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Shadow Work with Emma Huang!

EMMA: Hi Zach

ZACH: Hey Emma, how are you?

EMMA: I’m great, how are you?

ZACH: I’m doing well, thanks for asking. How’s your day going so far?

EMMA: It’s been awesome. I can’t complain about anything. I wake up with gratitude and feel super pumped and powerful to start the day. 

ZACH: I love that… Yeah we all need to be like that.

So you’re a Transformative Life Coach and you help women to embody their divine and femine power. Tell me more about that.

EMMA: Yeah for sure. So through my own healing journey I just realized we have so much power. For most women including me, we have this divine feminine energy in us. It’s like a computer going to sleep and we didn’t know we had the power and the energy. So I just want to help women that are lost and feel stuck in their lives to reclaim their power. To realize how powerful and amazing they are.

ZACH: I’m sure this goes super deep into detail and specifics, but can you tell us a little bit about how women can do that?

EMMA: Sure, first I will always tell my friends and potential clients you have to start digging into your own triggers and traumas. It all starts with deep inner work. We also call it shadow work. We go into our shadow. You really start loving the parts you used to hate or feel unacceptable or unloveable. That’s the very first step to reclaim your power. Because whenever you try to run away from yourself or problems, you give away your power, telling yourself or the universe that you can’t do it. When you tell yourself you can’t do it, of course you don’t have power. So that would be the very first step.

ZACH: That’s so incredible and ironic. I’ve heard a lot about shadow work, but wasn’t really sure what it is. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

EMMA: Shadow work is pretty much going into your inner world. There’s a part of you that you are trying to deny or run away from or you pretty much forgot about, that’s part of you. Where there is light, there is shadow. That part of you could be maybe you have a bad temper. Or your worst trauma. The worst part of you, the nasty part of you that you don’t want people to see and you don’t want to face. It’s the clutter in your mind. That’s the shadow work.

ZACH: So do you need someone else to help you with shadow work or can you do it on your own?

EMMA: That’s a really great question, technically you can do it on your own, but I would say it’s always good to have someone to guide you. That’s why we have Coaches here to point you in the right direction to help you do the work. You could start doing this on your own, but you would need to do some research on what kind of shadow work or trauma you want to tackle. I would say, yes technically you could do it on your own, but it’s going to be pretty tough, it’s like opening a pandora’s box and you know when you open a pandora’s box it’s not all fun and rainbows and sunshine. It’s going to have complicated things, so it would be good to have someone there to help you and support you and guide you.

ZACH:  Can we do a little bit of shadow work with me right now?

EMMA: Sure, the first question I would ask is. Who’s attention and validation did you seek the most in childhood growing up?

ZACH: Hmmmm… Great question, I have to think about it cause I don’t really crave anyones attention or approval right now, I know you said in childhood, but for now I don’t crave anyones approval or validation from anyone. The only person I need to make sure is proud of me, is myself. That includes my parents. I don’t need their approval, I don’t need their validation. I know what I’m doing is helping the world. I know that I’m on the right track. I hope that doesn’t come off as stubborn or anything, I’m very humble and I’m very open minded to other experiences, new opportunities and other ways I can better myself, but to answer you question, I guess the approval of others around me?  Nobody specific. I wanted to be the smartest kid in the class. I wanted to be the best player on the golf team and on the basketball team. That validation wasn’t anyone specific, more like the general consensus of what I thought other people thought of me. 

EMMA:  That is great. We could say you were looking for validation from authority.

ZACH: Yeah

EMMA: So that could go back to one of your parents or caregivers. Because they are your very first authoritative figure in your life. It’s a very deep question. When you get asked that question it’s hard to come up with an answer but that’s ok. So it’s great that you were able to answer right away. That’s a great start. So at least you are very aware of that. You were looking for that validation from that authority. To go deep with that, you could go back and trace back through your thoughts and patterns and your mindset. What type of mindset did you develop around looking for validation from authority? What kind of patterns are you seeing? Sometimes unhealthy patterns that you have around this idea of looking for validation. What did you do to try to improve yourself. Sometimes when you are looking for validation, you attempt to try to please that part of people. Oftentimes when we look for validation, we often have self betrayal and ignore our own needs because what we need is not a priority. In order to reach that level, to please those people, to have them validate our experience, our thoughts or me as a person, we forget about ourselves. You can correct me if I’m wrong, this is in general, how I see it. Most people, when you abandon yourself and put other people’s needs ahead of your needs, part of us will fantasize someone else’s needs as our own needs so you start behaving accordingly. 

ZACH: Yes, so the question was, what was the specific approval I was looking for?

EMMA: It’s hard to identify at the moment, we can say you are looking for authorities approval and validation.  

ZACH: Yeah, that sounds accurate.

EMMA: Yeah, when you have this awareness, you can analyse yourself and have better awareness. I would normally give my clients starting tools to build up habits to view themselves in the third person perspective to get a better idea of how conditioned they are in those thoughts.

ZACH: Kind of like unlearning everything you’ve been taught in your entire life.

EMMA: Pretty much, pretty much unconditioning yourself from the past 20 years of things you’ve learned.

ZACH: So how can I get deeper into shadow work. Is there something that I need to be intentional and specific on in building or is this a conversation that you would guide and we can get deeper into? How I can benefit from shadow work.

EMMA: Definitely, something I can guide. I love it so much. A lot of people are suffering and it does make people uncomfortable. It’s a great way to get aligned with your sole purpose or to your true self. All your power is hidden in the shadow work. Hidden in the pain and suffering that you have from a long time ago or that you’ve built up from the past. We find out the pattern. Where are you stuck the most. For you, it seems like validation from authority. We have to dive deep to see all of your branches of behavior. What kind of behavior you developed to support this belief system that you needed to be better than everyone else. From there it could trigger some inner child issues. Why do you need to be better than everyone else? Underlying is you don’t think you’re good enough. You think you have to prove to everyone else that you’re the best so you think you’re good enough.

Am I making sense?

ZACH: Absolutely… Absolutely. So now it’s important for me to be more aware to not look for anyone else’s approval?

