 Welcome to Dare to Dream. This is Debbie Daschinger, and this is your number one transformation conversation. We, for some reason, continue to be trending in St. Lucia. Like, it's been going on for months, and I just want to say thank you to St. Lucia for receiving this message and to all the people who tune in weekly to hear this show. Dare to Dream has been nominated for two People's Choice podcast awards for a Webby Award, and we were just featured in WELP Magazine. Dare to Dream was listed as one of the best 20 podcasts you must listen to in 2021. So thanks for being here. This show is sponsored by Dr. Dane Here and Access Consciousness. They do beautiful and exquisite energy work out into the world. You want to catch them if you want to be a facilitator or go to one of their classes, Dr. DaneHereHER.com and AccessConsciousness.com. I'm Debbie Daschinger. I teach entrepreneurs and coaches and speakers and business owners the time effective action steps to write a highly engaging book, turn each author's book into a guaranteed international bestseller, and I show you how to book yourself podcast and radio guest interview spots so you can do what you do with visibility and ease out into the world. I have a free set of videos, a sheet with tips so that you can start being interviewed and get your message out to the world. Go to debbiedaschinger.com slash gift. It's D-E-B-B-I, D is in David, A-C-H-I-N-G-E-R.com slash gift. This episode today is on emotional healing and spiritual guidance to live your best life. My guest today is Leah Guy, a new thought leader and expert in emotional healing and personal development. She's authored three books, The Latest Being, this one, which I just read, Overcoming Toxic Emotions, a practical guide to building better relationships with yourself and others. Leah uses her personal triumphs over sexual abuse, addiction, anxiety, and eating disorders along with more than two decades of experience and private practice, working with clients and organizations to help people transform their lives. She's a sought after inspirational speaker and course instructor on daily own and insight timer and teaches people how to access their full potential by addressing and clearing repressed trauma and emotional memory. A national media personality, Leah has appeared on hundreds of top outlets as an expert on meditation, the mind-body connection, energy medicine and emotional and spiritual healing. If you would like to learn more about Leah Guy, go to her website, leahguy.com and also iTunes, check out the Modern Sage podcast. And with that, I bring Leah to the show. Leah Guy, it's so great to have you here. Thanks for joining us. Thank you so much. That bio really makes me sound good. Bios are great, aren't they? They are, they remind you of the journey you've done for so long. I love, whenever I get a new book, I always look at someone's bio, you know, you can just tell so much and it's the snapshot of all the great things, right? But we leave out all the other parts of our humanity from those bios. So thank you for reading that and sharing that with your listeners. Absolutely. One of the things actually that caught me in your bio and this is where I want to start is how you are an expert in recognizing and clearing repressed trauma and emotional memory. So pretty fascinating expertise. Are you the kind of person who could go to a social engagement or enter a room and actually identify people who maybe would pass to others as normal and say that person has trauma? Would you be able to detect that, Mother People? Often, yes. And I try not to do that so much, you know, but I think when I first started my private practice, I started in physical body work, although I had trained in mind body, energy work and meditation and channeling and all of that before I even was trained in the body work. But when I was doing the body work, what came to me was when I was in the presence of a person and in particular when I had my hands on or near them, I would receive information. And so early on, you know, it was kind of overwhelming and the scenario that you just brought up, for example, being at a party, whether you're an empath, whether you're highly sensitive, whether you have these different gifts and intuition and so forth, it can be overwhelming. So I kind of early on learned that I must put up my own healthy boundaries so that I don't, I'm not doing that all the time, you know, but it is something that I think I'm quite good at sometimes with clients. And also I feel like it's a gift, a spiritual gift, but not one that's special to me. I think many of us can have gifts like this or similar. So yeah, it's interesting to read energy and to read how the body is responding to our energy patterns and everything from our facial expressions to our movements to our, you know, just auric field, it's all there. Yeah, indeed. And I like that you bring into the mix sensitives and impacts because people can really relate to that. Most of us can go into a room and identify a lot of things. Yeah. Yeah, and so besides perceiving, let's talk about this amazing book, overcoming toxic emotions. So one, in one of the chapters you write, most toxic emotions are developed from false beliefs attached to a core wound that have manifested in depth that's actually so powerful, should be read twice. How do these unhealthy emotions, Leah, become solidified in our system? What's happening? Yeah, so oftentimes it starts when we're very young in our developmental years and it can sound very much like psychology or just how we start to perceive reality. But when we have difficult emotions or difficult experiences when we're young, we create a belief system that may or may not be true. Certainly at the time it's true for us because that's the only reality that we know. But we're taking information from other people or from our own perceptions, which a five-year-old's perceptions are very limited at that time, our own emotional state of being and our beliefs that we're creating from those emotional states, meaning I don't feel good, I don't feel safe, something's wrong here, I'm not good enough, they like