The Rochelle Christiane Podcast
Welcome to the Rochelle Christiane Podcast! This is the space where spirituality meets self-discovery and personal growth. I’m your host, Rochelle Christiane—your guide to holistic health, emotional regulation, embodiment and soulful alignment. This space is all about helping you reconnect with your body’s wisdom, master your emotions, and align with your unique energy using tools like astrology, Human Design, and holistic wellness practices. Each week, I’ll share transformative conversations and practical guidance to help you heal, embody your truth, and create deeper alignment in your life. This is your invitation to step into your power, trust yourself, and master your emotions. Let’s dive in!
Are you ready to connect deeply with your body, align with your energy, and unlock your fullest potential? Through my Wholistic Human Design Academy and one-on-one coaching, I help women like you embrace their intuition, understand their astrology and Human Design charts, and cultivate confidence in their unique energy. Together, we’ll create the alignment you’ve been seeking—whether it’s deconditioning limiting beliefs, attracting abundance, or finding peace within.
The Rochelle Christiane Podcast
241. Sacred Self-Care
This week, I spoke with Cassandra Juniphant, wife, mother, and the Founder of Ori Ara, a self-care company dedicated to empowering modern women with traditional wellness practices.
In this episode, Cassandra and I talk about:
- Bodybuilding and Self Care
- Movement and the gym as a catalyst for personal growth
- Nourishing the body for energy (rest and water)
- Allowing over forcing
- Graceful and strong
- Mind-body connection
- Redefining discipline
- Devotion vs discipline
- Getting to know yourself
Wholistic Human Design Academy use code WHDASPRING until 3/28/25
Free 7 Day Challenge: Unapologetically You: Real. Raw. Authentic.
THE SELF CARE COLLECTIVE: code EMOTIONALMASTERYMEMBER gets you 20% off your first month OR EMOTIONALMASTERYFOUNDER gets you 20% off lifetime access!
Links:
Where you can find Cassandra:
Self Care Collective: code EMOTIONALMASTERYMEMBER gets you 20% off your first month OR EMOTIONALMASTERYFOUNDER gets you 20% off lifetime access!
Where you can find Rochelle:
Instagram
The Self Care Collective, created by Cassandra Juniphant and her company Ori Ara, is a space for real women, living real lives, and committed to real self-care. It’s not just another wellness group—it’s a community. A support system. A place where you can show up exactly as you are and evolve into who you want to be.
Where you can find Rochelle:
Instagram, TikTok, Website, YouTube
Welcome to the Rochelle Christiane podcast, formerly the Emotional Mastery podcast. I'm Rochelle, your host. I'm here to help you come back to your body, take charge of your emotions and live life on your terms. This podcast is a space for raw, real conversations about what it means to trust yourself, lean into your power and create a life that feels aligned and alive. We'll explore human design, astrology and other tools to help you understand your unique energy. More importantly, though, we're going to talk about what it means to actually live and embody these aspects. So each week, I'm going to share stories, lessons, guidance to help you navigate life's challenges and really own your magic. So if you're ready to step up, take control and show up as the most authentic version of you, let's begin. Normally, this is the part in the podcast where I would have my little self-promo of the Holistic Human Design Self-Paced Academy, but we're going to do things a little bit different today, because I'm officially launching a live round of Holistic Human Design Academy, starting April 7th. Until March 28th, I am offering 20% off the live round. So this is three months. It is eight modules, but we have integration time, we have Q&A time. I break up the first module in two weeks in the live round, and what really makes the live round unique is you. You literally bring the magic, the magic that we create together. There's support, there's accountability, 24-7 Voxer support. It is such a beautiful container and the Holistic Human Design Academy is built on the holistic embodiment blueprint. This is basically three major steps that I have combined together to create this magical program. Basically three major steps that I have combined together to create this magical program. So the first thing that we look at, the first, very first step, is our human design and astrology chart. This really creates awareness. This really gives us this languaging of pieces of ourselves that maybe we weren't so aware of. The second step is, now that we have awareness, we need to emotionally regulate, because we really can't do the work from a dysregulated nervous system. And so we understand our energetics, we dive into our PHS, we understand the emotional solar plexus whether you have it defined or undefined. We really get into the nitty gritty of like what that means. And then there are tools, practical tools and steps to continually regulate your nervous system. And in each and every weekly live call that we have, we are going to have some somatic nervous system practice to really ground into that energy. And then the final step in here is subconscious reprogramming, deconditioning. We're taking those old narratives and we're replacing them with something more positive. We're replacing them with where you desire to go. Now this is like a really brief synopsis of what is in here, but truly this is so magical, it is so beautiful. We go through human design, astrology, again, energetics, emotional regulation, attachment theory, the gene keys, subconscious reprogramming. It's so good. So if you are interested in joining for this live round again, we start April 7th, but you can enter now. Cart is open. Use the code WHDASpring and that will get you 20% off. So instead of $5.55, it is currently $4.44 until March 28. And this program is about so much more than just intellectual learning. This is really embodiment and beginning that deconditioning process. I cannot wait to see you.
Speaker 1:Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. Today I'm talking to Cassandra Junifont, who is a wife, mother and the founder of Oriara, which is a self-care company dedicated to empowering modern women with traditional wellness practices. A former HR executive, cassandra's journey began over a decade ago, when she transformed her health through bodybuilding and discovered the profound connection between self-care, professional success and spirituality. She became a certified trainer, yogi gym owner and student of nutrition and martial arts, and today she uses her expertise to help others elevate their well-being and make self-care an integral part of every day. I love this conversation. Cassandra and I really resonated on so many different things. My personal journey began in fitness in a very different way than Cassandra's, but fitness for me I kind of say fitness saved my life because it completely changed the trajectory of where I was headed and where I was and how I perceived myself and my self-worth and all those things, and so I really credit movement and it doesn't have to be going to the gym and lifting weights, but I really credit movement and getting into my body as literally something that changed and saved my life, and so this podcast episode is so, so good.
Speaker 1:We talk about self-care, what it is, what the difference between you know, redefining discipline, strength, because something that I love that we touched on here is that and something I've seen it on Instagram there's like reels and things like that, but it's like if you have a strong woman, she's really soft underneath, kind of energy, right, where it's like you think about like we talk about ballerinas, right, you think about ballerinas, you think about any sort of like gymnasts, anything that is more even feminine flow, like bodies, like yoga, pilates. The strength required to really do those things is amazing, and so my goal has always been to be strong, versus to look a certain way, and I love that reframe. That's really helped me over my years with my fitness journey because, let's be honest, I'm a Taurus and so I love to eat. I love food, and so it's kind of always been not a struggle. I don't want to say it's been a struggle, but I think, when you're getting stuck in comparison and all the things you know, I think we all have body image issues on some level, and I don't mean that everybody has issues with their body, but I just mean that I think, as a human being, we look around in magazines and TV and movies and all these different outlets of like how the body should look, and I'm air quoting that. But I've really come through this journey to really love and appreciate and accept my body.
Speaker 1:And you know, over the last year we talked about that in this episode too, but over the last year I've been really I'm going to say bad about getting to the gym. I've been moving in other ways. I really haven't been as committed as I have been in the past. I used to go to the gym like six days a week because I had to maintain a certain look, I guess, and it's really, really transformed over the last year and my body because I haven't gone to the gym as much or lifted weights in the same way. My body has definitely changed and I've learned to really love the way that it looks now because I feel like for me it's really kind of I almost want to say it's kind of put me more in my feminine when I'm able to flow in the way that I move and run when it feels good and not have to be in this super hyper masculine.
