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Feeling Lost in Life? How to Reconnect With Your True Self · The Inspired Speaker Network

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  You are listening to The Awakening Woman on the Rise. If you are a woman who is
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  seeking to live a more authentic life but are feeling not enough to step out fully
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  just yet, you are in the right place. If you are a woman who is looking to live
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  your personal truth and make the impact you truly desire, you are in the right
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  place. I'm your host, Wendy Yacboski. Let's step out in this together. So welcome
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  everyone to The Awakening Woman on the Rise. It's such a pleasure to be with you
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  again this week and I'm excited to introduce a good friend to you and
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  somebody that I regard as a teacher in so many ways. She's a very accredited
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  woman. She has a master's degree in education. She is a teacher of yoga nidra.
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  She's done a thesis on holy listening. Like have we got the best or what?
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  Seriously, it's such a pleasure to introduce Meg Zaccaro to you because she
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  has a story that I think so many of us can relate to where it seems like
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  everything's going right in our life. You know on paper it looks really really
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  good and maybe even feels good to to various parts of us and yet there's
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  something that is kind of knocking from the inside saying hello. And so Meg is
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  going to begin with sharing the story of when she was in that place and and what
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  evolved to help her through it and get her to where she is now which we will
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  talk more about after she shares. So Meg do you feel ready to to share that
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  story with us? Certainly Wendy but I first of all just really like to say
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  it's it's really an honor to be with you. You are such a beautiful listener
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  that it is a pleasure to be able just to explore this space with you to sort of
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  see what emerges. Yes, absolutely. Yeah sacred ground where we are my dear.
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  Absolutely, absolutely. Sacred ground and unknown. Yes. Real people, real life
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  right? Real stories. Absolutely, absolutely. And I also appreciate the
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  invitation just to share a little bit about my story because anytime we speak
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  about what we have experienced in our life or what we are experiencing in our
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  life there's a witnessing that goes on and often we learn or hear things
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  differently than we would have never done before. So you are you and your
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  audience is giving me a profound gift so thank you. Oh wow. So where to
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  dive in Wendy? As you pointed to many of us will have had this experience
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  where on the surface it looks like life is life is really great. We're going
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  along and doing what the world seems to be telling us we should be doing and
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  we're doing it fairly fairly successfully and we're meeting all those
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  little check marks along the way. But underneath that there can be this
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  feeling or I'll speak to my own experience this feeling that even though
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  I was meeting all these check marks there was something that was going on
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  inside of me that didn't make me feel like these check marks were earning gold
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  stars. That there was something there was an emptiness inside of me and I
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  couldn't put my finger on that I couldn't understand it because I thought
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  you know if an alien came down and looked at me sitting here like man she's
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  she's got it all stop your complaining bag and just be more grateful. So that
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  was something that I practiced a deep gratitude practice and even though that
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  made it even clearer in my mind the blessings that I had it did not remove
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  this feeling that something something was not being lived something was not being
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  birthed if you will. And so this had gone on for quite some time I was
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  experiencing these deep waves of sadness and tears coming through me that I
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  could not understand why they were there I was sitting on a beach one day
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  with my husband the three kids they were all out in the water they were
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  frolicking it was like oh my gosh aren't I lucky and this huge wave came
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  through me again deep sadness a lot of tears and the only way I can explain
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  it Wendy is that I heard so clearly this voice that just said stop stop what
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  you're doing stop what you're doing and then it was followed by sort of this
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  little piece of wisdom that said go back to school and I sat there and I
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  thought this is the weirdest thing ever because I had this sense I was in my
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  early 40s then and I had this sense that this was something about a spiritual
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  journey there was something inside of me that wanted to be expressed or heard or
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  listened to and I thought in my own experience University was the least
