Daring to Dream for a Better Life: Dr. Susan Biali

Interview by Bonita Summers

Dr. Susan Biali recognized early in her career that professional success as a physician did not lead to personal happiness and well-being. Making the bold move from doctor to flamenco dancer, she travels widely to perform and to encourage others to live their dreams. Susan is the author of the upcoming book, Your Prescription for Life! Seven Steps to Extraordinary Health and Happiness.

YW: By outward appearances, you were successful as a physician. Yet, you experienced clinical depression. Why do you feel you became depressed, and how long did the depression last before you were able to overcome it?

SB: I know now that I became very depressed because I had wandered so far from who I truly am. The things that feed my soul and spirit the most, such as dancing and performing, and educating the public through writing, speaking and media work, were completely absent throughout most of my life. I gave up on my dream of a dance career (I was about 10, and had never had dance lessons, but for years had “rehearsed” and made up choreographies in my basement). I became clinically depressed, to the point where it began to severely affect my functioning, towards the end of my medical school training, and it reached a crisis point in the second year of my five-year Emergency Medicine program. That depression forced me to drop out of the program—and simultaneously forced me to begin my new, authentic life. Thank goodness for depression, I often say!

YW: Depression often robs people of energy and motivation. In fact, I’ve heard it said that depression is the body’s way of compelling us to stop what we’re doing until a new awareness is realized. What do you think of that notion, and can you describe that moment when you first felt that you could take action to overcome your depression?

SB: I absolutely love that definition and think it is right on. My depression, by making my life unbearable, and by making me unable to continue performing in my “chosen” profession, forced me to step back and finally see what was really going on with me and my life.

I know now that I became so depressed because I had wandered so far from who I truly am.

That first moment for me came during one particularly dark night, after a 36-hour shift in the Cardiac Care Unit. I came home, and couldn’t imagine going through one more day of that life, and I seriously considered ending my life. At that moment, my senior resident called me (she had noticed what a tough time I’d been having, as it was starting to show), and offered me a stress leave. “You don’t have to do this,” she told me, after I confessed to her how unhappy and totally unfulfilled I felt. “Why don’t you take some time off and see what you might really want to do with your life?” she suggested. No one in my life had ever suggested that I might actually have another “version” of life available to me. I resigned from my residency, and started my new dance career several months after that phone call.

YW: How did you become a professional dancer?

SB: I obsessively wanted to be a dancer when I was a little girl. During my stress leave from the ER, I went straight to Cuba by myself. To this day, I have no idea why I decided to do that; I just knew. There, I witnessed the most incredible salsa dancers performing at my hotel and suddenly remembered who I was. I went home and signed up for salsa dance classes (I was 28). I knew right away that I wanted to take it as far as I could and perform professionally. I got my first opportunity to perform on a dance team a couple of years later. An opportunity to compete in Los Angeles led me to take a private lesson in flamenco dance, and I fell in love with it. At 31, I began my flamenco dance career, was professional within a couple of years, and by the time I was 35, I formed my own one-woman show flamenco dance company in Los Cabos, Mexico and found myself dancing for celebrities and all kinds of incredible people. My husband also happens to be a dancer (I met him in Mexico), and we were asked to teach couples and groups from all over the world how to dance salsa—including the rock star, Pink!

Life can be so amazing when you follow your heart and your dreams, and open the door to miracles! I’ve witnessed one after the other, ever since I decided to live an authentic (albeit somewhat “crazy”!) life.

YW: How has flamenco dancing benefited you in other areas of your life?

SB: Wow, tough question—there are just too many benefits, to be able to describe them all. Flamenco dance, and dance in general, boosts my serotonin and endorphins (and protects me from depression) like nothing else. Dancing on a stage in front of hundreds of people by myself, and learning how to project the spirit and passion of the dance all the way to the back of a room, has taught me how to translate that experience and ability into my career as an inspirational speaker. I dance from my heart, and that taught me how to speak from my heart. Dancing provided me with a surprising way to earn extra income to fund another life dream: to live in another country. It would have been very hard to get my papers as a doctor in Mexico, but I managed to get them as a dancer! I actually earned more per hour dancing (and still do), than I do as a doctor. It’s true what they say: do what you love, and the money will follow.