Speaker 1:And you know Cassandra talks about her past in bodybuilding and how, yeah, maybe it sounds hypermasculine, but it actually really got her in touch with her feminine side because it was a lot of pageantry and things like that. So I'm not saying that just because you know you lift weights or whatever. It makes it more masculine. There's it's a whole conversation that we do get into here, but all I'm saying is that being more in flow with myself, accepting my body and maybe the way it changes and a little bit more curvy, it has helped me get more in touch with my feminine side, and I've been saying that, you know, over the last I don't know, probably the last year more and more so I've gotten in touch with the side of myself.
Speaker 1:I'm a manifesting generator. I have so much fixed fire energy in my chart that I'm normally just like go and initiatory and all these things, and so I'm really learning to A embody my design right. I'm learning how to flow with my own energy and really leaning into my feminine side, that energy of like, yes, I can still initiate, I can still go fast, and also I can also be in my flow. I can also be feminine, I can also be more graceful and compassionate and have all these qualities that really are part of me. But I felt like I resisted or shoved down or avoided for a long time in my life, because it wasn't expected isn't the word I'm looking for, but it wasn't the standard or valued maybe is what I'm looking for. And so, yeah, I've just like really been in this beautiful place lately and again, I love this conversation with Cassandra. It was so good.
Speaker 1:Like I said, we resonated on a lot of the parts of our journeys in very different ways, but coming to the body. And if you've been here for a while, if you know my whole thing, you know I'm a human design, I'm a holistic human design coach with a focus on embodiment and my whole thing. I'm all about the body. I feel like my whole life I've been very rooted in the material and the physical and the body, and so my challenge has been more so extending beyond that, but coming into myself and into my body has been such a beautiful journey and really appreciating it right when before I would be in it, but maybe you know when I was drinking or not eating the best you know it's just transformed. That relationship has transformed, is what I'm trying to say. And so, again, this conversation was so great this week.
Speaker 1:I don't know about you, but I've been exhausted. It's already feeling kind of intense because we have so much going on. We have Mercury at zero degrees going back into Aries. We have Neptune at zero degrees sorry, going back into Pisces. Neptune is at zero degrees going into Aries. So they kind of like almost like passengers or, oh my gosh, strangers in the night. That's the term I'm looking for strangers in the night. They meet up at 29 degrees of Pisces, mercury obviously going one way, neptune going the other way, and then we have our new moon solar eclipse on Saturday, and so there's so much going on, so much has been coming up and I feel more equipped to handle it.
Speaker 1:I think in just because I've been doing a lot more somatic practices, I've been doing some kundalini meditations, I've really been grounding myself and I've really been supporting myself and I've been leading into the tarot to support me and really doing the work to rewire the beliefs that are coming up. You know, I'm it's just this phase of my life, you know I don't really know what's on the other side of it, other than I just have this blind faith and belief that it's all going to work out and it's gonna be fine. It's all going to work out and it's gonna be fine. It's been this like trust fall right. It's kind of almost been like the fool cart in the tarot, where it's like you're just stepping off the ledge and you don't know what's there, but you're happy to do it and your little, you know, dog is following you along and it just sort of feels like a very like a fool moment, I guess, and also bigger, you know.
Speaker 1:I mean I could get into the tarot and I'm learning about it and it's been so beautiful. But I don't want to go too deep into that. Maybe I'll do a whole podcast episode, maybe we'll get like and I actually do have tarot readers that I've interviewed that are coming up pretty soon. So, side note, it's coming because I've just been so passionate and excited and lit up by learning the depth of what it holds, because I've always been one where I'll pull a card and I'm like I don't know what this means, and then I get the book and I look at the book and then I'm like, okay, on to the next thing.
Speaker 1:And it's really been a practice now of like deepening my own knowledge and leaning into myself and trusting myself and seeing what comes up for me. And so it's been beautiful and I've really again been leaning into that to support me, to move through, to rewire subconscious beliefs, and every time these limiting beliefs or shadows come up, I'm just kind of reframing them of like, no, I'm learning, I'm not failing, I'm learning. Or, yeah, I might not know what the future holds, but that doesn't have to be my truth, right, Like what other people or the stories I took before, my old narrative doesn't have to be my truth. Now, right, I get to choose, I get to choose, and so it's been a really interesting phase, a really beautiful phase, and there are moments where I kind of like freak out, but I'm able to quickly come in, regulate myself right. Come back to this place.
Speaker 1:I have noticed that I am feeling more resistant to certain things that maybe I wasn't before, and I'm trying to understand if that is shadows, if that's self-sabotage or if that's just a no, because I think sometimes it can be tricky. Right, I think I understand what my intuition is now, but there are times where, when I feel resistance, I'm like, am I just self-sabotaging Because it is sneaky, it is tricky, and so, anyway, just discerning what's what sort of sometimes when it comes up and I don't know. I hope that you're finding ways to ground yourself. If this is an intense week for you and I will be back next week with a solo, enjoy the episode with Cassandra. It is really, really a great episode. I hope that you love it.
Speaker 1:Holistic Human Design Academy is available. I am enrolling, for April 7th is when the new live round begins. I'm so, so, so excited. So, if you've been thinking about it, if you're on the edge, you want to reach out DM me on Instagram, send me an email. All the links are down below so you can get in there as well and go follow Cassandra and let us know on Instagram, share, tag us, let us know what you thought about the episode, let us know what resonates and I will catch you back here next week.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the podcast. Today I have Cassandra Junifant, who is a self-care alchemist and author, and this topic is so fascinating to me, it's so huge and I think it's something that we kind of misconstrue sometimes or misunderstand maybe, like what self care is, and I think, especially as women, it's kind of harder to embody that. But we're going to get into all of it. So I'll just start with asking you if you are familiar with your human design and astrology and if you're comfortable sharing it, if you're open to letting the listeners know, and then just anything about your story, kind of anything pivotal that got you to where you're at today, and then we'll just take it from there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I'm into all of the things right. My necklace actually is my sun moon rising. Oh, I love that of the things right. My necklace actually is my sun moon rising. I love that Yo son a Pisces moon and a Capricorn rising but I'm so heavily indexed on Scorpio, I've got a Scorpio.
Speaker 2:Stellium I've got like it's just ridiculous how Scorpionic I am. And then, in terms of human design, I'm a six, two and that's all that I know. I'm not clear on the gates and on the other things, but I just know that I'm a six, two, um, but yeah, so my my, the short version of my story and how I got here today is that, like many women, I struggled to lose the baby weight with my youngest and I literally stumbled into bodybuilding, believe it or not. I accidentally stumbled on bodybuildingcom and I was like, oh my gosh, these women look fantastic. How did they do that? I found a coach. I fell in love. I ended up competing for five years as a bodybuilder before going pro in 2016. I literally fell in love with everything I was learning about my body. I went down the rabbit hole. I became a certified personal trainer, yoga instructor, studied martial arts and competed for a little while, owned a gym, studied nutrition supplements. I mean, when I tell you like I just I woke up to the fact that I had a body and you would think having kids did that, but for whatever reason, that wasn't my catalyst. It was bodybuilding. That was my catalyst wasn't my catalyst, it was bodybuilding that was my catalyst.
Speaker 2:And, um, I remember one day I was getting ready for a show in the gym and it was peak week. And peak week is when, as a bodybuilder, you are intentionally dehydrated so that your muscles pop. Um, you're not eating very many carbs, so I'm kind of hangry. I was just like dying in this grueling workout. And I got a download, loud and clear. Loud and clear, that this is what we came for. Spirit spoke to me and said this is what we came for, and it all clicked like literally instantly that the ache in my lungs, the burning of my muscles, the sweat on my body was all so fucking beautiful because the divine got to experience it through me, and having a body is what we came for. And so, from that moment on, it all took on new meaning to me. While everyone else was like, oh my gosh your abs, oh my gosh your trophies, I was like that's great, but something really magical is happening inside of me, like I'm changing, like I'm different inside, and what you see is simply the overflow from the transformation internally.