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  spiritual environment why why is this happening anyways it was so strong Wendy
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  that I felt like I didn't have a choice I felt like if I ignored this there was
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  something there was something that was going to shrivel up inside of me and die
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  it was that strong that I followed it and it disrupted a big portion of my personal
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  life it didn't go over that well and I told my husband I was going to leave work
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  I was gonna go back to school for some unknown reason that I had no idea what
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  it was going to what the end result was going to be anyways as I said it was so
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  strong that I just I just thought I don't have a choice so I went back and I
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  was taking a couple of courses because I had no idea what I wanted to do and I
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  was in a humanities class one day and I saw this guest speaker come in to our
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  class and I took one look at him and there was just this lightning bolt that
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  went off in me saying he has something to teach you and I remember thinking I
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  don't know whether he's a nuclear physicist which I really don't think is
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  my bag physics was not my friend and in school anyways there was there was
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  this this knowingness inside of me and so I followed it and the next day I
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  boldly showed up at his office with two cups of coffee knocked on his door
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  and he answered it thankfully and he said do I know you and I said no but I saw
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  you in dr. so-and-so's class and I'd like to have a conversation with you so he was
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  curious and we sat down and talked and then at one point he looked at me he
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  said oh I do remember you you were sitting in dr. so-and-so's class and
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  you were trying to remain inconspicuous and yeah that's me so he asked me what I
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  was doing there and I thought Wendy at again it was being propelled by this
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  feeling that I had to be I had to be true to myself so I thought okay I I will tell
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  him I'm here because I heard a voice on the beach and thankfully he did not
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  throw me out he was a little bit more curious and so we talked about that and
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  in that conversation he was asking me what I wanted to study and I said I
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  don't know I look at I look at this and I look at that and some things interest
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  me but I don't have the patience at this point in my life to study things
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  that I am not connected with and so he gave me this great gift of he said just
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  take a couple courses whatever you want and keep in touch with me but primarily go
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  away and write so I said we'll write about what and he said it doesn't
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  matter he just sit down just sit down every morning same time if that's what
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  works for you and write for about 30 45 minutes and then don't read it because
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  yeah so he's he was explaining to me that if I just did this what we often call
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  wild-mind writing we're going into a place inside and just allowing what is inside
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  that wants to be heard come through our pen we're not writing about something
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  based in our head our memory and he said if you get to a point where nothing
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  is flowing he said just keep on writing nothing's flowing I don't know what to
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  write about and something will eventually emerge he said you'll start
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  to recognize a pattern and so I went away and I took a couple courses and I did
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  this writing and after a number of months I knocked on his door again and I
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  said I don't know whether this is clear enough but there's this little six-letter
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  word that keeps on coming up and it's this little word called listen but there
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  is a depth to it something that feels it feels like a sacred territory that it's
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  not about writing it from a psychology perspective a sociology perspective a
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  scientific perspective there's something in here that is wanting to be explored
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  and expressed and that is sort of the beginning of what took me to do a
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  graduate degree and what I started to refer to as holy listening which is to
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  listen the Benedictine monks have a beautiful expression where they talk about
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  listening with the ear of the heart Wow so my gosh so it's it's not so much
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  about listening to the emotions right that can be erratic we can feel ecstatic
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  we can feel sad we can feel all over the place but it's about going into that
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  place within us and finding that stillness where we can listen to those
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  little whispers that are begging us to be heard because they are our inner
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  guidance that will lead us to these places that you know I don't I don't
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  think I would have ever come up with the idea of go back to school graduate
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  degree yes yeah yeah that's a big undertaking isn't it it definitely was it