my sister better, whatever the belief is. And all of that starts to form a belief system, what I call in the book an emotional imprint, like a matrix around us, within us and through us that turns into our operating system, how we just kind of subconsciously function from day to day. And because we're not taught when we're young how to process these emotions or even what they are, often we experience small traumas all throughout our childhood, that feeling of being overwhelmed, alone, unsure of what we feel, unsupported in what we feel, and we don't know what to do with it. So it really creates this environment within our psyche and within our energy bodies and our physical bodies that can be very difficult to move through and change. And then we hold onto those fears or those false beliefs or those insecurities. And then all of a sudden, not only are we operating from them, but we hold so firmly to those beliefs about who we are that we're unable to move into our dreams, to accomplish things that we wanted to, to have relationships that we'd like to have. We're just kind of repeating those imprints. So it's really important to understand. Yeah, you named in your list of descriptives for this kind of imprint and where it harkens from you talked about feeling safe. And I just wanna go there. I literally had a conversation with somebody about this, about feeling safe or unsafe. And it was very fascinating because it was a man and he said, I don't even understand that. I don't recognize that. I've never not felt safe in my life. So I was wondering if you could weigh in on that. Is that a feminine quality that often, not always, but often women will have a tendency more to feel unsafe for certain reasons in the world or how would you, if you had this man in front of you, how would you explain what happens when one feels unsafe? What is the unearthing, the childhood, the wound that creates that? And then how is it manifested out here? Well, I think it's very individualistic. So it's a big question. And perhaps that gentleman has an experience what he would classify as feeling unsafe, but probably if we spent more time with him, he probably has other core wounds such as the ego wound or shame wound or guilt or some other wound that is manifesting in different ways in his life. But I think it can be equal for women or men, that feeling of not being safe. And really it can start from, not feeling like we belong to the family unit, having upheaval and unrest in the household, addictive parents, parents who fight all the time, a parent who travels all the time, a split family. You know, so many different elements can come to play and especially in different cultures, you know, how different families live and the expectations and so forth. So there's so many different elements that can be at play, but the general feeling is just kind of an inherent unease of stability, you know, of it's not necessarily safety that someone's going to harm me. It's just feeling grounded and stable in one's own body and space. And so, you know, that for me is where we, most all of us need to start because we can feel safe, you know, in our homes and our apartments, we can feel safe driving and flying. You know, we can have that kind of very survivalistic kind of safe feeling, but emotionally safe, that's another conversation. And that feeling emotionally unsafe, it stops so many people from having healthy relationships, being vulnerable, tapping into their creativity, you know, trusting yourself a million things in our lives come from that place of safety. Yeah, okay, thank you. That's, it's such an interesting subject. I know. It really is. And I just wonder how many people are resonating with this or never would have identified before hearing this. You also go into self-talk, critical, hateful, self-sabotaging internal dialogue. Can you share if you have Leah a story of a client who maybe lived in lack and lack also of worth, but somehow transformed their situation into a healthy relationship with their selves? Sure, the one that just came to mind popped in my head was a woman client I was working with who wanted to get pregnant. And she and her husband had been trying to get pregnant for years, and she wanted nothing more than to be a mother. Well, she was harboring and holding on to such deep fears of worth, of her being a good parent, of her feeling safe in her own body, of being able to go through the birthing process. She was holding on to guilt of wanting to stay connected to her career and her autonomous life and what she'd built up. She had so many different emotional constrictions that were going on. Now, we could talk about those on a surface level and cognitively know, okay, well, maybe I'm scary. Everybody's nervous to be a first-time parent or we all have worth issues, what have you. But when we really look deeper into the energy body and into the emotional body, into this imprint, this false belief that's been there for so long. Now, her started because her father abandoned the family, her mother struggled, her mother put a lot of pressure on everyone in the family to help out, accuse the father of abandoning everyone. There was just these seeds of fear and over expectations that were implanted there. So after several sessions, several months of working with her and helping to safely become vulnerable to a different feeling experience and to clear some of those old beliefs, she was able to literally open herself, open her second and third chakra, relax in that area, unclench that constricted energy and within weeks she was pregnant. And for her, it was a miracle and it sounds like a miracle, but it's not a miracle. It's how we work and so often you take that story and then apply it to how our brain functions and how often we get locked down and constricted with anxiety and worry and overwhelm, it's the same thing, right? And so everybody's trying all these tools and all these things to just fix the mind, but I keep saying, we have to go the emotional body. We have to go the emotional body. We have to get in touch with our feelings because the mind and the emotional body are in constant communication. So