Unknown Speaker 0:00
Hello, everybody, I'm your host, and we are in season 12 of the gentle yoga warrior is conscious conversations podcast. And this season is all about new habits, achievements and a deeper level of self acceptance, as well as inspiration to switch one's life around this Yeah. How can you do it with more vigour, ease and momentum? Here's how listen to the gentle yoga is conscious conversations podcast. So please welcome today, entrepreneur and burnout Koch ash Burnside Ashburn site, helps overworked entrepreneurs find space for themselves between the demands of business and real life. After marketing for big online personalities and coaching colleagues along the way, she's developed a process to help digital business owners navigate a new path forward by showing them how to nurture oneself, and practice holistic wellness. And today we are going to talk about in alignment, intuition and self trust as anti burnout mechanisms. So without further ado, please welcome ash Burnside to the shore. So ash, I thought you'd be the perfect guest to ask on the show, because we're going to talk about inner alignment, intuition, self trust as antidotes to burnout. So I thought, Who better to speak to us today on these matters than yourself? Would you mind first of all, sharing a bit about your journey? And what inspired you to speak about them today?
Unknown Speaker 1:40
Yeah, yeah. Man, where to start, I feel like this has been, you know, so much of my journey for kind of the past 10 years. So if I, I'm going to try to like keep this as short and snappy as I can. But I had my first kiddo when I was 21 years old, which was really scary. But I did it. And so that was kind of like my first tango with just like, what burnout can taste like just this like constant survival, this constant like, how am I going to make this work? Of course, I didn't know that's what it was, then I was just like, you know, dragging my feet in, and then you mature, you kind of find your rhythm with motherhood, no matter when it happens for you. And you know, things got better. And then I started an online business, somewhere in there, I have three boys now. So you know, in the midst of, you know, having more babies and trying to figure out career things, entrepreneurship found me in that midst, and I started an online business. And this is where like, the second dose started coming back in. I'm a really high achiever. So it's really easy for me to become a workaholic and just like, go, go, go, go, go apply myself, stay focused, do the things, hustle, hustle, hustle. Especially in entrepreneurship, like you're working for yourself. Like, I'm the only person that I have to, like, meet the goals for. And so this is when like, the dose is coming back in, it's slowly ramping up. In my entrepreneurship journey, I really found my groove in marketing. And online marketing moves fast, like this just constant launch culture, you'd end this one and other ones going, you're already hyping up for the other one. And like launches themselves can be really draining. But like that was my entire career. And so I had been doing online business for about six or seven years. And I burned out hard, like it was like a full dose of just I can't I can't do this anymore. So this was actually during 2020. So it's like parenting during lockdown, trying to keep business floating, the world is on fire, everyone is terrified, what is happening, and it was just like, hit me like a train. Right in that season. I also was having a lot of mental health struggles at the time, which is completely related to the burnout. And it hit me really, really, really hard. I actually ended up getting a salaried position for a while. So I could slow down in my business and just like have something that was predictable, that I didn't have to think about all the time that I didn't have to, like guilt myself into working really, really, really, really hard for. And so it's just been like this journey of like, slowly coming back to myself and figuring out like, Who is this person? Who am I when I'm not feeling burnt out? What do you think? Like, did I ever know who that was? Have I ever really been in connection with her? So I was like, burnout really triggered a lot of very existential questions for me. And so this is kind of like what brought me into this is that I am someone that really really cherishes my own spirituality the ability to like go deep with things and have my own freedom and burnout was such a an opposing experience that it really pushed me and like activated me to go deeper with that. And not only heal myself, but also to like really start helping others on like, what? What's really happening with your burnout? Like, what is the deeper thing going on here? And how can we how can we address that?
Unknown Speaker 5:09
Well, any one of them things would be stressful, but the combination of kind of trying to mother and run your business during lockdown, and like you said, it was kind of a very big time of uncertainty. So I would say like well done for like a launch and launching a business and and also finding the tools to deal with burnout. Because I'm interested to know, do you think, generally people seem to be like, kind of proud sometimes if you've got too much to do, rather than kind of like, I don't know, it's almost as if to say, Oh, yes, I'm worth if I'm doing too much, which I, I feel the same as us about the list being holistic and things like that. But why do you think that is ash?
Unknown Speaker 5:54
You know, I definitely see a change that's like, we're happy. It's happening right now. But it's shifting, like, that was certainly the, it was like a badge of honour that people were was like, I'm so busy. Oh, you're not more versatile than me. I'm more burned out. And I'm like, why is this competition? I don't want to be in this one. Unsubscribe me. Um, yeah, that was definitely the thing. And I think a lot of it has to do with work culture, this like Western ideal of work, which is very hustle focused, very, like achievement oriented. And so like, all of our ideas of like, identity and self concept, and worthiness and values, all gets tied in this idea of like productivity, and what is your title and your professional identity. So like, it makes sense that if you're feeling burnout, and it's all coming from that thing that like, that's still an identity for you, you must be doing such a good job. And now we're starting to see at least I'm starting to observe that we're seeing a transition where people are kind of untangling their self worth and the way that they think about themselves from just the one title and starting to see themselves as this more like, multifaceted human being that experiences a range of emotions and experiences. And so yeah, it's it's a little bit more honesty now about the burnout conversation, instead of like this badge of honour, it's more of like, help. I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to participate.
Unknown Speaker 7:15
That's brilliant, that you know, some things are starting to change in that because it has been a badge of honour for so many people for so many years, I have noticed that. But why does burn up happen? Like people think burnout, but why? Why does it happen? And why do we do it? Oh,
Unknown Speaker 7:32
I love this question so much, I have a little bit different of an answer. I think the traditional answer might be, you know, well, burnout is, you know, these behavioural mental, physiological effects of the body from, you know, a prolonged exposure to cortisol and stress. Yeah, it's those things. But I think when we take a bigger picture, really zoom out at what burnout really is, and what's happening, burnout is when you get crowded out from your own life. So it's like you do you the essence of you, like your spirit, your humanity, like who you truly are, doesn't have space to exist in your day to day. So this is the big red flag that I see for this are like people that are constantly looking forward to the weekend, people that are always like just trying to get to the next vacation the next time they can take PTO. And it's like, that's because they have no time for themselves to just exist to find joy, even in micro doses, and like their everyday lives. And so it's like this, this crowding out happens, where it's work, and its obligations and its responsibilities. And like, where is the is the areas in which you're allowed to just exhale, and where you're allowed to just exist in be, even if it's just for 10 minutes, like, this doesn't have to be you know, I'm expecting you to meditate for an hour every day. And that's the only way that you will, you know, avoid burnout can be very practical. But to me, that's what burnout really is. It's crowding out from your life.
