EP 58: HEALING STARTS WHEN YOUR BODY FEELS SAFE

Why Perfect Can Hide Pain

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back to Not Alone with Melissa Sue, where we share stories of truth, healing, hope, resilience, and allowing a safe place to remove the mask we often wear. Today's episode is for all the women that seem to have it all together, but inside we're falling apart. And I know this all too well because for a very long time I hid behind the smile, just like my first book, The Truth Behind the Smiles, we looked picture perfect. Husband, wife, two kids, boy and a girl, beautiful home, a dental office. We travel, we had wonderful friends and community. But inside we were breaking. So this is for the women listening right now, where this is going to be important tools that you're going to learn for yourself, for your family, because I do honestly believe that women are the heart of the family. Either if you're a grandma, you're a daughter, you are a wife, a mother, each role is kind of the heart of the family. And taking care of us has not been generationally, generationally something that was taught. We were taught to give and give and give. And we love giving because we love to give love, but oftentimes we don't love ourselves enough. We critique ourselves so much. We compare ourselves so much and the way we talk to our bodies. So today I'm honored to have a dear friend and fellow author, Kristen Merwin, here today to share her wisdom as a mother and now grandmother. Yes. And just uh I just can't wait to share all your wisdom through your work, your books, and your journey.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.

How A Sedona Retreat Helped

SPEAKER_00 2:05

Yes, I'm excited too. And I would like to start as to, I actually we should probably mention that how we met, which is so I love how God works because I moved to Arizona after my husband passes, and I feel called to do like a little retreat, a little getaway for myself, which I haven't done ever. And I felt so much guilt because my kids had separation and anxiety from losing their dad. But I find this woman who's gonna be doing this grieving kind of healing retreat up in Sedona. And I was like, I need to go. I need to go and do this. And you were there. I was there with my sister. I know you were there. And there was only maybe six of us.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

It was so small.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

Yeah, it was small, but I loved that.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

And it was a last minute decision. Yes. My sister was coming into town and I was like, let's do this. I love just a few days, and we jumped in.

The Waffle Incident Wake Up

SPEAKER_00 3:04

And that's the first time I met you. And I remember just in those three, four days that we were there, how much more peace I was at when I showed up back home. I was calmer, and it was so powerful. So I knew I needed to keep doing this time for myself and how important it was because I was showing up at home, the mom I always wish I wanted to be. Right. So I I'd love to share for you where in your life, what's the timing where you knew I've got to make some changes here? And where you started really, I need to start working on myself, or I know you started going to different retreats and you felt the need to kind of get away.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

The retreats came a lot later because my kids were so little and my husband was building a business and I really couldn't get away. Um, I like to call it the great waffle incident in aisle six in the book, I think is what it's called, where I just had a complete meltdown about the waffles my kids liked. They weren't in stock, and I was like, oh my gosh. It was it was the buildup of everything. Um, my phone, the text messages were going off the hook. I had a to-do list a mile long. I had just finished parent-teacher conferences. I had been feeling exhausted for a really long time and been to the doctor even, and everything was okay. So I was like, I don't know what's wrong with me. Um it is a funny story, but yeah, I was getting waffles at the grocery store, and I could just feel when they were not in stock, my eyes filling up with tears burning, like thinking it is not supposed to be this heavy, right? What is happening inside of me? And it was shortly after that that I got an email about um some coaching certifications that were, it was a coaching institute that was opening up and everything that they were promising with ways to regulate your nervous system. I didn't even, I had never heard of a nervous system before. And I liked that it was also a body-based somatic approach and not just about your mindset. And so I started learning, and that's when I decided to go to a life coach. I had never had any sort of coaching or therapy or anything. That opened me up to EMDR with a therapist where I could understand why my body was signaling what it was with anxiety and with the sadness and the heaviness that I felt. I always just pushed it away because I thought I have everything. Why would I ever be sad? Why would I have desire yourself?

