Being 'Spiritually Loose' with Susan Pearse

WEBVTT

1
00:00:02.680 --> 00:00:03.960
A listener production.

2
00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:11.359
Susan Pearce is a best selling author and a leadership

3
00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:14.519
expert who is passionate about conscious leadership.

4
00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:17.199
In fact, she developed Australia's first.

5
00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:20.760
Mindfulness based leadership program all the Way back in two thousand,

6
00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:23.640
which has now been delivered to companies around the world.

7
00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:26.120
Outside of her corporate roles.

8
00:00:25.879 --> 00:00:28.359
Though, Susan is a woman who has been on a

9
00:00:28.440 --> 00:00:32.600
journey of spiritual seeking and self discovery for more than

10
00:00:32.600 --> 00:00:36.159
two decades. Her search for the answers of how to

11
00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:39.840
live a more fulfilled and connected life have taken her,

12
00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:42.880
in her words, around the world, from rave parties in

13
00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:46.600
Ibitha to jazz bars in New York, from traditional hula

14
00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:50.119
dancing and Hawaii to qualifying as a Condolina yoga teacher

15
00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:50.719
in Spain.

16
00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:54.359
She has had quite some fascinating.

17
00:00:53.880 --> 00:00:57.520
Experiences when she says that instead of finding answers, all

18
00:00:57.560 --> 00:01:01.439
she found was rules, and instead of joy, she found judgment.

19
00:01:02.119 --> 00:01:04.640
So as a result, Susan came up with the term.

20
00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:09.760
Spiritually loose to describe her approach to life. She is

21
00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:14.319
now sharing her quite fascinating story and offering her spiritually

22
00:01:14.439 --> 00:01:18.719
Loose Manifesto as an antidote for the modern world diseases

23
00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:21.359
of emptiness, regret, and disappointment.

24
00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:25.159
She says, It's okay to be spiritual and loose, humble

25
00:01:25.400 --> 00:01:31.000
and confident, patient and intolerant, deep and superficial, and above all,

26
00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:35.519
it is perfect to just be you. I absolutely loved

27
00:01:35.560 --> 00:01:39.799
this conversation with Susan. She is so full of infectious energy.

28
00:01:40.280 --> 00:01:42.599
I think that you will find her story just as

29
00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:44.000
interesting as I did.

30
00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:45.599
Here is my chat with Susan.

31
00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:50.680
Susan, Welcome to the Crappy to Happy podcast, hik. It's

32
00:01:50.680 --> 00:01:53.200
great to be here, Susan. I read your book Spiritually Loose.

33
00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:56.680
You are speaking to a fellow spiritual seeker, so I.

34
00:01:56.680 --> 00:01:58.079
Really enjoyed the book.

35
00:01:58.359 --> 00:02:00.599
First up, I have to say your book opens with

36
00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:04.200
you going to see quite a well known psychic in

37
00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:06.840
his backyard in Brisbane.

38
00:02:07.079 --> 00:02:08.719
Is that Jason McDonald at Nunda?

39
00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:09.879
Yes it was.

40
00:02:11.080 --> 00:02:13.840
I've been to that house. I've been to that yard

41
00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:15.080
more than once.

42
00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:18.759
So I just as I read it, I thought, oh,

43
00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:23.080
I know Jason McDonald. I he was my and can

44
00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:25.240
I say too, it's interesting that your book opened with

45
00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:28.719
that because my seeing Jason McDonald I reckon around the

46
00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:34.360
similar age as you. I was about twenty four, I

47
00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:36.360
think twenty three twenty four when I first went to

48
00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:38.120
see him in the city, actually in Brisbane.

49
00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:40.159
I was working in the city, and that.

50
00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:43.840
Probably was the experience that really cracked me open to

51
00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:49.120
this whole idea of psychics and medianship and the para normal.

52
00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:51.759
And I've been on a similar journey ever since, although

53
00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:54.280
I will say it not quite as intense as yours

54
00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:59.360
having read the book. But you saw Jason. Anybody in

55
00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:03.360
Brisbane who's seen He's quite well known in Brisbane, and

56
00:03:03.400 --> 00:03:04.840
he told you that he couldn't see.

57
00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:05.240
Anything for you.

58
00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:07.960
What was that experience like for you at that time

59
00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:08.680
in your life?

60
00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:12.199
And I have to admit it freaked me out. I think,

61
00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:12.439
you know.

62
00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:15.680
The first thing that came out of my mouth was, oh,

63
00:03:15.719 --> 00:03:17.919
my gosh, am I going to die? Because I went

64
00:03:17.960 --> 00:03:20.479
with two other friends and one friend of my sister

65
00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:23.599
and they came back with all of this information. So

66
00:03:24.120 --> 00:03:26.439
when he said to me, I can't see anything in

67
00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:28.240
your future, the first thing that I thought of is

68
00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:30.439
not going to have a car accident on the way home.

69
00:03:30.599 --> 00:03:32.039
So I freaked out.

70
00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:35.039
And he and but he said to me, you know,

71
00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:37.919
the spirits are just not giving me anything. You're a

72
00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:41.479
highly intuitive person, Go take your money. So he gave

73
00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:43.719
the money back to me, and he said, you can

74
00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:46.800
work out your own path. You know, your money's better

75
00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:48.240
spent going and having a cup of tea.

76
00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:50.800
I can imagine how freaky that would be. Also kind

77
00:03:50.840 --> 00:03:54.000
of disappointing because I had the same experience. Everybody was

78
00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:58.719
getting these amazing insights and really accurate predictions and I

79
00:03:58.759 --> 00:04:01.080
did too, by the way, So kind of a.

80
00:04:01.159 --> 00:04:01.960
Kind of a letdown.

81
00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:04.919
Yes, it was, and you know, because again it just

82
00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:06.960
wasn't the couple of people I went with. But as

83
00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:10.120
you know, Jason's got like an amazing kind of reputation.

84
00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:13.960
But that clearly was the message for me that day

85
00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:18.279
because had I had been given all of the answers

86
00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:20.399
to how my life was going to unfolow, I never

87
00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:22.199
would have gone on the search.

88
00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:23.519
So Jason's brilliant.

89
00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:27.040
So, Susan, that did set you off on a path,

90
00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:30.279
or did it, because you refer to later sort of

91
00:04:30.279 --> 00:04:31.720
having a quarter life crisis.

92
00:04:31.720 --> 00:04:32.480
Tell me about that.

93
00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:37.600
Yeah, that was interesting because I grew up, you know,

94
00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:41.959
pretty typical to a lot of you know girls, where

95
00:04:41.959 --> 00:04:45.000
we had the whole tick list of all the things

96
00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:47.720
that we wanted to, you know, get in place, so

97
00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:51.360
you know, find the husband, by the house, you know,

98
00:04:51.560 --> 00:04:54.800
establish my career, get a really good job, all of

99
00:04:54.800 --> 00:05:00.279
those things. And I had ticked the checklist off to

100
00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:03.839
only find my self in a place where I was

101
00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:07.839
completely miserable. And it's like it happened to me almost

102
00:05:08.439 --> 00:05:10.800
you know, overnight, where I just kind of woke up

103
00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:14.160
and nothing made any sense anymore. I was feeling this

104
00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:19.079
deep sense of dissatisfaction, yet I couldn't explain why. And

105
00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:22.680
it was really that void that got me to you know,

106
00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:27.120
quite sort of probably reckless and courageous at that you know,

107
00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:30.480
young age of twenty something, where I kind of gave

108
00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:33.639
everything up and I went on the search for happiness

109
00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:36.959
and meaning. And my first stop was actually, you know,

110
00:05:37.079 --> 00:05:40.519
I had been a girl who had saved my money

111
00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:42.680
for the house and had done all those traditional things

112
00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:45.839
and never really through caution to the wind, I had

113
00:05:45.879 --> 00:05:49.639
never been overseas, and so this was my first stop

114
00:05:49.720 --> 00:05:52.079
that I wanted to go to New York City. And

115
00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:53.600
I think I say in the book that I must

116
00:05:53.639 --> 00:05:55.920
have been watching too many Sex in the City episodes

117
00:05:55.959 --> 00:05:58.120
at the time, because I thought, you know, that's got

118
00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:00.959
to be the wearing that wardrobe and doing what those

119
00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:01.480
girls do.

