The Art of Intention

Your heart is calling - are you listening? 

Today's episode is a replay from a recent podcast interview I had.  Michelle Jones, Trauma Integration Coach, Lara Piu, Intuition Expert & Author, and I explore the use of writing and intuition to learn the language of what your body, mind and spirit are communicating to you.  We also discuss the power of choice and the ability we all have to tune out external noise and tune in to our own internal voice.

This episode is sure to give you some insight on how to stay calm in a very noisy world and amidst the busyness of the holidays.

Enjoy!

Connect with Michelle:

Mind Well Podcast

www.integratetrauma.com

www.jonesharbor.com

Connect with Lara:
 
Connect on IG:  https://www.instagram.com/lara.piu/
Lara's Book

Learn more about Carla:  https:/www.carlareeves.com/
Connect on IG:  https://www.instagram.com/carlasreeves/

Learn more about Carla:
Website: https://www.differentlyco.com

Get The Differently Journal:
https://differently.myflodesk.com/journal

Connect on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/differentlyco/
Connect on LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reevescarla/
Connect on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@differentlythepodcast

Go to https://differentlyco.com/events to get The Class schedule, sign up, and/or pass it on to a friend.  Come hang out and learn with us for FREE!

Book a Complimentary Strategy Call with Carla:  https://bookme.name/carlareeves/strategycall

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Thank you for listening!

Transcript

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SPEAKER_02 0:00

I was interviewed on a podcast recently, and today I want to share that episode with you. This conversation was hosted by Michelle Jones, who is the host of the Mind Well podcast, where she interviews wellness practitioners to discuss different pathways to wholeness and well-being. Michelle Jones is a co-founder of Trauma Integration, and she's a certified trauma integration coach. You can go back to episode number 45 where I interviewed Michelle Jones. I think you'll enjoy that conversation too. In this episode, she also interviews Lara Pugh, who is an intuition expert and the author of AIME, the analytical intuition method. We talk about well-being, how to opt into your intuition, the power of our thinking, journaling, and so many other gems. And I wanted to share this with you because it just might give you some insight on how to stay calm in a very noisy world as we approach the holidays. There's a quote I love. Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. Sit back, relax, grab a pen and paper, and listen for insight over information. A new idea or a shift in your thinking has the ability to open up a whole new world of possibility for you. I hope you enjoy this conversation. I'm Carla Reeves, and this is Differently, a podcast where we explore the ins and outs of what becomes possible when we're willing to think, do, and show up differently to the moments of our everyday lives.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

Well, hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Mind Well. On this podcast, we interview people who have remarkable perspectives on the power of making mindful connections. I'm Michelle Jones, and today I am with two amazing wellness professionals, Carla Reeves and Laura Pugh. I have been working in the field of trauma education and coaching. And as I do, I recognize more and more that when clients are stepping out of old patterns created from their lived experience, they often need expert resources to empower them to live an authentic life and to show up in the world leading from their strength and capability. From this came a desire to create a network of wellness professionals as a community collaborative to give our clients the resources that they need. So I'm here today with Carla and Laura and they are part of this community collaborative that we are building. And I'm delighted to have them on the show today. So welcome, Carla and Laura. Thank you. I know I love it. Okay, Carla, let's start with you. Tell our listeners what brought you to this point and the work that you're doing with clients today.

SPEAKER_02 2:59

Yes. So that actually goes back to um when I became a mom. So became a mom, was working in corporate America, had been there working in there for 10 years plus years, didn't know if I would come back to work after having my first son. And I had the opportunity to stay home and I took that and was thrilled about that. And but about eight months into being a new mom, I started to feel like my sanity was slipping. And I looked around and I saw a lot of moms that were honestly quite miserable. And I knew I didn't want that, but I wasn't exactly sure how to do all this. And for sure. My the idea in my mind was I wanted to um be a happy mom. I felt like that was a gift I could give my kids. And so I was on a mission to figure that out. And I felt this incredible calling to write. And I started writing every day. I would just write when I had a little moment, I would just stop and write. And through that process, it was months later, but I was sitting on the edge of my bed looking over what I had written over the last months. And I was kind of floored by what had happened in my journal. Not only had I kind of figured out how to take care of my own happiness and be a happy mom, but I had tapped into creativity and spirituality and on and on and on. Self-acceptance, layers of self-acceptance had just been peeled off. And I was really floored. And I knew in that moment that I was here to teach people how to use writing as a tool to navigate their life. And I started a business called Sanity Journals. It was literally my sanity. That actually led to meeting a company that had a coaching software that they used journaling. And long story short, I got connected with them and I started helping them and licensing their software to create an online space where people could journal and write and grow. Went to the owner one day and said, I want to grow this. I don't know what to do. And she said, I think you should go through our coaching. And that was my first introduction to coaching. And I did go through the coaching. The coaching was amazing, but I more importantly fell in love with this marriage of a coach and a journal. Ended up getting certified. And that's how I got to where I am today.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

Okay. There's so many things in there that I love. One of which is I remember as a young mom feeling that way. And I, and I think it's so common because it's like we shift who we are in the world in a lot of ways, right? Like so many things shift in that time. And I love how you were able to look around and see that this isn't just gonna automatically fall into place. Like there's a step that I'm gonna need to try and like figure this out, right? It's not just gonna come to me. So that that really stood out to me. And also as you were sharing about writing and how transformative that was, I was thinking about my own experience through trauma healing. I literally filled up journals and they weren't fancy. They were like pick them up at Walmart notebooks that you would use for school, right? And I literally filled up like four or five of those with all different types of writing, doing all different kinds of things. And as I was doing that, it really was central to the work that I did in my trauma healing personally. So I know if I understand it right, that is still central to the work that that you do as a coach right now. Is that true? Absolutely. So I'm curious how kind of like why is that a central component as you're doing this coaching work? Why bring that writing forward into your coaching work?

