Say Yes To Yourself

#144 Breathe Calmness into Your Life with Melinda Cange

 
 

Join me in this episode of the Glow Life podcast as we dive into the transformative power of mindful breathing with my guest Melinda Cange. We discuss

  • How self-awareness, mind-body connection, and breathwork can help alleviate stress and foster a sense of peace and authenticity.

  • The physiological and psychological benefits, and practical tips for integrating breathing exercises into daily life.

  • Simple yet effective techniques to improve emotional well-being and overall health.

00:00 Introduction to the Glow Life Podcast
00:53 Welcoming Melinda and Starting with a Breathing Exercise
03:38 Melinda's Journey into Breathwork
05:42 The Importance of Deep Breathing in Daily Life
12:29 Impact of Clothing on Breathing
14:43 Breaking Unhealthy Habits and Building New Ones
21:31 Non-Negotiable Self-Care Routines
23:26 Quick Questions and Final Thoughts

Episode Resources

Connect with Melinda

melindacange.com
instagram.com/melindacange
linkedin.com/in/melinda-cange
youtube.com/@melindacange
Breathwork: Free Training

Other Resources

ecstaticdancewinterthur.ch


 

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HEAD OVER TO MY SOUNDCLOUD AND LISTEN TO MY MIXES TO DANCE AT HOME!

yes, I need this!
 

DISCLAIMER

All material in this episode is provided for your information only and may not be construed as medical advice or instruction. No action or inaction should be taken based solely on the contents of this podcast episode. Instead, readers should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to their health and well-being.

The information and opinions expressed here are believed to be accurate, based on the best judgement available to the speakers, and readers and listeners who fail to consult with appropriate health authorities assume the risk of any injuries. In addition, the information and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of every contributor. The Company acknowledges occasional differences in opinion and welcomes the exchange of different viewpoints.

#143 Playfulness is the Key to Joy with Nic Huzz

 
 

In this episode of the Glow Life Podcast, I chat with Nic Huzz, a digital nomad and silent disco host who has turned playfulness into a lifestyle. From dancing in unexpected places, such as the Opera House in Sydney or the Taj Mahal in India, to overcoming fears, Nic shares how finding flow and embracing joy can transform your life. Discover:

  • How Nic started hosting silent discos and inspired people worldwide.

  • The shift from fear to excitement and how it unlocked endless possibilities.

  • Nic's unique take on work, play, and being paid for doing what you love.

  • The power of playfulness to break free from self-imposed limitations.

Tune in to be inspired by Nic’s journey and learn how to bring more fun and courage into your own life.

Episode Resources

Connect with Nic on Socials

instagram.com/_huzz

Other Resources

ecstaticdancewinterthur.ch


 

WANT MORE?

HEAD OVER TO MY SOUNDCLOUD AND LISTEN TO MY MIXES TO DANCE AT HOME!

yes, I need this!
 

DISCLAIMER

All material in this episode is provided for your information only and may not be construed as medical advice or instruction. No action or inaction should be taken based solely on the contents of this podcast episode. Instead, readers should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to their health and well-being.

The information and opinions expressed here are believed to be accurate, based on the best judgement available to the speakers, and readers and listeners who fail to consult with appropriate health authorities assume the risk of any injuries. In addition, the information and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of every contributor. The Company acknowledges occasional differences in opinion and welcomes the exchange of different viewpoints.

#142 From Banking to Breath: Reclaiming Energy and Purpose with Neelam Harjani

 
 

In this episode, Neelam Harjani shares her inspiring journey from investment banking to becoming a leading yoga teacher and wellness coach.

After experiencing burnout in high-pressure finance, Neelam transformed her life, dedicating over 20 years to helping high achievers sustain peak performance without sacrificing well-being. Recognized as a Global Woman of Influence 2024, she works with CEOs and global leaders, providing science-backed tools in mindfulness, breathwork, and resilience to thrive in demanding environments.

Neelam opens up about battling chronic health issues and finding healing through yoga and mindfulness practices like Pranayama. She offers practical tips for managing stress, aligning your career with personal values, and embracing the present moment to transform your well-being.

Whether you’re navigating career changes or seeking tools for stress relief, this episode delivers valuable insights to help you glow from within.

Episode Highlights

00:00 Introduction

00:46 Neelam’s career transition

06:05 Overcoming challenges

16:18 The power of breathwork & Pranayama

21:31 Understanding negative mental bias

24:28 Managing stress and emotional baggage

26:40 The interconnected pillars of wellness

29:59 Living a glowing life

31:09 Final thoughts & quickfire questions

Episode Resources

neelamharjani.com


 

WANT MORE?

HEAD OVER TO MY SOUNDCLOUD AND LISTEN TO MY MIXES TO DANCE AT HOME!

yes, I need this!
 

DISCLAIMER

All material in this episode is provided for your information only and may not be construed as medical advice or instruction. No action or inaction should be taken based solely on the contents of this podcast episode. Instead, readers should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to their health and well-being.

The information and opinions expressed here are believed to be accurate, based on the best judgement available to the speakers, and readers and listeners who fail to consult with appropriate health authorities assume the risk of any injuries. In addition, the information and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of every contributor. The Company acknowledges occasional differences in opinion and welcomes the exchange of different viewpoints.


 ​ TRANSCRIPTION

M: Welcome, Neelam I am so happy to have you on the podcast today.

N: Thank you, Martina. It's such a pleasure.

M: I would love to know from you, you've been in this health and wellness industry for so long. Tell us a little bit about how you got into this in the first place.

N: Oh, this is a a story in itself. We're gonna rewind about 20 years. So I went to the London School of Economics and I graduated in management. And with my degree, I just jumped right into investment banking, like pretty much my entire cohort. And, so it was just going with the emotions, really feeling like this is what's the next step for me.

This is what's expected of me. And yet deep down I know, I knew that there, there was something that wasn't aligned. And it got to a point where I was really having to drag myself into work because that inner voice was shouting. And yet, to be honest, like my ego, the prestige of the job, everyone being proud of me.

Oh, you're the youngest female derives, traitor, sitting on the trading floor, the power, all of that. Kept me there, despite me not even feeling in place. And so I think when that resistance is something that you almost normalize, then I. It manifests on the physical level, and so it came to a point where I was so burnt out, like literally in my late twenties where all my friends would be out partying the night away and I was barely limping home. Just it calcified into lower chronic lower back pain. I had gut issues. I would sleep like 8, 10, 12, 14 hours and. Still wake up exhausted.

So I just knew that there was a sense of depletion, and obviously hindsight, 2020, I can pinpoint what it was, but at the time I was feeling lost. I was feeling conflicted within, and yet I was feeling very stuck. In actually the way the world and the universe works, it's, it can be so miraculous. So the global financial crisis hit and being a junior, I was one of the first to get laid off, and it was almost like that. Difficult decision was made for me. Where I couldn't bring myself to quit a job that I knew came with so much where my community, my parents, everyone was so proud I couldn't let go of that.

And yet I knew it wasn't serving me. And so it was done for me. And I thought literally, Martina, I'm not even lying. That same week that I got made redundant. My yoga teacher said, you know, Neelam you've been coming to my class for 12 years now. There's not even that much more I can teach you. Why didn't you just go sign up for the yoga teacher training program?

And in my head, I laughed and I thought, I'm not gonna quit my day job to, to join this teacher training program. And lo and behold, I had so much time, I didn't have a day job. And I thought, you know what? Why didn't I take. Just this one decision for me, something that I actually wanna do. And so when that was aligned, it was just pure magic, and my, when my head and my heart and my hands were all working in synchronicity, and I felt oh, I'm. I'm teaching and in that hour I'm affecting change. I can see that somebody's came and they were, they were stiff and they were tight and they're leaving with a smile or they were leaving relaxed.

And so I think that in itself was really rewarding because being part of a big corporation, I didn't really get that feeling of. Agency or how is my impact? Like, how is my work impacting my clients? And so it's literally been, then through my own journey of healing, through my own journey of fixing my lower back pain, fixing my energy levels is then, when I decided, okay, I'm gonna start teaching. And in order to do that, I brought in a team. And so we have a team of experts who take private classes and I've actually just graduated from Harvard Medical Schools wellness coaching program. So really trying to bridge the science with these ancient techniques.

So yeah, I told you it'll be a long story, but here you are. Many years later, this is the journey that. I've been on.

M: Thank you so much for sharing. I think it's something that probably a lot of my listeners can resonate with when it comes to, dragging yourself to work sometimes and not having a lot of energy and feeling maybe a little unaligned, especially for people who start tapping into spirituality and self care more.

There will come a moment where you're like. What I do at my day job just doesn't really feel aligned. It doesn't have to be for everyone, right? Yeah. But I think a lot of people experience that. And so what you shared around how the universe magically brought this teacher training, into your space in the same week sounds very magical.

And the synchronicities are just. Yeah, pure magic sometimes. How did you follow through after this? Because you could have just gone back to another day job, maybe after the training, or maybe the pressure around you was too big of you should go get a job and stop teaching yoga. So I'm curious how you manage that, because there's a lot of mental chatter around that, right?

N: Yeah, a hundred percent. And thanks for bringing that up. That's almost like the addendum to my story. There can be that value alignment but it also takes a lot of courage. Yes. And. I definitely saw that, that there were many times where even I was tested I said, okay this is me being a Samaritan to the society, to the community.

I'll put up free classes in my neighborhood. And so I was just teaching these free classes and, a headhunter called me and she was like, you know what we're looking for a profile exactly that fits you for a hedge fund role. And it's bas basically it's yours. You have the experience, you have the credentials, literally just come have a little form like the formality of a chitchat and and the job's yours basically.

And so this was my first test where I was confronted, oh, okay, here, here it is. Everything that I thought I was this old identity things, I'm reshaping into this new identity. But there's temptation. Oh, that, that security the paycheck every month, all of that. And I, so I really felt like it was a test because the time that she asked me to come was like nine to 10, and that was exactly the same time that I had my free community class.

So I was like okay, I'm now at this crossroad, right? Should I try? And I said, I think that this is a sign because it's literally it's the one hour a day that I'm booked up for this commitment of that I've taken. I wanna show up for my class and I wanna show up for myself in that.

I can make this work. And so I, with a lot of courage, turned down that meeting and said, you know what? I wanna pursue this. I, it's just, I've just started, let me see where I go with it. And I get there at nine. I. Ready to start my day feeling really proud of myself. Oh I've I've leaned into my inner voice into what is designed for me and I roll out my mat, and I'm very enthusiastic about starting the class.

Martina that day, nobody showed up, so it was again. This point where again, I was faced with my ego who do I think I am that, oh, okay, turn down this job, this security, and all of a sudden I'll catapult into being an entrepreneur and really testing my conviction even if nobody comes. Am I still gonna show up? Am I gonna show up for my passion? Am I gonna show up for my conviction, or am I now bound to the praise that I'm getting all of that reinforcement, me feeling good that I'm helping people, all of that. Is that why I am showing up? Why is it right? So I remember I called my then husband now, boy. My then boyfriend, now husband.

And I was crying. I was like, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't even know if I made the right decision here. Just that confusion. And and he was like just stick to it, give it some time. And of course I did, I showed up day in and day out and people came and they became consistent and I, there would be like one.

Client who enjoyed my class, who would tell 10 of her friends, there'd be one client who enjoyed my class, who would tell her company. And literally that's how the doors open for me. And now ironically, I'm back in the banks. I'm back in finance, but this time as a corporate wellness coach and really talking about stress management and resilience.

But yeah, it, oh, good. It's a path that tests you and I think deep down. It's that. It's how sure you are in yourself and why you're doing what you're doing. That will start to attract the results and the success because you're not doing it for anything outside. It's really aligned to your inner guide.

M: Wow, that's so wild. So wild. And at the same time, it's yeah, of course this was going to happen because how are you just gonna become a yoga teacher and then it's gonna be super easy, right?

N: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So I think sinking my teeth into reality and then really honing my passion and honing the love for my work. And then I feel like when you love what you do, you'll just keep doing it. Yeah. And the more you do it. That's what success follows, right?

M: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I would love to learn a little bit more about your own recovery, because I know there's a lot of people who feel really stressed and maybe they have started a yoga teacher training or completed it and are teaching a class here and there, but they're still being pulled back into this corporate life, right? And I would like to know from you what were specific tools that you used for yourself to get your energy back, to have more motivation, to wake up feeling excited about your life? What are some of the things that you did?

N: So I think a lot of it is also mindset. When you're excited about the potential that gives you a lot of energy.

When you feel like I'm in a rut and I'm just going from one day to the other and every day feels the same, that was really what drained a lot of my energy. So even just holding on to a sense of hopeful hopefulness. Yeah. Brought in like a spark to my day. Like I wonder what today will bring.

And I think I've always inclined, I've been very inclined to inspiration, so I would read. Success stories or, or great biographies of people who've, or Oprah or just people who've made who've just channeled in during any hardship and stayed aligned to, to their heart's calling.

And so I think I remember watching, speeches and being like, oh, I really wanna make a difference to the next generation as well. So having that hopefulness, having that putting your mind in that modality of inspiration will absolutely elevate your energy. And do what you can. I remember doing a couple of exercises as well, like when it was journaling. Like I, I would fast forward. And light and write a day in my life of the way that I wanted it to be.

And so just really living as if my dreams were my reality. And so I think also attracting that vibration of energy versus feeling helpless, yeah. I would do that also, I would do put together vision boards and things to say, okay, this is my trajectory physically. Physically I would obviously continue with the Asana. I also, I know that in my personality, I really, nature speaks to me a lot, being in nature I feel like is so healing, I would take like a scenic route and just be in, in nature a little bit before I started a class to ground me, to center me. So that also, it allows a moment where my restless mind can pause a little bit. And I think that is also, find a practice where you can hone in that skill of pausing that restless mind.