Speaker 2:And, um, then fast forward to 2021. I, oh, and I should also say that along. This was all my side hustle. So I had been in human resources for 20 years as an executive, as a single mother Everything I mentioned about the body was my side hustle and I also noticed during that time that my career was going like this, like I was getting the promotions, I was getting raises, I was making money, I was doing well in the corporate world and I know that's 100% because of my health and wellbeing. I showed up to myself first, which allowed me to give from my overflow and show up to my team and my corporation and grow a career that I'm really really proud of. But fast forward to 2021, I get laid off and it never occurred to me to go get a job.
Speaker 2:This was like pandemic era, and I felt uniquely positioned, with my 20 years at that point in human resources and 10 years at that point in health and fitness, to help the world. This was the first time some of us were talking about our health and well-being, and it was during COVID that self-care made a resurgence. That's when, all of a sudden, everyone was talking about self-care again and I sat back and watched what was happening and I'm like that's BS, though that's not self-care, like let's really, you know, talk about self-care and my company, oriara, has seen many iterations over the last almost four years now, but what she is today is a self-care company really striving to return the potency and the meaning to self-care, and so what I do, what we do as a company, is return traditional wellness to modern women. We don't make it complicated or reinvent the wheel. We're doing the old school and it's working.
Speaker 1:I love that. I got full body chills when you were talking about that download, right, because I resonate to your story and for me, I feel like my journey began in fitness. It wasn't bodybuilding, I wasn't extreme like that, but it was just. I had my second child and same thing I couldn't lose the baby weight and I was like I hadn't worked out since, like my early twenties, before my daughter was born, and yeah, I, just I was in a really bad relationship and I literally started going to the gym just to get myself and my kids out of my house so we didn't have to be in the environment, and then just like slowly, right that, like confidence, and I started losing a little bit of weight and then I, it was like the fog cleared, right, and I could see my situation for what it was and I was empowered to then pack everything up and we're like I, I can't live this life anymore, and so it completely changed my life and you know where movement for me has just been my like, like I don't know when I go to the gym.
Speaker 1:It's like I, I, that's when I have my, my creativity spikes. You know, all my downloads come, I'm running and I'm just like you know. So I definitely resonate in that sense. Where it's like it's so much more than just about like the looks, the aesthetics of it, right, something inside happens. That is incredible and I think sometimes it's hard to. I guess if you don't experience it right it's hard to like explain it. But yeah, I think that's incredible, that that sort of was the thing that you know kind of turned everything 100 and it is, it's the ultimate.
Speaker 2:If you know, you know you know kind of experience and and I'm I'm here to get women to be willing to find out right, or at least develop a curiosity, because you see the people who talk in their mind as to why you know why that works and you get that, but that's just not me and I'm like no, I promise you, sis, it is, I promise you. It is like let's go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I know, you know, I think, like so many things, it's like we always we see the end result and we think that it was just easy to get there just happen overnight, to get there just happen overnight, you know.
Speaker 1:but I mean, I know the journey to making that a consistent practice is hard right. It's like showing up every day and putting on your sneakers when you don't want to. I mean, I still struggle with it. You know, I'm this 2024, for whatever reason, was really challenging for me to get into the gym. So I found different ways to move, whether it's just going for a walk or doing gym. So yoga, like it didn't have to be weightlifting and running, you know five miles a day or whatever. So that's been a just kind of re reframing that story, I guess. Um, but so with that, how do you get people to see that? Or rather, maybe the question is like, how do we overcome that self-sabotage of like we can't do it or it's too hard, or in those moments when you don't, the last thing you want to do is go to the gym. But you go right, like how do we kind of get past?
Speaker 2:that. Oh my gosh, you said so many great things. I'll start, okay, let me answer your question first, but I do want to circle back to that idea that you don't have to go to the gym, like, and the fact that you walked it. Well, let me just go ahead and finish that thought because my 2024 was the exact same, ironically the exact same.
Speaker 2:I'm newly married, moved to a new town, new everything and new job, like literally everything, and the gym just wasn't working for me and I'm a gym girly, like, I am the quintessential gym girly but it just wasn't working and what I did was give myself grace. I gave myself grace and I fell in love with my, my 6am sunrise walks I take. I walk for 30 minutes every morning and that was kind of like the extent of my workouts, and then, um, during the day, sometimes I find time to go do like 30 to 45 minutes of yoga, but for all of 2024, and like 30 to 45 minutes of yoga, but for all of 2024, the bodybuilder, the gym girly. I walked and I did yoga and it was such a marvel, like it was one of those things where, as a personal trainer and someone who's owned a gym and trained women. I know walking and yoga are valid, effective forms of working out, but I was a heavy lifter you know what I mean Like I, I kind of was a little, I don't know I, I revered you know that aspect of myself and so, um, but it was really like, okay, put your money where your mouth is. Is that a valid form of exercise? Will you do it? And I was like hell, yeah, I will, let me see what this is about.
Speaker 2:And so it was a matter of grace. But it was also a matter of just allowing my movement to match my life, as opposed to rearranging my life to match movement or to just do what I've always done, because I've always done it that way and I recognize that. And so 2024, for me as well, was this opportunity to allow myself, grace, try something new, really be a testament for what I know to be true when I preach to women and to embody a new energy. And I really did discover a whole new energy living in my body as a result of doing yoga and walking, as opposed to heavy lifting, which can be a whole nother conversation. But that leads me to answer your question for to to women who, um, just don't feel like it and they don't, you know, have the energy or the motivation, I say then don't. Actually and again, I'm talking as someone who's a gym girly Um, what I have found in my work with women is that we it's no wonder, it's no wonder and it's natural that we don't have the motivation, inspiration and energy to hit the gym consistently because we are dramatically undernourished. And so for someone who's just starting on their health and fitness journey, the women who don't know if you know yet, because they haven't given themselves that opportunity, for you guys, don't even worry about the gym.
Speaker 2:The number one thing you can do to get healthy that will change your health immediately. And I mean overnight is good, a good night's rest. Go to bed, get some sleep, do that consistently for a while. After you've gotten some sleep, consistently for a while, hydrate, drink water, drink it lavishly, drink it in abundance. And after you've done that for a little bit, eat some high vibrational foods. Eat greens, seasonal fruits and vegetables.
Speaker 2:Once we've nourished our body, then it's going to crave movement. Then you can't stop it from moving. I mean, that's kind of what I believe is part of you know what's behind little kids energy. You go into a kindergarten class and they're bopping all over the place. Our little bodies can't handle all the energy in them and so they're bopping around.
Speaker 2:But think about how we take care of kids. We make sure they go to bed on time they we make sure they carry their water bottles They've got the cutest little water bottles like with them all the time they're eating fruits and vegetables. We make, you know, make them eat their vegetables. And that's why they have so much energy in their little bodies is because they're well-nourished and nurtured and we're the same as adults, but we don't give ourselves that same nurturing. And so for women who are starting, who are like I just can't, then I'm like, don't, I'm not surprised you feel that way, your body's not ready, it's just not. You'll get there. But I say, start with the simple things, again, traditional wellness for modern women. Start with rest, start with water, start with high vibrational foods and I promise you, after three or four weeks of that, no one's going to be able to stop you from going to the gym.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. I you know, of all the conversations I have on the podcast, it's always these simple things. I feel like everybody's looking for this complicated like aha, like thing that's going to change their life, but it's really like starting small and starting simple and it naturally it comes into flow. You know, and you talk about kids and not comparing kids to dogs. But, like, kids naturally want to be outside too, right, and I think just being outside is huge.
Speaker 1:And this past week where I live, it was like, you know, 10 degrees and below and then it hit 30 and my dog was outside all day and I'm like it is cold but she naturally wants. She just sat in the sun for like eight hours of the day and it was freezing but she just sat there. You know, and and I you know, with kids too, there comes in the simple ways and I think once you're nourishing your body in a way that feels good, then you'll naturally want to go outside and, like you said, it just kind of like all um, not spirals, but I mean I guess that's the word it kind of flows from that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, 100%. You know, my my mentor taught me this many years ago and it just clicked, and I share now with everybody that. You know, health is wholeness, and when we think about getting healthy, what is the first thing we often think about? We often think about going on a diet program or an exercise program, or both right, but health is wholeness. Health means wholeness. You cannot cut or diet your way to wholeness.
