#104 | Why Learning to Trust Intuition Gives LGBTQ Parents & Allies the Courage to Support with Clarity

Heather Hester
00:00:00
Welcome back to Just Breathe.

Heather Hester
00:00:02
I am so happy you are here.

Heather Hester
00:00:05
I am happy to be here myself.

Heather Hester
00:00:08
It is for many of us that time of the year, the transitional time of the year when we get the kids back to school.

Heather Hester
00:00:17
And even though I have one who has graduated, Connor graduated in May, as you all know, and Isabel in college, we got her moved into her college house last weekend, which was, oh, my goodness, quite an experience.

Heather Hester
00:00:35
And then Rowan and Grace back into high school this week, and it's still.

Heather Hester
00:00:40
That energetic shift in the house is so just crazy to me.

Heather Hester
00:00:46
And in years past, I've really pushed myself through it and, and like, just, you know, wanted to be all the things and do all the things and, you know, what.

Heather Hester
00:00:57
What we.

Heather Hester
00:00:58
What we do as moms and as parents, especially this time of year.

Heather Hester
00:01:03
And although I am incredibly grateful that I have no curriculum nights to go to, finally, there's still a lot of stuff.

Heather Hester
00:01:13
And again, a lot of it is around the energy shift in the house.

Heather Hester
00:01:19
And I'm telling you, even the dogs feel it.

Heather Hester
00:01:21
They're totally off.

Heather Hester
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I think a lot of it is we went from having all of us home, all six of us were here, Connor was visiting, to now they're just hanging out with me, which, you know, they love me, I love them, but they're like, what is.

Heather Hester
00:01:37
What is going on?

Heather Hester
00:01:39
So I think that today's guest is really, really great timing because we are talking about your intuition and listening to your inner voice and honoring what is going on inside and really listening to that, listening to what you're hearing and tuning into what you're feeling and all of the things that you can learn from that and do with that.

Heather Hester
00:02:08
So I am really, really thrilled to bring you, Heather McGuire, who I met through a coaching group that we are both part of and have just really, really enjoyed getting to know her.

Heather Hester
00:02:22
And she speaks the language of things that I am.

Heather Hester
00:02:27
I'm so interested in and want to learn more about.

Heather Hester
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And she just has a really, really lovely and, you know, interesting journey and.

Heather Hester
00:02:37
And background to how she got to where she is.

Heather Hester
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She is usually talented and making people feel safe to listen and to follow their own intuitive knowing.

Heather Hester
00:02:52
She has some really, really great ways that she either asks questions or brings you through different exercises.

Heather Hester
00:03:01
But for more than 15 years, she has been gently and compassionately guiding people to a deeper understanding of who they are and what they are capable of creating in their lives.

Heather Hester
00:03:15
So I am grateful to be able to bring this conversation to you.

Heather Hester
00:03:21
And without further ado, here is Heather McGuire.

Heather Hester
00:03:37
Welcome to Just Breathe Parenting your LGBTQ team.

Heather Hester
00:03:41
The podcast transformed the conversation around loving and raising an LGBTQ child.

Heather Hester
00:03:49
My name is Heather Hester, and I am so grateful you are here.

Heather Hester
00:03:54
I want you to take a deep breath and know that for the time we are together, you are in the safety of the Just Breathe nest.

Heather Hester
00:04:04
Whether today's show is an amazing guest or me sharing stories, resources, strategies, or lessons I've learned along our journey, I want you to feel like we're just hanging out at a coffee shop having a cozy chat.

Heather Hester
00:04:21
Most of all, I want you to remember that wherever you are on this journey right now, in this moment in time, you are not alone.

Heather Hester
00:04:38
Welcome back, everyone, to Just Breathe Parenting your LGBTQ teen.

Heather Hester
00:04:44
I am so happy you are all here today, and I am really, really happy for you to be here for this conversation with Heather McGuire.

Heather Hester
00:04:53
This is a different conversation than we've had in recent months, and I am really excited because I know so many of you are going to connect with this and just really learn so much from what Heather has to teach us and share with us.

Heather Hester
00:05:09
So, Heather, welcome.

Heather Hester
00:05:11
Thank you for being here.

Heather McGuire
00:05:13
Thank you so much.

Heather McGuire
00:05:14
I'm so excited to have this conversation.

Heather Hester
00:05:18
So Heather and I met through a group that we're in together, a business group, learning how to be more organized and intentional and all these lovely things.

Heather Hester
00:05:29
And I think it's always fun to how we cross paths and connect all the dots of how we know people.

Heather Hester
00:05:35
And that's always so fascinating to me because I think that a lot of it is.

Heather Hester
00:05:40
We are.

Heather Hester
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We are all meant to cross paths in some way.

Heather Hester
00:05:43
So I'm very delighted.

Heather Hester
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And of course, I'm always delighted to meet somebody who is a Heather because they're, you know, there's not a lot of us out there.

Heather Hester
00:05:52
So it's just like, mentality.

Heather McGuire
00:05:56
Rare, rare breed.

Heather Hester
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We are.

Heather Hester
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We are.

Heather Hester
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So I would love to know.

Heather Hester
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We'll just kind of start, you know, with really broad and basic.

Heather Hester
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But I'd love to know how you got into this work of working with intuition.

Heather Hester
00:06:12
And you are the unconventional intuitive.

Heather Hester
00:06:16
So I'd love to know more about, you know, how you realized that you have this gift and are doing this work with others.

Heather McGuire
00:06:26
So people are always curious about that because, like, how.

Heather McGuire
00:06:30
How would you land here?

Heather McGuire
00:06:31
Right?

