Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to Universal Soul Talk, where on this episode, we will continue to embark on a journey to explore the profound and often elusive realm of spirituality.
Speaker: In a world filled with noise and distractions, the quest for deeper meaning and connection has never been more essential.
Speaker: Join us as we continue this part two series where we unravel the mysteries of the soul, tap into our ancient wisdom, and navigate the complexities of modern spirituality.
Speaker: Whether you're a seasoned seeker or just beginning to contemplate the mysteries of existence and elevation of the soul, this episode series promises to be a sanctuary for your spiritual exploration.
Speaker: So grab a cup of tea, settle in, and let's embark on this transformative journey together.
Speaker: Welcome family, I am your host Taye Wavey, I am here with Mrs. Mel Mel, and we are ready to get into part two of this series, Intro to Spirituality.
Speaker: Yes, what's up, family?
Speaker: So excited to be back on the part two.
Speaker: We're picking up where we left off, and so let's get it started.
Speaker: Yes, and if you haven't listened to part one, go back and listen to part one.
Speaker: We started just with like an introduction of ourselves and started to really dive into what spirituality means to us, the difference between spirituality and religion, and
Speaker: misconceptions that we face on this spiritual journey, and so much more.
Speaker: So if you're here for the part two, thank you for continuing to be here on this journey with us.
Speaker: If this is your first time listening, hey, hey, we are excited to talk with you, connect with you, and hopefully help you grow on your spiritual journey.
Speaker: So yeah, so we're just going to hop right back into the questions where we left off.
Speaker: So Mel, I will start asking you, um, how does spirituality intersect with personal growth and self-awareness?
Speaker: So for me, I would say spirituality and my journey has really made me, made like a significant difference in my life from previously starting it.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: Since starting it, I have really learned to be less reactive.
Speaker: That was one of my biggest, I would say, flaws, if you will, is I was very reactive to everything.
Speaker: Everything bothered me.
Speaker: Everything frustrated me.
Speaker: Everything was just overwhelming.
Speaker: And I was very high strung.
Speaker: And definitely an anxious person, just always stressed out, overwhelmed.
Speaker: And so I feel like this definitely helped me to learn patience, self-control, just kind of having a better understanding of like inner peace and just kind of having that acceptance of, you
Speaker: I can't control everything.
Speaker: And I definitely was definitely was very much so a control freak because of the situations that I've been in in my life.
Speaker: I've really always had to be the one that took control of everything.
Speaker: And if I didn't control it, then something would go wrong.
Speaker: For example, you know, like my ex-husband, I'd be like, hey, go pay this bill.
Speaker: And then he would only take half of the money and pay half of the bill.
Speaker: And that left us in like, you know, certain predicaments that was very stressful and negative.
Speaker: And so I just kind of learned in those kinds of situations, like, okay, I just have to do it myself, which becomes like a part of you.
Speaker: And you don't really like trust or have comfort or rely on anyone else.
Speaker: So for me, this has really helped me to kind of like, let go, if you will, and just take a breath and try to like, oh, I do have a, my husband currently is
Speaker: the complete opposite of my ex-husband.
Speaker: So it is a little different.
Speaker: He's a lot more responsible and mature and he's a protector and a provider.
Speaker: So I know I can rely on him and I know I can trust him and I know he'll, he'll take care of business.
Speaker: But within my feminine side of me, I've always been very masculine, um, which is where the control comes in.
Speaker: But now because of the type of man my husband is, I have learned to become more feminine and
Speaker: and kind of let go.
Speaker: So I would say that the biggest personal growth and the biggest self-awareness is just learning to recognize that I can't be in control of everything, that I can't be reactive to everything, that I have to learn to just think and take in things and kind of self-reflect and
Speaker: give it time before I do react, you know.
Speaker: But most importantly, I just think the patience and peace 100% has been the biggest growth in that aspect.
Speaker: I love that so much.
Speaker: And I love hearing that you are able to evolve as an individual and evolve like in your relationships with the type of partner that you attract for yourself.
Speaker: And I just love how like the self-awareness and personal growth go hand in hand for you.
Speaker: So you were just like
Speaker: able to elevate your entire life and your entire lifestyle through spirituality.
Speaker: For myself, I have some similar points.
Speaker: Learning who I was as an individual is, of course, separate from spirituality.
Speaker: But once I started this spiritual journey, I
Speaker: it gave me an opportunity to really sit with myself and sit with my spirit and listen to spirit talk to me to make sure that my values were aligned with my purpose and my values promoted the proper purpose
Speaker: the proper tools to love myself, to love others, and things of that nature.
Speaker: So through my spirituality, I was able to reassess my values and really figure out what was important at the end of the day and what wasn't.
Speaker: Um, I also, you know, as I used to, before I was an entrepreneur, I used to work like 50, 60 hours a week and I would run myself into the ground and I never valued, I, when I would have time to rest, I wouldn't rest.
Speaker: And I was constantly in this fight or flight mode.
Speaker: I was constantly on the go.
Speaker: My nervous system was constantly, um,
Speaker: like shock and shot.
Speaker: It was just crazy.
Speaker: But through spirituality, through meditation, through sitting with myself and working through my traumas and working through my trials, I was able to find balance in the midst of everything that was going on.
Speaker: I used to never value rest.
Speaker: And as a mom or as a parent in general,
Speaker: It's hard for you sometimes to value rest because you want to get done with work or get done with your everyday tasks and then you want to clean and then you want to cook and then you want to take care of your child and you just kind of like put yourself on the back burner continuously.
Speaker: And through spirituality and through learning to nurture myself, I
Speaker: I knew I had to find a better balance so that I could put myself on the pedestal as well as my family, my children, my finances, and so on.
Speaker: I was also able to get a hold of my thoughts and my feelings, which is something that was so, so hard for me to do.
Speaker: Ever since I can remember, like I was one of those kids that like I was very troubled, as some people would say, and I didn't know how to process my thoughts and I didn't know how to process my emotions and I didn't know how to process my feelings.
Speaker: And I let that drive every decision I made in life.
Speaker: I did not allow myself to feel bad emotions, and I didn't allow them to flow through me if I was feeling bad emotions.
Speaker: I would just kind of harbor negativity, and I would harbor stress, and I would harbor being tired and let that rule my mind, which ruled my life.
Speaker: So I
Speaker: In the aspect of self-awareness, I have been able to – and I self-reflect all the time.
Speaker: I think that that is just so crucial.
Speaker: I try to at least like once a week sit down with myself and be like, okay, where was I slacking when it came to – for example, if you're a parent, I'm sure like you skip meals because it's like you want to feed your kid and you're busy and you're working and you want to clean and you want to do this and you want to do that.
Speaker: And it's like, no, no, no, I need to make time to put food in my body that nourishes and nurtures my body.
Speaker: I have to know when to pull the plug on my household tasks and just sit down and relax.
Speaker: And sitting down to relax in a spiritual aspect doesn't always mean sitting down to meditate.
