Latest / The Cyclical Doula Podcast: Fertility Awareness, Charting Cycles, and Reproductive Health Education / Your Body Isn't the Enemy: Somatic Healing & Reconnection with Denise Elysa
Transcript
- emmamma: And I think that that's one of the huge benefits of working with somebody who's doing what you're doing is that you're really able to help people trust in themselves in a really powerful Denise Elysa: Exactly. emmamma: way. And I think that's the thing that so many of us need is just to feel confident in trusting ourselves. Denise Elysa: And that's so important to me. Thank you so much for reflecting that back to me. I'm so glad that that is like heard in what I'm offering because I really want us to get away from this like guru culture where somebody comes to this, you know, final point of healing and then they are inaccessible and they live on a mountain and it's such an honor just to get to be near them. emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: And then you're supposed to take all of their advice as if it's like the one and only truth, and even if it doesn't align for you, like you must be the problem, you know what I mean? emmamma: Yeah, Emmamma: Welcome to the Cyclical Doula podcast. I'm Emma, a certified fertility awareness educator, miscarriage doula and the founder of Emmamma LLC. This space is for women who want to understand their bodies deeply, not just memorize information, but actually feel confident in interpreting their cycles. Here we talk about ovulation, hormones, cervical mucus, basal body temperature, and all that's messy in between emotional layers that come with being a woman. We talk about trying to conceive, avoiding pregnancy without hormones. postpartum transitions, pregnancy loss, perimenopause, and everything in between. Because body literacy isn't just about charting. It's about the autonomy. It's about informed consent. It's about not outsourcing your reproductive decisions to guesswork or fear. Each week, you'll hear conversations with women's health professionals, ⁓ birth workers, ⁓ educators, and researchers along with solo episodes where I teach practical skills you can apply to your own cycle right away. if you have ever felt like you should have learned this information sooner, if you have ever felt disconnected from your cycle, If you want to raise the next generation without shame around their bodies, you are in the right place. So grab your tea, open up your notes app, and let's build a cycle confidence together. emmamma: Welcome back to the Cyclical Doula podcast. Today, I'm ⁓ joined by Denise, ⁓ who's a somatic practitioner and embodiment guide who supports people in reconnecting with their bodies and awakening their own inner healer. I'm so excited to have this conversation with you today. Could you just share a little bit more about yourself? Denise Elysa: Yeah, thank you so much. I'm so grateful to be here today and was so honored to be asked to come and join your audience. I hope this conversation really serves them well. So I'm Denise Elysa I'm an intuitive energy healer, a somatic practitioner, a past life regression practitioner. And I'm also somebody who has personally navigated the recovery from over 30 different diagnoses, including myalgic encephalomyelitis, mastodontic activation syndrome, POTS. Lyme disease and many more, obviously. So that really led me into the work that I'm doing now, both in private practice and through the BC Centre for Long COVID, myalgia concephalomyelitis and fibromyalgia. And so my work lives at the intersection of the nervous system, the body and the soul, that energetic piece. So most of what I know, I learned from the inside out. I have of course taken all of the trainings and certifications that I need, but so emmamma: Right. Denise Elysa: much of the foundation of my work comes from my lived experience. emmamma: Yeah, I think it always makes it so powerful when people, the way that you can share information when it comes from your own lived experience just makes it so much more powerful and you can really relate to people better and have all of that ideas of how it feels and how you can best support people. So I love that. And I love that you're in this space of just like whole body, like looking at all the aspects of life. Denise Elysa: Yeah, I agree. One of the things just on that same note that I have found is that so many people navigating complex health conditions or even any kind of health condition that has multiple symptoms, you go to a doctor and you're only allowed to talk about one symptom. And so that becomes emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: a very significant barrier to people receiving any kind of quality of care or any answer beyond symptom management for that single symptom. But We are not one part of our body. We are not a single symptom. We are an entire body, mind, soul that is all interconnected and working together. So when we don't view a person as this whole being with their own life and their own history and all of these interconnected pieces, we miss emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: so much within that if we're just looking at one part. emmamma: yeah, absolutely. It's so intertwined and I think like it's so easy to, once you're in the work of intertwined work, how be able to see how, okay, like yes, this symptoms that's showing up is like, could be covered up with this solution, but then it doesn't get to this thing and that thing and those things. And so it's great. I love all of those aspects of it. I would love to hear if you're willing to share things about like your personal experience that kind of led you into the work that you're doing now, if you're willing to share about your story a little bit and how you got into this part of your work that you do. Denise Elysa: Sure, yeah. So when I was a youth, I really struggled with what they ended up misdiagnosing me with severe anxiety and depression. But really, I was navigating endometriosis and hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's and a few of these other autoimmune type conditions that really wreak havoc on your mental health if you're not treating the