recognition or personal benefit.
Before I take my summer break to upgrade our podcast equipment, I challenge you to find one small way to be of service—not to feel good about yourself, but to genuinely contribute. Whether walking shelter dogs, helping at a homeless center, or creating service opportunities at work, these actions create the root networks that connect us all.
Join me on this journey of service and storytelling. Share your experiences, reflect on your intentions, and I'll be waiting to hear all about it when we reconnect in September. Your time and attention mean everything to me—thank you for being part of this community.
See ya in September
xx, -S.
Welcome back my loves to another episode of the Salty Bake Club. I'm your host, sarah Grace, and this week's episode is brought to you by a fine praline, a chocolate crunch, a lightweight milk cream and some caramel fun inside. And no, I'm just kidding, this is a Kinder Schoko Fresh and I am still on a whitey tea. I have no time for baking at all. So I made it easy for myself and, to be honest, this week's episode shouldn't even be an episode. I only planned on recording a little. Hey, this is me, we're on a summer break. But then in the past few days I received so many personal messages from you guys about how you cherish this podcast, how it sparks conversations in your inner circle and, seriously, that you bring so much appreciation towards this and voice it and send me those messages. I was so filled with love. So I was like you know what, why not make another episode and then go on a break? So that is what we're doing. It's going to be a shorty again and, as I said, I didn't anything because I'm still teaching on this 200 hour yoga teacher training, which is my heart and soul. If you haven't known that, I'm doing that.
Speaker 1:The teacher trainings are called trees and stories. Trees stand for the roots that we grow right. That root net Because if we grow we better also grow deep. And that root net also stands for connection, the connection that we have to each other, the connection that we don't always see but that is so present in our lives. And that connection is interweaved and inextricably connected. So we are always connected to the ones that touched our hearts. But in order to grow such a rootnet, in order to do that we need to share our stories, we need to open our hearts, we need to be brave, we need to share our stories, we need to open our hearts, we need to be brave, we need to be courageous, we need to be vulnerable. So that is what literally fills my days these days, and while I'm deeply immersed in that 200-hour yoga teacher trainings, where this is the core, this is the root, I am so miraculously in awe with the group that I'm being allowed to guide at the moment. Because you know what? We are all not perfect. We all bring our struggles to the table, and this is going to be this week's topic. We all bring a certain hesitation or fear or insecurity towards anything that we try to do in life. But the predicament that we're facing is that if we do not show up, if we do not allow our hearts to be seen, our words to be heard, if we don't really brave, whatever situation we are facing, then we are keeping ourselves small.
Speaker 1:Last week's episode I talked about tiny habits. This is a tiny habit that will, at some point, define who you are. If you see yourself as a very insecure person, if you see yourself as courageous, brave, bold, that is simply the accumulation of moments that you practiced before. As long as there is a breath in your lungs, as long as your heart is beating, as long as life is giving you another day, there is the option to pivot, to change your tiny habits, to change who you think you are. After all, what we think as our character, our personal traits, our persona, is just a mask, and I mean that quite literally, because the Greek word persona stems from a word root that means mask. So your personality is not who you are. Your personality is who you practiced to be, and with this episode, I want to actively engage you in changing Think of last week's episode tiny micro habits, tiny reactions to your everyday life, so that you can become the person that you actually want to be, so that you can show up in this life as the person that you fiercely believe in and not only that version that you are by default.
Speaker 1:And my, oh my. This goes so far beyond just yoga. I mean, yes, yoga itself. The word, again the word root, stems from the word yoking, which could be translated as creating connection. Yoga means creating unity. Yeah, unity, the word itself goes even so much beyond connection.
Speaker 1:I think Gabon Maté says that a connection means that something is basically split in two and put together again, but that that we have to the boundaries of our skin. But it goes so far beyond that and we are all inextricably connected with each other through what we don't see, through what is growing deep, through what is under the surface. I know, I know we're living these modern lives. I also don't want to go too far into the spiritual world here. We are so misguided by that shape, that form our bodies and the belief that there is a boundary between me and you, when, at our core, we are all energy. And if you think that is a little woohoo, well, look at quantum physics. We really are just such a tiny bracket matter and that huge amount of energy.
Speaker 1:But this is not what I want that episode to revolve around, and this week we're not having a lot of time, so I'm trying to speed up to get my point across Wait, I'm not having my matcha. Okay, hold on, I need my coffee. I need my matcha coffee thingy. I'm actually not drinking coffee, not matcha, it's something in between. It's that weird powder that I got from the Reformhaus we're calling it in German. I have no idea what you would call that. You know that very bio, organic, gorgeous grocery store. My oh my, and it's not the best. But you know I can't drink five coffees a day. Okay, so what is my aim for this episode?