Speaker: Sometimes it's reading a book.
Speaker: Sometimes it's watching TV.
Speaker: Taking a bath.
Speaker: Yeah, taking a bath, scrolling on social media, calling up a friend, or like Mel and I, like we'll send voice messages to each other.
Speaker: And it's things like that.
Speaker: Like I know for a fact, like three years ago, I wouldn't have taken the time to converse with a friend as often as I do sometimes.
Speaker: with her because it was like, well, I don't have time for that and I don't deserve in a way.
Speaker: I may not have said I don't deserve it, but I felt like I'm not going to be a good mom if I take an hour or two a day to message people and to talk to people and to reach out.
Speaker: And those are things I had to unteach myself.
Speaker: So now I'm able to find that balance between my home life, between running my business, between mentoring others, between showing up for my kids full force, and like most importantly, showing up for myself because I really learned the saying, and it sounds silly, but like you really can't pour from an empty cup.
Speaker: And spirituality has brought that quote to life for me.
Speaker: So I'm able to, yeah, pour into myself so I can pour into everything else in my life.
Speaker: And when it comes to personal development, I have found such a crazy, like crazy sense of confidence, not cockiness, but confidence.
Speaker: And that's something that I lacked before.
Speaker: And some people are like, well, that's crazy because, you know, like you're beautiful and you're smart and you're successful.
Speaker: And it's like,
Speaker: I said this in the first episode, that stuff doesn't matter if you don't believe that stuff for yourself.
Speaker: So I learned how to really be confident in my skin, to be confident in my spirit, to be confident in my work and in my parenting.
Speaker: And now I feel untouchable.
Speaker: There's nothing that the world can say to me
Speaker: That's going to affect me to the point where I feel like I have to shut down.
Speaker: I know who I am.
Speaker: And that's from sitting and taking time to sit with myself.
Speaker: When it comes to like a business aspect, my business and my finances took off once I started to meditate more.
Speaker: Once I started to pray more, once I started to live a more not as high-strung lifestyle.
Speaker: Mel, I know you were saying that you were very high-strung and that can really interfere with
Speaker: with your success.
Speaker: Your time management is all over the place.
Speaker: Your resilience is all over the place.
Speaker: Your emotional intelligence is all over the place.
Speaker: The way you communicate isn't as practical and functional as it should be.
Speaker: And those are all things that spirituality has helped me do when it comes to personal growth and self-awareness.
Speaker: I know, Mel, you had mentioned that you now have a better husband.
Speaker: who is more of a divine partner for you.
Speaker: And I feel like that's something that spirituality does for people.
Speaker: You elevate within yourself and you set this new standard.
Speaker: And you just don't set the standard, but you become the standard.
Speaker: So now you're attracting a higher vibrational being.
Speaker: They don't even have to be spiritual the way you are.
Speaker: You just find yourself with people like the man I'm with now and
Speaker: He knows how to get things done.
Speaker: He knows how to nurture me.
Speaker: He knows how to value me.
Speaker: And we don't believe in the same spiritual practices and beliefs, but he is at a point in his journey to where he understands himself and he is able to show love for me because he has love for him and vice versa.
Speaker: So we're able to pour into each other
Speaker: more freely in a healthy way.
Speaker: And I find the same thing like with friendships that I've come across like the last, and it's been hard because I still have had ones that are like rocky because I've had to enforce those boundaries like I was saying in the first episode.
Speaker: But a lot of new relationships that I have taken on, I noticed that I'm not the only one doing the pouring, okay?
Speaker: I'm with people who are pouring into me in return because I now value myself.
Speaker: I now have confidence in myself.
Speaker: I'm not gonna sit around people who, I know we all demonstrate some low vibrational stuff from time to time that's just a part of the human experience, but it's not so overwhelming to where it's like a one-sided relationship.
Speaker: And I feel like,
Speaker: That's something that spirituality has done for me.
Speaker: And since it's helped my personal growth and it's helped my self-awareness, I've been able to have more healthy relationships, better workflow, better systems in place for myself.
Speaker: I hold myself to a higher level of discipline.
Speaker: I hold myself to a higher level of integrity.
Speaker: I also learned that it's okay for me to need help sometimes.
Speaker: I don't always have to be the teacher.
Speaker: Sometimes it's okay to
Speaker: to be a student.
Speaker: And I have recently been involved in two forms of mentorship.
Speaker: I get mentored spiritually and I get mentored in my business.
Speaker: And those are just things I was not receptive to until I really started diving deeper into my spiritual journey.
Speaker: And obviously both of those mentorships help my personal development and my self-awareness.
Speaker: So like my overall growth has
Speaker: increased dramatically to the point where I had mentioned in the first podcast, I moved, I lived in New York and now I'm in the Maryland area and I don't get to see my parents as often.
Speaker: But my dad was just telling me last week, like, damn, he's like, you've grown and you've matured so much that like, I'm not only proud of you, but I feel like I can learn something from you.
Speaker: And your demeanor is different.
Speaker: And you have this essence and this presence that's just completely evolved from like three years ago.
Speaker: And people, when people notice that's, I mean, I already know, I don't need confirmation from everybody, but that's really just like confirmation that like, yeah, doing the work within yourself, within your spirit, within your soul truly pays off.
Speaker: Yeah, definitely.
Speaker: And I think that that's like one of those things that
Speaker: is so relatable because we all have either are going through it, have gone through it, or is still going through it.
Speaker: The place where you struggle and you have that not conscious insecurity, but it is there because you don't know how to differentiate between
Speaker: what you're going through and how you can get out of it and what to do to get out of it.
Speaker: A lot of people are lost.
Speaker: They don't know where to start.
Speaker: They don't they're not around people that help them elevate.
Speaker: And like you were saying, you know, you have to surround yourself once you find that within yourself.
Speaker: It's like the frequencies are higher, which attract higher frequency people.
Speaker: And I feel like until you do that within yourself, it's almost impossible to like to elevate.
Speaker: So that's why self-reflection and working through your like individual traumas and experiences and triggers are so important.
Speaker: Like I said in the first episode, because that's where it starts.
Speaker: It starts within you.
Speaker: and your mindset and the way you carry yourself.
Speaker: And I definitely feel like once you create those boundaries, once you really know your worth, you're really like, I am no longer taking this, dealing with this, allowing this, accepting this from anyone in my life.
Speaker: Um, it's just a game changer.
Speaker: Uh, not only within yourself as a person, but just what happens around you in your frequency.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: what is attracted to you, what will actually literally remove themselves out of your life because you are just naturally growing higher and higher within yourself, your self-worth, self-love, self-respect.
Speaker: I know with my old marriage,
Speaker: once I left him, I said to myself, I'm done.
Speaker: I'm no longer accepting these things in my life.
Speaker: I will never allow myself to get in another relationship or another marriage with a man that doesn't have this, this, this within himself.
Speaker: It's not even about materialism.
Speaker: It's about your character.