EMMA: That would be the ultimate goal. For now it would be to be aware of having these feelings and thoughts. Whatever you do and those feelings or thoughts that come out, you have to be aware and stop yourself and say, hey Zach, and just be kind to yourself and not be harsh, say hey Zach, I know I’m thinking like this but we are not going to think like this anymore. And that’s why I was saying I like to tell my clients to think of themselves in the third person. You can say, hey Zach, in a kind way, I see Zach is having those thoughts again… We need to stop.  It’s a mind trick.

ZACH: Ahhhh…. Yes that awareness that I’ve been conditioned to think this way. I love everything you’ve said. Thank you so much for elaborating on shadow work. I read a lot about consciousness and I’m really inspired and passionate about the brain and how it has to do with our thoughts and that is the foundation for the mental health mission and message that I’ve been sharing around bridging the gap between consciousness and mental health. Mental health isn’t just about treating depression and anxiety, mental health is about preventing future anxiety and future depression by being more aware of your thoughts and being able to control that narrative in your head and befriend and be kind to that inner voice we have in our mind. So when you mention just being aware that I have that condition as another person and you do that by talking in third person right?

EMMA: Right, and with a kind voice.

I love that you mentioned bridging consciousness and mental health and I 100% agree. We still have this stigma around mental health. Those mental health issues are the tip of the iceberg. It goes back to your inner child problems. Most times it goes back to us not getting what we needed from a parent or caregiver. All those traumas created a disconnect with ourselves, that’s why we have mental health issues. Depression, worrying about the future or the past. All those things added together that creates chaos within ourselves. Consciousness we are aware of our thoughts. For someone just starting right now I like to use the third person perspective. It’s a much better way for you to get a clear picture on how your thoughts are working and how your patterns are contributing to your life right now. So you’re less confused as to what you are doing because it’s a third person perspective and you’re less likely to be defensive and get confused about what thoughts are yours and what thoughts are of other peoples.

ZACH: And treating yourself as a friend and ally.

EMMA: Yes exactly. I’ve seen way too many people, including myself, we are our own worst critic. We’re always hard on ourselves, we are so nice to others but forget to be nice to ourselves.

ZACH:  Absolutely. If we all continue to be intentional about that we can all grow collectively as a community and as a human kind. There would be less greed, less war, less politics, and less crime. A lot more love and kindness and growth. Probably more healthy animals. Less burning trees. I think it’s really important that you continue to go along this path and spread your message and make a positive impact on this world. Cause that’s exactly what you are doing Emma.

EMMA: Yes, Thank you. As we continue to heal ourselves, we are healing the collective. We are love and light and we are conditioned to believe that we are not. And what I’m doing and what you’re doing Zach is helping all people to realize who they really are and heal, which is beautiful.

ZACH: Yeah, cause we are constantly healing. Healing is not just, okay you’re fine now. Healing is constant. Healing is impermanent, It’s always changing, we are always healing and people need to understand.

EMMA: That’s true, it’s a lifelong journey. You never stop healing and learning about yourself. I hear so many say to me. OMG I thought I healed from this, why is it coming back to me. And they start hating themselves or frustrated with themselves. But they forgot this is a lifelong journey, we’ve been conditioned with this over the past 20 years. It’s not magic it doesn’t just disappear. 

ZACH: Emma, it was a pleasure to have you on the Podcast. Is there anything else you want to tell the audience before we wrap up.

EMMA: Yes, I would want everyone that’s listening to this to know that you always have a choice. You are the star of your own movie, not a cameo in someone else’s movie. You have complete control and power to live your life as you desire. That’s my message.

ZACH: Oh I love that. You are the star of your own movie, not a cameo in someone else’s. 

EMMA: Yup, 100%.

ZACH: I’m going to apply that to my life today.

EMMA:  Yaaaay!! I’m happy, yes that’s a very important message, a good mantra. 

ZACH: Well everyone that’s listening, please follow Emma on Instagram, @growwithemma_

EMMA: Yes, I’m very active there, leave a comment or dm.

ZACH: Everyone thank you so much for listening and Emma is there for you guys. Emma it was really a pleasure talking to you and I look forward to connecting with you again sometime soon.

EMMA: Thank you so much for having me Zach. It was a pleasure speaking with you.

ZACH: Thank you Emma.

Emma Huang can be found on Instagram @growwithemma_

Categories
Blog Podcast Uncategorized

Mastering Your Thoughts and Self Love with Published Author Traci Propst!

October 15, 2020: Topics of discussion: Self Love, Consciousness and Mental Health with Published Author of “Unapologetic, a generation that can’t even” and Certified Life Coach Traci Propst. In this episode we go deep into the relationship that each of us have with our thoughts and how we can be more aware of our emotions, feelings and nourish our self love to step into the best life we could have even imagined. Abundance and infinite possibilities are always right around the corner!!!

ZACH: Hey Tracy, how are you doing?

TRACI: Hey I’m good Zach. How are you? 

ZACH: I’m doing really well thanks for asking and welcome to the podcast. How are you doing today? 

TRACI: Thanks for having me, I appreciate it. 

ZACH: I’m so happy to have you.  For all the audience and people that are listening, Tracy Propst is a Certified Life Coach and published author of the book “Unapologetic” she loves to speak a lot on self-love, finding your beauty inside and out.  So tell us more about yourself and your business.

TRACI: Yes, so I am a Certified Life Coach I’ve been in the business now for about 5 years give or take, I got certified out in San Diego, California but I work with clients from coast to coast all the way from New York to Los Angeles, so it’s been a very rewarding experience so far. 

ZACH: Very cool and I’m a Certified Life Coach as well, I’m not sure if you know that or not. 

TRACI: I did, yes.

ZACH:  So tell me more about your business and what you specialize in and how you can help the audience the most.

TRACI: So my business specifically I love to help my clients that are struggling with self-confidence, self-love and really that means just loving yourself inside and out like I think every single person is so beautiful and is so unique and it’s about really discovering what makes you so unique that helps you on your journey to self love.

ZACH:  That’s so great, how can someone discover what makes them so unique? 

TRACI: That’s a great question Zach. We care so much about what other people have to say about us, you know, I think we’re all guilty of reading into other people’s perceptions. I think when you’re able to kind of step out of what other people are thinking about you and really just sit with yourself, think about things that you’re good, think about things that you enjoy doing and I think by doing that self Journey you find what makes you very unique as a person and then you can come to start loving and nourishing that. 

