March 14, 2021

Holistic Psychology with Dr. Nicole LePera

Holistic Psychology with Dr. Nicole LePera
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Holistic Psychology with Dr. Nicole LePera

The holistic psychologist Dr. Nicole LePera joins Cass Dunn to talk about her holistic approach to psychology and self improvement. Dr. LePera shares how she became frustrated with traditional models of therapy while working as a clinical psychologist, and wanted more for clients and for herself. This lead her on a journey to create a more united approach to psychology incorporating mental, physical and spiritual health. She explains how her instagram page The Holistic Psychologist has gained a following of more than 3.5 million people, and is giving them the tools they need to heal themselves. You can buy Dr. LePera's new book How to Do the Work here: https://tinyurl.com/3whzz66x
Find out more about Dr. LePera:
https://yourholisticpsychologist.comhttps://www.instagram.com/the.holistic.psychologist/
Connect with Cass:www.crappytohappypod.comhello@crappytohappypod.com 
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Transcript
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A listener production.

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This is Crappy to Happy and I'm your host cast done.

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I'm a clinical and coaching psychologist, a mindfulness meditation teacher, and.

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Author of the Crappy to Happy books.

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In this show, I bring you conversations with interesting, inspiring,

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intelligent people who have something of value to share that

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will help you feel less crappy and more happy. And

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in today's bonus episode, I am thrilled to bring you

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Doctor Nicole Lepera, otherwise known as the Holistic Psychologist. Doctor

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Nicole is also a clinical psychologist who found herself frustrated

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with traditional models of therapy and so wanting more for

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her clients and herself. She began a journey to develop

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a holistic approach to healing that unified the mental, physical,

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and spiritual aspects of our being. In twenty eighteen, she

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created an Instagram page to document her journey, and in

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a relatively short period of time she has gained three

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and a half million followers from around the world, so

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it's fair to say her message is resonating with a

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lot of people. She's also just released her first book

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called How to Do the Work, which is now available

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in all Good bookstores and I know that you are

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going to gain something of value from this conversation with Nicole.

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She had so much wisdom to share. Without further ado,

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here is that conversation, doctor Nicole Leperra. It is such

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an honor to have you on the crap at a

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Happy Podcast. Thank you for being here.

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Today, Thank you so much for having mecass.

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And congratulations on your brand new book, How To Do

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the Work. I have a copy here that I have

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been devouring and I know it's going to be so

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well received. I wanted to start Nicole by asking you

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your incredibly popular Instagram page called The Holistic Psychologist. Your

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tagline is Holistic Psychologist. For anybody listening, can you just

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give us a couple of cent it's definition of what

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is holistic psychology?

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Yeah, Holistic to me, CASS means honoring the interconnectedness between

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our minds, our bodies, and our souls and acknowledging that

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a large reason why the majority of us are struggling

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at creating change in our life is for an underlying

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imbalance in one or all.

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Of those areas. So that's what holistic means to me.

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I really appreciate that. As a clinical psychologist, myself, and

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I think you have had the same experience. We have

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all confronted some of the limitations of traditional kind of

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talk therapy. Is that fair to say from your experience

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as well?

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Absolutely?

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I mean disempowered is the number one word that I

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kept coming up against in terms of feeling really disempowered

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as I continued to watch myself and really my clients

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that I had accumulated year after year of talk therapy

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work with being stuck. So yeah, through that empowerment, I

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really began to explore why that was and saw some

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glaring limitations in that old model.

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Which led you on a journey not just for your

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client's sake, but in your own life. Right. I think again,

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many of us who are in the helping and healing

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professional professions have had our own struggles. And so where

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did that take you in terms of your exploration of

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alternatives or what was missing in that traditional approach. Yeah.

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So when I when I dove in to try and

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understand why I remained so stuck and why again all

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my clients were so stuck, I really began to investigate

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the role of the body in particular. I think that

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was really the first foundational shift that I made before

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I even meet space for that other indescribable essence based

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spiritual soul entity that I believe we all have that

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like usness in us as humans. But for me, it

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was really opening the door to understanding our biology, our physiology,

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particularly around our nervous system, in terms of its role

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that that was playing in that starkness and in our

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mental wellness in general.

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Can you talk to me more about that, because this

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is key. Right when we go to psychology school, we're

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not taught how to work with our body, how our

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experiences get stuck literally in our nervous system. We know

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now it's crucial to as you say, holistic healing. So

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can you talk a little bit more about that, about

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what you maybe what you were experiencing physically, what people

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listening might be experiencing physically, or what those connections are

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between the emotions and the body. Yeah.

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Absolutely, I mean I will just speak from my own

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clinical training. The gold standard in the school that I

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went to, and really in clinical psychology here in the West.

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At least, is CBT.

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Is this idea that, right, if we start with a

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new thought and if we repeat that thing before I

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know it, I feel differently, and I behave differently in

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the world. And as you know, listeners who might pick

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up my book will read I dedicate a whole chapter

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to the power of belief, or essentially the power of thought. However,

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thought doesn't operate in a vacuum.

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Our mind.

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Our brain is attached to a body, a body that's

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communicating it, that's sending signals to our minds, to our

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brains all day long, and a lot of us are

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sending signals of dysregulation, signals of imbalance, namely signals around

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an activated nervous system that no amount of changing our

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thought can shift.

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So for me, it was.

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Really understanding the role that those physiological disregulations were playing

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for me. I had a multitude of symptoms wrapped up

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around that dysregulation from a chronic experience of just general anxiety.

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I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. As long as

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I can remember, I was always on edge, always waiting

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for the next threat in my environment, afraid of bumps

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in the night, that someone was breaking into my home,

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that hyper vigilant state that typically comes with tension, with

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elevated heart rate, with that kind of waiting for the

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next shoe to drop feeling.

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For me, I also had a lot.

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Of physical symptoms, as a lot of us do, comorbidly

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hand in hand with the psychological. For me, I had

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sleep issues. I never slept well. I was up with

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racing thoughts all night. I had digestive issues for as

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long as I can remember. So it looks a bit

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different how those dysregulations express itself, but those are really

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really common ones. And for me it was confusing because

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I saw similar patterns in my family. I saw my parents,

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my sister, all struggling with anxiety, all having more or

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less the same physical symptomology. So for a very long

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time I endorsed the model that was in the field

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for you know, history, which is that that was all

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determined biogenetics. So of course, what my parents have I

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now have. And it was until I discovered the new

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science of epigenetics that of course honors our genetics, if

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you will, though also empowers ourselves because it honors the

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role that our daily choices are making. And what I

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came to realize the reason there was so much similarity

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within my family, as probably many listeners might also be

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able to witness, is because of what we all learned

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and what we were all modeling to each other, so

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we were exhibiting those same dysregulations, though not because of

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the genetics entirely because of the choices that we were

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living day in and day out. So for me, that,

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as I say, it kind of like cracked a door

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open because for a while I didn't think I had

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the opportunity to heal. I thought that my conversation my

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lifetime would be one of managing my symptoms, making that

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panic or ways so I could make it just enough,

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but always imagining I would be an anxious person. I

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even identified I was an anxious human. I had OCD tendencies,

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That's just who I was. So for me, it was

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a crack of light that I didn't believe wholeheartedly at

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first that I was capable of healing. I tried to

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bat that away and think, Okay, everyone else can heal

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by making different choices, except for me, until I began

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to make those different choices, until I began to actualize change. Now,

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as part of the holistic psychologists, I created the self

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Healers hashtag because I believe now so implicitly in each

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of our abilities to create actual healing in our life,

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and I.

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Think that what you just said so many people will

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relate to. I talk to people all the time who

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have taken on that identity and who really believe that

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I will just always be this way, and so as

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you say, it is so empowering to realize that this

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is not necessarily the case, that they're possibly is a

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way forward. I wanted to talk to you just in

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terms of the mind body connection, really briefly for anybody

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listening who's not familiar with it. The ACES study all

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the way back in nineteen ninety five was fairly groundbreaking

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study which identified that early childhood adversity was directly linked

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to later physical, really negative health consequences physically and psychologically.

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So we might expect.

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That kids with trauma would become more depressed or grow

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up to have substance abuse, but also things like diabetes

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and stroke and heart disease thirty forty years later, having

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these health negative health outcomes. I think that was really

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groundbreaking obviously, but.

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Also what it did.

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I mean, the items on that survey are physical abuse

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and neglect and family violence, and like those really what

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we I considered to be those really big, major significant

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Traumas you talk in the book about the necessity of

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widening our definition of trauma, and this is something that

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I would really like you to talk some more about,

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because I think there are a lot of people who

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don't necessarily identify with those major, severe, terrifying traumas.

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Can you talk a bit about that.

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I am that person.

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When I took the Ace's scale myself, I scored a one,

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barely and for me, you know, for most of us,

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I think upwards of sixty percent of the population, scores

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are one.

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To put it simple, it's not very high.

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Yet I worked in inpatient units, I worked in substance

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use facilities.

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I worked with people who had upwards of ten.

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On that scale, and yet I was seeing the same

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habits and patterns in our daily life. For me, it

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was patterns of dissociation, disconnection and all that kind of

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falls downstream of not being connected to my physical body,

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my emotional self, and definitely not my spiritual essence. So

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for me, that was a point of shame, of concern

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and either even further strengthening. This is just that how

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I am narrative because I had no other explanation for

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why I was struggling, because I didn't have the reason.