So initially yoga teaching did that for me. Because it, it meant that I was so focused on my students. It was, I was so present to what they were doing, to their alignment, to how they were breathing, that it didn't matter, what I was doing after the class. It was very much in that present moment.

So whether that for you, that's just sipping a cup of tea, watching the sunrise, taking a warm shower, feeling that connection. To the present moment. I think that gives us so much energy too. And I think for me, a big turning point was when I started to really integrate Pranayama that breath work into my daily practice.

M: Okay. So much to follow up about. The first thing that you mentioned that I think is really important is. This hopefulness versus hopelessness, right? So stepping out of this victim situation where you're like, oh, this is all happening to me. I can't do anything about it.

Everything is so hard, and yeah, it can be hard and it is hard sometimes, right? But we have to shift out of that into a place of full ownership of, I'm responsible for my life, for what I do with my time. I'm responsible for my wellbeing. I'm responsible for how I feel in my body. And it's a hard task to take on.

Nobody can take care of your wellness. Your job will not take care of your wellness if you don't do it yourself. And so that's something I talk about a lot, this shifting out of this victimhood into a place where you are fully responsible for all the decisions that you make. And if you have a busy day that is full of meetings, then this is your choice, right? And it's okay to choose that. And then you can also choose something for yourself at the same time.

N: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I remember just even. Taking a sense of ownership around my relationships. I'd be like, oh, I really want, I really want mom to to, be affectionate with me now that I'm adulting. Everything's a bit more transactional. And that was because of my doing, the mo, once I noticed that and once I realized this is what I want, like I'll now go and bear hug my mom on the couch and. It's me taking that agency, it's me taking that ownership of, this is the kind of relationship I want with you, and we'll giggle about nothing.

But it's that lightness that I can bring to a relationship rather than waiting, oh, when is it gonna be like, how it used to be where it was fun and it wasn't a to-do list around. Daily admin or whatever. Yeah.

M: Yeah. Yeah. That's so beautiful. You also talked about pranayama. I would love to know a little more about your experience with it. How can people implement it into the daily life? I think breath breathing and breath work generally is way what's the right word? There's just so much possibility and power in it that we are not even aware of yet.

N: Definitely. I think I, I dabbled in pranayama quite casually, and as you said, it's quite undervalued. Like you don't really know whether you're breathing right? You, there's so many different types of breathing. And so to even formulate like a. A routine. I think things made a such a difference, a real shift. When I did the happiness course, when I learned the suggestion, crea, it's so it's like a 20 minute breathing exercise and it and I did that before I had my daughter.

So this was maybe about 15 years ago now. And it was incredible because I did it. At the time my husband was going through a bout of insomnia and I read up that, oh, this breathwork course can help, improve sleep quality. So I signed both of us up thinking I'll be the supportive wife, I'll come along, but really you need the benefits of this course.

And lo and behold. He did the breath work and he was lying down and he was lulled to sleep like a baby. And I did the exact same breathing. And for me, it was like for the first time ever, I had been connected to my charger, to my energy source. Like I felt so much energy and so I felt wow, this is really remarkable because we're doing exactly the same thing, but we're given what we need.

It finds that calibration and I balances. So the, all the, all that time when I was feeling burnt out and fatigued, it gave me the energy I was seeking. And for him, he was over overworked and. Anxious. It allowed him to calm down. Wow. I actually teach this course because I've seen such tremendous impact from it.

And I practice every day and not a day goes by that I don't practice because Wow. I've even tested like. What frequency am I on when I don't do the breathing, and what frequency am I on when I do it? And as you said, it's about taking responsibility. It's not about finding time.

It's really about making time for what matters, right? Yeah. So it's if I make that 20 minutes for me to fuel my cup, then how am I gonna show up to my colleagues? How am I gonna show up to my clients? How am I gonna show up to my kids? It changes entirely when. I put the oxygen mask on myself, so to speak.

M: Yeah. And you like literally add oxygen to your body? Literally.

N: Yeah, literally. Yeah, I think 90% of toxins are released through the breath. So when we're not breathing correctly, just think of the, think of the compounding effect of detoxification that the body's having to go through.

M: Is this an exercise that you can explain briefly or is it too complicated to follow it?

N: Yeah, it is. I can definitely explain the steps, but of course, like I highly recommend the course. Yeah. Go through it so that you can, again, take away this feeling of ownership in terms of empowering yourself with what you need to know. It's a nine hour course but just to distill it. It's really about helping us create this relationship with ourselves, right? Where we can start to notice the more subtle aspects of ourself, because honestly, where are we really living? Most of the time we're living in our thoughts, right?

Like we don't notice our stomach until we get a stomach ache. We don't notice our neck until it creaks. So this is again, like allowing that mental chatter to pause so that we can start to bring awareness to. To bring energy to what's already working rather than only noticing it when something's breaking down.

So I think that's already such a massive leap in terms of preventative health. And then also when we're breathing, we're suspending the thought, right? So most of the time when we're thinking we. What timeframe are we existing in? Okay. This, I'm gonna maybe go into a bit of philosophy here, but we're existing, mainly our thoughts are oscillating between the future or the past.

Very rarely are we thinking of right now. So when we're thinking of the future, what is the vibration, the emotion that's connected to it? A lot of it is that victimhood that you were saying is, it's connected to fear it because it's the unknown. I don't know what's ha gonna happen tomorrow. So yes, I'll plan, yes, I'll forecast, but really I'm scared because I don't know if I'm fully prepared. And we're thinking of the past where generally where is our mind going? I should have done that better. Why did I say that? What? I don't believe I was so disorganized. How can I have missed that meeting?

We're going into things of, we've got a negative bias in our mind, right? Yeah. 70. We remember negative things, 70% more than positive events. So if we're going into the neg, into the, the negative aspects of the past, then again, we're riddled with a feeling of regret. So even emotionally, we're hijacked when we're in our thoughts because we're either ho holding onto fear or regret either way takes away our feeling of ownership.

Yeah. Takes away our feeling of empowerment, right? And so when we practice breath work, we're really practicing for the mind to come back to stillness, come coming back to the here and now. Then also what it does is it instills a sense of confidence in hey, and courage. Yeah. And compassion in how we, in, in how we interact with ourselves and with our with our activities.

M: Yeah. And then the here and now is really the only time we are. Living and this is the only time where like we can make decisions and change things and tell people how we love them, like Exactly. I think it's so important to have these practices. Also what you mentioned earlier around this finding a moment.

For your restless mind to pause, whether it's on a walk in a yoga class during breathing, it doesn't really matter what you do, but the more you can be in the here and now, the more fulfilled your life can become. Absolutely. Because we cannot be happy in the future. We cannot be happy in the past. Like we can think about the past and be happy about it, but we're always, the feelings are always happening now.

So yeah, creating that space for that, I believe. It's really the key. It sounds very cheesy, like the key to happiness is just being present. That is such a key learning from the course that I took away. That all, I'm doing all of this. I'm planning for my business to be a success.

I'm planning for my kids to grow up and be independent. I'm planning for the next holiday. I'm basically always postponing my happiness. But my locus of control is here. It's me choosing to smile now or not. Yeah. And that's the only thing I can control. So when we live, much like when we're living more in the present, when we're training our mind to be much more in the present, yes, absolutely.

We're allowing the happiness. And I think that it's not even, it's something we need to cultivate. It's not even a skill. We learn look at kids. They're so joyful because they're so present. And so it's just tapping into that, that inherent nature that we have. But what we have to do, I think, is a process of unlearning.

And that's where, stress management comes in. So when we unlearn all of that worrying, all of that stressful chatter, then we can sit in the present. And I think for me, that breath work really helps to clear, have a healthy outlet for that stress. Yes, for that, maybe emotional baggage, let it go.

So then I can again choose from that state of feeling empowered. Not being at a victim or a cul culprit mindset, but really feeling centered and balanced and how I choose to respond versus react, if I'm being triggered in that sense. It's pretty amazing, especially because we're breathing anyway and we're breathing all the time.

It's just where our attention is, right? At the moment and I'll teach that even in corporate settings, and I'll say, if you're feeling stressed and you're focusing on your stress, then your awareness. Your attention to that stress is magnifying it. You're focusing on your breath and you're just focusing on feeling relaxed.

Then, hey, you know what that attention is, what's gonna inspire more of that feeling of relaxation, which will actually end up helping with our decision making because we've all been in a position where we've made a decision emotionally and. That's, that, those are usually the decisions we regret. Yeah. I shouldn't have done that. I should have, held myself together a little bit. And I think

M: What's interesting that you mentioned that through breathing you can release the stress because so often we just hold onto it, right? We're so stressed, our calendar so full. So we don't really create the time to do anything with it because stress is a very heavy, highly charged energetic thing that weighs on, it can weigh on your mind, it can weigh on your physical body in different ways. And so using breathing or any other techniques like movement or journaling, talking about it is all a way of actually processing that energy and moving that energy out of your physical system or energetic system

N: Fully. Even in terms of the pillars of wellness, one leans into the other. So if we're not managing our stress, it'll affect how we eat. Yeah. Our cravings for sugar or salt or caffeine, it'll affect how we how we socialize. Often when we're stressed, we're we become withdrawn.

We cannot be bothered to go out and catch up with a friend because. We're on survival mode anyway, right? It'll affect how we sleep. So all these things are so interconnected, and that's why I feel like when we can even just ho hone in on one aspect, say, yeah, for example, okay, I'm gonna manage my stress through 20 minutes of breathing, you'll start to see this mushrooming effect with the other pillars of lifestyle medicine where oh, all of a sudden I can sleep easier. I can I can sustain that diet that I want, and then again that, that reinforces feeling empowered because then your stress is not taking over your decisions. You are much more conscious.

M: Yeah. It all goes together. That's why it's the whole wellbeing is, it's such a holistic thing.

N: Yeah. It's such a holistic thing. So much is interconnected and it doesn't really matter where you start. As soon as you start somewhere, it's going to affect the rest. So many different branches come about. Like I started with breath work and now, meditation has been is such a. Important aspect of my day as well. Movement, as you said, but then also finding time to, to connect socially, yeah, I think US Surgeon General said that loneliness does the same amount of harm to our body as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. We know that, oh, if I'm gonna just smoke like a chimney, I'm definitely, affecting my health really badly. And there's big effects. But yet we think it's okay to lock ourselves in a room for weeks and, just interface with our devices.

And I think it's also go, as you said, goes hand in hand with stress because there are two dimensions that stress takes, fight or flight. So we'll either withdraw or we go aggressive. So in both scenarios our relationships get affected. Yeah. Our sense of self gets affected, even as part of the breath work, the the founder who created the happiness course, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, says in order to even get to world peace, we need to release physical stress. We need to release stress on the individual level because otherwise it comes out as aggression.

M: Yeah. And it's the classic thing. Be the change you wish to see in the world. How can we have world peace if we don't have peace within ourselves in mind?

N: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And I think even, as a mother, I've definitely seen such a shift. I'll, I can say be kind and then I can model it. And there's definitely two different. Different learnings that are taking place. Uhhuh, a hundred percent. I'm grumpy and I'm snapping at a taxi driver. I'm like no. It's really important that you're kind and respectful, but that's not the message that's coming through. Yeah. Yeah. So that's why I think looking after ourselves actually has such a huge ripple effect in that way too.

M: It does. It really does. What would you say living a glowing life means for you personally?

N: In my early days, I was very image conscious, and that would mean, that would translate as, perfect skin, perfect physique the right clothes, the right style, all of that, right? I think through my journey of understanding myself a little bit better.

I can now see that was like, that was a lot of moed insecurity. Yeah. Of having that outward perfection. I think a glowing life for me starts and ends with a smile. If we can feel contented on a daily basis, if we can feel grateful, if we can feel like there's joy within then that's what we will share outward.

If we're not glowing within, how can we make our life glow and we can only share what we have? So I think that's the inner journey where it begins as well.

M: I love that. I have a couple of quick questions before we wrap up. Yeah, absolutely. What is your favorite quote?

N: I think you already said it, be the change you wanna see. Think that's such a big one in terms of Yeah. Integrity and walking the path.

M: I love that. Now, this is a fun one. If there was one thing you could take to a desert island, what would it be?

N: A lot of water.

M: Yeah. Water is so important. So important.

N: Yeah, in my mind, I'm already thinking like, oh, should I bring my headphones or should I bring my yoga pants? And I just feel like, even just being surrounded with the sounds of nature and connecting to silence. That can be such a gift in its own that I wouldn't wanna take away from that scenery, but I would bring my best friend because I think when we can share it and we can be have that company, then yeah, our joy multiplies.

M: Yeah, exactly. Otherwise you would be lonely and sad on the island. What do we do all day? Neelam what are three things that you are grateful for today?

N: I'm extremely grateful for this conversation. Just being able to connect with like-minded people. And. You gave me an opportunity to be so unfiltered. You made it so comfortable for me to share my rawest moments from being fired to being ultra vain, to being insecure, so I'm really grateful for you and this opportunity, Martina. Thank you.

M: You're welcome.

N: I'm grateful for my masters. I'm grateful for my teachers. I would not be here today if I, somebody didn't hold my hand. Through the path and through and so that I can continue to inspire others in front, and work with people who, who need that support. Not discounting that I've come with all the answers, but really people have taught me they've been so patient with me. And so I'm very grateful to my teachers.