Speaker 2:The only way to get to wholeness is to add to, to nourish, and so the things that I mentioned rest, hydration and high vibrational foods are something that I want us to consume in abundance to bring us to that wholeness. And what I say is that, you know, when you consume enough of the good stuff you'll soon find out over time you just don't have room, energy or interest in the not so good stuff. And then, yes, they build on each other to the point where your body's bubbling with energy, and maybe it's not going to the gym, but maybe it's taking that walk right, or maybe it is joining the Zumba class or the yoga class, or, you know, taking your kids to whatever sport they're playing and you're active while you're waiting for them, instead of, you know eating and networking with the other parents, or whatever the case may be, but I find that it really starts with nourishment, and you're right, it's it's it's small, simple, micro habits that that have always worked since the beginning of time that I really want us to revisit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I love that you said that I also. I studied holistic health and one of the things that they said during my like two-year program of that was kind of what you just said. Right, it's adding to it. It's not because I think that we, that the diet mindset and I can't have this. You know, I've been vegan for like 15 years now and I'm not saying that's the best diet ever, but like that's just my lifestyle at this point. But a lot of people are like you can't have this, you can't have that, and I'm like no, I choose to consume this, rather than that, because for me that's more supportive of you know the way that I.
Speaker 1:And so applying that to a diet where it's like we're not a diet, just a lifestyle change, it's like adding in maybe an extra thing of broccoli instead of going back for a second helping a mashed potatoes right, it's, it's adding those small things that I really, I completely agree and I think that needs to be like highlighted here. It's, it is adding, not taking away You're not removing anything from your life, you know no 100%.
Speaker 2:I always say the truth about nutrition is abundance. Your body is not going to reward you for restriction, it just isn't. And you know that mindset is really debilitating in so many ways. I mean, just starting with health and fitness. You've probably seen this in the gym that women are such in this diet, diet, diet, cut, cut, cut mentality and then they lose the weight and then they wonder why they're flabby, or they wonder why they don't have a butt, or they wonder why, like they, their body isn't sculpted to the way they thought it was going to by dieting, dieting, dieting down. And it's because actually to build muscle, you need to add it's eating over maintenance, right, so that your muscles have something to eat and take in to build themselves with my friends.
Speaker 2:But it's such a mind fuck for women when they go from dieting and then realizing I don't like how I look or feel just thinner, just smaller, as opposed to what I really wanted was a toned, strong, fit, healthy, looking Well, that's not a diet mentality, it's actually an abundance mentality. But no one's talking about that because it's so easy to sell diet programs and diet everything, right, um, but then just in general, as a woman, you know like, uh, we need to be in a receiving energy to receive. To receive, I mean the blessings that we want, the relationship that we want, the money that we want, the community that we want. They're all things that we have to be open and willing to receive. It's not a cut and restrict and limit mindset, it's an abundance mindset and I find that you know if we can start here, and I believe you know the physical is what allowed for me the spiritual to grow.
Speaker 2:You know, like we say, as above, so below, so below, as above, as within is without without, as what is without is within. And I think you know sometimes it can be hard to start as above. I'm a spiritual girly. I believe in all of the spiritual woo, woo, super, which I'm sure we'll get to, um things. But, um, sometimes that can be hard or you feel weird about it. So if you can't do the as above, do the so below. The so below is the abundance of eating. Eat fruits and vegetables in abundance. Don't worry about the sucrose from the fruits right now, don't worry about that, just eat them in abundance. Don't worry about the starchy carbs, the carbs and the vegetables, just eat them in abundance right now.
Speaker 1:Get used to consuming and consuming a lot, and you start that so below it trickles as above and I promise you it does reciprocate.
Speaker 1:It's, you know, you know that saying like we are spiritual beings having a human experience, and I think that we're so focused on chasing the spiritual right that we forget this.
Speaker 1:And so I love that idea of just like giving yourself abundance and allowing yourself to consume that and kind of going back a little bit to our like. I feel like both of our parallel like fitness journeys in 2024. Little bit to our like, I feel like both of our parallel like fitness journeys in 2024, it was, I feel, like not being in the gym in that way all the time, like I used to be really allowed me to connect with that more feminine, receptive part of me, because my body did get a little bit softer than when I was in the gym every single day, and there were moments when I looked in the mirror and I was like, oh gosh, I have to get back, but then it allowed me to accept myself more and not have to, like chase that ideal as well. So I don't know if that was something you experienced and witnessed, you know, in that journey too 100%.
Speaker 2:I said I entered my goddess body era Like I used to be. I was a bodybuilder, so I had curves, but they were curves made by muscle. They were just like I was really fit. Curves, but they were curves made by muscle. They were just like I was really fit, really compact, really tight, and I love that figure, I love that physique. I loved carrying visible muscle, like I was like, yes, I'm her, like I, I'm here for the aesthetic right. But then, when I didn't do that for an entire year, my body softened and the curves that showed up could not be stopped and I said I'm just in my goddess body era. Like it, just it just is. I'm not the small thing. I'm a curvier version of myself that I absolutely love.
Speaker 2:Um, and, to your point, it did allow me to enter the femininity that I didn't know, that I well, I kind of did so at the end of 2023, I got married. So 2024 is my first year of marriage. We just celebrated our anniversary at the end of 2024. And there was also this desire that I had to be a more feminine wife and he loves me as the strong, you know, jacked woman that he met. But there was something in me that wanted to soften to him and I didn't put two and two together initially, but as I was going through the year and I realized there was a different energy about me and and deciding literally, this might sound maybe not to you, but it might sound crazy to others like deciding to not push weight heavier than me in a gym. Translated to me not pushing anything heavier in life, like it allowed me to work with what was, I guess how do I say this Like natural to me. Doing yoga, for example, is moving your own body weight, um and and allowing it to be just what I was born with, just what I can carry.
Speaker 2:Translated into a receptivity and a delegation of the hard things to my husband and allowing the hard things to be over there and being not just satisfied but happy with just who I am, not needing to pick up hard things to prove myself, if that makes sense, like in the gym. We want to push heavier and heavier weight in life. I want to do more and more hard things to prove that I'm worthy, to prove that I'm somebody, to prove that I'm I'm credible. And look'm somebody to prove that I'm I'm credible and look at my certifications and my degrees and my titles and my page. I get all these things outside of me and there was something about not putting hard weight that also allowed me to not push hard things in general and really just be in receiving mode. Yeah, I'll stop there because Cause that that that was such a. It was such a thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1:I'm going to weave in astrology a little bit here, but I do think that you know we're so taught to be in that like hyper-masculine, right, like business owners lifting weights, you know whatever it is that it is and kind of translating into like relationships.
Speaker 1:I found that journey myself where my past relation I'm not married but just in my dating experience over the last like year or two it shifted from this like more hyper-masculine energy where then I found men that were maybe more in their feminine I don't, I don't know so much. It was like very non-committal and all these things that were really difficult for me in relationships, as opposed to then turning into my feminine and, like you said, allowing them to do the hard things, allowing them to like step in and be like hey, you need help, or like even asking for help. I'm like what is that? But the astrology piece that, as you were speaking to, I was thinking you know with you your son, like you said, you have a stellar unit, your mid heavens, all in Scorpio, and Scorpio is feminine but it's also ruled by masculine signs. So it is this like finding this balance, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like finding this balance. And then your earth is in Taurus right, which is the opposite, which is the ultimate feminine right. I feel like earth is I mean, venus right Aphrodite. It's all about like the body and sexuality and this feminine nature, and I'm a Taurus sun, so I have my earth in Scorpio. We're kind of flip-flopped in that way, but I think it's just this beautiful piece of the journey, right when we incorporate that and, yeah, just in so many ways like allowing it to flow right. And that's so important.