ZACH: Yeah, that was such a good answer. The first step is really about not caring what other people think and that starts, which is ironic, but you know this starts with yourself, by not caring what other people think. One of the first things that stood out to me when you answered was my experience reading Eckhart Tolle “The Power of Now” and “A New Earth”. 

TRACI: Great one, yes!

ZACH: That book was really a pivotal moment in my life that shifted my mind set on how I live and how I interacted with myself. The relationship I have with my thoughts, how my thoughts are just thoughts, Zach is Zach, Zach is not his thoughts and being able to dis-identify from my thoughts allowed me so much… It was like I was liberated from what everyone else thinks. I don’t care what my Mom thinks. I didn’t care what my friends think. I didn’t care what my Mentor thinks or anybody else thinks. And that is the first step in discovering your unique talents and who you are as a person so you can begin to cultivate that self love like you mentioned.

TRACI:  Absolutely Zach, you hit the nail on the head. When people start to realize that they are not their thoughts that their thoughts and their feelings are fleeting and not permanent, they are all temporary, that’s when they can rise to a higher power. And you’re right, you just don’t care what other people think about you cause that’s just not who you are.

ZACH: My gosh, I”m so excited that the conversation went in this direction because consciousness, which I think is the word that describes.. And there’s no word that describes our ideas in our head right now cause they are just letters on a paper and it’s just post signs. But at the end of the day, consciousness is the best word that describes everything that we’re kind of talking about, is that awareness that you’re aware of. We’re not just living, you need to be that awareness that you’re aware of what’s going on. All that comes full circle with mindfulness and meditation. And then you get deeper and it turns into spirituality, and then when you get to that peak of transcending consciousness into full blow spirituality you start to really love yourself. 

TRACI: Yes, absolutely, 100%. I think when you hit your spiritual awareness, it’s so hard to explain it for someone who hasn’t been there, but you are really rising about yourself, and realizing that you are not your shell. So many people live in their shell in their day to day life and I feel like that’s why people find it so hard to love themselves or express themselves, because they are just this shell of a person. That’s when I think, you’re right, when you hit your spiritual peak and awareness is when you really thrive.

ZACH:  Someone like me who’s taken consciousness 101, spirituality 101, self love 101, how do I continue to get deeper into self love and becoming more unapologetic?

TRACI: We are all human right? You are going to have bad days. That’s just innate, It’s just going to happen.  I think it’s a constant work in progress and when you realize that that’s what it is and become okay with that and stop getting down on yourself when you’re having a bad day or a bad mental health day and just not feeling good and separating yourself from those feelings. I think that’s the most important thing is when we can sit there and say I feel like crap today and that’s okay, you know, like it’s just a feeling and I’m allowed to feel that way because I’m human. So I think really just being okay with who we are and how we feel and understanding that that’s kind of what makes us who we are it kind of helps with our journey along the way to being unapologetic. Because it is okay that you feel like crap, you know, it is okay that you’re happy the next day. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

ZACH: Such a good answer again, it’s like there’s so many things that you said in the last 45 seconds that I want to elaborate on from my opinion and the first thing I thought about was our emotions and our feelings and how you mentioned mental health sometimes you can have a bad mental health day and I think the most important piece to continuing to cultivate and nourish your mental health is being aware and watching your feelings and not identifying with your feelings. You’re not sad. You’re not jealous. You’re not angry. You’re Traci Propst.  Your name is not sad and that’s not how you’re going to identify yourself and if you can watch those feelings and if you can watch those emotions and from watching them through your third eye as people call it and being The Watcher you’re able to dis-identify from the those feelings and eventually those feelings just evaporate into thin air, but it’s when we identify, I’m so sad and then because you’re sad like you don’t want to eat or you don’t want to spend time with your family and that really transcendence and comes with you into the next day and then the next day and then it becomes your temperament and then a week and a half goes by and you’re still sad.. No no you forgot that you’re Traci and I don’t mean to use you, but to use you as an example. I’m sure you’re familiar with dr. Joe dispenza, he goes into two-and-a-half 3 weeks go by now it becomes your personality and now you really are sad. You know, so it starts in the beginning when you do have these feelings and you do have these emotions that you watch them and you watch them so you can dis-identify from them and then you mentioned something also about that self-love and talking to yourself as if you’re talking to a friend. Why are you being hard on yourself? No talk to yourself as if you were talking to your little brother, talk to yourself as if you’re talking to your best friend, someone that you care about. Sometimes we get so caught up in our thoughts thinking this is who we are. We’re not able to be like, hey, like that’s how I’m feeling right now. But it’s okay to feel that way is what you would say to your sister or your friend. So I think that’s so great and so important when it comes to continuing to nurture and create more self-love for us is all those things are mentioned. 

TRACI: Right? We are so hard on ourselves aren’t we? The meanest, the things we say to ourselves we would never say to another person. It’s true! It’s about when you’re feeling those emotions or instead of saying I AM sad I AM angry say I FEEL That’s what makes it a feeling and not a part of who you are and that’s how you’re able to keep your identity and separate the two. It’s a lot of work you know? I find myself slipping all the time and being like I’M so pissed off, I’M so you know, I’m not I’m Traci, just like you said, that’s who I am and I feel this way and this feelings going to go away and it might come back in five minutes it might come back in 3 days and that’s fine. But that’s not who I am. So I think you’re right just constantly talking to ourselves like you said, like it’s our little sister, like it’s our little brother, like having that gentle understanding voice for ourselves is what self-love is.

ZACH: Yes, that’s it.  So let me ask you a question. Obviously the book Unapologetic, I have not read it yet, but I’m going to order it and read it. But tell me what was your favorite chapter in the book to write?

TRACI:  Okay, so Unapologetic, you can get it on Amazon, type in my name, Traci Propst and it will pop up. My favorite chapter that I enjoyed writing the most… It’s about the millennial generation so it’s about how we’re handling different situations, so it’s called “Unapologetic, a generation that can’t even”. I love the last part because it just really, that’s us right? You know, we can’t even. We can’t even. The chapter I enjoyed writing the most was about quarter life crisis.

ZACH: I’m going through that right now.

TRACI: Aren’t we all? It’s a term that wasn’t even coined before the millennial generation. It wasn’t a thing, people didn’t talk about it, didn’t know what it was but I like to think of it as being proactive so that we don’t have a midlife crisis. I kind of use those juices in that chapter two kind of talk about how to deal with a quarter life crisis,  what it means but you’ll have to read it to see what I have to say on it.