SPEAKER_00 6:01

You're like, oh, okay, beautiful woman, you have your kids, a house, a home. So why should I be feeling this way?

SPEAKER_01 6:08

And so much guilt about that. Because then I didn't know that you could hold both. I didn't know that you could be so grateful and also sad, or that you could be so in love with your family and your life and also have crippling anxiety. I always lived my life in black and white, and understanding the way that the nervous system works and looking at what my reactions were about and what was underneath of them really is what led to my freedom.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

So, what did you learn? Like, because we were not given those tools about the nervous system, right? Same with me. I was never taught, well, protect your nervous system, protect your energy, and do some breath work, do some meditation. You know, that was not taught at a young age, and there's no fault to our parents because that wasn't taught to them either. But now we're realizing how crucial that is for our life, for vitality, and for our systems to work properly.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

It's a game changer. It is when you understand that, and also removing the shame from that because I thought it meant I didn't have enough faith, you know, or gratitude, like I was saying. But what I understood that our bodies are meant to react, we're not meant to be at this perfectly regulated state all of the time, right? And I was afraid of my reactions and some of my emotions. So I would just look away from it. I would look away from them, I would push them down, I made them wrong. And when I understood that it was completely safe to look within myself, okay, what is this reaction about? Not only what is it about, but what is underneath of it? Maybe when is the first time that I felt that? And is my reaction in this moment truly about the moment, or is it about the waffles?

SPEAKER_00 8:10

Like what you know. Is it truly about the waffles? Right.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

And most of us are self-aware enough to be like, uh, I don't think it's about the waffles.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

And when so when I wrote the book, wrote my book, Sacred Return, I wrote a six-part practice. Um return is the practice. And it brings a woman back to herself in those moments. And it takes all of the certifications um with as a brain practitioner and multiple brain integration and the wellness academy, and what I have learned, and it puts it into a six-part practice that helps a woman not only see what she's experiencing, but what's underneath of it and how to come back to herself.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

Okay, so almost a like repattering and like bringing awareness, first of all, right? Bringing awareness and releasing that shame. And then so they can allow to process it. Totally. And and know what triggers it probably as well, right?

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Absolutely. And one of the biggest, um, one of the biggest things that I talk to women about, they they say, I don't even know how to feel my feelings anymore. And they get kind of angry about it because they're like, I I don't know what that means or even where to start because I haven't gone there for so long. And this is really such a beautiful, easy practice that you can learn and help you to disconnect from all of that shame and understand that your body's doing what it's supposed to be doing.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

Yes, yes, because the nervous system is that's what's up. Yes, it's supposed to be doing this. It's supposed to be even, you know, when you're constantly doing the grind, the busyness that we've been taught that productivity is the way to go and stay busy. And when you're slow down, you're not productive like the person beside you. You know, you got to keep grinding to achieve wealth and abundance and and perfectionism, right? Really, right? And as a family, so your your body just gets accustomed to that. And then what happens in the family, it's called mirror neurons. Your kids will start mirroring your nervous system because that's what your nervous system is trained to do, right? Is to mirror the nervous system you're uh surrounded by.

SPEAKER_01 10:35

Co-regulating.

SPEAKER_00 10:36

Co-regulating.

SPEAKER_01 10:36

Totally is huge, it's huge.

The Return Practice Step By Step

SPEAKER_00 10:39

So for you, can you explain? I know you the steps a little bit of your program just to kind of give a visual as to what it is. Does it incorporate some breath or visual visualizations or uh just to give an idea for women if they feel this would resonate for them?