Unknown Speaker 8:59
I like that way said the moments of being able to exhale, it's just like, yeah, kind of just that ha moment of just having those moments of presence. And I agree with you, sometimes we think, Oh, we have to kind of overcome these habits that we have to do, like read big long lists, like every day, and then that becomes like, stressful for some people to kind of try and incorporate that into their life and it becomes like a kind of never ending problem. However, we have you on the show today, Ash and you and I was wondering, could you give our listeners who are listening and thinking, well, actually, I'm really burnt out. What's the one thing that they can start to do today to kind of help turn that around for themselves?
Unknown Speaker 9:44
I love this so much. It's so hard to pick one thing it's almost tired, but I'm gonna give the probably the simplest thing the simplest thing to do. This is what I tell any client that comes to me that they're just like super burnt out or just anybody Um, start with 10 minutes, like, put it in your calendar, if you need to, my recommendation is to get to where you can take a 10 minute break three times a day. And this is again, just to give yourself space to exist. This isn't a time where you're checking things off your list, you're not necessarily you know, journaling, getting things done taking the reading break, you said you were going to, it's none of that it's literally 10 minutes to just be. Sometimes starting with the three, the three in the day is a little overwhelming for people. So I say just pick one, like, it can be the lunchtime, it can be in the morning, in the evening, whatever one is easiest for you. But take your 10 minutes. And then I say you do two different things in this 10 minutes, you do one thing for your mind, and you do one thing for your body. The thing for your mind should be as hands off as possible. Like, the thing for your mind is again, like you're just letting your mind rest, you're not actively problem solving, you're not actively working. So if this means that you light a candle and stare at the candle for 10 minutes, then so be it, that can be the thing that you do. This isn't like a time for guided meditations or hypnosis or anything like that, it's really just just let yourself exist for 10 minutes without any expectations. That's the thing you do for your mind, in the 10 minutes that you do for your body, again, this is coming down to rest. So it's very gentle, what's the gentle thing that you can do for your body? If your body is craving something, what can you give it, if that's water, because you need to hydrate, great, you can sit there and sip your water for 10 minutes. If you want to just like gently move around, just move your body very, very slowly. That's another great thing you can do. Again, this is not like you're not doing like a yoga regiment. It's just whatever is feeling very gentle for your body. That's what you're gonna do for your body and those 10 minutes. And so that's where I tell everyone to start, just start there.
Unknown Speaker 11:48
That's that's a really good, that's a really good start. And I'm sure that majority people can find three sets of 10 minutes. Like I always say, even if the family are driving me mad, you just go on the bathroom, like the restroom for 10 minutes and you get away. And I'm going away from the air is like these kind of things that we can do. I don't want to add like sometimes I feel that we can't always the talent, the mobile phone, the cell phones can be very addictive. And it's not saying that your cell phone for 10 minutes. That's kind of
Unknown Speaker 12:19
Yes, exactly. Yes.
Unknown Speaker 12:21
Definitely. I have that kind of to the side and out of the way. So we now kind of know a little bit about what burnout, but what is the best kind of defence that we can have against this over work? Like we can use the 10 minutes of me time three times a day. But is there anything else that they can do as a kind of defence to realise that burn up might be on its way? And kind of?
Unknown Speaker 12:46
Yeah, yeah. So there's two things that I would say here. I'll start with the first one. The first one is natural rhythms is to get to know your own natural rhythms and start to really learn the natural rhythms that are around you. Natural is the key phrase here, burnout. Not only is this crowding out from our own lives, but typically it's because it's because something is being superimposed on us. That is not natural. You know, 50 hour workweeks are not natural, having a workload that is completely overwhelming is not natural. Being separated from our kids for hours and hours and hours, months and years at a time is not natural. So it's like, there is physical things, yes. But there's also mental and psychological and spiritual things that can contribute to burnout. And so starting to just kind of find like, where are your natural rhythms leading you to? And so these are simple things like, Are you a morning person or you're a night owl? If you're a night owl? Do you have the space? Do you have the freedom? Are you allowing yourself to enjoy your night times? Or is there like a lot of shooting happening? Where I'm like, Ah, I gotta get up at six because the kids so like, really? I should go to bed. But if you thrive at night, and like that's what makes you feel alive, then like how can you create space for your own natural rhythms to start to emerge because again, like, this is where you're going to feel like the space that it's okay for you to just exist in. Some natural rhythms are huge. I feel like that can be a really difficult place for some people to start. And so this is where I kind of point to like nature, like what's going on with nature. If if tuning into your own natural rhythms feels really overwhelming and you just don't know where to start just like what's going on in your natural environment where you actually live in the world. What's happening. So like, for us, it's winter. Winter is slow. It's not like super actions always confused me about January. Everyone's like resolutions. Here's my things for the year. Let's go and I'm like, No, I'm not doing that. I'm resting. I'm moving slower in my day. I am nourishing myself. I am taking naps. I am spending time horizontal. I am sure I'm making plans. I'm dreaming like that's what we do when we rest but I'm not taking action on these things. Yeah, I'm really letting myself to just sit with things and just take a break there will be a time for rapid action. And in rapid growth and doing all the things, but that's not right now. And just even that, just observing that, naturally, what's happening around me has given me so much permission. And so that's the first thing that I want to give to everybody start just tuning in to what's happening around you.
Unknown Speaker 15:14
I couldn't agree on the New Year's resolutions that everyone goes mad in January, it's not it's working against the rhythms of our of our body, it's kind of a good thing for like Kate hibernating bears, we need to kind of slowly kind of wake up for the end, not kind of golf, ball ball straight away, I really liked that Ash. And I completely agree with that fantastic walk can we do with our own self care to kind of help cultivate this anti burnout way of being and instead learn to kind of thrive and be ourselves?
