Latest / Rise & Realign: Conversations for the Sensitive Soul / It Doesn’t Have to Weigh You Down Anymore: Face It, Feel It, and Rise Above It

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It Doesn’t Have to Weigh You Down Anymore: Face It, Feel It, and Rise Above It · Rise & Realign: Conversations for the Sensitive Soul

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Welcome to Rise and Realign, conversations for
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the sensitive soul. I'm Melissa, and this space
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is for those of us who feel deeply, love fiercely,
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and sense the world in ways that are hard to
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explain, but impossible to ignore. Here, we honor
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your sensitivity as a strength, not something
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to fix. Through reflections, realignment, and
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soul -led stories, we remember how to move through
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life in a way that feels true to who we really
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are. This is your space to rise, to realign,
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and to come home again and again to your own
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wise, sensitive, authentic self. So last week,
1:03
episode 44 was you don't have to walk this alone,
1:09
releasing the stigma around support. I just had
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talked about, you know, how we all navigate,
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you know, different times in our life, grief
1:20
and sadness and disappointment. and the depth
1:24
of caring that lives in a sensitive heart. And
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that, you know, it's important to welcome all
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of it, right? Like, we're not here to be positive
1:36
all the time, you know, just like we're not here
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to be negative all the time, right? Like, it's
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important that we understand what's natural,
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you know, what that ebb and flow is for each
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of us. And for highly sensitive individuals,
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it can be a broader range, right? Because we
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do feel things more deeply in both directions,
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what we might consider positive, right? Like
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appreciation and awe and wonder and excitement,
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right? In addition to that grief, that sadness
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and that disappointment. But it's really important
2:15
to release whatever stigma we've inherited around,
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you know, talking with someone like through therapy,
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through spiritual counseling, or again, community
2:28
support, whatever that is for you. You know,
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because we do, we all need help at different
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times. And that help can look very different
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for each of us. um so just a reminder to honor
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your feelings your emotions you know your needs
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um and know that i amongst many others are you
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know honored to be in the professional career
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that we are to support others who are welcoming
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of support right because I know for me I've always
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been so grateful that I have a very loving wonderful
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mom who um she's an amazing listener I mean that's
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really hard to come by right uh for a lot of
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people and so I'm deeply grateful for that and
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I'm aware that that's not everybody's journey
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whether it's that they don't have their mother
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in their life for whatever reason, or they just
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don't feel close, where they feel like they can
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even open up and share without any type of judgment
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or reactions, right? And so I just want to honor
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wherever you are on your journey that, you know,
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help is important. We all need it. So today,
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I'm preparing for my new moon fast. You know,
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the new moon is tomorrow evening. And, you know,
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building up to it, it really is a time to...
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Be clearing out, just releasing what no longer
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serves. And sometimes that can bring up a lot,
4:18
right, for us as far as different memories, you
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know, maybe like I've talked in other weeks,
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right, doors closing. And I know for me, this
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is a really preparatory time because I'm approaching
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the 18 -year anniversary of my own spiritual
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awakening. And, you know, these dates in a sense,
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right? Like whether it's paying attention to
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anniversaries of whatever kind, right? People
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that we love who have left our lives for whatever
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reason, right? Doors that have closed, right?
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Like doors that have opened, right? Like I would
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consider my spiritual awakening. But it's important
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to honor them, right? Like, it's not a once and
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done kind of thing, right? Like, I didn't have
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my spiritual awakening and just like, oh, wow,
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okay, I'm this new person. Here I am, right?
5:16
Like, it's a process, right? And that's why I
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often refer to the spiral. Because, you know,
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it's not that we're circling, you know, necessarily
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something that we can't move past. It just may
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be that. we stay longer in a certain part of
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the spiral because there's so much there right
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and i really want to speak to the highly sensitive
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individuals because again this depth of processing
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that we have like it just allows us to take in
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so much more input, right, than others. And again,
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that's what we see, hear, taste, touch, feel,
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sense, right, the subtleties, the energy, the
6:02
frequency, the vibration, whatever, you know,
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words you are most accustomed to using, like,
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it's important to acknowledge this depth of processing,
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you know, it requires more time. You know, often
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you'll hear me talk about how important it is
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for us to have rest, right? How much, you know,
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every episode we talk about and practice take
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a break and breathe love, right? Like this is
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a reminder that as highly sensitive individuals,
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our system gets overloaded. way faster than roughly
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80 % of the population who do not have this normal
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yet invisible sensory processing sensitivity
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trait. And what I have come to really love about
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being a highly sensitive woman, I'm also a high
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sensation seeking woman, right? So there's a
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lot of excitement. There's a lot of novelty seeking,
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right? Like there's just that ebb and flow between
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energy and excitement, and then rest and relaxation,
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right? And again, each of us who are highly sensitive
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are very unique individuals still, but we do
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have this collective sharing in the depth that
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we carry. And so I do want to continue to invite
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you to seek support when you feel you need it.