And I'm actually a little bit emotional, but I'm very grateful to my husband. I think we started our spiritual journey together from two different paths. Like he's still in banking. But he'll, but we will, we'll walk the path together, so to have those values where I'm not having to feel like there's a trade off or a compromise if I wanna do my meditation, doesn't mean that he's having to babysit.

And there's maybe a bit of resentment because, oh, here you are just sitting in a room on your own and I'm carrying slack, you know where, so having that family environment where we. All very much value the same principles of self care. Yeah. And being surrounded by that. So if I'm teaching a course, he'll happily look after the kids, or if he's stressed out, he'll go on a silence course and I'll be there. And so being able to, to tag team, because we both have the same principles and we're, our values are aligned. I think that mean that means so much to me.

M: Wow. Congratulations for creating that. That is really beautiful.

N: Thank you. I'm so grateful. Thank you so much.

M: What would you say is one thing, if there's just one thing that everyone should do for better health and a little bit more of the glow in their life, what do you think that should be?

N: I would say assess their relationship with their phones.

M: Wow. Okay. Yeah, I love that.

N: Because I think so much of the time, if we're uncomfortable or if we're super tired or if we're emotional, we will pick up our phones as a way of desensitizing and numbing ourselves from what we actually need.

And so it's become so easy in this information age to just keep bombarding ourselves with more, I. I feel like there's so much sacredness in the Less, and when we can create a healthy boundary with our devices, then we can sit in ourselves and find that glow and that comfort and that joy in ourselves.

M: Yeah. I think it is so important. I have lots of clients who struggle with. I wanna say social media addiction, it's almost an addiction, right? So your phone controls you. It's not that you control your phone. And again, can we go back into this ownership of saying, you know what, this is my phone. I use it when I want to, and I'm not, I wanna being controlled by it in terms of always grabbing it in every, free moment. And I'm guilty for that too. I think we all are. We use it. We depend on the phone so much these days. There's so much we cannot do anymore without them.

N: No, but those social comparisons that, that will leak away our joy, right? When we're always upward comparing, what are we doing to ourselves? We're just pushing ourselves down or we're creating doubt and we're creating a feeling of, inferiority there. And then I think even, I coach so many executives and if first thing they do is look at their phones, their dopamine goes so high.

Yeah. That the rest of their day, they just don't feel like doing anything because their motivation is sucked out by the first 15 minutes of their phones. Yeah. So wild. Yeah. Regaining our power, regaining our control is so important. Absolutely. Absolutely. To even start that time, 'cause we'll say, oh, I don't have 20 minutes to breathe, but I'll probably spend two hours scroll doom, scrolling online. So it's again, assessing some of those, programmed behaviors that go unnoticed.

M: All right. No phone. Not no phone, but like assessing your relationship with your phone would be yeah.

N: Use it 'cause it's so handy and we need it. Yes. But use it but make sure it's not using you.

N: Is there anything else that you would like to share with our listeners today?

I think when we can step into that vibration, where we feel looked after, where we feel that, even things that are difficult that we're facing now are moments for us. To hone in skills that maybe we didn't even know. Challenges is, it, is what really up levels our capacity. So if we can see things in the moment as just our journey of fine tuning and trust in that fine tuning.

When we have that trust, we're then automatically letting go of stress because when we're stressed, we feel like it's all happening to me. Unburdened on my shoulders. I have to survive and get through it. But when you feel like there's, a greater intelligence and it's supporting me to my highest path, then we're much more willing to go through those maybe difficult times knowing that the view's gonna be incredible at the end of the tunnel.

M: I love that. So beautiful. Where can people connect with you and find you online?

You can connect with me on neelamharjani.com. That's just a easy way to understand what I do, whether it's from the. Online yoga courses that I offer to the breathwork to the one-on-one personal coaching, wellness coaching that I can do. That's probably your best bet. And from there you'll be guided to maybe inspire yoga or inspire wellness as a way. Based on your interests.

M: And I'll share the link in the show notes so everyone can go click on there directly. Neelam, thank you so much for your time and your energy and for sharing your personal stories. I really appreciate the fact that you feel you've. You felt safe in this conversation to share? Yeah. Your background and your experience. I hope it really inspires some people to follow their heart and have the courage to make the decisions that feel really good for them.

N: Absolutely. Thank you so much, Martina. This has been such a joy. Thank you.

#141 Embody Your Glow: Emotional Wellbeing Through Movement with Daniela Krüger

 
 

In this episode, I welcomed Daniela Krüger, Founder of A Place Of Love, Sexual Counselor & Neo Emotional Release Practitioner & Tantric Embodiment Teacher.

Together, we talk about the importance of self-awareness, mind-body connection, and emotional release practices. Daniela shares her journey through music, emotional struggles, and how she transitioned to helping women find their authentic power.

We discuss simple and practical methods for emotional regulation, such as shaking practices, the power of embodiment, and the psychosomatic impacts on health.

Daniela emphasizes how important rest is, why you should have a consistent self-care practice, and why you might have to break through societal norms to live a balanced, fulfilling life. The episode is filled with insights into creating a self-loving and authentic life by embracing both light and dark emotions.

Embody Your Glow: A Journey into Holistic Health and Emotional Wellbeing Through Movement

Have you ever wondered how movement can transform your emotional state? In a recent podcast episode, host Martina sits down with Daniela Krüger to explore the power of embodiment, movement, and deep emotional release. Together, they delve into feeling safe in one’s home and body, understanding embodiment, and harnessing the transformative energy of dance and movement.

Daniela is the founder of A Place of Love and a dedicated Sexual Counselor, Neo Emotional Release Practitioner, and Tantric Embodiment Teacher. Drawing on the Freedom of Movement philosophy, she empowers individuals, couples, and groups to reconnect with their love, life force, and authentic expression. Her holistic approach integrates Womb/Hara healing, retreats, and mentorship, creating spaces for growth, self-discovery, and connection.

The Art of Embodiment: Achieving Connection and Authenticity

What is embodiment, and why is it essential for our wellbeing? Daniela defines embodiment as the state of being home in one’s body and living authentically from that space. This practice means living consciously inside oneself and expressing one's truth and emotions fully. In a world often focused on mental achievements, this kind of soulful living can be revolutionary, allowing us to reclaim our power and connect more deeply with our true selves and others.

Transforming Through Movement: Shaking for Balance

Movement is not just about physical fitness; it can be a profound tool for emotional regulation and healing. Daniela shares her experience with a year-long practice of daily shaking—a form of dance that helps regulate the nervous system. Whether you need to downregulate from feelings of overwhelm or upregulate to conquer low energy, shaking offers a dynamic way to achieve inner balance. It's a simple yet powerful practice that can be incorporated into daily life, offering harmony and renewed energy.

The Power of Community: Women Empowering Women

In a society where women often face the dual pressures of professional success and emotional invisibility, women’s communities can be a source of healing and strength. Daniela emphasizes the importance of creating safe spaces for women to express themselves authentically. By embracing our vulnerabilities and supporting each other, we can heal deep societal wounds and move towards true empowerment.

Neo Emotional Release: A Path to Healing

Emotional release isn’t just letting go of feelings; it’s about witnessing and embracing them. Daniela introduces the concept of neo emotional release, a bodywork technique that enables individuals to access deep-seated emotions and ancestral woundings. By connecting with the body’s tension points, one can process major emotions and traumas, leading to profound personal and familial healing. This work highlights the interconnectedness of our personal histories and emotional states, offering a path not only to individual peace but also to healing generational traumas.

Building Consistency in Self-Care

Consistent self-care is essential for maintaining a glowing life. As Daniela advises, routines don’t need to be rigid. Instead, they should be flexible and intuitive, allowing us to meet our unique needs each day. Simple practices like a mindful shower or tuning into one’s body for a few minutes can make a significant difference. It’s about small, sustainable changes that honor our evolving energy and emotions.

Conclusion: Living a Glowing Life

As you embark on your journey towards holistic health and emotional wellbeing, remember that small daily practices can bring about significant transformations. From powerful movement techniques to deeply entrenched emotional healing, you have the tools to enhance your emotional and physical health. Join Daniela Krüger and Martina as they guide you through the process of embodying your glow, one mindful movement at a time.

Are you ready to take charge of your emotional wellbeing? Begin integrating these practices into your life today and witness their transformative power. If you’re curious to learn more about Daniela’s work or want to join her vibrant community, explore her retreats and courses to continue your journey of self-discovery and healing. Together, let’s change the world—one empowered step at a time.

Remember, your emotions do not define your worth; they empower you to live authentically and fully. Stay tuned for more insights and inspirations from the upcoming episodes of The Glow Life Podcast.

Episode Resources

Connect with Daniela on Socials

aplaceoflove.de
instagram.com/danielakrue
instagram.com/aplaceoflove__

Other Resources

ecstaticdancewinterthur.ch


 

WANT MORE?

HEAD OVER TO MY SOUNDCLOUD AND LISTEN TO MY MIXES TO DANCE AT HOME!

yes, I need this!
 

DISCLAIMER

All material in this episode is provided for your information only and may not be construed as medical advice or instruction. No action or inaction should be taken based solely on the contents of this podcast episode. Instead, readers should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to their health and well-being.

The information and opinions expressed here are believed to be accurate, based on the best judgement available to the speakers, and readers and listeners who fail to consult with appropriate health authorities assume the risk of any injuries. In addition, the information and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of every contributor. The Company acknowledges occasional differences in opinion and welcomes the exchange of different viewpoints.

#140 Embracing Your Soul Fire with Dion Pfisterer

 
 

In this insightful episode, Dion Pfisterer, musician and Bali’s no. 1 DJ, shares his remarkable journey from being a drummer to embracing the holistic lifestyle of music, travel, and spirituality. Martina, our host, delves deep into themes of intuition, vulnerability, and authentic living.

Together, they explore the profound impacts of listening to one's heart, expressing vulnerability, and cherishing connection, while highlighting the transformational power of ecstatic dance and self-care.

This episode offers a fresh perspective on living authentically, with practical insights for enhancing mental and emotional wellbeing through holistic practices.

The Nonlinear Path to Passion

Dion Pfisterer's story is not one of a linear journey, and that's where its beauty lies. From playing percussion in diverse music genres like rock, reggae, and world music to following his passion for travel, Dion’s path defies conventional norms. As Martina aptly points out, society often dictates a straight line from studying at university to working in a field for life. Dion, however, listens to his intuition. He describes how his heart tells him when something is right, even amidst fear and resistance. This highlights an essential lesson in self-discovery and pursuing one's passions.

The Art of Listening to Your Intuition

In today's fast-paced world, tuning into your intuition can feel daunting. Dion explains how sensing his heartbeat and paying attention to physical cues guide him toward decisions that align with his true self. This practice underscores the importance of embracing discomfort and using it as a springboard for growth. Martina contributes to this by challenging listeners to create beautiful narratives about their lives. Why not believe everything will exceed expectations? Our vulnerability can become our greatest strength.

Vulnerability: THE Pathway to Connection

Both Dion and Martina emphasize that vulnerability is not a weakness but a gateway to authentic connection. Sharing one's true feelings, even those of anger or disappointment, can foster deeper relationships. Dion's surprise at a friend’s honest expression of anger illustrates the power of vulnerability in strengthening bonds. Martina candidly discusses the universal need to be seen and heard. Through willingness to experience vulnerability, we unlock the potential for transformative human connections.

Creating Space for Emotional Expression

In Western society, physical proximity doesn't always translate to emotional closeness. Despite living in cities and suburbs, many find themselves isolated. Dion reflects on the beauty of connecting with others and the energy exchanged in heartfelt interactions. He advocates for experiencing life fully, inviting emotions to the forefront through dance, movement, and music. This expressive approach facilitates a release from mundane conversations, offering a breath of fresh air into emotional well-being.

Emotional Wellbeing Through Movement and Dance

Ecstatic dance offers an avenue to converse beyond words, engaging our bodies in emotional expression. Dion cherishes the vulnerability that emerges when people feel safe enough to cry in his presence. He sees it as a symbol of trust and strength. The metaphor of crawling on the floor in tears or spinning in circles in joy captures the spectrum of experiences available through dance. Being comfortable with discomfort allows for profound moments of joy, empowerment, and spiritual connection.

Prioritizing Self-Care and Authentic Living

Martina stresses the need for self-care and nurturing the emotional body. By prioritizing emotional health, other aspects of life naturally fall into place. Dion expresses gratitude for opportunities to share his music worldwide and live authentically. When we focus on living true to ourselves, the ripple effect touches more lives than we could ever know. Martina and Dion encourage listeners to consider, "What's the best that could happen?" as they move forward with renewed purpose and authenticity.

Through candid conversations, this episode navigates the intersections of mental and emotional wellbeing, highlighting holistic health practices and the transformative power of vulnerability and movement. It's a call to embrace life's journey, nurture connections, and dance as a path to healing.

Episode Resources

Upcoming Embodied DJ Retreats:

  • March 3-9, 2025 in Bali, Indonesia

  • September 22-28, 2025 in Spain

More information: embodieddjtraining.com

Connect with Dion on Socials

instagram.com/dion.soulfire
SoundCloud.com/dion.soulfire

Other Resources

ecstaticdancewinterthur.ch


 

WANT MORE?

HEAD OVER TO MY SOUNDCLOUD AND LISTEN TO MY MIXES TO DANCE AT HOME!

yes, I need this!
 

DISCLAIMER

All material in this episode is provided for your information only and may not be construed as medical advice or instruction. No action or inaction should be taken based solely on the contents of this podcast episode. Instead, readers should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to their health and well-being.