120
00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:03.199
It has got to be the answer to happiness.

121
00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:07.000
So I decided I was going to New York City

122
00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:09.680
and happened to find because I had just established my

123
00:06:09.720 --> 00:06:12.560
own business, and I happened to find a conference that

124
00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:16.040
could also facilitate my way, you know, over there. And

125
00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:19.759
it just happened to be that I had accidentally signed

126
00:06:19.879 --> 00:06:22.680
up for a conference that was the first dialogue between

127
00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:30.639
the Dalai Lama and Buddhist dialoguing with the world's best psychiatrists, psychologists, neuroscientists,

128
00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:32.720
all on the nature of the mind. And I think

129
00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:36.480
this is where the first piece clicked in just understanding

130
00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:39.600
our brains and how they can be our best friends

131
00:06:39.639 --> 00:06:42.920
but most of the time our worst nightmare. Yeah that

132
00:06:43.639 --> 00:06:45.920
I mean, I think we've all heard of that, those

133
00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:48.439
of us who sort of are familiar with, like I'm

134
00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:52.199
quite interested in Buddhism and Buddhist psychology and mindfulness, and

135
00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:54.000
I think many of us have heard of that conference.

136
00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:57.199
So that's kind of amazing that you got to be

137
00:06:57.279 --> 00:07:00.240
there kind of by fluke. It was amazing, and it

138
00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:03.879
was yeah, totally fluky, And you know, this was twenty

139
00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:07.920
years ago, just over twenty years ago, and so it

140
00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:11.800
really was the first time they went public with you know,

141
00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:16.319
brain scanning monks and seeing what goes on in our brains,

142
00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:19.680
you know, for the happiest person in the world, what's

143
00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:22.160
going on and can we actually use mind training to

144
00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:25.279
impact happiness. So yeah, it was like right at the

145
00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:28.480
start of when all of this kind of research was emerging,

146
00:07:28.519 --> 00:07:32.279
and it was like, really quite funny that a conference

147
00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:34.519
that was only sort of supporting my way to get

148
00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:36.879
to New York ended up being the conference that changed

149
00:07:36.920 --> 00:07:37.600
my life.

150
00:07:37.399 --> 00:07:39.879
Giving you an excuse basically to hop on a plane and.

151
00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:41.279
Justify the money.

152
00:07:41.319 --> 00:07:44.839
Absolutely, and let's not forget that you sat behind Richard

153
00:07:44.839 --> 00:07:45.759
Gear at that conference.

154
00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:48.199
Yes, well, this is the other funny part of it,

155
00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:51.319
I guess is when I went to book for this conference,

156
00:07:52.040 --> 00:07:55.680
all of the general seating was already booked out, but

157
00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:57.480
it was for something and I can't remember, but it

158
00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:00.399
was something like two hundred dollars extra you could go

159
00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:02.680
as a gold sponsor. So that was a no brainer

160
00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:04.680
to just go, Okay, I'm going to sign up for that.

161
00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:07.519
And yeah, when I was lining up to you know,

162
00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:11.319
the gold sponsors area in front of me, was Richard Gear.

163
00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:13.800
Behind me was Goldie Horn.

164
00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:17.720
And the real clincher was that on the last day,

165
00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:20.519
the organizer came and said His Holiness would love to

166
00:08:20.600 --> 00:08:23.879
meet all of the gold sponsors. And so I end

167
00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:28.000
up backstage next to Richard Gear and his sisters meeting

168
00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:31.439
his Holiness and having some moments with him, which was

169
00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:35.480
just extraordinary and again really quite hilarious when you think

170
00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:36.440
about how I got there.

171
00:08:36.919 --> 00:08:41.360
Yeah, but you quickly kind of learned Buddhism wasn't really

172
00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:44.600
for you. Where too, next for you? Like you talk

173
00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:46.440
about in the book that you've been on a couple

174
00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:50.519
of decades search of spiritual seeking, healer hunting, like you've

175
00:08:50.519 --> 00:08:53.559
had all sorts of experienced experiences which we will get to.

176
00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:57.360
But where did that journey take you next? And for

177
00:08:57.399 --> 00:08:59.440
the next you know period?

178
00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:03.639
I think, yeah, I think what that really showed me?

179
00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:07.240
And you know, interestingly enough, I still go to a

180
00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:10.720
Buddhist retreat and I still like love all the principles.

181
00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:13.279
And as I was mentioning the whole thing about taming

182
00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:16.399
the monkey mind, which is one of in the book,

183
00:09:16.440 --> 00:09:18.840
I talk about these thirteen sort of principles of how

184
00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:21.360
I live my life, and one of the first ones

185
00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:24.720
is around getting out of your head. That Buddhist teaching

186
00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:28.200
is still just yes, so really important. But I think

187
00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:30.799
the thing that got me is I wanted to dive

188
00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:34.120
in even deeper, but kind of saw that unless I

189
00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:38.879
was prepared to shave my head and wear robes and

190
00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:41.159
give up meat. And this is where I guess the

191
00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:44.840
title spiritually loose comes in. I was just searching for

192
00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:48.840
something where you could almost you know, have all the

193
00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:55.200
spirituality practices, but have them buy design for you and

194
00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:57.919
not have to give up joy, not have to give

195
00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:00.960
up being wild or any of the things that you

196
00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:05.159
wanted to also incorporate in your spirituality.

197
00:10:05.320 --> 00:10:07.799
So there wasn't necessarily a.

198
00:10:07.879 --> 00:10:11.480
Next I then invested in this thing here, but I

199
00:10:11.559 --> 00:10:15.879
certainly went on a path of a whole range of things,

200
00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:22.960
some of them being things like reiki, sacred dancing, kundalini yoga.

201
00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:28.559
I ended up getting into Kundalini dance, yeah, you name it.

202
00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:33.360
I've explored astrology, yeah really, crystals and shark crass and

203
00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:36.200
pretty much the whole shopping.

204
00:10:35.799 --> 00:10:38.879
List of spirituality. I then went on to explore.

205
00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:41.559
And at the same time, Susan, you have maintained and

206
00:10:41.879 --> 00:10:46.480
continue to maintain I believe, you know, quite a mainstream

207
00:10:46.679 --> 00:10:48.000
corporate career.

208
00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:53.240
How has your spiritual.

209
00:10:52.679 --> 00:10:54.559
Journey, I guess, and all of those things that you've

210
00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:58.480
been into and tried, how has that supported or complemented

211
00:10:58.600 --> 00:10:59.840
the other work.

212
00:10:59.639 --> 00:10:59.919
That you do?

213
00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:01.679
Because I think there is a perception out there that

214
00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:03.720
if you're into that spiritual stuff, that you're a bit

215
00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:06.960
of a kind of a hippie out there hugging trees

216
00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:08.240
and living off the land.