SPEAKER_01 10:57

Yes. Um, so R of return is recognize. So the very first step is where am I feeling this in my body? And sometimes it's a tight throat, it's a a heavy heaviness in our chest or in our gut. Um, and we attach no story, nothing to it. All we want to know is where it is in our body. The next is um we empathize the E. And so, okay, of course I would feel scared or anxiety about X, Y, Z, right? We're we're just bringing in compassion because we're never going to shame ourselves into different behavior. There, I truly believe there has to be love and compassion there first. So the next part is the truth. And we just look at okay, what is the truth and what is my story in this? Not story as if I'm making something up, but just the facts, because we can make so many stories about what's actually happening. Like we're late to our kids' baseball practice. The story could be, oh, I'm a terrible mom, right? But that's not actually what we're talking about. That's not the truth of it. It's a story. Um, the next part is the you and its untangle. And so that's where we really look at, okay, where where is the first time that I have felt like I am falling behind, or that I am a bad mom, a bad daughter, a bad. So when you've done the steps previous to this, I have I'm always so surprised how quickly it comes that the woman is able to see what the what's underneath of it when she's followed those other practices. And then we have the R, and that's re it's reclaim. Um what is it that we want to look like? What that we want this situation to look like. And sometimes there's repair in there as well. So as a mom, does that look like going back to my child and saying, I missed it? I I wish that I would have reacted in a different way or responded differently. And the last part is uh next step, and that is the nervous system. And it looks like doing, I have in my book ways, quick ways to find regulation with our nervous system and take the next step because it's so easy for women to get stuck in the shame or overwhelm of it. And so we just take one next step.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

Yeah, well, this is so powerful. As you're explaining this whole program, I feel this is so needed for so many. I mean, I can't help but walk around now and see the world in a nervous system lens. Totally. That's how I see the world. When I'm in a dental office, I see it, the effects in the mouth, I see it with mothers, I see it with everyone, my children. And your steps are so well played out. I mean, they're they really are, especially because here's what I found. If the person doesn't find safety first, like you said, love, right? Compassion, they won't be ready for that next step, the truth. That's why I find because it's will overwhelm them, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:29

Totally.

Parenting Through Co Regulation

SPEAKER_00 14:29

And they won't want to see it, almost block it out. Freeze, freeze, their nervous system is in a freeze. Yeah, because their nervous system will be like, no, no, no, I can't see that. I it's just too much. So bringing in that softness, that safety first, that self-love, that they can now see the truth and they can handle to see it. Yes, with compassion, compassionate love, compassionate eyes and love. And that is so such an important people think might think of all this very simple, but it's so crucial and vital for our health nervous system. You cannot heal, you cannot repair in a sympathetic nervous system. So this kind of work is is is vital for our health, for our longevity, for our children. So for you to incorporate that program each step, it's so well thought out. Thank you. And I know you know you've prayed over uh we were on Rider's Island together. And you for yourself have lived this.

SPEAKER_01 15:39

I truly have. These are the, I mean, this is a practice that I've been doing since I uh was certified under Dr. Shafali for conscious parenting. And what I learned from her completely changed the trajectory of motherhood for me. I thought that I well, I thought I was failing, first of all, but I thought that if I could just react like this or do this or, you know, manipulate this, that then things would turn around. Then I could, and what I could see and what I learned from Dr. Shafali is our children have come to us as they are, and that is so beautiful. And we can look and see, we can look at them as our greatest teachers and understand the reactions that we are having towards them almost never have to do with them. Yes, it is a mirror, a mirroring back all injured. Oh, it's the worst.

SPEAKER_00 16:41

It's like, oh, it's the worst.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

It was my it was my mirror. Totally. Yes. And by doing her, what what I learned from her changed the relationships that I had with my children because it gave me sovereign responsibility for myself. And then I could see their their gifts even more clearly, and I could love them in such a such a beautiful way that was not a reflection of me.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