Heather McGuire
00:06:32
And the short version of the story is that I realized when my kids were small at school pickup, as I'm trying to make small talk with the other moms, that I'm having these conversations that no one else is having.

Heather McGuire
00:06:49
I'm telling people things like, you you really have a gift.

Heather McGuire
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There's something about you.

Heather McGuire
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You're really good in this situation.

Heather McGuire
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You make people feel this way and way too deep for school pickup.

Heather McGuire
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Nobody else is talking about this.

Heather McGuire
00:07:05
I'm giving them all of these ideas for how businesses they could start and all kinds of things.

Heather McGuire
00:07:09
And I just got curious, what is it that I'm seeing?

Heather McGuire
00:07:14
Like what is happening?

Heather McGuire
00:07:16
And somehow that led me to an intuitive development circle, which was a mediumship development circle.

Heather McGuire
00:07:24
I sat down in that circle and I was so happy.

Heather McGuire
00:07:27
It was like I could relax.

Heather McGuire
00:07:31
We just meditated and you talked about whatever was popping into your mind.

Heather McGuire
00:07:36
And somehow the things that were just appearing in your mind, which seemed like nonsense or nothing, were meaningful to somebody else in the group.

Heather McGuire
00:07:45
It was just the most spectacular experience.

Heather McGuire
00:07:50
I loved it so much.

Heather McGuire
00:07:51
So I went back every week for about two and a half years.

Heather Hester
00:07:54
Oh my goodness.

Heather Hester
00:07:55
That is awesome.

Heather Hester
00:07:57
Wow.

Heather Hester
00:07:58
And I'm sure in that you really began to be able to kind of trust what you were hearing more, right?

Heather McGuire
00:08:05
Exactly.

Heather Hester
00:08:06
Yeah.

Heather Hester
00:08:07
So I'm wondering if you could.

Heather Hester
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Because there is that trust factor and there is that, like, I know many people are like, I don't know if.

Heather Hester
00:08:18
Is it my intuition?

Heather Hester
00:08:20
Is it fear?

Heather Hester
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Is it.

Heather Hester
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How do I know that it's my intuition speaking to me?

Heather Hester
00:08:26
And how do I kind of tell the difference between just that noise.

Heather Hester
00:08:29
Right.

Heather Hester
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Like the negative self talk, like berating us.

Heather Hester
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Right.

Heather Hester
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And.

Heather Hester
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Or giving negative messages that are fear messages and our intuition.

Heather McGuire
00:08:40
It's such a big question.

Heather McGuire
00:08:43
And there's two things I'll say.

Heather McGuire
00:08:47
One is you want to think about your intuition almost like a bodily function.

Heather McGuire
00:08:54
You're not.

Heather McGuire
00:08:55
It's not that you have intuition.

Heather McGuire
00:08:56
It's that you're intuiting like your heart is beating and your lungs are breathing.

Heather McGuire
00:09:00
Your body is intuiting.

Heather McGuire
00:09:02
It's happening all the time.

Heather McGuire
00:09:04
And starting to learn how to pay attention to that.

Heather McGuire
00:09:08
Makes it easier in those crunch times of big decisions when there's a lot of fear.

Heather McGuire
00:09:14
Otherwise you're going up and you're saying, you know, tell me what I should do.

Heather McGuire
00:09:19
And your intuition is speaking a language that you hardly know how to speak, right?

Heather Hester
00:09:24
Yes.

Heather McGuire
00:09:25
So beginning to sort of build a relationship, build an understanding, taking time to ask your body questions.

Heather McGuire
00:09:34
And it really will speak to you.

Heather McGuire
00:09:36
You can really ask your body, like, you know, what do I want right now?

Heather McGuire
00:09:40
And just pay attention to what happens.

Heather McGuire
00:09:43
You know, if something will occur to you, some feeling will happen.

Heather McGuire
00:09:47
So opening up that dialogue is number one.

Heather McGuire
00:09:51
Number two is even if your intuition is telling you that you should be afraid or that you should take action, it is going to do it in a way that is not fear mongering.

Heather McGuire
00:10:06
It's not going to tell you you suck.

Heather McGuire
00:10:08
And that's why you shouldn't do this.

Heather McGuire
00:10:11
That's not the voice of your intuition.

Heather McGuire
00:10:15
Your intuition is lower.

Heather McGuire
00:10:18
It's in your body, it's in your senses.

Heather McGuire
00:10:21
It's not coming from your mind.

Heather McGuire
00:10:24
The mind chatter.

Heather McGuire
00:10:25
That's, that's, you know, the, the pros and cons that this is how it's going to work.

Heather McGuire
00:10:31
It's a.

Heather McGuire
00:10:31
More of a.

Heather McGuire
00:10:32
Just a present sense in your body, a constant sense.

Heather McGuire
00:10:36
And you know this.

Heather McGuire
00:10:37
If you think about a decision that you made that didn't really make sense.

Heather McGuire
00:10:43
Like, I know I.

Heather McGuire
00:10:45
It made the most sense to say yes to that job or to go on that trip or do that thing, but something in me just didn't.

Heather McGuire
00:10:52
It just didn't sit right with me.

Heather McGuire
00:10:54
And so I didn't do it.

Heather McGuire
00:10:56
That's your intuition?

Heather Hester
00:10:59
Yeah.

Heather Hester
00:11:00
Oh, my goodness.

Heather Hester
00:11:00
I mean, I have almost an exact example of that where I, when I first started tapping into this and it, you know, kind of coincidentally happened to be at the same time that a lot of the things were happening with Connor.

Heather Hester
00:11:13
So there was, I was getting a lot of information that I wasn't, I wasn't sure what it meant.

Heather Hester
00:11:20
Right.