I can work all day long and meditate myself to death and go to all the therapists and just be very heady and flighty. A lot of times people get more ungrounded through that process or we can utilize those tools, but also start asking those really deep, important questions of where do I not feel enough? Where do I lack trust in myself? Where am I terrified of opening my life to another creature and being vulnerable and being seen and being loved, right? Those are the questions. Somebody who's listening, who's fascinated by this and is like, I'd like some of that, please. How can they identify the root causes of their biggest problems? Is there a way, a method that people can self describe what's happening? Well, so in my first book, The Fearless Path, each chapter kind of goes by energy center and that wasn't necessarily on purpose, it just kind of built out that way. And I have lists of symptoms, both physical symptoms and emotional symptoms. Of course, that's not the end all be all, it's not a diagnostic tool, but it certainly is a good place to start and go, oh, I'm familiar with this, this, this, this, this, and kind of go through and do a checklist for yourself. And you probably with just a little amount of reading will start to lock on to the area that needs some attention. Yeah, this book as well, Overcoming Toxic also has several identifying lists that one can go through. I just used the highlighter as I went through to start seeing where I sat. And you also have this three step method, if you will, that helps to quiet negative thoughts, helps to eliminate bad behaviors. Can you take us through what those three steps are? Sure, it sounds very simple. It's acknowledge, accept, and take an action. And I have steps and acronyms and I know people love that stuff, but it's overdone in my opinion. However, I think to make it really simple, we need simple tools to remind us when we're in the throes of discomfort or panic, you know, what can I do right now? So the first thing is to acknowledge what you're feeling in this moment, not the expectation of what you think you're gonna feel, not the repetitive pattern that you used to feel, but what is actually showing up right now? And that's a very big step because so much of the time, we're just on autopilot and we've decided how we're gonna feel before we even, you know, get into the conversation or onto the highway or whatever. So we acknowledge that. And then the acceptance piece is the critical, is the critical element. And the acceptance isn't just saying, okay, I can accept that I don't, that I'm anxious right now or I can accept that I have this self-sabotaging pattern. The acceptance that is, you know, a full commitment to acceptance is being, holding it with such love and tenderness that we can carry it with us, you know, carry it with us, not try to get rid of it, accept it in the way of, this is mine and it's uncomfortable and I may not love this but I fully with my heart accept and I have compassion for myself of what's going on right now. And then the action piece, I know, right? And then the action piece is, you know, it doesn't have to be a big action. Sometimes the action is I just need to stop, be mindful right now and take a breath, you know, and recenter or do a jumping jack or change my position. Sometimes the action is doing something forward moving that will, you know, step us into a different vibrational pattern. So those are the steps. Yeah, I don't know why that, it really, the second one of all felt so powerful to me because sometimes these things can manifest rather ugly, right? Yes, they are ugly. We were replicating something our parents did that we abhorred in them and oh my God, it's showing. And there's something that we're doing because we're in a loop, right? And that loop, this paradigm feels real. Yeah. It will matter that it isn't or anybody could step in and say, please, you know, are you telling yourself stories or this isn't so, it is real to the person who's wounded. And I speak from experience, right? I know this intimately. And to get out of that is tremendous. I can feel the power when you say, you know, this compassion and this kindness that you're even in this situation or this emotional imprint at the time. Yeah. It's probably the nicest thing. And so once you do these three A's, you acknowledge, you accept, and then you take action. What is the next way that you start to manage something? So it doesn't, you know, it doesn't become like the insane people are taking over the asylum, that you're not just on this trajectory, but that somehow you can rein it in and start to really make progress. Well, hopefully with those steps, you feel some kind of shift, which, you know, we're aiming for a little relief, right? We're aiming for a different feeling sensation. I hope we talk about vibration and frequency in our conversation today. But I'm gonna give you the perfect example. This just happened to me today, okay? This happened this morning. I was driving to the gynecologist. And I know at the gynecologist, nothing terrible happens normally, right? It's unpleasant, but it's no big deal. But I'm driving there and I start getting so anxious. I haven't had that kind of anxiety in years, years. Well, guess what? Because of COVID and everything else, I haven't been to the doctor in years. Now I have a trauma response from going to the doctor when I was five years old, had a hernia, you know, the whole thing. So I, you know, we think when we're not triggered and we're not in the moment, we're done with that. But guess what? That memory, that imprint, that situation can come back at any time. So I'm driving. I'm anxious. I recognize that I'm anxious. I call my boyfriend. I'm like, wow, I'm more anxious right now that I've been in a long time. And I start rattling off all the reasons why. I keep going. I go to the doctor, go into the room. And I decided to do something to apply the steps, you know, to do something that maybe I wouldn't have done five years ago. I sat with it. I had compassion for myself. I almost wanted to cry. It was just that kind of like feeling. And then I said to the nurse, she said, how