Speaker: Like, do you have integrity?
Speaker: Do you love yourself?
Speaker: Do you
Speaker: have ambition, drive?
Speaker: Are you focused?
Speaker: Are you mature?
Speaker: Are you emotionally intelligent?
Speaker: Are you going to love me the way I know I'm worthy of love?
Speaker: If you cannot give that to me, please move on because I am no longer wasting any more time, energy, breath, words, any of it on anyone.
Speaker: Ever again, friends, family.
Speaker: I mean, I love my family to death, but I promise you, let me tell you, if I felt like you were unhealthy for me, I will sadly have to remove you from my life because if you're not helping to progress, I'm
Speaker: Like for me to progress as a person or uplifting me or motivating me or a positive reinforcement in my life, you do not deserve a spot in my life.
Speaker: If you are dragging me down, draining me, exhausting me, being disrespectful to me, demeaning me, I don't see a purpose of you being there.
Speaker: because that's only going to bring me back to where I fought so hard to come from.
Speaker: So that's definitely something that is like step one, guys.
Speaker: Step one is just...
Speaker: looking within, finding what is going on with you.
Speaker: Why are you triggered by these things?
Speaker: What happened to you that makes you feel this way?
Speaker: Why are you no longer confident or have never been confident?
Speaker: Why are you insecure about this, this, this, and this?
Speaker: And looking into those things and working on those things and finding, you know, finding an answer and, you
Speaker: And working on that and really making it like a priority to heal from those things, you will see a significant difference in your life and who is around you, who you attract.
Speaker: And if you have to be alone for a little while, that's okay, too, because I did that myself.
Speaker: After my first marriage ended, I was working two jobs.
Speaker: I was in paramedic school.
Speaker: I was doing ambulance rides two times a week.
Speaker: I was doing rotations at the hospital two times a week.
Speaker: We shared a car, so we only had one car.
Speaker: And I was exhausted.
Speaker: And he drained every bit of soul I had left inside of me.
Speaker: And when I left him, instantly, instantly, I felt...
Speaker: Like a thousand pounds just lifted off my soul and I was free again.
Speaker: And that's why I tried to like emphasize to people like, if you are not happy, you have a choice.
Speaker: Get out, save your energy, save your soul, save yourself because it's, it's just not worth it.
Speaker: Like I wasted eight years on that marriage and I look back now and I'm like, dang, like I wish I would have had more love for myself and, and knew my worth and
Speaker: So I didn't sit there and waste my 20s.
Speaker: I'm 36 now.
Speaker: I've been married for six years with my current husband and I wasted so many years on this person.
Speaker: But that was my journey.
Speaker: I don't regret my journey.
Speaker: I don't regret my mistakes.
Speaker: my obstacles, any of it, because it made me the person I am today.
Speaker: And it was meant to happen that way, like multiple car accidents, almost died in multiple car accidents.
Speaker: I have been injured significantly in both of the major ones that I've had.
Speaker: And I know there's a reason why I'm here, because I could have died in the first one, I could have died in the second one, or I could have been like permanently disabled and God
Speaker: had something else for me.
Speaker: I have a purpose and I know that.
Speaker: And so instead of looking back and saying, oh, I regret this or, oh, I wish I didn't do that.
Speaker: I accept it.
Speaker: And I say it was for a reason.
Speaker: What is meant for me will come to me.
Speaker: And so I sit here now sharing my purpose with you and I'm grateful.
Speaker: And that is a testimony, sis.
Speaker: And I have so much gratitude for you being so transparent with your journey because I know it hasn't always been easy.
Speaker: And I also just wanted to clear something up just because...
Speaker: you find yourself walking in your spiritual purpose does not mean that you aren't still going to have struggles.
Speaker: We still struggle all the time.
Speaker: I still struggle all the time.
Speaker: I'm going through a period right now where it's just like, there's a lot going on.
Speaker: And it's not good stuff.
Speaker: It's not pretty.
Speaker: But I have self-awareness and I have grown as an individual person
Speaker: I know I can handle this.
Speaker: I know like Mel was saying that like everything happens for a reason.
Speaker: Everything has its purpose.
Speaker: Everything needs to happen when it happens, according to divine timing.
Speaker: And that makes what you're going through okay.
Speaker: Not that you're experiencing bad things is okay, but that's a part of the human experience.
Speaker: And things aren't supposed to be perfect and things aren't always going to be positive all the time, but it's how you respond that's going to carry you through whatever you're going through.
Speaker: And that leads us into our next question.
Speaker: In what ways can spirituality enhance mental and emotional well-being?
Speaker: Um, well, I think we've kind of touched on this a few times because it is kind of,
Speaker: it's all connected.
Speaker: Everything's connected.
Speaker: But I feel like I'm going to emphasize that again, emotional intelligence is significant.
Speaker: It helps with every aspect of your life, relationships, careers, your goals, how you reach those goals, just every facet of your life.
Speaker: It really affects that.
Speaker: But I would say for me personally,
Speaker: I was so stressed and this was before becoming a mother.
Speaker: I was so stressed that I was on anxiety medication.
Speaker: Going through my car accident, which was in 2018, was my second one.
Speaker: I did have post-concussion syndrome, which left me with mild TBI.
Speaker: And I was on a lot of medication.
Speaker: And I was like, I mean, like you said earlier, fight or flight.
Speaker: I was, I'm, I'm still sometimes in fight or flight.
Speaker: I'm in my holistic journey as well.
Speaker: So I am working on it little by little as best as I can.
Speaker: But my nerves are a mess.
Speaker: And I feel like I was so, so anxious and always uneasy and
Speaker: never calm and never at peace and, and just constantly just fighting to like, wake up fighting to get through the day, fighting to just be, you know?
Speaker: Um, and since I started this, I, I can say that I've found a calmness, um,
Speaker: in even the hardest moments.
Speaker: I have so, so much patience now that I've never existed before ever.
Speaker: Especially now with a kid, I have an 18 month old little girl and you know, we know how that goes, like a little diva running around sassy.
Speaker: One second she's laughing and the next second she's screaming and throwing herself on the floor.
Speaker: I'm constantly getting into stuff and you mothers out there know exactly what I'm talking about.
Speaker: Just being a mom is a 24 seven job.
Speaker: It can be overwhelming and it can be beautiful.
Speaker: It can be stressful and it can be, you know,
Speaker: I mean, there's so many back and forth emotions about it all day, every day.
Speaker: Like there's times I look at my daughter when she's screaming and I'm like, oh my God, I want to pull my hair out.
Speaker: And then I pick her up and I hold her and she calms down and she smiles at me with her little tiefers.
Speaker: And I'm like, oh my God.
Speaker: God, I love you so much.
Speaker: You're so cute.
Speaker: And it's like that constant, like back and forth of emotions.
Speaker: Like one second, you're so frustrated and exhausted and over it.
Speaker: And the next second you're happy and elated and you're like, oh my God, you're a part of me and you're special and beautiful.