Heather Hester
00:11:21
But I was feeling it.

Heather Hester
00:11:21
And I love that you said that you feel it in your body because that's where I was feeling it.

Heather Hester
00:11:25
It was like feeling it in my chest, in my stomach.

Heather Hester
00:11:30
It was just in here.

Heather Hester
00:11:32
And I couldn't articulate what it was.

Heather Hester
00:11:35
But I was supposed to go on a 50th birthday trip with girlfriends and I had this feeling, could not go.

Heather Hester
00:11:46
I was not meant to go and I could not articulate why.

Heather Hester
00:11:50
And then I, you know, they soon found out why with things that were going on with my son.

Heather Hester
00:11:55
But that was the, like, I needed to be here.

Heather Hester
00:11:58
And my intuition, my body was like, I'm going to make you feel all kinds of uncomfortable.

Heather McGuire
00:12:05
That's the perfect example.

Heather McGuire
00:12:06
And it's really easy to get spun out and to worry like, well, what does this mean?

Heather McGuire
00:12:12
All the things.

Heather McGuire
00:12:13
And people think that your intuition should give you this, like full dialogue or set of instructions.

Heather McGuire
00:12:19
It really rarely works like that.

Heather McGuire
00:12:22
It's really just this sense of, I need to stay home, I need to not go.

Heather Hester
00:12:27
Right.

Heather McGuire
00:12:28
And with your kids especially, this is really significant because there's so much, you know, mom guilt.

Heather McGuire
00:12:36
What will people think all of those things all the time?

Heather McGuire
00:12:39
From breastfeeding to formula feeding, like, every decision as a parent, right?

Heather McGuire
00:12:44
And then you get into some of this bigger stuff and it's even more fraught.

Heather McGuire
00:12:49
And that sort of push and pull between your inside voice and the fearful voice of all the other things.

Heather McGuire
00:12:57
Is this safe for my kid?

Heather McGuire
00:12:59
Will they be okay?

Heather McGuire
00:13:01
The voice of your intuition is in your body.

Heather McGuire
00:13:04
Trust that.

Heather Hester
00:13:05
So how do you really.

Heather Hester
00:13:08
What can we do to better listen to that voice, to really hone or kind of dial into that voice?

Heather Hester
00:13:16
It's clearly a matter of being more and more aware.

Heather Hester
00:13:20
But are there things that we can do?

Heather Hester
00:13:23
Just so it becomes kind of that, like, almost a conversation more than like, you know, I kind of liken it to like, at that point, kind of my first, like, major experience that I really talk about was like, I was being hit over the head.

Heather Hester
00:13:38
By the time that I was like, okay, I'm listening, you know, but, you know, so we don't get to that point.

Heather Hester
00:13:45
And just because I think there are so many, I'm guessing, messages that we perhaps miss or.

Heather Hester
00:13:56
I'll let you.

Heather Hester
00:13:56
I'll let you answer that because I'm just.

Heather Hester
00:13:58
I'm intrigued.

Heather McGuire
00:14:01
So it runs counter to our culture and counter to how we're taught to be.

Heather McGuire
00:14:09
It is a measure of stillness.

Heather McGuire
00:14:11
And it doesn't mean that you need to become a Zen Buddhist, but it means that you begin to develop an awareness that this thoughts in your head are thoughts in your head.

Heather McGuire
00:14:24
They are not something that need a conversation, need you to judge, decide good or bad.

Heather McGuire
00:14:32
They are energetic impulses that are happening that are creating these words inside of your awareness.

Heather McGuire
00:14:40
Right?

Heather McGuire
00:14:40
So developing this sort of gap between who you are and the thoughts in your head and how you're feeling in your body and what that means about who you are, what kind of a parent you are, what kind of a person you are.

Heather McGuire
00:14:58
Because that's not the meaning.

Heather McGuire
00:15:01
That's not your intuition.

Heather McGuire
00:15:03
That's just your body reacting to everything around you.

Heather McGuire
00:15:08
And the more you go into this, the more you realize that part of what you're reacting to is so much more than you.

Heather McGuire
00:15:15
Yesterday, for example, was yet again another mass shooting.

Heather McGuire
00:15:20
And all day I had planned this full day, but I was like, completely out of it, exhausted.

Heather McGuire
00:15:30
Couldn't put my thoughts together.

Heather McGuire
00:15:33
Just felt really slowed down.

Heather McGuire
00:15:36
And I said, okay, so today is just a day.

Heather McGuire
00:15:38
I'm just going to move slow.

Heather McGuire
00:15:39
I'm just going to honor that this is how I'm feeling.

Heather McGuire
00:15:41
I'm just going to choose the things that feel the most aligned with this Energy.

Heather McGuire
00:15:45
And I'm just going to do those today, and that's going to be that.

Heather McGuire
00:15:48
And then come to find out there was this mass shooting.

Heather McGuire
00:15:51
And this is what happens to me on those days.

Heather McGuire
00:15:54
The energy is so incoherent, scattered, fearful, angry, upset.

Heather McGuire
00:16:00
All the things that my body responds that way.

Heather McGuire
00:16:03
And I guarantee that everyone has some sort of response physiologically to these big occurrences.

Heather McGuire
00:16:11
And there's science that backs it up.

Heather McGuire
00:16:14
And we're not taught that we judge it.

Heather McGuire
00:16:18
What's wrong with me?

Heather McGuire
00:16:19
I'm not sleeping enough.

Heather McGuire
00:16:20
I'm not eating right.

Heather McGuire
00:16:21
I did it to myself again.

Heather McGuire
00:16:23
And then we lose the whole point of sort of what this is saying.