Yeah, I've noticed that myself because uh, you know, as life was so overwhelming before in Alaska, I was very much sometimes when I'm really tired reactive, you know, the screaming and the yelling and not the mother I wanted to be. And then there's that shame. And then I'm like, of course you mentioned I'm failing. Uh my biggest gift is being a mother, and I love being a mother. And then when I was feeling like I'm failing, oh my gosh, I hated myself so much. Right. And I beat myself down for it. And and and then I I would wonder, like, why? Why do I get to that point? Yes. You know, I realized, yes, I'm tired and overwhelmed, but I didn't realize the nervous system part of it, what was affecting my nervous system on a daily basis. Right. And so we don't realize that now, okay, yeah, our 5Gs, our environments uh affect uh the noise. Like for me in a dental office, the sonic noises and uh the sounds that are around us, the lighting, all of that plays a role. So, what are we doing on a daily basis to recalibrate our nervous system so that we can show up as the mom that we the person we want to be? Right. And because yeah, when you're shown that mirror, for example, for a while, my daughter, yeah, the the explosions, the anger, and I think I couldn't be that safe, calm place when she was so reactive like that because my nervous system was overwhelmed. So then it was two fires together, right? You know, and then it was made me sad because we had such a beautiful relationship. And when it gets like that, it's like, oh my gosh, I couldn't figure it out. Like, and oftentimes here as a parent, you're like, how do I fix my child? Right, right. We start there, of course. That's so much easier. Yes, yeah. There's something wrong with them. Let's fix this. Let's fix them, let's go find all the specialists for them, let's go do all the things where a lot of times it needs to start with us. And because they co-regulate, right? And that's a hard one to swallow, right? That's hardly it's a hard one to be like, oh, I'm impacting my family more than I I ever imagined.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

We're not taught that. No. So it discipline looks a lot different when a mother is willing to look within herself and ask, okay, what is this bringing up in me?

SPEAKER_00 19:39

Yes. And it could be old triggers, like it could be Melissa, that seven-year-old running the show.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

If it's hysterical, it's historical. Okay. Is what I learned in hypnotherapy. And so if we ever have a reaction that does not meet the situation that's in front of us, you can bet that it is bringing up something from a very long time ago.

SPEAKER_00 20:02

A very long time ago. And so, how would you address that as a mom? The address what's running the show, that little girl, right? That little girl.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

The return practice is a beautiful place to start. And I don't like to use it as like a to-do list or anything like that. It's just a guide to come back to yourself. Yes. And what was your question?

SPEAKER_00 20:26

Well, it's like what for going back to that little girl running the show, you're saying with your program, you do address those because you're you're bringing awareness to those triggers. Right. Right. So through your program, you are addressing because oftentimes we don't even realize that young girl, that young boy, but right now we're talking about women, is running the show because that's where the what kept us safe back then as a survival is running the show later on in our adulthood until we become aware of it.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

So when I when I hear you say that, I believe that reparenting is what we offer to the the child that is trying to run the show. And I don't think that they're I think that when they show themselves like that, and I don't like using that because then people are like, oh, you know, misunderstand what you're saying, yes. But when there is that reaction, if we can turn towards that need, because that's what that is, it's a need. Um, for example, if let's say there is a mom that is getting really upset about uh what something mis I burn dinner. I'm just gonna use something everybody probably does every day. Um It's not about the burned dinner. It's not about that. It's probably not even about uh, you know, the groceries that she just wasted, even it's about the feeling of failure that's underneath of it, disappointment of herself, you know, and her family that now some of this she might be imagining, but really it's not about the woman that just burned the dinner. It's about the younger part of her that felt like she was a disappointment, that felt like she couldn't count on herself. And so it would look like turning towards that part of her with compassion and empathy and looking what did she need. So, what was it that she needed at the time? What did she need to hear? What did she need to experience? And giving that to her in real time today.