Unknown Speaker 15:50
Yeah, so this is probably going to be lead me to the other thing I was going to say, which is, I call this your genius. Some people call this your natural gifts. You can, you can look at this as simply as your own self concept, the way that you think about yourself, your connection that you have to yourself. So we could describe this in so many different ways. But essentially, that's what it is. To me that is such a powerful anti burnout mechanism. Because when you can truly know yourself, and you've defined yourself with intention, and love, and compassionate self witnessing, that is going to be such a remedy and a preventative against any other institution, or expectation or overwhelm or experience that is going to come in and be like, we need you to do this, you are this because then now we have this like this idea of our ability of self being tied to worth like our self worth of like what we're producing or what our title is. And so again, like if we can go in and just kind of pluck out those external chords that says that who we are is based on what's out there. Know who we are, is what's in here. And what's in here is never going to change. So we can be intentional about spending time with ourselves and reflecting and being able to answer to ourselves like this isn't anyone like you're going out and being like, well, this is the type of person I am. And these are my values. Tena like No, no, this is just just for you, you are able to describe to yourself who you are. That's so powerful, because now anything else is going to come in to try to I guess, have any sort of burnout circumstance, you're going to see it for what it is. And so that's what that's really what I'm trying to get out here is this idea of self concept becomes a baseline and it becomes a compass, and almost kind of like an energetic boundary for anything else that's going to butt up against it. That would be in conflict to who you are in your innate core.
Unknown Speaker 17:46
So kind of finding coming out of that conflict of who we are, and really connecting with who we are inside. So if I'm listening, I'm listening. And I'm thinking, I'm really like, why she's saying, I'm got a really busy job and feeling burnt out. How can they work with you? And how are you able to give them some help in that matter?
Unknown Speaker 18:07
Yeah, so I work in a couple different fashions. I have a framework that I call the whole sole method. And this is really about a lot of what we've been talking about here. How can you come back into yourself, your understanding of yourself, the relationship you have with yourself, to really witness and embody who you are in all your, your many, many facets, not just the one not just the one that's professional, not just the one that I know, has a business not just the one that has passions, or kids or a family? or what have you all of the things? Who is the person at the core? And how can you be her in in all of the places. And so the concept that we work with a lot through this is surrender. So there's layers of surrender that happened here. The first layer of surrender happens to just like what's happening in your psyche. And so there's actually this like spells out a thing, it spells out praise when I originally made the methodology. I did not intend for this to create a thing. But when I looked, I like to look at that it spells praise. But psyche is the first one surrendering to just like what's happening up in here. A lot of times we we try to solve problems from this thinking space. And this is what I see a lot when when it comes to brown specifically, we're thinking about the problem. And then we're trying to think our way through the problem. And that doesn't always work out like that we have to be able to access a different state of consciousness a different level of thinking, if you will, in order to solve the problem and that includes who you are. So who are you at a different state like what's going on in your subconscious from what's happening in the unconscious wrong, what thoughts are in there that you're not even aware of? That's almost becoming self sabotaging or just like stuck in this pattern of continuing to repeat the cycles are continuing to get pulled back into them. That's the first part. First thing that we do The second one is to understand archetypes. So this was a big part of the work that I've done. I have a very, we, we talked a little bit about kind of my background and entrepreneurship and marketing and all these things. So my, when I worked in marketing, I'd actually come from a storytelling background because I have a degree in storytelling and English and mythological archetypes. And so that is like, my first love was reading and writing and storytelling. So we bring that back into here storytelling is, is ancient, I mean, it's a the earliest form of human communication and connection. And it is certainly based on the unconscious mind and the unconscious mind understanding certain aspects. So what we do here is we surrender to like, what is your archetype? What is the thing that is present for you right now that you understand that you're in? The thing about archetypes is that when you understand where you are, you have a better concept of what was in the past. And now you also know what's going to happen next. And so that's where we surrender to the archetype, what's happening in your mind, where are you at so that you know what's coming next. And the last thing here is we really work through those rhythms, and then your sense of who you are. So we understand what's going on beneath the surface, we understand how this relates to where you are right now, and what's coming next. And now we really bring in a lot of focus and attention to who do you actually want to be as going back to those existential questions that burnout can bring up with like, who is the you that's underneath all of this stuff? Who are you and you're not performing when you're not trying to meet a quota and expectation and output? Who is that person because you get to decide who that person is. It's not just who you've been, it's you get to decide.
Unknown Speaker 21:44
That's very empowering, the fact that you can get to decide who you want to be. And as a guest, I'm sure once someone discovers who they are, they're able to drop all these kinds of things, that excess things that they're carrying, which is kind of preventing them to prevent themselves. And another thing I would add, is it a case of that when we kind of are carrying all this stuff? Sometimes it can be a protective mechanism to kind of stop us from flourishing, and who we really are? And is that an easy transition for someone when they're working with yourself? Oh, that's
Unknown Speaker 22:19
a good question. Man, this has a lot to do with shame. Shame comes up in a lot of the work that I do it as it would if you're untangling yourself from a large over cultural idea of hustle and work. And this is where your sense of worthiness comes from. Like there's a lot of shame from uncoupling from that. Because as soon as you do now, you're left with the baggage that that create, and you're like, What do I do with this? So yeah, we definitely worked through that. And I will say everyone's different. Some people, it's very easy for them to realise, like, oh, this doesn't belong to me, I don't believe this, I don't have to carry anymore great by drop it off. And then other people's specific little specifically, if you've been carrying it for a really long time, then it can become really hard, because now we have a bunch of roles, specifically if the roles that you're really proud that you carried before, and you did put a lot of your identity in that. So it can be really hard to kind of disengage. And I bring up shame, because I recently had a mentor that I was working with learning about shame and the concept of unchaining, which I hadn't really considered before, like, oh, you can unshaved something. And he said something really beautiful. My mentors name is David Vendrick. And he had said that shame is not an emotion, shame is a witness. Or, even better, it's the lack of a loving witness when an over culture or something happens, and we're not able to be seen in our humanity. And so that is what comes up a lot when we're uncoupling from this. And we're like, oh, but I've been this way for so long. It's like, that's okay. Like you were doing what you had to do. And there's not a shame in that there's an intelligence in that. And like, Here I am to lovingly witness you in this.