Heather McGuire
00:16:28
This is saying you need to slow down, you need to take care.

Heather Hester
00:16:33
I love that.

Heather Hester
00:16:34
So it is really.

Heather Hester
00:16:36
I mean, what we're looking at is we're really disconnected.

Heather Hester
00:16:41
I mean, and that's just kind of the way that we have been.

Heather Hester
00:16:44
That's our society.

Heather Hester
00:16:45
That is today's world.

Heather Hester
00:16:47
Right.

Heather Hester
00:16:48
We all are.

Heather Hester
00:16:49
And so it's a matter of really reconnecting and whatever way works for you.

Heather Hester
00:16:59
Right?

Heather Hester
00:17:00
Yeah.

Heather Hester
00:17:00
And I think, you know, for many people, even starting with that little whatever it is that can get yourself still and quiet.

Heather McGuire
00:17:08
Yeah.

Heather Hester
00:17:09
And that doesn't necessarily mean, like physically still.

Heather Hester
00:17:12
It could be, you know, whether it's out working in your garden or walking alone or doing something that is like, still meaning, like away from.

Heather McGuire
00:17:23
Mm.

Heather Hester
00:17:24
Right.

Heather Hester
00:17:25
Exterior.

Heather Hester
00:17:25
Is that kind of.

Heather McGuire
00:17:26
Exactly.

Heather McGuire
00:17:27
Exactly.

Heather McGuire
00:17:28
And bringing in awareness.

Heather McGuire
00:17:30
Today I'm really tired today.

Heather McGuire
00:17:33
I'm really frantic.

Heather McGuire
00:17:35
My brain is really just moving so quickly today and accepting that, acknowledging that.

Heather McGuire
00:17:42
Okay.

Heather McGuire
00:17:43
Because, I mean, that's what I.

Heather McGuire
00:17:45
That's what we learned how to practice in that intuitive development circle.

Heather McGuire
00:17:50
What's showing up that's not going away.

Heather McGuire
00:17:53
Share that thing.

Heather McGuire
00:17:55
My first intuitive development circle, I had no idea what that meant.

Heather McGuire
00:17:58
She just said, okay, we're going to open up the circle.

Heather McGuire
00:18:00
Just share what you're getting.

Heather McGuire
00:18:02
And people were saying all these things.

Heather McGuire
00:18:03
My mind was blown.

Heather McGuire
00:18:05
And I kept having this image in my mind.

Heather McGuire
00:18:08
And it's just your mind's eye.

Heather McGuire
00:18:10
If I say to you, imagine an elephant, more than likely some image of an elephant will pop into your head.

Heather McGuire
00:18:17
Right.

Heather McGuire
00:18:18
It's like that.

Heather McGuire
00:18:19
It's like you're making it up.

Heather McGuire
00:18:21
And I saw this fireman's helmet hanging on the wall and a fireman's coat hanging underneath it.

Heather McGuire
00:18:27
And it kept coming into my mind.

Heather McGuire
00:18:30
So I said, okay, I'm going to pay attention to that.

Heather McGuire
00:18:32
She said, pay attention to what keeps showing up.

Heather McGuire
00:18:34
Okay, let me Pay attention to that.

Heather McGuire
00:18:37
And kind of like I'm redirecting the camera.

Heather McGuire
00:18:39
I'm going back to that, and then I'm waiting to see does anything else happen.

Heather McGuire
00:18:45
And when I said in the circle, okay, I've got this fireman's hat and a fireman's coat and a couple of things that had come to me, and this woman in the circle said, oh, that's my husband.

Heather McGuire
00:18:56
That's my husband.

Heather McGuire
00:18:56
He's a fireman.

Heather McGuire
00:18:57
And he's bald.

Heather McGuire
00:18:59
I was seeing the back of a head that was bald.

Heather McGuire
00:19:01
He's bald.

Heather McGuire
00:19:02
Oh, yeah.

Heather McGuire
00:19:02
And how is that possible?

Heather Hester
00:19:06
Right?

Heather McGuire
00:19:06
How is that possible?

Heather McGuire
00:19:07
But that's what's happening all the time.

Heather McGuire
00:19:10
And when you slow down and get still, you recognize.

Heather McGuire
00:19:13
You start to recognize.

Heather McGuire
00:19:14
Recognize what's showing up.

Heather McGuire
00:19:16
What's showing up.

Heather McGuire
00:19:17
What kind of bubbles up to the surface.

Heather Hester
00:19:20
And that can be uncomfortable too.

Heather Hester
00:19:23
Right.

Heather Hester
00:19:23
Which is why I'm sure we have gotten to the place as humans where the second anything starts to feel uncomfortable, we either ignore it or push it away or get busy doing something else or.

Heather Hester
00:19:40
Right.

Heather Hester
00:19:41
Like whatever our subconscious coping mechanism is for that.

Heather Hester
00:19:46
So it's kind of layered.

Heather McGuire
00:19:48
It is.

Heather McGuire
00:19:49
It is.

Heather McGuire
00:19:50
And what happens is that we judge it instead of being curious about it and saying, okay, what could this be?

Heather McGuire
00:19:57
Because I might be feeling uncomfortable because something happened at my neighbor's house or, you know, something's going on politically, who knows?

Heather McGuire
00:20:06
Who knows what it could be?

Heather McGuire
00:20:07
And it may just pass through.

Heather McGuire
00:20:10
It may be my intuition telling me, you know, something just isn't quite settled somewhere.

Heather McGuire
00:20:16
Take a closer look somewhere.

Heather McGuire
00:20:17
But because we judge it, there's something wrong with me because I'm feeling bad.

Heather Hester
00:20:22
Yeah.