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  was and it was I think for me Wendy's some of some of the challenge mm-hmm was
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  the fact that I didn't know if it was going to lead anywhere you know was goal
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  oriented mm-hmm and we're we're kind of taught to make these decisions because A
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  plus B is going to equal C mm-hmm and life doesn't work that way mm-hmm so it
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  was a real learning experience for me to trust to trust each day was was guiding
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  me somewhere but I didn't know where it was Wow so it's that that trust in that
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  in the darkness mm-hmm if you will and sometimes it's pretty hard to explain to
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  people oh my god what are you doing and why are you doing it and you say well I
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  don't know I'm following a I'm following a whisper mm-hmm yeah and and the strength
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  you had it's more than strength I know there was something very real in it
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  that caused you to be willing to not only acknowledge and value the voice but
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  to reach out and ask for help and be vulnerable to say to a man you never knew
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  up until then that had academic standing not you know I mean that kind of had
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  that position where a lot of people go I can't ask that person and yeah you know
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  knocking on his door and I just really I praise you make because the unknowing is
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  such a vulnerable place to be and yet it was everything to what you came to
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  experience which there will be more I trust that you will say as you went go
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  along what happened after that but you know I think one thing I want to point
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  out to people that are that are listening now or will listen later is
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  that without acknowledgement of what's going on within us and without taking
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  the first action things really can't change would you agree Meg I would agree
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  Wendy you know I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I didn't take that
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  first step mm-hmm you know I know my life would have been drastically different
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  but it is I think that when we if we can slow down a little mm-hmm so that we can
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  listen to what this this yearning is inside of us and then simply explore that
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  just in baby steps it doesn't have to be something grandiose but it's almost like
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  it's it's like it's like befriending that little voice inside mm-hmm and then just
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  with curiosity mm-hmm see where that takes us yes you know I'm being reminded
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  Meg just of something that I read quite a while ago story about a woman who became
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  unemployed didn't know what to do didn't know what her next step was and while her
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  intellect was telling her all the things she should be doing to be prepared to
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  find that job to etc etc she also heard an encouragement a voice to go to
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  the beach and so she listened to that voice so she went to the beach and at
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  some point she met a woman she started talking to this woman and it ended up
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  informing her of different things that she could do and as a matter of fact
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  this woman was a support person like I don't recall exactly if she you know it
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  was something she could help her with finding work and so intuition or that
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  voice or that encouragement inside can sometimes make no sense at all because
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  the intellect will say you're going to the beach like hello get serious you
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  know so it's just one more example you know of like you say it doesn't have to
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  be grandiose it can be go to the beach or talk to that person or whatever it is
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  that that if we can just trust you brought up the word trust Meg if we can
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  just trust we can actually be exposed to something that could be quite helpful
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  and you know it's not maybe it's listening within like I just have to say
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  this you might not want to approach everyone if it doesn't feel safe but if
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  you're feeling guided to approach someone maybe there's a darn good reason you
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  know divine intelligence or creative intelligence or life for us you know is
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  guiding us yes and I think that there's a there's a felt distinction
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  Wendy between whether our mind is telling us to go do this or whether this whisper
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  inside of us is guiding us yes and that whisper is a very embodied experience
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  you know some of what was happening to me through these waves of sadness was
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  that my body was responding in a way that was also telling me a message but I
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  didn't have the experience to understand that I now understand that these these
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  floodgates of tears it was another way that my body was telling me something's
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  not aligned and during that that time you know I was a I was an aerobics you
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  know guru and and runner and and all that kind of stuff and you know I felt I
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  was very physically strong my body was strong it could do whatever I wanted it
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  to do and one day I was scraping wallpaper in my kids bedrooms they were