Unknown Speaker 23:56
Oh, beautiful. That's, that's I love it. It's kind of Yeah, shame is it we can't can carry it. So it's like a comfort thing sometimes, isn't it? We're so comfortable with it that to kind of take that away. It can be terrifying. But it's through that bravery that we kind of lorisha and I would also say dear listeners that usually you're going to, I won't say most of time you come up better by releasing that shame and not kind of holding on to it. It's kind of doesn't need to be there anymore. So actually, if I'm listening and I want to contact you to work with you, what's the best way that I can go about doing that?
Unknown Speaker 24:35
Yeah, find me on Instagram. I post some of my best stuff on Instagram. That's the easiest way to get a hold of me. So yeah, connect with me on Instagram. My handle is healing hustle. CO so Come Come say hi, he'll hustle.
Unknown Speaker 24:49
CO and I'll also put those details in the show notes. I also like to ask our dear guests, is this something that you would like to cover now that we haven't talked about so far on the interview any Think that you wish you wish to us? Hmm.
Unknown Speaker 25:04
Um, I think I do actually, this has been something that's been, I'm not eating at me, but kind of kind of poking me a little bit. It's been a source of inspiration for me. I'm going to try to be eloquent in the way that I talk about it. But if it comes out a little messy, I apologise is a concept that I'm like currently tangling with this concept of rewilding. This is something that has been a really big push in my business, this idea of, I guess, a femininity, I've always had an interesting relationship with the idea of like being feminine, or like feminine energy. And this, the word came to me as became a word of the year actually rewild. And learning, it's actually an ecological term about letting you know an area of land, letting the earth reclaim it in whatever way that looks like. And it's usually very messy. There's a bunch of weeds that come into the play, but it's also a process. So there's like stages of rewilding. I really went full nerd and like, did all the research on like, what does this mean? And so this is a concept that I've been bringing into my life, but I'm also really seeing the way that this is going to colour my work. And I want there to be a bigger conversation about this. Because to me, this comes back to uncoupling burnout. This, to me comes back to completely changing the culture in which hustle and burnout comes from. And it comes back to our talks about natural rhythms. And what does that actually look like? So rewilding, rewilding is like, it's the rebalancing of the scale that's introducing this like wild feminine aspect that is missing in not just our work culture in the world, but like, truly in in the ways in which we relate to each other, and in the ways that we even see ourselves. And so I almost want to just posit that to everyone of like, how are you rewilding? Do you have space for that kind of wild feminine to exist?
Unknown Speaker 27:05
I like that. It's kind of just to kind of that space electricity, things kind of grow and beam, if not kind of like in the land concept, but also kind of in a in a being in that energy. So kind of, wow, yeah. And nothing is more of how nature and kind of saying that. So why can't we allow a feminine nature to kind of have that rewilding effect? I love that we wilding and yeah, it feels very feminine actually want to pitch and get on my head as I say that. So ash, what is some? Is there any book that all that has changed your life? And you'd think of listeners, please read this book?
Unknown Speaker 27:46
Oh, my goodness, that's so there's so many. How do I pick one? There's one that stuck out immediately to me. As soon as you were asking a question. I was like, oh, it's gotta be that one. Um, the book that really changed me was it's called the women who run with wolves. unsurprising by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola essays. That one really, really changed me that was a huge wake up call. That almost planted the seed years ago about like rewilding and like wild feminine nature. That was really it was the one that kind of unlocked it for me.
Unknown Speaker 28:21
Oh, lovely. I'll put links in the show notes for that one, as well. Don't ask How would you feel gone? Probably something on the rewilding people? How is as humans do you feel we can be better guests. I say we're guests on this planet, just because we're kind of here for a short space of time. And Emma, how do you feel we can kind of give back to this wonderful planet that we all inhabit at the moment?
Unknown Speaker 28:44
You're right in saying that I would 100% go back to this rewilding concept. I, there's a concept actually that I was talking about with my clients recently. This idea that like, there's there's humans, right, like we are humans, and then there's nature? I don't think that's correct. I think it's hubris to think that we are not also nature like we are, we are Earthlings. We are born of this planet, from the same composition that we see in the cells of the earth. And we are also nature. And so coming back to the idea of like, letting ourselves rewild to our own natural environments. And being just being present with that and collaborating and being in partnership with this planet instead of at war against it. That's the biggest thing. And so, yes, you know, this can be we can make this a huge conversation about you know, corporatism and all these things, capitalism, consumerism, but on an individual level. Really, what is your relationship to where you are right now? Do you know where some of your things come from? Starting to like, just try to be more local about how you source the things that you put on your body and in your body? Do you know where your food comes from? Do you know the names of the trees that are around you? What are some of the local herbs that grow near you? Just some of that just honouring the place on earth that you live in by just learning and acknowledging it. I think that's a great place for us to just start.
Unknown Speaker 30:17
I like that. And ash, thank you so much for taking us on a journey of how you managed to like overcome your burnout. You can turn your life around, you started your business, the kind of reconnection with the rewilding part of ourselves, and anyone who's really feeling burnt out, please, please reach out to ash, he's going to be able to help you. I just got such a wonderful energy about your ash. And it's been such a privilege to speak to you today. Do stay tuned listeners. As always, we will end the show and meditation inspired by today's show. But ash Burnside, thank you so much. And I look forward to speaking to you again in the future. But thank you for joining us today.