Heather McGuire
00:20:23
Then we lose track of it.

Heather Hester
00:20:25
Right?

Heather Hester
00:20:27
Right.

Heather Hester
00:20:27
Because that judgment just mucks it all up.

Heather McGuire
00:20:32
Not helpful.

Heather Hester
00:20:33
Not helpful at all.

Heather Hester
00:20:35
So one of the things.

Heather Hester
00:20:36
And I know we have a.

Heather Hester
00:20:37
A mutual friend that we both work with, and she has talked about this a number of times, and I.

Heather Hester
00:20:43
You talk about it, too, on your.

Heather Hester
00:20:45
Your website.

Heather Hester
00:20:45
And I'm really, really curious about what it is, which are the heartstone walks.

Heather Hester
00:20:51
And I have a feeling this kind of works into this whole idea that we're talking about here.

Heather Hester
00:20:56
So I was wondering if you could tell us a little more about that.

Heather McGuire
00:21:00
So teaching people about their intuition and watching for signs and opening up their awareness, people will very often say to me, so I saw this license plate, and it said, just do it.

Heather McGuire
00:21:14
So what does that mean?

Heather McGuire
00:21:19
You know?

Heather McGuire
00:21:20
And so they really feel like their intuition is telling them, you need to do X, Y, and z.

Heather McGuire
00:21:27
And this is really more about that conversation.

Heather McGuire
00:21:30
And what I found through my process of opening up and learning how to listen is that I call it the universe.

Heather McGuire
00:21:38
Some people call it God or spirit or life force energy.

Heather McGuire
00:21:42
That this something that is, you know, working with us, communicating with us, giving information to our intuition really works more in nudges.

Heather McGuire
00:21:53
More in nudges.

Heather McGuire
00:21:54
You know, you.

Heather McGuire
00:21:56
You should stay home.

Heather McGuire
00:21:58
You.

Heather McGuire
00:21:58
You feel better when you think about staying home than you do when you're going on that trip.

Heather McGuire
00:22:03
And I started paying attention to asking for signs.

Heather McGuire
00:22:08
And one of the signs that I would ask for was these heart rocks.

Heather McGuire
00:22:11
And I noticed when I would take my dog out for a walk in the woods that the days when I was kind of present, clear, feeling good, they were everywhere.

Heather McGuire
00:22:24
The days when I was in my head, caught up, stressed out, beating myself up, none for miles, couldn't find one to save my life.

Heather McGuire
00:22:35
And so I started to do this experiment of experimenting with where I put my attention, how I would breathe, what I would feel.

Heather McGuire
00:22:45
And I started to be able to sort of produce them on my walks by managing my energy.

Heather McGuire
00:22:53
It became this really fun experiment between me and the universe.

Heather McGuire
00:22:58
And so that's what I teach people on these hard rock walks, that we go out into nature and we really feel the difference between what do I want and what do I desire?

Heather McGuire
00:23:09
What I want is really in my head.

Heather McGuire
00:23:11
What I desire is much more in my body.

Heather McGuire
00:23:14
And when I think about what do I desire?

Heather McGuire
00:23:16
And I ask my body, what do I desire?

Heather McGuire
00:23:18
There's a whole different feeling.

Heather McGuire
00:23:20
And then we ask, okay, we're going to walk with our desire.

Heather McGuire
00:23:24
We're going to notice what we notice, just open up our senses.

Heather McGuire
00:23:27
That whole forest bathing.

Heather McGuire
00:23:28
What do you see without identifying what you see?

Heather McGuire
00:23:31
What do you hear without identifying what you hear?

Heather McGuire
00:23:34
And we're asking the universe to work with us and give us heart rocks.

Heather McGuire
00:23:39
And I am telling you, we walk out of the woods and people are like, there's one, there's one.

Heather McGuire
00:23:45
The whole path is a heart.

Heather McGuire
00:23:47
Oh, my gosh, I love that.

Heather Hester
00:23:51
Oh, my gosh, that is really cool.

Heather Hester
00:23:54
And what a great way to kind of connect that.

Heather Hester
00:24:00
Right?

Heather Hester
00:24:01
I mean, it's like a little positive feedback to be like, wait, this is what this is.

Heather Hester
00:24:07
This is awesome.

Heather McGuire
00:24:09
Yeah.

Heather Hester
00:24:10
Oh, that's really, really cool.

Heather Hester
00:24:12
Okay, thank you.

Heather Hester
00:24:14
I had been curious and I had a feeling, but I was like, oh, I have to ask her this because I just really want to know exactly what it is.

Heather Hester
00:24:21
I'll have to try that.

Heather McGuire
00:24:22
Yeah.

Heather Hester
00:24:23
Although I live in a suburb And.

Heather McGuire
00:24:24
I have a funny coincidence story with my heart rocks because I.

Heather McGuire
00:24:28
You.

Heather McGuire
00:24:29
You've heard of Mel Robbins, right?

Heather McGuire
00:24:30
The blonde woman, the black.

Heather McGuire
00:24:32
Like, she's such a hot ticket.

Heather McGuire
00:24:34
And I, I don't think I've read any of her books or.

Heather McGuire
00:24:37
But sometimes she just sort of appears in my life.

Heather McGuire
00:24:40
Someone will mention her and then she'll be all over my social media feed or I'll.

Heather McGuire
00:24:45
One of those kinds of things.

Heather Hester
00:24:46
Right.

Heather McGuire
00:24:47
And the first time I ever listened to her podcast, I was at the gym and she started talking about how she teaches people to look for hearts in nature.

Heather McGuire
00:24:58
And I was, oh my gosh, we have something in common.