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  all doing a bedroom rotation and the next morning I got up and I went to
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  stand up and I collapsed and it was like the whole center core my whole torso had
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  no strength there was a disconnection in my body and I couldn't I couldn't stand
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  up so that sent me on a whole exploration of what was going on and I
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  found that you know traditional medicine was basically telling me we don't know
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  what's going on you might have constant backache for the rest of your life I
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  had dreams of you know living incapacitated for the rest of my life
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  and then I started to explore somatic medicine and the relationship between the
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  body mind heart and soul and I learned that that was my body screaming at me
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  to stop Wow that word again yes to slow down and to listen because I couldn't
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  walk for a while and when I could walk I could walk a little bit but then the
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  back pain and everything would become so acute I would have to stop and so
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  because I wasn't listening to those little whispers I didn't understand them
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  I just thought Meg practice more gratitude for gosh sakes girl come on
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  join the program here that my body had to give me more powerful messages and it
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  really had to hit me over the over the head with a two-by-four to stop and I
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  remember saying to my my mentor at the University he said to me one day when I
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  was telling him how how incredible I was at all these different balls I was
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  balancing in life and I was doing this and this and this and this you know very
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  proud of myself and he listened and then he said he said why don't you try
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  doing less and being more oh my goodness and you know Wendy I'll admit I
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  got a little offended wow you're you're terrific and all this kind of stuff and
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  and he didn't he didn't say that to me and I thought what does he mean by being
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  more mm-hmm and I came to understand that through my own exploration mm-hmm that we
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  are not defined by what we do mm-hmm if we have this life that is incredibly
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  full of doing doing doing doing doing doing then the essence of our beingness
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  who we truly are as you know unique individuals no one is the same as us we
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  all have a unique gift to bring to life and it may be something that you know
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  someone would say oh wow that's a pretty small gift and some people would say wow
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  you know you're out there to change the world it doesn't matter what matters is
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  that we become aligned with that so that the beingness of who we are is what
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  starts to shine through not what we are doing mm-hmm so Meg how did you get to
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  that understanding or that embodiment to to help you was that something that
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  helped you to do that I am one of my one of my teachers at University mm-hmm she
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  idea no idea what that's about mm-hmm but I'm curious so I take take her course
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  and so she was the one that kind of introduced me to the fact that these
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  bodies these vessels that we are in are so wise but again the message we need to slow
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  down to listen to what they're teaching us and that doesn't mean that we need to slow
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  down Wendy and go lie on a beach for three weeks and do absolutely nothing it can be as simple as
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  you know I drive my car into into the driveway and I stop for 20 seconds and close my eyes
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  and breathe before I go on to the next thing so it became this whole passage of listening
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  to my body and then that oh my gosh Wendy um it kind of went into the world of
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  listening to what was happening inside of me where this voice was leading me
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  I ended up walking these Camino's right the first one was was 33 days where you start in
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  France I couple of the Pyrenees and then walk to the the end of Spain carrying everything you
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  need on your back wow right and that was a whole journey of first of all watching my mind that
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  was going I want my bed at home I don't I don't want to sleep on a old monastery dark
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  dank floor I want the comforts I want my hot shower and then the mind started to quiet
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  and then it became my body it was going like jeez Louise you're getting more blisters on your feet
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  and I ache and again I want I want my my bed at home and this whole thing went on but it was like
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  this it was this it was like skin was starting to shed off of me if you will wow to the point that
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  after it was about two and a half weeks I guess it became the most natural thing for me to put my
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  hiking boots on in the morning throw my pack on and start to walk for eight nine hours a day
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  even though my body might be aching and my blisters might be bleeding
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  and it might be pouring rain there was something inside of me that just opened with this profound