Unknown Speaker 31:02
Thank you so much for having me on Jane. Oh, no,
Unknown Speaker 31:05
you're very welcome. Thank you, Ash. As promised, here is your meditation, inspired by today's show. Top Tips for the meditation is either sit nice and cross legged on the floor of a nice strip back. Always nice to sit on a block or a cushion. Or that's not available for you, you sit in a chair with the back nice and straight. The important thing is you're not slouching. And if you're doing something that requires the concentration, all you to do is just pause this and you can reconvene the meditation at a time that is good for you, if you're doing the meditation that's begging. But today's meditation, we're going to learn how to kind of let go, let go of that which no longer serves us and let go so that we can create the space for new life, new light, new possibilities to flow into our being. So you're going to inhale and exhale through the nostrils. And as always, you can either do this sitting down on the floor or on a straight back chair. So you're going to inhale slowly through the nostrils. And then you're going to exhale slowly through the nostrils. And then you're going to continue inhaling slowly through the nostrils. exhaling slowly through the nostrils. And then again, inhale, slowly. Exhale slowly. This is quite a simple component, but very powerful. So you just want to continue inhaling slowly through the nostrils. And then you're going to exhale slowly through the nostrils. And then you're going to continue inhaling slowly through the nostrils. exhaling slowly through the nostrils. And then again, inhale, slowly. Exhale slowly. As you inhale, slowly, feel as if you allow yourself to feel whatever it is that's kind of blocking or restricting. And as you exhale, you feel as if you let that out of your being. And as you exhale, you give it back to Mother Earth, and so that she may transform that into positive light. So if this sounds a bit too, off the wall, just try and go with it and see how it feels. So inhale, slowly. Allow yourself to feel whatever it is and then exhale, transmute it back to Mother Earth. So inhale, feel, exhale, expel. Inhale, feel exhale, let it go into that loving, nurturing energy of Mother Earth. And then just continue this meditation and then he slowly, slowly come back into the moment. And for this final breath, you're going to inhale, you're going to fill yourself with the most positive healing, energy, positivity, joy, all those positive, uplifting emotions. And as you exhale, you feel as if that encompasses your whole body, bringing that nurturing energy into your being. And then very slowly open your eyes and go about your day. So thank you so much for listening to today's meditation. And as always, I'm here bringing words of wisdom from the gentle yo lawyer.com. But thank you so much. Take care. Bye
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Hello, everybody, I'm your host, and we are in season 12 of the gentle yoga warrior is conscious conversations podcast. And this season is all about new habits, achievements and a deeper level of self acceptance, as well as inspiration to switch one's life around this Yeah. How can you do it with more vigour, ease and momentum? Here's how listen to the gentle yoga is conscious conversations podcast. So please welcome today, entrepreneur and burnout Koch ash Burnside Ashburn site, helps overworked entrepreneurs find space for themselves between the demands of business and real life. After marketing for big online personalities and coaching colleagues along the way, she's developed a process to help digital business owners navigate a new path forward by showing them how to nurture oneself, and practice holistic wellness. And today we are going to talk about in alignment, intuition and self trust as anti burnout mechanisms. So without further ado, please welcome ash Burnside to the shore. So ash, I thought you'd be the perfect guest to ask on the show, because we're going to talk about inner alignment, intuition, self trust as antidotes to burnout. So I thought, Who better to speak to us today on these matters than yourself? Would you mind first of all, sharing a bit about your journey? And what inspired you to speak about them today?
Unknown Speaker 1:40
Yeah, yeah. Man, where to start, I feel like this has been, you know, so much of my journey for kind of the past 10 years. So if I, I'm going to try to like keep this as short and snappy as I can. But I had my first kiddo when I was 21 years old, which was really scary. But I did it. And so that was kind of like my first tango with just like, what burnout can taste like just this like constant survival, this constant like, how am I going to make this work? Of course, I didn't know that's what it was, then I was just like, you know, dragging my feet in, and then you mature, you kind of find your rhythm with motherhood, no matter when it happens for you. And you know, things got better. And then I started an online business, somewhere in there, I have three boys now. So you know, in the midst of, you know, having more babies and trying to figure out career things, entrepreneurship found me in that midst, and I started an online business. And this is where like, the second dose started coming back in. I'm a really high achiever. So it's really easy for me to become a workaholic and just like, go, go, go, go, go apply myself, stay focused, do the things, hustle, hustle, hustle. Especially in entrepreneurship, like you're working for yourself. Like, I'm the only person that I have to, like, meet the goals for. And so this is when like, the dose is coming back in, it's slowly ramping up. In my entrepreneurship journey, I really found my groove in marketing. And online marketing moves fast, like this just constant launch culture, you'd end this one and other ones going, you're already hyping up for the other one. And like launches themselves can be really draining. But like that was my entire career. And so I had been doing online business for about six or seven years. And I burned out hard, like it was like a full dose of just I can't I can't do this anymore. So this was actually during 2020. So it's like parenting during lockdown, trying to keep business floating, the world is on fire, everyone is terrified, what is happening, and it was just like, hit me like a train. Right in that season. I also was having a lot of mental health struggles at the time, which is completely related to the burnout. And it hit me really, really, really hard. I actually ended up getting a salaried position for a while. So I could slow down in my business and just like have something that was predictable, that I didn't have to think about all the time that I didn't have to, like guilt myself into working really, really, really, really hard for. And so it's just been like this journey of like, slowly coming back to myself and figuring out like, Who is this person? Who am I when I'm not feeling burnt out? What do you think? Like, did I ever know who that was? Have I ever really been in connection with her? So I was like, burnout really triggered a lot of very existential questions for me. And so this is kind of like what brought me into this is that I am someone that really really cherishes my own spirituality the ability to like go deep with things and have my own freedom and burnout was such a an opposing experience that it really pushed me and like activated me to go deeper with that. And not only heal myself, but also to like really start helping others on like, what? What's really happening with your burnout? Like, what is the deeper thing going on here? And how can we how can we address that?
Unknown Speaker 5:09
Well, any one of them things would be stressful, but the combination of kind of trying to mother and run your business during lockdown, and like you said, it was kind of a very big time of uncertainty. So I would say like well done for like a launch and launching a business and and also finding the tools to deal with burnout. Because I'm interested to know, do you think, generally people seem to be like, kind of proud sometimes if you've got too much to do, rather than kind of like, I don't know, it's almost as if to say, Oh, yes, I'm worth if I'm doing too much, which I, I feel the same as us about the list being holistic and things like that. But why do you think that is ash?