are you? And I said, I'm really anxious. And I almost cried again. And I told her why I was anxious. And I laughed out of myself. And that was my kind of step of action. And the doctor came in. And it turned into a beautiful doctor's visit. And it helped me shift that imprint and that fear and trauma response. Maybe it's not all gone now, but it's certainly helping me shift out of that more and more each time. So that's a way when we can acknowledge what's going on and accept it to the point of compassion and some self love, and then do something, talk about it, share it, journal about it, do whatever you need to do, take care of yourself in the moment, right? Then we find the relief. And now we're on a different trajectory than we are if we just hold it, sit in the car and hold it and have a panic attack, right? So that's kind of an example of how it can relieve and process through is maybe more the accurate response. I like so much, too, that I know that wasn't your goal. Your goal is to be vulnerable, take care of yourself, share with the receptionist what was going on. But what a great result that it actually transformed the appointment. Doctor ends up being more compassionate than maybe would have been otherwise. And you have a good visit and a healing as well. Exactly, yeah. And I think that's ultimately what we're all looking for is just to relieve the pressure of that pain, that pain point, whether it's self-sabotage, the inner critic, that ugly voice, the addiction, the eating, the argument in our relationship. It's all a manifestation of these old programs that we have just trying to defend so that we don't hurt again. So you mentioned you hope that we're going to talk about vibration. Yes. That's all you've got to say to me. I am your genie. You say it, it is done. Let's do that. I'm fascinated. Let's talk about vibration and frequency. Great. Well, in the book, you probably saw, I give a very simple explanation about how this works. And essentially, attached to those emotional imprints when we're younger in our developmental years, we have a feeling sensation that goes with that imprint. Now, on a scale of 0 to 10, 0 being terrible, 10 being, I think I'm an angel, life cannot be better, I ask people in the book to summarize or sum up how you might feel, or how you would feel if you remember back to when you were age four, five, six, seven, eight, what have you, and to get as honest as possible. Most people are in the range of two to five. That's most people. And that's even if you didn't have a trauma or a difficult childhood. And so let's say we're vibrating at around a four. Now, that frequency, which I'm calling a four for simplistic reasons, but that frequency has a certain tone to it and quality to it that emits from us. And if you talk about law of attraction, if you're interested in law of attraction, everyone's working to manifest and attract greater things in life. Well, what we attract is what vibrates at the same frequency. Now, what's tricky about this is a lot of people like seekers, spiritual seekers, people on the transformational journey or what have you, they do a lot of work to try to raise their vibe, but they haven't done the work to heal or raise their emotional imprint, that baseline vibration that we function from. So I can maybe show up to my work or my yoga class and feel like an eight. But in my personal life and the way I'm functioning, I'm gonna revert right back to a four. And that's what I'm gonna attract experiences that help me feel like a four. In fact, I call it addiction to emotion because even though we want to get out of that four, we don't know how, we don't know how to sustain it. We only know how to grab for things, try to feel better in the moment, right? We go on diets and we go to yoga retreats and we meditate and we read all the memes that help us feel better. But how do we really sustain a higher feeling than the four? And that's why the rest of the book talks about self-love, boundaries, creating trust in yourself, measures to build your self-confidence and truly know who we are, to operate from like, reparent our inner child. All of that is part of learning how to elevate and sustain a higher vibration. We go from a four to a 4.1, frustrating. I know, we don't go to a 10. We can go to a 10, but we're gonna snap right back to a four. And then eventually we move on up and then suddenly we feel like a five or a six. And then we have desires to eat. To take those even more. And then we are manifesting, attracting people in situations that feel a higher quality or a better feeling for us. And we're making more money and we believe in ourselves and we ask for the more money. So it's all relative based on the vibration, the frequency that we feel inside of us. Is this difficult to do for most people? Yes. I would think if one has an imprint and that's what you know, right? This is all of what you know and you're trying to break out of that to a reality you're not yet familiar with, you may dream of and desire, but that seems quite a leap. It is, it is. And it's one of those things like a diet, if you sustain it and it no longer becomes a diet, it's a lifestyle, now it's much more doable. We have the tools, we implement them, we integrate things into our life and we stay the course. And it is, it's a process. That's why I think we call it a journey. It's not a trip. It's like, it's this, it's this journey, because here we go. Here's the bag of my crap again. Here's the trigger again. Here's the anxiety again. Here's the trauma again. And how can I position myself to respond differently to that and trust myself and repair it myself and create boundaries and all. So for a lot of people, especially that are just starting on their self-help, self-healing journey, you know, it's really important to maybe create boundaries, like with your family, for example, doesn't mean you don't love them, it doesn't mean you don't see them, but it means that you make sure you have enough of your own time and space and room to explore and discover and take care of yourself, learn to trust yourself, learn to create your own life so that you're not