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  contentment knowing that I didn't need anything external in order to feel
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  what I was feeling inside which was the most precious gift of just in this moment I am okay
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  wow mega when you mentioned about you know walking for eight hours and and even if your
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  body wanted a certain thing you you walked it reminded me that maybe there's a bit of an
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  open loop you know when you were at that place you couldn't walk what happened that that started
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  shifting was that the Camino or or like how did it shift where your body started feeling more
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  I don't know the word you and your body were more aligned or something like that
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  yeah the Camino the Camino came afterwards when I was in that place of of not being able to walk
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  and not being able to stand for very long that's when I started to explore different
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  books written by women about women's ways of knowing women's intuition listen to the body
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  we have a wisdom that is so it's so truthful that that will become our guide
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  and so I continued to write and explore what was wanting to be expressed in me I started to explore
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  um as I said different women who were writing about this experience and particularly women in
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  their late 30s early 40s where I think we are crossing over into another threshold
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  that many of the things that we have worked for and have been told this is what life is about
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  and it has served us but it's not necessarily going to serve us for moving on into the next
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  part of our life oh my gosh right um and so in that too then it was well what what opens up
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  the body what releases energy that has been stuck that is preventing me from being able to
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  stand up straight preventing me from being able to walk I understood that it was a
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  it was this an energetic blockage because they couldn't see anything
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  physically wrong physically malfunctioning I was in a very healthy body so that along with
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  this call that I wanted to walk the Camino I started to explore the world of yoga
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  oh and that there was a huge opening as well
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  in understanding that every time we we move there is an opening that is happening in our body
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  when we are tight and restricted and push
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  it can lead to damage even though we don't see it we don't feel it
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  yes we can't hear what is coming through us
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  it does make sense and and if I'm recalling correctly you did more than one type of yoga
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  is that correct in the beginning what was it was half the yoga did you start with or what did you
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  yes it was happy yoga it's um I I'll share Wendy that you know along with what was happening with
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  my body and I wanted to do this preparation to walk this Camino eventually somewhere when I knew that
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  I could I wanted to dive into yoga um because I thought initially it was just about keeping my
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  body fluid and stretching yes but I went on to understand that it is much much more than that
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  so I took I took 200 hours of yoga teacher training and then I went on and I did another 300 hours
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  it took me into um into really yogic philosophy and the tantric understanding of this body as pure
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  energy and so I I practiced yoga for a number of years and then I got a little uh
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  just a little bored with what I was doing and uh so I was googling yoga workshops because I
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  was a little bit of a yoga junkie or workshop junkie I should say and I'd often um end up
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  going down to workshops in California um there was a program down there that I'll just into
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  interject it's called the nine gates mystery school and it was a phenomenal experience again
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  of understanding the wisdom of the body it took us energetically through all all the um chakras
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  in the body very experiential um experience but um I was googling and I saw this thing called
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  yoga nidra and I thought okay it has the word yoga in it I have no idea where to go for it
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  because it was on the coast on the Sunshine Coast near me oh wow this is great I don't have to really
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  travel I just catch a ferry so I went and we were welcomed into the yoga space and then we were
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  invited to lie down get blankets on us a little pillow underneath our head
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  an eye mask and just to do nothing oh my god lie down and I thought oh I like this yoga there's no
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  none of this and we were taken through a yoga nidra practice
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  and it was such a profound deep experience to me Wendy that I thought this is something I need to
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  know more about so I then went on and I did my certification in yoga nidra and so when I look at
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  you know this this beautiful invitation you've given me Wendy to kind of look at the circle
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  of my life but for me this practice of yoga nidra it's a practice of getting still
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  of stopping and then being able to listen to that still small voice to listen with the ear of the
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  heart and to to to have an intimate relationship with that where that then becomes our guide