217
00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:09.320
But you are not that.

218
00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:13.240
So how do these two things complement each other in

219
00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:14.320
your life? Yeah?

220
00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:15.759
And they really really do.

221
00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:19.000
And it's interesting because I've used a lot of after

222
00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:22.320
that conference with the Dalai Lama that was kind of

223
00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:24.519
I was always in the leadership space, and that was

224
00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:28.600
the missing piece that kind of said to me, we're

225
00:11:28.840 --> 00:11:32.919
not going to achieve sustainable change as people unless we

226
00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:35.360
really start to work with our.

227
00:11:35.240 --> 00:11:36.799
Own minds and our hearts.

228
00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:39.879
And so then I went on with my business partner

229
00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:45.240
to develop the first mindfulness based leadership program in Australia.

230
00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:48.120
So all of the principles were still coming with me

231
00:11:48.840 --> 00:11:51.399
as I was working in corporations, and now I've had

232
00:11:51.399 --> 00:11:55.200
that business for twenty probably twenty five years now, going

233
00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:59.320
into the most serious of companies, and I think we're

234
00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:03.200
at links in now is in the business world, we

235
00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:06.279
are dealing with so much change, We are dealing with

236
00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:11.399
so much complexity that the old ways of managing business

237
00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:12.759
don't work anymore.

238
00:12:12.919 --> 00:12:13.919
Because you know, when you think.

239
00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:17.279
About spirituality, that's about how we deal with things that

240
00:12:17.399 --> 00:12:20.759
aren't visible and tangible to us. And the business world

241
00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:24.399
is also dealing with very similar things and the ability

242
00:12:25.080 --> 00:12:27.919
in business to be able to adapt really quickly, which

243
00:12:27.960 --> 00:12:29.960
again comes back to the nature of our minds.

244
00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:31.480
So it's like spirituality and.

245
00:12:31.480 --> 00:12:37.279
Business has interconnected anyway. And I think you know the

246
00:12:37.320 --> 00:12:40.440
other thing I do is a lot of leadership coaching,

247
00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:43.759
and the fact that I am constantly focused on my

248
00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:48.480
own self development actually makes me a better coach and

249
00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:50.039
mentor for other people as well.

250
00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:50.759
One thing that you.

251
00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:54.720
Talk about is discovering I don't remember the context, in

252
00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:57.759
an energy healing session or something, discovering that your heart

253
00:12:58.039 --> 00:13:03.399
was quite closed, like that you had this almost black heart.

254
00:13:03.639 --> 00:13:05.639
So tell me about that. What was that like to

255
00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:08.600
hear that? What did that mean to you? Did that

256
00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:11.440
resonate and I guess then what steps did you take

257
00:13:11.639 --> 00:13:15.679
to open your heart? That experience with the healer was

258
00:13:15.799 --> 00:13:18.720
like another aha moment like the one I had with

259
00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:19.759
Jason McDonald.

260
00:13:19.799 --> 00:13:22.600
And I was in Byron Bay. It was at the

261
00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:25.279
time where I wrote my first book, and I was

262
00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:28.639
doing some sort of book signings at a bookstore and

263
00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:32.600
there was this poster in the window of this healer.

264
00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:34.120
And you know when you just have those moments where

265
00:13:34.120 --> 00:13:37.879
your attention gets grabbed by something, and so I've walked

266
00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:40.679
into this shop and I've kind of pointed at the

267
00:13:40.679 --> 00:13:45.360
picture and said, does that person have any sessions available?

268
00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:47.919
Thinking in the back of my mind it's a Saturday.

269
00:13:47.960 --> 00:13:51.000
There's no way that they're going to have something that's free.

270
00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:52.639
And then the person came out and said, are you

271
00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:54.519
looking for a session, come on in here. So it

272
00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:56.840
was one of those other things that's kind of meant

273
00:13:56.840 --> 00:14:00.480
to be. But as he was doing his energy clearing

274
00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:02.879
on my body, I could tell that he was kind

275
00:14:02.919 --> 00:14:07.679
of hanging around that area of my heart, and you know, I,

276
00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:11.399
with my curiosity, sort of said to him, what's the matter?

277
00:14:11.559 --> 00:14:13.720
You know, is there something you know wrong there? And

278
00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:16.519
he said, oh, no, it's just your heart. I can't

279
00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:19.360
see it. And you know, again, I didn't know what

280
00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:21.559
to say, because I was like, oh, maybe I didn't

281
00:14:21.559 --> 00:14:24.039
have one, just trying to make some awkward jokes there,

282
00:14:24.039 --> 00:14:26.120
but he said, no, you've got one, but it's covered

283
00:14:26.600 --> 00:14:28.679
by many thick layers.

284
00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:32.759
And you know, when I reflect on that, I think

285
00:14:32.840 --> 00:14:34.200
for everyone.

286
00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:36.080
I was going to say for girls, because I have

287
00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:38.320
a daughter, but I have a son as well. That

288
00:14:38.600 --> 00:14:41.639
you know, from the earliest of times growing up, we

289
00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:45.600
have a whole range of things that make us contract

290
00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:49.080
in the heart area or make us cover up, put

291
00:14:49.080 --> 00:14:53.559
the walls up, whether that is breakups, whether that's you know,

292
00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:57.399
difficulties with friendship groups or whatever that might be.

293
00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:00.879
And you know, I was just no different.

294
00:15:00.679 --> 00:15:02.960
That I had a whole heap of walls that are

295
00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:07.120
built up around my heart. And you know, literally as

296
00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:12.559
he removed that, I could feel a lightness there. And

297
00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:15.919
you know, just in the weeks going on from that,

298
00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:16.840
I could feel this thing.

299
00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:18.399
I could feel my heart come alive.

300
00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:21.159
I could actually feel flooters, all different things that were

301
00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:24.919
going on, which was really quite amazing. And I just

302
00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:27.279
started you know, when you're feeling that in your body,

303
00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:30.279
you just start to bring your attention to a different area.

304
00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:34.320
So instead of talking to people through my head, or

305
00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:36.679
listening to people through my head. I was actually started

306
00:15:36.679 --> 00:15:39.840
to listen to them through my heart, if that kind

307
00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:42.799
of makes sense, Just being able to connect with people

308
00:15:42.840 --> 00:15:47.399
at a completely different level. And it was just even

309
00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:51.039
in interactions, I would, once those walls kept kind of

310
00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:53.679
coming down, become more vulnerable in what I would share

311
00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:58.000
with people. But also I think again, I just became

312
00:15:58.039 --> 00:16:00.559
more grateful for everything that was around me as well.

313
00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:03.679
I remember, even just walking out of that healing session,

314
00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:06.000
it was pouring down rain and I can just remember,

315
00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:09.919
like you know, holding my hands up and really just

316
00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:13.240
drinking in every rain drop, and it's just like the

317
00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:15.960
most simple things, just becoming more grateful for it.

318
00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:17.519
But I think one.

319
00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:21.200
Of the biggest shifts in heart opening was definitely when

320
00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:25.240
I had children. Every mother or every parent knows that

321
00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:28.879
feeling where you just haven't experienced anything like it. And

322
00:16:28.919 --> 00:16:31.759
my daughter was certainly I you know, say that she

323
00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:35.879
was sent to me as my heart opening monitor because

324
00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:38.799
she was just and still is the most beautiful, loving

325
00:16:38.919 --> 00:16:42.200
girl who was always calling for more love. So I

326
00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:44.399
felt like, you know, I sent a lot of angels

327
00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:47.159
around me to help with that process, and it's still

328
00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:48.200
an ongoing.