constantly getting those feedback loops, you know, that we've had prior to our adulthood. Sometimes that's very helpful for a person, but, you know, it is, it is challenging. And I think that's why, you know, people give up or we just get on the kind of the spiritual bypassing loop where we're just talking about it all the time, but we're not really doing anything about it. Yeah, well, you yourself healed yourself. You know, it's in your bio, but it's also you read about it in the book and pretty detailed emotional, physical addictions. What was your journey, obviously ongoing, but what was the catapult for you and what sustained you through your journey to get to where you are now? Well, you know, it's hard because the chronology of it is over 40 years, right? I'm 49 now. So, but I think when I was raped, that was my bottom. I had gone through already the anxiety, the eating disorders, the family dysfunction, my aunt was murdered, you know, so many things that happened. And then by the time I was 21, that's when I was raped and I literally could not function. I just, I was a mess. I was drinking myself awake and asleep. I was, you know, taking all the antidepressants. I was doing the therapy. I was, I was just a mess. And luckily, fortunately, a friend of mine knew that I was a mess and recommended the school, the School of Enlightenment and Healing. They're no longer in operation, but they were in California. And I went for my own help, you know, but it was really a school to learn in order to help others. But I went to understand a different approach because I had always felt very connected to energy and angels and God and prayer and, you know, meditation and so forth. I'd always felt very connected that, very interested in health and wellness and holistic living. And so I went to the school and I learned so much. And not only did I learn, it was a place talking about safety. It was a place where I could allow other people to be near me and even somewhat touch me without me feeling terrorized or violated. And so that energy approach was really helpful for me. And then I just continued learning from there. And, you know, people, I think when they're healing, it gets so frustrating and I hear it all the time. And it is the amount of money and time I've spent on breathwork and, you know, all the different courses and classes and healers and teachers and therapists, right? Am I wrong? You're so right. I'm in it right now. Yeah. Oh God, it's outrageous. I mean, literally three quarters of my any income I've made goes to that stuff. But you know what? I've just, I have surrendered to it because it keeps me on engaged and balanced, you know? But I tried it all. I did it all. And some of it wasn't that helpful, but it all educated me. And with that education and understanding, it gave me more confidence in what was actually happening. I didn't feel out of control anymore, you know? I didn't feel like the anxiety or the addictions were outside of me. I learned how that they were inside of me. Then I learned how to sit with them and observe them and be in pain and all of that, you know? It comes from, and I don't wanna tell if someone they have to do all the different therapies, but it can be a lot of work. Yes, not for the faint of heart, is it? But I don't know. I just also wonder sometimes, I've always been one of those people, you know? Roll up my sleeves, what's it gonna take? Because anything's better than pain. Yeah. You know, what's the alternative? There's no way. If I'm in pain, if something's not working and if I'm the same common denominator in every party and clearly it's originating for me, I feel like how could I not take this on? And I also have a really strong belief that if it is coming up, meaning if there's this enormous painful experience, it's there to be healed. It is an opportunity. And I live my life that way and I know it's not common, but I agree. I'm in it right now. I just hired someone, I was like, you charge what? And then I was mitigating my own circumstances and saying, you know, I've been seeing this other healer. I think I'll end it with them and I'll just carry on here. And it's only because there is something very prevalent, unexpected that popped and I can't just pretend it's not there and go on because I will replicate it again in this life or in another life. And I'm not, I'm done, right? God gave it to me, these broad shoulders because God, God has things I can handle it, okay. So, you know, I was with the other healer and then the original healer who had been on a trip and came back and we had this enormous session, like huge, really so important the timing that I was able to release so much and finally, finally get on a road. We really pop something big. And then I'm thinking in my head, what are you gonna do? You're gonna have to really see both right now. It's just everything warrants this and that's it, yeah. Well, good for you. I applaud your effort. That's awesome and I know it's a lot. So it is no easy burden to move through for sure, but it's so worth it, isn't it worth it? That's it, that's the million dollar ticket right there because it is, I know from having done this with other things in my life that the other side is glorious. There is a freedom and a wholeness and a capacity and like you said earlier, all the things you start bringing in the love relationship, the finances, the whole paradigm of life shifts. So yes, absolutely worth it. And one of the things you talk about, Leah, is about grounding, right? And you said basically there are ways to ground ourselves no matter what is going on in the world. So I would like to talk about what you feel the various ways. I know there's earthing and things, but what are the ways we can ground ourselves and do you have any ways that people can use anywhere, anytime? Sure, well, I think again, everyone's a little different. I think though the concept can work for everyone. And quite frankly, a piece that a lot of people forget is just getting very grounded physically, meaning nutritionally, meaning within our body system, because even when your blood sugar is off, for example, we know what that feels