actual physical cause underneath them. And then I was also, this is not something that I usually share very publicly, but I'm late diagnosed, Audi HD, so autistic ADHD. And looking back now through the lens of that diagnosis, I can really see how things went the way that they did through my youth and teen and young adult years, not having any idea or understanding that I was navigating some of these things. So looking back, I went into emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: my first really severe level, hospitalization level burnout at about 15 years old. I was navigating really severe insomnia. I think that I was first prescribed prescription sleeping pills at like maybe 15 years old. The first time that I was told that I had a condition that could potentially change the entire course of my life and could never be resolved, I was like 14. And you're sitting in a doctor's office and that's all they tell you is like, this is it. This is how it's going to be for the rest of your life. You might never have kids. might never, you know, and change that perspective sitting there as such a young person without the resources, without the support. And without this higher knowledge, this broader spectrum of knowledge to have a medical doctor just say like, this is it for you. And so that happened multiple times throughout my teen years. And then in my early 20s, I was actually doing really well. I had gotten off of all of my anxiety and medications and antidepressants. My mental health was so good, like better than it had ever been before. I was really taking good care of myself and really had found some of these different pieces that I needed as an individual that really supported me. And then my health just totally crashed. Like, and it emmamma: . Denise Elysa: felt like it was out of nowhere, but it wasn't. Like knowing what I know now, emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: I was leaving a really toxic relationship. I had three businesses on the go. I was working seven days a week and like 12 hour days, like... Looking back, I'm like, yeah, no wonder my health totally emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: crashed. But at the time, I didn't understand I was using work and exercise as a coping mechanism. And so that can only take you so far. So while it really did support my mental health, and I felt really good and stronger physically than I had ever felt before, my physical body could not sustain that. And the amount of emotional repression that I was actively doing at that time is, you know, like you can only go so far in that way before your body just like gives out completely, right? So emmamma: for sure. Denise Elysa: I was about 23. I was becoming increasingly bedridden. I was losing cognitive function. I could not exercise. Like I couldn't do any of the physical things that I was previously doing. And I went to more specialists than I can count. I had so many different tests done. And eventually, I was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease and co-infections. And the testing emmamma: Mmm. Denise Elysa: actually came back with, I can't remember how many different infections and viruses that it came back with. But there was West Nile. Lyme disease, emmamma: man. Denise Elysa: Babesia, there was like all of these different illnesses emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: that my body was trying to fight at the same time. And so from that point, I went through some really grueling treatment for the next like, let's say, six years or so. And there was a few there was some significant periods in that timeframe where I actually started to consider things like medical assisted dying because I wasn't getting better. I wasn't getting my life back and I was so young and I was being told emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: that like, is again, I was being told this is it, you know, this is kind of it. We can get you to a certain level, but we didn't catch the infection in time. And so emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: this is how it's going to be. And so I was just watching this version of me completely disappear, like this healthy, emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: able-bodied, hiking, camping, active version of me completely disappear. And a lot of the things that brought me like joy and wellness were nature-based. And here I was with an illness that was said to be caused by being in nature. So that's a whole emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: other layer to really like work through. Fast forward to 2019, and I was in suspected remission. so throughout this process of the Lyme disease and being sick really young, that first introduced me to energy work and energy healing. emmamma: Okay. Denise Elysa: And I had already started doing meditation practices and affirmations and journaling and all of that other self-help side of that world. emmamma: Right. Denise Elysa: that like you're not good enough, you can be better kind of side of that world. emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: But being sick brought me into where that work can actually take you when you're not looking at yourself through a not good enough, just have to be better type of lens. And I emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: was really lucky to get to connect with like a few absolutely incredible teachers who had just very high integrity and a very high skill level. And so then I started doing my trainings. So now fast forward to 2019 and I'm in partial remission and I've started offering some of this work on a lower capacity than what I do now and with less experience obviously than I do now. And in 2020, the pandemic hit and I was a hairstylist at that time as my full time. this, I was like barely out of the... energy worker closet, do know what I mean? Like I was like barely out of the spiritual emmamma: Yes, yes, yeah. Denise Elysa: closet. I was still doing this work, kind of on the side quietly for people who, for people who found me because they were meant to find me instead of through a very public lens, right? And emmamma: Yes. Denise Elysa: during the day I would go to work as my hair, as a hairstylist and do like the socially acceptable thing of hairdressing. And then I'd go home at night and spend all of my time on evenings and weekends doing what I was really passionate about. So when the pandemic hit, the hairdressers were one of the first people to get shut down. And at this point, I'm only just out of, I'm in suspected remission at this point for maybe like eight months, maybe. And so I'm just finding my footing again as somebody trying to increase their workload once again. And we were the first to get shut down and I was self-employed. So all of a sudden that, took me for like a really huge loop. And then I got pregnant during that time. So all of a sudden I'm faced with like, what am I gonna do with my business? What am I gonna do with this baby? Like how am I gonna provide for this baby? I can't get Matt leave because I'm self-employed. there's, and I can't emmamma: break. Denise Elysa: even work right now because the government shut us down. Like there was so many pieces. So from there, I ended up leaving the hair styling industry having my child, was continuing to take these training, you know, I'm just one of those people that takes as many, like whatever trainings they can get their hands on. So I was continuing to take all of that throughout this time. And I was continuing to apply it in the ways that I had access to, like by this point, it had already become my entire lifestyle and, and my emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: household had adapted to that as well. And so, When, after my daughter was born, well, during my pregnancy, my, my Lyme relapsed. And so emmamma: and Denise Elysa: I start, my health started to go downhill again. And then all of a sudden I had this infant who didn't sleep emmamma: Right. Denise Elysa: for three years and was up for two to four hours screaming inconsolably most nights. emmamma: Ugh. Denise Elysa: And by the time she was about, to two and a half, my health was really, really collapsing. And so by this point, emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: we had managed the Lyme. My Lyme doctor was confident that that was no longer the issue we were dealing with, but now we were dealing with the damage that was done to my body. And emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: so that's when I got referred to the BC Center for Long COVID, myalgia concephalitis and fibromyalgia. And through there, I went through the diagnostic process for like ME-CFS and MCAS and POTS and all of these things that we had already known that I had years ago, but that we had not emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: gone through back then. They didn't have supports for them. didn't have, they still don't emmamma: Right. Denise Elysa: really have really good treatments for them. So now I'm navigating this within this internal medicine clinic. I'm trying to be a mom to an infant who had support needs that we were not aware of at the time. and I'm trying to emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: do it all with very little support because we are still navigating a pandemic. emmamma: Bye. Denise Elysa: So this compounded with many other things and eventually my health completely gave out entirely. So I became totally bed bound. I could not eat or speak. I was reliant on a wheelchair when I could get out of bed. I think I didn't leave the house for like several months beyond doctor's appointments and always having a support person bring me. When I got to the point of being able to leave the house occasionally, then I did need to use a wheelchair. And I really had to monitor my energy envelope very closely. And emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: again, I'm hearing from doctors, this is it. This is how it's gonna be. You're gonna be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life. You're... probably going to be mostly homebound for the rest of your life. And there's just not much we can do for you. I remember so clearly one of my doctors saying, my GP saying to me, Denise, science just hasn't caught up to these conditions yet. And so this is just it. We can apply for disability for you. We can try to get you some home support if. you know, if you need it, but like, that's kind of it, you guys have to find a way to make this work. And so then, like, I just knew, like, there was just something in me that was like, this is not going to be your life forever. Like, and it wasn't this sense of denial, I actually don't think that we get there through disregarding our reality, I think that we have to really come to terms with. accepting our reality before we can get to this next step of actually becoming curious about how to heal and how to recover and how to change emmamma: you Denise Elysa: our reality, right? We don't get there by bypassing what we are actually living with right now. So this is where all of my work really came into play into how do I heal myself? How do I recover? And so that's what I did. And then Eventually I got well enough that I took my somatic practitioners training and somewhere in between these two internal medicine doctors asked me to come work for them and offer my work to their patients living with the same illnesses because they saw how far it had brought me. And I brought my private practice back to life and then I expanded it and created the Embodied Soul with Denise Elysa community app to create more accessibility within this work for the people who can't work one-on-one. And here I am. That's... There's so many layers to it. It's unbelievable. emmamma: That's amazing. like, for sure. And I think like, what an incredible perspective and example of like perseverance of like, I know there, I'm sure there were times and you kind of alluded to it that there was maybe not so much hope or not so much perseverance in that slight aspect of it, but the fact that you were able to keep going and finding these solutions and knowing that there was more healing beyond what you were given at the time is incredible. Denise Elysa: Thank you. There was just this fire inside of me that