ZACH: What does “can’t even” mean to you?

TRACI: What it means to me is…. Can’t even fathom, can’t even deal. Like, I just love that it ends with “can’t even”. We’re all about acronyms and abbreviations and little yolo sayings for everything. That’s so millennial of us. But I think it’s how we express ourselves without getting into the nitty gritty. Right? I can’t even… I can’t even!

ZACH: I noticed that you love to travel and you travelled to over 30 countries. For someone like me who hasn’t really travelled a lot. I don’t know about you but I’ve been doing a lot of self-reflection. I just turned 30 years old so I’m going through a quarter life crisis. So I’m like, okay you know I’m doing good in this area, I’m doing good in this area, I’m doing great in this area. This is where I’m weak. This is where you know I haven’t been the best and my number one goal and my number one passion now is to travel for the next five years. I need to experience and see places that are going to blow my mind because I know that that is going to get me closer to God. That is going to help me step into the greatest version of myself. I’ve lived in Palm Beach, Florida my whole life. I’m here and this is like a bubble. Everyone has Ferraris and Rolexes and I can’t keep up with that and I don’t want to keep up with that. But one thing I do want to do is I want to be the best person to live my best life and I think travelling is the one thing that I haven’t really explored. I had a great college experience. I built two businesses you know, I have great habits. I’m in a good financial spot, but it’s like what else is there for me to do and it’s travel. So tell me, what is your favorite country and what did you learn?

TRACI: Oh my goodness, that is such a hard question because I’ve loved so many. My favorite one I ever went to was New Zealand and I think it is just so underrated like people talk about going to Australia all the time, but New Zealand, we went to Queenstown and I felt so off the grid there. We were actually where they like film Game of Thrones so just like imagine that scenery and you’re like this is unreal. This is the world I live in and it makes me so upset that people don’t get to experience that. Don’t get to have that life experience with these places that you can become so in tune with yourself and get away from all the technology and just kind of get back to your roots. So Queenstown was my favorite honestly because I felt off the grid and it was completely different than any other city, place, fantastic beach, yacht, whatever I’d ever been to it was the opposite of that and for that reason I loved it. Yeah, you have to go there. 

ZACH: Well yeah I’m definitely going to go. I’m doing an Ironman race. Right now I’m spending a lot of time training for an Ironman so my race is not until May 23rd in Oklahoma. I plan the next day a one-way flight to Hawaii. I’m going to live in Hawaii for a month and I’m going to bring four books and I’m just going to read and surf. Turn off my phone completely disconnect. And then from there I want to continue to go west whether that’s Japan or New Zealand or Thailand and I want to take a bunch of yoga classes in Southeast Asia and then work my way towards Europe and do all those things so if I have any questions about travelling, can I give you a call and ask you?

TRACI:  Absolutely, just to touch on one point you made that I think is important to the audience, you talked about how you feel like every other part of your life feels like accomplished right? You’ve built two businesses, you’ve been very successful and I think that’s so important for people to recognize that whatever part of their life they’re watering that’s the part that’s going to flourish. So I think going forward with you watering this “travelling” and getting closer to God and getting more in tune to yourself you’re going to see that part of your life flourish because without actually doing it it’s hard to have that part of you become new, you know what I mean?

ZACH:  Absolutely, I can only read so many books, it’s about applying wisdom and knowledge to my life. I can know every single personal growth self-development hack in the world but if I don’t apply them to my life every single day it’s just wasted information inside my brain so you’re right I just need a book that flight, get on a plane. Although I do have a little bit of a fear of flying. which is kind, yeah that’s what’s honestly, I don’t want to say the biggest reason, that’s not the biggest reason, I’ve just been spending so much time trying to make money over the past 5 years and just like working hard but that is a little bit of a speed bump that’s in my way. But that’s something that I’m looking forward to overcoming. Like I can’t wait to get on a plane and overcome my fears. I feel it’s going to be so empowering, it’s going to be so liberating. I’m going to feel so free that I overcame that so I’m really looking forward to my journey travelling but I’m definitely going to call you and ask you for any advice on ways I should travel.

TRACI: Please do, I was actually a flight attendant on private jets for 5 years so I travelled for a living, you’ll be fine. Planes are way safe. Way safer than cars at any point. So just keep that in mind. I guarantee you’ll be good, it’ll totally all be worth it.

ZACH: It will be so worth it. On that note, I need to take one minute to allow a word from our sponsor WHOOP. Whoop is your favorite fitness, sleep and activity tracker. Head on over to join.whoop.com/zachrance to get your free WHOOP strap and first month free. Or visit LifeCoachZach.com/Whoop.

ZACH: Traci, it’s been so great having you today. Everyone go to tracipropst.com so you can buy her book, schedule a call. Traci is there anything else you want to add today?

TRACI: No, guys have a great day, make the most of it and Zach thank you so much for having me on your Podcast, I really appreciate it. 

ZACH: Traci it’s been a pleasure honestly this is probably the best episodes I’ve recorded in my short career as a Podcaster. Yeah, I feel like there was so much valuable information that the audience can get from it. It’s inspiring me to continue to do what I’m doing and continue to follow my passion or my soon to be passion for travel. And I’m looking forward to connecting again.

Have a wonderful day, enjoy the rest of your week.

Traci can be found online at:

www.tracipropst.com

Instagram: @tracipropst

Categories
Blog Podcast

Yogi Life with Yoga Teacher and Coach Maddy Jones!

October 8, 2020: In this episode Yoga Teacher and Coach Maddy Jones takes us into a deep mindfulness guided meditation, tells us about her journey to becoming a certified Yoga teacher in Thailand and also how we can learn to properly breathe each and every moment!!

ZACH: Hello 

MADDY: Hi 

ZACH: Hey Maddy it’s Zach, how are you doing?

MADDY: I’m doing well. How are you?

ZACH: I’m doing well, how’s your day going so far?

MADDY: I’m doing well I just trained some clients, and then myself and now I’m talking to you so it’s a pretty good day 

ZACH: I’m happy to have you on the podcast, thanks so much for stopping by. So just to tell everyone what you do. You’re a Yoga Teacher, Meditation Facilitator and Pranayama Teacher. Tell us a little more about that.