329
00:16:47.799 --> 00:16:49.600
One and I think it is for all of us.

330
00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:52.240
And you know, I think what really kind of jumped

331
00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:54.919
out and not that well, whether you said it explicitly

332
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:56.840
or not, but we all kind of live in this

333
00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:02.519
patriarchal world where we sort of man up, you know,

334
00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:06.799
we present with this and where everything is based on

335
00:17:06.839 --> 00:17:12.880
this very logical, linear kind of world and way of

336
00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:15.519
thinking and doing and behaving and dealing with people. And

337
00:17:15.559 --> 00:17:18.680
what you're talking about is very much more this heart scenteredness,

338
00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:21.039
and it sounds all very fluffy, but it's very much

339
00:17:21.079 --> 00:17:26.440
more feminine, intuitive connected to you know, our true nature,

340
00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:29.680
which for various reasons we all kind of shut down

341
00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:31.119
to get on in the world.

342
00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:35.799
Definitely, and I can definitely remember my first career in organization.

343
00:17:35.960 --> 00:17:39.200
I think that organization was, you know, ninety five percent

344
00:17:40.119 --> 00:17:43.480
men of five percent women, and so of course, as

345
00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:46.039
a young woman, you go in and you start copying

346
00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:48.920
the male ways of doing things, which, as you say,

347
00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:52.039
it's all the logic, it's all the you know, almost

348
00:17:52.039 --> 00:17:55.480
putting on this business mask. And that is definitely something

349
00:17:55.480 --> 00:17:57.440
that I've seen change.

350
00:17:57.279 --> 00:17:59.240
In the world. And the more we can.

351
00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:03.359
Get heart scent leaders in positions of power, the more

352
00:18:03.400 --> 00:18:06.319
we're not going to see the abuse that's around, the

353
00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:09.200
environmental issues that were around you. I'm really quite passionate

354
00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:11.400
about that whole heart centered leadership.

355
00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:17.680
I hope that you're enjoying this conversation and realizing the

356
00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:20.680
benefits of positivity in your own life. If you are

357
00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:23.519
enjoying the show, please be sure to like and subscribe

358
00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:25.839
so that you get notified when you EPPS drop and

359
00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:28.359
head on over to Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen

360
00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:40.720
and leave us a rating and review Susan, you had

361
00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:48.319
some pretty confronting, I would say, personally challenging experiences. I've

362
00:18:48.440 --> 00:18:51.880
done meditation retreats, and I did my yoga teacher training,

363
00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:54.920
and I see psychics and I read tarot cards and

364
00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:57.759
I study astrology, like I'm into all of it. For

365
00:18:57.799 --> 00:19:00.920
a clinical psychologists, people find that VeryE but it's actually

366
00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:02.039
I'm not the only one, right.

367
00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:04.559
It's where all psychology is the study of the soul.

368
00:19:05.160 --> 00:19:09.720
So you, on the other hand, have done some things

369
00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:15.119
like spiritual intimacy and you know Cundolini dancing, Like when

370
00:19:15.160 --> 00:19:18.759
I read about it, I think, oh, that's crossing a

371
00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:20.359
line for me, Like I don't know that I could

372
00:19:20.359 --> 00:19:24.119
go there. It probably confronted me with how it kind

373
00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:27.880
of closed. I still am, But what was it like

374
00:19:28.119 --> 00:19:29.519
to have those experiences?

375
00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:32.160
Pretty mind blowing?

376
00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:35.039
And I think again, and this is the thing about

377
00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:40.480
when you start almost following the signs or listening very

378
00:19:40.519 --> 00:19:43.480
deeply to your intuition, you get put on these paths

379
00:19:43.880 --> 00:19:45.920
and you end up at these events that you kind

380
00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:48.359
of don't even realize how you signed it up to

381
00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:53.480
get there. So one of them was Kundalini yoga, which

382
00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:59.519
is a very intensive and very powerful form of yoga.

383
00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:02.279
And and I often reflect and think I could have

384
00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:04.640
just gone, you know, to a one and a half

385
00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:08.279
hour class down the hall, you know, down the road,

386
00:20:08.359 --> 00:20:12.880
but instead I dived right in and decided to become

387
00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:19.119
a Qundalini Yoga teacher, which involved basically a week in Spain,

388
00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:22.440
in Spain, yes, no less.

389
00:20:23.640 --> 00:20:25.799
And yeah it was. It was grueling.

390
00:20:25.880 --> 00:20:30.759
It was you know, sometimes fourteen fifteen hours of these

391
00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:36.920
really powerful practices. And you know, I'd love the form

392
00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:40.559
of yoga, but it's not for the faint hearted because

393
00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:44.400
what a lot of the breathing techniques do is the

394
00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:47.079
only way to describe it, is it ends up excavating

395
00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:51.759
things out of you. So you know, we all have

396
00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:57.920
through our life experiences and you know also generational life experiences.

397
00:20:57.960 --> 00:21:00.839
We have those things we're conscious about, but then we

398
00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:04.279
have those things that are buried deep in our bodies

399
00:21:04.359 --> 00:21:05.119
and you know.

400
00:21:05.400 --> 00:21:07.839
Also on that subconscious level.

401
00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:11.720
And Kundalini Yoga had a way of excavating some of

402
00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:15.559
those things, so emotions that I had never even really

403
00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:19.640
experienced before or seen before. So yes, it was a

404
00:21:19.799 --> 00:21:24.720
very very intensive time that again just showed me the

405
00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:27.519
power of what the human body stores for us.

406
00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:30.279
Is there any particular experience that you could share to

407
00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:34.599
that demonstrate like that what you're talking about there with

408
00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:38.200
that deep healing and that kind of removing it at

409
00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:41.799
the physical level, because as a powerful mind body connection

410
00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:46.039
going on there, right, Like emotions are stored in the body,

411
00:21:46.440 --> 00:21:50.880
and you talk about like literally having things excavated from

412
00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:52.920
your body. Is there anything that you could share just

413
00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:54.279
to demonstrate that.

414
00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:58.079
Yeah, there were so many, so many kind of experiences.

415
00:21:58.119 --> 00:22:00.000
But on the simple side of things that would be

416
00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:03.680
even be things like you'd be going through an exercise

417
00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:07.559
and then you'd get a really weird pain, you know,

418
00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:11.160
just just under your right rib cage or something like that,

419
00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:15.200
and then all of a sudden, all of these emotions

420
00:22:15.240 --> 00:22:21.240
would come out, like grief and rage and loss, and yeah,

421
00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:23.599
all of these emotions that were like really specific to

422
00:22:24.200 --> 00:22:26.839
a situation. And sometimes you might see a glimpse of

423
00:22:26.839 --> 00:22:30.240
the situation, but other times you just have that emotional

424
00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:33.400
kind of experience. And so and this is the thing,

425
00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:35.960
and one of the one of my favorite things that

426
00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:39.480
the Kundalini, you know, master would say is it's like

427
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:43.880
cleaning out a stinky bin. You don't need to go investigating.

428
00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:46.119
And you know, when your bin is stinky, you don't

429
00:22:46.119 --> 00:22:49.559
go investigating what the smell is, You just clean it out.

430
00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:52.599
And so there wasn't a lot of focus in you know,

431
00:22:52.759 --> 00:22:54.880
let's line on a couch and work out what happened

432
00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:57.880
to you twenty years ago, or what these emotions are.