never went out. There was times where I was so hopeless for so long. But that really fueled that fire to move forward. Do you know what I mean? It wasn't like, is so hopeless, emmamma: Absolutely. Denise Elysa: and I'm going to stay here forever. It was like, this is so hopeless, and I refuse to stay here forever. emmamma: Yeah. Emmamma: hey, I'm just popping in real quick to say Make sure you're subscribed to the Cyclical Doula podcast on whichever platform you're listening to. ⁓ And don't miss upcoming conversations. If this episode is resonating with you, please share it with a friend, rate it and write a review. This is how this movement grows, not through algorithms, but through women talking to women. All right, let's jump back into it. Denise Elysa: And it's really interesting to me looking back, which I'm just like having this vision in my mind as I'm sharing with you, not something that I have really sat with a lot in the past of all the different layers and how they built up this foundation and brought me to where I was able to offer this work back to myself in that way. emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: you know, this, I know that your work is all about cyclical nature. And that's kind of the foundation of like how I got started was through full moon and new moon and working with our own inner cyclical nature and working with the cyclical seasons like the spring equinox, summer solstice, autumn equinox and winter solstice. It's actually one of the only things I've really held onto in my private practice from my early days of learning is my emmamma: Mmm. Denise Elysa: seasonal pause offering, which is the spring summer. autumn, winter ceremonies, because back when I was first starting, that was like my entry point, you know? And it's created emmamma: Yes, yes. Denise Elysa: such a strong foundation within me for recognizing that we do go through these cycles and that healing is not linear, it's not a straight line, it is cyclical. So we always are coming back around to the same point. to see it through a different emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: lens, through a higher perspective, through more healed version of ourselves, or just through the shifts that we have taken. So we see these same themes come back around. And that used to put me into such distress, right? Like, how am I repeating the same thing? How is this back? And now I can be with that and observe within myself, yeah, I've been here before and it was different then. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: what's different about it now and what has changed and what is this trying to show me now and where's my next layer, right? emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: And you can look back at how far you've come and you can look at where you would like to go and you can honor where you are now. And no part of that has to take away from the other. But I think the most emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: important piece there is that you know that this is going to pass as well. And it's going to come emmamma: Hmm Denise Elysa: back. and then it's gonna pass again and then it's gonna come back emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: and then it's gonna pass again. So nothing stays the same, the only constant is change. emmamma: I think, man, that's such a good reminder of just like, I think there's so much power in that knowledge of like, like knowing that like nothing's gonna last forever in the sense of like, the good stuff and like therefore like enjoy that moment well while you're, when you have it and the bad stuff like It's not gonna last forever and you're gonna get through it. What that looks like on the other side obviously looks, might look different than what people are imagining or all of those things, but you're always gonna get through it. And I think for me as a parent, I think that's a helpful reminder. I've talked about this with my kids before of no feeling stays forever. You can work through sadness about a toy breaking, doesn't stay forever and same thing when it gets too big. big things as adult things, like those don't need to stay forever and that's a really helpful reminder, but they can come back around too Denise Elysa: Yes. emmamma: and working through that can be challenging sometimes, but so growth mindset of it can be just an incredible experience. Denise Elysa: Well, and what we resist persists, right? That really is accurate. So the more that we resist these uncomfortable feelings within ourselves or within our relationship dynamics, like whatever it may be, the more we hold onto them, the more we create of them. Whereas when we can actually develop a felt sense of safety within ourselves while we are in that discomfort, while we are in that challenging thing, emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: the more we can move through it easier. And so then we don't have to grasp to it, we don't have to hold onto it, and we don't have to live in that space for so long. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think that's such a, just such a good reminder to be in that space and staying and moving and like all of those aspects of it all intertwined. I'm curious how your work, like how, let's just talk about like a typical experience with somebody working with you one-on-one. Like how, what are you doing with them? How are you? How are they coming? Obviously, I'm sure it's so individualized, but like, what does this generally look like? Denise Elysa: Sure, so I'll refer to my main offering, which is the Bridge to Embodiment emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: package, which means that somebody is signing on to work with me for an extended period of time, usually six to 12 months. And some people will stay on after that as well, like if they want to continue. But the reason that I prioritize this longer term package is because this work is meant to be done very slowly. And there are safety risks involved when we try to push past people's protective parts and their barriers and the things that they have in place to keep them safe, right? And so emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: those parts of ourselves might be causing challenges in our lives. Maybe they're not something that we want to be navigating all of the time, but they're there for a reason. our bodies and our minds are incredibly intelligent beings and they bring up these barriers, these feelings, these sensations, these injuries, all sorts of these illnesses, all sorts of things to protect us, to communicate something to us or to keep us safe in some way, right? Or to redirect us. And so emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: when everybody wants a quick solution, I know, I know I've been there, right? Who doesn't? But emmamma: Right. Denise Elysa: what happens is that when we don't go slowly, we don't build that trust with the body. And we can't offer that healing back to ourselves without rebuilding that connection to the body and that safety and that trust. So that's why I prioritize this longer term work. I do have like the odd one-off single session for like a past life regression, things like that. But typically, emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: If you're gonna ask about my one-on-one, this is what it looks like. So first somebody would have a consultation call with me, make sure that this is really what they wanna do. They can get to know me, ask me whatever they want. I think it's really, really important that people get to know the people that they're going to work with in this way. And emmamma: for sure. Denise Elysa: then use their own intuitive discernment. Like, is this practitioner the right person for me? Or maybe they're not aligned for me in some way, right? And it's not a big deal. emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: That's the most important first step. And then emmamma: Right. Denise Elysa: from there, if we choose that on both sides, this is a good fit, then they will receive like a very thorough intake form. And so the emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: intake form goes through like all of their past history, health, you know, there's a lot of different layers that go into the intake form and... the reason for that is both so that I can offer the most effective work for that guest in the individual way that that guest needs, but also so that I can keep them safe. I need to know if there are triggers, I need to know if there are parts of their body that are really sensitive or that they don't like to touch in a certain way or something like that, right? emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: And then from there we go through and we do a number of sessions. So it's usually like eight sessions over a six month period or I'm receiving feedback that people want it to be longer. So I think I'm going to extend it to 12 months, but emmamma: Yeah! Denise Elysa: that's not totally set yet. So in those sessions, we really meet your system where it's at. So we would begin by evaluating, do you have connection to your body? Right? emmamma: Mm. Denise Elysa: Are you able to notice the cues that your body is sharing with you? When we begin... when I begin to guide you into your system, like, do you notice anything at all? Right? emmamma: Great. Denise Elysa: And if you don't, then we take one route. And if you do, we take another route, right? So we're always responding to what the body is showing us. There's no like exact path that we're gonna take. emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: Two different people's work with me is gonna look very different, right? But the general outline can be similar. So some people are gonna come to me, and they really need to start with talking because they're really uncomfortable with their body and they just can't go there yet. And they're expressing things that they may have held in quietly for decades, right? And they're just creating that relationship with me and that safety. Some people come to me and they're already really connected to their body and they just need a little bit of help going into those deeper layers and maybe emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: into some of that more sensitive traumatic pieces, right? And so, Or potentially, and this one just popped into my mind, and this is especially with people who live with complex chronic diseases, if they have ongoing symptoms that they just can't quite crack, right? They just can't quite emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: figure out what's going on with the symptom or how to make it go away. And they've usually seen a lot of different doctors by the time they get to me, right? And so emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: in that case, there's a couple of different things that we do. One is that I'm often referring people out to the medical professionals that would serve those symptoms. So because of my couple decades of experience in emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: the medical system, and then also because of my work with the BC CLMF, have connected with many different medical providers who are very skilled at what they do. And this emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: gives me the opportunity to refer out to the right people for the right things because I have experienced and witnessed repeatedly the incredible harm that can be done by medical professionals or other providers or practitioners even in the same line of work as me who don't have that experience or that education with the types emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: of symptoms and illnesses that these patients are living with. And so it's very, very important that somebody navigating these complex challenges is going to the right practitioners, the right doctors who actually have emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: this understanding and are not going to cause harm. And it's not a matter of causing harm because they want to be harmful, right? It's typically a situation of a practitioner not knowing what they don't know. emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: And it's unfortunate, but there is incredible amounts of harm that are done by people who don't know what they don't know. emmamma: for sure. Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: We'll take that route and I often guide people in kind of like where to go for more of the physical body things. And then from my perspective, we start to explore those symptoms through a somatic and an energetic lens. So we start to explore like what is the body communicating to you? When did this symptom start? Where do you see it popping up again? And then we can... I can guide somebody into their body to actually explore that part of their body and receive messages for what is this body part trying to say, what is this symptom trying to say. And it's incredible the different things that come through and how, you know, a week later people will be like, I don't even have that pain anymore. It's just gone. After 10 years, it's just gone. emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: Right. And so that's really incredible. So I have a few different ways that I offer this work and they get blended depending on the guest needs that day. And one guest can show up to me in eight different sessions and need eight different things, right? It's right. And emmamma: Yeah, for sure. Denise Elysa: somebody who came last month and was really connected to their body and, and really able to go deep might come this month and go, my gosh, I don't even, I can't even feel anything. I, I don't know where to go next. Right. And so I, I blend my different modalities and trainings together to meet you exactly where you are. So if somebody is not ready to go into the body that day, or they're just, maybe their energy envelope is already spent, right? They don't have the energy and the capacity to do that. Well, then I'm going to lean into my energy healing tools and meditation tools, and I'm going to offer that for you. So I'm going to do that work on your behalf, right? If somebody shows up and their body is guiding us into the body and they have the capacity to do that work themselves, then I'm going to hold the space and ask the questions and be the guide, right? So that's where the somatic inquiry piece comes in. I am emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: observing, I'm tracking your somatic sensations and also like your nervous system, so your cues that... your body is giving to me as we're working emmamma: Yep. Denise Elysa: together. And I'm supporting you in tracking that sensation within your own body as well. You're going in, you're feeling it. And from there, we might go into emotional repression work. We might go into somatic parts work. There's a lot of different areas that we can go with that. Sometimes somebody will show up and they're just like not ready for any of that, but their body really needs to express in some way. And so then we might do some somatic emmamma: Mmm. Denise Elysa: movements or something like that instead, emmamma: Okay. Denise Elysa: right? And then I do offer one session within this package for the people who want it to be a past life regression. And so that's where we actually, I guide you into a deep meditative state and I'm prompting you and asking you questions and you're verbally speaking back to me. to share with me what you're seeing. And most people think like, I'm not gonna be able to do this. How could I ever access that information? But I've never had somebody not be able to access this information. So it does happen in my training. They told emmamma: Mmm. Yeah. Denise Elysa: us, like they taught us what to do if that does happen. So I know it happens, emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: but I have yet to experience it. And I've been doing the past life regressions for probably like five years or so now. So yeah, so I guide you into a deep meditative state. you speak back to me, I document the whole thing, we record the whole thing, and then afterwards we really take our time flushing out what some of those things mean and those themes. And during that emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: process, we can also speak to the soul and do this like soul review and ask questions like, why is this person in my life or why does this situation keep popping up? And so then emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: we can start to clear some of that karma and those... karmic ties and relationships. The one other way that people are supported when they're in this package is that I also give them access to my embodied soul with Denise Elysa community for that period of time. And people are welcome to stay in there afterwards if they want. Like it's just a lower cost monthly membership, right? But emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: while they're in this six months or 12 months with me, I want them to have access to that because that offers them so much support in between sessions. So a lot of the work that we're doing actually happens in between sessions, not in them, because that's where emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: people are applying these things to real life, or they're allowing that integration process, or if things start to clear and they're purging and it gets uncomfortable and icky, right? And emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: so then they can pop into the community, they can talk to me directly there, there's like a group chat, they can chat there. I directly answer questions and offer support there, but then there's also over a thousand dollars worth of tools already in the community for you. So there's guided meditation practices, emmamma: amazing. Denise Elysa: there's somatic movement practices, there's a gratitude workshop, and there's a five week series for complex chronic diseases. And there's so much in there already for people to go in emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: and utilize. And so this really supports them in integrating and embodying the work that we're doing with And I'm like holding their hand, but I'm not holding their hand. You know what I mean? Like they have access to me through the community, but they're applying this stuff on their own. And that's emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: where this work really becomes embodied. And then two to three times a month, we meet live inside of that community. So then they can meet in a group space and connect with others and ask emmamma: Mmm. Denise Elysa: me questions. And, you know, I'm offering energy healing or live guest experts or the seasonal pause ceremonies. they're getting in touch with that cyclical nature. There's rituals in the community for the full moon, new moon and soul contract rewriting. So that it's, when you work with me, you're getting a lot. Yeah, sorry. That was a long spiel and I feel like I didn't even get it all out, but. emmamma: Yeah, absolutely. That's so good though. No, but I think I'm sure there's more that you do that you probably don't even realize. Denise Elysa: Yeah. emmamma: But I think that's so helpful to kind of see how like what you were talking about earlier, how like it's a whole body experience and it's meeting people where they're at what they need in that moment. And that's going to look different. for the individual, it's gonna look different for the day that they are in, in that season of life. It's gonna look different in all of those different aspects. And I think that that's one of the huge benefits of working with somebody who's doing what you're doing is that you're really able to help people trust in themselves in a really powerful Denise Elysa: Exactly. emmamma: way. And I think that's the thing that so many of us need is just to feel confident in trusting ourselves. Denise Elysa: And that's so important to me. Thank you so much for reflecting that back to me. I'm so glad that that is like heard in what I'm offering because I really want us to get away from this like guru culture where somebody comes to this, you know, final point of healing and then they are inaccessible and they live on a mountain and it's such an honor just to get to be near them. emmamma: Yeah. Denise Elysa: And then you're supposed to take all of their advice as if it's like the one and only truth, and even if it doesn't align for you, like you must be the problem, you know what I mean? So I just emmamma: Yeah, yeah. Denise Elysa: hate that. And I really want people to feel like they have experienced transformation when they work with me. And so I feel like the most effective way to get there is when we can work with all of these different layers at the same time, because... It's incredible how rapid transformation can take place if we are actually emmamma: Mm-hmm. Denise Elysa: connecting with each of those different layers. emmamma: Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. I totally agree. And I love what you're doing. And I feel like we could talk about so much and then go into so much detail, but I'm going to keep it kind of at this point. What else do you want Denise Elysa: Thank you. emmamma: to share with listeners as they're taking this time? What do you just want them to hear in this moment? Denise Elysa: I think really like start to notice those cyclical natures within yourself because you can really detach from that distress when you start to experience the fact that these things do pass and come back around and that that's okay, right? And the other piece is that when you allow yourself to really go into the depths and to really feel the pain and the darkness and the challenges that most of us have. Like, you know, no human is getting out of this life without that, right? When you allow yourself to actually go there and feel it and be with it, your access to pleasure and joy amplifies exponentially because it goes both ways. You can't turn off feeling bad and keep access to feeling good. Right? So you have to experience the full spectrum of that. And when you do, your access to joy and pleasure and gratitude is in bliss and harmony, like it's just incredible, the access that you can gain. emmamma: What a wonderful note to end on. Thanks so much for sharing all of those details. Where can people find you best when they want to connect with you? Denise Elysa: So it's denisalisa.com is my website. That's D-E-N-I-S-E-E-L-Y-S-A. And if you go there, it kind of gives you access to everything else. So my social media, I'm like, find me on Instagram, meet me in the comment section. That's where I hang out. But the embodied soul membership is there on my website. The Coming Home to Ourselves with Denise Elysa podcast is there on our website. That goes out once a month. There's a free blog on the website that goes out. every week. There's a lot of free, I've worked my ass off to build a lot of free resources. So please access them, please check them out. And then if you do want to take the next step and work with me deeper, then you can connect with me through the website and I'd love that. emmamma: so amazing. I am sure that everyone will take a moment to reach out to you. And I just appreciate you being here and sharing your story and what you're working on. So thanks for being here. Denise Elysa: Thank you. Thank you so much for having me and for holding this space. Emmamma: Thanks so much for being here today on the cyclical doula podcast. If this episode resonated with you, the most powerful thing that you can do is to share it, send it to a friend, text it to your sister, forward it to that group chat. This is how conversations about our bodies start changing, quietly, organically, woman to woman. If you are listening and thinking, okay, I want help applying this to my cycle, I offer free cycle clarity calls. It's a relaxed conversation over Zoom where we talk through your goals, your charting practices, and what kind of support that would actually make sense for you. You can book one at emmamma.com / free. And if you haven't already, make sure you're following or subscribe to the Cyclical Doula - podcast so that you don't miss future episodes. And if you feel called to leave a rating or review, it genuinely helps more women find this work. So thank you. You deserve to understand your body. You deserve to feel confident in your reproductive choices. And you don't have to figure it out alone. I'll see you next week. Thanks for being here.