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And I mean, true, honest. deep support because
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as a highly sensitive individual, not everybody
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can meet you where you are, right? And wherever
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that is in your own understanding about what
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it means to be a highly sensitive individual.
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I mean, I remember in my earlier years when I
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started to educate, you know, pregnant women
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and moms, you know, about highly sensitive children,
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about us as moms potentially being highly sensitive
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individuals because that's how i discovered it
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as a mom i didn't discover it just because i
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was in the mental health field and dr elaine
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aaron had started sharing it i learned about
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it because i was curious what made my son you
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know just a little different like a little more
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challenging and it wasn't until after i really
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started to you know, support him better that
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I was just like, oh my gosh, like I'm a highly
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sensitive woman. And I mean, high end of high
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sensitivity, right? Because, you know, I certainly
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come from a family of highly sensitive individuals,
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but. i still have just a very different makeup
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than my family members and so i like to speak
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to how different we all are because i know what
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it's like to walk the path where you can feel
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very alone because others maybe don't understand
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what you're navigating and again i honor everyone's
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path in the sense that we're all you know navigating
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our own like individual universes or worlds in
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a sense, right? Like, what I may be facing and
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feeling, you know, have to do with my own journey,
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my ancestor, you know, inheritance, and, you
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know, who's in my life right now, what that's
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bringing up for me. So, you know, I just want
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to remind each of us that everybody's got their
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own stuff. Everybody has their own soul curriculum,
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their own environmental factors, right? Their
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own insecurities, right? Like their own inexperiences.
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in maybe things that they want to be doing more
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of, which can bring up, you know, fear and uncertainty.
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And everybody deals with the unknown, right?
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But a lot of us, you know, may have been raised
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or conditioned, right, to try to live in a controlled
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environment, right? And that's often, right?
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what our schooling is like, you know, here's
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the four walls, or here's the building, you know,
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it's time to do this, it's time to do that. So
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a lot of us were raised with this type of conditioning,
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whether it was our home, school, wherever it
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may be. But more and more of us are absolutely
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waking up and remembering that we have our own
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ways of navigating this life, right? The cosmos
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affect us from the moment we're born, if not
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before. Human design talks about it even before
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birth, right? But astrologically, you know, there's
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so much to understand about who each of us, you
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know, really is here to be. right? And it's not
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like others. We're not here to be carbon copies
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of our parents, our siblings, right? Our neighbors,
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or whether you have people that you see as, you
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know, someone who inspires you or who is, you
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know, heroic or, you know, whatever it may be.
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Like, you're really here to be you and to follow
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the path that lights you up. right? And to be
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in the moments that you feel really dim because
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all of it is welcome and all of it is important,
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but yet we haven't always been honored, I guess,
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in that way, right? A lot of us as highly sensitive
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individuals have heard from those who say they
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love and care for us and they do. But they can
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say things like, you know, you're just too emotional
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or you're too sensitive or why is this bothering
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you? This isn't a big deal, right? Like, that's
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really not cool because somebody else doesn't
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know what it feels like to be in your body. Somebody
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else doesn't know what you've experienced before
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that may be influencing what you're feeling in
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that new moment. And so I just really... like
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to remind each of you that, you know, you are
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uniquely, imperfectly perfect for where you are
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on your journey. And it is, it's a journey, right?
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It's not like there's some finish line. I know
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I used to think that. I used to think like okay
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I got my degrees I got my relationship I'm married
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I have my kids like I went through all of that
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you know difficult time to get here but I'm here
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right I've arrived woohoo but that's when the
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spiritual awakening came which is not you know
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completely surprising at the age of 38 because
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you know there is that window of time like I
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don't know if it's a certain age per se, but
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somewhere like 38 to 42, right? Like we become
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awakened in a sense to a new perspective. And
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I'm really grateful to understand this now. And
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I really love supporting women of all ages as
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they're walking their own path, because I didn't
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have somebody, you know, who could tell me that
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that was even possible. And I navigated in the
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dark for a long time, because I just didn't understand,
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I didn't understand astrology, the cosmos, you
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know, didn't didn't know, you know, what numerology
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was about. You know, I was given a Catholic education,
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but it just didn't, it didn't connect all the
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dots for me, that Gemini curious mind that I
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have. So I just love to witness and honor and
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even observe those who are not my clients, right?