like. You get hangry and you wanna slap someone, right? Or you get fidgety and you get anxious if your blood sugar is swinging. So that alone can be enough for a person who is struggling to really sway them on the pendulum of more pain, right? So as simple as getting your body stabilized with the healthy fats and nutrition and supplements that we need is a great thing. Just like enough sleep. That's where I've been struggling going through my period menopause is getting those seven or eight hours, allowing enough time for your body to rest and go down and wake up in a more natural rhythm where we're not forcing it and we're not keeping ourselves up and addicted to the blue light like I'm sure I am. So that's a way. But of course, being outside, being with nature, but for me, all of that, the forest being to me, it's connection. So you can make that connection with dirt in a household plant. You can make that connection with animals. You can make that connection with a tree. You can make that connection with other living beings. And when you purposefully intentionally take the steps to be connected, even when I'm teaching workshops, we always practice a very simple thing, which is putting your hand on someone. And you can just put your hand on someone's arm and you feel their arm and they feel your hand. But when you intentionally touch someone and you're feeling through your hand with the intention to connect, it's a whole different feeling, right? And it feels a little uncomfortable for some people because that intention brings it to the next level of vulnerability. It's kind of like saying, here I am. And not only do I see you, but I feel you. But that's a great way to be connected. So I love to, I have a dog and a cat. I think animals are great ways to get grounded. Sometimes for people who can't go to a forest or can't lay on the dirt, just taking your shoes off, walking on rocks or the sand or even concrete or grass or whatever you can do. I even, in the springtime, I recommend, put a fresh baby green leaf in the bottom of your shoe. Literally walk with the leaf under your foot and feel its texture and just imagine carrying that with you and you are carrying it with you. So that's another nice way. But I think the connection piece is vital for most people, especially, oh my God, through COVID and everything. Yeah, we're just so disconnected. Yeah, absolutely. You can't even see if someone's smiling at you because they're covered under a mask. And I don't know if you've noticed that people with the masks and with the six feet distance literally don't even make eye contact anymore. It's been incredibly isolating on every level. So people who are experiencing that right now, the uncertainty, the anxiety, the COVID-related fears. And I'll give you another example. I want to have you weigh in on all of this, what people can do, what you recommend. I myself have been the recipient of some anti-vaccine videos. And I don't have to go into where I stand, although I don't have any objection to talk about how I feel strongly, I'm not gonna do it. But still, when I saw these videos, they were horrifying and they really disturbed me. They freaked me out. I also read an article that said it's pretty much going to get to the point where the government is gonna go door to door and enforce that every citizen get this vaccination. I don't think anybody should be making decisions for my or anybody else's body and certainly not by force. So I also find that disturbing. So that's just my piece of the pie there. But for other people, there's financial uncertainty. Can I ever go visit my family or parents or leave the country or it goes on and on? Is this ever gonna end? What can people do to get through this time of anxiety, stress and fear? Yeah, it's a great question and so important. And that's, so let's talk about meditation. And I wanna break out the word meditation because people who don't meditate are scared of it and even people who do meditate, we have this idea about it. But the idea of just closing your eyes and learning and this is why it's a practice and learning how to just find that place within us that feels somewhat safe, somewhat peaceful, somewhat quiet, somewhat anchored. That's our place. That's your place. And no one else has access to that place. And so when we can go there in the midst of the turmoil or on the middle of the train or when there's chaos all around you, that to me is the advantage of practicing meditation. There's all kinds of different meditations. There's all kinds of reasons why people do it. But for me, when I'm overwhelmed, when I'm scared, when I'm freaking out, when whatever. And even when I'm leading and teaching meditation, when I close my eyes, I go right to that place which for me feels down in my stomach around my solar plexus. And I go there and now I feel at home. And if I'm freaking out of my life, a lot of times I just want to go to my bed and we want to get in that fetal position, right? And if we can go and close our eyes and go to that place and learn how to soothe ourselves from that place because that is the only place that you have that is all yours. And so this is the practice to do, I think, you know. They can take anything. Yeah. Once you meditate, Leah, and you do find that core place and that is just all you and all your own, what do you do from there? What does your meditation consist of? I like to just swim in that. Like I could just drift off into the, you know, into sleep or what have you. I love to be in that place. But once I'm there, then if I'm having really difficult feelings or experiences, then that's when we learn how to observe what we're feeling rather than just be bombarded with the feeling itself. So this is where we start to move into, you know, understanding our own consciousness and who we really are versus the body self because when we can observe our thoughts and observe our feelings, now we're somewhat separate from them and they're not attacking us. And in that same way of acceptance I was talking about in the method, we can just witness them and really ask it questions. Thank it for showing us information, you