The information and opinions expressed here are believed to be accurate, based on the best judgement available to the speakers, and readers and listeners who fail to consult with appropriate health authorities assume the risk of any injuries. In addition, the information and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of every contributor. The Company acknowledges occasional differences in opinion and welcomes the exchange of different viewpoints.

#139 Thriving in Emotional Polarity

 
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Have you ever experienced a day where you feel so happy and the next moment you can't stop crying? That's literally how my past few weeks have been for me.

When we learn to dance in this polarity of feeling extremely high vibe in one moment and frustrated or angry in the next one, we become incredibly resilient.

The key is to allow your emotions to be there without judgment, knowing that your emotions don't mean anything about your worth. When we can learn to accept what is and be present with what is, we strengthen a muscle that's going to be incredibly valuable for the rest of your life.

This is the final episode of Season 2! Thank you for being a part of our Glow Life Podcast Journey!

Have you downloaded the free Self-Care Guide for Perfectionist? Click here to access it:
martinafink.lpages.co/perfectionist-bundle

EPISODE RESOURCES

Self-Care Guide for Perfectionists

TODAY’S EPISODE TRANSCRIBED:

Martina Fink 0:00

This is episode number 139 about thriving and polarity. Welcome to the glow life podcast. The one and only place for ambitious, high achieving and perfectionist women like you who want to leave, overwhelm behind. Turn self doubt into self confidence. And learn to trust yourself again, so that you can work less fully love and accept yourself and live a fulfilled and glowing life. Every week, I'll be giving you tips and inspiration on how to think less, feel more slow down and use your body and your daily habits to help you step up, level up and glow up in all areas of your life. This is not just about the big shifts, you can glow just a little more every single day.

Martina Fink 1:02

Welcome back to the glow life podcast. And this is our very final episode for season two of the Glow Life podcast, we are actually celebrating three years of the glow Live podcast and we are ending season two, without knowing what's going to happen next. Sometimes we need to close the door to be able to open a new one. And maybe we will come back and be right back with season three in a month. Or we may not. Right now, I don't know what's going to happen next. And we're just taking it one step at a time. So, so happy that you've been with us through season one and two of this podcast. And we still hope that there is more information and inspiration for you to find in the glow world for you. Now today I want to talk about how to thrive in polarity. polarity means that there are complete opposites and extremes that come together. For example, Yin and Yang, or polarity, day and night is polarity. The relationship these two extremes have is the polarity. And polarity is something that I have been experiencing more recently, in very extreme ways. I have been on emotional roller coasters in the past few weeks around my business around my private life with myself really also considering that we've been in this pandemic for such a long time. And I am someone who loves to travel and move around and explore and, you know, experience life in different cultures and not being able to do that I'm sure you can relate if you love to travel, that kind of gets you in a space where you haven't really been with yourself sometimes or for a long time or ever. Right. And I have been feeling all kinds of feelings in over the course of a couple moments, sometimes sometimes over the course of a couple of days. And I've been feeling extremely happy and grounded and excited at times. And then the next moment I can just burst out in tears in unstoppable cries. And yeah, not really understand what is going on. The beautiful thing about this is that thinking back to my life a couple years ago how I used to wear this mask. I'm no longer wearing this mask, neither in front of myself, nor in front of other people. And in the past, if you had asked me like, couple years ago, if you had asked me how are you? I would just be saying something like, Oh, I'm great. Or I would say oh, I'm just a little stress. But I would not be really honest, because I was afraid what people would think of me and everyone would expect you to either be busy or to be well, but no one really wants to hear what's truly going on. Right? We're not used to hearing people talk about their struggles. And even the people closest to me, are often just seeing my mask without knowing. And I didn't even know that this is what I was doing. And now if someone is really close to me and they asked me, How are you? I will be real. My tears will come up the moment you asked me if they need to. I'll be real and raw and there is absolutely no shame about sharing how I'm feeling. Now, if this is something that you have experienced too, that you can sway from one extreme to another extreme within moments, I want you to know that it means absolutely nothing about you, it doesn't mean that you are a bad person. It doesn't mean that you are amazing. It doesn't mean that you are not enough, it says absolutely nothing about you. Your emotions are just this, they are energy in motion. Which means that when you allow yourself to go through all of these feelings, the energy can actually move through you and move out of you. And that is what helps to ultimately heal you. So when you go through these polarities and emotions and these one extremes to the other extremes within minutes, or moments or days, can you allow them to just flow through you? Can you allow these emotions to coexist?

Martina Fink 6:03

Can you be happy and sad? At the same time, happy about something sad about the other thing. And that just doesn't mean anything. It doesn't define who you are. Can you allow your emotions to just be there with zero judgment with no meaning? Can you allow yourself to just be there with you in that moment? Can you allow yourself to hold yourself through this? And yes, can you allow yourself to ask for help and support if you desire so? Can you allow yourself to just love yourself a little more in this moment. face yourself with love. face yourself with compassion. face yourself with presence. face yourself with observation rather than judgment. This is the globe life, a life where you become present with yourself. present with your emotions present with what is right now. present with your wounds present with your pain present with your desires. And just take it for what it is without making it right or wrong without labeling it as good or bad. Just be there with yourself and you will see how slowly but surely your glow will come back when you allow yourself to just be present. Instead of trying to fix something instead of trying to logically analyze something instead of forcefully trying to find a solution. The beauty of your emotions the beauty of your feminine energy is to just be there without having to force a next step without having to find a solution without having to fix anything. I hope this will help you through your next emotional roller coaster. Your next moment where you feel lost your next time where you feel confused and you don't know what to do. You don't know what it means you don't know what the next step will be. It is okay to just be there with yourself in that present moment and know and remember that you are loved. You are enough. And you are beautiful.

Martina Fink 8:53

Thank you beautiful soul for being on this journey with me. Keep glowing. You deserve it.


WANT MORE? GET YOUR FREE SELF-CARE GUIDE

3 Tips for High Achieving Perfectionists Who Are Ready to Remove Overwhelm and Work Less

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I created a free self-care guide if you’re someone who always puts everyone else - especially work! - first and needs some tips for perfectionists to slow down again! Click the button below to download your self-care guide for free:

yes, I need this!

DISCLAIMER

All material in this episode is provided for your information only and may not be construed as medical advice or instruction. No action or inaction should be taken based solely on the contents of this podcast episode. Instead, readers should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to their health and well-being.

The information and opinions expressed here are believed to be accurate, based on the best judgement available to the speakers, and readers and listeners who fail to consult with appropriate health authorities assume the risk of any injuries. In addition, the information and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of every contributor. The Company acknowledges occasional differences in opinion and welcomes the exchange of different viewpoints.

#138 You Are Ready Now with Ale González

 
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Sometimes, the only thing that's standing in your way is yourself.

If you are an overthinker, you want to do many different things, and feel like you know what you need to do, but still can't take the first step, you're going to resonate a lot with Ale in this on-air coaching episode.

Ale from Mexico has been looking for something to fulfill her. After being intoxicated by a pill a doctor gave her to cure her depression, Ale was ill for almost six months, which made her rethink her life and question everything. She's currently interested in creating a business and has several great ideas, but feels overwhelmed with where to start and doesn't fully believe in herself.

IN TODAY’S EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:

  • How to determine what exactly is holding her back

  • Why there's more to moving forward in life than just what you think

  • How to release the heavy weight on your shoulder that's keeping you stuck

  • Why having clear conversations with loved ones are key for your worthiness

  • Why you are ready now (and don't need x, y, or z before you can be ready)

  • How to ask for help without feeling like a failure

And so much more!

Have you downloaded the free Self-Care Guide for Perfectionist? Click here to access it:
martinafink.lpages.co/perfectionist-bundle

EPISODE RESOURCES

Self-Care Guide for Perfectionists

CONNECT WITH ALE

instagram.com/alejglz

TODAY’S EPISODE TRANSCRIBED:

Martina Fink 0:00

This is episode number 138 with Ale Gonzales. Welcome to the Glow Life podcast. The one and only place for ambitious, high achieving and perfectionist women like you who want to leave, overwhelm behind. Turn self doubt into self confidence. And learn to trust yourself again, so that you can work less fully love and accept yourself and live a fulfilled and glowing life. Every week, I'll be giving you tips and inspiration on how to think less, feel more slow down and use your body and your daily habits to help you step up, level up and glow up in all areas of your life. This is not just about the big shifts, you can glow just a little more every single day.

Martina Fink 1:03

Welcome back to the glow Live podcast. Today we're doing an on air coaching session, which is some sort of a behind the scenes of what it looks like to work with me. And we condense that into a podcast episode. Now my guest today la from Mexico, which is exciting. And I we have never talked before, we have only messaged a few times on Instagram to arrange the time for this podcast episode. So this is a very raw and real conversation we've never worked together before. We never met before this is real and authentic. So I'm really excited to share this conversation with you and kind of give you a little bit of an insight into what coaching truly looks like and can look like. And before we get started, I do want to share as always my glow Tip of the Week with you. And it is very connected to what we are covering in today's conversation. And it is to get out of your head into your heart. Most probably you are a perfectionist and perfectionists have a tendency to overthink because we want to have everything look perfect, be perfect. And in order for us to get there, we need to have a very good plan, we need to have a to do list we need to figure it out. And that requires a lot of thinking. Now here's the thing, when we think so much, we have all of our energy in our head. And I want you to think about like your body physical body, all of the energy is in your head, that can cause a lot of pressure on your head, which can lead to headaches, and nauseous feelings, it can lead to dizziness and things like that, right. So when you have all of your energy in your head, then the rest of your body is not full of energy at all it has, in fact no energy. And that part of your body includes your heart, all of your energy is in your head, no energy is in your heart. So therefore, when you overthink things, you are completely cut off from how something feels for you. And that is one of the first steps that I work with my clients on is to connect back to the heart. Think about how you are feeling think about how something is feeling for you. You know, so many people are working so hard and so much. And they think they have to because that's a story. And that's the energy going on their head. But if we actually think about how that feels for us, it probably doesn't feel that good. Probably a lot of pressure, probably a lot of frustration. And being able to tap into those feelings that you have in your heart. It's a skill. It's like when you go to the gym and you're strengthening your muscles, learning to feel your emotions is the exact same thing. If you've never really connected with your heart before, if you are completely disconnected from your feelings. Chances are the first time you talk about this is not going to be a super emotional session. Because you have built layers around your heart you have built a protection around your heart so that nobody can see how you truly feel. So my question or my challenge for you today is to get out of your head into your heart, whatever that means. Maybe it means closing your eyes and having your hands on your heart. Maybe it means dancing to your favorite song. While taking a break from work and getting out of your head into your feelings. Maybe it means doing a beautiful meditation. Maybe it means Lighting a candle and having some essential oils going in your house. Tune into your heart. It is so knowledgeable It is so wise it will always have answers. For your questions, and now, I'm so excited to bring on Allah Gonzalez from Mexico. Sometimes the only thing that's standing in your way is yourself. And if you are an over thinker you want too many different things at the same time and you feel like you know what you need to do but still can't take that first step you're going to resonate a lot with Ali in this on air coaching episode today. Now, Allah has been looking for something to fulfill her and after being intoxicated by a pill that a doctor gave her to cure her depression, Ella was ill for almost six months, which made her rethink her life and question everything. She is currently interested in creating a business and has several great ideas, but feels overwhelmed with where to start and doesn't fully believe in herself. In today's episode, we talk about how to determine what exactly is holding her back why There's more to moving forward in life than just what you think how to release the heavy weight on your shoulders that's keeping you stuck, why having clear conversations with loved ones are key for your worthiness, why you are ready now. And don't need X, Y or Z before you can be ready, and how to ask for help without feeling like a failure, and so much more. And you can find everything we talked about today in the show notes at Martina Fink comm slash podcast slash 138. Welcome Ale, I am so grateful to have you on the podcast today.

Ale González 6:36

Thank you, thank you for having me.

Martina Fink 6:37

So today we're doing an on air coaching session, which means that we're really going to dive into some of your personal struggles and just get you some clarity around what your next steps are towards your what I call a glowing life for you personally. So what would you say is the biggest struggle that you're experiencing right now?

Ale González 6:59

I think that they're they're like, there is a lot of things that I want to do. But each of them are like going through the same direction. But they're like different things. And I don't know, like how to connect all like all the dots or all the things that I want to do to go to that direction.

Martina Fink 7:19

Yes. So it sounds like you have a lot of ideas. And all of them are similar and connected, but you don't know what exactly you want to do. Yeah. So tell me a little bit more about all these many things that you want to do.

Ale González 7:35

Well, I for the last year, I mean, 2018 I started like a business that is about Organa stating like houses like your kitchen, your law said and all that like everything you want to get organized. I wanted to work with that. And it was not just about cleaning and organizing, but also like to bring consciousness to your life every day, you wake up and you see the same stuff you have in your house. So it was more about being conscious about what you have in your home. Like make every thing every every little thing that you have in your house, make it special, like it really brings you joy to your life. So I started with that. But then three months later, after that, they complete things started so I couldn't like start like really, really start with that. And then I was like really struggling also with being like alone with these, these months. And something that really helped me it was a lot of exercises and tools that I learned through the last like four or three years. And it was meditating and journaling and all that like tools. And one thing I made like it was not more like a business. But it was something that I wanted to make for other people because that was the thing that made me feel better. It was I created like a self no journal that he was about all these tools, and I made it for myself. But then I felt like it this is what is missing in other people's lives to feel like comfortable being alone or being with themselves or being just like locked down in their houses. So I made this like journal that it's about also bringing consciousness to your life. How are you leaving what is bothering you about being by yourself, what is bothering me about you like being alone and just you know, having a relationship with yourself. So these are like two things that I created in the last two years. And then this year, I went to another course that is about energy and bringing awareness also in consciousness to your life, that it's like moving energy in your head. So I have these three things, that it's basically about Paying attention to every detail in your life and knowing what's what's working for you. What do you really want? And like, move on with that and leave the rest behind. So that's the three things that I, I kind of like working with, but don't know how exactly to put them together.