Unknown Speaker 5:54
You know, I definitely see a change that's like, we're happy. It's happening right now. But it's shifting, like, that was certainly the, it was like a badge of honour that people were was like, I'm so busy. Oh, you're not more versatile than me. I'm more burned out. And I'm like, why is this competition? I don't want to be in this one. Unsubscribe me. Um, yeah, that was definitely the thing. And I think a lot of it has to do with work culture, this like Western ideal of work, which is very hustle focused, very, like achievement oriented. And so like, all of our ideas of like, identity and self concept, and worthiness and values, all gets tied in this idea of like productivity, and what is your title and your professional identity. So like, it makes sense that if you're feeling burnout, and it's all coming from that thing that like, that's still an identity for you, you must be doing such a good job. And now we're starting to see at least I'm starting to observe that we're seeing a transition where people are kind of untangling their self worth and the way that they think about themselves from just the one title and starting to see themselves as this more like, multifaceted human being that experiences a range of emotions and experiences. And so yeah, it's it's a little bit more honesty now about the burnout conversation, instead of like this badge of honour, it's more of like, help. I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to participate.
Unknown Speaker 7:15
That's brilliant, that you know, some things are starting to change in that because it has been a badge of honour for so many people for so many years, I have noticed that. But why does burn up happen? Like people think burnout, but why? Why does it happen? And why do we do it? Oh,
Unknown Speaker 7:32
I love this question so much, I have a little bit different of an answer. I think the traditional answer might be, you know, well, burnout is, you know, these behavioural mental, physiological effects of the body from, you know, a prolonged exposure to cortisol and stress. Yeah, it's those things. But I think when we take a bigger picture, really zoom out at what burnout really is, and what's happening, burnout is when you get crowded out from your own life. So it's like you do you the essence of you, like your spirit, your humanity, like who you truly are, doesn't have space to exist in your day to day. So this is the big red flag that I see for this are like people that are constantly looking forward to the weekend, people that are always like just trying to get to the next vacation the next time they can take PTO. And it's like, that's because they have no time for themselves to just exist to find joy, even in micro doses, and like their everyday lives. And so it's like this, this crowding out happens, where it's work, and its obligations and its responsibilities. And like, where is the is the areas in which you're allowed to just exhale, and where you're allowed to just exist in be, even if it's just for 10 minutes, like, this doesn't have to be you know, I'm expecting you to meditate for an hour every day. And that's the only way that you will, you know, avoid burnout can be very practical. But to me, that's what burnout really is. It's crowding out from your life.
Unknown Speaker 8:59
I like that way said the moments of being able to exhale, it's just like, yeah, kind of just that ha moment of just having those moments of presence. And I agree with you, sometimes we think, Oh, we have to kind of overcome these habits that we have to do, like read big long lists, like every day, and then that becomes like, stressful for some people to kind of try and incorporate that into their life and it becomes like a kind of never ending problem. However, we have you on the show today, Ash and you and I was wondering, could you give our listeners who are listening and thinking, well, actually, I'm really burnt out. What's the one thing that they can start to do today to kind of help turn that around for themselves?
Unknown Speaker 9:44
I love this so much. It's so hard to pick one thing it's almost tired, but I'm gonna give the probably the simplest thing the simplest thing to do. This is what I tell any client that comes to me that they're just like super burnt out or just anybody Um, start with 10 minutes, like, put it in your calendar, if you need to, my recommendation is to get to where you can take a 10 minute break three times a day. And this is again, just to give yourself space to exist. This isn't a time where you're checking things off your list, you're not necessarily you know, journaling, getting things done taking the reading break, you said you were going to, it's none of that it's literally 10 minutes to just be. Sometimes starting with the three, the three in the day is a little overwhelming for people. So I say just pick one, like, it can be the lunchtime, it can be in the morning, in the evening, whatever one is easiest for you. But take your 10 minutes. And then I say you do two different things in this 10 minutes, you do one thing for your mind, and you do one thing for your body. The thing for your mind should be as hands off as possible. Like, the thing for your mind is again, like you're just letting your mind rest, you're not actively problem solving, you're not actively working. So if this means that you light a candle and stare at the candle for 10 minutes, then so be it, that can be the thing that you do. This isn't like a time for guided meditations or hypnosis or anything like that, it's really just just let yourself exist for 10 minutes without any expectations. That's the thing you do for your mind, in the 10 minutes that you do for your body, again, this is coming down to rest. So it's very gentle, what's the gentle thing that you can do for your body? If your body is craving something, what can you give it, if that's water, because you need to hydrate, great, you can sit there and sip your water for 10 minutes. If you want to just like gently move around, just move your body very, very slowly. That's another great thing you can do. Again, this is not like you're not doing like a yoga regiment. It's just whatever is feeling very gentle for your body. That's what you're gonna do for your body and those 10 minutes. And so that's where I tell everyone to start, just start there.
Unknown Speaker 11:48
That's that's a really good, that's a really good start. And I'm sure that majority people can find three sets of 10 minutes. Like I always say, even if the family are driving me mad, you just go on the bathroom, like the restroom for 10 minutes and you get away. And I'm going away from the air is like these kind of things that we can do. I don't want to add like sometimes I feel that we can't always the talent, the mobile phone, the cell phones can be very addictive. And it's not saying that your cell phone for 10 minutes. That's kind of
Unknown Speaker 12:19
Yes, exactly. Yes.
Unknown Speaker 12:21
Definitely. I have that kind of to the side and out of the way. So we now kind of know a little bit about what burnout, but what is the best kind of defence that we can have against this over work? Like we can use the 10 minutes of me time three times a day. But is there anything else that they can do as a kind of defence to realise that burn up might be on its way? And kind of?