MADDY:  Yeah for Yoga I’m a Vinyasa alignment focussed Yoga Teacher. I did my 200-hour teacher training in Thailand a little over two years ago and so I really loved travelling there being able to learn more Eastern style of Yoga and I also learned Pranayama while there and meditation. So Pranayama for anyone that’s not familiar, it is breathwork. Beathwork is a really great way to bring more vitality and energy into your body. There’s breathwork for literally anything, if you need to relax and calm your insomnia and go to bed at night or if you want to wake yourself up in the morning or if you’re hot and you need to cool your body down, there’s even a Pranayam for that. So it’s a great way to connect with yourself but also to silent the mind chatter which so many of us have, incessant mind chatter. When you’re able to just focus on your breath you’re able to fully still that mind chatter which helps people then go into meditation even deeper cuz you’ve already handled the mind chatter. So I find when you pair Pranayama with meditation it really helps you get into a deep meditative state. 

ZACH: I love that, there’s so many things I want to ask you about everything but my first question is what’s the difference between Eastern Yoga and Western Yoga?

MADDY:  So I feel like Western Yoga has taken out a lot of the Yoga portion of it and it’s become just a work out. A lot of people when they think of Yoga they think of either crazy postures people are holding or just stretching. Whereas Yoga is so much more than that and I think the philosophy behind Yoga is so much more life-changing then just posture will be for someone. A lot of western styles of Yoga have lost the breath, whereas breath is so essential to Yoga and being able to connect with your breath and flow with your breath.  I’ll be in a class sometimes out here and someone will be like ok inhale, exhale!… and I’m like well that wasn’t even enough time to take in a full breath.  Or they don’t even focus on breath when they start the class at all. For everyone that takes my classes they know the first five minutes are dedicated to long slow deep breathing, settling into yourself, into your body, into the space. So a lot of western yoga has lost that.

ZACH:  Yeah, it’s funny, I’ve been doing yoga now for 2 maybe 3 years, really inconsistent though, but more so over the last 2 to 3 months I’ve been going at least twice a week sometimes 3 times a week. And even though I’m there an hour and I’m hitting all the poses and I”m sweating through my t-shirt. I’m not really focusing on my breath and I think that’s something I should be more conscious and aware of. 

MADDY: Yes definitely. Out of all the different Yoga practices the one thing that’s similar in all of them is breath. So it’s sad that we’ve lost that out here and so I try to bring that to all my classes because when you’re able to focus on your breath (and also the style I teach is alignment focus). When you’re focused on what every single muscle is doing whether lengthening it or strengthening it and you’re flowing with your breath. It’s hard to be thinking about anything else, it’s quite impossible actually because you are so connected with what you are doing in the now and that’s what makes the physical practice so much more powerful and that’s why people have that piece. If you don’t have all that, you might be just doing this pose, that pose, this pose and your mind is going all over the place and you’re like WOW this is hard and I’m sweating all over the place and my thoughts are all over the place in my head.

ZACH: Let me ask you a question. What do you think is the biggest benefit of Yoga and how do you think it can help and add to people’s quality of life?

MADDY:  I think that Yoga is most beneficial in helping to calm the chattering monkey mind that we all have and thus being able to find more harmony and peace within yourself and within the world.

ZACH: It’s kind of just like mediation.

MADDY:  Yes, mediation is one of the limbs on the 8 limbs path of Yoga. So it’s all a part of Yoga. 

ZACH:  Tell me more about the 8 limbs of Yoga.

MADDY:  Yes. Have you heard of the Yoga Sutras?

ZACH: I’ve heard of it but I don’t know anything about it.

MADDY:  The Yoga Sutra is a sacred ancient text. It gives us guidelines on how to live our lives. Sutras are threads that are time-tested truths. They are one liners that are without explanation and full of wisdom which is left without explanation so that way the individual can discover this for themself. I do like B.K.S. Iyengar’s translation of the Yoga Sutras. You could dive a little bit deeper into it and understand a little bit better with his thoughts on things. The Yoga Sutras detail out the 8 limb paths of Yoga. The first step is Yama. Which are moral restraints. The second step is Niyama which is natural observances. The third step is Asana. The moment, the postures the physical practice, which most people jump straight to Asana before learning any of the Yama’s or Niyamas. After Asana, you could get into Pranayama which is your breathwork. After Pranayama there is Pratyahara which is the withdrawal of the senses.  Next is Dharana, which is the sixth step in the 8 limbs which is concentration, which then takes you to Dhyana which is meditation. This is why I call myself a mediation facilitator. Because you can’t just teach mediation. It’s a state of being. So I can use my visualization or whatever I’m working with, mantra, to bring them into Dharana or concentration and then hopefully that will facilitate them to get into that state of meditation. And ultimately the final limb on the 8 limbs of Yoga is Samadhi which is union.  

ZACH: Wow, you know a lot about this!  So do you meditate outside of your Yoga practice?

MADDY: Yes. I’m a daily meditator for myself. I like to always start my morning with meditation and end my day with meditation. But different meditations. I like to use Yoga to help me relax and fall asleep at night. And then will often do a silent mediation or a gratitude meditation or a loving kindness meditation in the morning, depending on what I’m needing. Sometimes I’ll vary it but those are my most common ones.

ZACH: Can you walk me through one of those meditations?

MADDY:  Yes. A loving kindness meditation is really helpful for people especially if they are really struggling with a difficult person or a difficult time in their life. And it’s practicing sending loving kindness to first, someone that you love. So you would bring someone into the room, envision them in the room in as much detail as possible.  And you would wish them well. For example:

“May you be happy”

“May you be peaceful”

“May you be safe and protected”

“May you be well in mind and body”

And you’ll continue to repeat these well wishes for this person.

Then you‘ll bring to mind someone of neutral feelings maybe it’s the Barista that you always get your coffee from in the morning or whoever bags your groceries, someone you don’t necessarily have a good relationship with but you don’t have a bad relationship with 

And you also will repeat these loving-kindness wishes.

“May you be happy”

“May you be peaceful” 

“May you be safe and protected”

“May you be well in mind and body”

And then it gets more challenging. You bring someone to mind someone that you have a little bit of hardship with, uncomfortable feelings for and maybe some hatred or resentment. You bring this person into your mind and you also will wish them these well wishings. 