Heather McGuire
00:25:03
And I looked down on the floor and no lie.

Heather McGuire
00:25:07
There was a little.

Heather McGuire
00:25:08
It was like ripped paper, hard right on the floor by where I.

Heather McGuire
00:25:12
Yeah.

Heather McGuire
00:25:13
Oh, okay.

Heather McGuire
00:25:16
That's the way it works.

Heather McGuire
00:25:18
That's the way it works when we're all lined up all of a sudden.

Heather McGuire
00:25:22
Yeah, just.

Heather Hester
00:25:23
I mean, that's so cool.

Heather Hester
00:25:27
See, this is available to all of us, which I think is also something that is a misnomer.

Heather Hester
00:25:32
People, I think, think that being able to understand your intuition or even tap into it is something that only some people can do.

Heather Hester
00:25:43
Not everybody's able to do that.

Heather Hester
00:25:45
So.

Heather McGuire
00:25:45
Exactly.

Heather Hester
00:25:47
Just knowing that is available to you and that you do.

Heather Hester
00:25:50
I think there's such a part of, you know, being connected to your whole body and really being so aware is something that we were never taught to do.

Heather Hester
00:26:04
Right.

Heather Hester
00:26:05
Like there's such a disconnect.

Heather Hester
00:26:07
So it does take some effort and some work, but not work in like a.

Heather Hester
00:26:13
I don't like to use the word work because I think that scares people, but it takes, you know, some, like, trying and some experimenting and so.

Heather McGuire
00:26:22
Exactly.

Heather Hester
00:26:22
Right.

Heather McGuire
00:26:23
So Exactly.

Heather Hester
00:26:25
Just like you do yoga or whatever, your favorite exercises.

Heather McGuire
00:26:32
Yeah, yeah.

Heather McGuire
00:26:34
I was listening to a sort of business podcast.

Heather McGuire
00:26:37
I don't remember who was on there, but these big deal business guys.

Heather McGuire
00:26:42
And the person who was being interviewed said that what he does when he's really stuck is he just asks himself, how could this be easy?

Heather McGuire
00:26:56
And then, and then he just sort of waits for things to come to him and how could this be easy?

Heather McGuire
00:27:05
These open ended questions are game changers.

Heather McGuire
00:27:10
When you open it up, you are inviting the universe to give you signs, to give you insight.

Heather McGuire
00:27:16
You're saying, okay, I've been working this one and it's.

Heather McGuire
00:27:20
And it's not working.

Heather Hester
00:27:22
Right.

Heather McGuire
00:27:22
How can it be easy?

Heather Hester
00:27:24
Right.

Heather McGuire
00:27:24
In my marriage, I mean, I've been married for almost 30 years.

Heather McGuire
00:27:28
So, you know, you go in ups and downs, right?

Heather Hester
00:27:30
Absolutely, yes.

Heather McGuire
00:27:32
And I remember looking at my husband and thinking, you know what I want more than anything is I want to look at this man and think that, you know, this.

Heather McGuire
00:27:43
I am so lucky to be married to this person.

Heather McGuire
00:28:40
I know in my heart that I am.

Heather McGuire
00:28:42
And I know in my head that like he's fabulous, but I don't always feel that I want to feel that.

Heather McGuire
00:28:49
And so I just asked that question, how can I feel that feeling that this is the person, this is my person.

Heather McGuire
00:28:57
And I would start to notice little things.

Heather McGuire
00:29:01
He does this thing that's so lovely.

Heather McGuire
00:29:04
Look at him.

Heather McGuire
00:29:05
What a great guy.

Heather McGuire
00:29:06
Oh.

Heather McGuire
00:29:07
So if anything, if anything, start asking open ended questions, start asking for answers that help solve your problems and then pay attention to your whole body for the answers.

Heather McGuire
00:29:21
Don't just listen in your head, pay attention in your whole body for the answer.

Heather Hester
00:29:25
Right, Right.

Heather Hester
00:29:27
Because the head will try to overcompensate and make a lot of noise.

Heather Hester
00:29:32
And I had a friend say to me the other day, she's a coach and she was like, just because you think it doesn't make it true.

Heather Hester
00:29:41
And I was like, good for us all to remember that.

Heather Hester
00:29:45
Right.

Heather Hester
00:29:46
Like these thoughts, just because they're in there doesn't mean it's accurate.

Heather Hester
00:29:49
It's just a lot of times just noise or, you know, things that we're soaking in from the outside that are.

Heather Hester
00:29:56
It's just processing through and isn't even ours.

Heather Hester
00:29:59
Right.

Heather Hester
00:30:00
It's just making its way through.

Heather Hester
00:30:02
So it's a good thing to just remember along the way and to, you know, again, I think the.

Heather Hester
00:30:11
One of the bigger pieces is just that ability to slow down for a moment and like come into your body.

Heather McGuire
00:30:18
Exactly.

Heather Hester
00:30:19
Really just.

Heather Hester
00:30:21
And to, you know, to breathe and do that breathing, which talk about all the time, that is so very important.

Heather Hester
00:30:28
Important.

Heather Hester
00:30:28
And it allows us to get out of our heads and into our bodies.

Heather Hester
00:30:31
Right?

Heather McGuire
00:30:31
Yeah.

Heather Hester
00:30:32
Bring the nervous system down and bring the cortisol down.

Heather McGuire
00:30:36
All the stuff.

Heather McGuire
00:30:39
It's so huge.

Heather Hester
00:30:40
So huge.

Heather Hester
00:30:42
So you are starting something new this year or you've been working on it for a little bit, but I know it's something that you're really wanting to kind of kick off and move into more, which is your energy lab.