Unknown Speaker 12:46
Yeah, yeah. So there's two things that I would say here. I'll start with the first one. The first one is natural rhythms is to get to know your own natural rhythms and start to really learn the natural rhythms that are around you. Natural is the key phrase here, burnout. Not only is this crowding out from our own lives, but typically it's because it's because something is being superimposed on us. That is not natural. You know, 50 hour workweeks are not natural, having a workload that is completely overwhelming is not natural. Being separated from our kids for hours and hours and hours, months and years at a time is not natural. So it's like, there is physical things, yes. But there's also mental and psychological and spiritual things that can contribute to burnout. And so starting to just kind of find like, where are your natural rhythms leading you to? And so these are simple things like, Are you a morning person or you're a night owl? If you're a night owl? Do you have the space? Do you have the freedom? Are you allowing yourself to enjoy your night times? Or is there like a lot of shooting happening? Where I'm like, Ah, I gotta get up at six because the kids so like, really? I should go to bed. But if you thrive at night, and like that's what makes you feel alive, then like how can you create space for your own natural rhythms to start to emerge because again, like, this is where you're going to feel like the space that it's okay for you to just exist in. Some natural rhythms are huge. I feel like that can be a really difficult place for some people to start. And so this is where I kind of point to like nature, like what's going on with nature. If if tuning into your own natural rhythms feels really overwhelming and you just don't know where to start just like what's going on in your natural environment where you actually live in the world. What's happening. So like, for us, it's winter. Winter is slow. It's not like super actions always confused me about January. Everyone's like resolutions. Here's my things for the year. Let's go and I'm like, No, I'm not doing that. I'm resting. I'm moving slower in my day. I am nourishing myself. I am taking naps. I am spending time horizontal. I am sure I'm making plans. I'm dreaming like that's what we do when we rest but I'm not taking action on these things. Yeah, I'm really letting myself to just sit with things and just take a break there will be a time for rapid action. And in rapid growth and doing all the things, but that's not right now. And just even that, just observing that, naturally, what's happening around me has given me so much permission. And so that's the first thing that I want to give to everybody start just tuning in to what's happening around you.
Unknown Speaker 15:14
I couldn't agree on the New Year's resolutions that everyone goes mad in January, it's not it's working against the rhythms of our of our body, it's kind of a good thing for like Kate hibernating bears, we need to kind of slowly kind of wake up for the end, not kind of golf, ball ball straight away, I really liked that Ash. And I completely agree with that fantastic walk can we do with our own self care to kind of help cultivate this anti burnout way of being and instead learn to kind of thrive and be ourselves?
Unknown Speaker 15:50
Yeah, so this is probably going to be lead me to the other thing I was going to say, which is, I call this your genius. Some people call this your natural gifts. You can, you can look at this as simply as your own self concept, the way that you think about yourself, your connection that you have to yourself. So we could describe this in so many different ways. But essentially, that's what it is. To me that is such a powerful anti burnout mechanism. Because when you can truly know yourself, and you've defined yourself with intention, and love, and compassionate self witnessing, that is going to be such a remedy and a preventative against any other institution, or expectation or overwhelm or experience that is going to come in and be like, we need you to do this, you are this because then now we have this like this idea of our ability of self being tied to worth like our self worth of like what we're producing or what our title is. And so again, like if we can go in and just kind of pluck out those external chords that says that who we are is based on what's out there. Know who we are, is what's in here. And what's in here is never going to change. So we can be intentional about spending time with ourselves and reflecting and being able to answer to ourselves like this isn't anyone like you're going out and being like, well, this is the type of person I am. And these are my values. Tena like No, no, this is just just for you, you are able to describe to yourself who you are. That's so powerful, because now anything else is going to come in to try to I guess, have any sort of burnout circumstance, you're going to see it for what it is. And so that's what that's really what I'm trying to get out here is this idea of self concept becomes a baseline and it becomes a compass, and almost kind of like an energetic boundary for anything else that's going to butt up against it. That would be in conflict to who you are in your innate core.
Unknown Speaker 17:46
So kind of finding coming out of that conflict of who we are, and really connecting with who we are inside. So if I'm listening, I'm listening. And I'm thinking, I'm really like, why she's saying, I'm got a really busy job and feeling burnt out. How can they work with you? And how are you able to give them some help in that matter?
Unknown Speaker 18:07
Yeah, so I work in a couple different fashions. I have a framework that I call the whole sole method. And this is really about a lot of what we've been talking about here. How can you come back into yourself, your understanding of yourself, the relationship you have with yourself, to really witness and embody who you are in all your, your many, many facets, not just the one not just the one that's professional, not just the one that I know, has a business not just the one that has passions, or kids or a family? or what have you all of the things? Who is the person at the core? And how can you be her in in all of the places. And so the concept that we work with a lot through this is surrender. So there's layers of surrender that happened here. The first layer of surrender happens to just like what's happening in your psyche. And so there's actually this like spells out a thing, it spells out praise when I originally made the methodology. I did not intend for this to create a thing. But when I looked, I like to look at that it spells praise. But psyche is the first one surrendering to just like what's happening up in here. A lot of times we we try to solve problems from this thinking space. And this is what I see a lot when when it comes to brown specifically, we're thinking about the problem. And then we're trying to think our way through the problem. And that doesn't always work out like that we have to be able to access a different state of consciousness a different level of thinking, if you will, in order to solve the problem and that includes who you are. So who are you at a different state like what's going on in your subconscious from what's happening in the unconscious wrong, what thoughts are in there that you're not even aware of? That's almost becoming self sabotaging or just like stuck in this pattern of continuing to repeat the cycles are continuing to get pulled back into them. That's the first part. First thing that we do The second one is to understand archetypes. So this was a big part of the work that I've done. I have a very, we, we talked a little bit about kind of my background and entrepreneurship and marketing and all these things. So my, when I worked in marketing, I'd actually come from a storytelling background because I have a degree in storytelling and English and mythological archetypes. And so that is like, my first love was reading and writing and storytelling. So we bring that back into here storytelling is, is ancient, I mean, it's a the earliest form of human communication and connection. And it is certainly based on the unconscious mind and the unconscious mind understanding certain aspects. So what we do here is we surrender to like, what is your archetype? What is the thing that is present for you right now that you understand that you're in? The thing about archetypes is that when you understand where you are, you have a better concept of what was in the past. And now you also know what's going to happen next. And so that's where we surrender to the archetype, what's happening in your mind, where are you at so that you know what's coming next. And the last thing here is we really work through those rhythms, and then your sense of who you are. So we understand what's going on beneath the surface, we understand how this relates to where you are right now, and what's coming next. And now we really bring in a lot of focus and attention to who do you actually want to be as going back to those existential questions that burnout can bring up with like, who is the you that's underneath all of this stuff? Who are you and you're not performing when you're not trying to meet a quota and expectation and output? Who is that person because you get to decide who that person is. It's not just who you've been, it's you get to decide.