Speaker: So I feel like just being a mother, as I said, you mothers out there get it.
Speaker: It's, it's a lot sometimes.
Speaker: And it's 24 seven.
Speaker: Like if you get five hours of sleep, you know, you're lucky, but
Speaker: And even in your sleep, you can't have peace sometimes.
Speaker: So to to actually be a mother and and have developed such patience and, you know, don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect.
Speaker: I'm not always patient, but I've really, really worked on it as hard as I can.
Speaker: to not be reactive and not get overwhelmed and stressed out and lash out and take it out on my husband or my baby or whatever.
Speaker: Cause I, you know, I'm sleep deprived half the time and I'm still working on myself physically, um, emotionally, mentally.
Speaker: Um, I, I have my own set of health issues that I deal with.
Speaker: And so, um,
Speaker: You know, you just got, it's, it's made me just see things differently.
Speaker: Um, I'm grateful.
Speaker: I'm grateful even for the struggles because, you know, I'm here.
Speaker: Um, there's a lot of people that are not here with us anymore and they don't have the ability to work on themselves or do differently or be better or be a better mom, a better wife, a better person.
Speaker: So I try to look at it that way.
Speaker: Like it can always be worse.
Speaker: And I know that's cliche, but it can, it can always be worse.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: I have a roof over my head.
Speaker: I am financially stable.
Speaker: I have a great husband that loves me and protects me and provides for me.
Speaker: I have a healthy child.
Speaker: There's a lot of, you know, mothers and fathers out there that have sick children.
Speaker: And I could only imagine what that would be like.
Speaker: So I'm blessed.
Speaker: I have, I have food in the fridge.
Speaker: I have air conditioning, like I have life.
Speaker: So I,
Speaker: I definitely see things from like a more positive aspect.
Speaker: And I try even in my, my weak moments where I'm like, oh, you know, my life, it's stressful, this, that, and the other.
Speaker: I'm like, listen, like self-reflect, take it back, take a deep breath and recognize that like you're blessed.
Speaker: And no matter how hard things might seem for you, there's someone out there that's going through things 10 times fold.
Speaker: So yeah.
Speaker: That I definitely would say is the most significant aspect of mental and emotional enhancement from my spirituality journey.
Speaker: Yeah, girl, it's a lot.
Speaker: It's a lot being a parent and being a parent will definitely teach you all types of patients or even just being in a relationship will teach you all different types of patients.
Speaker: And just having that spirituality to go back to and to lean on can definitely help
Speaker: Pull you out or at least get you back on the right track when things seem overwhelming For me, like I shared, I think it was in the first episode, maybe here too I used to suffer with severe, severe, severe depression, like self-harming
Speaker: not feeling like I had a purpose.
Speaker: Even after I had kids, that feeling never went away for me.
Speaker: It was like, I'm just living for my kids and who knows what's going to happen when they're all grown up and out of my house type of thing.
Speaker: And
Speaker: My spirituality and my practices and my rituals really helped me find my meaning and my purpose, which made me more excited to live life.
Speaker: I was able to find who I was as an individual outside of being a mom.
Speaker: outside of being a partner, outside of having a job or having a business or whatever that is, like who is Tay without all of this stuff?
Speaker: And finding and discovering who I am has truly, that's been the key that has like saved my life.
Speaker: Also through like
Speaker: the practices like prayer and meditation, going to spiritual classes that I've had an honor to be a part of, connecting with others through my social media, just that sense of connection to something greater than us has been so impactful for my life.
Speaker: Just to know that there's a community of people who, like, quote unquote, chosen ones who have woken up
Speaker: who have tried and continue to escape the matrix and escape the things that were kind of like shoved down our throats has just made me feel less alone in this world.
Speaker: Like I'm not the only one who goes through things and I'm not the only one who's going through things and still
Speaker: these spiritual practices.
Speaker: Like having a support system, having people to lean on, having a supportive partner, having spiritual friends, being a part of spiritual classes, like that sense of community has been amazing.
Speaker: And that reduces the feelings of loneliness, the feelings of isolation.
Speaker: Isolation is important sometimes, but
Speaker: You don't want to get stuck to where you're completely closed off from everyone at all times.
Speaker: It's helped my stress levels, my spiritual practices, like practicing mindfulness.
Speaker: And that's something I do with my kids now too because, you know, little people get stressed too.
Speaker: Like I said, I have a 9-year-old, 8-year-old, and 5-year-old.
Speaker: And they're in school and they do viola and they do piano and they're in karate and, you know, all of these different activities and life feels overwhelming for them.
Speaker: They were in a split family home.
Speaker: So like they have to go visit their dad and visit with me and just like practicing mindfulness together and stretching and meditating and doing yoga together.
Speaker: And stuff like that reduces all of our anxiety, our depression, stress, and just helps me as the leader, as a spiritual leader, as a parent being a leader, as a mentor,
Speaker: kind of being in that state of relaxation and promoting that state of relaxation and increasing that self-awareness is completely impactful for me.
Speaker: And to kind of continue into that, just having a positive coping mechanism.
Speaker: My spirituality has allowed me to stop, embrace whatever season I'm in,
Speaker: Embrace whatever feelings I'm feeling.
Speaker: Because I'd be lying to you if I told you that I didn't sometimes feel down.
Speaker: I didn't sometimes question what I'm doing.
Speaker: And just having a framework, if you will, for coping with life's challenges and adversities and being able to comfort myself or turn and lean on my brothers and sisters who are also in the spiritual community for comfort really helps.
Speaker: has helped me stay out of that deep depression that I spent, I can't even, like 12 to 15 years in, which is a long time.
Speaker: So just having that
Speaker: way to cope, a healthy way to cope, working with my shadow.
Speaker: And if you don't know what your shadow is, that's just like parts of you that aren't seen, parts of you that you have suppressed, your traumas, your childhood wounds, your past relationship wounds, just being able to work through those things and kind of
Speaker: Let it go.
Speaker: Let it go and let it flow back into the universe and allowing all the good that's for me to come to me has been amazing.
Speaker: I also used to be like a hard ass.
Speaker: I used to not...
Speaker: be so forgiving.
Speaker: I was in a horrible marriage myself, and that's the person that I share my kids with.
Speaker: And for the longest time, I had so much resentment towards him.
Speaker: And this is somebody that I have to work with until my kids are grown and beyond that.
Speaker: And I was just walking around with this anger.
Speaker: I couldn't forgive him no matter what I tried to do.
Speaker: So I finally got to the point where it was like, you know, somebody doesn't always have to be sorry and tell me that they're sorry for me to forgive them.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker: You know, I can just be like, I don't want to carry this anymore.
Speaker: This no longer serves me.
Speaker: I have felt what I needed to feel and I can let this go and I can move forward.
Speaker: And that, oh gosh, that has lifted this crazy weight off my soul because walking around like that is yucky.