SPEAKER_02 6:42

So personally, I had a history of the writing and having it have a huge impact in my own life. And then when I partnered with, started partnering with that company, their whole coaching philosophy was built. The centerpiece really was writing and journaling. And when I went through their certification, I was trained as a coach to use the writing to help people see their blind spots and reflect their truth back to them. And so so much comes out when somebody writes that you can, as a coach, then it's just like a treasure trove of things to coach inside of, right from their own, you know, things that are relevant and in their heart, and they don't even exactly see everything that's there. So as a coach, I get to kind of dig and pull strings and help them really uncover the things that are in the way of them moving forward or having what it is they desire in their life.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

And do you actually do that time of writing with your clients, or do they write and then you go through it together when you come home, or is it a mixture of both of those things? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:48

So I I use an online platform today where I assign them like worksheets or journaling sheets basically with questions and they respond to those questions. And when they post, I can see those. And then we have an online dialogue in between our coaching sessions. And then when we get on the call, we can just go deeper into that.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Oh, wow. Okay. I love so much about that. I think it's so interesting because there are so many times when I think, I know I need to write about this. Like because of the work that I've done, I think, oh, I really know that I could really gain a lot of insight if I would just stop and write. And for whatever reason, I just kind of kick that cam down the road and I don't do it. But I imagine having that component where I have the opportunity now to write and someone else can see it. Someone else can like get into that experience with me, and now we can have a conversation about it. That's really powerful. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

Your journal talks back to you. It's really cool. Right?

SPEAKER_01 8:44

Well, and if I can add like I love it. Well, for me, I I see I didn't know this about you, Carla. Um, but for me, when I wrote my first book, I and I wrote my story, basically, like my life story or part of it. And my story always felt so fragmented, like random. When I wrote my book, I finally saw, oh, my life has not been random at all. In fact, it's been very put together. And so I felt more at peace about my personal story by writing it out like that. So it was really life-changing for me. And I didn't going into the process, I was just writing a book. But coming out of it, I felt very empowered. Like, okay, it things are adding up, actually, turns out, you know.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

Oh, absolutely. I know I had kind of mentioned the work that I did in my trauma work to be able to do that. I had worked through an extensive amount of childhood trauma. And it, and it, I'm not exaggerating when I say a huge part of that journey for me was being able to make sense of it through my writing. Because objectively, some of the things that happen to us in life just don't make sense, right? They're just fundamentally unfair. It's not logical. If you try and tell it to someone, they're like, this makes no sense to me. But as we are able to like really for the first time give words to our experience, there's something really powerful in that. I found that in the work that I do as a trauma coach, but I love to like translate that to so many different things in our life. That sometimes we have this feeling in our body. We have an experience. And until we even think about putting words to it, we don't have the whole meaning of it yet. I think that's really interesting and cool. So true. Okay, Laura, let's get to know you a little bit, bring bring you into the conversation here. I am so interested to learn what brought you to the work that you're doing now, including your latest book. So will you share with our listeners what brought you to this point and the work that you do today with clients?

SPEAKER_01 10:47

Yeah. So for me, of course, intuition has been a lifelong journey, but a key, probably the most key moment was in 2006 when I had owned a flower shop with uh my boyfriend at the time. And it was a really bad relationship, and I had put like all of my life savings into this flower shop with him, and it was like a dark time in my life because I needed to get out of the relationship and I couldn't figure out how to get out without losing all my money. And so um, but during that time, every morning when I woke up, I would hear, I love you. And I was like, Okay, good. Like now I'm losing my mind, I'm hearing things. Okay. Well, anyway, long story short, I did leave the relationship. And about three days after that, I started the thought, was that and before I could even finish the thought of was that God talking to me every morning with the I love you's, before I could even finish the thought, I heard Yes, it was, and don't you ever forget. And I was just like, okay. But in that moment, I realized, okay, you know, I've been kind of hearing these voices my whole life. I've been sensing things my whole life. I need to stop ignoring my intuition. I need to listen to it, but I also need to figure out like what what I now call what's divine and what's distraction. Because I knew that everything I was hearing was not something I should follow. You know, I also had voices in my head that said, like, you're ugly, you're fat, all those things, right? So I knew I needed to figure out like how to how to discern. And so that's I spent, I would say, the next 10 years or so really just experimenting with my intuition and journaling was a big part of that process. The writing down of things and and the the intuitive downloads, writing them down and then seeing what happened. Was it right, was it not, and really learning that internal voice. So that's so then I wrote my first book, and then the latest book was more what I was finding was um that these because of my background in marketing and and business, that my intuition was really coming in handy and i in business and in life. And so I wanted to kind of give it a business angle as well. And so the third book is more business oriented, but it's still basically teaching you how to use intuition in a very thorough way.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