“May you be happy”

“May you be peaceful” 

“May you be safe and protected”

“May you be well in mind and body”

This is always more challenging for people which is why we start with the other ones first. From there you can really get people to release that tension and hatred for that person. And realize that everyone is just trying to do the best that they can and maybe you don’t see eye to eye and we’re not connecting and not flowing, but how can you not wish the best for someone? And it can really help with those negative feelings.  I also always have my students wish themselves these well wishings. We forget to take care of ourselves. We always wish these great things for others but we can be so nasty to ourselves. And finally wish it for all beings so going across everyone.  So that’s a really powerful, beautiful one that I think is really helpful during these times.  

ZACH: Ya, that sounds so great. I’m actually, I feel much more calm just listening to you say that, seriously for real.

MADDY:  I have that written, a little note hanging from my car so I can see it as a daily reminder. 

ZACH: So tell me more about your coaching.

MADDY:  Right now I’m doing one-on-one Life Coaching for people, to sort of put it all under one term.  I’m a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist so I do offer the training aspect of things and General Nutrition guidance. I also provide Yoga and Spirituality Coaching which will include learning about the 8 limb paths. My first couple weeks with my clients they dive deep into the Yamas and the Niyamas and learn how to incorporate these into their lives and this really creates an awesome mindset shift. Most of them are telling me, they are like I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. It feels so good, I’m so connected. It’s from these different mindset shifts.

After we’ve gone through the Yama’s and Niyama’s and they’ve developed an understanding of these, then I’ll begin to get them into the physical or Asana practice of Yoga so whether they’re advanced and they want to deepen their practice or they’re brand new and they just want to learn the basics. I’ll take them to wherever they need. After Asana practice then I will get them into the Pranayama practice or breath work and so I can start giving them the tools that they could use on a separate basis where they can use this breath for this or this breath for that. But then I also provide classes they could take. Anywhere from fifteen, 10 minute short ones to a longer 30 minute, 45 minute, hour-long classes based on what they want. And then lastly also will incorporate meditations, focussing on what they need specifically in meditation and offering services to them facilitating a space for them to find meditation and teaching them the tools. That’s what I think is really important and what I tell my clients all the time. If I’m doing my job right I should coach myself out of a job! So everything I share with them I teach them the why behind it so that way they’re empowered to take this as a life skill forever. And of course so many of my clients stay with me for much longer, they love me and want to keep working with me. But my goal is that they can do it on their own and that they feel like I actually have this lifestyle now.  For myself in my own journey I feel like all of those things are what I needed to get to where I am today. For me growing up I was like I want to just be able to do it all for people. I had some people like my sister, she was like, yeah do it!  But then had other people say just focus on one thing, be really good and one thing. And I’m like, what if I’m good at all the things? So I’m grateful I get to provide it all in one package for people to really transform people’s lives on a really deep multifaceted level.

ZACH: Absolutely.. Wow that’s incredible information, seems like you’re helping a lot of people. So let me ask you this. Someone who is brand new to Yoga, brand new to meditation, where should they start.

MADDY: If you’re brand new to Yoga and to meditation. I recommend you start with just your breath. And it can even just be one deep breath in. And just see if you can just focus on your inhale, feel it in your nose, feel it expand your belly, up into your heart center, all the way up into your collar bone, pause for a moment and allow your body to then gently release the air relax your shoulders, empty your chest, empty your belly….. And that just one breath is meditation.

ZACH: WOW! All of that in one breath?

MADDY: Yes!

ZACH: Can we do a short guided meditation right now? Can you guide me through a guided meditation on this podcast?

MADDY: Yes, definitely. Did you want just a breath meditation? Or?

ZACH: Yes, let’s do a breath meditation like you just described. Cause I was doing that as you were saying it and I didn’t realize how much goes into one breath. 

MADDY: Yeah, right? Yes it’s really powerful and I realized a lot of people do not know how to breathe. And a big problem with society today is a lot of people are either chronically hyperventilating so they are taking a million breaths in a minute or they are chronically not breathing so they are constantly holding their breath and not breathing. And both of these things are not good and cause so many health issues.  So if there is one thing that I would teach people it’s breath and how to breath. So how long would you like.

ZACH: Do like a 5 minute meditation.

MADDY: Find a comfortable seat if you’re seated in a chair make sure your feet are on the floor. Lengthen your spine up towards the sky. 

Tuck your chin so your neck could be just as long as the rest of your spine is. 

Relax your shoulders down your back. 

Pull your lowest ribs in. 

Relax your palms face down on your knees or thighs if you would like to keep your energy in for yourself. 

Palms facing up if you’d like to receive some more sun energy. 

Allow your eyes to close or you could just simply soften your gaze down to the floor if that makes you feel more comfortable. 

Without trying to change anything just observe how your natural breath is. Is it short and shallow? Is it long and deep? No need to judge anything just simply observe how your breath is right now. 

Now begin to deepen your breath in through your nose, expand your belly, expand your heart space, get more air into your collarbones, exhale, drop your shoulders and your chest and your low belly. 

Inhale belly, chest, collarbones. 

Exhale shoulders, chest, low tummy. 

Take a full breath in. Feel your rib cage expand from top to bottom, side to side, front to back. 

Exhale, feel your rib cage pull back into your core center. 

Continue to deepen your breath but at the rhythm of your own pace to fill up your own lung capacity. See if you could slow the rhythm of your breath down as if there’s no rush to get to the top of your breath or back down to the bottom. 

Savour your breath as it rises up your spinal column. 

Cherish your breath as it gently falls back down. 

With each exhale allow yourself to find deeper relaxation, observe if you’re holding any tension in your body, allow it to relax, soften your forehead. 

Let your third eye center and temples melt free of tension. 

Relax the muscles that control the actions of your eyes. 

Let your cheeks fall heavy down the sides of your face. Jaw unclenched. Lip’s softly parted. Let your tongue rest in the bottom of your mouth. 

Keep the height of your spine as you allow your shoulders to relax. Your arms feel heavy and soft. Let your sit bones connect you right where you are. Continue to breathe in and breathe out deeply.

And repeat…. 

ZACH: MADDY thank you so much. That was so great I enjoyed that so much.. Wow. That was so great. 

MADDY: As you can see and hopefully those listening that may have followed along just five minutes can create such a shift. So often we think we have to do do do so much. We have to remember that we’re human beings not human doings. So just taking a moment just five minutes even just a minute to just breathe can really make a difference in your day.