SPEAKER_00 22:54

Today, actually, that as you're saying that reminds me when I worked with my psychologist, she would call it parts work. Yes. And we did parts work, and I remember her putting me through a visualization of that little girl. And if I she sat beside me, what would I say to her to feel safe? Yeah. And I was like, wow, that at first I'm like, oh, what are we doing? You know, yes, but it it really worked. I know. And and so that little girl, that little parts of herself, even she got me to do it from the you know, two years old to seven to even, you know, 20s and 30s. And what does that woman then needed to hear? Right. You know, to feel more safe, to let you to let you now, right, you know, run the show. So I think this is so such powerful world work to get people to come back to themselves and to understand their nervous system and what might be getting it dysregulated on a daily basis. Because I truly feel now, of course, we don't all have been blessed with living on top of mountain with you know, forests everywhere where you can regulate on a regular basis by going outside in nature. So to be mindful to incorporating having these tools inside your house where you've you can make it simple, like you said, simple taking some breath, you know, time in stillness. There is time in nature, there's even sound, you know, different sounds. I have my sound bowl that I love that I that I've got from Katie Joe. And so there are different tools, red light therapy. I've been the birds. And for me, I love going to have when I wake up in the morning, I I open up my window and I hear the birds singing.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

Right. It's really a I mean, there's so many women that think they're broken or that think they need fixing and they just need to come back.

SPEAKER_00 24:49

Yes, and they keep searching outside. So you you had mentioned earlier, and earlier in your story, you would go to doctors and your panels were all normal. Gosh, I have been there. I was, I was like, oh my gosh, I couldn't, I barely could eat, had uh gut issues, my hair, I was so exhausted all the time. It was mid-30s. I go do all my panels too. And they're like, oh, you're fine. I'm like, I am not fine. Right. I am far from being fine. There's something wrong. And I then I go to another specialist because I'm like, oh, my periods are so heavy right now. And I'm usually have never had painful like periods and thinking maybe too many, but whatever. We're this for women, but it wasn't normal. Right. And my body was speaking, and I go see a gynecologist and say, oh, nothing. Just take 800 milligrams of ibuprofen every time. Like, what? Right.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

Our body will whisper and whisper. Yes, and then it's it gets louder.

SPEAKER_00 25:44

And that's why I have this show because don't wait till it gets louder.

SPEAKER_02 25:47

Right.

SPEAKER_00 25:48

Learn to come back to yourself and learn what those whispers are. Learn the tools for your nervous system and give yourself grace for not being taught that it's not like we go to university to become a mom.

SPEAKER_02 26:02

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 26:03

You know, and each child is different, right? And it's gonna challenge us in a different way because we are meant to grow.

SPEAKER_01 26:11

And by doing this work, it teaches our children how to stay with themselves. And my hope is that by women learning this, um, how to return to themselves, that kids won't feel that disconnect within themselves because their mom will feel regulated, she'll feel grounded, she can stay with hard feelings, she doesn't have to run. You know, their child doesn't have to run. Our emotions are not stop signs. That's beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

Just giving us changing the generation, which is so needed right now. I mean, I do see it with my kids as well. And I know you work with children as well, and teens mostly, is that correct?

Tools For Kids And Teens

SPEAKER_01 26:53

I started with just kids and said I didn't want to work with teenagers, and that's all I work with at this point. Okay. I'm full with teens. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 27:01

Can you explain what you do with these teens? What kind of program?

SPEAKER_01 27:05

And so I wrote a uh my own curriculum when the one that I was certified in did not have body-based um training for kids and and learning materials. I wrote a curriculum called Seven Magic Mindsets, and it brings in that body work as well, teaching them emotional resilience and somatic tools to remember that their magic is within themselves and that they don't have to search the world over, which is my book, Magic Mountain. That is the um premise of the book. It started with all of that, and then um I got into hypnotherapy and had uh more training with the nervous system, hypnotherapy, breath work. Um, and then I started working more with teens and now with women as well.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

So I think it's just so important. I keep saying we we need your program in schools. I know, really. I mean, into somehow an after-school program to teach that because I see that kids are not taught that in school, and teachers are already, you know, overworked.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

Our teachers need this too.

SPEAKER_00 28:16

Yes, they do. Yes, they do. So for kids at a young age to learn to listen to their body, learn these, you know, affirmation, all these tools, like even shaking it out, jumping up and down, you know, right and tapping. So I think this somehow we need to start very young so that you know they're not working at it in their 20s and 30s and 40s, and then their their health is impacted.