Speaker 2:It is no, it's the allowing. It is 100% the allowing, and not trying to over orchestrate or construct. It literally is is the allowing. And with all of that being said, though, I do want women to know that you're not going to be thrown into your masculine by lifting heavy weights. You know, like that's not what's going to happen.
Speaker 2:And, as a matter of fact, I started a portion of my femininity journey by bodybuilding, because, um one, bodybuilding is a lot of pageantry, but a lot of pageantry.
Speaker 2:It's hair, it's makeup, it's nails, it's panning its body, it's being in a blinged out bikini under hot light. I mean it's, it's pageantry. And I didn't do any of those things before, and so I learned hair and makeup and all of that stuff by being in bodybuilding and the women, the sisterhood that is lifting weights amongst women. I mean you know, you go to a gym bathroom and we're in there like complimenting each other and saying I see you, I haven't, or or I haven't seen you for a couple of weeks where you've been, I'm glad you're back. Like there is just something about that journey we're all on together and it's super supportive and nurturing, and I want women to know that, that you might see super jacked men and women who look like they're doing the thing and they might be. But just know that once you're in there and we see you, you are automatically like family, because you're there you know, like you're automatically family.
Speaker 2:So don't let this last little you know three minutes of our conversation distract you from lifting heavy weights, because it's a beautiful journey that I think every woman owes it to herself to go on. And the other part is that, um, there is something. It's hard. It's hard to be graceful, it's hard to be feminine actually without. It's hard to be feminine actually without strength, because grace and femininity is not weak and fragile, it's strong as a matter of fact, and I like to think of it as an iron fist in a velvet glove.
Speaker 2:On the outside I'm soft, it's soft to the touch. You want to touch me, but inside I'm strong as fuck. That's what bodybuilding gives you. It gives you to the touch. You want to touch me, but inside I'm strong as fuck. That's what bodybuilding gives you. It gives you that iron fist. You can be soft on the outside and carry yourself with the grace. When you think of a ballet dancer, he makes it look fluid, but do you know how strong she is in there? That's what navigating a woman with muscle feels like. It feels like a constant ballet. It feels like true goddess energy at that intersection. And so I want women to feel inspired to go lift heavy weight. I want them to feel like, yes, I want to be strong because it doesn't take away from your femininity, it adds to it. I love that yeah.
Speaker 1:When I'm in the gym. That's ultimately my goal. It's not necessarily how I look. It's like I literally that I tell myself like I'm in the gym. That's ultimately my goal. It's not necessarily how I look. It's like I literally that I tell myself like I'm strong and that's what's empowering about it Right Like my body, regardless of what it looks like inside. I know that there's strength there, so I love that. You said that.
Speaker 1:And you know, going back to sort of the gym piece, I know like for the longest time. That was why I resisted going, because I just had this feeling of like, oh, I don't know what I'm doing in there, people are going to look at me, and then you get in and it's like actually nobody really cares, like nobody really cares.
Speaker 2:They don't know what they're doing.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, I feel like you're probably going in like starting out being more judgmental than the people that are in it. Right, because people are more focused on. You know what they're doing and they're holding you know however many weights. And I remember going in and I was like, oh my God, I would hear people like grunting. I was like I'm never going to make sounds like that and then catch myself at the first time making that noise and I was like, well, here we are.
Speaker 2:It is what it is. You drink the Kool-Aid, you're, you're. You're one of us. But I always feel like I remember feeling that discomfort because for my first two bodybuilding shows I didn't go to a gym. I worked out. I kept buying weights at Walmart because I insisted on working out in my garage, because I didn't feel good enough, like I had all sorts of just imposter syndrome things going on. But I should have lost my train of thought. Oh shoot, I just lost my train of thought about working out at home, not going to the gym, imposter syndrome, imposter syndrome. Oh yeah, it's gone. It'll come back at some point. We can keep it moving, it'll come back, yeah, I mean.
Speaker 1:So how do we go? Well, first of all, I think what you were I may at least I don't know where you were going with that but just that idea of, like you don't have to go into the gym to like lift those weights and to begin that, that journey of getting strong. And I think that a lot of times, when we like really break down our excuses like well, I don't have a gym membership, right, I don't want to go in, there's always it's, it's like, it's an it is what it is an excuse Like. So how do we get past those excuses? Like, so, we've set the foundation right, like we were starting to eat, right, we're eating in abundance, we're moving our body, we're sleeping enough. And now it's the point where, like, our body is sort of like craving, that movement which I love that Cause I really do feel like that comes.
Speaker 2:so the journey, like actually moving our body when we feel maybe just not strong at all, or it's intimidating, or you know, yeah, you know it's really interesting because I'm still gonna say that, as much as I believe in bodybuilding and I think every woman should lift weights um that it might not be the place to start. So what I remember? I started bodybuilding on the heels of um graduating my MBA and then when I was in this MBA program, everyone and I mean everyone did triathlons, run, bike, swim and I hated all of those things still not a big fan and I didn't know that there were things outside of that to do. As Philly as that might sound, all I all the healthy, fit people that I knew ran, biked or swam and because I didn't do those things, I thought that I didn't have anything to do. When I say I stumbled on bodybuildingcom, I literally fell ass backwards onto it.
Speaker 2:And so when I saw that, I was like, oh, that's a thing that's available to me, I can lift weights. And when I, when I saw that I was like, oh, that's a thing that's available to me, I can lift weights. And when I, when I tell you that, my heart left and I realize now that was me today, telling sis, telling me back then, sis, we're going to love this. So, with that, that call, that yearning, that pool, that's us happy as hell over here. So why don't you go ahead and look into that? And I did. I followed that voice, even though everyone was like, no, you're going to look like a man. And I followed that voice.
Speaker 2:And so I say that to say that when you open up your idea and you're creating movement, there's something you want to do. Don't look for permission from other people to say that that is what you should be doing. There's something, whether it's hula, hooping, jumping rope. I met a few years ago this woman on Instagram all she does is jump rope, that's it. She's like in her forties and she does it. Really cute and she's, but she was just trying to lose weight, just trying to be active, and she jumped rope and she fell in love with it, while everyone else was telling her to walk, while everyone else telling her to lift weight. Everyone's in her head tell it, but she loves jumping rope and she's made a whole career out of just jumping rope. Um, and so I say you know, be open to whatever your heart is being called to, because it's you on the other side of that journey telling you how much you love it here. So just be open. Just be open.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that yeah. When I first started going to the gym and like lifting too, I had a friend who was like you're getting too big. I said, well, good thing I'm not you then, or good thing you're not me, I don't know. I loved my body at that point, you know.
Speaker 1:Um, but I do I love that too, and I think that that mindset or manifestation or whatever it is that comes in where it's like you can, like when I'm running I'm a runner, I'm I don't I've been on cross country since I can remember I just I love that gets me into that state what do they call it?
Speaker 1:Flow state right, where I'm just like running and for me it's like if I'm emotional or if I'm going through something, I get on the treadmill and it's not like a punishment, but it's like if I'm, if I can still think about something, if I'm still worried about something, I'm not running fast enough, so it sort of like gets me out of that thing and then I can get into that space. But, like, when I'm on there, I just visualize my body, I visualize my muscles strengthening or my, my core being tight or whatever it is. And I think that when we're, you know, that mindset piece, our mind is so powerful, right, it can literally make or break us in so many ways. And I think that if you're visualizing the jump rope, and that's making you strong, like mind plus body, will get you there, you know, and I think if you're visualized, if you're walking, and that's what gets you strong, like I think that mind piece is so huge to our physical body as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, no, 100%. Mindset is everything. Mindset is absolutely everything. And mindset is where I start the physical journey. So you know when, when we talked earlier about you know how to get started. I mentioned rest, hydration and high vibrational foods, and that is absolutely the truth. Work with women and all of the things that I do, it starts with mindset before we even get down the path of doing anything physical.