Speaker: And I felt that way with lots of people, with family members, with old friends,
Speaker: Be like, oh, they didn't say sorry to me.
Speaker: So like, I'm still mad.
Speaker: I'm still big mad.
Speaker: I'm angry.
Speaker: I'm, you know, constantly having a resting bitch face on purpose because I don't want nobody to come up in my space.
Speaker: And I'm not like that anymore.
Speaker: I'm careful with who I allow in my circle, but I'm also open to new relationships.
Speaker: I'm open to new experiences.
Speaker: I'm open to loving again.
Speaker: And thank God that
Speaker: I made that decision because now I'm in a beautiful relationship.
Speaker: And I know when I first met him, I was like, I am not interested in a relationship because I'm still hurting over my marriage, exes from before that and after that, different situations.
Speaker: And I could have pushed away.
Speaker: one of the greatest gifts to me outside of my children, which is the man I'm with now.
Speaker: So being able to walk with forgiveness and compassion has been amazing.
Speaker: Just so amazing, which kind of brings me to like gratitude.
Speaker: I have gratitude from the moment I open up my eyes.
Speaker: That's like the first thing that I do when I wake up.
Speaker: Like, okay, my eyes are open.
Speaker: I'm thankful.
Speaker: I'm thankful.
Speaker: I appreciate my life.
Speaker: I appreciate my breath.
Speaker: I appreciate the health of the people around me, the health of my children.
Speaker: I appreciate everything.
Speaker: And not just the good things.
Speaker: I've learned to appreciate the bad things.
Speaker: Like going back to what Mel was saying when she said everything happens for a reason.
Speaker: I appreciate every single bad thing that has happened in my life because that has been able to bring me to where I'm at today.
Speaker: So integrating spirituality into my life has provided such a holistic approach to mental and emotional well-being.
Speaker: Because I feel like I'm addressing the psychological issues and spiritual aspects of the human experience and kind of letting them transcend together and go hand in hand.
Speaker: And it's been such a beautiful experience for me.
Speaker: Yeah, definitely.
Speaker: I feel that way as well.
Speaker: And I feel like this is just so relatable because a lot of us have been hurt.
Speaker: A lot of us have been betrayed.
Speaker: manipulated, lied to, disrespected.
Speaker: You know, it's just unfortunately the way of the world today.
Speaker: People don't, people don't treat each other with love or lead with love, you know, like genuine, real, raw love.
Speaker: It's like hard to tell, you know, someone's true intentions, obviously.
Speaker: So you, you kind of
Speaker: when you invest that time in people, you're taking that risk.
Speaker: But I feel like being able to recognize those things within yourself and project it on to who's around you is, is very important nowadays.
Speaker: I know for me, like you were mentioning,
Speaker: you know, forgiving without someone saying they're sorry.
Speaker: That just made me think of like my father and him and I never really had a relationship growing up because he's a, he was a very, um, angry man.
Speaker: Um, you know, and he didn't really, he was lost.
Speaker: He's still lost.
Speaker: He's still very, um, sad and angry and,
Speaker: different than me and different than a lot of people in my family.
Speaker: He's just, he was a cop.
Speaker: So he's very aggressive, if you will, and straightforward and blunt and just no, no filter at all.
Speaker: And a lot of people don't know how to take that.
Speaker: You know, everybody's different.
Speaker: We all receive
Speaker: things differently.
Speaker: You have to approach people differently and speak to them differently.
Speaker: Everybody's different.
Speaker: It's just how it goes alongside emotional intelligence.
Speaker: So I recognized that when I got pregnant, I said, I need to get rid of my demons.
Speaker: I need to find peace.
Speaker: I need to really work on myself because I don't want to pass the
Speaker: my demons onto my child.
Speaker: And that's what my parents did to me.
Speaker: And it wasn't on purpose, obviously.
Speaker: And I feel like that happens with a lot of us and has happened with a lot of us as, you know, you think you're doing the best you can as parents.
Speaker: When you could be doing better, but because you don't recognize your patterns or you don't self-reflect or you don't take accountability, you know, kind of time flies by and you keep the same habits, the same patterns.
Speaker: And one day your child wakes up and they're like, yeah.
Speaker: you probably don't remember doing this, this, this, and this.
Speaker: And that really affected me.
Speaker: And so I'm sitting here thinking to myself when I find out I'm pregnant, I'm like, man, I really need to work on myself.
Speaker: I really need to self-reflect.
Speaker: Mind you, I tried to really not have a child with anyone until I
Speaker: found a man that I knew was going to be like a good dad.
Speaker: And I know that's like easy, easier said than done.
Speaker: And that's everybody's journey is different.
Speaker: So obviously, you know, some people get pregnant at, you know, 20 and then some people get pregnant at 16 and some people get pregnant at 30.
Speaker: Well, I got pregnant at 34 and had a baby at 35.
Speaker: But that was one thing that I saw a lot of people.
Speaker: And again, no judgment.
Speaker: Everybody's journey is different.
Speaker: But that was something I recognized in society and human nature, a lot of dysfunctional relationships, marriages, baby daddy, baby mama.
Speaker: And I said to myself, I don't want baby mama drama.
Speaker: You know, I don't want baby daddy drama.
Speaker: I don't want to deal with that.
Speaker: And I know that's very relatable as well.
Speaker: I know a lot of people do have that and it's just what it is.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But I just didn't want to push that on my child.
Speaker: I wanted to kind of know myself and find peace within myself before I had a child.
Speaker: And then it kind of snuck up and was like, surprise, you're pregnant at 34.
Speaker: And I was like, crap.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: The time is now.
Speaker: I can't waste any more time.
Speaker: So that was definitely a significant influence on my self-growth and self-awareness.
Speaker: but I think, you know, because of that, because of me finding peace and now having a daughter and I am my father's only child, I said to myself, I need to forgive him.
Speaker: The point of all of this is, is that I, I chose to forgive him even though he didn't say I'm sorry for, for what he did, which, you know, maybe it'll be a story for another time.
Speaker: But, um,
Speaker: Instead, I just accepted him for who he was.
Speaker: You know, one day I said to him, look, I'm not you.
Speaker: You're not me.
Speaker: We're different.
Speaker: Totally opposite spectrums.
Speaker: And I said, so you can either accept me for who I am and I'll do the same for you or we can go our separate ways.
Speaker: Whatever works best for you.
Speaker: And, you know, I guess he recognized that he didn't want to lose me.
Speaker: So we kind of made that agreement.
Speaker: And ever since then, you know, we're still who we are.
Speaker: We're still different.
Speaker: We still think differently, act differently, carry ourselves differently.
Speaker: But we just accept each other for who we are.
Speaker: And I feel like that's something that is a game changer in an environment.
Speaker: individual's life is recognizing that like, you're not me, you're different than me.
Speaker: And I don't necessarily agree with what you do, but I'm going to find forgiveness and peace in that relationship.
Speaker: And whether that's starting over, pressing, you know, the restart button and growing the relationship from there or leaving the relationship with it where it is and moving on completely and leaving that person where they need to be.