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Too, as a lot of us believe.

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So I am very much a proponent in removing essentially

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the label of trauma from the event itself and acknowledging

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that there doesn't have to be a certain threshold for

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something out there to be considered a trauma and reapplying

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the label of trauma to the experience of the event,

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and that allows us to then honor all of the

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individual differences that impact how we experience something or when

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our nervous system feels overwhelmed, And that is what I

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feel contributes to the same habits and patterns regardless, so

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being a human for many different reasons, not feeling like

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we have this support around us, not feeling like we

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can self express in that full way, it still leads

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to those same habits and patterns that come from those

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before and after moments where life is turned on its head,

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as is often the case when we do suffer those

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big tea of trauma.

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So I'm a proponent, like I said, of.

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Applying the label to how is the event experience, and

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that allows us to honor that some things that someone

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might not consider big were big to us because we

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didn't have the tools or the resources to handle it,

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so they overwhelmed our nervous system just the same.

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So it's almost like all of that accumulation of I guess,

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emotional injuries that we all sustain as a child and

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throughout our lives. Would you say that's how I sort

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of think about.

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It, absolutely, because if it becomes then an onion, because

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we become we adapt to all of those experiences, we

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cope in some way that then for the most part,

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largely might have owned consequences by wearing the mask, by

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playing a role usually in service of keeping our less

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overwhelmed safer.

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They then those.

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Habits and patterns begin to accumulate their own set of

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negative fallouts or of consequences.

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So right, it becomes this onion that I believe the.

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Process of healing is peeling back those layers of conditioning,

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allowing us to be fully reconnected with our authenticity in

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physical self, in emotional self, and in spiritual self.

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I was just thinking earlier this week, I think as.

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I was reading your book, it occurred to me that

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we're all talk about being authentic and living our authentic

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life and being true to ourselves, but so many of us,

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for so long would have no idea what that really is,

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because we're these walking bundles of coping strategies and defense mechanisms.

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That just get layered and layered, And.

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You're so right, it's just a case of slowly peeling

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those back, I think before we can have a hope

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of getting to the truth of who we are underneath

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all of that.

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And I'll second that, and I'll offer that when I

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began my journey, I as a trained clinical psychologist, I.

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Had all of the book knowledge.

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I did not necessarily know how that translated to me.

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Emotions might as well have come from another planet. I

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really had no idea of how to reconnect with my

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emotional self and how to take the meaning that those

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emotional markers were sending me. I had no idea who

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I was, and that contributed to what I described when

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you read the book, is my dark knight of the soul,

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the screaming out of that deeper place, that deeper sense

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of who I am. A lot of us now have

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come to associate that with a word intuition, right, our intuition?

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Where is that deep space of us?

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This? And I'm here to offer it's okay if you

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don't know who that person is or how that person

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feels right now.

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I didn't as well. One thing I can assure you.

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Is that we all have that intuitive space, that inn

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sense of who we are, what we want, and what

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we're meant to do. Most of what has happened to

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us is we become so disconnected that it becomes modeled.

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We're not sure what is pinging from that intuitive space

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and what isn't and or we might retain some connection

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to those pings, but we might have developed the habit

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of not trusting it, so we outsource and we look

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to other people to tell us who we are and

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how we are instead of ourselves. So I'm here to

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assure listeners we all have that authentic space. And again,

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like you beautifully, it's peeling back the onion to reconnect with.

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It another time that I really resonated with. You mentioned

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it in your book, and I remember when I first heard.

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It a little while ago.

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It really resonated with me. And that is emotional addiction

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I see I have seen in myself, and I also

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see in a lot of the people that I work

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with too, this constantly creating drama, austraius or overwhelm and

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never really feeling comfortable when things had just come Can

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you talk a bit about that and how that comes

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about that emotional addiction.

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I think it's so.

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Common, absolutely, and I appreciate that you bring it up

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and you acknowledge casts your own kind of witnessing of that.

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I think a lot of us do have that kind

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of resting state of feeling that we tend to revisit.

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For me, miyan is anxiety. It became my home base.

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I was so used to how it felt to feel

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the stress hormones of cortisol, of adrenaline, to feel that

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nervous system activation, that a running joke in my household

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from my childhood was my middle name ought to be

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because when I didn't feel stressed, the most I was

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on repeat. What I would yell to anyone that would

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listen is I'm bored. So the running joke in my

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family was Nicole. Your middle name might as well be Nicole.

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I'm board lapera. And for me, I now retrospectively understand

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what was happening, which was that in absence of that stimulation,

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I did have a sense of oftness. It didn't feel

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like myself. Flash forward into adulthood, I would witness myself,

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instigating returning to those stressful moments, returning to those possibly

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stressful thoughts, or triggering a stress in my relationship, picking

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at something to activate my stress response. Most of us

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have that the more we can become conscious of our

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habits and patterns, the more we can become aware of

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how often we revisit certain emotions. And likely it's because

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our bodies become so familiar with that state that when

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we're out of that state, we feel uncomfortable, because our

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body and our subconscious in particular, prefers the familiar, because

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according to our subconscious, that which has been known before

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is much safer than that which is not known, than

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the unfamiliar. So there's a very deep part of all

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of our human selves that does not want to change,

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that likes the familiarity of what it's used to. I

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would be the first person to admit if you were

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to ask me what I wanted in life, I would

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have screamed from the raafter's peace. Yet when I had

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a moment where I didn't have that activision, something deeply

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felt not comfortable to me.

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It's that agitation and the restlessness. I think too, that

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so many people are just I mean, I teach meditation

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and mindfulness, and people really really struggle with just sitting

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still for five minutes and being alone and in a

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calm state and being alone with their thoughts. And I

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think with regard to that, we gravitate to what is familiar,

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even if it's deeply uncomfortable. I think that we see that,

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and it's often talked about in the context of relationships

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and recreating relationships that are stressful or you know, unhealthy,

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because we're familiar with that dynamic, and a lot of

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people listening would relate to that, But I don't think

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we've necessarily always talked about it on that individual level

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in terms of just I think about myself and just

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like going towards like overloading my schedule and overworking and

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you know, just creating all of the conditions of overwhelm

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and stress.

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And we tell ourselves.

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That we're just you know, we're just busy, and we're

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just really high achievers or we're perfectionists, but in fact,

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all we're doing is just creating this constant world of

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unnecessary stress.

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Yes, I second that as a fellow overachiever.

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For me, it became back in time, my achievement was

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two things. It offered me a channel for that agitation

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that for me and all hits us differently feels very visceral.

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I feel it in my body. I feel like their

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energy is stuck and I almost want to crawl out

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of my skin. So for me, doing performing gave me

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a channel for that attention, I mean that energy. The

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other byproduct was attention when I performed and I brought

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home that AA or I was excelling at softball as

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I very naturally did, that was when my mom was

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able to be the most present for me. She loved

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me playing softball and was present at my games and

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very much. That was how I was able to feel

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that connectivity. So this actually ties into how we operate

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in relationships, which I believe are formed in our most

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earliest relational experiences. What we are modeled, how we experience

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ourself and how we relate to others becomes a practiced

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way of being that in our childhood is often born

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out of adaptation, born out of the circumstances that we

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can't control. Because here we are, and we're a child,

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and we're a very adaptive child.

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So we learn how to create.

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Bonds with those around us as fully or not fully

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as they're able to offer it, and then that becomes

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the model for which we continue to relate. So my

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overachievement started very early. The role I played in relationships

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started very early, and then we become very repetitive. So

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flash forward in time, I'm still very in achievement driven

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individual who struggles to acknowledge and honor myself in those

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moments where it's at odds with what I think I

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should do.

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I want to just go.

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Back for a minute to that ACES study and that

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mind body link in terms of the ways that it

383
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manifests physically. Essentially, what they've uncovered I guess is it's

384
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this toxic stress of those overwhelming traumatic experiences or responses

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in the body that accumulate over time. Are you able

386
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to talk a bit about that process, just for anybody

387
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listening who's interested in that link, because it's pretty significant link.

388
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Absolutely.

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I mean, so, when we have a stress reaction, our

390
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nervous system is activated. We have our sympathetic typically nervous system,

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the one that's associated with fight or flight is activated,

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and we go into the mode of dealing with the

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issue at hand. We have a cascade of physiological shifts

394
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and changes that happen in the body. Then as a

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result of that regulation into that upward that activated sense.

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Because we have to remember, all of this is crounded

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in our evolution. Within that moment there being a perceived threat,

398
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whether it's real or imagined. You know, our brain, our

399
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mind is very powerful. It really doesn't matter. And then

400
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our responses and our resources are summoned. And the ones

401
00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:33.400
in particular that we have to become worried about are

402
00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:38.160
when our cortisol goes up. It affects the whole hormonal

403
00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:40.480
system in our body, namely around.

404
00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:42.759
The HPA access.

405
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And too much cortisol not only disregulates our other hormones,

406
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but actually creates inflammation in our body. And that is

407
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a problem for our nervous I mean our immune system,

408
00:22:55.799 --> 00:22:59.559
who begins to register there at it activates in our

409
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immune system, now sending a cascade of immune regulating chemicals.