Yeah. You know, as you were sharing that, I think that's an experience that all of our listeners can relate to, not necessarily the flower shop boyfriend, because that is like a super specific example to you, right? But I think this general concept of how do I know which thoughts in my head to pay attention to and which ones to ignore? How do I know which sort of sensations, or because I read your book, which gut feeling to go with and what kind of impulses I should ignore. And so that was one of the things that really appealed to me as I was like, okay, let's dig in and see what your thoughts are. And interestingly, I was up at a cabin this weekend with my adult kids and I was reading your book. And so I just started to ask them because they're college students, right? So they're just at the beginning, like that exciting part of life where you're trying to figure things out. And I was like, hey, on a scale of one to 10, like, how hard of a time do you have making decisions? Like, how how much do you trust that it's, you know, that the decision that you're making is the right one for you and you just feel good about it and move on. And they were like, oh, that's the worst. I hate making decisions. I was like, oh my gosh, everybody needs this kind of it's part of what resonated for me is that it almost felt a little bit like learning the language of my body and learning the language of what my body's already communicating to me, but it's like I need to learn it. I need to like learn how to in how how to interpret what what my body's telling me.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

Because um, I always think it's really ironic that people are talking about intuition more these days in this day of high technology where we rely on high tech so much. And uh because really like our bodies are a high tech. It's just we're starting to like get the keys and unlocking all the tech, you know?

SPEAKER_00 15:13

I love that. Yeah. Yeah. So your book is called AIM, the analytical intuition method, three steps to eliminate indecision, create innovation, and dominate the market. And it's an Amazon bestseller. So congratulations. Like that's so exciting. Why do you think people are so drawn to this topic?

SPEAKER_01 15:34

Uh people, I believe, are drawn to the topic because, well, okay, just looking at the stats, so 50% of Americans use their intuition, but one in four say they don't rely or they it's inconsistent. So I think people are finding what I found back in that flower shop moment was I know something's there, but I know I don't have the formula for it. So I think that's why it's resonating with people, um, whether it's, you know, day-to-day decisions or big decisions, small decisions, because it's like sometimes your your intuition, you're like, wow, yeah, I nailed it. And then there's those times where you're like, oh, oopsie. You know, and so yeah, I think that that's why it's resonating.

SPEAKER_02 16:18

Well, in the external world is so noisy, you know? Yes. Like I'm consistently like wanting to pull farther and farther away of that from that. Same.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

And yet here we have to like live in this world. Like that's right. I was up at the cabin this weekend as I was saying, and it was like honestly, like dreamy, right? Like, like I'm up there spotty Wi-Fi, so I can't really connect to anything, which was which is perfect. It's exactly what I needed. The weather was perfect, I'm in the forest, like everything's beautiful. And I thought this is like the ideal life to be, you know, here and disconnected. But then here's the reality. I didn't bring all my kids with me. So I had a kid back home and a husband who stayed home with my youngest daughter and a business that I run and write all these pieces of the puzzle. So the reality is I can't really like, I mean, I could, I could choose to live like isolated in a cabin, disconnected from the whole rest of the world. But I really feel like part of my passion in life is to connect to others and to be able to help them to find healing, to find that truth about themselves that they really are capable and resilient. And it turns out it's really hard to do that if I'm isolated on a mountain, right? And so here we are, in order to live our lives, we're here and we're engaged in life, which is so noisy, like you said, Carla. And so, how do we like filter out the noise that doesn't really matter compared to the things that are really worth paying attention to?

SPEAKER_01 17:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:52

I think um, you know, as like it kind of combining everything we're talking about, as you cultivate a inner life and you tap into your intuition and your divine nature and that relationship, that you can live in a very noisy world and feel very centered and grounded. That's my experience.

SPEAKER_00 18:15

So, so what is one thing that you think is critical for people to know if that's the experience that they want to like connect to? I'm interested to hear thoughts from each of you on that. Like, like if our listener is saying, Yeah, that sounds awesome. Like, I would love to be in a space where even though there's commotion around me, how do I get to that place? It's it's one of those things that someone will tell me, Oh, how are you doing? And I'll say, I'm calm amidst the commotion, because it's not like everything's going exactly how it's supposed to be. But but you know, because if I just say, Oh, I'm doing great, people may think, oh, everything in her life is exactly in order. No, not true. Actually, I live in a crazy world and I have kids, and so that by nature means nothing is in order, right? So what would you guys say to a listener who said, Okay, that's something that I want. I I want to be able to find that. What is a step that they would take toward that?

SPEAKER_01 19:14

Yeah, go ahead. Uh um so yeah, uh a very practical step. I so I so my method is really three steps and it's very easy. It's ask, document, validate. So, you know, you're asking, you're opting in to your intuition. And I'll just just go over it real quick and document, documenting your what your intuitive downloads, and then validating, always validating. And so, you know, we really are meant to use both hemispheres of our brain. So also using your logical side and and validating. But a quick, like, kind of feel like where you're more getting at, probably the quickest little tip is to connect in with your heart. And you uh an easy way to do that is really just to touch your heart. And I find myself I do that throughout the day when I get like that anxiety that starts to build. Like I'm very brave and peaceful in the morning, and then as the day builds, I get like you know, anxiety starts to like, oh, I haven't gotten enough done, or you know, I start overthinking things and I just touch my heart and like, okay. And then when you get to a point where you're like, okay, then you know you've reconnected. So that's kind of my quick little fix on that one.

SPEAKER_00 20:29

I love that. And I'm gonna kind of connect back to something you said earlier, because that first step of ask, I thought was really powerful as I was reading your book. And part of it is asking for your intuition to participate with you as you are connecting to things in the world. And I thought that's so simple, but I really do think that our bodies and our minds, you know, it's part of our stewardship as our bodies, our minds, some may say our spirits, like, and that we really do need to give permission for all of these things to show up for us. That may sound kind of weird, but that's something that's always resonated for me.

