 Hi, I'm George Cow and I'm here with one of my clients, Padma Gordon. I'm excited to be talking with her about what some of the things she's learned in our work together that might also benefit you as you build your authentic business. Hey, Padma. Hi, George. Thank you for being here and doing this. You're so welcome. So let me start with your bio so that those who are watching can have a sense of what kind of business you're building and then we'll get into some of the tips and lessons and perspectives. So okay, I'm going to read it from your site and we're going to include the link to your website and the notes for those watching can go and take a look. Padma Gordon is a spiritual guide, embodied mindfulness counselor. She's also a movement educator. She's a mother, a writer and a lover of life who skillfully invites people to deepen their connection to body, heart and soul. I love that. Padma has been in practice for over 10 years in her private practice and draws from a variety of modalities including contemplative movement practices, hypnotherapy, mindfulness and embodiment. Also somatic gestalt, self inquiry and radical truth telling. That's a lot of modalities that you kind of weave together skillfully for your clients and a lot of clients love working with you because of this integration. So I know there are others watching this who are also wanting to build a transformational practice. What advice might you share with them, some encouragement that would spur them along? Great. Let's see, what would I say to you all who are starting your practices? Well, the first thing and I feel like something that I've deepened into in working with you George is really just be consistent. Be consistent in your content creation. Be consistent in putting yourself out there. Just putting out information and content and really I feel like being generous, giving away your content and trusting. It's like it's offering yourself to the world, to the clients who are going to really resonate with you and benefit from your work. So I feel like the consistency and the, yeah, just taking, take consistent action and while you're taking consistent action, really believe in yourself even when it seems like, oh, is this really working? And I don't know, just really believe in yourself because what, what you're thinking has everything to do with what you're creating and what you're magnetizing. So let's say those are two main things. And you've created a variety of content. You've done videos. You've created image quotes. You've written, of course. Do you have any advice to people, which one to pick or what's been your experience with these different ones? That's a good question. I did videos for a whole year. I did videos. I created lots and lots of videos and I feel like that's a great way to put yourself out there. Short videos. They need to be short. They either need to be short as in like a minute and a half to two minutes or they need to be in a whole other category of length, like 10 minutes, something where you're actually giving, giving more than just a little blip. I think people really like images. I mean, as I think about, I've recently in the last several months started doing with your help, George, Facebook ads and posting a variety of things and boosting them rather through Facebook ads. And I think people really like images, like images with just a little quote that we're all so busy and people are just looking for a little bit of inspiration to sort of lift them up and help them keep going. Something that touches their heart, something that it's like a little bit of nourishment. So I would definitely use images with quotes on them that are either your own quotes or quotes from somebody who's inspiring. And how do you create your images just so that folks can know what tool you're using? I've been using Pablo, so just like finding an image and it's really easy to use and then you can just put a quote. There's also places where you can find quotes from all sorts of famous writers and philosophers. And so it's all pretty, pretty accessible and can be fun. It's a creative expression also. Yeah, totally. That's great. And when it comes to your writing, which you've been doing for a while and has this has a lot of meaningful meaning for you and of course for the people who read it. What guidance do you have there? What have you written about? You've written about so many different things, but have you noticed what tends to get more of a more of an interest from your audience? Yeah. I think there's a lot in the title. It's really important, the kind of title that you put and something that maybe gives them, gives them, what do I want to say, like something they can do, like something that they can apply. And also that your writing is relatable. Share from your own direct experience. Be vulnerable. Be transparent. I mean, I will often write about things like experiences I've had in different relationships, whether intimate relationships or my relationship with my daughter, who's 11, and I share what happened and also what I learned. I feel like it's really important to bring home the lesson that you got some kind of insight. And this is what helped you because we're all human. We're all sort of like fumbling through in the dark. And so it's good to know that other people are having the same experience. So I think people really want to want to feel like, oh, yeah, you went through that. You seem like you have your act together. Wow. And you went through that too. Okay. I feel, I feel better. Like I'm my human more so that we can become more accepting of our, of our humanness and make more space for us to make mistakes and learn about ourselves, learn about life. Yeah. That's great, great advice. I'm wondering if somebody is thinking, how do I know? First of all, how do I dare be vulnerable? Number one, but number two is how do I know when it's too vulnerable or, you