Speaker 2:Um, and there's three parts to how I define mindset. The first thing is our worthiness knowing that you are worthy. Then trusting in your ability to affect outcomes in your life. And then having the discipline to do it and those three things. And then having the discipline to do it and those three things, you know, really, I think they're like the missing supplement to a health and fitness journey.
Speaker 2:Because there's so many, it's hard to stay consistent, it's hard to stay committed, it's hard to create the desire to want to take care of yourself without those things, without believing that you're worthy and trusting and knowing that you have the discipline or the devotion to get it done. And so you know, in that example that you gave about being on the treadmill, you know so many people would use that as an opportunity to punish themselves, right, like to I'm doing this because I don't deserve or I'm not worthy. I'm going to go faster because I'm not worthy. Your mindset, and in doing that you don't get the same results. Your mind, in understanding that you're punishing yourself versus healing yourself through running, will give you completely different results because your mind is that powerful.
Speaker 2:You were running, understanding that you're worthy, understanding that you're healing and letting that be, and that then manifest in the physical doing that exact same action with a mindset of I'm running away from or I'm trying to punish myself because I'm not good enough or I don't trust myself to not do. You know, I don't know the highest level at the fastest pace, because otherwise I won't like. That mentality changes the results that you get. And so, yeah, the, the mindset absolutely is everything. I I heard this saying once that kind of made it all clear to me, which is you can't have a happy ending to an unhappy journey. And so you know, like in any actions that you're doing, enjoy them, understand that there's. You know, like in your head, be thinking about the connection to your body, be thinking about how good this is going to make you feel, be thinking all of the good things because that affects the destination or how you get to the destination.
Speaker 1:If you get to the destination One thing I always think, when I'm avoid or I guess, when I'm hesitant to go to the gym or I'm kind of like maybe I'm in my I don't know sitting on the couch or something, like I really don't want to work out today, but I always ask myself like, will it feel better to have done this? And for, like, when it comes to moving my body, 100% I will. You will never regret moving your body.
Speaker 1:And sometimes I'm like, even if I just get my shoes on and I walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes, you know at least I'm there, I've got myself there, and most of the time, obviously, when I get there I do other things, but like it's just like getting there that I feel like you know it's the biggest hurdle.
Speaker 2:Just put on your shoes, lace up your shoes and even if you're wearing your work clothes, just lace up your shoes and it changes. Even if you're wearing your work clothes, just lace up your shoes and it changes. It changes the energy. And you know, one of the things for me is, um, you know, like when I'm having those moments when I don't feel like it, cause I still don't- feel like it all the time you know, even after 12 years, I don't always feel like it, but what goes through my head is when what you said, he said, what am I going to regret more?
Speaker 2:Regret getting up and going and missing the work I was going to do, or the scrolling on my phone or whatever? Or am I going to regret not going, and that's easy. I'm going to regret not going, so then I go. I always. That's always a good litmus test for me.
Speaker 2:Then I also like to just remember that I am a goddess, you know, like the divine, the feminine divine is expressing through me and when I, when I really embody her, when I wear her, when I'm, when I'm looking at the world through her lens, you know, it's not what would Jesus do, it's like what would my goddess do? She's going to take care of herself. And if you look at any warrior goddess movie, those women are, you know, they're no slouches.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And I and I really, um, I really approach a lot of my life with that goddess lens, you know, like, when you really really accept, not just understand cognitively, you know, like up here, but when you really accept and embody that the you are the feminine divine expressing in your physical form, that changes how. For me, it changed how I approached everything the desire to move my body, what kind of foods I wanted to eat, whether or not I gave myself rest at the end of the day, you know, um, all of those things is because I, I'm her. So what do I want that to look and feel like? And for me it's moving my body 100% of the time, 98% of the time.
Speaker 1:I love that Weaving in a little bit. Going back to human design a little bit, so you are an emotional generator, 6-2 emotional generator and so that sacral is like that workforce energy, life force, energy. But what's unique to your chart? That I think only 20, my statistic could be wrong I think only 20% have this defined ego, defined heart, and it's it is your willpower, right. And so, kind of going back to that discipline piece, say that again, the ego center, the heart center in human design, I think it's only like 20% of people who have it defined. So, which means you're consistently creating the energy of willpower and self-worth comes from within you, right? So most people hold a lot of shadow around that because they do not have it defined, so they feel like they have to prove themselves or they can't see things through.
Speaker 1:That discipline piece can be really challenging because they don't create that energy within them, right? So I think it's beautiful for you as like a guide or a coach, right, allowing people to come in and kind of absorb that energy a little bit. It's like you're giving them a piece of your ability to discipline yourself and your willpower and things like that, right? So I get, I would be curious, like when people just energetically, if people find struggle in that discipline and consistency and like showing up right, how find struggle in that discipline and consistency and like showing up right, how. What advice do you have for them to begin to then have that discipline, to like show up consistently, like that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, my gosh. So first of all, I got chills all over my body because I've always thought of myself as being heart chakra led. But I'm heart, 100% heart chakra, but, as you say, the ego center, the heart center, that absolutely resonates. So thank you so much for sharing that with me. I'm going to go down a rabbit hole on that when we get done here, um. But to your question about the discipline piece, there's two things that I would say. One is redefined discipline. First of all, discipline is not punishment and I know that's what it says and I think Webster's dictionary like discipline is punishment and correction for doing something wrong, but discipline is really like identifying what you want the most and protecting it at all costs, and even if that doesn't work for you, because sometimes we don't know what we want, right, sometimes it's like, well, I like the idea, but do I really want? I mean, it's okay to not know, um. And so then to that I say, well, fine, let's sit with the idea of discipline, but can we infuse some love into it? Because when you add love and discipline, you wind up with devotion, and having a devotion to yourself is a completely different energy than a discipline, and anyone who's listening to this. I just want you to pause and sit still for a second and say devotion is and say discipline, and they're two very different energies. You'll feel the devotion in your heart, you'll feel it, and I think it's easier to practice the devotion to yourself than it is to practice discipline with yourself. And so anything that you would normally pursue with a disciplined I must attitude, love yourself through that moment. Love yourself through that moment. Love yourself through that decision Literally infuse, like as though you're talking to your child or talking to your pet or talking to somebody you love infuse love and it turns into a devotion. When we discipline our children, we don't do that from a place of you're bad. It comes from a place of love. I'm trying to protect you. I want you, like we, we, our whole heart is like 10 feet ahead of us and talking to our child about whatever it is that we're trying to, you know, correct their behavior on, because it comes from such a strong devotion to that little person and wanting them to have a beautiful experience in life. Apply that to yourself. It's the same energy, it's the exact same energy, and so, um, I find that, uh, that helps.
Speaker 2:And then also another D word is, uh, being a disciple to yourself. Um, I find that we don't have discipline or devotion oftentimes because we just don't know ourselves. We just don't know. We know celebrities, we know our bosses' moods, we know our partners' habits, we know everyone else outside of ourselves. We don't know ourselves. And so I invite you, if you struggle with discipline, I invite you to get to know yourself, I invite you to sit with yourself, I invite you to love on yourself, but I invite you in to yourself to become a disciple of yourself. Study yourself, get to know yourself, like and and and again. Just simply by asking questions, um, it literally opens up the neural pathways in our brain and answers do find their way to us. But we have to get curious and ask, and so I invite you to learn what it means to be a disciple into yourself.