Speaker: So that you just bringing up that story kind of
Speaker: Resignated with me in that sense.
Speaker: And I felt like sharing that story would would help to kind of.
Speaker: Enlighten people on it being OK to to not necessarily have closure with that person, but closure within yourself.
Speaker: Yes, sis.
Speaker: That is so important, I feel like, to understand whether it's with your parents, whether it's with an ex, whether it's with an old friend, even those who may have grown children.
Speaker: You don't always need closure.
Speaker: And I see that just on social media a lot.
Speaker: Like, I need to get my closure.
Speaker: I'm going to call him for closure.
Speaker: I'm going to text him for closure.
Speaker: You know, I need closure before I move on.
Speaker: And that's not true in every single situation.
Speaker: So just knowing that it's okay to let go, it's okay to start over, whatever that means for you, you deserve to be free.
Speaker: And like we said in the first episode, that's one of the most important aspects to understand about spirituality is that spirituality offers you a chance to be free again, like how we were intended to be.
Speaker: And I think that that is so, so beautiful.
Speaker: So girl, are there any specific practices or rituals that you find particularly beneficial for like cultivating your spirituality on your journey?
Speaker: I think breath work is definitely just breathing, recognizing, you know, your breathing patterns, just sitting there and taking deep breaths and clearing your mind, kind of like meditation, but not necessarily, you know, a length of time, just maybe five minutes, you know, sitting there.
Speaker: and just breathing in heavily, deeply, thoroughly.
Speaker: Also, definitely herbal baths, lavender, you know, you could do rosemary, spearmint, peppermint, and, you know, really anything.
Speaker: Roses, those types of different things.
Speaker: Candle, lit, meditation music, even when you're in the bath or when you're in the shower.
Speaker: I definitely...
Speaker: really enjoy nature.
Speaker: I think that was one of the things that I used to do when I first started my journey was just sit outside.
Speaker: I'd go to a park that was hidden back in the back of the neighborhood, and I would just sit and listen to the water and the birds and the wind and the trees.
Speaker: I know that sounds like...
Speaker: you know, a little hippie or whatever you want to, however you want to take it.
Speaker: But it really, really helped me just relax and calm my mind and have that quietness, you know, to just take it all in and self-reflect.
Speaker: But definitely the baths, girl.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: That's, that's, that's my number one is just candlelit baths with some nice music and lavender.
Speaker: And I'm happy.
Speaker: I love that.
Speaker: And I do know that you be loving your baths.
Speaker: I do love a nice bath too.
Speaker: I love herbal baths as well.
Speaker: Practices that I use, I love to meditate.
Speaker: I love to meditate.
Speaker: Even for those who have busy schedules, because I have a busy schedule more often than not.
Speaker: Even if it's just I'll play some meditation music or a guided meditation or sound frequencies while I'm in the shower or while I'm in the bath and just kind of take that time to cleanse my body using water to cleanse myself is so, so, so powerful.
Speaker: Really gives me that inner peace, clarity of mind.
Speaker: sense of connection to the present moment and like that overall cleanse of like washing away or listening away to whatever it is that doesn't serve me in the present moment.
Speaker: So I love that.
Speaker: I'm big on prayer.
Speaker: I am talking to God.
Speaker: I am talking to spirit.
Speaker: I am talking to myself all the time.
Speaker: Just to be connected to source, to seek guidance, to express gratitude, to find comfort.
Speaker: That's something that's really big for me.
Speaker: I'm a card reader, so I love pulling cards.
Speaker: I love tarot so, so, so much.
Speaker: I love my tarot cards.
Speaker: I do offer readings, but I also love doing readings for myself because that really helps me understand.
Speaker: connect and get in touch with like what spirit has to say and like I notice sometimes when people will book me for readings it'll take me a little bit of time to get into their reading because spirit has a message for me so that's just something I love to do to kind of get confirmation or clarity on something that's been on my mind and
Speaker: I love, love, love yoga too.
Speaker: I'm big on yoga.
Speaker: I'm not like a yogi master at this point.
Speaker: I would love to be someday.
Speaker: But just moving my body is so, so healing.
Speaker: Just like having that sense of balance, physical balance, mental balance, spiritual balance.
Speaker: Like it's
Speaker: It sounds cliche, but yoga really is that mind, body, soul.
Speaker: And I love being able to express myself through movement.
Speaker: Like Mel was saying, like nature, when it's nice out, I'm outside walking.
Speaker: 24-7, I will make sure I wake up before the sun rises, grab my tea or my coffee or whatever it is that I'm on for the day and sit outside, watch the sunrise, sun gaze, put my feet in the grass.
Speaker: Do not underestimate the power of putting your feet in the grass.
Speaker: In the ground.
Speaker: I love, for me, like I love doing acts of service and acts of kindness for people.
Speaker: That really is like a ritual and a practice for me.
Speaker: I don't expect anything in return, but it definitely helps give me a sense of purpose, knowing that I could be there for somebody.
Speaker: cultivating that empathy for other people, focusing on that like interconnectedness that we all have with each other and kind of reminding other people and reminding us like myself that we are all one.
Speaker: We're going to do an episode on this and I'm so excited, but I have been reading tons of sacred ancient texts.
Speaker: From all over the world, from like the Apocrypha to ancient Samaritan texts to anything that any type of tablets and stuff that has been my hyper focus lately.
Speaker: And just learning how everything transcends from then to now is just so beautiful for me.
Speaker: I practice gratitude.
Speaker: Those are really the rituals that keep me going and help me grow.
Speaker: Even though I do those things repetitively, every experience is different.
Speaker: Every experience gives me an opportunity to dive deeper into spirituality, to dive deeper in myself, to connect more deeply with other people that you don't always get on surface level activities or surface level conversations.
Speaker: So that's
Speaker: It really is so beautiful to have your own practices and rituals, whatever that is for you to help cultivate your spirituality.
Speaker: So as we end this podcast, we wanted to leave you guys with some tips and some like rituals and stuff, basically how someone can begin to explore their own spirituality of their unsure where to start.
Speaker: Mel, do you have anything to leave our audience with?
Speaker: I would definitely say start with shadow work.
Speaker: If you don't know what shadow work is, you could totally Google it.
Speaker: It'll break it down for you.
Speaker: You could look on YouTube.
Speaker: You could look on TikTok.
Speaker: But basically, it's just different things.
Speaker: aspects of self-reflection.
Speaker: And so that's what I've been, you know, talking about a couple of times now is, um, inner work.
Speaker: So finding out what your trauma is, what your triggers are and working on those and, you know, getting on a, um, journey to healing those, those types of issues that you have.
Speaker: So you can be at peace and,
Speaker: So definitely shadow work, 100% journaling, you know, for, you know, verbally expressing yourself, whether it's to a person or whether it's even out loud to yourself.
Speaker: You know, there's so many different aspects of it.