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The large majority of us, when we're stuck in that

411
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sympathetic response system, are having all of those dysregulations falling

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like dominoes, where then we're becoming inflamed. Inflammation is activating

413
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our immune system, and then our immune system is right

414
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activated in our bodies and causing all of that downstream.

415
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The thing we have to worry about is when that

416
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all travels up into our brain, and a lot of

417
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us struggle then with mind cloudiness, brain fog, and a

418
00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:40.119
lot of that is connected to an inflamed brain, that

419
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dullness of thinking. The cloud over our brain is the

420
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end result of all of this cascade of upregulated hormones

421
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that never shut off. To deal with stress, we need

422
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all of that response system I just described. However, we

423
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also need to downregulate to come back into our and

424
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digest or our power sympathetic nervous system. When all of

425
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our regulatory organs can go back and sit in their

426
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resting state. And when we don't have that, when we

427
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have that wash of chemicals that never shut off, we

428
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do enter into a toxic stress experience.

429
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It, like I said, has impact not.

430
00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:24.039
Only on our visceral organs and our gut, but more

431
00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:26.400
problematically upstream in our brain.

432
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And then over time that chronic stress and inflammation. Obviously,

433
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as you said, it's having an impact on all of

434
00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:40.440
the systems in our body have a time creating disease.

435
00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:43.359
Yes creating disease, and that's why there's such an interconnection

436
00:24:44.200 --> 00:24:50.759
with physical issue illness symptoms, and psychological and that stress

437
00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:54.160
and anxiety in particular. So what I was describing earlier,

438
00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:57.119
some of my as long as I can remember, symptoms

439
00:24:57.119 --> 00:25:00.519
of constipation, of sleep issues, all of those are systems

440
00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:05.119
that are directly impacted when we're overactivated in our sympathetic

441
00:25:05.160 --> 00:25:07.759
because we're not able to rest. So what did I

442
00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:12.240
say earlier, My sleep was off, We're not able to digest.

443
00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:15.559
I happen to be incredibly constipated for as long as

444
00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:15.880
I can.

445
00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:18.039
Remember, holding on to food.

446
00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:21.640
And it's because again, our nervous system isn't shifting into

447
00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:25.599
our power sympathetic, where our rest and our digestion hums

448
00:25:25.640 --> 00:25:26.799
along as it ought to.

449
00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:32.400
Yeah, and I'm thinking of the range of autoimmune diseases

450
00:25:32.680 --> 00:25:36.079
and all of those things that people are experiencing, and

451
00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:39.759
so many people on the one hand maybe seeing a

452
00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:42.519
therapist to deal with the mental health issues and the

453
00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:45.000
stresses and the struggles of life, and on the other hand,

454
00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:48.079
going you know, from doctor to doctor trying to work

455
00:25:48.119 --> 00:25:53.960
out what's with this the health complaints and never necessarily.

456
00:25:53.559 --> 00:25:54.400
Linking the two.

457
00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:58.640
And I'm wondering too if maybe some people clearly these

458
00:25:58.680 --> 00:26:01.920
links are very direct unproven, but I think for such

459
00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:04.920
a long time maybe if we tried to link emotional

460
00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:08.759
stress with physical complaints, people interpreted that as, Oh, they

461
00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:09.440
think it's just.

462
00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:10.759
In my head, you know.

463
00:26:10.839 --> 00:26:13.200
So there was that resistance to that idea.

464
00:26:13.920 --> 00:26:18.720
Yeah. Absolutely, And I'm happy and being you brought up autoimmune.

465
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There is a very near and dear self healer that

466
00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:23.839
I reference a couple times in the book, and her

467
00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:27.279
name is Ali, and she's been on an incredibly inspiring

468
00:26:27.319 --> 00:26:30.440
transformational journey that began with one glass of water.

469
00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:32.359
But that began at a time.

470
00:26:32.519 --> 00:26:34.279
Where she was in her mid twenties and she was

471
00:26:34.319 --> 00:26:40.319
suffering debilitating symptoms of a multiple sclerosis diagnosis. Onwards of

472
00:26:40.359 --> 00:26:42.960
getting ready, her and her family were getting ready to

473
00:26:43.160 --> 00:26:46.519
find housing for her, a housing facility where she would

474
00:26:46.519 --> 00:26:50.400
have the supports that she needs to continue assumingly into

475
00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:53.960
her decline and with the daily commitment to begin to

476
00:26:54.039 --> 00:26:58.119
create change, with her becoming aware of new information on

477
00:26:58.200 --> 00:27:02.200
nutrition and the role nutrition play in autoimmunity. Why is

478
00:27:02.279 --> 00:27:07.200
nutrition important? Not only does stress cause inflammation, Gut damaging

479
00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:11.759
foods cause inflammation. The more chemical laid in food we eat,

480
00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:14.640
the more of certain types of food products can actually

481
00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:17.799
poke holes in our gut. So when Ali began her journey,

482
00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:21.240
little did she know that. Of course it didn't happen overnight,

483
00:27:21.599 --> 00:27:24.200
but her staying committed to what began is one glass

484
00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:27.599
of water and then creating nutritional change in her life

485
00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:31.359
and creating other habits and practices helping her to downregulate

486
00:27:31.640 --> 00:27:34.480
her stress response. Ali is I think maybe a year

487
00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:37.000
and a half, two years into her healing journey, and

488
00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:41.359
she is currently symptom free of multiple sclerosis. So I

489
00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:45.240
share her often. That maps on right to this idea

490
00:27:45.319 --> 00:27:48.880
of a lot of our autoimmunity and our symptoms of

491
00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:52.839
all of the category of autoimmune diseases sometimes are very

492
00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:56.480
directly connected to our stress responses in our body and

493
00:27:56.759 --> 00:27:59.920
or the way we're caring for our physical body.

494
00:28:00.160 --> 00:28:02.000
Yeah, that's amazing.

495
00:28:02.920 --> 00:28:08.759
I've been listening on an audiobook to Gabor Matte's book

496
00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:10.720
When the Body Says No Great.

497
00:28:10.920 --> 00:28:12.359
I'm sure that you're familiar and have.

498
00:28:12.359 --> 00:28:16.559
Read that book, but it is fascinating for anybody who

499
00:28:16.599 --> 00:28:22.480
is interested in some of those case studies about people

500
00:28:22.680 --> 00:28:27.119
experiencing how stress and early experiences impact and manifest.

501
00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:28.799
As physical disease.

502
00:28:32.759 --> 00:28:33.319
I hope that.

503
00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:37.440
You're enjoying this conversation and realizing the benefits of positivity

504
00:28:37.440 --> 00:28:39.880
in your own life. If you are enjoying the show,

505
00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:42.119
please be sure to like and subscribe so that you

506
00:28:42.160 --> 00:28:44.799
get notified when you epps drop and head on over

507
00:28:44.839 --> 00:28:47.240
to Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen and leave us

508
00:28:47.240 --> 00:28:47.839
a rating and.

509
00:28:47.839 --> 00:28:55.559
Review, Nicole.

510
00:28:55.640 --> 00:28:58.599
The book is called how to Do the Work, and

511
00:28:58.839 --> 00:29:03.519
you mentioned yourself, here's circle and empowering people to do

512
00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:04.160
this work.

513
00:29:05.400 --> 00:29:07.039
What is involved in doing the work?

514
00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:07.519
Yeah?

515
00:29:07.559 --> 00:29:10.359
So doing the work and the reason why I intentionally

516
00:29:10.359 --> 00:29:13.200
in the book was titled this it's really to honor

517
00:29:13.240 --> 00:29:17.400
the role that creating new change in our actions, embodying

518
00:29:17.480 --> 00:29:22.480
change in our actions plays in creating transformation. It's beyond

519
00:29:23.240 --> 00:29:26.319
thinking just thinking differently or reading things in a book.

520
00:29:26.599 --> 00:29:27.799
At some point we have.

521
00:29:27.720 --> 00:29:31.759
To translate what we're learning, integrate it into how we

522
00:29:31.839 --> 00:29:34.640
begin to show up differently, whether again it's honoring our

523
00:29:34.680 --> 00:29:36.839
body and caring for our body in a different way,

524
00:29:36.920 --> 00:29:39.920
or learning how to regulate our nervous system. A large

525
00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:42.400
reason why myself and all of my clients were stuck

526
00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:46.920
is because it's incredibly difficult to build that bridge into action. Because,

527
00:29:46.920 --> 00:29:49.400
like we talked about, we don't actually want to change.

528
00:29:49.440 --> 00:29:52.519
There's a lot of discomfort that comes along with doing

529
00:29:52.519 --> 00:29:55.880
the unfamiliar, with creating new ripples and our relationships in

530
00:29:55.920 --> 00:29:58.559
our lives that are new, that are unfamiliar, and that

531
00:29:58.599 --> 00:30:02.440
are uncomfortable all of us. So a large reason why

532
00:30:03.400 --> 00:30:05.720
we were struggling, and a lot of us struggle to

533
00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:08.960
get better is because we're unable to build that bridge.