ZACH: Absolutely. I feel like every time I drop into a good meditation when it’s over my priorities and like what’s important really comes to the surface like I’m so busy doing all these micro tasks all day and then after I meditated I’m like wait a second what’s really important is calling my Mom right now. What’s really important is like you know feeling good or things like that instead of like all these crazy things on my to do list. 

MADDY: It’s so true…. We can get stuck into the grind in life and forget about the things that really matter. So it’s good to check in and remind ourselves of that, it’s beautiful.

ZACH: Well MADDY you know it’s been great having you on the podcast, do you want to tell everyone where they can find you and if they’re interested in hiring you as their coach.

MADDY: Yeah, they can follow me on Instagram @coachMADDYjones and you could fill out the 15 minute free value call on my Instagram bio or you can just shoot me a DM or an email but preferably at DM and I’ll get back to you within 24 hours 

ZACH: Yes everyone go to MADDY’s Instagram @coachmaddyjones shoot her a DM ask her anything and everything about yoga, meditation and she will definitely help you out.

MADDY:  Thank you awesome 

ZACH: MADDY do you have anything else before we wrap up today?

MADDY: No, not that I can think of. Do you have any other questions? 

ZACH: I mean I have a bunch of other questions but I’m going to give you a call either after this or later this week because I want to see if there’s any other collaborations we can do together.

MADDY: Yes that sounds amazing I would definitely like to collaborate again. Thank you for this. It’s been a pleasure. 

ZACH: Thank you so much I’m glad you had a good time and I’m looking forward to talking to you again. 

MADDY: Awesome ZACH, have a great rest of your day.

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Affirmations and Self-Love w/Jasmine – Habits of a Goddess

Sept 29, 2020: In this episode I have the lovely Goddess Jasmine Rasco as my guest! Jasmine is someone who helps women discover their inner power and guide them in areas they are wanting to improve their life. She also has her own podcast called Habits of A Goddess. Jasmine shares daily affirmations to help with mental health self-care and self-love, and in this episode we talk about her affirmations and how we can utilize self-love to bring our greatest version of ourselves into every single room we walk into.

Jasmine: Hello 

Zach: Hey Jasmine this is Zach, how are you doing? 

Jasmine: I’m doing great, how are you doing?

Zach: I’m really well, thank you for asking.

Zach: Thank you so much for coming on the podcast, how’s your day going so far?

Jasmine: My day is going amazing, I have been doing a lot of meditating, getting ready. It’s been raining here in Atlanta, Georgia so today is kind of like chores a little.

Zach: So tell me about your mediation practice?

Jasmine: In the morning, it’s like a routine for me now but in the morning I like to listen to my podcast or Abraham Hicks or Bob Baker and I like to just kind of have it playing in the background as I start my day. I start listening while laying down but I eventually get up and start my day, shower, brush my teeth, get dressed and I have it playing throughout the morning. For me it helps me start my day on a good note. 

Zach: Yeah I love that. I’ve actually been meditating for about 4 years now and I’ve experienced different types of meditation but I agree with you it’s so important to start it early it just really sets the tone for the day.

Jasmine: Yes I definitely agree 

Zach: So you say that you help women discover their inner power and guide them on the areas they are wanting to improve in their life. Tell me a little more about that.

Jasmine: Yes, I started my journey about 5 years ago when I started working on myself and I started going to a therapist. I started working and healing my inner child, working on things and I noticed the changes in my personal life and I know it came from tapping into my inner self going back and pulling out that power that we all have within ourselves to become the best version of ourselves. That started attracting women to my page asking me for guidance on how they could become a better version of themselves. They noticed the light, I didn’t need to go around with a sign saying “Hey I made a change in my life”. It was just obvious from women watching me on social media. So I had women dm me and share personal stories with me that they felt could relate based off of my personal growth and my story. I just started helping them and working on things that they wanted to work on in their life, just helping them become a better version, mentally, spiritually and physically as well.

Zach: I love that. I love that. It’s funny, I think we actually have a lot more in common than you think. Because I did the exact same thing. I just started focusing on myself and how I could live my best life. How I could be the greatest version of myself and people started taking note and people started reaching out.  “Zach, how did you make this change?” “Zach, how did you know XYZ” and just like you said, you didn’t have to walk around with a sign or tell people it was just obvious.

Zach: What do you think was the biggest Difference Maker for you that led you to here. 

Jasmine: The biggest difference,  I would say, is when people that met me in the beginning of my journey, they knew about me growing up losing both of my parents at a young age. They knew about me becoming homeless and they new about me, you know, just having kind of a difficult childhood and how growing into a young adult just overcoming challenges. When they saw the things that I accomplished on my own, of course with God’s help, but like things I’ve accomplished, like starting a business and sharing more of who I am on social media. When they saw me going to my therapist and how I would say she was a breath of fresh air in their life. When they saw that? I think that was kind of like what clicked, the shift. It was a 5 year journey for me. I was doing these little small tasks, going to therapy, healing myself, doing things I’m passionate about, meditating, reading books that helped my personal development. Those were like little things that added up to the big change. No one saw those things because it wasn’t behind the scenes, you know? But someone from the outside would be like Oh My God like she was here and now she’s here. For me it was those small habits that I created daily, you know, just really focusing on myself. I’m very ambitious and focused on my job and things that truly make me happy and giving back in any way that I can whether it’s either helping other women online. So that was like the big shift just working on myself. I will say this. 3 years ago I looked up Les Brown, I don’t know if you know who he is, he’s a motivational speaker. I started listening to this man every morning, every night. I was hooked on him. One day he came to our church. I got the opportunity to listen to him live and it just clicked with me. Like I wanted to change. I wanted to change my situation. I believe in affirmations. That was the thing that started the snowball effect with me. 

Zach: Absolutely…. I love that. So many things came together and just opening your eyes to one thing and going down this journey opened you up to something else. And there’s just all these variables that are involved and when you really put them all together they start to click.

Jasmine: Yes, it all comes into alignment. 