Martina Fink 10:19

Right. Okay, great. And so the last one that you shared around moving energy around, like, is that some sort of energy healing practice? or?

Ale González 10:29

Yeah, it's called access bars. I don't know if you have listened about that before. But it's like touching 32 points in your head. And with that, when I talk to them, I move the energy about all the like, the ideas, the all the things that you were like, raceways, that does not serve you anymore. So it's like that energy?

Martina Fink 10:54

Yeah. So basically, it helps. It's like energy work that helps reprogram your subconscious mind kind of thing to get rid of like limiting beliefs and blocks, expand your mind, is your question. Now, which of these ones do I go with? Or is your question how can I combine the two? Or is your question like, I don't even know what I'm doing?

Ale González 11:17

Well, I enjoy doing the three of them. Yeah, I mean, I like them. That's why I like created them. But I don't know. I mean, I'm struggling, because I don't know how to like how to get started, like I started already. But with the organization thing, it's, it's more like difficult, because I don't know why I cannot like make it work, if I can say like that. But yeah, I mean, I want to like bring them all together. And like, just let people know that this is what I work in. One is not like separated from the other because it's all about awareness and getting rid of what doesn't work for you anymore.

Martina Fink 12:02

Right? And let's check in with how this actually feels for you. So how are you feeling about knowing that you have these three things and you don't know where to start?

Ale González 12:11

Well I mean, I start I already but I, I feel like I cannot lay tell people, or I don't know how even I started. I already like put on my social media, I do this, I work with this and everything. But I don't know what's missing from me that it's not like attracting the people I want to work with.

Martina Fink 12:37

Right. And so I will ask the same question. Again, you haven't really answered it, I can sense that you have a lot going on your mind, there's a lot of thinking a lot of like, I don't understand, I don't know what to do. There's a lot like a lot of energy up here, right? So what I want you to do is take a moment and drop into your heart to maybe even like place your hand on your heart and close your eyes for a minute. And I want you to think about the situation with the three ideas that you have. And some of them you have already started. And you have already posted about them and shared with others about them. But it's not really going the way you wanted to. So how can you describe that feeling that is present in your heart right now? Is there a specific word that comes to mind?

Ale González 13:31

I don't know. Probably. I mean, it's something that I've been also struggling with any slights like confidence, like, I know I can do this. And it's like, it's like, I want to do it. But I feel sometimes I feel confident about it. And sometimes I don't.

Martina Fink 13:50

Okay, close your eyes again. Is there a specific place or space in your body where you're feeling something? tension, heaviness, lightness, excitement, anything?

Ale González 14:04

Well, yeah, I'm feeling like a heaviness in my shoulders and also in my lower back.

Martina Fink 14:10

And if you keep your eyes closed, tune into that heaviness on your shoulders and on your lower back. Just kind of be present. Be conscious about those feelings there. Is there a specific color that comes with that heaviness?

Ale González 14:33

gray

Martina Fink 14:34

if there's specific like texture or shape or temperature or something that you can also identify

Ale González 14:44

Is just like normal temperature and it doesn't have a like a figure or something. It's just like, I don't know like a fountain of color if I can, like describe it like that. Like getting in my shoulders.

Martina Fink 14:59

Okay. Beautiful, and just stay there for a bit.

Martina Fink 15:07

You're constantly carrying this gray, heaviness around with you. And let's just say it's probably not very helpful for what you're trying to do. So you can consciously choose to remove this gray heaviness. What do you think would be helpful for you to get rid of this weight on your shoulders?

Ale González 15:31

To be less perfectionist with myself?

Martina Fink 15:37

Where are you perfectionist with yourself?

Ale González 15:39

Like right now? What I, sometimes I don't start things because I think that they're always missing something. So it's always like, I have to do everything perfect. And that, like, I'm trying to work with that with me.

Martina Fink 16:00

Beautiful. So for now, can you imagine and visualize that you just take this gray shoulder weight off your shoulders, almost like a backpack, you take it off and you, you put it down next to you. And then you can walk away without that weight and that heaviness on your shoulders. Just leave it there. And then whenever you're ready, you can come back and open your eyes. Beautiful. Well done. wasn't that difficult was it? So let's talk about this perfectionism thing that's holding you back. So you always feel like there's something missing, I still need to do X in order for me to be ready. Right? Yeah. Do you have a specific example where this is currently happening?

Ale González 16:57

Well, I've been working with this for a long time already. But I think I still need to work with that. But yes, I think with the organization thing, it's, it's probably it's more with that, like, straw, I'm struggling more with that. Because it's a I never feel like prepare enough to start to do and to go start with a client and make that work. And always like, I'm always feeling like, No, I'm not gonna be like, ready. And if she asked me something, or if he asked me something, I am not gonna know how to answer. And I've been working with that. And like, letting myself not know the answer. Like if I'm a human, and it's okay, if I don't know him, or with a making, like, course, because I also love the moon and the faces and how to work with the faces with the moon. And I'm also doing a course about the moon. And it's like, no, it's missing something. It's not complete enough, even though it has already a lot of information on it. And it's always like, I'm not ready, like, how am I going to do this? Or is it enough? Also that like, most of the times, I think, like most of the things I do are never enough.

Martina Fink 18:13

Yeah, thank you for sharing this. Can you recall a situation in your life where something that you did was not enough? Like any situation, in the past, something you experienced earlier in your life?

Ale González 18:28

I cannot remember right now, but I do remember one thing that happened, like, not long ago, if I can share that, it was I was telling my dad, like, I'm doing this course. And I'm preparing these things because I wanna, you know, like, work with this and, and do these things that I have been working with that I know how to tell people how to do it. And he was like, Oh, yeah, but you better know exactly everything you're going to present. Because I mean, you're gonna teach it and I was like, I know where it came from. I mean, it's not that I'm saying it is my father's fault, because like, that's the way he grew up. But I know where my my feeling comes from that. It doesn't have to be perfect. It like if something's missing. Well, I'm human, of course, I'm going to be prepared. Of course, I'm going to study first. But I don't know. Like, I don't have to be it doesn't have to be perfect. I don't need to be perfect in order to do that.

Martina Fink 19:24

Yeah. And there's always the logical mind. Like, what you're telling me now is like, I don't need to be perfect. You know, I'm human. I can figure this out. When someone asks me a question, I will find the answer. And then there's also your somatic body, your energetic body that has experiences from the past that you're carrying around with you like that gray feeling that you had, it's probably part of your dad's weight on your shoulder that's telling you this is what you need to do. And I would assume that you're feeling this way, not just since that conversation, right? You probably felt like this to all your entire life. Right, yeah. So currently you are carrying around these beliefs that your dad has, which he has from his dad or from his parents and they had from their parents, right. And so, exactly, you get to choose that you don't want to buy into this. And as much as we love and respect our parents, and, you know, we may or may not agree with what they believe in, you have this choice to break this cycle and say, You know what, I'm just gonna click unsubscribe to this belief. It's easier said than done, for sure. But consciously say, you know what, thank you, dad. But this is not helpful for me. And I know that I am enough. So what do you think would be helpful for you to kind of cut that cord that is still connected to your dad in his beliefs, which are also your beliefs at the moment.

Ale González 20:59

I'm actually working with that, because, like, I'm working with myself about that. And it's something that I want to work with people like to tell them to break that. And you don't have to believe everything your parents, like, believe or whatever. And it's something that I want to work with other people. So actually, like, now I have like tools that I learned from the Access Consciousness thing. That is everything that you are conscious, that is not yours, you just destroyed and say, it's not mine, I give it back to the sender. And that's his idea. That's his belief. It's not mine. And I don't want to, I don't want to keep carrying that believe with me. So that's what I'm currently doing. Like being conscious about the situation of courses. It still pisses me off sometimes, because he's like, stop telling me that like, it's not, it's not going to help. But I know, he's not making that to make me feel bad. He's just like, his the way his brain works.

Martina Fink 22:06

Right.. It sounds like what you are working on is kind of changed things in your energetics and in your beliefs. And like, like I said, like cutting those cords and just take ownership of what you believe. Have you thought about having a conversation with him?

Martina Fink 22:23

Oh, I already did.

Martina Fink 22:24

Okay.

Ale González 22:25

Like, not once, like many, many times, but now I'm, I'm not like attached to that. Because I because I've been I've done that so many times that I right now. It's just like, okay, that I love you. But there's like a limit between this and like, like, between you and me with these things. So yeah, I don't fight against that anymore.

Martina Fink 22:48

Beautiful. So you feel like it's no longer affecting you what he says.

Ale González 22:52

In a way does, but now I'm conscious about it. So now I'm aware that I can tell him or me, not him. But just in my mind, I can say like, okay, that's not mine. I don't have to carry,

Martina Fink 23:04

Right. How does it make you feel when he tells you what to do?

Ale González 23:09

Well, sometimes it makes me feel like worthless, because he's like that. This is the thing I want to do, instead of saying that you can just support me and say, okay, like Kip starting, or how can I help you with? And it's just but it's that feeling that makes me feel like, it's not going to be it's not going to end? Okay, that it has like this heavy weight on my shoulders?

Martina Fink 23:34

Do you feel angry about it? or frustrated? or anything like that?

Ale González 23:39

Yeah, frustrated sometimes. Yeah.

Martina Fink 23:41

And I assume you have already told him the kind of support you need from him.

Ale González 23:46

I think I did. I don't recall like, the exact moment. But I like I remember like, saying to him something about, I'm trying to change this part of me to please, if you don't agree, or you don't understand, just please be quiet. I don't need you to understand I just need you to accept me the way that I'm trying to move on.

Martina Fink 24:08

Yes. Okay. So potentially, there might be an opportunity here for you to express the kind of support you desire, because one thing is to just have him shut up and not say anything. And another thing is, hey, me, Ali, I would love some support from you, Dad, can you please encourage me, you know, tell me, I'm great. Like, give me compliments, whatever it is that you need. And there's no right or wrong here. But I do know that people like you and I Who are you know, have a tendency for perfectionism and want to be like, look like we have it all together all the time may struggle with asking for help and saying, you know, I actually need some support here.

Ale González 24:55

Yes. Yeah, of course definitely is something that I've been struggling with.

Martina Fink 25:01

Yeah, I understand

Ale González 25:02

No, no, just about the thing that you say like asking for her for help. It's so hard for me.

Martina Fink 25:10

Why?

Ale González 25:11

I don't know. It's just, I think the way you said it describes it perfectly, because you want to look like, like, everything's perfect even though you know, it's not asking for help. I don't know, sometimes I don't like to ask for help, because I don't like people to like to worry about me. Because I by always seem like, at the end, I'm not I know, I'm going to be okay. At the end, I know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna find a solution to this problem. Again, I'm not I'm gonna go through this by myself. But it doesn't have to be like that all the time. And that's why I think I, I have like issues like asking for help.

Martina Fink 25:58

Yeah. And we always do certain things, because we benefit from them in a certain way. So there is some sort of a benefit for you to not ask for help. Does that make sense? Like, there is something that you're getting out of this, that you're not asking for help? What do you think that is?

Ale González 26:18

I think it's like, proving myself that I can do anything by myself that I'm capable to do it without any help. And why is that important? Because of the thing that I told you before about, like feeling worthless or feeling bad? Everything I do is not it's not? It's not that it's not perfect, but I'm not. I'm never, I never feel ready. So I think that it's like something that I say to myself that, okay, prove to yourself that you can do that. And you're gonna like, feel like you are worth it or feel like you can do this or feel, I don't know, like this kind of feelings that are just like proving myself the other way around that. I feel sometimes.

Martina Fink 27:12

Yeah. And is it more about you feeling like, oh, now I've done this, now I feel worthy, or is it that now that you've done this, you get approval from other people? And other people are actually, like, proud of you and supportive?

Ale González 27:27

Well, not really, because when I go through things, most of the times I don't tell people anything. I'm like a very, not lonely person. But I like to keep my stuff to myself and the people that maybe my family, but not even then sometimes. So it's just that I know I'm capable of, but I don't even like, I think Yeah, sometimes I actually I actually looked for the approval of my dad, like I did this. So you can see now that I, I could do it. And I don't know I'm capable.

Martina Fink 27:59

What does it look like when he approves of you look like or feel like or?

Ale González 28:05

I have this feeling of? It's weird, because I know it. Like it shouldn't be like that, just like saying something. But it feels like, finally he had he sees me. Or he's not that he doesn't. But it's like this feeling like or he realizes that I'm capable of everything I want and he didn't think of.

Martina Fink 28:31

So almost like you have to prove to him that you are good enough.

Ale González 28:35

Exactly, yeah.

Martina Fink 28:37

Interesting. And I would love to go deeper into your relationship with your dad and kind of understand how that how it came to this point. Because I feel like there would be a lot more to uncover. But the thing I want to also bring to your awareness is that feeling of like you said, when you prove yourself that you're capable of doing something, then you feel worthy. So how I understand is that you connect your worthiness with your accomplishments. Would you say that this is true?

Ale González 29:09

Yeah.