know, any guidance there from your own experience? What have you seen to be a good way of doing that? That's a good question. I mean, I think especially on social media, I see, I see and have seen lots of people sharing and sort of in their process on Facebook. And I am not someone who's choosing to do that as just in terms of who I am. I feel like it's, it's more useful. It feels useful to be vulnerable and show that, that you made it out the other side. Unless you want everybody's input about, you know, how to get through a hard time. And if you're putting yourself out as a professional, that might not be the kind of most useful position to take. So I think it's like, it's like, are you, is it just be clear what you're doing? Are you putting, are you sharing as a way to say, Hey, I'm human, I, I struggle. And this is what helped me to get through it. This is what I leaned into in myself. These are the tools that really supported me as I went through this bumpy period of, you know, going through a divorce or dealing with the death of a parent or whatever these human challenges that we come up with or that we, that we live through. So yeah, I feel like it's really important to sense into what is your intention when you're putting yourself out on social media, especially. And I also publish things on medium and Thrive Global. And yeah, I think that the most important thing is to just be real, just be real and also show, like give people, give people something they can hold on to, like, all right, this is, this helped. You made it through that. I can make it through this. Yeah, that's great. So speaking of helping others get through it, that's the part of the work you do. And I'd love to, as we kind of end this conversation, can you share with people more about this integration of these different modalities that you do and how you invite people to work with you? Okay, great. Thank you for asking. Yeah, I feel like in my work with people, I assist them to really find their way home, like if you want to find your way home to yourself and feel good in your own skin and know who you are and learn how to really trust yourself at the deepest level, that's kind of what I help people with. And in doing so, we ferret out the places where the inner critic is showing up and where self-sabotage is occurring and places where we really, where we're still believing we're someone from the past. So we take time to unhook from past conditioning, past beliefs, I'm not good enough, I can only do this, I'm only worth this, these kinds of limiting beliefs. So we free ourselves from limiting beliefs and we land in the present time experience of who we really are and how to walk as our radiant whole selves. It's like if you want to walk as your whole self in the world and really allow yourself to be expressed, creatively expressed and be inspired in your life and fall in love with life, that's what I work with people on. And that said, there's a lot of pragmatism to that too, creating structures, doing practices, sort of like how to navigate the life has an expanded component and a dropping in component and also, okay, so am I going to bed at the same time every night? Am I eating good food? Am I taking time to slow down and really tend to myself and create balance in my life? So I work on all those different levels with people. Very good. And you are able to work virtually with people. They don't have to come to your Bay Area office. And one other thing before we go is one of the things that's unique about your work is you bring in a lot of somatic wisdom. What does that mean? I mean, I think a lot of people probably have heard of it, but how do you define that or how do you give us some perspective on that? Great question. Yes, I do work virtually with people and somatic wisdom is being able to feel what's happening in my body. The body is sending us signals all the time. Simple thing. Oh, I'm hungry or I'm thirsty or I need to rest or what have you. So because a lot of us, especially with all the computers and all the engagement that we that we do, it's a lot up in our heads. And so we are we are more than our we are more than our heads. We are also our heads and we are more than our heads. So how to really include a deeper sense of knowing that comes from literally what am I sensing in my body? What is the feeling? What is the physical sensation of hunger? Oh, it feels like there's a little pit in my stomach and there's a little emptiness there. Or if I'm afraid, maybe I can feel a little tension in my chest or my shoulders go up. And so these this is information that we can use to respond to ourselves and people and things in our lives. Beautiful. So those watching this, if you're interested in learning more from Padma, I will put the links in the notes of the video that go to her Facebook presence, as well as her writings on our website and also Thrive Global. I mean, you blog on both places. So I could just send people to your website, I'm guessing. Yes. Yeah. And you know, contact her if you are interested. And you have a couple of online courses. So we'll we'll put the links to that too. Great. Yes. Thank you. Yeah. So anything else, Padma, before we head out? Yeah, all I would say is be kind to yourself. Love yourself, take take time to really tend to yourself as you're doing your work. And because really, I think what what people respond to is what we're transmitting, as well as what we're posting and doing, where they're responding to the feeling. So the feeling of what you're putting out is really important. And also that whatever you're thinking, project, project the positive because matter follows thought. So think good, think good thoughts, intend, intend for the highest good for one and all. Wonderful. That's a great way of ending this conversation. Thank you so much, Padma. Thank you, George. Thanks for your great questions and all your positive energy. Thanks.