534
00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:11.559
And if I were to speak honestly, I would go

535
00:30:11.559 --> 00:30:13.559
as far to say, I think those of us that

536
00:30:13.759 --> 00:30:16.960
have the insight, that know the tools, that maybe even

537
00:30:17.039 --> 00:30:18.720
know the habits that they want to break and might

538
00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:21.240
know where they come from. For me, that that was

539
00:30:21.319 --> 00:30:26.400
such an incredibly frustrating place to be stuck because I

540
00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:29.039
had all this insight, I had all this awareness, yet

541
00:30:29.079 --> 00:30:32.079
I couldn't watch myself do anything about it. I was

542
00:30:32.200 --> 00:30:35.720
unable to put the bricks down to walk over to

543
00:30:35.880 --> 00:30:40.599
then being differently. So the book it being titled the Work,

544
00:30:41.039 --> 00:30:44.519
I think, really is honoring the fact that create change,

545
00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:46.960
we have to begin to show up differently in our lives.

546
00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:51.480
Yes, and you mentioned the story of Ali, which is

547
00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:54.880
just incredible, and that it started with a glass of

548
00:30:54.960 --> 00:30:58.720
mot and you do I have heard you talk about,

549
00:30:59.079 --> 00:31:03.440
you know, this idea of keeping a small daily promise

550
00:31:03.480 --> 00:31:05.759
to yourself, and I for could just say that the

551
00:31:05.799 --> 00:31:08.440
reason that I love this idea is because I think

552
00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:11.680
that in this space and I probably relate it to

553
00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:14.160
things like the diet space and the weight loss space,

554
00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:16.359
when there are these things that we know are very

555
00:31:16.400 --> 00:31:20.519
limited or that they're not going to that don't work,

556
00:31:20.759 --> 00:31:24.880
dare I say, or they're not going to work completely,

557
00:31:25.920 --> 00:31:31.480
and then when the results aren't there, people blame themselves

558
00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:34.880
like that didn't work for me, And I hear that

559
00:31:34.880 --> 00:31:36.920
that's the way you're supposed to That's what you do

560
00:31:37.079 --> 00:31:38.839
is you go and see a psychologist, or you go

561
00:31:38.920 --> 00:31:41.400
and do this and you do CBT. But that hasn't

562
00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:43.400
worked for me, so therefore there must be a problem

563
00:31:43.400 --> 00:31:48.880
with me, and which you know, it's just really unhelpful.

564
00:31:49.720 --> 00:31:53.039
So you introduce this idea of keeping a small daily

565
00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:55.519
promise to yourself, I guess as a way of kind

566
00:31:55.519 --> 00:31:57.079
of building that self trust.

567
00:31:57.119 --> 00:31:58.480
Would you say, can you talk.

568
00:31:58.319 --> 00:32:01.559
About that love that you said that word self trust?

569
00:32:01.599 --> 00:32:04.720
I believe that's exactly what that is, an action of

570
00:32:04.920 --> 00:32:07.559
It doesn't matter about what the promise is. So I

571
00:32:07.559 --> 00:32:10.079
shared Ali her promise was a glass of water. I've

572
00:32:10.119 --> 00:32:12.559
heard other promises. I've lost my teeth. Before I go

573
00:32:12.640 --> 00:32:14.759
to bed, I take a minute and I write one

574
00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:18.839
affirmation in my journal. Doesn't matter what the promise is.

575
00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:22.880
It's the action of witnessing alignment between intention and action.

576
00:32:23.400 --> 00:32:25.440
And so many of us, to speak to your point, yes,

577
00:32:25.519 --> 00:32:29.079
have had set many great intentions that we haven't been

578
00:32:29.119 --> 00:32:34.599
able to keep up with to consistently actualize. So doesn't

579
00:32:34.599 --> 00:32:38.559
matter the promise to anyone listening, whatever the keep it small.

580
00:32:38.920 --> 00:32:42.119
This is harnessing again our subconsciousness preference to stay in

581
00:32:42.160 --> 00:32:45.640
the familiar. So the more we stack on, the more

582
00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:49.279
we're likely to create that resistance or create that overwhelm.

583
00:32:49.640 --> 00:32:52.480
Because what we're looking to do cast is do it consistently.

584
00:32:52.839 --> 00:32:53.799
So while some of us.

585
00:32:53.720 --> 00:32:55.680
Might be a white knuckle a life that looks different

586
00:32:55.680 --> 00:32:58.920
from top to bottom tomorrow, chances are somewhere down the

587
00:32:58.920 --> 00:33:00.640
line we're not going to be able to keep the

588
00:33:00.680 --> 00:33:03.559
seven new promises that we intend it. I want to honor,

589
00:33:03.640 --> 00:33:07.640
though oftentimes that's a reaction out of the incredible discomfort

590
00:33:07.680 --> 00:33:10.200
that we feel. So very naturally, if I change my

591
00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:13.759
life from top to the bottom, I'll get better, quicker. However,

592
00:33:13.880 --> 00:33:17.039
the goal is to integrate these new choices into new

593
00:33:17.119 --> 00:33:21.160
lifestyle how I now live what I do. So smallness

594
00:33:21.240 --> 00:33:24.640
is key. Doesn't matter what the promise is, it's the

595
00:33:24.680 --> 00:33:28.519
action of keeping it, because yes, it rebuilds a lost self.

596
00:33:28.680 --> 00:33:33.319
Trust you over time, sometimes even unbeknownst to yourself. Begin

597
00:33:33.400 --> 00:33:35.839
to not roll your eyes when you make a new promise,

598
00:33:35.920 --> 00:33:38.000
begin to know that you know what you set the

599
00:33:38.039 --> 00:33:39.880
intention to show up and do this thing tomorrow, and

600
00:33:40.400 --> 00:33:43.359
chances are you will. And here's something else even if

601
00:33:43.359 --> 00:33:46.079
you don't. Because there are some days where we're not

602
00:33:46.119 --> 00:33:48.240
going to make the choice to show up, and.

603
00:33:48.240 --> 00:33:50.279
There might be some days where I want to suggest

604
00:33:50.440 --> 00:33:51.960
you make the choice to show up.

605
00:33:52.160 --> 00:33:55.000
It's important to honor where we're at. Though, Once you

606
00:33:55.119 --> 00:33:58.480
drop those into the bucket of confidence, you know that.

607
00:33:58.400 --> 00:34:01.119
Your routines are right around the You know you're not

608
00:34:01.160 --> 00:34:01.440
going to.

609
00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:04.599
Spiral down back into all of those old habits. You

610
00:34:04.680 --> 00:34:07.960
know that you can stay committed because you've showed yourself,

611
00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:09.960
you created confidence in yourself.

612
00:34:10.199 --> 00:34:11.840
Yeah, I love that.

613
00:34:11.920 --> 00:34:14.079
And it's a bit like that idea that you know,

614
00:34:14.159 --> 00:34:16.119
I think you've you've touched on this. The other there's

615
00:34:16.280 --> 00:34:21.400
micro commitments, those little micro changes that almost fly underneath

616
00:34:21.400 --> 00:34:24.239
the ratear of the phot or flight system that is

617
00:34:24.320 --> 00:34:27.199
going to kick into gear if it thinks that you're

618
00:34:27.239 --> 00:34:31.000
going too far out of uh the ordinary or the familiar.

619
00:34:31.519 --> 00:34:35.239
So you can integrate these these tiny habits that over

620
00:34:35.320 --> 00:34:37.320
time build on themselves.

621
00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:39.119
And then watch for the presence of resistance, which will

622
00:34:39.199 --> 00:34:41.119
likely be part of the story when you try to

623
00:34:41.119 --> 00:34:43.519
diminish it, you try to tell yourself and tear yourself

624
00:34:43.519 --> 00:34:45.800
down that it's only something small, it's so still silly.

625
00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:47.960
Why bother label that for what.

626
00:34:47.960 --> 00:34:51.039
It is that you're subconscious preferring that you stay in

627
00:34:51.119 --> 00:34:55.039
the same old, familiar rut. However, you can empower yourself.

628
00:34:55.079 --> 00:34:57.159
You can walk through that discomfort. You can tell that

629
00:34:57.239 --> 00:34:59.920
voice thank you. I'm all set. I'm safe to move

630
00:35:00.159 --> 00:35:03.320
into the unknown, and I'm going to continue to keep

631
00:35:03.320 --> 00:35:06.840
this problem. I mean this, keep this, this this intention

632
00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:07.679
for myself.

633
00:35:07.760 --> 00:35:12.440
Nonetheless, I'm intrew interested in some of this, like particularly

634
00:35:12.440 --> 00:35:15.960
the gut health which you talked about before, and the

635
00:35:16.280 --> 00:35:18.880
obviously the understanding that we have now about the gut

636
00:35:19.079 --> 00:35:24.519
brain link. I did an episode of the podcast earlier,

637
00:35:24.599 --> 00:35:27.079
if people listening haven't heard it on particularly gut health

638
00:35:27.079 --> 00:35:28.079
and I'm really into.

639
00:35:27.920 --> 00:35:32.239
This food mood kind of connection. What have you found.

640
00:35:31.960 --> 00:35:36.840
Nicole to be particularly helpful in healing the gut?

641
00:35:36.920 --> 00:35:38.719
Is that too big a question? I find it kind

642
00:35:38.719 --> 00:35:40.360
of like, well, what do I do? What do I eat?

643
00:35:40.400 --> 00:35:42.719
What supplements do I take? How do I heal my gut?

644
00:35:43.679 --> 00:35:44.400
Yeah? I love.