Speaker: There's other rituals you can do, but like I said, you can look it up.
Speaker: Shadow work is
Speaker: Definitely a significant, significant part of exploring yourself and spirituality.
Speaker: But otherwise than that, you know, it's just trying to recognize otherwise in your life outside of yourself, what are the things that may be holding you back from progressing, from helping you
Speaker: your self-growth, your self-respect, your self-worth, your self-love, and being able to discover those things at its highest potential.
Speaker: Um, you know, is it your job?
Speaker: Is it your, you know, family member that you may live with?
Speaker: Is it your husband and your wife or your girlfriend or your boyfriend, partner, whatever you want to call them?
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: There's just so many aspects to it.
Speaker: But I think starting with shadow work, healing yourself, and then kind of looking to see what's around you that may be holding you back is going to be key to just the beginning of really finding yourself and finding that peace and getting that help that you need.
Speaker: And shadow work is kind of...
Speaker: It's hard.
Speaker: It's hard.
Speaker: It's going to affect you emotionally and mentally.
Speaker: It's, they call it like the dark night because you're basically releasing all that hurt and pain and trauma and triggers and anger and all of it, resentment, everything.
Speaker: You're releasing all of it and giving it out to the universe.
Speaker: And so that way the universe can flip it around and bring you
Speaker: what you're seeking.
Speaker: So I definitely would just start there.
Speaker: And I think that you step by step, you'll recognize things changing for the better for you.
Speaker: I love that.
Speaker: I think that's a beautiful place to start, just kind of starting to dig deep within yourself and doing that shadow work.
Speaker: And like she was saying, shadow work is not fun at all.
Speaker: Not for the weak, baby.
Speaker: It's not for the weak, but it's so, so, so necessary.
Speaker: I see people sometimes who say that they're on their spiritual journey, excuse me, but they refuse to do their shadow work.
Speaker: And you could tell, you could tell by the fruits that they bear that they have not sat with themselves and kind of worked through their own personal demons.
Speaker: So I definitely feel that.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Some advice that I would give for somebody who's unsure where to start is self-reflection.
Speaker: Just sit with yourself.
Speaker: For me, I did not know where to start.
Speaker: I did not know who to reach out to.
Speaker: I did not know what to do.
Speaker: So I just started sitting at nighttime when like the house was quiet or whatever.
Speaker: And instead of scrolling on social media or watching TV or doing things or, you know, going out with friends or whatever.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, with no distractions, I would just sit and I would light a candle and light some incense because at the time I was just like, okay, this smells pretty.
Speaker: It's helping me get calm.
Speaker: And I would turn on either meditation music with no words or sound frequencies.
Speaker: And I would just sit sometimes with my eyes closed, sometimes with my eyes opened and just sit and listen.
Speaker: Sometimes we just want to talk and talk and talk and talk and talk to God and talk to spirit and talk to somebody else and try to get answers.
Speaker: But sometimes spirit requires us just to sit and
Speaker: to be still and to know.
Speaker: And how do you know?
Speaker: You know by being still.
Speaker: And things, I guarantee that things will start coming to you.
Speaker: Light bulbs will start going off in your head.
Speaker: You will start naturally asking yourself questions.
Speaker: Like I started asking myself, like, what do I believe about like the nature of existence?
Speaker: What gives my life meaning and purpose?
Speaker: What experiences or practices bring me a sense of connection or transcendence?
Speaker: And I started writing at the time.
Speaker: I started journaling.
Speaker: I started writing like spiritual poetry.
Speaker: And from there, I was able to get online.
Speaker: I went on Instagram.
Speaker: I went on TikTok, started plugging in some of my thoughts into like the search bar and
Speaker: And what populated were people experiencing similar things or going through similar things.
Speaker: And just sitting with self was so, so, so important.
Speaker: And also another thing I would say is start small.
Speaker: Rome was not built in a day, okay?
Speaker: Like you're not going to wake up tomorrow if you start today and be a spiritual master and don't feel...
Speaker: It's hard to not feel overwhelmed and it's hard to feel like you're not making progress, but just start small.
Speaker: Start with simple practices that appeal to you.
Speaker: For some people, that's meditation.
Speaker: For some people, that's listening to a guided meditation.
Speaker: For some people, that's spending time in nature.
Speaker: So experiment and play around with different techniques and see what feels the most meaningful and the most fulfilling to you.
Speaker: Once you kind of
Speaker: get that sense of like, yeah, like I need to talk to somebody else about this.
Speaker: Like reach out, find a community, find a Facebook group, find a mentor, find somebody who can provide support, who can provide encouragement, insight.
Speaker: There are so many people that you can learn from, so many people that you can grow with.
Speaker: There are things, I feel like we've all been through similar experiences and
Speaker: I would use my wisdom and my intuition and my discernment to kind of figure out who to talk to.
Speaker: Come to find out this stranger or somebody that I connected with online had gone through almost the same exact experiences as me.
Speaker: And we were able to grow off each other.
Speaker: They were able to support me and encourage me and guide me and give me that sense of community so the journey, even though it is a journey with self, it doesn't have to be so lonely.
Speaker: And keeping your mind open.
Speaker: because there were things that I started to learn that were triggering for me.
Speaker: And that kind of goes back to what Mel was saying with like working with your shadow, like find out what's triggering you.
Speaker: Start asking yourself, why is that triggering me?
Speaker: Is this something I need to unteach myself?
Speaker: Is this something that I need to work on, something that I need to grow with?
Speaker: And allow yourself to explore new ideas, explore new experiences, different perspectives without harboring that judgment.
Speaker: And with just kind of like letting go of everything else and just allowing yourself to explore, to tap into your inner child.
Speaker: A lot of us need that inner child healing.
Speaker: And something you can do to help heal your inner child is like if you're a parent or you know kids, kids love to explore.
Speaker: And I had to bring back that sense of wanting to explore more like a child.
Speaker: And by doing that, that healed my inner child, that helped me learn different techniques, that helped me learn different things so that I was able to then listen to my intuition.
Speaker: Trusting your intuition, your inner wisdom to guide you.
Speaker: That'll carry you so far as you start and continue your spiritual journey.
Speaker: And lastly, I mean, just remember that spirituality is a personal and ongoing journey.
Speaker: Even though I've reached so many heights in my spirituality, I've
Speaker: I know that the limit does not exist with this.
Speaker: I know that this is a journey that I am happily going to be on for the rest of this lifetime of mine.
Speaker: My goal is to become an ancestor, okay?
Speaker: Either in this lifetime, the next lifetime, whatever spirit has for me.
Speaker: But I feel like the world is changing.
Speaker: And if you take a minute to think about all the events that are going on in the world, you can tell that the earth is shifting.
Speaker: from political things, from stuff we hear in the news, celebrities, all of that.
Speaker: So you could just tell that something is going on.
Speaker: And I feel like that's a sign as a collective.
Speaker: to really tap into our spirituality and to really ground ourselves and prepare ourselves spiritually for everything that is shifting in this world.