Zach: It all comes into alignment. You just have to tap into the right thing and whether that’s mediation or finding passion from Les Brown or through the struggles. I want to commend you and acknowledge you for all the struggles that you’ve been through and you know just putting one foot in front of the other and getting to where you are today is already a huge success but no, you’re taking it 10 steps further to make a profound impact on this Earth and help women and help people online to live their best life and step into the greatest version of themselves so whether it’s this that X Y or Z doesn’t matter what your motivation is as long as you’re being a better version of yourself in and your making a lasting positive impact on the world, that’s all that really matters. So I’m really so so happy for you that you stepped into this new version of yourself and this is just the beginning for you 

Jasmine: Thank you, thank you 

Zach: You also told me how you share daily affirmations to help women with mental health, self care, and self-love and I was going to ask you what’s your favorite affirmation but I know you probably have so many, but tell me a little bit more about your affirmations and what are some of your favorite affirmations and how do they help other people.

Jasmine: Yes, so I started a podcast called Habits of a Goddess and I noticed for me, that was like part of my transformation, like affirmations, finding something I can consume that’s healthy that’s going to improve my life. I started that during quarantine. I noticed a lot of people, not just women, a lot of people were dealing with mental health. They were so used to like a routine or so used to going into work, they were so used to you know doing stuff and now you’re kind of like stuck at home and I know for me like if whenever I got on social media I didn’t have to look for it but like so much trauma was just going on online like you couldn’t escape it. You know killings, shooting, bystanders you know filming that. So I was feeling taxed heavily on my soul just on social media with that so I felt like I needed to create something. I do this on my own but like I felt like I needed to create something that I do but put a twist on it and share it with my audience and share it with the women that follow me. So I created Habits of a Goddess. I want to show you can create healthy habits daily, make it a lifestyle. Implement in your life like don’t just, you know, do it one time and put it back on the Shelf, like make this a daily thing this is a lifestyle this is not something that you can just do for 90 days and that’s it.  So I started with self-love affirmations cuz the majority of the women that would reach out to me it all was kind of like around the same rooted topic self-love. One of my favorite affirmations I would have to say is “Everything is working out for me. I am loved. I am a Divine Goddess.  I know from me that for me is like affirmation of letting me know that I am worthy. I’m a Divine Goddess and despite what’s going on in the world you have to pour into yourself. You have to find that balance in your life because so much is moving fast paced.  We don’t have time to process things and you know my affirmations, the feedback I’ve been getting back from the women, they’ve been telling me, it’s very calming, it’s very soothing and that was my goal. Despite what’s going on in the world today that you have something that you can listen to, that I calm you, that can soothe you, that can nurture your soul, your mind and help you conquer your day you know?

Zach: Absolutely I loved all those affirmations that you mention and I’m someone who uses affirmations religiously and I am someone who….  I want to first mention everything you discuss regarding habits and how habits, it’s a lifestyle change like you’re not just trying to do this for the next 90 days like you said. This is something that you’re going to do for the rest of your life until the day you die. I’m someone who wakes up religiously at 5am and I go to the gym and meditate and read 20 pages of a non-fictional personal growth self-development book every day and I have my night routine. All these habits are helping me get to where I need to be, but I’m not doing it to get to somewhere else I’m doing this because I’m trying to make a lifestyle change so I love how you mention habits and then about the affirmations, like it doesn’t matter how you get that feeling as long as you get that feeling that you are loved and you do matter and you are making a difference. Whether you have to tell it to yourself to make you believe it or you have to watch a movie or listen to someone else to make you believe it. As long as you believe it that’s all that matters because that true belief that underlying faith and hope that you can do this or things are going to get better and that you have people around you that support you is what’s going to help you act and choose and decide and lead powerfully and bring your best self into the next room you walk into and help someone else that needs a helping hand. You know some people think affirmations don’t work or it’s voodoo type stuff but look, if you look yourself in the mirror and you tell yourself something and you actually believe it? You are going to change your life immediately.

Jasmine: Yes. You have to reprogram your mind like it has to be a shift,  like it’s a mental thing. It has to be a shift. I like to fall asleep sometimes listening to something geared towards whatever I want to work on. I was my first project I guess. I know if it changed me it can change anyone! 

Zach: Absolutely wow that was great. That’s such powerful stuff right there. Is there anything you want to leave with the audience for them to either connect with you or maybe some last words to inspire

Jasmine: Yes I definitely want to say this. I know that sometimes you know when you’re starting a journey like this on improving your life, personal development. It can be overwhelming, listening or hearing people say I do this everyday or I read this… I read that.  I will say start simple.  Don’t try to consume everything at once. Don’t overwhelm yourself whether it’s you know five minutes in the morning meditating,  like start with that. Whether it’s reading a chapter a day or page a day like whatever you can do to start just do that. Don’t try to become this guru overnight like for meditating and you know just start simple and then build up on it. Don’t let it intimidate you.  I see a lot of times, I get a lot of questions asking “what did you do?” “What was a big thing that you did that changed” There was no big thing. I did not hit this Lottery like there was no big thing. It was small habits and they all collectively came together and helped transform my mindset and I view life so differently.  I just have more understanding and I’m able to help women now because it’s like I know exactly where you’re coming from because I used to think that way too as well. You know.

Zach: Absolutely you’re so right it’s all about starting off small, staying consistent and building from there.

Jasmine: Yes 

Zach: Don’t overwhelm yourself people. Don’t overwhelm yourself, if you’re trying to build a new habit of reading, just read one page today, two pages tomorrow three pages the next day. If you’re trying to create a habit of meditation? Meditate for 1 minute today, two minutes tomorrow, three minutes the next day and that consistency is what’s going to build that foundation for you to vertically scale not only your life but your business but most importantly your happiness.

Jasmine: Yes, your happiness is so important that inner peace is so important and if anything costs you your peace it costs too much.

Zach: Wise words right there… Yes if it costs you your peace, it costs too much! Wow I like that… Awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast

Jasmine: Thank you 

Zach: It was a pleasure having you Jasmine, we will connect after this call. If you want to tell everyone your Instagram handle so they can follow you, I’ll put it in the description, but if you have anything else that you want them to check out let them know.

Jasmine: Yes for sure, you can follow me on instagram @habitsofagoddess My podcast is Habits of Goddess and Instagram handle is @habitofagoddess as well. If you like to work with me on coaching you can contact me through my website Habitsofagoddess I work with all women from all different paths in life.

Zach: Jasmine thank you so much for coming. I hope that you have an incredible day and I look forward to talking to you again soon. 

Jasmine: Thank you Zach…