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  and we wanted to trust it implicitly yeah I'm just gobsmacked there's an old term
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  I'm I'm gobsmacked at how many amazing channels came to you to learn this message and and and
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  what I mean by that is there's not one way for everyone with what you do Meg you got to
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  you felt called to continue on to continue on to continue on
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  with learning to pause with learning to listen to to say yes to
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  this is my word to whatever name we have for that higher intelligence or creative intelligence or
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  that opportunity for the expression of of who we really are the unique person that you're saying
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  that we each are but for anyone listening here it's not about looking at all that I need to do
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  to become who I am it's about listening to this small voice now and exploring that and then
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  when another encouragement or urge of that like you're saying and I think that's really so
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  important the whisper another whisper comes it's not you should be you should be you should be
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  no it's a whisper what about or what if or consider like something that feels important to
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  me to say right now is that the voice that we want to listen to is the voice of blessing
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  not of criticism and so many of us have been conditioned that we only grow when we're hard
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  on ourselves right you know it a new time is coming it's it's been here but I really think
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  that we're now being supported by many spiritual teachers or what's the word not just spiritual
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  teachers but um god I just can't think of the word right now but but that part of us that
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  there's already an intelligence within us
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  um that needs to be open to I found for myself Meg that when I've wanted to
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  to do something that was maybe um I didn't understand was maybe a little scary or whatever
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  um or just felt like a stretch for me that I needed to be compassionate with myself I needed
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  to be loving with myself I needed to go even from a loving place what if this is possible
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  um like this podcast you know what if this is possible what if what seemed like unreal to me
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  at one point and no way that's ever going to happen was actually just needing a smaller step
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  and a hand over my heart saying you're not doing this alone Wendy you have support um from
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  for me it's a spiritual realm um and by spiritual I mean what I call my divine my divine self or
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  or knowing that there are people out there sometimes it's not our immediate people
• 38:18
  but there are people out there that hear us like that that person you went to that didn't know you
• 38:24
  from eve right there you know and support in making the changes that we want to make
• 38:34
  it does require somebody who sees us who hears us who believes when we don't believe you know um
• 38:46
  because we need to if we're not getting the support we need where we are I believe
• 38:54
  that we need to be looking somewhere else which doesn't mean rejecting who we know that can't be
• 39:02
  there for us but it means opening up to to who can help and I believe you exemplified that Meg in
• 39:14
  in where it took you um to listen to that intelligence that I think we all have within us
• 39:21
  but because we're so busy because there's it's so loud in the mind so loud in the world
• 39:29
  um so loud in the home um that we can't hear it so we think it's not there
• 39:39
  yes I yes very very well said Wendy I agree we we think that it's it's not there or we
• 39:48
  we diminish it you know I remember thinking to myself okay you know most people I know
• 39:57
  they they have this pattern to their their life they they went to school uh because they wanted
• 40:04
  to be a such and such career wise of following that path all of that and that that was not my
• 40:11
  my story and I think that um you know that there were there were points where I thought okay Meg
• 40:23
  you know you're you're losing it you're losing it and particularly at a point in my life where
• 40:30
  you know as as women our bodies start to change and there can be this external world saying
• 40:35
  you know you need you need to take this you need to take this you need to calm down woman like you
• 40:40
  know just this can turn a woman and so it's really easy to get sidetracked that this isn't real
• 40:51
  but it is so real and as you say that's where the real profound gift comes into it when we meet
• 40:58
  someone who sees something in us that we have not been able to see yet and they might even just say
• 41:07
  one sentence to us but we can feel it in our body the truth of it then can give us the
• 41:16
  the strength the desire okay I'm going to take another step I'm going to explore this a little
• 41:23
  bit more and it's it can be very difficult when you're disrupting you know your life
• 41:30
  you're disrupting the life of other people around you
• 41:37
  yet it feels to me that when we can really trust that the we are on this path
• 41:49
  then something that is going something is going to unfold that is not only going to be
• 41:54
  of service to us it's going to be of service to those we love wow and I you know I remember thinking
• 42:03
  Wendy because this was so strong as I said earlier I felt like I was going to surely shrivel
• 42:08
  up and die if I didn't if I didn't explore this if I didn't stop doing what I was doing
• 42:14
  and I remember feeling like I am risking I am risking my marriage and putting it on the chopping
• 42:22
  block but it was it got to be so strong it was like if if this doesn't if my marriage does not
• 42:33
  survive this I will survive if my marriage survives icing on the cake
• 42:45
  yeah but you know I needed to surround myself with people who got that who kept on saying
• 42:54
  you go for it girl and they weren't necessarily loud cheerleaders I mean it's someone who you know
• 43:01
  in a coffee shop said what are you what are you reading I'm reading this because I'm exploring this
• 43:05
  and oh that's really cool and simple conversations we need we need our people yeah yeah absolutely
• 43:16
  and and like you alluded to earlier it doesn't need to be grandiose in that either like you said
• 43:22