SPEAKER_01 21:06

Yeah, because actually, so the science shows that your intuition is working in the background at all times and ambiguity stimulates your intuition. However, if you don't opt in, um it's like it's sort of operating without you and it's driving the conversation. So you want to be part of that conversation, you know, like co-creating, as they say, right?

SPEAKER_00 21:28

So what do you think is the difference between opting in and like some of the other ways people think of like I heard Carla say to tap into your intuition. What do you think people what is like the twist? Because I feel like as I was reading it, I thought, oh, this is just like a tweak of how people really think of intuition.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

It is a very subtle but important tweak. Um so part of asking is being specific. So you don't have so for me, I believe in God. So I say, Thank you for the divine guidance I'm about to receive today. Today in all my days. But if you don't believe in God, you could say thank you for the loving guidance that I'm going to receive today. So it's opting into a specific uh stream of consciousness versus the universe. A big mistake I see people make is thank you, universe, for you know, whatever. Well, the universe is everything. And, you know, people will say, The universe has my back. Oh, really? Well, why do you lock your doors then? Why do you have health insurance? You know, like Okay. The entire universe does not have your back. The divine universe has your back. The loving universe has your back. So you want to opt into that. I got chills when I said that. This is always a good confirmation. So just be more specific. Because it's not like you're not going to get your taxes done by like your neighbor's 14-year-old kid. That's the universe. That's like, universe, send somebody. Send, you know, it's like, oh, you'll get something. Oh, you'll get an answer, but who knows what, you know, where that's coming from. So you just want to be specific.

SPEAKER_00 23:02

That's interesting. When I was um, I applied that strategy this morning when I was kind of putting these notes down. And so I just took a moment and I also am a person of faith. And so I was like, okay. And I just said, in the name of Jesus Christ, I ask to be guided as I prepare these notes so that we can have the conversation that needs to happen today. Yeah. And it felt really great. And then I just moved forward, just trusting that I would be able to like blend my logic because I'm a smart girl. I've got some good thoughts and ideas in my head, but also those kind of feelings that would come that would help to direct the conversation.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Yeah. Yeah. So you can tailor it to whatever your spiritual beliefs are.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

So I guess the validation for that will come at the end of our conversation. How that went in the beginning, right? Okay, Carla, what are your thoughts to our listeners about that original question? Because we've talked a few different places. I'll remind us that we're gonna come back to how do I get to that place of sort of maybe calm-centeredness or that um being anchored within when there's commotion going on outside.

SPEAKER_02 24:09

Yeah. When you were talking about that, I was taken back to a like a time in my life where for me, this happened first out of not doing it, not listening. I did a whole lot of not listening. And then being on the other side of that and going, I, you know, I felt that. I knew that. I had a sense that wasn't right, but I didn't listen. I had done that so many times in my life that I had really gotten to a point that I literally made a promise to myself. So this is kind of like the asking or opting in, right? Yes. I had made a promise to myself to listen and be obedient. For me, it's to God too. And and to know, like, and there was a particular time in my life where I had God telling me, you need to leave. You need to leave this company. I was working with that company for a number of years, and it was a really good gig. And I didn't have, there was really no good reason to leave. I didn't have a desire to go back out under my own brand. The feeling was so strong, the nudge was so strong, and I knew I had to be obedient to that was the most important thing. That if I left and fell on my face, it didn't matter that it was leading me somewhere better. And from that moment on, that just really built my trust. And so I think it it is it is um committing, it's making a promise to yourself, and then it's it's acting and trusting, and over time that you start to build trust, and then it gets easier and easier to listen to the intuition and on the kind of just cultivating that inner life, part of that is for sure spiritual for me, but the other part is like just knowing yourself, and I spent so many years not knowing myself and trying to contort myself to be uh acceptable to everybody around me. And the writing is what helped me start to at first when I started writing, it was like I was trying to be something I wasn't, even in my writing. Like what I was doing in my real life was reflective in my writing. And then there was a day after a lot of writing and not liking it, there was a day that this girl like skipped across the pages of my journal, and I'm like, I like her, I want to know her. And she just started showing up more and more and more in my journal, and that was my truest self. And I tell my clients like, when you find that part of yourself that's real, there's nothing not to like, like, not in an egotistical kind of way, but just in that centered, grounded kind of way. And so that was a huge part of it too. So the writing, the promising, the asking, the trusting, the journaling.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

And really, as you were talking, I was thinking part of the work is showing up for ourselves. Yes, and to honor what's right for us. And I think that takes a little, okay, a lot of practice because a lot, right? Because I think so often it's our um impulse to look sideways and to be influenced by the opinions and choices of how other people are doing it for their lives. I think that's super common. And I don't know that it's more so with social media. I think it's been an like an age-old problem. But I think now we have so many more variations to see of how people are doing it. And it's easy to look sideways and compare how am I parenting compared to that, how am I running my business compared to that, how am I choosing to show up and nourish my body compared to how somebody else is when really showing up for ourselves and honoring what's right for us, really regardless of how anybody else would think about what that is, that is like a huge step in growth, I feel. That takes a lot of courage. Yeah, and that's true leadership, being the leader of your own destiny, and of your own body, day-to-day life, of your own relationships and how you show up in the world.

SPEAKER_02 28:22

And risking the judgment of others, you know. I think so of so many places in my life I am doing it differently. Yes. And that's okay. Usually now it's that's a sign that I'm on the right track.