Speaker 1:These yoga teacher trainings that I am teaching bring me into that moment of fierce passion, of something that is ignited within me that gives me so much life, energy, so much motivation, so much belief in myself and humanity generally. And that is because I am of service. I know that I also make my money with that. It also is a business. It would be unfair to say that, but deep down, it is the core of what I want to do, of what I long to do, of what expression my heart wants to take in this lifetime. So every time I teach those yoga teacher trainings, I am reminded of my purpose. I consider myself extremely lucky that I am at this point in my life where I'm doing what I believe I'm meant to do. But don't let yourself be blinded by that big example.
Speaker 1:I also believe that the lack of service that we all bring into this life to our communities is at the very root. What turns our society so sour, why everybody is so obsessed with themselves, with their own problems, and why everybody's living such an egocentric life. Honestly, living in the West, it's not hard to see that the grand majority of thoughts that everybody is thinking is about themselves. That is why so much is Out of balance. I fiercely believe that if we would be of service more with our lives, with our energy, with the time that we've got, then we would create such a root net, we would create such a connection, we would create a space where we can share our stories, because service is what ultimately brings us in a deeper connection with ourselves, with others and, if I may say so, I also believe, with what we could call the divine, or the universe, or the soul of the world, or you know whatever.
Speaker 1:You get my point that so many of us feel so hollow at times, so meaningless in that time that they've been given. I believe it is because we have trained our minds with our tiny habits to revolve around us. And you know, you've got to be really careful. Because maybe somebody now would argue I am so insecure that my whole thought process revolves around others. It revolves around how do I please others, how do I not make them upset? How do I fit in more? How do I make others like me more? How will they perceive me? Is that going to be okay? If I say that, do I go a step too far if I say my own truth?
Speaker 1:But when I hear something like that, I really want to remind you that you are not doing that for them. You're not being of service to the world. You literally have your ego at your driver's seat, because your ego is both. The one polarity is the very egocentric person that we are thinking of when we hear that word. Right, that guy or that girl who only does what is best for them. But on the other side of the spectrum of really egocentrical thoughts is somebody who's so insecure that they're constantly comparing, that they're constantly thinking about how they can look better in somebody other's eyes. And that, again, is because you think about yourself so much.
Speaker 1:And I know this is a real struggle, right, I know this is not done with bad intention, but I also believe the only cure to that is being of service Wholeheartedly, humbly. Give it your everything, give it all that you've got. Be of service with your heart and soul, whatever that might mean. And, yes, I know that we're not all in the position to quit our jobs and travel the world and find out what we love to do and then find that heart fire and follow that and create a business out of that. I know that is not the path for each and everyone and I'm not saying that that's what you have to do, but I'm saying there are tiny ways to be of service to your community without thinking about yourself. And, once again, your insecurity may stop you from being fully and completely of service, because you always think about what you gain from that, yeah, and even if it's acknowledgement, even if it's that you feel good about yourself, and, of course, again, being of service gives you a warm feeling around your heart, but it shouldn't be done to make you feel good about yourself, to make you feel better to feed your ego once again.
Speaker 1:Psychologically, we are all so complex. It's not easy to unravel the core intention of why I'm doing something, why I'm saying something. That already requires a ton of self-reflection. For me, it was a ton of meditation that allowed me to quiet the mind so much that I actually could entangle my own thoughts. But yeah, before going on summer break, I wanted to urge you to be of service in some way. Whoever is listening to that and I know that it's usually between 60 and 100 people every week I want to urge you to be of service, whether that means taking a dog for a walk at your local shelter, not for your own pleasure, not for a workout, but seriously just for the sake of being of service. Whether that means doing something without expectation for your friends, for your partners and that is a tricky one again, because you're going to receive so much recognition from people who are close to you that it might feed your ego once again. So you've got to be really careful and you've got to be really self-reflected on these ones or if you're actually helping out at a homeless shelter, if you're twisting something around and implementing a tiny habit, a micro habit at your workplace that allows you to be of service regularly.
Speaker 1:With this episode being a little bit shorter, take that extra time. Sit down and don't let Spotify or Apple or YouTube bring on the next video after that. Maybe don't even listen to music. Just let yourself sit in silence for a little while and come up with something, anything at all, how you could be of service to this world, and I promise you you will grow deep down, you will create roots, you will create connection and if you even end up sharing your story in some way, amazing, I would be honored to receive it. Amazing, I would be honored to receive it, to read it, to hear it. So, thank you, community. Thank you so much for all the appreciation, the recognition messages. I am deeply in awe of it and I could cry. I could cry.
Speaker 1:I'm going to take a little bit more than a month off for a purpose. I have been struggling with my equipment Maybe you heard my robo voice two episodes ago and I'm gonna use that time to refine and make this podcast even better, so that we can spend countless hours together, which I'm so looking forward to. So I'm gonna see you in September. I cannot wait to reconnect. I hope that you all will still be here. To be honest, I am a little scared that I will lose some listeners, because that's what everybody says. What's going to happen, but you know, trust, love, and there is so much of this here, so much love is in this place. Thanks for giving me your time. I'm your host, sarah Grace, and I can't wait to reconnect in September. Thank you, I love you.