  it could be a word that goes bing or a sentence or it could be maybe even seeing someone else
• 43:30
  doing something that we've been afraid to do up until now some small act some or or being um
• 43:39
  maybe even being in relationship like I know one thing I just need to say this because it feels
• 43:44
  like it wants to come up when I see older couples older than me older couples being so loving and
• 43:51
  walking and holding hands I'm thinking oh my god maybe it's really possible at any age
• 44:00
  you know what I mean there's there is so much inspiration but we need to get to a place where
• 44:08
  we're not so busy doing that we actually notice that couple walking down the street holding hands
• 44:14
  or looking at each other with with warmth and affection and trust and whatever it is
• 44:23
  and I would I would hazard to guess on that Wendy yes that there were pockets of time in their life
• 44:31
  where maybe they weren't walking down the street holding
• 44:34
  fair enough fair enough yeah you know for me I find when I when I see that
• 44:42
  there's a real acknowledgement that life gives us so many opportunities and we can seize them
• 44:53
  or we can walk away from them and I really think that when we have the privilege of witnessing
• 45:01
  you know that couple that you described I bet if we stopped and asked their story
• 45:09
  they would say you know we've gone through some really beautiful times
• 45:14
  and we've gone through some really tough hardships wow oh my god Meg you just grabbed my heart and
• 45:21
  squeezed it like that's a thank you for saying that because you're right it's not
• 45:27
  it's not all one way or maybe even the other that when we are
• 45:35
  I'm going to use the word aligned I know that could be quite the word but when we're aligned
• 45:40
  with the truth of ourself and we can stop and pause maybe and say what's really going on here
• 45:47
  for me what is it that I really want or even what might be going on you know for them let's talk that
• 45:55
  maybe there maybe it's really not a dualistic world in in terms of it's not all one way or another
• 46:02
  and we we choose which you know but yet when we're we're open to I don't know if you have a word for
• 46:12
  this I'm trying to to have some let it be okay to have yes if you want black yes if you want white
• 46:21
  but what if it's okay to have some gray a few times what if that doesn't say anything about who I am
• 46:29
  it's kind of a phase I'm I'm going through you know and you know I'm not sure if this sounds
• 46:37
  like it's different from what we're talking about because it's certainly not my intention
• 46:42
  my intention is really to say that life is so abundant and intelligent and giving that we have
• 46:53
  the opportunity in a moment where where we're weeping you know to to come to the other side
• 47:00
  of that to say maybe there's something else here for me you know and to kind of be able to to
• 47:07
  listen within how important that is to take that time to pause and and I know that there's there's
• 47:16
  one thing that you're doing right now one of many and that is facilitating yoga nidra which is how I
• 47:31
  was blessed to meet you Meg and how I'd really love for you to talk just a little bit about
• 47:40
  how you feel that yoga nidra has helped you maybe how some others have said that that they've helped
• 47:46
  I know for me that the greatest the greatest gift I get from yoga nidra is not only that
• 47:54
  that relaxation that you're talking about but it's almost like meeting myself in that time together
• 48:03
  with you guiding the process and this is online you know it is so powerful I feel so much love at
• 48:12
  the end or so much freedom it's a different experience each time and so I wonder what you
• 48:19
  like to say about yoga nidra that you know if somebody listening is going you know what I could
• 48:25
  I could use me some of that what would you like to say about it and and how can they reach you
• 48:36
  well number one I would say if anyone is curious please know the door is always always open
• 48:44
  you know my experience with yoga nidra that I pointed to earlier was just lying down and relaxing
• 48:55
  and I think many of us have no idea how sleep deprived we are we're very much a doing a doing
• 49:05
  society right and we keep on pushing right you spoke to earlier that doesn't always serve us
• 49:12
  so many people are attracted to yoga nidra initially because it gives you permission to
• 49:19
  call an hour out and to tell people do not disturb me turn the phone off this is my room
• 49:25
  and I'm just going to simply chill and there's something that is very restorative in that
• 49:34
  way the more we practice yoga nidra and the more it sort of creates or it becomes our medicine where
• 49:46
  it starts to calm down the nervous system and bring a sense of balance to the body mind heart and soul
• 49:55
  where everything is working in integration then when we go through this guided practice
• 50:03
  as you referred to Wendy there is this feeling that we it's not in our heads it's a kinesthetic
• 50:14
  knowing which is exactly what we're talking about when we're talking about listening to
• 50:19
  those deep whispers in the body it's this kinesthetic feeling that this this feeling of
• 50:28
  of wholeness of peace of truth of love of beauty because what we are sinking down
• 50:37
  deep into beneath the surface of beneath the all the chitter chatter of the mind
• 50:45
  we are resting in this state of yoga nidra where we touch the pure consciousness of who we are
• 50:57
  we touch our divinity we touch our true self our knowing that is that profound guide that is nothing
• 51:09
  more nothing less than pure love and that's not coming from something external
• 51:22
  that lives in us so when we can take the time just to stop to slow down
• 51:33
  and to sink into this practice that's what we open up to and then as we
• 51:42
  have more and more experiences of this this becomes part of our waking state understanding
• 51:49
  of life and so I'll share that I noticed in myself when I first started this practice that you know
• 51:59
  sometimes someone might say something to me and I like I could tell you that was going to piss me
• 52:03
  off and then I had to decide you know am I going to tangle with them or just keep my mouth shut
• 52:10
  I could feel that eruption and the more I practiced this yoga nidra the more I discovered
• 52:22
  that I could be in you know what we might call the fire of disagreement
• 52:30
  and I wasn't being sucked down into the fight or flight I could just be with what is
• 52:38
  and so it started to you know if sometimes we look at life and we can think you know
• 52:45
  our emotions take us here they're all you know all all over the map that there is a steadying
• 52:54
  within us so we can approach life with a greater sense of ease of balance
• 53:04
  and we can maybe start to attune ourselves to these whispers that you and I have spoken to
• 53:11
  we can open up to the beauty that is around us simply because we've tapped into that source
• 53:21
  that is in here so it's like we start to change change the lenses you look at life
• 53:30
  through you know there's a whole scientific body of it Wendy that I won't go into where
• 53:37
  it changes things profoundly in our body work and you know as I said bring things into
• 53:43
  into balance there's tissue that can be regenerated through it all of this yeah very
• 53:50