645
00:35:44.480 --> 00:35:46.679
I love to hear a cass that you're you're sharing

646
00:35:46.719 --> 00:35:48.760
this message because I think, Yeah, those of us in

647
00:35:48.800 --> 00:35:52.480
the field haven't been trained around nutrition and even or

648
00:35:52.559 --> 00:35:55.920
urge not to even dare speak of nutrition in many ways,

649
00:35:56.000 --> 00:35:57.480
though it plays an integral part.

650
00:35:57.519 --> 00:35:59.920
For me, it was foundational a little bit.

651
00:36:00.119 --> 00:36:01.679
I know that a lot of the food I was

652
00:36:01.719 --> 00:36:06.360
eating that I considered healthy wasn't actually what my body needed,

653
00:36:06.519 --> 00:36:12.119
wasn't serving my individual nutritional needs. So to heal the

654
00:36:12.199 --> 00:36:16.079
gut because it is very individualized. The foods that make

655
00:36:16.199 --> 00:36:18.679
me feel well and the foods that make you feel

656
00:36:18.719 --> 00:36:22.440
well might be different. I'm the biggest proponent of creating

657
00:36:22.480 --> 00:36:26.760
a habit of consciousness around the body. Body consciousness, particularly

658
00:36:26.800 --> 00:36:31.119
around consumption. What that means is obviously the foundation of

659
00:36:31.440 --> 00:36:34.480
learning how to be present to our body and its signals,

660
00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:36.880
which for many of us is a journey in and

661
00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:39.559
of itself, because again, some of us don't feel safe

662
00:36:39.559 --> 00:36:42.559
in our bodies. So to cultivate safety, to do the

663
00:36:42.719 --> 00:36:45.159
like we're speaking of, learn how to regulate our nervous

664
00:36:45.199 --> 00:36:48.400
system so that I can embody myself and then over time,

665
00:36:49.119 --> 00:36:52.880
tune into how my body feels. Once I'm there, Now

666
00:36:52.920 --> 00:36:56.360
I can gift myself with being consciously present when I eat.

667
00:36:57.119 --> 00:36:58.800
As simplistic as this might.

668
00:36:58.760 --> 00:37:01.039
Sound, I know I'll be the first one to admit

669
00:37:01.519 --> 00:37:03.960
I ate for so many reasons that weren't my body

670
00:37:03.960 --> 00:37:06.679
telling me I was hungry. I didn't know when I

671
00:37:06.760 --> 00:37:09.119
was full, and half the time when I was eating,

672
00:37:09.159 --> 00:37:11.400
my mind was a million miles elsewhere. I didn't really

673
00:37:11.480 --> 00:37:13.679
know how food tasted, nor did I understand how it

674
00:37:13.719 --> 00:37:16.519
made me feel. So once I was embodied and I

675
00:37:16.639 --> 00:37:19.880
was here, then I had the gift of tuning in,

676
00:37:20.039 --> 00:37:24.960
discovering what is a hunger feeling versus a million other things.

677
00:37:25.239 --> 00:37:27.480
I'm uncomfortable and I want to distract myself, Oh so

678
00:37:27.559 --> 00:37:28.960
I'll eat, or I'm thirsty or a.

679
00:37:28.920 --> 00:37:29.760
Million other things.

680
00:37:30.199 --> 00:37:34.599
Learning how to differentiate hunger and then more importantly, tuning

681
00:37:34.639 --> 00:37:37.239
in when I eat that meal of whatever it is

682
00:37:37.559 --> 00:37:40.159
do I feel like it gave me energy? Or do

683
00:37:40.199 --> 00:37:41.679
I feel like I want to go take a nap

684
00:37:41.840 --> 00:37:45.480
right afterward? When we eat, we should feel satiate it,

685
00:37:45.679 --> 00:37:48.639
and we should have energy available to us to go

686
00:37:48.719 --> 00:37:49.719
about our day.

687
00:37:50.199 --> 00:37:51.880
And what I began to realize.

688
00:37:51.519 --> 00:37:54.199
Time and time again is that I didn't feel so

689
00:37:54.320 --> 00:37:56.880
great when I ate certain types of food. So I

690
00:37:57.000 --> 00:38:01.480
was able to individualize, essentially my nutritional plan based on

691
00:38:01.639 --> 00:38:06.079
what works for me. So I don't ever prescribe prescriptions

692
00:38:06.079 --> 00:38:08.719
of eat this not that I know that each of

693
00:38:08.719 --> 00:38:12.280
our individual bodies has the wisdom knows how it feels

694
00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:15.480
its best, and if we begin to cultivate a conscious

695
00:38:15.519 --> 00:38:18.599
relationship with our bodies, we can find our way to

696
00:38:18.639 --> 00:38:21.159
the food that makes us feel and perform our best.

697
00:38:21.840 --> 00:38:25.760
I think that's such an important message, especially when we

698
00:38:25.800 --> 00:38:28.960
are still for all of the work that is happening

699
00:38:29.039 --> 00:38:32.480
and the change that's happening in terms of pushing back

700
00:38:32.519 --> 00:38:37.280
against the diet culture and the drive for thinness and

701
00:38:37.400 --> 00:38:40.480
all of that unrealistic body standards that women hold themselves to.

702
00:38:40.519 --> 00:38:42.960
I know a lot of women who are still purely

703
00:38:43.039 --> 00:38:47.639
motivated by making my body smaller and eating for health,

704
00:38:47.719 --> 00:38:52.320
not just physical health and nutrition, but psychological health and wellbeing.

705
00:38:52.400 --> 00:38:55.679
They are so connected. I think that's a really powerful

706
00:38:55.679 --> 00:38:58.000
message to get out there. Yeah.

707
00:38:58.000 --> 00:39:00.400
So then you can shift yourself into a space where

708
00:39:00.920 --> 00:39:04.440
you may choose to make the choice not to eat

709
00:39:04.480 --> 00:39:06.440
a certain food at a given time, and we can

710
00:39:06.480 --> 00:39:09.400
reframe it. It doesn't have to be about restriction in

711
00:39:09.480 --> 00:39:11.960
that moment. It can be about that food is not

712
00:39:12.000 --> 00:39:13.960
going to make me feel well for what I have

713
00:39:14.039 --> 00:39:17.480
to go and do next. And you can also gift

714
00:39:17.519 --> 00:39:20.480
yourself with the opportunity, as I still often do with

715
00:39:20.599 --> 00:39:23.960
eating the food with consciously saying yes, I'm going to

716
00:39:24.119 --> 00:39:24.360
for me.

717
00:39:24.480 --> 00:39:25.480
I'll share an example.

718
00:39:25.840 --> 00:39:28.519
I have come to learn that the more gluten I eat,

719
00:39:28.840 --> 00:39:32.440
the worse I feel. I get an agitation, I lose energy.

720
00:39:32.960 --> 00:39:36.440
This goes along with sugar processed sugar too. I even

721
00:39:36.440 --> 00:39:38.599
get a little bit of breakout around my chin. So

722
00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:41.320
you can tell visibly when I'm eating gluten or.

723
00:39:41.239 --> 00:39:42.119
Too much sugar.

724
00:39:43.159 --> 00:39:46.559
Sometimes I love me pizza, I love me some ice cream.

725
00:39:46.800 --> 00:39:49.519
I still eat it though I'm conscious. I know that

726
00:39:49.639 --> 00:39:51.360
as when my ice cream cone is done, and if

727
00:39:51.360 --> 00:39:53.079
I have ice cream cone three nights in a row,

728
00:39:53.239 --> 00:39:56.119
I might feel a little crappy on the fourth day, though,

729
00:39:56.119 --> 00:39:59.440
I entered into that relationship consciously, so I'm not ever

730
00:39:59.480 --> 00:40:02.079
going to have a restriction. I'm just going to advocate

731
00:40:02.119 --> 00:40:05.079
body awareness and your body will speak. You may still

732
00:40:05.199 --> 00:40:08.400
choose to eat the food, though you're gifting yourself with

733
00:40:08.480 --> 00:40:11.280
empowerment because you're choosing yes.

734
00:40:12.280 --> 00:40:14.800
And a lot of what you were talking about them

735
00:40:14.960 --> 00:40:18.360
around the food and the food choices really was about

736
00:40:18.599 --> 00:40:22.280
slowing down and tuning in. You talked about consciousness and

737
00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:27.079
conscious body is mindfulness at the court, like, is that

738
00:40:27.159 --> 00:40:30.320
a big part of what you teaching and encouraging people

739
00:40:30.360 --> 00:40:31.239
to practice as well?

740
00:40:31.280 --> 00:40:32.000
It's huge for me.

741
00:40:32.360 --> 00:40:34.760
I think it's the foundation of everything, just the ability

742
00:40:34.760 --> 00:40:37.119
to be present to what's happening exactly.

743
00:40:37.199 --> 00:40:40.760
Mindfulness is another word for consciousness and to speak to

744
00:40:40.800 --> 00:40:44.519
something you brought earlier upcasts, I discovered mindfulness when I

745
00:40:44.559 --> 00:40:47.000
was in my early twenties, when I needed it the most,

746
00:40:47.039 --> 00:40:50.639
because I was one panic attack after the other. Though

747
00:40:50.719 --> 00:40:53.760
to like you shared, I was the person who couldn't

748
00:40:53.760 --> 00:40:56.800
sit still, who didn't want to have that moment of meditation,

749
00:40:57.039 --> 00:40:58.239
so I didn't do it.