Martina Fink 29:10

So in that case, you will only feel worthy of whatever work you're going to do with all these projects, once you accomplish them. And my question for you is, how can you feel worthy as you are right now?

Ale González 29:25

Well, as I said before, I've been working with this like, for like, almost four years. So I obviously I have some struggles that I need to work more on. But now, I mean, there that's a one part of me feeling worthy of accomplishing this part of my life. But now, like I feel worthy when I listen to myself when I give time to myself, when I take some time to feel what I'm feeling, and if I don't feel good, I like stop everything and I put myself first. That's how I feel feel worthy, like, these times?

Martina Fink 30:04

Beautiful? So are you only stopping and prioritizing yourself when you're not feeling quote unquote good? Or is that something that you do every day?

Ale González 30:14

It's something that I do every day, I try to do it every day, every morning, I, the first, probably one hour, two hours of the day, I gave those hours to myself. It's just the things I want to do. The things that make me feel good, and the things that are going to make me feel good through the day, like changing my mindset, or Yeah, doing all this, this kind of stuff that it's, it's good for me like, it's good to do it for myself.

Martina Fink 30:42

What do you think is really holding you back?

Ale González 30:44

with the business thing?

Martina Fink 30:48

Yeah.

Ale González 30:48

I think it's that that I, I know what it is, like, I started interior design. But then I love interior design, and I love doing that. But now my, the thing I want to do is completely different to that. And because I don't have like a career, or I didn't study that, like, professionally, I'm afraid that people are not going to work with me. But this is something that I tell to myself, every time I think of this and is like Yeah, well, you didn't go to university to study that. Would you have been studying it for four years because of your experience? So it's like, it's almost the four years of one career one, like going to university or whatever. So I think sometimes is that that I don't know, anywhere in the world is like the same, but here in my country is like you are worth your career, your car degree, everything. So that's probably somehow something that it's holding me back.

Martina Fink 31:52

Yeah, I understand that. And the question is, you know, are you just going to roll with it? And continue to tell yourself, you know, I know enough. And I know, I'm worthy. And I know I have the knowledge? Or are you going into the direction of you know, what, actually some sort of is certification, or course what really helped me, I'm sharing this because for me, when I first started, I was still a couple, many years ago, I was still doing makeup, I was teaching makeup courses, I was doing workshops, and talking all about beauty. And I started noticing that so many people needed more support with like confident things and inner things and, you know, lifestyle stuff, and not just beauty and makeup. And I didn't know, like I could have read all the books and all the things. But for me, it was like, I would love to actually learn how to be a proper coach and how to, you know, just have more knowledge. And I did that for myself, because I felt like if I can properly learn that it would be really good for me it was less for for me personally was less about having a certification that can prove to others that I did it. But I knew I had to take the certification for me because I knew that going through that it would give me a lot of confidence. And in that case, it was a it was a decision for me out of love knowing that when I do this, I will feel really good because I have the knowledge and my backpack, right? And so for you, my question would just be are you not doing anything? Like? Are you now starting career in that? Because you truly feel like you know enough? Or are you or would you just do it so that you can have some sort of a certification to prove to others that you have done this?

Ale González 33:36

I wouldn't do it for the second day. Like I wouldn't do it for the Yeah, like for other people to look at me and see Oh, and she has a degree, definitely. It's just black. So like I said, it's it was and it is because I wanna learn more to be better with me and with other people with me and my family and my friends because I wanna, like, I want to help and I want to bring this awareness into my life and try to help other people. So it's, it's also because I want to be a better person.

Martina Fink 34:11

So then why does it mean so much to you? what other people think that you don't have a career?

Ale González 34:18

I don't know. It's I think it's one belief that I have like really, really, really deep down in my body like attached there, that I need to let it out and let it go. And I because it's not working for me anymore.

Martina Fink 34:31

Yeah. How can you let that go?

Ale González 34:33

I think that just trusting in what I know now I'm telling myself that I can help people and keep learning and then help more people and keep learning. like not even like finished studying in a year or two years. Like, I really like learning about different topics and everything. So I think it's going to be a part of me that it's going to always They're like always taking courses, always learning something new. So I think just embracing that part.

Martina Fink 35:08

Yes. always learn new things. And you already know enough to. Yeah, I want you to repeat after me and then you finish the sentence, I want you to repeat, I am ready now to and then you start like whatever you're gonna say all the things you're ready for. Okay?

Ale González 35:23

Okay.

Martina Fink 35:24

Okay. I am ready now to,

Ale González 35:27

I am ready now to start a business where I can help other people to bring awareness into their lives, ready to help other people to feel good with themselves. I'm ready to let go everything but it's not helping me anymore. I'm ready to feel that I'm worth it. I'm ready to let know other people that I know enough to help them. I'm ready to start with this now.

Martina Fink 36:00

Amazing. How does that feel? Did it feel like you actually believed yourself?

Ale González 36:05

Yes.

Martina Fink 36:07

Amazing. So we have so many stories in our minds that we keep telling ourselves like, I'm not ready, I need to do X before I can do that. And in those moments, whenever these thoughts come up, because they will, I want you to tell yourself, I am ready now. And maybe you need some sort of like a post it note on your computer, on your bathroom mirror on the door that's behind you. And like you see it several times a day that you are ready now because it's a very typical thing for perfectionist to think I still need to do this before I can be ready, I still need to learn this before I can be ready. And so with that belief, you will never be ready because you're you believe you're not ready now. And so now is the only time we have. And when you can tell yourself, I am ready now. It is a really powerful thing.

Ale González 37:00

Yeah, for sure.

Martina Fink 37:01

The last thing I want to say to you, as someone who you know, has a certification and has worked with hundreds of people at this point. Nobody has ever asked me for it. Like literally nobody. And it is on my website. If you go look in detail, you will find it there. But people don't care about necessarily about what you have studied. They care about the energy that you emit. So I want you to embody what you teach, I want you to live what you teach, I want you to be a role model and live by example. So that it's no longer, you know, kind of us selling other people that you are doing home organizations, it is that they already know because they see it all over the place. Because that's who you are. It's not what you do. It's who you are. So the question and maybe that's like, my homework for you is to how can you embody everything that you teach? How can you be that instead of just do that as your job, and you might already be that, but you might not truly show that side of you.

Ale González 38:15

I mean, just I can be that reminding to myself every day, every morning, like I most of the times do, but there's like, there's something there that what I mean, like I'm capable. And I know like deep down. I know I'm capable, and I can help other people. But it's just like reminded me every day that as you say like, I'm worth it, I'm ready to do it. It's not that I'm going to stop here about why I've learned. But for now it's enough. And day by day, I'm going to keep studying more and more and more and more. But for now today, it is enough.

Martina Fink 38:56

Beautiful. Well done. What would you say is your biggest lesson from this session? Your biggest learning

Ale González 39:03

That I know that I have what I need already within me.

Martina Fink 39:09

Yeah. Beautiful. You absolutely have everything you need. You are so enough, you know everything you need to know. You just need to truly believe in yourself. And know that with every day that you're holding yourself back. You're not helping the people that actually need your help.

Ale González 39:30

Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Martina Fink 39:33

Thank you so much for being so brave and sharing so much of your personal life and experiences with us. I wish you all the best for your business. I'm so excited to see more of what you do and how you do it and who you are on on your social media in particular, which we will also link in the show notes. Is there any final words that you would like to say to everyone listening

Ale González 40:00

Well, first of all, thank you for having me. And thank you for all your comments and your questions and everything. And well, something that I would like to say to everyone is that I discover every day is the answer. You're looking for is already within you just need to look within.

Martina Fink 40:21

Beautiful, beautiful and take that advice for yourself and look for that answer with everything that you're struggling with in your business and just know that you're really the only person that can give you the answers. Thank you so much. I am so grateful to have had this conversation with LA and help her see that she is so enough and so ready and so worthy right now without another course another certification or having or needing to have more knowledge. If you are struggling with a similar situation where you're feeling overwhelmed where you're controlling or you're stressed out and you feel like you have a low self worth and some kind of negative self talk at times and are struggling with perfectionism. You really want to go grab your self care guide for perfectionist in the show notes below. If you need support with any of this please feel free to reach out to me for support you can reach me on instagram or facebook at Martina glows or if you are on my website we can also get in touch with the contact form it would mean the world to me if you left us a review for this episode if this has been helpful for you. And if it has inspired you to live in even more glowing life for yourself. Follow the glow life podcast on iTunes and Spotify and for everything we mentioned in today's episode, you can go check out the show notes at Martina Fink comm slash podcast slash 138. If there is a somebody that you absolutely love that really needs to listen to this episode, please forward it to them right now. Thank you so much for being here today and for caring for yourself so deeply because what you do for yourself is going to impact every single soul that you touch. You deserve to feel glowing and confident. Beautiful.


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All material in this episode is provided for your information only and may not be construed as medical advice or instruction. No action or inaction should be taken based solely on the contents of this podcast episode. Instead, readers should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to their health and well-being.

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#137 Self-Compassion for Perfectionists with Jessica Oschwald

 
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As a high achieving woman in today's western world, it is so easy to get sucked into the fast paced lifestyle of work, success, full schedules, and not much free time. This often results in you sleeping through the entire weekend, cancelling plans with friends, and feeling frustrated with yourself.

Jessica is one of my lovely clients who, over the past year, has implemented simple, but life-transforming changes in her lifestyle to quit overwhelm, raise her self-compassion, and put her own needs and desires first: to teach Yoga again.

Jessica Oschwald is a psychologist by training and a certified vinyasa Yoga teacher (350h). In 2018, she accomplished her PhD and subsequently a PostDoc at the University of Zurich, where she specialised in the cognitive neuroscience of healthy ageing. Today, she works as a data scientist in personalized healthcare and is based in London, UK.

Jessica shares her passion through The Mindful Lab, where it is her mission to make the ancient teachings of Yoga blended with insights from modern science accessible to everyone who wants to slow down, and live a more mindful and purposeful life.

IN TODAY’S EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:

  • How to not freak out when things don't go as planned

  • Why being part of a community helps you feel less alone

  • How to lower the expectations you have of yourself

  • How to meet new likeminded people while working from home

  • The key to being compassionate with yourself

  • How to put yourself first and not always be available for everyone and everything

  • Why you are in the right place right now

  • How to authentically be yourself again

And so much more!

Have you downloaded the free Self-Care Guide for Perfectionist? Click here to access it:
martinafink.lpages.co/perfectionist-bundle

EPISODE RESOURCES

Jessica's favorite Green Smoothie Recipe
Jessica on Pia's About the Details Podcast
Jessica's Rock the Weekend Yoga Class

CONNECT WITH JESSICA

http://themindful-lab.com
http://www.instagram.com/themindful_lab/

TODAY’S EPISODE TRANSCRIBED:

Martina Fink 0:00

This is episode number 137 with Jessica Oschwald. Welcome to the glow life podcast. The one and only place for ambitious, high achieving and perfectionist women like you who want to leave, overwhelm behind. Turn self doubt into self confidence and learn to trust yourself again, so that you can work less fully love and accept yourself and live a fulfilled and glowing life. Every week, I'll be giving you tips and inspiration on how to think less, feel more slow down can use your body and your daily habits to help you step up, level up and glow up in all areas of your life. This is not just about the big shifts, you can glow just a little more every single day.

Martina Fink 1:01

Welcome back to the glow life podcast. And today I have a glow tip for you that is all about checking in with yourself. One of the things we talked about in today's episode is overloading our schedules and having too many things and too many appointments and too many things that will lead we believe we have to do for others on our calendar. And I want you to make sure that you don't run into the same thing. And maybe you already are in that place where you are constantly over scheduling yourself and you end up feeling exhausted and tired on the weekend, then this is for you. So what I want you to do is ask yourself two questions. Question number one. First of all, you are going to open back up your calendar and you're gonna just take a look at what is in there, whether that's something you have in your computer, or you have it on your phone or you have it in your actual piece of paper agenda, whatever it is for you. Take a look at what is up for the week. What do you have scheduled for this week? Question number one, how does it feel? Do you already get a feeling of oh my goodness, I will never get to the end of this week. I'm already stressed out just by seeing all these appointments. Or does it feel like oh, this feels really good. I have enough time for myself. I'm going to get a massage. I have some time for self care. I'm talking to my friends. What is the number one a feeling that comes up when you look at your calendar? Second question for you is what can I change about this? What can I add to it? What can I cancel? For it to feel better? Right? So maybe if it's feeling overwhelming, what you have planned for the week, what can you change? What can you reschedule? What can you cancel? Where can you add in some time for you something where you can recharge something that nourishes you. If it feels like an empty, quote unquote, empty week, and it feels really good, then what else can you add to make you feel better? What else can you do to nourish yourself, or to help someone else or to strengthen your relationships? Okay, take a look at your calendar, see how it feels, and then see what you can change about it. Because the most important thing is that whatever the feeling you have, you get to own that and you get to take the responsibility for changing it. If it doesn't feel good. Nobody else can change it for you unless you do. And now I'm really excited to bring on Jessica who is one of my clients we've worked together for about a year now and Jessica is a psychologist by training and she's also a certified vinyasa yoga teacher. And in 2018 she accomplished her PhD and subsequently a postdoc at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, where she specialized in the cognitive neuroscience of healthy aging. Today, she works as a data scientist in personalized health care, and is based in London. Jessica shares her passion for healthy living and mindfulness in the yoga lab, where it is her mission to make the ancient teachings of yoga blended with insights from modern science accessible to everyone who wants to slow down and live a more mindful and purposeful life, aka the girl life. So in today's episode, we talk about how to not freak out when things don't go as planned. Why being part of a community helps you feel less alone. How to lower the expectations that you have of yourself How to meet new like minded people while working from home. The key to being compassionate with yourself, how to put yourself first and not always be available for everyone and everything. Why you are in the right place right now? And how to authentically Be yourself again, and so much more. And you can find everything we talked about today in the show notes at Martina Fink comm slash podcast slash 137. Welcome Jessica. I am so grateful to have you on the podcast today.