Heather Hester
00:30:52
So I'm wondering if you can share that a little bit with us.

Heather McGuire
00:30:56
I am so excited about the energy lab.

Heather McGuire
00:30:59
I have been teaching intuitive development and a number of different things for a long, long time.

Heather McGuire
00:31:05
And it kind of all occurred to me last year that what we're doing is energy experiments.

Heather McGuire
00:31:14
We're experimenting with our energy.

Heather McGuire
00:31:16
And that's what a heart rock walk is, experimenting with your energy.

Heather McGuire
00:31:20
And so my Energy Lab is series of different talks and teaching this system of experimenting with energy.

Heather McGuire
00:31:29
I'm starting a Facebook group where we're going to be running experiments and everyone's welcome to join us there.

Heather McGuire
00:31:35
And I'm going to be leading talks.

Heather McGuire
00:31:36
I did one for a local business a few weeks ago.

Heather McGuire
00:31:41
And so the Energy lab is sharing this information and this science and then teaching people to look at the situations in their life.

Heather McGuire
00:31:50
Almost like there I have this hypothesis, I have this hypothesis that, you know, my kid isn't safe.

Heather McGuire
00:32:00
How.

Heather McGuire
00:32:01
What can I do to change that feeling?

Heather McGuire
00:32:03
What can I do to find out if that's true?

Heather McGuire
00:32:07
How can I experiment with this rather than just sitting in worry?

Heather McGuire
00:32:12
How can I experiment with my energy and then notice what happened, notice if it changes?

Heather McGuire
00:32:19
And I know from my own life, I know from my clients that really powerful things can happen when you do this work.

Heather McGuire
00:32:28
Really powerful changes can happen.

Heather Hester
00:32:30
That is awesome.

Heather Hester
00:32:32
Okay, so in order to be part of this, people need to go to your Facebook page.

Heather Hester
00:32:38
Go to where can people learn more about this?

Heather Hester
00:32:42
Because I think this is such awesome work.

Heather McGuire
00:32:46
I'm so excited for it.

Heather McGuire
00:32:48
So, yeah, go to the Facebook group and join there.

Heather McGuire
00:32:53
I'm going, I'm starting here.

Heather McGuire
00:32:56
I'm in Boston, so I'm doing talks here and sort of spreading out from there.

Heather McGuire
00:33:03
This fall, my daughter's going to be headed off to college.

Heather McGuire
00:33:06
I have two kids and my daughter's my second and she's headed off to college.

Heather McGuire
00:33:09
So I am ready to take this show on the road.

Heather McGuire
00:33:13
And really, I just really want to bring this out to people and.

Heather McGuire
00:33:21
But start at the Facebook group.

Heather McGuire
00:33:22
Start there.

Heather McGuire
00:33:23
We'll be leading experiments.

Heather McGuire
00:33:24
We'll be talking about it.

Heather McGuire
00:33:25
And it's really kind of just this practice of awareness and this practice of training yourself to take a different look, to unplug from what your brain is telling you this means and to be present for what's possible.

Heather Hester
00:33:39
Right.

Heather Hester
00:33:40
Which is so, so important.

Heather Hester
00:33:43
Now one, just one other quick question about that is will you do virtual talks?

Heather McGuire
00:33:50
I am guessing that I will.

Heather McGuire
00:33:53
And right now the Energy Lab is going to be in person because the experiments that we're doing are sort of in person experiments.

Heather McGuire
00:34:03
And as it gets going, I'm pretty certain that it's going to evolve into an online experience also.

Heather McGuire
00:34:09
But yeah.

Heather Hester
00:34:10
Okay.

Heather Hester
00:34:11
I just thought I would ask because I'm sure people are wondering.

Heather Hester
00:34:14
Okay, that's awesome.

Heather Hester
00:34:15
Well, I will definitely have all of your Facebook information in the show notes and all of that good stuff.

Heather McGuire
00:34:21
Yeah.

Heather McGuire
00:34:22
And you also have, I think, a link to my.

Heather McGuire
00:34:29
Some practices for developing your intuition.

Heather Hester
00:34:32
Yes.

Heather McGuire
00:34:32
So people get on there, then they can get on my, my email list and there'll be announcements, updates on the energy lab in there also.

Heather Hester
00:34:41
Yes, yes.

Heather Hester
00:34:41
I actually highly recommend that because I did get.

Heather Hester
00:34:44
When you go on to Heather's website, you can get.

Heather Hester
00:34:47
It's right at the beginning, just you get a download and it's awesome.

Heather Hester
00:34:50
It's like a 10 page download and it's really, really good.

Heather Hester
00:34:53
Just simple exercises.

Heather Hester
00:34:56
So if nothing else, I highly recommend that.

Heather Hester
00:34:59
But yes, that's the perfect way to.

Heather Hester
00:35:00
Then you'll just get updates as you move this along, which is very exciting.

Heather Hester
00:35:06
Great.

Heather Hester
00:35:07
So we were talking a little bit before we started about just kind of closing today with a little bit of a meditation that you.

Heather Hester
00:35:14
That had come to you right before we were to start.

Heather Hester
00:35:17
And I thought that would be a lovely way to end our time together today.

Heather Hester
00:35:21
So I'm going to let you take it from here.

Heather Hester
00:35:25
And I've just so grateful that you are with us today.

Heather McGuire
00:35:31
I am so delighted that I know you, that you are a part of my world, that you are doing the work that you're doing.

Heather McGuire
00:35:39
It is so valuable.

Heather McGuire
00:35:42
And I just see this podcast and you as this sort of radio signal of love and it's really powerful and important and I'm grateful to be here and to be a part of it.

Heather Hester
00:35:58
Thank you.