SPEAKER_00 28:35

Right. Yeah. Because as you said that, I was thinking, I don't think it's just a risk of judgment. I think we just need to accept that there will be people who are going to judge how we're showing up in the world, and it really doesn't matter. Because if we're showing up in a way that is true to ourselves, that's the only piece that matters.

SPEAKER_02 28:56

Well, and think about like if you're if you're showing up in contradiction with yourself and to get the approval of everybody else, there's then you're judging yourself. And that that's like that when you're out of alignment with yourself, that's like the some of the worst judgment.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

Oh, yeah. I think it's probably the seat of a lot of illness.

SPEAKER_02 29:21

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 29:22

The thing I'm finding that um like more the more and more I do this work is like the more I get out of my own way and just go with the flow, the easier life gets because I take inspired action. So the more powerful like the things I do actually have an impact versus like spinning my wheels. Yes. And by the way, like I feel younger too. And I think it's because I'm not resisting everything. Do you know?

SPEAKER_02 29:48

I completely agree. Life gets so exciting and rich when you get out of the way. And it's like unexpected surprises around every corner.

SPEAKER_00 29:57

It's almost dramatic for me. Like, I I probably spent the first two decades of my adulthood living, looking sideways and showing up how I thought I was supposed to, and how I thought um be because I was kind of just imitating how other people were showing up in the world because I was trying to learn by doing that. And maybe that's a fine place to start. But over time and as I got older, it was so unsatisfying. I just felt constantly unsatisfied, frustrated. And I felt like no matter how hard I try to imitate, I'm never gonna match what this person might be doing authentically, right? And now I realized through a bunch of the work that I've done that when I show up as my authentic self, that is joy.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:43

That is joy. And I don't even think I knew what real joy felt like until I showed up as my authentic self. And it just doesn't even occur to me to look sideways because I already know I'm doing something different than other people. So why am I gonna look sideways? Because they're hopefully stepping in their passion and in their life's work, and I'm in mine. And let's just all cheer for each other that we're doing it that way. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01 31:05

Completely big time. Well, I studied dance growing up. So with dance, like it's all monkey see, monkey do. And you're talking about sideways. Well, everything else was that peripheral vision of you know who's dancing beside you and keeping in sync with them. So it's like I was really trained in that. You know, like that's what I was good at, you know. So yeah, I had to like sort of undo that.

SPEAKER_00 31:28

Well, and it and it's interesting because one of the things that I love the most about my personal trauma healing is being able to connect to my whole self and to learn the language of my body, to learn the language of my spirit, and I think of my insight and intuition, and to really tune in and like understand what that was communicating, and by so doing to live the most authentically I've ever been able to live. As I was reading through your book, Laura, I realized that there are some similarities between the relationship that I learned to have with my body, including how my body communicates to me, and this remarkable process that you've developed for people to be able to use their intuition to be effective in their lives, in their businesses, all of these places. So I'm interested if you found this method to be relevant to people that are dealing with trauma.

SPEAKER_01 32:22

Uh yes, because so especially in trauma, we um, you know, I've had trauma in my life, and a lot of times because of it, you will um you get extra sensitive to the world around you. And so engaging your intuition will help you turn that process from I'm work walking on eggshells to I'm empowered. Because you can use that sensitivity to bring it back into your own body, your own spirit, and use it to inform your life versus always being worried about what everyone else thinks and and like walk your path that you came here to walk.

SPEAKER_00 33:05

That's so powerful. I feel like that could be the title of another book. It could be eggshells to empowerment. Oh god.

SPEAKER_02 33:13

I just could write that book together. Recently was in a conversation with a client, and she was talking about this very same thing in a relationship with her daughter walking on eggshells, and I've heard that so many times. And I love that idea of like actually using all that sensory to actually empower you. What a shift. Right. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 33:35

You know, it's definitely something that I have found part of the work that I do in terms of integrating trauma. You know, a lot of times people think, well, these experiences that I've had, I know my first impulse was like, I just want to amputate that part. Like, I I just don't want that to be part of who I am, that I had these experiences. And I tried that for a really long time. Turns out that you can't disconnect yourself from your lived experience. And so I just felt a lot of tension and separation within, right? It was very stressful. I was filled with anxiety because I was trying to pull two magnets apart that were never meant to be pulled apart in a sense. And so part of the work that we do is to help people to release the parts of it that are really painful, the shock and fear and pain and um shame, all of these pieces that we don't need to carry with us. But the reality is that we have this lived experience, right? But we can take those pieces from our lived experience and take it forward and use it as like our superpower to move forward. And so I, and so I love that example. Another way that I've used that sensitivity or being able to like sense everything, because originally that came because it helped me to stay safe, right? Because I was able to really sense subtle shifts in subtle shifts in the room. I can read a room like nobody's business, like I can really do that. And at first that feels like a burden until I realize that also helps me to really connect in beautiful ways with people. And so it's that flip of being able to take our experiences and say, okay, but this could also be something that makes me have this amazing strength in my life to be able to show up in that way. Egg shells to empowerment, ladies. I love it. I love that too. Okay, Carla, the work that you're doing now focuses mostly on coaching clients one-on-one. Does that sound right? Yes. Okay. So, what are some of the biggest challenges you're seeing your clients face?