750
00:40:59.039 --> 00:41:02.199
I began to create the habit of consciousness.

751
00:41:01.800 --> 00:41:05.679
Years later, not through sitting meditation, like many of us

752
00:41:05.760 --> 00:41:10.440
consider through being mindfully or consciously present in my day

753
00:41:10.440 --> 00:41:13.760
today because for me, hooking my attention on what I

754
00:41:13.840 --> 00:41:16.760
was doing, on my sensory experience of say my meal,

755
00:41:17.000 --> 00:41:19.960
just in the context of this conversation felt a little

756
00:41:20.079 --> 00:41:22.480
less threatening because it gave me a hook for my

757
00:41:22.599 --> 00:41:27.000
attention that wasn't my overwhelming mind or my internal world

758
00:41:27.079 --> 00:41:29.320
or all of the feelings that were bubbling up. So

759
00:41:29.719 --> 00:41:33.280
I'm the first person to give that suggestion anywhere we

760
00:41:33.280 --> 00:41:37.000
can create mindfulness or conscious awareenes the same thing is

761
00:41:37.039 --> 00:41:39.880
going to go a long way to build that foundation.

762
00:41:39.920 --> 00:41:42.880
Because I couldn't agree with you more. It is foundational.

763
00:41:43.360 --> 00:41:47.320
Yeah, And I personally have been just for my experience,

764
00:41:47.400 --> 00:41:50.880
have been meditating for many years, and I can happily

765
00:41:50.920 --> 00:41:54.599
sit in meditation, but I'm now much more drawn to

766
00:41:55.599 --> 00:41:58.559
mindful movement and really connecting with my body because I

767
00:41:58.559 --> 00:42:02.320
felt like that was something missing for me. So yoga,

768
00:42:02.440 --> 00:42:05.199
and I mean even I've just done a little course

769
00:42:05.239 --> 00:42:08.440
in tapping, AFT tapping and things like EMDR that are

770
00:42:08.440 --> 00:42:11.679
connecting with our nervous system in that way. I think

771
00:42:11.719 --> 00:42:14.280
that getting in there too, some of those body based

772
00:42:14.440 --> 00:42:17.519
mindfulness practices are really important as well. I know you

773
00:42:17.559 --> 00:42:19.639
talk about yoga as being a really part of the

774
00:42:19.639 --> 00:42:20.719
healing process too.

775
00:42:21.400 --> 00:42:22.719
Yeah, movement in general.

776
00:42:22.719 --> 00:42:25.400
I like that, even just expanded it, you know, beyond yoga,

777
00:42:25.519 --> 00:42:28.000
just how can I be present in a moving body.

778
00:42:28.280 --> 00:42:29.920
I'm reading a fascinating book.

779
00:42:29.679 --> 00:42:32.880
Now about how movement early in life begins to shape

780
00:42:33.239 --> 00:42:35.920
or the ways in which we move begin to shape

781
00:42:35.920 --> 00:42:39.079
actually our self concept and then how that shapes our movement.

782
00:42:39.079 --> 00:42:42.079
And then again we have another onion that's kind of

783
00:42:42.320 --> 00:42:46.639
falling in another direction and movement and mindful movement. Because

784
00:42:46.679 --> 00:42:50.320
my offering is always this those of us that maybe

785
00:42:50.559 --> 00:42:53.719
have a consistent meditation practice, we're say every morning we

786
00:42:53.760 --> 00:42:56.599
sit in meditation for five, ten, fifteen, whatever many minutes.

787
00:42:56.599 --> 00:42:59.760
It is my wondering or my offering is.

788
00:42:59.719 --> 00:43:03.280
Alway is a suggestion to explore, witness what the rest

789
00:43:03.320 --> 00:43:06.159
of the day looks like outside of your meditation moment, right,

790
00:43:06.559 --> 00:43:09.239
And chances are, if you're like me, the rest of

791
00:43:09.239 --> 00:43:10.639
the day looks like that autopilot.

792
00:43:11.000 --> 00:43:11.159
Right.

793
00:43:11.199 --> 00:43:14.039
So if I've meditated, access my conscious self, you know,

794
00:43:14.119 --> 00:43:17.320
tuned into my spirit, my essence, you know, checked in,

795
00:43:17.360 --> 00:43:20.360
and then I go right back into that autopilot that's

796
00:43:20.400 --> 00:43:22.920
going to be the most predominant in my day. So

797
00:43:23.400 --> 00:43:27.679
I'm always thinking about life in consciousness because it's not

798
00:43:28.039 --> 00:43:32.280
enough to, in my opinion, do anything in a limited way.

799
00:43:32.320 --> 00:43:35.519
We need to integrate it into our way of being.

800
00:43:35.639 --> 00:43:38.559
How we're showing up outside of the meditation room.

801
00:43:38.800 --> 00:43:40.920
One hundred percent would agree with that.

802
00:43:41.559 --> 00:43:44.840
Sit down and meditate for ten minutes, take monthsllness done,

803
00:43:45.079 --> 00:43:47.239
and then carry on the rest of the day and.

804
00:43:46.960 --> 00:43:49.159
Get back into my mind exactly.

805
00:43:50.719 --> 00:43:52.960
We've all been there, no Cale, I'm really conscious of

806
00:43:53.039 --> 00:43:55.400
your time. There are so many I could talk to

807
00:43:55.400 --> 00:43:56.960
you for hours, because there are so many other really

808
00:43:57.039 --> 00:43:59.360
useful strategies and approaches that you're outline in the book,

809
00:43:59.360 --> 00:44:01.920
and I'm sure they're in self Healis circle as well.

810
00:44:02.079 --> 00:44:06.199
You talk about in a child work, Can I just

811
00:44:06.199 --> 00:44:08.199
give you like a couple of minutes to talk about

812
00:44:08.280 --> 00:44:09.320
the importance of that.

813
00:44:09.880 --> 00:44:12.599
Yeah, in our child work is integral in my opinion,

814
00:44:12.599 --> 00:44:16.480
because I believe we all carry childlike aspects in again,

815
00:44:16.519 --> 00:44:21.440
are subconscious that oftentimes are driving our daily reactions, whether

816
00:44:21.519 --> 00:44:24.440
it's just the general habits and patterns we learned of

817
00:44:24.760 --> 00:44:27.639
maybe how we care for our physical bodies, our emotional bodies,

818
00:44:27.679 --> 00:44:31.599
our spiritual selves in childhood that we just generally repeat

819
00:44:31.840 --> 00:44:33.559
that we've never updated, that.

820
00:44:33.519 --> 00:44:35.920
We've never checked in to see how are they serving me,

821
00:44:36.559 --> 00:44:37.239
honoring that.

822
00:44:37.400 --> 00:44:40.159
A separate human taught them to me that was possibly

823
00:44:40.239 --> 00:44:43.800
limited in their own tools and their own connection with

824
00:44:43.920 --> 00:44:46.519
their self. So many of us need to just update

825
00:44:46.639 --> 00:44:51.239
generally how we're caring for our childlike self in addition

826
00:44:51.360 --> 00:44:54.559
to those moments where we're in our childlike mode where

827
00:44:54.800 --> 00:44:58.239
we're having the really big emotion that chances are if

828
00:44:58.239 --> 00:45:01.760
you witness yourself consistently enough, you might see those older,

829
00:45:01.760 --> 00:45:05.480
coping things. For me, it was the dissociation, right or

830
00:45:06.119 --> 00:45:09.239
the explosion When I couldn't dissociate, or when the feelings

831
00:45:09.239 --> 00:45:12.199
piled up enough, I would have those moments where it

832
00:45:12.239 --> 00:45:16.119
would turn into an explosion outward. And how we can

833
00:45:16.239 --> 00:45:19.280
understand that is through that lens of the inner child.

834
00:45:19.320 --> 00:45:22.480
We don't have to shame ourselves as I often did.

835
00:45:23.079 --> 00:45:25.880
Saying mean things, doing mean things to those I love

836
00:45:26.000 --> 00:45:30.320
is an terribly shameful experience to have. However, if I

837
00:45:30.320 --> 00:45:33.880
could pull back and understand what was happening underneath in

838
00:45:33.920 --> 00:45:37.280
that moment and understand that for most of us in

839
00:45:37.320 --> 00:45:41.880
those moments of extreme emotion, there's a wound itself, a

840
00:45:41.960 --> 00:45:47.679
wounded child inside that has something that was very difficult

841
00:45:47.719 --> 00:45:51.800
to experience in childhood, that coped in the only way that.

842
00:45:51.719 --> 00:45:54.239
They knew how. Our goal then in.

843
00:45:54.280 --> 00:45:59.119
Adulthood is to look compassionately upon that wounding, and of

844
00:45:59.159 --> 00:46:02.440
course then to create yate new ways to navigate those

845
00:46:02.559 --> 00:46:06.599
very difficult experiences when most of us just squash it down,

846
00:46:06.719 --> 00:46:09.719
shame ourselves, or have the idea that because we've gained

847
00:46:10.039 --> 00:46:14.280
numerological age that we should be at a different state

848
00:46:14.320 --> 00:46:17.000
of functioning. And I'll be the first to admit that

849
00:46:17.039 --> 00:46:20.400
there are still moments of emotional reactivity that I have,

850
00:46:20.639 --> 00:46:23.039
or emotional immaturity as I call it, where I'm not

851
00:46:23.119 --> 00:46:26.440
a safe person, where I am exploding out or withholding

852
00:46:26.559 --> 00:46:30.880
in that I could continue to learn how to compassionately

853
00:46:30.960 --> 00:46:34.079
care for my inner child and give her some new

854
00:46:34.119 --> 00:46:36.239
resources in those moments of need.