433
00:22:58.519 --> 00:23:02.079
It's more how can we just connect with them and

434
00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:05.559
let them go by continuing to do the movement and

435
00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:08.599
the mantra and the meditation that was going on.

436
00:23:09.160 --> 00:23:12.000
Yeah, I really like that, And I guess as a psychologist,

437
00:23:12.119 --> 00:23:14.920
you know, I'm very much of the opinion that we

438
00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:17.279
need to emotion to store in our body. Like all

439
00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:21.839
of this traditional psychology of talking therapies, it's all.

440
00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:23.319
That's all news.

441
00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:26.400
We actually need to clear things out of our body,

442
00:23:26.440 --> 00:23:28.359
but it's often really challenging to know how to do that.

443
00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:30.599
So that's why I was interested.

444
00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:33.119
For you to share that, because I think there are

445
00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:36.400
these modalities out there that can really help to facilitate

446
00:23:36.440 --> 00:23:39.160
people's healing at quite a deep level, as you say,

447
00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:42.680
without ever having to go and sit and talk about

448
00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:45.079
it or analyze it or understand it, which is what

449
00:23:45.160 --> 00:23:49.240
we cerebral Christians who live in this logical world. We

450
00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:52.319
want to analyze everything, and sometimes you don't actually have

451
00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:57.480
to do that, but equally challenging confronting experience, though by

452
00:23:57.559 --> 00:23:59.519
all accounts for the way you describe.

453
00:23:59.160 --> 00:24:01.440
It, it is.

454
00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:05.839
And you know, these classes are just held very strongly

455
00:24:05.880 --> 00:24:09.880
by the facilitators, But if they weren't, or if you

456
00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:12.960
were just kind of doing this yourself and it happened

457
00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:14.680
you were, you were kind of there were moments where

458
00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:18.079
I thought I'd gone a little bit crazy with things,

459
00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:20.759
because you know, these things just coming out of your body.

460
00:24:20.839 --> 00:24:24.200
But I think you know again, and I love to

461
00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:26.279
hear what you're saying. And I also know a lot

462
00:24:26.279 --> 00:24:29.880
of psychologists who are merging all of these pasts and I.

463
00:24:29.799 --> 00:24:30.680
Think it's amazing.

464
00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:34.160
There's a place for all of it, but just this

465
00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:38.640
thing about feeling our feelings, and essentially that's what was

466
00:24:38.680 --> 00:24:44.279
coming out in the Kundlini excavations, just feelings that I

467
00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:47.160
couldn't explain. But what we'd normally do in life is

468
00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:49.400
trying to push them down. And you know, there were

469
00:24:49.400 --> 00:24:51.759
times in that yoga where I'd have this pain I

470
00:24:51.799 --> 00:24:54.720
could you can just tell something's about to happen, and

471
00:24:54.839 --> 00:24:57.440
I'd want to all of a sudden my mind to

472
00:24:57.480 --> 00:24:59.920
be like, oh, you need to go to the bathroom,

473
00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:02.039
or you need to go and get a drink and

474
00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:04.880
try and break the process, because I think as human

475
00:25:04.920 --> 00:25:07.400
beings were really conditioned to doing that. We feel something,

476
00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:11.400
how can we stuff it down? But you know, obviously

477
00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:15.440
the only way through it is to really experience it.

478
00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:17.680
But that takes a lot of courage.

479
00:25:17.480 --> 00:25:20.119
It really does. And you know, kudos because some of

480
00:25:20.119 --> 00:25:20.960
the things you talk about, I.

481
00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:23.519
Think, oh, no, I wouldn't. I wouldn't. I don't know

482
00:25:23.559 --> 00:25:24.880
if I'd be doing that one.

483
00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:28.079
But you also admit that sometimes you didn't read the

484
00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:31.240
flyer and you just ended up at these places.

485
00:25:30.839 --> 00:25:35.960
Totally my you know, again, because the Kundalini intensive was

486
00:25:36.079 --> 00:25:40.039
in Spain. I was picturing something really quite different, like

487
00:25:40.119 --> 00:25:42.960
anything i'd been to in Europe before usually had a

488
00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:46.039
four hour siesta and just you know, a little bit

489
00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:48.440
here and a little bit there. And so I very

490
00:25:48.519 --> 00:25:52.000
naively signed up for that thinking it was going to

491
00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:55.039
be a retreat more than it was going to be

492
00:25:55.160 --> 00:25:57.319
an intensive kind of practice like that.

493
00:25:57.359 --> 00:25:58.799
But yeah, clearly I was meant to.

494
00:25:58.759 --> 00:26:00.640
Be there, obviously.

495
00:26:01.000 --> 00:26:04.759
And you also talk about I was really I loved

496
00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:07.519
that you mentioned that you have this kind of partner,

497
00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:11.640
this your friend Rachel, who goes with you, you know,

498
00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:14.039
to a lot of these on a lot of these

499
00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:18.960
adventures that you have had. So that must be really nice,

500
00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:20.880
I guess to have that kind of a close friend

501
00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:24.079
that will, you know, jump in on anything that you

502
00:26:24.079 --> 00:26:25.960
want to do, or she'll take you or you'll take her,

503
00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:28.720
and yeah, and it's definitely.

504
00:26:28.920 --> 00:26:31.839
Yeah, there's definitely been times where she's led me down

505
00:26:31.880 --> 00:26:33.039
different paths as well.

506
00:26:33.079 --> 00:26:34.880
And we only met.

507
00:26:35.079 --> 00:26:38.240
Just at a key part in my journey before I

508
00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:40.839
started exploring all these different things, and it was one

509
00:26:40.920 --> 00:26:42.920
of those meetings where we had the same thing. We

510
00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:47.039
were both kind of high in the corporate career type

511
00:26:47.079 --> 00:26:51.759
of space. We had both had issues with hardening hearts51200:26:51.799 --> 00:26:55.559



and wanting to expand that more. And I think she51300:26:55.680 --> 00:26:58.799



was a participant at a conference I was speaking at51400:27:00.039 --> 00:27:03.400



and straight into each other. She won the Lucky Door Prize,51500:27:03.440 --> 00:27:05.319



which was my book, and you know, it was just51600:27:05.319 --> 00:27:08.319



like the universe was just going to you need to Yeah,51700:27:08.359 --> 00:27:11.759



you need to venture on this together. And to this51800:27:11.920 --> 00:27:15.279



day we often say to each other, you wouldn't want51900:27:15.279 --> 00:27:19.200



to be doing this without someone else that can basically52000:27:19.279 --> 00:27:22.680



understands your experience and can keep you sane, because if52100:27:22.720 --> 00:27:24.920



you are the only one experiencing some of the stuff52200:27:25.039 --> 00:27:28.440



that we experienced after Cundolini, then as I said before,52300:27:28.519 --> 00:27:30.680



you would definitely have times where you thought you were52400:27:30.680 --> 00:27:31.200



going mad.52500:27:31.440 --> 00:27:33.400



Can we talk about the fact that after that intense52600:27:33.400 --> 00:27:35.920



week that you went back twice?52700:27:36.920 --> 00:27:40.599



Yes, I know, like such a And I think that's52800:27:40.640 --> 00:27:44.240



something that Rachel and I both share in common.52900:27:44.279 --> 00:27:47.000