SPEAKER_02 35:30

I think one thing I've discovered over 10 years of coaching is that people are so much close. This isn't exactly a challenge, but it is a challenge, is that people are so much closer than what they want than they realize. And it's often just an outdated lens or way of thinking that prevents them from experiencing the very thing that they want. And so the challenge, I guess, inside of that is the thinking, right? Is how our thinking fabricates all kinds of crazy nonsense that over years and years of thinking becomes a truth and a lens that we live inside of. And then we're filtering everything that happens through that lens. And so often, you know, I help people kind of clean off that lens first or see the lens first, clean the lens off, and then ultimately be able to take that off and put on other lenses to really create mobility in your life. So that's kind of one thing is our thinking and just not having a relationship to our thinking or understanding that we actually have power and influence. And it's it's one thing we can control in a world where we there are lots of things we can't. Um, and the second, I think, you know, so often it's a it's a focus problem. You know, people come to a call, and I think it's it's like gravity with our human nature. We are so uh tend to focus on what's wrong, what's missing, what's not happening, what we're not doing. And I love to help people sh really just shift their focus to look from a different angle because when we're focused on what could go wrong, it brings up all our defense mechanisms of avoiding, improving, and strategizing and all of that. And that leads to certain results. And then there's looking at what could go right here and how can I show up in a way that actually increases the likelihood of things going right. And so those are two places that are, you know, always working inside of with people.

SPEAKER_00 37:43

Yeah. Two of the words that came to mind as you were talking are fear and hope. Because the very first part that you shared like made me sit up straighter in my chair. I'm sure you noticed. But when you said that people are so much closer than they realize to what they want, I was like, that is what every person wants to hear.

SPEAKER_01 38:02

I couldn't believe she said it because honestly, like I have been struggling with my business lately, like in the mind of like what direction do I want to go for next year? And that, like, in my intuition, that's the answer I've been getting. So when you said that, I was like, what did she just say?

SPEAKER_00 38:21

Right. And I think that is, I mean, in general, hope is one of my very favorite things that to I I could talk about hope all day. I can talk about how it's the thing that I wish for my clients the most for them to get a sense of hope. And where the other part comes, because I almost feel like fear and hope are opposites of one another. And as you're talking about, you know, all the things that could go wrong, that's really sitting from a place of fear. You know, partly a fear of all the things that could go wrong and partly a fear of I don't have what it takes if things go wrong. But the truth is we do. Whatever comes our way, we have what it takes to move forward through it, right? And how much more empowering and um making us so much more hopeful if we think what could go right? Like that's exciting. What could go right? Like everything could go right. What if everything went right? I find that just thrilling. I just found myself sitting up and being excited about that. Um, are there certain kinds of people or challenges you specifically love to work with, or is it pretty broad in the types of people that come and come and coach with you?

SPEAKER_02 39:34

I think people that come to work with me typically are navigating some kind of change. Either they're seeking change within themselves, like you know, me as that new mom, like knowing something had to shift. I wasn't sure what, and and not really sure where to go. So a lot of people are coming kind of in that space. And then the other group is probably people that are in some kind of transition, whether it's like they're thinking about leaving a relationship or a job, or they want to make a career move, some big move, some big decision. And either they don't want to repeat patterns of the past, or they um, yeah, they just need they don't have the confidence to do it. You know, they need to f find the confidence to actually make the leap. And so those are places typically.

SPEAKER_00 40:19

So it so it almost seems like part of it is that they're aware. They know that where they want to be requires something more than what they're doing right now, or from what they can just see right now. And so they know that they need a little help in order to get there.

SPEAKER_02 40:34

That's exactly right. And there's like a, I think there's a moment of pause for people. Like they're they're tired of doing more and they're ready to do something different because what they have been doing isn't working. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 40:48

It's interesting because I've I've had this thought that I've been building over the last year or so, which is there's already a path between us and where we want to be. Just because we can't see it doesn't mean the path isn't there. And it sounds like part of what you're able to do with people with these lenses that may be obscuring their their ability to see the path isn't so much that you're creating a path as you're clearing their ability to see that there's already a path here that can take them where they need to go. That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_02 41:20

I feel like they're they're really the expert on their life, and I'm the expert on helping clear all the crap that's in the way of that seeing that clearness.

SPEAKER_00 41:29

Oh my gosh, I love that so much. Okay. You have talked about having a created life, and I think we're kind of have been talking around that just a little bit, right? What does that mean to you as you work with clients and bring this concept to them?

SPEAKER_02 41:45

Yeah, that concept is so exciting to me because I because I lived a lot of years, like we talked about, at the mercy of my circumstances and just feeling like, oh, just kind of pushed and pulled with the wind and really had no say in how my life went. And um, my happiness was a complete at the mercy of what whether things were lining up just so on the outside. And so for me, it is really recognizing and taking 100% responsibility for the ability you have within yourself to really shape and influence your life. And when you start to do that, when you start to align your thinking with your actions and your um, you know, aligned with your vision and what you really want and what's in your heart, it all starts to work in alignment and life starts to happen with a lot more grace and ease. But there's literally, like I used to, I used to think I wasn't creative and I was with a business partner and she was the creative one, and I was the business one. And I believe that. And that was like became part of me for years and years. And when I started doing that writing, I started realizing like I wasn't creative in the traditional sense. I'm not an artist, I don't, not crafty, that kind of stuff. But I use creativity everywhere. And to me, it's so exciting that we can take part every day. Like I start my morning with, you know, just an intention and really thinking about my day and what do I want to create? What kind of connections do I want to have? And how do I need to show up in order to increase the likelihood of that? And so I think we can use our creativity in every moment. And to me, that's exciting.

SPEAKER_00 43:27

Yes. J just even that concept of choosing. I'm gonna choose the things that I want to include in my life. I'm gonna choose the things I'm no longer gonna pay attention to. I mean, there's so much empowerment threaded through all of that. Choice is a huge part, yes.