  it's not some new age thing that somebody pulled out it's a very very very ancient wisdom practice
• 53:57
  wow you know Meg you said something that is so powerful to me one of the things you said
• 54:04
  was when you said when we start to see yoga nidra as medicine it reminded me of what you said about
• 54:11
  when you were really struggling when emotions were coming up and this and that you didn't know
• 54:16
  how to explain it or whatever you know it could have been said you need some medicine you know
• 54:24
  but this medicine is not costly and it's a healer it can be a healer and you know it's so worth finding
• 54:35
  out and I know that in the show notes I believe that how are you wanting people to reach you if
• 54:54
  how how would you want them to do that I'd offer one of two paths Wendy one is to reach out me
• 55:02
  reach out to me through email which is just my name Meg Zucaro at gmail.com
• 55:11
  and I am always more than delighted I will stop anything speak to someone about yoga nidra so
• 55:19
  please don't don't think twice about that don't get into the head if it's calling you
• 55:23
  please yeah and the other one is if you're on Facebook you can have sort of a little peek
• 55:30
  if you go on to still point which is all one word still point yoga nidra meditation
• 55:40
  then you can get into the site and you and after each session then what I do is I just put
• 55:47
  a little summary of what we can and also any notices of if there's any changes in the schedule
• 55:54
  or anything like that and right now it's generally weekly right Tuesday weekly yes on Tuesday
• 56:02
  Tuesday evenings life does have that ebb and flow to us absolutely so sometimes something comes up
• 56:10
  and I'm not available but there again that's all part of the teachings of yoga nidra to be at
• 56:17
  peace with what is yeah it's a very deeply embodied experience yeah you know Meg these days
• 56:28
  and and and I feel tears of gratitude to be saying this but first about how many
• 56:38
  the first thing that that many people kind of are almost trained to say
• 56:43
  is okay so how much is it
• 56:49
  it's an important question well it can be but I want you to know something um and this is the
• 56:55
  word I choose to use that Meg gifts these sessions on Tuesday nights to us so if you're concerned
• 57:07
  that you're not going to have enough money um please don't let that get in your way
• 57:14
  because certainly at this point um she's gifting this session to us that's how much
• 57:22
  she not only believes in it but how much of a blessing it really is and it doesn't
• 57:28
  doesn't come from out there and it comes from in here so I just really felt Meg that I wanted
• 57:35
  to share that because it's so much part of the gift of yoga nidra but the gift of you
• 57:45
  as well and I just want people to know that well thank you thank you Wendy for for saying that
• 57:57
  you know when I went through my yoga training I learned that you know in ancient times
• 58:08
  the yogis didn't hold a yoga studio at one one Swami who I had met in in India uh he was telling
• 58:18
  this story and he said you know the first time I was invited to North America I was told I was
• 58:24
  going to go to this yoga studio and I thought what is a yoga studio because yoga is a path
• 58:32
  of living life what is the studio and I was taught that in the ancient practice yogis
• 58:45
  this was their gift that they would give to their students and it was given one on one
• 58:54
  and so when I finished all of this and I it was so strong in me that I did not want anybody
• 59:06
  feeling excluded because of finances and so again it was that little voice because people said oh my
• 59:18
  gosh Meg you can charge for this yes you know but I sat with it and I thought no for myself
• 59:25
  for other people absolutely that's their path for me that is not my path no um and so it's it's uh
• 59:35
  for me it's a way of being of service yeah and yeah and and I just want to say that
• 59:44
  um to everyone listening whenever that is is that Meg doesn't give it to us we are co-creators
• 59:52
  in this process of yoga nidra we we utilize the gift of the the guidance for yoga nidra
• 1:00:03
  to transform to awaken to the truth of ourselves every time we meet in the nest so to speak in the
• 1:00:13
  in the yoga nidra nest um where we're guided um and so this is a wonderful wonderful opportunity and
• 1:00:23
  and Meg I just want to say that you've been through so much and I'm glad that you kept saying
• 1:00:30
  yes to that little whisper within that has brought you to a place where you're giving something so
• 1:00:39
  so rich so freeing to help us be who and what we are to to align with that that part in us and
• 1:00:55
  um gosh it's almost like almost like beyond words and and I don't know is there anything
• 1:01:04
  Meg just in closing that you've said so much um but is there anything in closing that you would
• 1:01:10
  support someone who is looking beyond the normal things that we're told um are are our success
• 1:01:26
  or what we should be doing is there anything you'd like to say you know Wendy what pops into my mind
• 1:01:40
  in this moment is I had the privilege of going for a walk one day with a fellow who was
• 1:01:51
  a monk and I had no idea that he was I had no idea of his stature in the world um but we were
• 1:01:58
  walking one day again it was it was that someone looks at you and you strike up a conversation
• 1:02:04
  and then you have no idea who they are and he we went for a for a walk and he said to me
• 1:02:12
  because we were talking about all this doingness in the world and he said you know
• 1:02:19
  I sometimes think that the antidote to exhaustion is not rest it's to develop the inner capacity
• 1:02:31
  to listen to ourselves more deeply
• 1:02:37
  and so I think what I might I might offer is simply that to listen not to the riffraff that's up here
• 1:02:51
  but just to be able to trust even though we may not understand what it's saying
• 1:02:59
  trust that feeling that is in our body not our mind
• 1:03:07
  and to love it and to explore it and to know that it will look after you
• 1:03:20
  so when you look at someone and think maybe I'd like to get to know them or have a conversation
• 1:03:26
  listen to that we have no idea where life is going to lead us and you know we have this profound
• 1:03:39
  this profound intuition in us that is I think you know of it's a gift beyond anything
• 1:03:51
  because it will guide us and so just yes just really listen
• 1:04:01
  thank you so much and I think that when we do that we kind of do there's a harmony in our life
• 1:04:06
  Wendy a harmony just flows yeah and it doesn't mean that all the jumbling blocks are gonna necessarily
• 1:04:13
  fall away and life is life is rosy but we can get through those detours I think that's right
• 1:04:20
  of ease and trust yeah the inner harmony of of aligning with peace maybe yes yeah
• 1:04:35
  okay Meg well thank you so much my dear I really value your time your energy you
• 1:04:43
  and I thank you Wendy yes I said at the beginning I really I treasure our time
• 1:04:51
  you're such a beautiful listener and I really am thankful for the opportunity for me to be able
• 1:04:59
  to hear perhaps things in in my story that I was not really aware of too yes okay my dear thank
• 1:05:08
  you so much okay thank you and yes if anyone's interested in yoga nidra please by all means okay
• 1:05:16
  yeah thank you Meg