know, learning how to just sit with it without responding or responding and just be with it and just feel it, you know. And the less that we resist inside of ourself then, you know, that saying that less it persists, right? But it is true. And so, you know, when I'm, for example, in an argument and I get all heated and I want justification, I wanna be heard, I wanna be right, I wanna get revenge, you know, you want all those things. It's like your ego and your head is just on fire and you just wanna scream until the whole world hears you, right? What is, where does that take us besides the familiar roads of pain and the inner child's acting out and, you know, we're having a tantrum, right? It's sometimes it feels unstoppable but it's actually achieving nothing. And then if I can get myself out of that state and quickly go within myself, where do I feel this? How does this feel inside myself? Who am I? Is this true? Is this fear or belief actually true or is it something that's triggering? And really just start having those internal conversations then I feel more in control. So if I, you know, if I were in a bomb shelter in the middle of a war, I would use this practice to somehow try to stay sane is to just learn how, you know, go to that sacred and special place within. That's beautiful. Yeah, that sounds like your meditation class is a good one to take. Yeah. Well, I hope so. People seem to like them, but, you know, I don't have, aside from that goal, I'm not trying to just teach people how to breathe or, you know, teach people to be enlightened. It's about, you know, finding a way to be okay with ourselves. Yeah, finding that stillness. Yeah. One of the things you go over in the book is about people having the caliber of romantic partner that they prefer having a healthy tribe of friends. And so if people are not currently having that, how can they attract a higher caliber of people in their lives? By working on the frequency and healing the emotional imprint that's often filled with limited beliefs about self. That's really the only way, you know, it never comes outside of us. Of course, you know, when we're on our journey and path, we start meeting different kinds of people that feel more positive, more light, more encouraging and all that, those to me are signs that we're on the right path, right? But we don't expect those people to change us. We don't expect those people to validate us. We don't expect those people to make us happy or whole beings. We just notice them as information of, okay, this person, you know, has the capacity to encourage me and to not be jealous and to not feel intimidated. I don't feel jealous, intimidated or what have you with them. So that's nice and good information that's headed towards a higher frequency, right? So that's how, and I know it's a frustrating answer because people want to snap their finger and go, I deserve better. Yeah, you mentioned jealousy. So I just wanted to riff on that for a second. Yeah. What is jealousy to you? What is that all about? Where does that come from? Insecurity. It's insecurity of self. If I didn't have the feeling of not enough or the insecurity, then why would I ever judge someone else's whatever, you know? It's the feeling like I'm not capable. I'm not enough. I'm missing out. I'm not wanted. When the truth is probably I'm not applying myself in the same ways because I don't feel confident enough in myself or trust myself enough or feel worthy enough to do the things that that person has done, you know, to put themselves in that position. So that's just what it is. It's a tough one though, too, because it's just like that gnarly reminder of there's still ugliness in here, right? Yeah. Well, you were a talk show host for two and a half years at RCN and I know you spoke to celebrities, you spoke to influencers. Was there anybody who was a favorite or was there a celebrity story during that time that you can share? Oh, goodness. Oh, I had so many different people on. I mean, I did so many different things. Well, the naked cowboy was interesting, you know, the naked cowboy. I remember him, he had a guitar and a cowboy hat and the cowboy boots. Was he in New York or something? He's in the city, yeah. Times Square? You know, he is a person, whether you like him or not or whether you think he's ridiculous or not, he's a person that, you know, he ran for president, he ran for governor, I think, just saw an opportunity. And like what we're talking about right now, he didn't filter the opportunity through I can't or I'm not this or that or whatever enough. And it's just a really, you know, bizarre but a clear example of what you can do when you just say yes and do it, right? He's made millions of dollars doing that. You know, this is gonna sound terrible but I had one of the actresses from Judy from the Waltons on. You remember the show, The Waltons? Yes. Yeah. She was on and she was such a delight and such just a pure, you know, light and humble, genuine person. We danced and she sings and dances and she was just this really great, great guest. But I've interviewed Deepak Chopra and Sean Korn in the yoga world and, you know, she was a treat and so many people. I really loved the musicians because I'm a musician at heart, you know? So I really loved bringing that element of life on. You know, it was just... I was Flava Flaves. Oh my God. That's what you... You're so outrageous. Yeah. I wore a clock and everything. Oh, that's a picture. You gotta put up somewhere. That's good. I know. It was fun. It was a fun show. Mistakingly, you know, it was interesting talking about at that time, I felt that that show wasn't important enough. Like I wasn't doing what I should be doing in the healing world. When I, in fact, I had gone to do the show because I was kind of burnt out from the healing world, right? But then after a while, it started to feel superficial, but after looking back now, I see more and more how, you know, no matter what we're doing, we can have such a positive influence on people, you know? And bring important qualities of other people's stories to light that inspires people. And so anyway, it was a great time for