Jessica Oschwald 5:37

Hi, Martina, I'm so grateful to be here. Thank you for inviting me.

Martina Fink 5:43

We have been working together for about a year now i would say.

Jessica Oschwald 5:48

It's crazy. It's already a year, it seems like it was just yesterday.

Martina Fink 5:54

I know it's wild. And I remember kind of what your life looked like a year ago. And then you have been in a couple of my different programs. And we've worked on a lot of the perfectionist things for you as well. And the high expectations and the really, really busy life. But can you give us a short introduction around like what your lifestyle looked like a year ago?

Jessica Oschwald 6:17

So I remember that. I joined your first program. I think that was like a free program before COVID started. So my life looked completely different anyways,

Martina Fink 6:30

yes.

Jessica Oschwald 6:32

I can give you an idea. So I had just moved jobs, I had moved countries. So I had a big change. In my entire life. I moved from Switzerland to London, moved into a new flat started in you work and everything was so different. So I felt a bit lost. I remember. And I also had a lot of expectations how this time abroad should be. And then yeah, I wanted to do so many things in London. I mean, it's a really cool city, you you have so many options. But then the reality was that I commuted every day to work. And that took me I think in total, almost three hours. And then I was just tired. When I came home in the evenings, I cooked maybe sometimes I had takeout. But that's it. So my life looked a bit different than the expectations that I had. And I it was like a month of really intense of a really intense time where I actually felt quite overwhelmed by everything that was new around me. And then COVID hit. And I think that's the point where I then decided to join your programs more regularly. So I don't even remember what I what programs I joined. And where there were several. So I think it was cloaker foundations. But then also, I think very central for me was the perfectionist rehab program, which also really helped me to deal with those expectations.

Martina Fink 8:12

Yeah. So why are what are certain expectations that you had? You said, you had expectations of what this time should look like that you're abroad? What did these expectations look like?

Jessica Oschwald 8:24

Yeah, I think it was on one hand that I would meet so many new people. And I already had some friends who lived in London. So I had people around me, but it's not that easy to meet new people in a big city. And then I also didn't really feel like it. Because on the weekend I was tired. And then everything that I want to do if I want to go to dinner with a friend, I have to drive through the city for an hour or two. And it's so different than in Switzerland. So you don't just go to dinner or you just go to your yoga studio or to sports. It's all in whilst we have a lot of time. And in my mind, I would do go to theaters go to museums go to my yoga studio and whatever. But in reality, I've maybe did one of those things. And I think that's that's not a problem at all right, like now looking back. I think it was a great time. But I didn't really enjoy it as much as I could have.

Martina Fink 9:31

Yeah, and also what you mentioned about meeting new people, we have this illusion of how easy it would be to just meet new people and it will be so you know, fun and effortless but also like if we're honest or at our age and at our stage of personal development, it becomes more and more difficult to meet people that you actually align with because there's just so many people and then a big chunk of the majority of people They're not really self aware. They're just living like robots and machines, you know, just going to work just coming home sleeping, eating, working, repeating. Like, that's what I used to do. And I know that's what you used to do to like, just working like, that's all we do, right. And so it becomes more and more challenging to actually meet new people that you align with and that you love and that you can have deep conversations with, because your own expectations of what friendships should be have also changed.

Jessica Oschwald 10:31

Yeah, for sure. And you also have this expectation of friendship that you know, from, from the friends you maybe have over the years. And that's so different from new friendships that you form in a new country, where you're also just like learning how everything works. So it can be equally great, but it's just different. And so I think, yeah, my my expected, I think the problem was really like the expectations I had then didn't match my reality. And that made me feel lost, and also a bit disappointed sometimes of myself.

Martina Fink 11:08

Yeah, because you want something and you don't get it. like that. Nobody likes that.

Jessica Oschwald 11:11

Yeah. And it got worse when COVID started, obviously, because then I couldn't do any of those things anymore. And I asked myself, why did I even come here? Why, why? Why am I here? So I moved for a job. But now I'm working from home. And I think, yeah, now that I look back, I see it as it enormous opportunity. Because I had a year of time for self development, I actually met new people, maybe not in the way that I expected. But I met so many great women in your community as well, that I aligned with and that I still meet regularly, at least some of them and even with one with pa for example. I was on a podcast recently. So we created something together. So there are connections forming that, that our friendships, but also, you know, even more that, that you just get creative together. Yeah, before,

Martina Fink 12:12

it's so beautiful. And I I've experienced that myself in programs that I'm in and I was in that I connect with people on such a different level, because you are on a similar stage of your personal development of you know, you have similar ways that you view life. And it's one of the biggest parts of all of my programs is community. And I don't know, you can see my picture in the background. And my office is, it's like a group hug from one of my retreats. And it's one of my favorite picture. Because it's so special when we come together as women and we nurture each other, and hold the space for each other. And we show each other that we are there to support and also just there to listen. And besides like creating beautiful friendships, how has the community aspect of the programs that you were in specifically perfectionist rehab, how has that support at you in your on your journey,

Jessica Oschwald 13:14

I think that was a really big part of the journey, I can just compare it to the first program I joined with you that was, you know, less interactive, where we completed modules, or maybe we listen to some x, or we did some exercises like meditation. And that was really great as well. And it was an introduction for me. But then, really, like, the big difference in perfectionist rehab was that people were there to hold you accountable, but also to support you when you had a bad day. You can always ask someone a question. And you're you you're just never alone. So you're not alone on that journey. And that makes you so much more powerful. So I think it's it's like, for me, it's like, almost the biggest part of self development is is also sharing it with others. And that's something that that you wouldn't expect, because self development sounds like it's just centered on you. And you're just doing something on your own. But that's that's not really the case. I think it's really important to have a community of like minded women around.

Martina Fink 14:32

Yeah, I agree. And the the community aspect is so key because we always feel like with our suffering and with our pain and with our problems, we are the only one in the entire world and nobody will understand us. And then when you come into a program like rehab, where which is about perfectionism, so you have all other women who are struggling with the very same things like the things you mentioned, of being so exhausted on the weekend, and overworking yourself, and not having time to meet new friends and just being tired all the time, like you realize that you're not the only one and that there are so many other women who are going through the same thing. And that makes you empowered, and you're like, Oh, I'm not the only one. So that makes me feel like I belong to a group of women that are going through the same thing. And then together in this community, we can uplift each other, we always say like, we rise by lifting others. So as we lift others up, we ourselves can rise up to.

Jessica Oschwald 15:33

Yeah, I totally agree with that. I felt so many times that other women are actually sharing the same problem as me and I would have never expected that, like, often we just think we're alone. And we feel isolated with a problem. But actually, so many people are struggling with the same especially like with the, with this basically lifestyle that we all lead. I mean, that's just like a cultural thing as well. It's, it's something that we just live in, and it's really hard to, to like, be apart from it and not be influenced, like drawn into it too much. So if you just like work a nine to five job, you, you're oftentimes just you get stressed, and you feel overwhelmed. So so many people struggle with that. But the good thing is to know that, that doesn't have to be your real reality, you can step out of it.

Martina Fink 16:33

Absolutely. And it's harder to do that and don't want to say it's hard, because then we make it hard. But it is it is it takes a decision first. And it takes the realization that you are in control of what you create with your life and what you do with your life and how you spend your time. I always say we all have 24 hours and Person A might choose to spend 12 of these hours at work every day. Person B might choose to spend that Saturday morning working right? Person c might choose not to work past 6pm, person D might choose to take all weekends off or take like, you know, go on vacation every month or something like that. And, and you get to choose what you create. And the first step is always stepping out of this, oh, this is just what it is kind of victim mindset of like, this is our society. This is what successful women do. Like we just work hard, we make money we are like we can multitask. We can have a family and a career. Like we just kind of subscribe to these expectations. And we can just hit the unsubscribe button and say, You know what, this is not what I want to do I want I want a different reality. And I want to what I call the glowing life, I want to create that glow for myself and I own it. And a part of the ownership a part of the responsibility means that I have to accept that what I'm doing now is is not good.

Jessica Oschwald 18:07

Yeah, that's hard. I feel that's really hard. Because it's so much easier to blame. blame your stress on others, like typically we blame it on our work. We're just like, Okay, I'm so busy, I have so many tasks to do. But in reality, everyone is probably busy in your team. And if you look at people working with you, not everyone is stressed in the same way. So it is really a personal decision. And if you look at your life, you're probably doing many things that are not that enjoyable, but you just do them to please someone that is what I saw in in perfectionist rehab, a prog problem that many perfectionist and also myself a struggle with that you just feel like you want to accommodate everyone and you. And it's it's something that you feel it's a good thing, right? You're nice. But in the end, it can happen that you forget about yourself. And you just like get into all these things that you do on a daily basis. And maybe that wouldn't even be necessary, if you would ask for help. But it's hard to to do that to do that step.

Martina Fink 19:20

Yeah. And often when we please others, we do that at the expense of our own happiness. And well being right we overwork ourselves so that something at work gets finished. That means I am doing that but I'm cutting back on my sleep which is then harming me. So that's really where the whole like loving yourself piece comes in. of Am I doing something at the expense of my own peace and well being? Or am I doing something because I truly love and it's also nourishing for me.

Jessica Oschwald 19:54

Yeah, totally.

Martina Fink 19:57

I would love to know a little more about your life. Today, to how you like kind of like what your day to day looks like how you feel, what has changed in the past year for you?

Jessica Oschwald 20:10

Well, a lot has changed, actually. And I think, on a daily basis, I don't realize that but yeah, when I look back, and I really think about it, also now talking about how my life looked like a year ago, a lot has changed. And I think it's, it's more on the inside, even than on the outside. So, I mean, what has changed is that I actually started to teach yoga again, I'm a certified yoga teacher. Besides my job, I, I always was very, you know, in the yoga scene, and I loved to do yoga, because it was such a balance for me next to my very rational job being in science. And I used to teach yoga when I when I lived in Switzerland, just like one class a week. But when I moved countries, I gave that up. And I realized that this was a key factor. For me, this gave me so much and balanced, rational person that I am maybe on a daily basis, and had like, it just gives me this intuitive balance back. And I didn't know how to teach when I don't have a client basis. So actually, also through working with you, I got inspired to to start that passion again. And I started my own website, called the mindful lab and started to teach yoga class each week. The Rock the weekend yoga class. So that is really something that makes me super happy now and it gives me so much I love working with clients and, and teaching yoga and see how I can contribute that others feel a bit less stressed in their everyday life and more balanced as well. Hmm. So that's one thing that is a huge part for me.

Martina Fink 22:15

And I want to say your your your rock the weekend, yoga classes are so fun, because you have like your own style, and you have really fun, uplifting music. And I love the kind of vibe that you create. And we are totally linking everything in the show notes. Everyone wants a Saturday morning. Beautiful yoga class with Jessica, go check that out.

Jessica Oschwald 22:41

Thank you. So yeah, besides that, I think as I said, the change is more on the inside. So I feel that I am just in general, I'm more compassionate with myself. And more loving So I love that you What do you always say like that you should do things out of love and not out of fear. That little sentence helped me a lot. So I try to really think of that in my everyday life. It doesn't always work out. I mean, it's it's a journey. So I don't feel like I'm My life is now perfect. But it just helps me to bounce back when I'm in a situation where I stress myself by setting high expectations. And maybe I feel like I need to finish this work today. But it could be that I can also finish it another day. So I just tried to step back in such situations and tell myself, it's okay, you're doing your best and that's fine. It's enough. And, and actually it is most of the time. So that is a huge step, I think a huge change for me. And then yeah, I also started having a regular morning routine again. So that is something I used to have. But somehow with all the moving I just completely lost that. So I started doing yoga again in the morning. And my routine is not super long or anything but it's just consistent and sometimes I also change what I do, but I know that I get up like half an hour or sometimes even just 15 minutes earlier at a yoga or meditation. Or I go for a walk to some journaling, whatever I feel like that day and it's really like a game changer. I feel that really sets you up for for an entire day. Absolutely.

Martina Fink 24:49

I recently have to go to the grocery store and then early morning like nine o'clock or something for me, like I literally woke up went to the grocery store. I came home feeling so stressed out, because there were all these people. And I didn't do my morning practice before. But I'm just saying this because the most important relationship is the one that we have with ourselves. And when we don't create the time and space for that, what happens is that we start relating to all kinds of other people, and that affect the relation effects and relationship that we have with ourselves. And so I'm so happy you got back into it. And I just want to say, just like you said, it's not about how long it is, it's not about the longer the better. It's just about the consistency and consistently showing up for yourself, which then the fact that you did that resulted in you being more compassionate in your everyday life, like in something that's related to work, it's not because your work ethic has changed or anything like that. It's because of the relationship that you have started establishing with yourself with those tiny chunks of time on a daily basis.

Jessica Oschwald 26:00

Yeah, totally. Yeah, this whole aspect of being compassionate with myself. It also shows for example, in the morning routine. So as an example, I think it was two days ago, I really woke up and I didn't feel well, so I was super sleepy, and I could have stayed in bed forever. I think we all have those days. So called being compassionate with myself was then not getting up and doing my 15 minutes, sweaty yoga routine. But I rolled out of bed and I took my blanket, wrapped it around me and just did a meditation of 10 minutes. And that's it. That was my morning routine. So it's viewed, I think being compassionate is also being flexible, and adjusting to the situation because you can't always be perfect. That was something I used to have before also like having high expectations of always having to do yoga in the morning for so and so long. Because I'm a yoga teacher, right? So I should do that. But yeah, who tells you that you used to do that.