Speaker 2:And then, actually, I'll say this one last one, which is another D word, which is desire. If you're lacking discipline, if you feel like you're lacking discipline, um, it's not how bad. Do you want it? You know, bro, kind of desire it's more like. But what do you desire? Do you allow the desires of your heart to grow? Like? Do you even have anything that that will pull you heart, you know, from that heart center to it.
Speaker 2:I find that it's easy to not be disciplined with something that we don't even want, right? But what do you want? And I guess that kind of goes back to the original definition of discipline, which was, you know, deciding what it is that you want the most and protecting it at all costs. That's what discipline is, but it does go back to deciding what you want, what do you desire? And it's ironic that we live in 2025 and it feels like you know everything is possible but yet we feel so personally disempowered. We don't believe that for ourselves. We don't allow desires to grow in our heart. We end up being practical and pragmatic and responsible and rational thinking and we immediately tamp down on any desire.
Speaker 2:So, of course, you're not going to have the discipline that could lead to devotion for you to get the thing, because the desire is not even there.
Speaker 2:So allow desire to grow in your heart Again. Sit back, close your eyes and let your heart like with every beat. Imagine your heart going bigger and bigger and bigger with whatever that desire is, and it's literally an electromagnetic field that is radiating from your heart center that attracts light back to you. And when you do that, the discipline that it takes to take that inspired action, it feels so much easier, the devotion that you end up having to yourself because you just love the fuck out of yourself and you deserve what you deserve and you want what you want. It comes so much easier. What you desire, let that live like, let your desires live and don't feel foolish, don't worry about how they're going to come true, don't worry about strategy, don't let let all that go. Just, just just dream. Just dream another D word, I guess. Just dream freely and the, the, the, you'll create the desire to protect that dream through discipline, which will turn into devotion, which will, you know, get you to the place of having your dreams come true.
Speaker 1:I love that so much that, yeah, getting clear, right and what you want, there I can't. In the beginning of my journey, people would ask me, like, what do you want? Or or who are who? You was the hardest question to answer. It's like I don't know, I don't know right. So I think that exploration within is huge. I was just writing about it today and I was like I feel like now, me, me, now versus me, you know, seven years ago, 10 years ago, it's like I have so much clarity on who I am and what I'm doing. I might not have all the steps down yet, I might not, you know, have all the pieces coming together yet, but that clarity of like and I think it's that acceptance of the I'm air quoting bad, because there's nothing bad but there's shadow parts, right that I think that's what we avoid for the longest time.
Speaker 1:It's like, no, but I can't be like that. But what if you just accepted that you are and then let's move from there? So it's just like so, much less resistance. And it's like, okay, I'm going to fuck up in this way and probably gonna do it 10 more times and that's maybe something I have to work on, but instead of like shaming myself for it if I just accept it and okay, well, next time's an opportunity to move through that, you know. So I, I love that clarity piece and in in in that discipline, right Cause I think that, um, you know, I look back.
Speaker 1:I I had, I was a smoker for 12 plus years, which is wild. I quit 10 years ago, but you know, I quit, were you really? I know it's like one of those things where I well, it feels like such a lifetime ago. I'm like I used to smoke heavily too, and I like see people smoking now and it's like no shame Cause I did it for, you know, over a decade, but I'm like it's just wild that. So, yeah, I look back to like I quit smoking, I quit alcohol. There are things that I quit that I never thought I had it in me and you know, and kind of going back to that ego center, that heart center that you have defined. I don't have it all open, right.
Speaker 1:So I think that what it was for me to be able to like show up every day and like consistently have that discipline to be like, no, I'm not going to, it was for me. It was like that feeling of like I don't want to feel like this anymore and you know, maybe I don't know it was, I wouldn't say it was a lack, but it was the clarity of like. This is what I want to be like and this doesn't serve that version of me. So kind of like what you said before, right, that that the future of the you now that kind of whispered in the you back then's ear and was like follow this, when it didn't make sense to anybody else. You know, I think all of those are little threads and little pieces and I think that's so beautiful to kind of like weave that in where it's like listen to those pieces, because they were so disconnected from our body and we can't hear what it's telling us if we're just, if we're not open to receiving and listening and hearing it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, being willing. No, exactly the connection to our body is everything and being in the present moment, which actually falls into uh, what is that? My fourth and fifth pillar no, my fifth and sixth pillar of wellness, um, is connection and presence, because our body is constantly talking to it and when one we don't listen to it oftentimes. And then also our future self, or our divine self, or our favorite self, or God's source universe spirit. You know, whatever you believe in ancestors, guides, they're always communicating with us, but we're oftentimes not present enough with ourselves to allow that to penetrate. We're so distracted intentionally most of the time, by society, by our own needs and wants and desires. We're distracting ourselves from being with ourselves because we're so uncomfortable with ourselves and, like you said, because we see we don't call it shadow all the time, but we see that and we just want to distance ourselves so far from that part, those uglier parts of ourselves that we don't accept and don't want to look at, that we disconnect from at all. But the magic, the absolute magic, is the incorporation and the acceptance of all of you. You can't abandon any part of yourself in thinking that's going bring you closer to anything of true fulfillment. You know we have to accept, and I hope they get to a point where we want to accept those parts of us because they are. There's no point in trying to distance or hate, or hate them, because you know they just simply are.
Speaker 2:And so, yeah, just allowing ourselves to look at ourselves, like, take a good, hard, honest look at ourselves and love every bit of what we see, because there is no benchmark. I know we have this thing about I love myself with all my imperfections, but I'd like to challenge that, because you'll have to point to me who this perfect person is that we're comparing ourselves to. And so when you look at yourself and you're like, but that's not perfect, and that's not perfect, I'm like, well, who is you know? Like that's. It's not anything to compare yourself to. You just are, you just are and you're beautiful and you're, by design and and um, really learning to just sit with yourself. You don't have to like it at first. You know I get that that's a process, but be willing to look at it Right, be willing to sit with yourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I like that analogy of like the tree, right, the roots are so deeply embedded in the darkness, right it's, it's you can't see anything, and then, and then the tree is like all the beautiful things that we can see, but we don't see everything underneath that's just like you know, in it.
Speaker 1:So I think it's to you know, to remember, like all those parts of us, it is all just parts of us, you know, and and it's what we do with that. What are we choosing to leave about it? You know, it's the, the. The key to that, I guess, is incorporating that in there.
Speaker 2:It is and I like to think about you know, the, the parts of me that I'm not, you know, the greatest fan of you. Know I, I like to they're, they're, they're what's the word? Portals. They're portals, they're opportunities. Like when you, when I look at those parts of me and I look at them clearly and open eyed and curious, it's literally stepping through a portal to a better version or my favorite version of myself, by simply willing to look at that part of me. And I swear, every time we turn our head, we're like going farther and farther away from the life that we want, the version of ourselves that we want. That like achieving, achieving our dreams and our goals. Like we're moving further away. And as soon as I look at it, I'm like oh and and and again. Don't have to love it, but look at it.
Speaker 2:It's literally like stepping through a portal. It's literally stepping through a portal and then you get an opportunity to decide, like who do you want to be? You don't like whatever that thing is, so what do you want? You know, like that is again another portal, another opportunity for you to show up, because oftentimes we're just on autopilot, caught up in the momentum of life and problems and friends and other people's opinions, and labels and miseducation. We're just caught up and we're just going, going, going, going, going going. We don't often pause long enough to say, well, who am I, what are all the parts of me, what do I like, what don't I like, and begin that exploration. It goes back to what you were saying. You know this, that deciding but that is those are opportunities to decide. There are moments to pause, become aware, get conscious and intentional with our thoughts, behaviors and actions going forward. I mean every every shadow moment thing you don't like are really. They're really beautiful opportunities, really beautiful opportunities.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it and I think that all of this that we're talking about, right, like health, fitness, movement, everything it's like, it's so much about like coming into your body Right, and I think that, if we're we, I think everybody has a dream, everybody has a desire, has a version of themselves that they want. Everyone wants to get better Right, but we're held back by, like you said, like being in this routine, being in the like, the everyday, like monotony of life, right, and it's like, if we can come into connection with our body we can feel when it wants to shift.