sure. And I may resurface it. Who knows? Fun. What, if I may ask you something personal, what is the lesson that has taken you longest to learn? Oh, that's a good question. Well, it's a lesson. Let's see. I think the lesson, honestly, is to invest, to put 100% into myself is a worthy investment. So it still comes down to self-worth, right? Now, someone could look at what I've done and say, oh my gosh, you've done so much. But for me, I've always felt like I'm holding back. And, you know, for example, I would invest $15,000 in some other kind of something, in my house or something like that. But then when it came to investing $15,000 in marketing for my work, then I hesitate and I go through all these mental loops. So that's still, you know, I still struggle with that, partly because, you know, on my spiritual path as well, like with my one-on-one clients, I've never advertised. I truly trust and believe that those who need me will find me and, you know, and it does work out. And I try to be the same way with money. And so I think there's a little bit of me feeling like, well, to invest and to make this big push in myself, like I'm trying to force, I don't have a head trip about that a little bit. So I think that would be my biggest challenge. That's interesting. I've actually noticed that with people in other realms that people will allocate money for one thing. And there's usually some other place in their life where it's like, what are you kidding? I once went shopping with a friend to Bloomingdale's and she liked this Zadik designer, loved them. And she picked up this shirt and she was showing me, God, I would love this shirt. And she kept going on and on. I said, so buy it. Yeah, yeah. She said, did you see the price tag? I couldn't possibly. And I'm looking at her like, I knew what she invested in these year-long masterminds to study with people. And it was a pretty penny. And then when it came to clothing herself in something she was in love with and a designer she adored, she couldn't even fathom that. And I thought, that's such a disconnect. That's so interesting. And I know I have areas for me too. Or it's like, this is okay. I wouldn't think twice. And then there are other places where it can show up a little miserly. Right. Yeah, it is really interesting. And that's what I mean. It's all information. We don't want to judge it and be hard on ourselves and think we're not where we're supposed to be spiritually or emotionally or whatever. It's just information. And it shows up in the most bizarre ways sometimes. I know people like that too. It's like, they'll spend, spend, spend. And then it's, their car or their clothes or whatever, they just can't bring themselves. And maybe they don't care so much. And that's fine too, if they don't care about those things. But it's interesting. We all have these little quirks. That reveal themselves. Well, this is Dare to Dream, Leah. What are you next, Dare to Dream? What are your future dreams and goals? Well, I want to write a screenplay. And so I'm hoping to start that this fall and be focused on that in the next year. Being, having it somewhat finished and ready to produce. So that's my next thing. Can I ask Ish, what's the subject matter? Yeah, it's, let's say it's a coming of age story for a 50 year old, an inspirational movie about how we can follow through with our dreams. So it's very fitting for your show. When I get it finished, I'll let you know. Awesome, bravo. Thanks, yeah. I don't know how to write a screenplay, so it's gonna be a head turner. Yeah, well, there's people out there who do that, for sure. And Kudos for you, you do not sit on your laurels at all. A few days here and there, yeah. I try to make myself do that, but not so much. Yeah, self-care is good too, but I'm impressed with the dreams. So what would you like to tell listeners and viewers here at the end? What kind of wisdom or advice can you impart to us? Well, I think just to reiterate what we hear so often though that you are enough and that there is no shame in seeking the support of any sort that we need for where we're having difficulties in our life. And especially the year and a half, two that we've all been through, reaching out online in groups, therapists, healers, friends, old family members, however you need to is critical. So one of my mantras or quotes is sharing is caring and revealing is healing. And I think the more that we can be open and vulnerable with each other and share what's going on, the better we are. We have more support. And also we help other people in that way. Sharing is caring, revealing is healing. And you can find her at leaguy.com. Any other place you'd like to send people? No, the modern stage podcast, as you mentioned, on iTunes and all the other platforms is great. And I have a Patreon channel, but all that's on my website. Well, thank you so much for coming on the show. I've really enjoyed this conversation. Thank you. It was a pleasure and nice to talk with you today. Thank you. Beautiful. I end today's show with this quote, your relationship with yourself sets the tone for every other relationship you have. Please subscribe to the Dare to Dream podcast, let your friends and family know if you heard something here today that they should tune in too to this number one weekly transformation conversation. My guest next week is Charmaine Hammond. She's the executive producer of the philanthropic film called Back Home Again. The film's director will also be here and the film shows the world how a community can possibly come together and rebuild. And the movie features the largest ensemble of award-winning Canadian actors in any film to date. So you'll wanna hear our Charmaine Hammond is very articulate. Please subscribe to this YouTube channel. If you're listening on podcasts and you'd like to see us, we are at youtube.com slash debbie dashinger. And again, my gift to you, if you'd like to learn how to be interviewed and you'd like to get the sheet and the videos so you can get started, go to debbie dashinger.com slash gift. Remember, don't just dare to dream, dare to turn all your dreams into your reality. Thanks for joining us.