Martina Fink 27:08

And I love that you've you've learned to listen to your body and listen to what it means whether that's a meditation and you're tired, whether that's a sweaty yoga session, like you know what's best for you. And that requires some radical honesty, because you have to break those expectations that you thought you needed to meet. Yeah, was there I would love to hear if there was any specific situation that you came across in the past few weeks, where you notice, oh, I'm actually reacting differently to this than I used to in the past?

Jessica Oschwald 27:44

Yeah, that's a good question. I think there were many situations, I'm just trying to think of like a specific one. One example was maybe when I talked Well, when I had set up a call with a friend. And usually, like, I'm very committed to the things I say that I will do. So usually, then I show up, despite maybe feeling tired or anything. So you know, life is always a bit different. And you plan so and I remember on that day, just so many things came in between. and I felt like I just I just really feel not don't feel like having another call. I mean, you're on zoom calls all day now. And sometimes I'm just overwhelmed by this. And so I asked to shift that call. It sounds like a very simple thing to do. But it is for me a big step. Because it's a bit it's a different reaction. I think normally I would be like, hey, it's just a phone call, you can do this. And I would push myself. But that way, I'm not serving myself. And I'm not serving my friend either. Because who wants to talk to someone who is tired, who doesn't really want to listen to you? It's just but I feel that yeah, it's something I used to do more often in the past, just like pushing myself to do things, maybe also go on appointments, that I didn't feel like, and it was not about the person I was meeting It was really more I was just tired. Um, and now I do that more often that I take a step back first and think about Do I really feel like going? Yeah, I allow myself to, to also shift appointments.

Martina Fink 29:36

Yeah. And really the people that we love, they deserve us in our best shape like we want when we meet them. We want to be there for them. We want to be present. We want to listen, we want to support right? We don't want to come with like 10% of our energy left. That would be so unfair.

Jessica Oschwald 29:53

Yeah, I totally agree. And, and that is, I think it's something many people struggle with actually I think it is. It is Kind of an expectation we all have of each other that we are 100% available all the time on our phones, like always texting back, always being available to call always being available to meet up. And just saying I am tired today, it's not really an accepted excuse. Right? Like many people feel like I can't say that I need to come up with something else, like something came in between. But I think it's a really good excuse, because that means you love your respect and love the other person as well, because you want to give them your full attention.

Martina Fink 30:38

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I would love to know from you how you define your glowing life?

Jessica Oschwald 30:45

I think I would say two things. One is definitely really taking care of myself of my body. So I like to move my body every day in some way. It doesn't have to be crazy. I like to eat healthy. So recently, I've gotten addicted to green smoothies. Yes. addiction, inspired by you actually. I kind of stopped doing that for a while. And then I think on a more Maybe, yeah, like spiritual or psychological level, just being true to yourself. Yeah, stepping up for yourself as much as you can. And sometimes you it's not possible. But I'm working on that is for me, really a glowing life. So I feel like when you can really be yourself in any situation, then that really means happiness.

Martina Fink 31:48

I agree. And it's so interesting how you say, like several things that you've mentioned in this episode is that you used to do that in the past, and then you stopped. And yeah, I'm assuming you stopped because work got in the way. And like, there, it was just so busy and so much pressure. And, and I'm so happy to hear that you got all these things back into place, like your morning routine here smoothies, that Yoga is part of your life that you're teaching it like, that's really what we're trying to do. And in perfections rehab is like getting at getting you out of this life where you are doing things for others or because you believe you have to or because there is expectations and really bringing you back into the place where you are just you like where you are just almost like that younger version of you that was so happy and playful. And you know, just did all the things that she loved and like getting you back into that state.

Jessica Oschwald 32:43

Yeah, it's it's good that you mentioned the younger version of you. Because I think that is also something I connected more with in the past year, just because we had more time as well to, to spend by ourselves. So I started doing things again, I love to do as a child. And that was also, for example, I always love to write, I used to write stories. And now I don't really write stories anymore. But I love journaling. And I love to write blog posts, which I do now on my website. So if I just started doing, again, what I love. And I don't know why, you know, sometimes life gets in the way, and you stop doing that as you grow up. But the important thing is you can always pick that back up, no matter how old you are. Yeah,

Martina Fink 33:39

I think the reason why we forget it is because we're so busy in this hamster wheel that's just turning and turning and turning. And we don't take those five minutes a day to check in with ourselves to actually ask ourselves, how am I feeling? How am I feeling about the work that I'm doing? How am I feeling about the people I'm with, we're not checking in, we're just kind of on the treadmill going, going going never stops, right? And then you don't have time to actually think about it. And specifically today with like social media and phones and notifications and emails and computers and all of that we're bombarded with information from the outside. So it becomes more and more difficult to actually find that peace within. And just be quiet to listen because there's so much noise in the outside, going on.

Jessica Oschwald 34:27

Yeah, and we we somehow don't feel comfortable anymore to stop. I realized that it's scary. That's an addiction, you know that you're always entertained. I see that myself like, it's, it's really nice to just look into your phone when you're bored. If it's something really calming, but that's not great because you never get the space to actually be bored and just be silent. And that's the time where you are most inspired and where you actually can connect to yourself. So I think by like, by connecting to our phones, and by being connected all the time, it's like we're disconnecting from ourselves.

Martina Fink 35:10

Absolutely. And the word inspired comes from in spirit. So like, when we take when we are inspired, it's because our, it's almost like our spirit guides or higher self, whatever is coming through. But when we don't take that time, we cannot be inspired. Like, there's absolutely no way that you can be inspired by spending five hours on your phone every day, unless you actually do something that connects you with your soul and your spirit. But um, that's really interesting. And we need to connect more with ourselves and not so much with all these other people.

Jessica Oschwald 35:47

Yeah, tell me. And I think many people have done that. This year. Yeah. Talking to others, I often hear that they discovered something they love doing. So I think it's a great opportunity. Of course, I also hope that we can soon travel again and, and go to restaurants and bars. But you know, I think it also had like a good side.

Martina Fink 36:11

Yeah. And it's because we perceive to have more time, most people are like, Oh, now I have more time, because I'm working from home. Now I can actually do the things but it's really just a matter, it was probably a matter of a couple of weeks. And they were back in their routines of like not having time because of the mindset of I never have time for the things I love. And so for those of you listening, who have been able to connect with something that you love in the past year, make sure that now that's were opening back up and travel will start again and restaurants are open, like make sure that you keep that connection, because it will be so easy to snap back out of it and be back in your old habits. And it's a gift that we've been able to have so much more time for ourselves because of people not having to commute for example.

Jessica Oschwald 37:02

Yeah. I mean, for everyone who is working a home office job like me, of course, I know that, you know, everyone in the health care sector, working at the front has had a really hard time. So I'm just speaking like for people like me, of course who were privileged enough to stay at home.

Martina Fink 37:22

Yes, yes. Now I have a couple quick questions before we wrap up, Jessica. What is your favorite smoothie?

Jessica Oschwald 37:32

That's easy. I love green smoothies. Yeah, usually I just, I actually just put up a blog post today on my favorite smoothie recipe and it overlaps very much with with your green smoothie recipe I realized just that I like I usually don't. I really add a lot of greens. I'm not sure if that is everyone's taste, but I usually add like spinach and cucumber, and different Herbes ginger, some water, and then only a little bit of fruit, maybe like a bit of apple or some other fruit. Whatever sweet fruit you have around.

Martina Fink 38:19

And we will link your smoothie in the in the show notes. And I mean, I did not invent the green smoothie at all.

Jessica Oschwald 38:28

No, but I find it so funny, you know, because it is. You see so many recipes out there. Sometimes I get confused. And I actually I feel like I've developed this one over over time. Because I feel like it needs to be easy. And you need to have the ingredients at home. And sometimes those smoothies have stuff that you just don't find. So I think it is like a practical smoothie recipe. So I found it funny that we actually use similar.

Martina Fink 38:58

Yeah, yeah. simple and quick, for sure. What are three things that you are grateful for today, Jessica?

Jessica Oschwald 39:08

Um, three things. So one is for sure to be on your podcast. I feel really honored. After working with you. For this past year. I, of course, also listen to the podcast and I've been really enjoying it. So it's a pleasure to be here. And then. Yeah, the other one is really being part of an amazing community of women who are smart and creative, inspired. I think it doesn't really matter whether you're living at the same place anymore. No, you can also connect across the world. Yeah. So I'm really grateful for that too. And the last one I would say that I'm healthy. That's something I'm really grateful for. Yeah,

Martina Fink 40:08

Our health is our most important asset. And you're doing so much to take care of it. So beautiful. Now, if somebody is considering joining perfectionist rehab and diving into releasing those high expectations and the overwhelming distress from their everyday lives, and constant people pleasing, what would you tell them?

Jessica Oschwald 40:30

I would tell them that they shouldn't wait until the time is right, because that's what I used to do. Like, I used to follow different online programs and thought that I may sign up at some point. But when I'm ready, and you're never perfectly ready, You're ready right now. So you should just do it now. and invest in yourself because you are worthy to take care of yourself. And, yeah, go for it.

Martina Fink 41:02

Yeah, I am ready now used to be an affirmation that I needed to tell myself too, because I too was waiting for like, the right time and the right moment, and everything needed to align, but just not now. Because now is not the right time because of this, this and this. But um, yeah, I love that you mentioned that. Is there anything else that you would like to share with our listeners today?

Jessica Oschwald 41:25

The the message that wherever you are at right now, it's, it's the perfect place to be. I used to ask myself a lot like why have I not come farther than I am? Or why didn't I do this? Or that? I think everyone asks themselves these questions, especially perfectionist. Yeah. So I just want to tell you, you're right, where you where you're supposed to be

Martina Fink 41:56

So beautiful. Yeah, it's all about being present and not so much in the past or in the future I should have or I should, that just causes more frustration and expectation. So I love that you share that. Where can people find you online.

Jessica Oschwald 42:12

So on my Instagram, it's the mindful underscore lab. And my website is the mindful, that lab.com

Martina Fink 42:28

Beautiful. And we will share the links in the show notes as well. So everyone go check out Jessica and her beautiful rock the weekend yoga class. Thank you so much for being here, Jessica. And for sharing your experience. I'm just, I'm so grateful for you for doing this cert for being on this journey for yourself and for your willingness to share it with others because, you know, I can talk about my programs and the experiences for so long. But it doesn't always click for people until they actually hear from a quote unquote, real woman, how much is actually possible. And I am so grateful that you shared your experience with everyone today, and you were vulnerable and courageous enough to come on to the podcast and share about yourself in your your life.

Jessica Oschwald 43:18

Thank you, Martina. I'm also very grateful for your coaching over the past year, and I wouldn't be here if I don't believe in it. And I thought, you know, the effects. And I feel like it's not easy to be vulnerable on a podcast, but I'm here because I feel that others need to hear it as well. So

Martina Fink 43:40

I just got a full guy full body goosebumps. And that's when you become a leader when you step up, and you're like, you know what, I'm scared, but I'm doing this for you. I'm doing this if I can even just help one person, then I can put my fears aside.

Jessica Oschwald 43:56

Exactly. So we should all inspire others to

Martina Fink 44:01

and get out of our own way. Yeah. I am so grateful to have Jessica in my community of wonderful clients. And you know, this is also a space for me to connect with like minded women. And for me to feel like I'm I belong to a group of wonderful women that are interested in the same topic said I am interested in and I love that. And it's been so beautiful to see her become herself again through these simple but consistent lifestyle changes that she's implemented over the years and that she is now able to share her gifts with others through her classes. The glow life All I can say like a little life if you're struggling with exhaustion and high levels of stress and high expectations, and perfectionism just like Jessica and myself used to. I actually have a free self care guide for perfectionists in the show notes that will help you with my top three steps to quit all of that and take the first step towards your own glowing life. If you are someone who is absolutely ready to tackle perfectionism, then I invite you to learn more about perfectionist rehab, which is a 90 day healing journey out of overwhelm into a peaceful, fulfilled and glowing life. The link to learn more is on my website Martina Fink comm forward slash rehab and you can also find it in the show notes. If this episode was in any way helpful for you and inspires you to live in even more glowing life, it would mean so much to me. If you left us a review for this episode, follow the good life podcast on iTunes and Spotify and for everything that we mentioned in today's episode, you can go check out the show notes at Martina Fink comm slash podcast slash 137. If there's anyone in your life that really needs to hear about Jessica's story, or even just needs to try her yoga class, please forward it to them right now. I would love to connect with you on social media you can find me at Martina glows. If you love this podcast. Please let me know I would love to hear from you. Thank you so much for being here today and for caring for yourself so deeply. Because what you do for yourself is going to impact every single soul that you touch. You deserve to feel glowing and confident. Beautiful.


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All material in this episode is provided for your information only and may not be construed as medical advice or instruction. No action or inaction should be taken based solely on the contents of this podcast episode. Instead, readers should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to their health and well-being.

The information and opinions expressed here are believed to be accurate, based on the best judgement available to the speakers, and readers and listeners who fail to consult with appropriate health authorities assume the risk of any injuries. In addition, the information and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of every contributor. The Company acknowledges occasional differences in opinion and welcomes the exchange of different viewpoints.