SPEAKER_01 28:45

We have a summer camp that oh, you do yes, that is in July for um their seven and eight-year-olds. We're gonna start there and then do a little trial. It's a little trial basis. We're gonna wait and see. Send my kids and they're a bit older, 10 and 12. I would love to do this for all ages. And these really are simple tools that you can use every day that can change the way that kids see what used to be viewed as wrong or scary emotions. And instead of running from them and getting outbursts later, they can turn towards themselves and sit with sit with hard feelings and sit with difficult thoughts and have a place, a landing place to talk to that out.

SPEAKER_00 29:40

This is so needed. I mean, now there's such a rise in depression for young kids, and they don't have an outlet. They don't know where to go, even though some of them may have faith and but it's the nervous system tools that they're not taught. I think that's so imperative for kids. And I know I've now learned these for my own kids and see which ones work, which ones. Uh one that I really noticed for my daughter is um cold plunging. Cold plunging, the red light and the sauna. She is really drawn to water. Love it. And singing, singing is a big outlet for her. And actually, uh, the day I had told them that their dad had passed, we we were in Maui. We walked along the ocean and she started just singing to the ocean. And I think that has continued to be her outlet to move through emotion. So it's teaching kids that might be more shy to use their voice without shame and know how to use their voice, which helps regulate the vagus nerves.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

Yes, you know, the humming, I think emotion, emotion energy in motion.

SPEAKER_00 30:49

Yes, yes, keep it moving, keep it moving where it gets blocked. Like even my son is sick now, and I'm like, so for me, I can't help but think, well, what made his temple, his body, not safe? Like, what was um his nervous system where we, you know, was it food, diet, what was it in his environment right now, or his thoughts? Oftentimes he lives spirals in his thought patterns of, oh, I didn't do good enough, like that perfectionism, and and so teaching kids to be mindful of that little bully is what I call it, you know, the little bully inside.

SPEAKER_01 31:25

I call them ants.

SPEAKER_00 31:26

Ants?

SPEAKER_01 31:27

Oh, I think it's automatic negative thoughts.

SPEAKER_00 31:29

Okay, I like that.

SPEAKER_01 31:31

Yeah, we got to get that ant catcher out there and okay and not and not make them wrong either, but just make it like a shame, yeah. You know, sometimes they get into those thought loops, but there's so much freedom when you say to them, Hey, this this is just your brain trying to protect you from something. What do you think about this? And do you think that your brain is trying to protect you from that? And all of the sudden they go from judging themselves to being really curious. And as soon as you can be curious about something instead of judgmental, your heart opens up, your mind opens up. They they're like, Oh, oh, yeah, okay, I see what you're saying here. And it loses its grip on them.

SPEAKER_00 32:16

And that's so important. I love the way you explain it because it's oftentimes as a parent, we don't have the the language, right? Right? The language should put them through that process. So even as you're speaking, I'm like, oh, okay, I like the way she explained it and the way I can explain it with my kids where their thoughts, because sometimes I'm like, oh, what's in your removing that shame that those thoughts come or that fear of them. Right. And and where is it coming from? Because oftentimes, like you said, it it kept them safe for a little bit, those thoughts.

SPEAKER_01 32:45

It worked at some point for something, and and explaining what a beautiful brain you have. What a beautiful brain that wants to protect you from this or that. All that was was at at some point keeping you safe. And now you don't need that anymore. So let's look at that for a second, and then they have no more. I mean, the the compassion steps in for that, and they can see, oh wow, my brain is my friend. It's not trying to hurt me.

SPEAKER_00 33:15

That's so beautiful. So, where are you doing these? Where are you starting your first uh, you know, where is it? Where would the magic mountain? Sorry, it's a magic mountain summer camp.

SPEAKER_01 33:26

It's in my hometown. Is it in Baker, Montana? So that's a little jaunt for your kids.