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I have Substack that I enjoy reading other people's
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notes and, you know, just all the variety of
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thoughts and experiences and reminders, right?
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Like, we really have such amazingly different
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lives that we're living. And it's all really
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beautiful, but it's not all easy. And not to
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say that sometimes there isn't what we would
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call an ugliness to it, right? But to just know
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that there is something greater that we're all
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connected to. And even when we might feel like
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things are the dimmest, this too shall pass,
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right? Everything keeps moving. And that's something
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that I really like to speak to because oftentimes
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those kind of conditions and four walls keep
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our thinking, you know, limited in that way.
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And we don't really see the possibilities and
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we don't really feel the expansiveness. You know,
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this is why I love David Hawkins work and I love
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the map of consciousness and I use it all the
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time in my work with clients because, you know,
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it's just that reminder, you know, it's a cone
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shape if you're not familiar with it. I like
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the cone shape diagram. So I think of like, you
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know, those, what are they called? Well, I guess
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like an ice cream cone, but like those ice cones.
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So at the bottom, right, it's narrow, it's tight.
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Like that's where we're really constricted. That's
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where we're experiencing fear and shame and guilt,
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you know, and we feel very compressed, very condensed,
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right? Very contracted. And we cannot see outside
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of ourselves in those moments, right? But as
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we soften, as we take a break and breathe love,
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right? As we relax into the moment, we allow
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ourselves to be uplifted and expand our view,
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right? And up in those higher levels, that's
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where there's, you know, reason and love and
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peace and joy and bliss. And so it's important
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to remember, right? Like, We don't need to live
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down in that fear. We don't need to live in shame
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and blame and guilt. Although I certainly know,
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you know, that at times we do. We do. I mean,
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when I had my spiritual awakening, I had a nine
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-year -old and a seven -year -old at the time.
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And they literally had a different mom. I was
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then navigating life, you know, with this open
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and expanded heart and not living from my head.
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And so it was very different. It was like a culture
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shock for us all. And I just remember that, you
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know, as that first, you know, probably nine
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years kept unfolding, right? Like I would revisit
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like, oh, wow. I can't believe that happened,
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or I can't believe I said that, or I did that.
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Wow, I'm so sorry, you know? And so I just want
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to remind us all that, you know, we're all doing
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the best that we can from the level of awareness
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and consciousness that we have in the moment.
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It is important to feel those feelings, right?
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Like I did. I felt the guilt. I felt the shame.
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You know, I talked about it, talked about it
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with my now former husband, you know, and I've
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since been able to talk about it with my kids
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because now they're adults. And, you know, but
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just the reminder that we do, we travel down
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into those condensed and compressed states. So
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that, you know, the feeling is there, like face
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it, feel it, because then we can heal it and
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we can transcend it and rise above it. And it
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doesn't have to weigh us down anymore. So much
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of what we carry is just weighing us down. And
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I mean, I talk to people even in, you know, my
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own neighborhood and You know, some of my neighbors
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are, they're in their 80s and they'll share things
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like, you know, oh, he talked about this, you
19:12
know, when his wife passed. And that was like
19:15
20 years ago and he was crying. And it's like,
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you know, it's important to understand that sometimes
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we are under the impression that it's not. not
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okay to feel our feelings, right? And that, oh,
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I should be over it by now, right? However many
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years has passed. And it's like, I see it as
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some of it is we haven't processed it. And that's
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why it's still there. But I also see it as it
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reflects how deeply we care. And as highly sensitive
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individuals, that depth of caring, it runs really
19:55
deep. And so, again, I just, want to remind you
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that wherever you are on your journey, whatever
20:04
you're navigating, whatever compression contraction
20:06
is happening for you, just trust that it's coming
20:11
up for a reason for you now, because perhaps
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it's that time in the spiral for you to face
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it and feel it and release it. right? Like it
20:23
doesn't have to weigh you down anymore. And if
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it's not yours, right? Don't carry it at all.
20:31
So let's pause here to take a break and breathe
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love because that is such an important part of
20:41
our everyday as sensitive individuals. So why
20:47
don't we start by Just again, make sure you're
20:50
in a safe place if you're going to close your
20:52
eyes at all. But let's just start with rubbing
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your hands together and just feeling the sensation
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as you rub your palms of your hands together.