855
00:46:37.039 --> 00:46:41.840
There's a huge amount of self compassion wrapped up in

856
00:46:41.920 --> 00:46:45.320
all of this work. Isn't there that self kindness? Because

857
00:46:45.599 --> 00:46:50.320
so many of us plagued by self judgment and self

858
00:46:50.360 --> 00:46:56.400
criticism and shame, and it's so damaging and just gets

859
00:46:56.440 --> 00:46:57.679
in the way of progress.

860
00:46:58.079 --> 00:46:59.320
However it shows up.

861
00:46:59.800 --> 00:47:05.000
It never is helpful to facilitate any kind of progress.

862
00:47:05.039 --> 00:47:07.559
Oh, goal achievement, Absolutely not.

863
00:47:07.599 --> 00:47:10.000
And this is why I speak endlessly about the why,

864
00:47:10.480 --> 00:47:13.519
because there is always a why. There is always a

865
00:47:13.559 --> 00:47:17.360
reason why we're reacting as we are, we're doing as

866
00:47:17.400 --> 00:47:21.639
we do. That can be the healing shift for the

867
00:47:21.719 --> 00:47:22.679
large majority of us.

868
00:47:22.679 --> 00:47:24.400
For some of us, it's just that reframe.

869
00:47:24.599 --> 00:47:28.039
Seeing that reaction as a wound, as a cry out

870
00:47:28.400 --> 00:47:31.440
for a need that's unmet in that moment, can be

871
00:47:31.480 --> 00:47:35.320
the pivotal shift that can into that compassion that actually

872
00:47:35.360 --> 00:47:39.400
allows me to relax and to meet that need. Obviously,

873
00:47:39.400 --> 00:47:41.400
it's not as simple as that for all of us.

874
00:47:41.440 --> 00:47:43.880
Some of us have to cultivate compassion, and that's a

875
00:47:43.960 --> 00:47:45.599
process in and of itself.

876
00:47:45.360 --> 00:47:46.960
And learn some new tools.

877
00:47:47.639 --> 00:47:50.280
But for the most part, we as humans love to

878
00:47:50.320 --> 00:47:52.519
be our own worst critic. We sign up for it readily,

879
00:47:52.559 --> 00:47:55.760
and we stay really commit it to tearing ourselves down.

880
00:47:55.880 --> 00:47:58.280
So you and I can be like, oh, just self compassion,

881
00:47:58.360 --> 00:48:00.480
but I want listeners to understand and that it's not

882
00:48:00.519 --> 00:48:04.000
as easy as flipping the self compassion switch, or you know,

883
00:48:04.079 --> 00:48:06.159
hearing you or me suggest you do it and now

884
00:48:06.199 --> 00:48:07.000
you've done it.

885
00:48:07.000 --> 00:48:08.199
It's actually another action.

886
00:48:08.360 --> 00:48:11.679
It's an act of practicing self compassion in each and

887
00:48:11.719 --> 00:48:14.519
every moment, especially in those moments where we want to

888
00:48:14.599 --> 00:48:15.559
run from ourselves.

889
00:48:15.960 --> 00:48:17.559
Yes, I love that you say that.

890
00:48:17.639 --> 00:48:20.199
It is it's almost like in that moment when I

891
00:48:20.239 --> 00:48:23.639
could get busy and finish the housework, or I could

892
00:48:23.719 --> 00:48:28.599
give myself five minutes to sit down and rest. You know,

893
00:48:28.599 --> 00:48:32.000
it's those tiny little actions, isn't it that we actually

894
00:48:32.000 --> 00:48:37.239
demonstrate to ourselves that we honor ourselves and value ourselves

895
00:48:37.400 --> 00:48:42.079
that get dismissed constantly in the business of life.

896
00:48:42.599 --> 00:48:46.000
Absolutely, So to piggyback on that and build on the

897
00:48:46.559 --> 00:48:50.199
small daily promise idea and honoring possibly those small moments,

898
00:48:50.559 --> 00:48:54.760
that is another step in the process. Observing, celebrating, acknowledging

899
00:48:55.199 --> 00:48:57.480
that you did that thing, that you did, hit pause,

900
00:48:57.559 --> 00:48:59.800
that you didn't pick up the text from someone who

901
00:48:59.840 --> 00:49:01.719
you really imagine needs you right now. But what you

902
00:49:01.760 --> 00:49:03.559
need to do is just take a moment for yourself.

903
00:49:03.559 --> 00:49:05.639
That person will be there in five ten minutes when

904
00:49:05.679 --> 00:49:09.079
you have the resources. Honoring those moments and saying, hey,

905
00:49:09.639 --> 00:49:11.920
I'm honoring myself right now, and that's a big deal.

906
00:49:12.400 --> 00:49:15.519
You've got loads of tools available. As I already said,

907
00:49:15.639 --> 00:49:17.920
I've just got one last question. It's just in the

908
00:49:17.920 --> 00:49:20.599
back of my mind for a person thinking, Okay, well,

909
00:49:20.639 --> 00:49:25.159
I understand that the saying is my biography becomes my biology.

910
00:49:25.199 --> 00:49:27.599
You know, our emotional experiences get launched in our body.

911
00:49:27.639 --> 00:49:28.360
We've all heard it.

912
00:49:28.519 --> 00:49:29.719
The body keeps the score.

913
00:49:30.440 --> 00:49:33.480
Okay, I've got this stress in my body, McCole, I've

914
00:49:33.480 --> 00:49:38.320
got this trauma stuck and I'm having these reactions or

915
00:49:38.320 --> 00:49:41.320
whatever is going on. How do I start to shift

916
00:49:41.400 --> 00:49:45.679
it out? Is there a simple process or practice that

917
00:49:46.119 --> 00:49:49.079
people can start to implement to start to move that

918
00:49:49.480 --> 00:49:52.199
trauma out of our physiology.

919
00:49:52.599 --> 00:49:56.480
So after we obviously build the base of foundational consciousness

920
00:49:56.559 --> 00:49:59.280
awareness knowing those markers, I mean, this goes such a

921
00:49:59.360 --> 00:50:02.199
long way, cash because a lot of us almost take

922
00:50:02.239 --> 00:50:07.199
ourselves by surprise when we have those reactive moments driven

923
00:50:07.239 --> 00:50:11.559
from that trauma, childhood wounding. We want to get really

924
00:50:11.599 --> 00:50:14.199
intimate with all of the moments that lead up all

925
00:50:14.239 --> 00:50:16.519
of those activations. When I begin to feel my thoughts

926
00:50:16.559 --> 00:50:18.400
are to raise, when I begin to feel my heart

927
00:50:18.480 --> 00:50:22.079
rate go up, we want us be able to be

928
00:50:23.000 --> 00:50:27.679
embodied enough to tune in early enough to create change

929
00:50:27.679 --> 00:50:29.320
when we need it. Because I'll be the first to

930
00:50:29.360 --> 00:50:31.840
admit there is a point of no return once I'm

931
00:50:31.920 --> 00:50:34.480
up to level seven or eight or nine of activation,

932
00:50:34.719 --> 00:50:37.280
like get out of my way, actually, because I'm not

933
00:50:37.320 --> 00:50:39.079
going to be able to intervene on myself. I'm off

934
00:50:39.119 --> 00:50:40.360
to the races. I'm going to say and do the

935
00:50:40.400 --> 00:50:42.480
thing I don't want to do in that moment. So

936
00:50:43.159 --> 00:50:46.280
learning my four, my five, when I can begin to

937
00:50:46.280 --> 00:50:49.599
make new choices, and then that again, that's individual for

938
00:50:49.639 --> 00:50:52.920
each of us. I described me, I feel tension, I

939
00:50:52.920 --> 00:50:56.360
feel an agitation in my energy, and I feel it kind.

940
00:50:56.239 --> 00:50:57.639
Of upping my heart rate.

941
00:50:58.079 --> 00:51:01.639
Someone listening might learn different kind of cues in their

942
00:51:01.679 --> 00:51:04.559
own body. And again, if we're dealing with any sort

943
00:51:04.599 --> 00:51:07.320
of that nervous system activation, all of the symptoms we've

944
00:51:07.320 --> 00:51:10.880
been talking about, one of the most helpful tools is

945
00:51:10.960 --> 00:51:14.360
breath work. I'm always talking about breath work, harnessing the

946
00:51:14.400 --> 00:51:17.760
power of the fact that we're always breathing and learning

947
00:51:17.840 --> 00:51:21.679
how to intentionally create changes actually.

948
00:51:21.280 --> 00:51:22.920
In our nervous system state.

949
00:51:23.360 --> 00:51:27.400
Learning that we can sometimes even through the act of breathing.

950
00:51:27.920 --> 00:51:31.360
Something I've learned for myself as my stress anties up.