We're not afraid of the dark work.53000:27:47.039 --> 00:27:49.920



And that's the thing with you know, spirituality, there's the53100:27:50.039 --> 00:27:53.200



light work, the meditating to the light, and then there's53200:27:53.359 --> 00:27:57.160



digging dark in your shadow type of work. And both53300:27:57.160 --> 00:27:59.680



of us, even though we find it grueling, we have53400:27:59.720 --> 00:28:01.680



a little bit of an attraction to it as well.53500:28:01.720 --> 00:28:03.599



I blame my scorpion nature for that.53600:28:04.160 --> 00:28:07.200



The title of the book, Susan is spiritually Loose.53700:28:07.400 --> 00:28:10.559



Can you explain what does it mean to be spiritually loose?53800:28:10.599 --> 00:28:13.480



After all that you've learned, that's what you've come up with?53900:28:13.759 --> 00:28:14.599



What is it?54000:28:14.880 --> 00:28:20.359



Yeah, the discussion. Actually, that title just came out of54100:28:20.400 --> 00:28:24.319



my mouth. I was away with a group of girlfriends54200:28:24.319 --> 00:28:28.519



on what we affectionately call a goddess weekend. And you know,54300:28:28.559 --> 00:28:31.240



there are always weekends where there is a lot of joy,54400:28:31.680 --> 00:28:33.720



there's a lot of fun, there's a lot of kind54500:28:33.799 --> 00:28:37.720



of pushing the boundaries, just completely being yourself, you know,54600:28:37.799 --> 00:28:40.559



more than anything. And one of the girls in the group,54700:28:40.559 --> 00:28:45.000



who's also a psychologist, she was saying, you know, I54800:28:45.160 --> 00:28:49.559



just feel really guilty. You know, I go and meditate54900:28:49.599 --> 00:28:53.039



with rimbochets, I do all this spiritual stuff. I've got55000:28:53.119 --> 00:28:56.200



my psychology practice, but you know, I've also got this55100:28:56.359 --> 00:28:59.119



wild side. And I just just came out of my55200:28:59.160 --> 00:29:01.920



mouth to say, that's so so to why I'm spiritually loose,55300:29:02.359 --> 00:29:04.720



And basically, what it means is that there's no rules55400:29:04.759 --> 00:29:07.640



around spirituality. And I think this is the thing that55500:29:07.759 --> 00:29:12.359



kept me searching that every time I found a tradition55600:29:12.480 --> 00:29:17.640



I could belong in, it always threw me out because55700:29:18.240 --> 00:29:20.920



it had too many rules, it had too much of55800:29:20.960 --> 00:29:24.599



an external guru telling me what I need to do55900:29:24.799 --> 00:29:28.400



in my life. And so spiritually loose is very much56000:29:28.440 --> 00:29:32.960



about designing your own spirituality based on your own intuition,56100:29:33.160 --> 00:29:37.119



based on your own rules, and also the acknowledgment that56200:29:37.200 --> 00:29:40.680



you are your own guru. There's not a guru outside56300:29:40.720 --> 00:29:44.480



of you who has you know, who is the authority56400:29:44.599 --> 00:29:47.960



on your life. And I think way too many times56500:29:48.039 --> 00:29:52.559



we are outsourcing that part of our life to someone else,56600:29:52.720 --> 00:29:57.039



and we're walking away from spirituality because we can't conform56700:29:57.119 --> 00:30:00.880



to these strict rules. And I say, yeah, your own guru,56800:30:00.920 --> 00:30:03.920



make up your own rules, and you still can be56900:30:04.079 --> 00:30:11.680



spiritual as well as being joyful, being wild, doing whatever57000:30:11.680 --> 00:30:12.039



you want.57100:30:12.160 --> 00:30:16.160



Basically, Yeah, I love that as well.57200:30:16.160 --> 00:30:19.400



And I also can relate that to that idea that57300:30:20.039 --> 00:30:23.440



people are constantly looking outside themselves for answers, whether it57400:30:23.480 --> 00:30:25.680



be and you talk about this as well, like from57500:30:25.720 --> 00:30:27.720



a young age, I need to do this dart, I57600:30:27.759 --> 00:30:29.759



have to eat this particular way. I can't get my57700:30:29.799 --> 00:30:31.720



baby to sleep. I've got to follow, you know, this57800:30:32.119 --> 00:30:36.119



book and this program. Like, we constantly look outside of ourselves,57900:30:36.160 --> 00:30:39.160



and I think that is largely because we have we58000:30:39.200 --> 00:30:43.799



struggle with uncertainty, you know, we struggle with not being58100:30:43.839 --> 00:30:46.599



able to plan and predict and control every little thing58200:30:46.720 --> 00:30:50.359



in our lives. So we look for somebody to tell us, well,58300:30:50.480 --> 00:30:52.240



this is what you need to do, and this is58400:30:52.240 --> 00:30:53.799



how you do it, and this is how you get58500:30:54.039 --> 00:30:56.559



to the outcome that you want, which is really just58600:30:56.640 --> 00:31:01.759



led to us being completely disconnected, yes, from our own intuition,58700:31:02.720 --> 00:31:05.319



inner knowing, And so that's what this is really about,58800:31:05.400 --> 00:31:06.880



isn't it all of these things?58900:31:06.960 --> 00:31:07.599



It sure is.59000:31:07.720 --> 00:31:10.480



And you know, this is the thing exactly as you59100:31:10.519 --> 00:31:15.559



say that, the more we listen externally, we've stopped the59200:31:15.599 --> 00:31:20.960



connection to listening to our intuition. Now, intuition only thrives59300:31:21.000 --> 00:31:24.440



and becomes bigger when we establish the line to it59400:31:24.519 --> 00:31:26.519



and we use it all the time. And you can't59500:31:26.519 --> 00:31:28.440



do that when you're distracted by all of the noise59600:31:28.920 --> 00:31:33.279



around you. And so I think, yes, listening to external sources,59700:31:33.599 --> 00:31:38.000



but also the busyness that exists in people's minds, you know,59800:31:38.119 --> 00:31:42.359



seventy thousand thoughts a day, twelve thousand internal conversations. How59900:31:42.400 --> 00:31:47.480



can you even hear your gut or your intuition when60000:31:47.480 --> 00:31:52.000



you've got that much radio interference going on? So and60100:31:52.160 --> 00:31:54.640



you know, this is again what the book talks about.60200:31:54.680 --> 00:31:56.920



All the answers are actually within. You've got your own60300:31:57.000 --> 00:32:00.440



map for how you can get to your own device life,60400:32:00.440 --> 00:32:04.519



which is going to be different to your neighbors', partner's friends.60500:32:04.640 --> 00:32:07.640



You've got all the answers here, but there's too much60600:32:07.799 --> 00:32:10.920



noise and there's too much distraction for most people to60700:32:11.000 --> 00:32:11.960



actually access it.60800:32:12.960 --> 00:32:15.440



Yeah, I totally agree, which is why I'm a big60900:32:15.440 --> 00:32:19.000



fan of meditation and stillness. But I also equally understand61000:32:19.039 --> 00:32:22.960



that that's really challenging for people because it's if you've61100:32:22.960 --> 00:32:24.119



never sat in meditation.61200:32:24.240 --> 00:32:25.920



I've taught meditation.61300:32:25.599 --> 00:32:27.759



For a long time, and you know, with my clients,61400:32:27.759 --> 00:32:30.319



as I start with three minutes, and that's literally the61500:32:30.359 --> 00:32:34.000



most that most people can handle in the very beginning.61600:32:34.039 --> 00:32:36.359