Heather Hester
00:35:58
That's really cool.

Heather McGuire
00:36:02
So right before we started talking, this meditation did come to me and I'm going to invite everybody to take some nice deep breaths.

Heather McGuire
00:36:13
And if you are someplace where you can be still and quiet, be still and quiet.

Heather McGuire
00:36:20
If you are listening to this and you are walking, you can just let your imagination do this.

Heather McGuire
00:36:26
While you are being safe on your walk as you are driving, obviously don't close your eyes and go too deep.

Heather McGuire
00:36:34
But if you are in some place where you can allow yourself to do this, we're going to walk into fear in a way that feels safe.

Heather McGuire
00:36:44
Most important, that you always go only so far that you feel safe.

Heather McGuire
00:36:50
And we're going to find out how to ground ourselves and ask for help there in a very beautiful way.

Heather McGuire
00:37:00
So keep breathing, keep relaxing and allow yourself to imagine that you can see your feet on the ground and where you are is headed into the woods.

Heather McGuire
00:37:19
These are woods where you feel comfortable and safe.

Heather McGuire
00:37:23
These are woods that feel known to you.

Heather McGuire
00:37:27
You know this path.

Heather McGuire
00:37:29
You begin to walk into these woods beginning to feel yourself enveloped by the trees and the plants, beginning to walk away from your busy day, your busy life.

Heather McGuire
00:37:50
And as you walk, you begin to think of something that's on your mind fairly frequently, something that you worry about, that you hold fear around.

Heather McGuire
00:38:11
And as you walk, that fear is present with you.

Heather McGuire
00:38:18
Just notice it.

Heather McGuire
00:38:20
It's along for the walk.

Heather McGuire
00:38:23
Allow it to be.

Heather McGuire
00:38:27
And as you walk through the woods, you notice that it's getting a bit darker as the trees are closing in, as the brush is more and more dense.

Heather McGuire
00:38:39
And you know at the end of this trail, which you are approaching, there is a great big rock.

Heather McGuire
00:38:49
And on the other side of the rock is a cliff with a lake down below.

Heather McGuire
00:38:55
And it's a beautiful place, stunningly beautiful, but it feels somewhat scary to be at the top of that rock.

Heather McGuire
00:39:09
And so you're taking care of yourself.

Heather McGuire
00:39:12
And as you approach that rock, you get as close as you can while feeling safe, find that place as close or as far from the edge as you wish to be.

Heather McGuire
00:39:42
And you may wish to sit down right on the ground or even lay down and be fully in contact with the earth.

Heather McGuire
00:39:51
And notice what happens when you place your attention on the earth.

Heather McGuire
00:40:00
Those feelings of fear and worry may shift.

Heather McGuire
00:40:04
Something may change.

Heather McGuire
00:40:11
And what happens when we hold fear and worry is we start to argue with it and blame ourselves.

Heather McGuire
00:40:20
And we tend to get deeper and deeper into the fear and into the worry and lose sight of other possibilities.

Heather McGuire
00:40:29
And that may well happen here.

Heather McGuire
00:40:33
But you know that on the other side of this rock is this beautiful view, this experience that's exhilarating, to be able to look down on the water, to see the sky and the trees from this viewpoint.

Heather McGuire
00:40:51
And you want to have that, too.

Heather McGuire
00:40:59
So let's ask the question, how is it possible for me to be afraid and for me also to feel exhilaration, success, courage?

Heather McGuire
00:41:30
And I want you to ask for help.

Heather McGuire
00:41:38
What can help me?

Heather McGuire
00:41:49
And something may have occurred to you immediately.

Heather McGuire
00:41:53
Your intuition is fast.

Heather McGuire
00:41:56
And if you're scrambling to try and make sense of something, I want to invite you to ask the trees for help.

Heather McGuire
00:42:03
I want to invite you to feel their groundedness, feel their rootedness, feel their support.

Heather McGuire
00:42:28
And there's one last thing that you're going to do here in this place of beauty, of possibility and of fear.

Heather McGuire
00:42:41
You're going to take out of your bag a pen and a paper, and you're going to write a note to the universe asking for help with this fear.

Heather McGuire
00:42:56
Help me see a bigger picture.

Heather McGuire
00:43:01
Help me find courage and faith.

Heather McGuire
00:43:05
Help me understand where and when I am safe, help me feel guided and trust in myself.

Heather McGuire
00:43:18
And any other words that you wish to ask, write them in your letter now.

Heather McGuire
00:43:33
And when you're done, you're going to fold up that letter into a paper airplane and you are going to send it sailing right up and over that rock, out into that beautiful sky and it's going to be carried away by the winds and taken to the place where your answers are connecting you to that place.

Heather McGuire
00:44:13
Whenever you are ready, you can take a few deep breaths, stand up and you can walk yourself back right out of those woods.

Heather McGuire
00:44:25
Right back into your day.

Heather McGuire
00:44:28
Back into here and now.

Heather Hester
00:44:37
That was wonderful.

Heather Hester
00:44:40
Thank you so so much.

Heather Hester
00:44:42
And thank you so much for being here.

Heather McGuire
00:44:45
You are so welcome.

Heather McGuire
00:44:46
It was my pleasure.

Heather Hester
00:44:49
Thanks so much for joining me today.

Heather Hester
00:44:52
If you enjoyed today's episode, I would be so grateful.

Heather Hester
00:44:57
For a rating or a review, click on the link in the show notes or go to my website chrysalismama.com to stay up to date on my latest resources as well as to learn how you can work with me.

Heather Hester
00:45:12
Please share this podcast with anyone who needs to know that they are not alone and remember to just breathe until next time.