SPEAKER_02 43:43

And we're choosing in every moment. We just maybe don't recognize that. We're it you're already choosing. So it's a matter of if things aren't going the way you want, it's really starting to be more intentional about those choices because those little tiny choices. Are rippling to your life.

SPEAKER_00 44:03

Because sometimes we're unwittingly choosing to ignore our own insight, what our own bodies are communicating to us.

SPEAKER_01 44:11

Yeah, or you're just responding, you know, to the needs of the day. I've got to go to this appointment. I'm hungry. I've got to eat. You know, and so it's like, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:18

No, absolutely. In reaction, reaction mode. Yeah. Exactly. To like create a space to choose a response instead of just reacting to what's happening in the moment. Yes, absolutely. Okay. Laura, I have a feeling that intuition is one of those things that people think that they understand because it's so common and we talk about it all the time, right? But in your book, you point out eight intuition myths. What is the number one myth or thing people misunderstand about intuition that's really getting in the way?

SPEAKER_01 44:50

The number one thing is I would say that you need to do something. Okay. There's, you know, lots of YouTube videos out there on like, I need to meditate, I need to be in an altered state of mind, I need to sage, I need to light a candle, or, you know, I need to say something. When in reality, you really don't need to like do anything. As I said before, the science shows that the intuition is working in the background. So you you don't need to like be a different person. You need to don't need to like say a script or like say a speci you know, you just need to start to work with it. Opting into it.

SPEAKER_00 45:32

And tell me more about where this intuition originates in our body.

SPEAKER_01 45:38

So um both science and the top five religions of the world talk about the heart as a seat of intuition. So the studies show that um a Heart Math Institute has proven that our intuition is received in the heart and that they can physically um show the point at which it's received. So there's there's actual like uh body um root response, okay? So there's a physical response to it. We may not always feel it, but but it's there. Then our heart talks to our brain three times more than our brain talks to our heart. So your heart is informing the brain and the body. And so you just want to be part of that conversation.

SPEAKER_00 46:21

There's something about that that is so beautiful to me. I agree. Right. I just I just can't even like put words to it yet, but there's something about it that is just so like Well, what was so exciting for me is like, so I was talking about that 10 years where I was experimenting.

SPEAKER_01 46:36

Well, that's what I was finding organically, just through, you know, experimentation. So when so then um when I wrote the second book, I'm like, let me see what's out, like have I just made this up or what? So I started to explore what do religions say about it? Heart, heart, heart, heart, heart. Okay, everything from Buddhism to Judaism to you know Christians, they all say this. Okay, what does the science say about it? Heart. Heart. And I'm like, okay, because the gut, we talk a lot about the gut. I'm I'm gonna follow my gut. All right, the gut's like uh I call it intuition roulette. It might be on sometimes, but it might be off. Um and the reason why it might be off is that um the so I talked about how the heart informs the brain and and sort of talks to it more than the brain talks to the heart. The gut and the brain have a different relationship where it's a little bit more of an equal relationship. So the problem with that is your gut might be telling you the truth. It might be telling you, hey, something's wrong here. I know there have been times I've followed my gut and it was right. But also your gut might be responding um inappropriately out of fear. It's influenced by what you're eating, and also it's very influenced by the mind. And as we know, the mind is a battlefield. You know, um it's influenced by our traumas, by our thinking. If you've I mean, I feel like if you've gone to Carla, you're probably not having the battlefield, but you know, for most of us, we're having the battlefield of the mind, right? So that's why caution against the the gut. I would just go straight to the heart.

SPEAKER_02 48:14

I love that. Well, and I don't think the battlefield goes away, right? Like coming to work with me, I wouldn't say that that goes away, but it it quiets, it loses power, right? Like because our mind is just my mind, I mean, I've been working on this stuff for years and years and years. My mind still can go crazy on days, but it's it's I know what to listen to and what not to listen to. Uh okay. Like that. But this is such a beautiful idea. I love this. Yes, heart talking to the head more. Yes, but we're not listening, right? Like that's the key is listen, are you listening?

SPEAKER_00 48:49

Are you listening? Are you paying attention to what your body's already communicating to you? Yeah. I think our bodies are so wise and carry so much insight. And really, one of my core beliefs about the clients that I work with is that they already have all the insight that they need in order to move forward and heal. They just may not be connected to it or understand what their body's communicating to them. And so I like to move all the debris out of the way, which is part of clearing this trauma stuff so that they can connect to their insight that's already there. Because the answers don't come from me. They come from within themselves.

SPEAKER_01 49:24

I like that too. Like the interpreter. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:27

Yes, 100%. Like, let's just clear out the stuff that's getting in the way of you seeing it, right? Being able to connect to it.

SPEAKER_02 49:34

Recently I had this experience of like seeing, like grappling with something in my head about like, should I do this or should I? I can't even remember what it was, but like, should I do this or should I not? And like trying to feel it out, what was the right thing. And I was reminded of something I read that you know, when it's God or it's intuition, and I've experienced this. Like when God speaks to me, it comes with conviction. It's like this convicted feeling that just lands in my body. It's not like I'm thinking about it, it just like arrives. That's my experience. And when I am in when it's fear kind of talking, like, oh, maybe you shouldn't do that. And like sometimes I'll mix that up for intuition. Or um, yes, intuition. But I was reminded, like, no, you know, you know when it's conviction and it's it it shows up very differently for me. I don't know what is your experience.