More than anything, my experience with following the “silly, impractical” dreams in your heart will lead you to places that you’ve never imagined, and will have repercussions far beyond the simple “dream” that you think you’re following. I never imagined being a life coach, but this life journey has been so miraculous to me that I found myself wanting to help and inspire others to live their dreams.

YW: How important to one’s well-being is having a creative outlet?

SB: It is essential. We all are creative, and I’m convinced that if a person doesn’t find some way to joyfully express his or her inherent creativity, it will show up negatively in some area of his or her life or health. When I don’t dance, I get cranky and start looking for others to blame. As my mom will point out: “Susan, I think you need to get back to taking dance lessons again—you were in a far better mood then!”

I never imagined being a life coach, but this life journey has been so miraculous to me that I found myself wanting to help and inspire others to live their dreams.

I’ve walked into a flamenco class with the beginnings of a nasty cold, and finished the class without a sign of it. That has happened so many times that I’ve lost count.

Being creative is such a joyful experience for a person’s entire self that I’m certain that it lights up every cell in the body, boosts immunity, protects it from mental illness, and so on.

YW: You had a brain tumour in 2003 that went away. What did you do to resolve it?

SB: That was quite a mystery. I went and got a CT scan because of a ringing in my ear, and they saw a totally unrelated pituitary tumour. Six weeks later, when they did a more detailed scan, the radiologist personally called me into the viewing suite to show me the miracle: it was totally back to normal. What I did during that time was I sent emails to everyone I knew, asking for prayers, and my mom put her church’s huge prayer chain into action. I was also very positive about it, visualizing the tumour shrinking, etc. I never really accepted it as reality. I think the prayers probably made the biggest difference, though!

YW: What role does illness play in our lives?

SB: I think illness is just such a wonderful teacher. It may point to something in our life that we need to change. It may act as a wake-up call or remind us of our mortality—telling us that we don’t really know how much time we’ve got left, and we’ve got to make the most of what we have. By taking away from us something that we’ve taken for granted, an illness can restore a huge appreciation for the most simple things in life. If we’re too busy to pay attention, illness or an accident will sometimes knock us flat in order to achieve a purpose (I know many instances of successful writers and musicians whose greatest works were conceived while lying in bed, recuperating from a “freak” accident). I always, always think illness is a gift, as difficult or tragic as the circumstances might be. The person is always changed in some way—and you can always find deeper meaning and purpose in the experience.

YW: As an author, international speaker, life coach, wellness expert, and professional flamenco dancer, you lead an intensely busy life. What is the first thing you experience when the balance between work and life has been compromised, and how do you resolve the imbalance?

SB: My husband is a great “canary in the coal mine,” because he will usually be the first to complain when I get too busy! I also find that I get more tired, and that I’ll start skipping meals or not eating properly when I get too busy. When I notice that, I’ll immediately start going to bed earlier (I also enlist my husband’s help with this), and make a point of eating three solid meals a day, even if I have to do take-out orders to get them!

YW: What do you think are the key factors that hold people back from living life to the fullest?

SB: Society. Our society in general encourages us to conform, follow patterns of “success,” and to be afraid of taking risks. In every generation, the people who do the greatest things, and live the greatest lives (that have impact for generations or centuries), are the ones who seem to be the misfits, or rebels. People are taught to go with what’s “safe” instead of trusting that the dreams in their hearts, and their unique talents, are there for a reason. Another major error that people make is that when they start to contemplate trying out a dream, they tell others, who then discourage them. Most people, when you share a dream with them, will automatically tell you why it won’t work, or why you’re crazy. Find people in your life who will support and encourage you (in my case it was authors of books who had lived their dreams), and limit your soul-baring to them. Protect your dreams and your talents! They are among the most precious things you’ve been given in this lifetime!

I never imagined being a life coach, but this life journey has been so miraculous to me that I found myself wanting to help and inspire others to live their dreams.

PHOTOS: Biali Dancing > Lunaphoto.com

ARTICLE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN ISSUE 11-2 OF YOUR WORKPLACE MAGAZINE.