But it's a skill that you have to kind of61700:32:36.359 --> 00:32:38.279



cultivate and develop because it's.61800:32:38.160 --> 00:32:39.359



Not our natural state.61900:32:39.799 --> 00:32:42.880



Absolutely, but I totally agree that's where you connect to,62000:32:43.319 --> 00:32:44.759



you know, to something deeper.62100:32:44.960 --> 00:32:46.079



That's where you get to the answers.62200:32:46.319 --> 00:32:46.799



I agree.62300:32:47.279 --> 00:32:52.519



In all of my leadership programs, I teach very small62400:32:52.640 --> 00:32:55.400



moments of mindfulness to get integrated in your day. So62500:32:55.440 --> 00:32:57.559



if you don't have the time for twenty minutes on62600:32:57.599 --> 00:33:01.119



the cushion twice a day, then it's about the moments62700:33:01.160 --> 00:33:04.519



where you can become present. But the other thing is,62800:33:05.160 --> 00:33:07.480



and again you know sometimes we stop doing some of62900:33:07.519 --> 00:33:11.119



these things, is that there are different ways to actually63000:33:11.200 --> 00:33:15.920



train presence outside of meditation. So one for me is63100:33:15.960 --> 00:33:18.640



just more time in nature. And for a lot of us,63200:33:18.680 --> 00:33:22.480



as busy people, we're getting bound by concrete. We're not63300:33:22.519 --> 00:33:25.920



really spending the time that you know, generations before did63400:33:25.920 --> 00:33:28.599



out in nature. But I think everyone would agree that63500:33:28.680 --> 00:33:31.119



when you are walking along the beach, when you are63600:33:31.160 --> 00:33:35.279



walking in a forest, then your brain has a rest63700:33:35.519 --> 00:33:38.000



and it has it naturally comes into that kind of63800:33:38.119 --> 00:33:40.519



present state. And a lot of people will say, I63900:33:40.519 --> 00:33:42.640



feel like I've had a holiday just after that kind64000:33:42.640 --> 00:33:46.279



of nature soak. But the other thing that I'm doing64100:33:46.480 --> 00:33:50.200



a lot of at the moment is just service. So64200:33:50.839 --> 00:33:57.920



whether that is volunteering, doing simple tasks that serve other people.64300:33:58.720 --> 00:34:01.559



I had just forgotten how much much that trains our64400:34:01.599 --> 00:34:04.559



presence as well. So there's all these things that the64500:34:04.559 --> 00:34:08.920



research says contribute to happiness. And yeah, that that thread64600:34:09.000 --> 00:34:11.440



for me is it gets us focused, and it gets64700:34:11.519 --> 00:34:12.159



us more present.64800:34:12.679 --> 00:34:14.760



It gets us out of ourselves and our own sort64900:34:14.760 --> 00:34:18.239



of petty minded often you know, sort of very self65000:34:18.320 --> 00:34:26.360



centered concerns. Yeah, Susan, I totally get the whole You65100:34:26.480 --> 00:34:29.199



are your own guru. Like you, all of the answers65200:34:29.239 --> 00:34:34.239



are within. I also believe that we sort of have65300:34:34.320 --> 00:34:37.159



to take our own path and go and explore all65400:34:37.199 --> 00:34:40.239



of those options. Like we don't have to go to65500:34:40.280 --> 00:34:42.800



the extent that you did necessarily, but it's in the65600:34:43.159 --> 00:34:46.639



search and the you know, we take from all of65700:34:46.679 --> 00:34:52.480



these different ideas and modalities or traditions or practices what65800:34:52.920 --> 00:34:57.360



is relevant and useful for us. So I guess, you know,65900:34:57.400 --> 00:34:59.079



I just wanted to highlight that that it's easy to66000:34:59.119 --> 00:35:02.039



say you your own guru. But I think also it's66100:35:02.159 --> 00:35:05.639



just about but it's okay to go looking absolute, no,66200:35:05.800 --> 00:35:08.159



to take only what is helpful.66300:35:09.039 --> 00:35:10.960



Resonates is that the message.66400:35:10.639 --> 00:35:11.559



That's totally true.66500:35:11.559 --> 00:35:14.440



And I think you know, I would not if you66600:35:14.559 --> 00:35:18.280



rewind back to the days with Jason McDonald and I66700:35:18.320 --> 00:35:21.360



wouldn't have been able to walk out of there and go, okay.66800:35:21.039 --> 00:35:22.320



On my own guru.66900:35:22.400 --> 00:35:25.159



Yes, I'm intuitive, and like, now I've got it all sorted.67000:35:25.639 --> 00:35:30.679



It is in the search, and I often say it's reading,67100:35:30.960 --> 00:35:36.079



it's talking to people, it's listening to podcasts that magnetizes67200:35:36.719 --> 00:35:40.079



a truth within you. So it was interesting my sister.67300:35:40.239 --> 00:35:42.599



And this is the idea of writing the book, because67400:35:42.639 --> 00:35:45.079



sometimes people go, well, you're saying you're your own guru,67500:35:45.119 --> 00:35:47.360



but then you're writing your self help book. What I'm67600:35:47.360 --> 00:35:51.719



doing is sharing my story that hopefully that will magnetize67700:35:52.239 --> 00:35:54.880



something in someone else. And my sister read it recently67800:35:54.960 --> 00:35:57.360



and she said, oh, I've decided to do this practice.67900:35:57.360 --> 00:35:59.920



I'm going to do the opposite of everything I've ever68000:35:59.920 --> 00:36:02.480



done before. And I went, oh, okay, She guys, I68100:36:02.519 --> 00:36:05.920



got that from the book. And I said, I didn't68200:36:05.920 --> 00:36:07.519



say that in the book, and she goes, no, but68300:36:07.599 --> 00:36:11.559



in the book, you're saying that everyone needs to develop68400:36:11.599 --> 00:36:14.800



their own exercises and their own paths and the things68500:36:14.840 --> 00:36:15.920



that they're going to explore.68600:36:15.960 --> 00:36:21.320



And that's really the thing. Read, listen, experience, but.68700:36:21.360 --> 00:36:24.920



Do it to magnetize what your intuition knows is the68800:36:24.920 --> 00:36:25.639



truth for you.68900:36:27.119 --> 00:36:27.480



Yeah.69000:36:27.559 --> 00:36:31.400



I really like that Susan, are you able to share69100:36:31.400 --> 00:36:33.000



with us. So from all of the things that you69200:36:33.039 --> 00:36:35.960



have learned, all of the traditions that you've studied, and69300:36:36.000 --> 00:36:41.000



the gurus that you've trained under, what now is your69400:36:41.320 --> 00:36:43.280



regular Like you just talked about service, but what's your69500:36:43.320 --> 00:36:48.920



sort of regular practice for staying connected to your authentic self?69600:36:49.440 --> 00:36:52.920



Yeah, it's a range of things.69700:36:52.960 --> 00:36:56.800



There are these kind of thirteen principles that are my69800:36:56.960 --> 00:37:01.320



principles for how I live my life. So that's things69900:37:01.360 --> 00:37:04.679



from you know, just getting out of my head and70000:37:04.760 --> 00:37:08.960



reminding myself that you know, when I'm overthinking, when I'm70100:37:09.039 --> 00:37:11.559



too busy up here, that's not going to lead to anything.70200:37:12.039 --> 00:37:16.559



It's about things as you highlighted, like you know, leading70300:37:16.599 --> 00:37:21.480



with your heart, leading your life with joy at the70400:37:21.519 --> 00:37:23.760



front of it as well, and not kind of you know,70500:37:23.800 --> 00:37:27.239



a lot of the time we just delay joy till70600:37:27.519 --> 00:37:30.199



when we're retired, or when we have our annual holiday70700:37:30.320 --> 00:37:32.960



or when we have a weekend away. So I've got70800:37:32.960 --> 00:37:36.039



about thirteen principles that are the things for how I70900:37:36.119 --> 00:37:40.480



live my life. But staying connected a few other things71000:37:40.519 --> 00:37:43.000



for me as well. And it's doing something in the71100:37:43.039 --> 00:37:47.960



morning which reminds you of your connection, and this changes71200:37:48.000 --> 00:37:51.440



for me all the time. So I have a little71300:37:51.480 --> 00:37:54.880



bit of a morning routine that involves some yoga, it71400:37:54.920 --> 00:38:01.000



involves some meditation, it involves some music, but it changes up.71500:38:01.039 --> 00:38:03.400



Like this week, I've been doing it more out in71600:38:03.519 --> 00:38:06.920



nature and through walking. But often I think, you know,71700:38:07.000 --> 00:38:09.239



we can wake up and just roll into our day.71800:38:09.400 --> 00:38:12.000



It's kind of like the first thought is what's on71900:38:12.039 --> 00:38:14.840



the to do list? Have a cup of coffee, and72000:38:14.840 --> 00:38:17.679



where like bang straight into motoring through our day. I72100:38:17.679 --> 00:38:19.519



think if you can do something at the start of72200:38:19.599 --> 00:38:23.280



the day that reminds you of your connection, you're more72300:38:23.360 --> 00:38:25.960



likely to stay connected for the rest of the day.72400:38:26.039 --> 00:38:28.599



So that's something that I always do. Sometimes it might72500:38:28.639 --> 00:38:30.960



be a minute, sometimes it might be half a day.72600:38:32.480 --> 00:38:37.559



Yeah, and I would concur And I have practiced meditation,72700:38:37.840 --> 00:38:40.519



all sorts of you know, mindfulness meditation, but all sorts72800:38:40.519 --> 00:38:44.840



of other weird hippie meditations as well. And I have72900:38:45.039 --> 00:38:48.760



really been focused recently, probably just in the last few months.73000:38:48.800 --> 00:38:52.880



I'm really getting back into that regular routine because I73100:38:52.920 --> 00:38:59.480



agree it makes me feel more myself, more connected more.73200:39:00.159 --> 00:39:02.440



I don't know, I don't know if aligned is the73300:39:02.440 --> 00:39:05.599



word just aligned with like who I am what I'm73400:39:05.599 --> 00:39:08.639



about and connected to something bigger than me, like connected73500:39:08.679 --> 00:39:12.920



to the universe, call it universe, God, the Source, whatever73600:39:12.960 --> 00:39:15.360



it is, but just connected to something that's bigger. And73700:39:15.400 --> 00:39:18.480



I feel a lot more like I'm doing life in73800:39:18.519 --> 00:39:22.000



a way that is supported and you know, it's not73900:39:22.119 --> 00:39:25.079



just me trying to might make my way in the world.74000:39:25.280 --> 00:39:29.079



Like I notice more synchronicities, I notice more coincidences. I74100:39:29.119 --> 00:39:31.400



notice more things just happen to fall into place, like74200:39:31.440 --> 00:39:33.440



all of these little magical things start to happen.74300:39:33.440 --> 00:39:34.920



And I think the more that you can.74400:39:34.960 --> 00:39:37.840



Acknowledge that, the more they tend to show up in74500:39:37.880 --> 00:39:41.119



the world. As weird as it sounds, it is true.74600:39:40.960 --> 00:39:44.599



You mentioned before about you know, the world is so uncertain,74700:39:45.159 --> 00:39:48.760



so we look for these things to grab onto. Most74800:39:48.760 --> 00:39:51.840



of those things we're grabbing onto externally, they're all uncertain74900:39:51.880 --> 00:39:55.719



as well. But you know, as a meditation practitioner, you75000:39:55.760 --> 00:40:00.800



would concur that when we go still and we go inside,75100:40:01.679 --> 00:40:06.440



we get to that place that feels stable, that feels certain,75200:40:07.079 --> 00:40:09.599



that feels grounded. And to me, that's just a reminder75300:40:09.599 --> 00:40:12.840



at the start of the day that anytime I start75400:40:12.880 --> 00:40:18.079



to feel the chaos or you get anxious about uncertainty75500:40:18.159 --> 00:40:19.960



or whatever it might be, You'll always know you've got75600:40:20.000 --> 00:40:21.840



that place that you can return to. And I don't75700:40:21.840 --> 00:40:24.800



think there is any other place that we can be75800:40:25.000 --> 00:40:28.880



in control of and is within ourselves for that certainty.75900:40:29.559 --> 00:40:33.760



Yeah, totally agree, Susan.76000:40:33.920 --> 00:40:38.760



I really enjoyed reading your book. It is some of76100:40:38.800 --> 00:40:43.840



it is. It's really interesting, it's hilarious. You've done a76200:40:43.840 --> 00:40:46.599



fantastic job, and I really appreciate you sharing because I76300:40:46.599 --> 00:40:49.639



think everybody who is interested in that kind of thing,76400:40:49.679 --> 00:40:52.039



and maybe even people who aren't, will really enjoy it76500:40:52.039 --> 00:40:54.000



and get something out of it. So thank you for76600:40:54.039 --> 00:41:03.119



being here today. Susan's new book, Spiritually Loose, is out76700:41:03.159 --> 00:41:05.440



now in all bookstores. You can find out more about76800:41:05.440 --> 00:41:10.079



Susan's work at her website Susanpierce dot com. In other news,76900:41:10.280 --> 00:41:13.440



this week, I am running a free confidence masterclass and77000:41:13.480 --> 00:41:15.719



if you miss the live event, if it's too late77100:41:15.719 --> 00:41:18.079



for you to join, you can always catch the replay.77200:41:18.320 --> 00:41:19.400



And if you want to make sure that.77300:41:19.360 --> 00:41:21.760



You never miss these free events that I offer, can77400:41:21.800 --> 00:41:24.400



I suggest that you get yourself on my mailing list.77500:41:24.840 --> 00:41:27.679



No spam, I promise, I'm not organized enough to spam.77600:41:27.719 --> 00:41:30.599



Anybody by email, or be sure to be following me77700:41:30.679 --> 00:41:34.960



on social media. I'm cast Done, underscore XO, on Instagram77800:41:35.000 --> 00:41:35.639



and TikTok.77900:41:35.719 --> 00:41:37.360



I usually post about what I'm doing there.78000:41:37.719 --> 00:41:40.480



You can join my mailing list on my website castdone78100:41:40.559 --> 00:41:42.679



dot com and I'll put the link down in the78200:41:42.719 --> 00:41:45.599



show notes. If you love the show, please do share78300:41:45.639 --> 00:41:47.679



with your friends, leave us a rating and a five78400:41:47.760 --> 00:41:50.239



star review. It really does help us to get into78500:41:50.239 --> 00:41:52.800



the ears of more listeners and spread the crappy to78600:41:52.840 --> 00:41:55.320



Happy message. If there is a topic you would like78700:41:55.360 --> 00:41:58.159



me to cover, hit me up by email hello at78800:41:58.199 --> 00:42:01.440



castone dot com a week and I cannot wait to78900:42:01.440 --> 00:42:09.000



catch you on the next episode of Crappy to Happy79000:42:09.000 --> 00:42:09.480



Listener