Find Your Voice. Write Your Story. Own Your Life.
Guided mentorship for people who feel stuck and disconnected from themselves.
Combining lived experience with yogic philosophy, I empower individuals to reclaim ownership of their lives through a new fundamental way of being.
Are you moving through life at the mercy of your circumstances, or are you ready to own it?
Ankita Rao, CFA
“atha yogānuśāsanam || yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ || tadā draṣṭuḥ svarūpe 'vasthānam || abhyāsa-vairāgyābhyāṁ tan-nirodhaḥ || tad eva arthamātranirbhāsaṁ svarūpa-śūnyam iva samādhiḥ”
“Henceforth begins the discipline of yoga. Yoga is restraint of the distractions of the mind. Then, the Seer rests in their own true nature. Thought is controlled by practice and non-attachment. In Samādhi, only the object of focus shines; the ego-self falls away.”
— Patanjali Yoga Sutras 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.12, 3.3
why yogic philosophy?
While most coaches and mentors draw from psychology or performance tools, I root transformation in yogic philosophy, interpreted for modern day aspirations and challenges.
We often compartmentalize life when navigating challenges or striving for goals in career, relationships, and beyond. But how we operate in one area inevitably influences how we show up in others. Each life domain is simply a different expression of a shared root: our fundamental way of being.
Achieving aspirations or solving challenges in any domain requires overcoming (“restraining”) the fears, judgments, and limiting beliefs (“distractions of the mind”) inherent to this root.
This begins with returning to the root: uncovering core values (“true nature”) to find your voice beneath the conditioning, rediscovering your ideal self. When the ideal self becomes the “object of focus” in any situation, you begin writing your story.
Taking deliberate action in service of this ideal self, cultivated through a sense of agency i.e. “control of thought” rather than controlled by circumstances, moves you towards Samādhi, a state of equanimity where thoughts, actions and behaviours reflect those of the ideal self.
No external event, however undesirable, can shake you. Because if you showed up as you are meant to be, it could not have unfolded any other way. Personal and professional achievements might result from this state, but as byproducts, and not the destination.
And in this Samādhic state of profound steadiness of mind and unity with your true self, you are liberated. You begin to own your life with this new fundamental way of being.
our goal at lost+found is guiding you towards Samādhi…
…a fundamental way of being underpinned by 5 key traits - agency, non-attachment, growth mindset, authenticity, and self-awareness - to give our deepest aspirations the best chance of success
meet ankita
With a career spanning five countries and four sectors— banking, consulting, social impact, and government— and achieving “those” personal milestones — marriage, kids — I know what it means to look successful “on paper” while feeling deeply out of sync internally.
I found myself performing a version of myself shaped by external expectations, and unfounded fears and assumptions.
The dissonance led me back to my roots in yogic philosophy, one of the world’s oldest systems of self-development. A verse in the Rig Veda invoking Agni, the sacred fire, revealed new meaning: it was beyond just a ritual flame. Rather, the inner light of agency.
Agency to show up as my ideal self – the person I wanted to be when I grew up.
To achieve my aspirations in my personal or professional life, I had to define my ideal self from the inside out, starting with my values, and embody that self in every aspect of life - work, home, community, and beyond. I could not show up as different versions of me as they were all expressions of the same root - my fundamental way of being.
The transformation was immediate. I no longer viewed challenging external circumstances as roadblocks to my ambition. External achievements stopped being my source of validation. I became more interested in supporting others than competing with them. Goals became indicators for the right path towards my ideal self vs. finish lines. Setbacks became data points to course correct as needed.
And with this, I was liberated. Liberated from external labels and expectations. Liberated from the constant chase towards an ever moving target. A target that became an abstract concept I could no longer justify.
With this, I found my voice to write my story - and now I want to help you write yours.
“[Yoga] does not simply advocate meditation but takes into consideration the entire life of a person. It’s philosophy is scientific. It welcomes, and in fact, demands experimental verification by the student. It’s ultimate aim is to bring about a thorough metamorphosis of the individual who practices it sincerely.
It’s goal is nothing less than the total transformation of a seemingly limited physical, mental and emotional person into a fully illuminated, thoroughly harmonized and perfected being - from an individual with likes and dislikes, pains and pleasures, successes and failures, to a sage of permanent peace, joy and selfless dedication to the entire creation.”
— Swami Satchidananda, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali