I was the one everyone counted on.
For almost forty years I kept a promise I made at sixteen. This is how I lost myself inside it, and how I keep finding my way home.
See how we can work together
It started with a yes.
I was sixteen when my brother Marcelino asked me to take his place. Most people knew him as Rembrandt, the young artist in the 1979 film The Warriors. To us he was Marcy. He was twenty-eight, he was dying, and he asked his little sister to care for our mother.
I said yes. I said yes to a lifelong commitment without knowing what a commitment was.
That yes shaped the next forty years.
Torment, trust, transitions. Recreated from my sketchbook.
Somewhere along the way, the role became my name.
The promise got heavier as wife, mother and a career in Corporate America were added on top. I tried to fill my brother's shoes and be the perfect mom and wife so I wouldn't lose my family.
At twenty-three my body said what I couldn't. Chronic fatigue syndrome put me in bed for a year. Later I raised two daughters on my own. I kept up a good front while something inside me went quiet.
I know that prison from the inside. I built it myself, one yes at a time.
Faith, qigong and a storm.
In 2007 a friend brought me to my first qigong class at the TCM World Foundation in New York City. I didn't know I was meeting the practice that would rebuild my health. I trained under Qigong Grandmaster and O.M.D. Nan Lu, the creator of Dragon's Way Qigong®, and became a certified instructor in 2008. That is where the name Dragon Lifestyle comes from.
In October 2012, Superstorm Sandy flooded the first floor of our Staten Island home, and for a while my family had nowhere to live. Everything I had learned was tested at once. The next spring I started S.I. Dragon Lifestyle to share what had carried me.
In 2024 my mother died. The promise was complete, and I lost my purpose and my identity in the same season. Faith and Mental Fitness helped me move through the grief. I'm still moving through the cycles of recovery, and I'm going back for the louder, unapproved versions of me I left behind.
I'm not writing to you from a finish line. I'm a few steps ahead on the same road.
From the Job of Living to the Art of Living.
The Job of Living 1986 to 2005
- 1986
The promise. Marcy dies, and I begin caring for our mother.
- 1992
A year in bed. Chronic fatigue syndrome at twenty-three.
- 1998
Raising two daughters on my own, while working in Corporate America.
The Art of Living 2005 to now
- 2005
Brooklyn to Staten Island. I moved my family to a new home and began my own healing.
- 2007
First qigong class at the TCM World Foundation, New York City.
- 2008
Certified instructor, Dragon's Way Qigong®, trained by Grandmaster Nan Lu.
- 2011
Medical Qigong, Level One, LifeForce Tao of Medical Qigong.
- 2012
Superstorm Sandy. My story of that year, "The Mystery of Transformation," appears in the Amazon bestselling anthology Healthy, Abundant & Wise.
- 2013
S.I. Dragon Lifestyle begins on Staten Island.
- 2017
Dragon Lifestyle LLC. Ramsey Financial Coach Master Training.
- 2020
Positive Intelligence® joins my work.
- 2024
My mother's passing. The promise is complete.
- 2026
Remembering Rembrandt, my book: my story and the full W.A.R.R.I.O.R.S. Method. Coming soon.
My Serenity Prayer: the one I can change is me. Recreated from my sketchbook.
Faith is my anchor.
We can only control what is within our power to influence. Everything else we must leave in God's hands if we want a heart free of bitterness, anxiety and vengeance.
Mayra
I walk with people of every faith. I will never push you. You are always in control of your journey.
A mentor who has walked the road.
I listen first. I hand back what you already know, the things the judge in your head made you forget. When it's time, I'll name a dead end plainly. Then you choose your next wisest step, at your own pace.
Some of the people I work with have stayed in touch for years. Growth goes in cycles and deepens over time, and I'm glad to walk more than one season with you.
I'm known for being candid. I show up here the way I am in private, and I'll ask the same of you. The real you is the only one I can help.
Wu Ming Qigong
Gentle movement and breath that bring the body back into the conversation.
Mental Fitness
Quieting the inner judge so you can respond instead of react.
Wealth principles
The 7 Baby Steps, plus an honest look at what you're really buying when you spend for relief.
All three rest on Faith principles and Eastern philosophy.
On qigong: research reviews from the U.S. National Institutes of Health found that qigong improved quality of life in older adults, with enough evidence to support it for balance and fall prevention. Read the NIH summary
Mayra Sanchez, Holistic Wisdom Strategist
- Certified Instructor, Dragon's Way Qigong®, trained by Qigong Grandmaster and O.M.D. Nan Lu
- LifeForce Tao of Medical Qigong, Level One, Tao of Healing, New York City
- Ramsey-trained Master Financial Coach, Financial Coach Master Training
- PQ Coach™, Positive Intelligence® mental fitness
- Contributing author, Amazon bestselling anthology Healthy, Abundant & Wise
- Founder, Dragon Lifestyle LLC, Staten Island, New York
- Artist, The Brooklyn Art Library Sketchbook Project
- Co-host, Let Your Voices Be Heard podcast
"The Mystery of Transformation"
My chapter in Healthy, Abundant & Wise tells the story of Superstorm Sandy and what it taught me about letting go.
Your story isn't finished either.
Start where you are.
In Faith & Warriors Spirit,
Mayra
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DISCLAIMERS: The coach identified herein is an independent member of the PQ Coach program, and not an employee, agent or representative of Positive Intelligence, LLC. The coaching program offered herein is independently owned and operated by the coach, and is not affiliated with or endorsed or sponsored by Positive Intelligence, LLC. PROGRAM CONTENT AND MATERIAL DO NOT CONSTITUTE MEDICAL OR MENTAL HEALTH ADVICE AND ARE NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL CARE, DIAGNOSIS OR TREATMENT OF ANY MEDICAL OR MENTAL HEALTH CONDITION.
From the Job of Living to the Art of Living.
Mayra Sanchez, Holistic Wisdom Strategist
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