SPEAKER_00 33:31

Oh, that's okay. They would love that. They miss it's kind of a good time of year to get out of here in Arizona. No, they would love that. I mean, they miss that from Alaska, is the mountains, the outdoors. Oh no, they would go there.

Magic Mountain And Inner Compass

SPEAKER_01 33:43

I will keep you updated on this. We're I'm excited to try this. We have so many ideas. We're pulling in all of the seven characters from my book, Magic Mountain. Tell me the characters.

SPEAKER_00 33:55

I love, I love these books. Tell me a bit about the characters.

SPEAKER_01 33:59

Well, I'm super excited because as you know, I wrote this children's book before I met you in 2022.

SPEAKER_00 34:05

I remember we were sitting on the couch at a remember, and you're showing me. Okay. You were showing me about it. And since then, I was like, I need this for my kids. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 34:13

Well, it has it has really taken off. Um, I found an illustrator because I wrote the story and then it stayed on a shelf for years. And then I found an illustrator, and she's helping me draw them um into watercolor characters that are a lot softer and uh with an entire world of um Magic Mountain. It looks like our cabin up in the Wasatch Mountains, and so we're kind of replicating it off of that. And the seven characters appear to the little girl who I named Dottie after my granddaughter. I can see all of the timing of things, right?

SPEAKER_00 34:55

Because she just wasn't ready.

SPEAKER_01 34:58

So the main character is Dottie, and she gets lost from Magic Mountain, and the characters, um, the guides appear to her and give her clues on how to get home. And then at the end, towards the end, she finds out that they were never coming from this layered stone in her pocket. They were within her the entire time.

SPEAKER_00 35:21

Wow. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 35:23

So it's such a sweet story. My grandmother wrote Magic Mountain stories for us growing up, and that's where the whole Magic Mountain um line came from, and it has just taken on a life of its own.

SPEAKER_00 35:37

And she's helping you, yeah. Yes, I can feel my grandmother. Your grandbaby know all of it. All of it. All of it that goes into it, and that's what I love. There's so much heart and there's so much wisdom. And thank you. And it there's nothing like that out there. Actually, in fact, I was looking for camps for my kids uh this summer, and I was like, oh yeah, it'd be great if they did some mindfulness and learnt all that during camp and uh love the faith aspect of the camps, but even drawing in the nervous system and all of that is very much needed and all the the elements of nature as well in Montana. This would be beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 36:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 36:18

Yeah, you definitely will have to keep me posted and I will and we'll have to share about that because I know a lot of parents out there are probably looking for something like this for their kids as well. And and because these are tools that these kids can carry on. And the the great thing, there's a ripple effect, they go back to school and then they tell their friends and they see them doing these, and maybe they're thriving, they're doing well. Right. Kids will start, well, what are you doing differently?

SPEAKER_01 36:45

And I think it's so powerful to remove the old stigma of mental health and to look at it as this is an entire wellness, this is an entire wellness program. This is not just our mental health, this is our brain, this is our nervous system, this is getting back to the basics with nature and connection.

SPEAKER_00 37:09

I think we've gone too far. I think we've gone too far. We've gone too far.

SPEAKER_01 37:13

And social media and people talk all about like the, you know, soft kids these days. And I don't see it like that at all. I see these kids who have so many odds stacked against them with parents who don't have the tools or the awareness of how to help them, not because they don't love their children, but because they don't see another way. And programs like this and the what we have with the camps and the tools that we have just give the kids their power back.

SPEAKER_00 37:49

Power back. I love that you mentioned that because I'm I'm feeling called we need to come back to our own power.

SPEAKER_02 37:55

Right.

SPEAKER_00 37:56

We are given a powerful vessel, powerful temple right here. We need to come back here and become almost like our own health advocate. Absolutely because we've given our power away. You know, I love I love doctors and all the, you know, but I'm that's not what I'm saying, but also trust your intuition, trust your body, right? Yeah, and listen to it and it's always speaking, and don't give the power away. How often do we give our own b health power to insurance? Oh, well, I can't see this provider because my insurance doesn't cover it. Right. You know, we're giving away that power.