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And again, honor your pace, your rhythm. And
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then just start to slow the movement down. And
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just feel. Whatever sensation is there in your
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palms, separate them just like an inch and just
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tune in. Can you sense the tingling? Do you sense
21:29
any electricity moving? Any warmth? Just really
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tune in. Then I invite you to place one or both
21:40
hands on your heart. And just tune into your
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heart as your breath moves. Just notice the breath
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is moving through you without your effort. That
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life force energy is moving your breath in and
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out for you. And then just inhale through your
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nose as deeply as you can. And then exhale out
22:14
your mouth long and slow. Just relaxing, releasing,
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letting go. Another nice inhale through your
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nose. Lengthen your spine like there's a string
22:29
at the top of your head. And then nice long and
22:33
slow exhale out your mouth. Again, releasing,
22:36
relaxing, letting go. So just breathe in coherence
22:43
between your heart and your brain and exhale
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any compression, any contraction. Just let it
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all go. And I invite you to continue with that
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breathing practice as long as it feels supportive
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to you. And I know that for some people, it's
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really hard for them to just slow down and even
23:15
connect with their breath. And I remember what
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it's like to be that way. I was a very high strung
23:21
individual. My mind was so busy. Again, Gemini
23:25
mind, always thinking, trying to connect dots
23:28
and figure things out. And as a highly sensitive
23:31
individual, also trying to plan what's next,
23:33
right? So I get it. And that's why it's always
23:38
important to start where you are. There's no
23:40
wrong way to take a break and breathe love. You
23:44
know, putting your hand on your heart, that helps
23:47
you to tune into your heart, right? Rubbing your
23:50
hands together helps you to connect with your
23:53
body, to bring yourself into the present moment,
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right? There's so many things that distract us.
24:02
There's always something more to do. There's
24:06
always a problem, something to figure out and
24:10
resolve. Well, perhaps not always a problem.
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I certainly hope not. I hope that you're always
24:20
able to find moments to just be still. Well,
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I recently released a new blog just talking about,
24:36
you know, how important it is for us to release,
24:40
right, whatever's been building up for us. And
24:43
as a holistic psychotherapist, that can be challenging
24:51
in a short session, right, for a sensitive woman
24:55
to really release it all. I just want you to
25:00
know that if you're interested in a held six
25:06
-month group, I'm offering Your Sensitivity is
25:13
Intelligent Design. It's a realignment group.
25:18
We'll meet every two weeks. It also includes
25:21
a seasonal threshold gathering. at the equinoxes
25:25
and solstices because again it is about realigning
25:29
with our own natural rhythm right um the influences
25:34
of the moon on sensitive individuals can be really
25:38
powerful those different uh seasonal shifts right
25:44
And this is just an opportunity for you to really
25:47
learn about your gifts, your talents, and your
25:51
own unique brilliance that maybe has not been
25:54
recognized and honored anywhere else yet. That
25:58
is something that I'm really passionate about
26:00
doing. You can explore that on my website, realignwithmelissa
26:06
.com. And if you are a resident in Massachusetts,
26:12
California, or Arizona, and weekly therapy keeps
26:17
stopping short of what your system is asking
26:20
for, I do also offer that embodied somatic therapy
26:24
intensive, which is a licensed full -day container.
26:29
um, that supports you as you connect with, you
26:35
know, what you have been carrying, what's ready
26:37
to be released, you know, what you're ready to
26:40
step into. Um, it's, it's a very powerful full
26:44
day and I'm always honored, uh, to step into
26:48
those sessions with sensitive women. So before
26:55
we close, I invite you to keep returning to your
27:01
breath, to your body, to what feels true for
27:07
you right now. There's nothing you need to fix.
27:13
Just notice what's here. Where the heart leads,
27:19
the body remembers, and the soul awakens. As
27:24
a reminder, we are here together. to rise, reclaim,
27:30
remember. And as always, I am so deeply grateful
27:38
that you're here. You are so important. Your
27:43
journey, your voice, your presence, it all matters.
27:50
And so if you'd like to continue walking this
27:54
sensitive and strong path with me, you know,
27:57
I am here. Each podcast is released on Wednesdays,
28:03
and you can also join me on Substack. But it's
28:07
all accessible at realignwithmelissa .com. So
28:12
take good care of you. Much love and light.