951
00:51:31.400 --> 00:51:33.840
As I get six and seventy eight, I actually begin

952
00:51:33.920 --> 00:51:37.280
to hold my breath, and that could be the difference

953
00:51:37.360 --> 00:51:40.559
me catching that I'm holding my breath and remembering to breathe,

954
00:51:40.800 --> 00:51:43.639
for me to give myself a nice calm, diaphragmic or

955
00:51:43.639 --> 00:51:46.880
belly breath in that moment might be the difference from

956
00:51:47.119 --> 00:51:51.239
going over that tipping edge. So breath work is always

957
00:51:51.440 --> 00:51:55.840
really helpful energetically because it maps right onto shifting from

958
00:51:55.920 --> 00:52:00.519
sympathetic activation down into that beautiful power sympathetic state that

959
00:52:00.559 --> 00:52:01.639
we've been talking about.

960
00:52:01.960 --> 00:52:06.719
Yes, I start always five minutes before I hop onto

961
00:52:06.719 --> 00:52:09.880
any podcast episode. I sit and take those deep belly

962
00:52:09.960 --> 00:52:12.639
breaths just because I always feel a bit, you know,

963
00:52:13.039 --> 00:52:16.000
nervous and about talking to somebody new on the podcast.

964
00:52:16.039 --> 00:52:19.199
I think it's just such a great practice to get

965
00:52:19.199 --> 00:52:22.159
into and do it regularly. It's the simple things that

966
00:52:22.199 --> 00:52:25.599
can make such a profound difference in the long term.

967
00:52:25.920 --> 00:52:27.360
Yes, on this healing process.

968
00:52:27.360 --> 00:52:29.639
And that's something that I think and on, which is

969
00:52:29.679 --> 00:52:32.440
that it is a long term process.

970
00:52:32.719 --> 00:52:37.119
We don't often get the immediate shift and change right.

971
00:52:37.159 --> 00:52:39.760
So someone listening may, Okay, belly breathing cool.

972
00:52:40.519 --> 00:52:42.199
I'm going to assure you might go out and do

973
00:52:42.280 --> 00:52:45.440
five deep bellly breaths and feel really no different, especially

974
00:52:45.440 --> 00:52:47.519
if you're you know, up at that ten and your

975
00:52:47.559 --> 00:52:49.679
nervous system has been activated for thirty.

976
00:52:49.400 --> 00:52:50.000
Some odd years.

977
00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:53.000
As Mayne was two, four deep bellly breath did really

978
00:52:53.039 --> 00:52:56.000
nothing in the beginning, right, So this is where we

979
00:52:56.079 --> 00:52:58.599
want to commit, like we've been talking about, to the

980
00:52:58.679 --> 00:52:59.760
consistent practice.

981
00:53:00.199 --> 00:53:02.639
Before you know it, there will be change.

982
00:53:02.679 --> 00:53:05.079
You will be able to access that commerce space and

983
00:53:05.119 --> 00:53:08.960
it won't feel as unfamiliar, and you'll begin to feel safer,

984
00:53:09.559 --> 00:53:13.360
shifting from stress to a little less stress, a little

985
00:53:13.440 --> 00:53:16.119
less stress, and then someday you might even be able

986
00:53:16.159 --> 00:53:20.159
to comfortably embody peace. Here. I am somewhere near that

987
00:53:20.320 --> 00:53:22.239
end of the spectrum, though I will be the first

988
00:53:22.239 --> 00:53:24.800
to admit there are still moments where I know where

989
00:53:24.840 --> 00:53:27.119
to go to piss myself off and to upset myself,

990
00:53:27.159 --> 00:53:31.079
and it's really tempting, and some moments I choose that activation.

991
00:53:31.639 --> 00:53:33.880
Though more often than not, not only do I gift

992
00:53:33.960 --> 00:53:37.360
myself with choice, I've gotten more and more comfortable with

993
00:53:37.480 --> 00:53:41.840
not with not following that thought, with not right stirring

994
00:53:41.840 --> 00:53:44.679
the pot in that way, with actually embodying the peace

995
00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:46.880
that I have now cultivated over time.

996
00:53:47.800 --> 00:53:51.440
Nicole, I love your work. Thank you so much for

997
00:53:51.519 --> 00:53:54.519
the work that you do and how generously you have

998
00:53:54.639 --> 00:54:01.039
shared with my listeners today. Obviously the book is available now,

999
00:54:01.280 --> 00:54:03.000
I think by the time this episode goes to where

1000
00:54:03.000 --> 00:54:05.039
the book will be available. How else can people get

1001
00:54:05.079 --> 00:54:06.320
in touch with you and your work?

1002
00:54:06.599 --> 00:54:09.119
Of course, so each and every day, those of you

1003
00:54:09.159 --> 00:54:12.119
who are not familiar with my Instagram account, the dot

1004
00:54:12.159 --> 00:54:16.679
holistic dot Psychologists, I definitely can be found there along

1005
00:54:16.800 --> 00:54:19.679
with the now millions of other self healers from around

1006
00:54:19.719 --> 00:54:23.159
the world that are using these tools, that are sharing

1007
00:54:23.199 --> 00:54:26.519
our own stories, my own included each and every day

1008
00:54:26.519 --> 00:54:29.840
on Instagram. I can also be found on my new

1009
00:54:29.920 --> 00:54:33.920
revamped website at your Holistic Psychologist dot com. So for

1010
00:54:33.960 --> 00:54:37.199
anyone who is planning on purchasing the book or even not,

1011
00:54:37.599 --> 00:54:40.519
the book is free. I mean these resources are free

1012
00:54:40.559 --> 00:54:44.159
for anyone. I have a few free guided meditations that

1013
00:54:44.280 --> 00:54:46.800
map on to book content, but of course anyone is

1014
00:54:46.840 --> 00:54:48.119
welcome to use those.

1015
00:54:48.559 --> 00:54:49.320
And I also have.

1016
00:54:49.320 --> 00:54:52.440
Some other free goodies such as a future self journal

1017
00:54:52.559 --> 00:54:56.239
and intentional conscious journaling practice that I use to help

1018
00:54:56.239 --> 00:54:59.000
me keep make and keep those small daily promises in

1019
00:54:59.079 --> 00:55:01.760
my own healing journey that can also be found on

1020
00:55:01.800 --> 00:55:04.400
the website and then drum roll for those that are

1021
00:55:04.400 --> 00:55:08.920
interested in the YouTube format, I put out teaching videos

1022
00:55:08.920 --> 00:55:11.480
and my YouTube is also getting a bit of a revamp,

1023
00:55:11.559 --> 00:55:14.239
so in a bit of time I will be diving

1024
00:55:14.280 --> 00:55:18.719
into season two and the YouTube channel is the Holistic Psychologist.

1025
00:55:18.800 --> 00:55:21.559
So thank you Cass for your time, for your energy.

1026
00:55:21.599 --> 00:55:24.880
It delights me to no end as I continue to

1027
00:55:24.880 --> 00:55:29.039
connect with other practitioners like yourself who are walking this journey,

1028
00:55:29.079 --> 00:55:32.280
who are embodying the holistic model, and who are putting

1029
00:55:32.320 --> 00:55:33.159
this work out there.

1030
00:55:33.199 --> 00:55:34.599
Because I know it's not easy.

1031
00:55:35.199 --> 00:55:37.360
I definitely know it's not easy sometimes even within our

1032
00:55:37.400 --> 00:55:40.320
own field to be speaking some of these truths.

1033
00:55:40.360 --> 00:55:41.320
So I just want to take.

1034
00:55:41.159 --> 00:55:44.960
A moment and to honor you to share my gratitude

1035
00:55:45.000 --> 00:55:47.039
for how you show up every day and for sharing

1036
00:55:47.079 --> 00:55:48.239
your space with me today.

1037
00:55:48.599 --> 00:55:51.760
Thank you.

1038
00:55:53.239 --> 00:55:56.559
Nicole's book How To Do the Work is a manifesto

1039
00:55:56.639 --> 00:55:59.400
for self healing and an essential god to creating a

1040
00:55:59.480 --> 00:56:03.320
mob of vibe, authentic and joyful life. And who doesn't

1041
00:56:03.320 --> 00:56:07.039
want that? As she said, you can follow her on Instagram.

1042
00:56:07.079 --> 00:56:11.400
It is the dot Holistic Dot psychologist or her website

1043
00:56:11.760 --> 00:56:15.599
Your Holisticpsychologist dot com and I'll put those details in

1044
00:56:15.639 --> 00:56:18.840
the show notes. Of course, you can follow me cast Done,

1045
00:56:19.039 --> 00:56:23.119
Underscore XO or find me at casdone dot com.

1046
00:56:23.559 --> 00:56:25.440
And as always, if you like the.

1047
00:56:25.440 --> 00:56:28.199
Show, please do think about leaving us a rating and

1048
00:56:28.280 --> 00:56:30.920
a review. It does help us to get heard by

1049
00:56:31.000 --> 00:56:34.239
more listeners and I will catch you in the next

1050
00:56:34.280 --> 00:56:38.760
episode of Crappy to Happy. Crappy to Happy is presented

1051
00:56:38.800 --> 00:56:42.280
by Cast Dunn, produced by Davis Lensky, Audio production by

1052
00:56:42.360 --> 00:56:43.079
Darcy Thompson.

1053
00:56:46.599 --> 00:56:47.039
Listener