Speaker 1:We can feel when we are resistant to something and I mean this is a whole other topic that we don't have to go into now or anything like that but I just think that you know, coming back to like the food that we consume, a lot of times it's numbing us you know, I mean and I mean including alcohol or anything else that we put into our bodies.
Speaker 1:It's numbing us and we're so disconnected from who we are that we can't possibly even begin to hear the signals from our body or what it's telling us, you know.
Speaker 1:So I think this is I mean, it's such a huge conversation and a huge topic, and I do believe that, you know, things are beginning to shift. You know people are starting to notice, you know, certain chemicals and dyes or whatever, being banned from food. So I think that people are waking up a little bit to how toxic our food system is. But you know, all of this is just really, I think, you know, getting into that space in yourself, right, and to be able to do that work, cause it's not easy to see all your shadows, like it's overwhelming and you want to like I can't tell you how many days I've like cried over it or just like felt so bad or had realizations from my childhood and it's, it's painful, right, but I think that it's also there's so much beauty in it to be able to shed all of that, you know, and like, this year is the year of the snake, right? So this year is about shedding.
Speaker 1:It is like if there's ever a time to come into yourself, it's like right now, is it?
Speaker 2:This is the year 100%, and I'll tell you that the piece about food is so real. The energy transfer of food is real. Food alchemy is real. I've battled demons a good portion of my life and I've been very public about my past struggles with mental health. It's on both sides of my family. It's gotten down that line, really, really bad, and I thought, well, it's inevitable. Depressions, suicides, you know down that line, really, really bad. And I thought, well, I'm just, it's inevitable. Depression, suicide all of those things were going to be in my life as well, um, because it was part of my family, until I learned about food alchemy and the energy transfer of food.
Speaker 2:And I battled my way out of depression by drinking green drinks. And I'm not trying to give medical advice Um, please be a professional for this but when I was prescribed meds, I said no, I just I didn't. I knew that was not the solution for me, and so I started drinking green juice in the morning and green, a green smoothie in the afternoon, and I did that for years and years and years, understanding that I was transferring energy to my body. You are what you eat. Isn't this quippy little saying it's a real thing, that it changes the molecular structure, the fabric for actual cells in DNA by the food that we eat. And in understanding that, I was like well then, I want source energy. I want sun source energy. Fruits and vegetables absorb 100% of sun energy that's what photosynthesis is. And then when we eat those fruits and vegetables, we% of sun energy that's what photosynthesis is and then when we eat those fruits and vegetables, we get about 10 to 12%, and that's literally like a direct impact on how I felt, and I did that for again many, many years because I understood it was working. It didn't always feel like it was working, but I knew that it was, and I can be, I'm a testament to that.
Speaker 2:You know here all these years later, that what you put into your body affects your mood, it affects your thoughts, it affects literally like every emotion, it affects everything, and so anyone listening who doesn't know where to start I call them high vibrational meals have seen the light of day before and just understand that everything has energy, including our food, and so if our food isn't sun-sourced energy, understand that it is some kind of energy. I don't know what it is, and it might have something to do with the fact that many of us walk around filming blah and not knowing what's wrong with us, but knowing something is wrong because we're consuming an energy, literally, literally, that's making up ourselves going forward of this blah manufactured, you know, not natural energy. It's really like you said, it's a rabbit hole, it's a whole nother thing, but I really, I really want to impart that and it's something that we have access to. I think that's. I'll end with this.
Speaker 2:One of the things that excites me about the body and food you know alchemy as part of that is that we have access to it all the time. We don't have to go to a church for spiritual connection. We don't have to go anywhere to have that fulfillment that we're looking for. Everything we do with our body is a sacred spiritual act because our body houses the divine. So every meal, every time you go to sleep, every sip of water, that is a spiritual practice and we have access to that 24-7. Fact that you live in a temple and let these practices, let your everyday behaviors, your self-care practices or otherwise, let those things be a spiritual practice and I promise you it will take root in that. Divinity will continue to express bigger and louder and bolder, you know, through your physical vessel, and it makes life magical.
Speaker 1:Yeah, kind of tacking on to that. You know I love that, that our body is divine because we are. You know, we are source, we are God. It's all within us, right? Like I said to my son the other day I said something. He said said something about the stars and I was like we have them inside of you. And he's like, well, I'm like hey, you have a whole universe, like you are stars, you're stardust, like we are all connected right and he's like Whoa I think about.
Speaker 1:I can't remember where I heard this, but somebody said at some point or I read it in a book or I don't know something. But it was like if you imagine, like how much we abuse our bodies now and how much it still works for us, like how incredible the body is, imagine what would happen if you actually treated it right.
Speaker 1:You know, and something about that has always stuck with me when I think about my body. And I'm like man, like I did for most of my twenties I abused my body so hard, you know, and it's like there is still an opportunity to course correct, you know, and I think that this conversation is so beautiful in so many ways and it's really empowering to bring people back into themselves, you know.
Speaker 1:So I would just to kind of like sum it up. You know, we talked about so much like what, in your words, like, if you had just like one definition of what self-care looks like, or what self-care is, I guess, for you, what would that be?
Speaker 2:Wow, why don't I have an immediate answer to that one? That's a great question, you know. Here's how I like to look at it. It's not a matter of if we're doing self-care, it's a matter of what end of the spectrum that we're on. You're caring for yourself. Self-care, whether we think of it that way or not, is a daily practice. You have a self. How are you caring for it? You have the I give no fucks in, and then you have I give all of the fucks in. Where are you on that spectrum?
Speaker 1:Self-care is not an option. You're doing it. Where do you want to? How do you want that to look? I think that's what we need to accept is that you are practicing self-care.
Speaker 2:Is it working for you? Yeah, that's it. Is it working for you?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's it. Is it working for you?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:This has been so good, so fascinating. What are you working on now, if there's anything specifically that you're offering, how people can find you, how they can work with you, all the things?
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, thank you for that. So, yes, actually today I don't know when this is going to air, but 2-22, my book is released. It's called the Body Ministry. It's a playbook for women venturing on their health and fitness journey. Because for those of us who know, who've been in the gym, we know that the hour in the gym is actually the easy part. It's the other 23 of the hours of the day of self-care that we struggle with, that we don't have someone coaching us through, that. We don't have guidance on that internal transformation that supports the external transformation. And so my playbook walks women through 12 weeks of that.
Speaker 2:And I also just launched my community, the Self-Care Collective, to help women get that regular, everyday, slow, steady drip of self-care practices. Where you're in a community of like-minded women who are also busy moms, entrepreneurs, corporate women who are like. I know I've got all of this, all of these demands pulling at me, but I want to prioritize my self-care. Where are the women who are growing and healing and evolving and doing good things for themselves? They're in the self-care collective. Um, and then I also do once a month donation based uh workshops, because I believe self-care is free. It's free and I want to make it accessible to everybody, with no barriers to entry. So once a month I do a self-care workshop which is donation based, and so I say come one, come all. Um, and those are, those are the major ways that you can work with me, and all of that can be found on Oriaracom, o-r-i-a-r-acom.
Speaker 2:And then I'll just end with this, that I like to remind women that what, what really kind of sparked for me was understanding that when you have a calling on your life, you must protect it with your health. And we all have a calling, whether that's as a mom, an entrepreneur, a best friend, a daughter, an employee, someone at your church. But we all have a calling on our life and no one is asking you to die for that. We often hear women say I die for my kids, or I'll die for my clients, or I die for my partner, and it's like, sis, no one's asking that of you. Will you live healthy for them? That's the call to action. That's the call to action.
Speaker 1:That's beautiful. Yeah, thank you. Thank you so much for being here. Yeah, thank you so much, of course, you.