Speaker: And that sounds scary and that sounds like it could be negative, but I feel like there's so much beauty to come once you align your thoughts and your spirit and align your reality spiritually.
Speaker: to that next level, to the 5D.
Speaker: And the 5D is something that we'll get into in a different episode.
Speaker: But just elevating and having that desire and that willingness to explore and to elevate yourself will start carrying you as you start or continue your spiritual journey.
Speaker: So don't give up.
Speaker: It's not going to be easy all the time.
Speaker: It's not going to be pretty all the time.
Speaker: There are so many nights that
Speaker: And practicing these things and doing that self-reflection and doing that shadow work and figuring out my place brought me to tears, broke me down, got me angry, got me sad, got me mad.
Speaker: And I just had to remind myself this is all a part of the process and it's time to trust the process and to keep evolving and to keep learning and to keep growing and to keep being
Speaker: the light for others so that others can start the same journey and experience the same beauty that you're experiencing?
Speaker: Yes, it definitely can be challenging, but what isn't?
Speaker: Whether you're in spirituality, you're a Christian, you're
Speaker: you're Catholic, you're an atheist, whatever the case is, life is challenging.
Speaker: But it's only as challenging as you make it.
Speaker: You know, it's perspective.
Speaker: It's a mindset.
Speaker: And I know a lot of people are like, yeah, okay, it's not that simple.
Speaker: But once you do dig deeper within yourself, you will come to realize it really is kind of that simple.
Speaker: Because if
Speaker: If you allow the things that are happening to you to defeat you, then that's when things take over.
Speaker: That's when things seem harder than they really are.
Speaker: You have to just accept things for what they are.
Speaker: They're coming to you for a reason.
Speaker: It's happening that way for a reason.
Speaker: And you may have years and years of struggle,
Speaker: But there is a light at the end of that tunnel.
Speaker: There is a reason why you're going through it.
Speaker: And you have to find your purpose in life once you do everything makes sense.
Speaker: And also, I want to add this before we end.
Speaker: I know a lot of people have the misconception of if you're spiritual, you have to have crystals and you have to have sage and you have to do tarot and you have to do that, you know.
Speaker: No, like definitely not something that you have to do.
Speaker: Is it great to have those things?
Speaker: Sure.
Speaker: I love sage.
Speaker: I cleanse the house with it of negative energy.
Speaker: If someone comes in my house, which rarely happens that I get bad vibes, I clear it out.
Speaker: I love my crystals, but I'm just saying that and meditation.
Speaker: Meditation could simply be you sitting there taking deep breaths, clearing your mind.
Speaker: You don't have to sit
Speaker: With your hands folded, you don't have to cross your legs.
Speaker: Like you could sit on the bed and close your eyes and breathe and listen to music and, you know, just self-reflect.
Speaker: So just know that there are simple ways of doing things and not everyone does them the same.
Speaker: But just stay focused, family.
Speaker: And you got this and we're going to go through this journey together.
Speaker: Heavy on stay focused.
Speaker: And the only thing I'd like to add is that there's hope.
Speaker: If you're listening to this and you feel like life is so overwhelming and the things you've gone through or you're going through at this time are so overwhelming, please understand that there is so much hope and there's so much more for you and so much more for your life in spite of your circumstances right now.
Speaker: Um, you're worthy.
Speaker: You are powerful.
Speaker: You are capable.
Speaker: You are beautiful.
Speaker: You are sacred.
Speaker: And you are here right now for a reason.
Speaker: You are here listening right now for a reason.
Speaker: It's the end of the month right now, so we are going to be doing our giveaway.
Speaker: If you are following us on Facebook, we have posted the requirements on how to enter the giveaway.
Speaker: If you're not on our Facebook, get to our Facebook.
Speaker: It's in the description.
Speaker: This month, we're going to be giving away a little self-care basket, a little evening wind-down basket.
Speaker: And we are giving away a free copy of the book, There is Hope.
Speaker: Women are worth the fight, although this book is for men as well.
Speaker: And it is written by Kiana Skye.
Speaker: She's somebody that I met, well, Mel and I both met on our content creating journeys.
Speaker: She's a beautiful soul that has overcome so much in her lifetime from depression to addiction to so many things.
Speaker: And she came out
Speaker: strong as ever.
Speaker: She is such a beautiful soul.
Speaker: And she wrote this beautiful short read that everybody should read.
Speaker: If you're looking to just buy the book, we'll also include the link to Amazon where you can buy the book and support it.
Speaker: It's only $9.95.
Speaker: But you also have some time to enter our giveaway.
Speaker: You can head over to our Facebook.
Speaker: We'll be pulling a winner probably next week, like towards the actual end of the month.
Speaker: So make sure that you go over there and enter our giveaway.
Speaker: And we'll tag Kiana as well so y'all can follow her and experience more of her journey.
Speaker: But overall, the point of that is there is hope.
Speaker: And we want to share that hope with you because...
Speaker: I know it's so easy to feel like there is no hope, like there is no way out, like you're going to be stuck in the darkness forever.
Speaker: But you can balance that and you can overcome, you can rise up, and there's a plan and purpose for your life.
Speaker: And you deserve to experience all the beauty that the universe has to offer for you.
Speaker: Yes, most definitely.
Speaker: We are here in this together, guys.
Speaker: Don't ever feel like you were alone.
Speaker: That's the greatest thing about the spiritual community is there's no judgment.
Speaker: There's no divide.
Speaker: There's no negativity.
Speaker: We're just here uplifting each other, motivating each other, and sending each other love and
Speaker: That's what we want for you guys.
Speaker: So that's another great aspect of getting into the spiritual journey for yourself as well.
Speaker: If you are interested in it is that you you're never alone and don't ever feel like you are.
Speaker: You guys are more than welcome to reach out to us as well.
Speaker: If you ever need advice or you have a question or concern or whatever the case is, we're here for you.
Speaker: And just know that you can make it.
Speaker: Yes, ma'am.
Speaker: I love all of that.
Speaker: And we are here.
Speaker: We are a soul family.
Speaker: We are all one at the end of the day.
Speaker: We are all beautiful spiritual beings.
Speaker: And this is the purpose of this podcast, to help each other grow, to learn more.
Speaker: Just to talk about our next couple episodes, every month we are going to be focusing on a different topic this month with spirituality.
Speaker: I'm not going to tell y'all what we're going to be focusing on in May.
Speaker: Follow our Facebook for updates.
Speaker: Follow
Speaker: But we're going to go from conspiracies to holistic health, back into spirituality, different practices, weird things that are going on in society right now.
Speaker: We want to cover everything.
Speaker: So make sure y'all are staying tuned.
Speaker: And if you have made it this far, thank you so, so much for listening.
Speaker: We appreciate all of our viewers' support.
Speaker: And we can't wait to continue to grow with y'all.
Speaker: Peace, love, and light.
Speaker: Much peace and love to everybody, y'all.