SPEAKER_01 38:36

One of the characters or the guides is Inner Compass.

SPEAKER_00 38:40

Oh, I love it.

SPEAKER_01 38:41

And I see this over and over with kids. They are not very far from themselves. They have not become disconnected the way that we have as adults. It's not when they understand who they are and we remind them of who they are and the power that they have within themselves and the sovereignty that's within them, they're so easy to guide back, to trust themselves, to know, to not, they don't have to follow what the world is saying.

SPEAKER_00 39:11

Yes. Which I bet you know, that's gonna help them in their mental health and whatever stigma they've been put in, that will change and give them the empowerment to heal themselves. Absolutely. And for a lifetime and quiet the noise.

SPEAKER_01 39:26

And to see, you know what, this isn't right. There's something here that's not right. Even if everyone around them is saying, Well, this is okay, this this is how it's always been done, we need those kids who understand their sovereignty and who trust themselves. Um, I don't see it that way, I see it differently.

SPEAKER_00 39:45

Good. Wow, this is incredible. So if anyone wanted to, you know, touch base with you and stay connected for all your powerful work, because I'm so excited. I mean, I'm honored to have you here and share because this is so aligns with what I'm trying to create and put out there and draw people back in as well, and give the empowerment, and your program coincides so much with the work that I want to do. And um, how can people get a hold of you, find you, and stay connected?

SPEAKER_01 40:16

So I have I'm on Instagram, um, The Real Magic Inside on Instagram, and then magic-inside.com is my website, and there's all of the information about the upcoming books and the programs that we have. I have free meditations on there and downloadables.

SPEAKER_00 40:35

That's fantastic. Is and your book is not out yet.

SPEAKER_01 40:37

Not yet.

SPEAKER_00 40:38

Not yet. What do you have a date yet?

SPEAKER_01 40:41

Summer.

SPEAKER_00 40:42

Summer.

SPEAKER_01 40:43

The manuscript is done. Okay. I want to release Magic Mountain, the children's book, shortly after I release Sacred Return. Okay. Because they are Sacred Return is for mothers. And I didn't do this on purpose, but the way that it works out is uh Magic Mountain is basically the same book that Sacred Return is, is just for kids.

Slow Down And Share The Message

SPEAKER_00 41:07

That's beautiful. I'm excited. I'll buying it and gifting it to us so many moms. Come to the book release. Oh, I absolutely help me in. Yes, coming. I'm sending my kids to Montana.

SPEAKER_01 41:20

Jump on a plane with me.

SPEAKER_00 41:21

Yes, I would love to. I'd be honored. So for anybody that's listened today and really resonated with how we need to protect our nervous system, come back to ourselves, and how this will be such a gift to our families. And now also the importance for our kids to learn that. They will learn it through us once we do the work, but start showing your kids how they can start connecting to their bodies and why they're reacting the way they are. Are we grinding through the days, the weeks, and never pausing, never pausing to hear and to listen to what's truly going on? I'm sharing all of this because I don't want you to wait until you have those whispers become bigger ailments, bigger things that now over time this affects your health for a very, very long time. It'll affect your family as well. And this can impact you in a way where, you know, where your longevity for your life is shortened. So you want to be there for your kids for a long time. You want to be able to play with them, have vitality, and this will all start with your nervous system because your body on a cellular level cannot heal if you are in fight in flight in a constant basis. There's no room to heal. That's physiology, that is science. And once you stay in the parasympathetic and can tell your body it is safe now, it will start to rest and repair. That's why it's imperative to slow down, to breathe, to reconnect to your body and start listening. So if you like this episode, please like and share and subscribe because this is how we could get this message globally to so many women that need this right now. And I'll leave all the information in the show notes for Kristen Merwin right now, who her programs are needed globally as well. So please help and share. Thank you very much.