SPEAKER_01 50:35

Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah, I'm with you on that. And so um something I found is if you ask yourself four questions, you can kind of weed out a lot of the the bad, you know, or the false hits. So you ask yourself, is it helpful? Is it timely? Is it true? And is it loving? And that'll help you weed out, but I this sensation, what you're talking about, like that's the ultimate long play of like knowing and really understanding that what does it feel like? What's that sensation? Because it's a little different for everyone. Yes. So you really want to um I'll I say like you kind of um you want to know that inner voice so well that no nothing and no one can um impersonate it. Like if if your mom or your best friend called, or excuse me, if someone was trying to play a joke on you and pretend that they were your mom or your best friend calling, right? Like that'd be very hard to do because you know how that person speaks so intimately, their inflections in their voice, the kind of things that they say, the where you last left off with the conversation. It's just too intimate of a relationship for anyone to ever pull the wool over your eyes on that one. So it's like you just want to, that's why I would say practice, practice, practice, because then you'll get to that point that Carla was describing where it's like, oh no, I know. Yeah, that was, yeah, that was something. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 51:58

Yes. I would say it took me, and I'm sure for everyone it's different, depending on how focused they're working on that process. But it was a good two to three years where I went from being really disconnected to my own insight and intuition to really feeling like we flow together and I understand the language of what it's communicating. And I wonder if that's part of that sort of calm confidence we were talking about before, because when you're not anchored internally in that way, it's easy to feel like you're constantly. I mean, I I think everything feels more stressful. You feel like you're constantly readjusting all the time, depending on what outside feedback you're getting. But when you're anchored internally, yes, you're gonna take note of feedback and adjust as you need to, but also you have that centeredness to feel confident in the path that you're on because you know that that is the path for you. You know?

SPEAKER_02 52:58

Well, and for people listening, I mean, it's it's a practice, right? This is not like a I don't know what your experience is, but this is just it takes a lot of practice. And I think that the biggest thing is just having a commitment to having a practice.

SPEAKER_01 53:16

Totally. So I equate it to math. Uh so when I did own that flower shop, like the till was wrong every single night. It drove my business partner crazy. So I'm not very good at math, but I can do math, you know, I can calculate a discount or a tip and things like that, right? But I'm no pro. Intuition is the same way. Yes, I'm an intuitive and I can probably tell you what, you know, I can do that, I can be a psychic medium for you. But so I'm the pro. But you can be a user level just like I can do math. You know, you don't have to be the pro and and and get along in life just being a you uh at the user level. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 53:57

Okay, I have loved this conversation today. Carla, how can our listeners get connected with you?

SPEAKER_02 54:03

You can find me at uh Carlareeves.com and also on Instagram and LinkedIn at at Carla Reeves or Car, I'm sorry, Carla S. Reeves, and I have a podcast called Differently. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 54:15

I'm excited about that. Okay. And then Laura, how can our listeners connect with you and and your latest book? And I don't think we've touched on that, you also do uh do work with clients, and so that would be something that our listeners would want to know about.

SPEAKER_01 54:32

Um yeah, so I do two things. I do provide basically intuitive readings, which would be otherwise known as psychic medium readings, uh, from topics anywhere from love to business, just the gamut. Uh then I also teach intuition. Uh so people will also make appointments with me. They may have read my book and they have more specific questions to their journey, and so they can book a session with me. Probably the best way to connect is Instagram uh or TikTok right now uh at Lara.pula.p Iu Facebook as well. Same thing. Uh or you can get on Amazon and just type in my name and find one of my books. It's L-A-R-A-P-I-U.

SPEAKER_00 55:13

Thank you. Okay, before we close, I I want to give you each a chance to share. Is there anything else that you would like to share that you haven't had a chance to yet? It's kind of an exciting question. And if not, that's okay. You don't have to have something. I just thought I would give you a chance as we've been talking and as this conversation has come through, has something come to mind that you're like, actually, here's one thing I want to make sure to say before we close today.

SPEAKER_02 55:39

I think I would just say, like, you know, talking about all the different things that we talked about today, that wherever, you know, who's listening, wherever you are in your life, that your life can be one of the juiciest, most rich adventures. And if you begin with one thing you heard today and start to just apply it into your life, into the little tiny moments. It doesn't have to be some big grand swooping change that's overwhelming. But when you just apply one thing in the next moment and then in the next moment and the next moment, that's what's going to ripple to the larger change that you desire. So enjoy the adventure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 56:20

So don't get overwhelmed. Even small changes can take us toward the path that we're looking for. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 56:28

Um, for me, uh something that really drives my work is back in my PR days, one of my old clients was Dr. John Di Martini, who was in the secret. And so I learned so much from him. And he said, one of his sayings is um when the voice on the inside is stronger than the voices on the outside, that is true life mastery. And I still get the chills when I say that. Um, so yeah, just just practice like Carla's saying.

SPEAKER_00 56:56

Yeah, I love that too. Okay. Um, I would like to thank Carla and Lara for joining us today. And thank you, listeners, for joining us on Mindwell, the podcast that introduces you to exceptional individuals that are developing powerful, mindful connections.

SPEAKER_02 57:13

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Differently. I hope it stirred your thinking, and I invite you to take one inspired action from something that stood out to you. If you love listening to this podcast, may I ask you to leave a review in Apple Podcasts? This means so much to me, and I read everyone they are a great source of tools. If you want to hear more conversations like this, click follow or subscribe on Facebook Podcast and help spread the word. If this episode has now, please share it afterwards. Remember to episode