Unknown Speaker 21:44
That's very empowering, the fact that you can get to decide who you want to be. And as a guest, I'm sure once someone discovers who they are, they're able to drop all these kinds of things, that excess things that they're carrying, which is kind of preventing them to prevent themselves. And another thing I would add, is it a case of that when we kind of are carrying all this stuff? Sometimes it can be a protective mechanism to kind of stop us from flourishing, and who we really are? And is that an easy transition for someone when they're working with yourself? Oh, that's
Unknown Speaker 22:19
a good question. Man, this has a lot to do with shame. Shame comes up in a lot of the work that I do it as it would if you're untangling yourself from a large over cultural idea of hustle and work. And this is where your sense of worthiness comes from. Like there's a lot of shame from uncoupling from that. Because as soon as you do now, you're left with the baggage that that create, and you're like, What do I do with this? So yeah, we definitely worked through that. And I will say everyone's different. Some people, it's very easy for them to realise, like, oh, this doesn't belong to me, I don't believe this, I don't have to carry anymore great by drop it off. And then other people's specific little specifically, if you've been carrying it for a really long time, then it can become really hard, because now we have a bunch of roles, specifically if the roles that you're really proud that you carried before, and you did put a lot of your identity in that. So it can be really hard to kind of disengage. And I bring up shame, because I recently had a mentor that I was working with learning about shame and the concept of unchaining, which I hadn't really considered before, like, oh, you can unshaved something. And he said something really beautiful. My mentors name is David Vendrick. And he had said that shame is not an emotion, shame is a witness. Or, even better, it's the lack of a loving witness when an over culture or something happens, and we're not able to be seen in our humanity. And so that is what comes up a lot when we're uncoupling from this. And we're like, oh, but I've been this way for so long. It's like, that's okay. Like you were doing what you had to do. And there's not a shame in that there's an intelligence in that. And like, Here I am to lovingly witness you in this.
Unknown Speaker 23:56
Oh, beautiful. That's, that's I love it. It's kind of Yeah, shame is it we can't can carry it. So it's like a comfort thing sometimes, isn't it? We're so comfortable with it that to kind of take that away. It can be terrifying. But it's through that bravery that we kind of lorisha and I would also say dear listeners that usually you're going to, I won't say most of time you come up better by releasing that shame and not kind of holding on to it. It's kind of doesn't need to be there anymore. So actually, if I'm listening and I want to contact you to work with you, what's the best way that I can go about doing that?
Unknown Speaker 24:35
Yeah, find me on Instagram. I post some of my best stuff on Instagram. That's the easiest way to get a hold of me. So yeah, connect with me on Instagram. My handle is healing hustle. CO so Come Come say hi, he'll hustle.
Unknown Speaker 24:49
CO and I'll also put those details in the show notes. I also like to ask our dear guests, is this something that you would like to cover now that we haven't talked about so far on the interview any Think that you wish you wish to us? Hmm.
Unknown Speaker 25:04
Um, I think I do actually, this has been something that's been, I'm not eating at me, but kind of kind of poking me a little bit. It's been a source of inspiration for me. I'm going to try to be eloquent in the way that I talk about it. But if it comes out a little messy, I apologise is a concept that I'm like currently tangling with this concept of rewilding. This is something that has been a really big push in my business, this idea of, I guess, a femininity, I've always had an interesting relationship with the idea of like being feminine, or like feminine energy. And this, the word came to me as became a word of the year actually rewild. And learning, it's actually an ecological term about letting you know an area of land, letting the earth reclaim it in whatever way that looks like. And it's usually very messy. There's a bunch of weeds that come into the play, but it's also a process. So there's like stages of rewilding. I really went full nerd and like, did all the research on like, what does this mean? And so this is a concept that I've been bringing into my life, but I'm also really seeing the way that this is going to colour my work. And I want there to be a bigger conversation about this. Because to me, this comes back to uncoupling burnout. This, to me comes back to completely changing the culture in which hustle and burnout comes from. And it comes back to our talks about natural rhythms. And what does that actually look like? So rewilding, rewilding is like, it's the rebalancing of the scale that's introducing this like wild feminine aspect that is missing in not just our work culture in the world, but like, truly in in the ways in which we relate to each other, and in the ways that we even see ourselves. And so I almost want to just posit that to everyone of like, how are you rewilding? Do you have space for that kind of wild feminine to exist?
Unknown Speaker 27:05
I like that. It's kind of just to kind of that space electricity, things kind of grow and beam, if not kind of like in the land concept, but also kind of in a in a being in that energy. So kind of, wow, yeah. And nothing is more of how nature and kind of saying that. So why can't we allow a feminine nature to kind of have that rewilding effect? I love that we wilding and yeah, it feels very feminine actually want to pitch and get on my head as I say that. So ash, what is some? Is there any book that all that has changed your life? And you'd think of listeners, please read this book?
Unknown Speaker 27:46
Oh, my goodness, that's so there's so many. How do I pick one? There's one that stuck out immediately to me. As soon as you were asking a question. I was like, oh, it's gotta be that one. Um, the book that really changed me was it's called the women who run with wolves. unsurprising by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola essays. That one really, really changed me that was a huge wake up call. That almost planted the seed years ago about like rewilding and like wild feminine nature. That was really it was the one that kind of unlocked it for me.
Unknown Speaker 28:21
Oh, lovely. I'll put links in the show notes for that one, as well. Don't ask How would you feel gone? Probably something on the rewilding people? How is as humans do you feel we can be better guests. I say we're guests on this planet, just because we're kind of here for a short space of time. And Emma, how do you feel we can kind of give back to this wonderful planet that we all inhabit at the moment?
Unknown Speaker 28:44
You're right in saying that I would 100% go back to this rewilding concept. I, there's a concept actually that I was talking about with my clients recently. This idea that like, there's there's humans, right, like we are humans, and then there's nature? I don't think that's correct. I think it's hubris to think that we are not also nature like we are, we are Earthlings. We are born of this planet, from the same composition that we see in the cells of the earth. And we are also nature. And so coming back to the idea of like, letting ourselves rewild to our own natural environments. And being just being present with that and collaborating and being in partnership with this planet instead of at war against it. That's the biggest thing. And so, yes, you know, this can be we can make this a huge conversation about you know, corporatism and all these things, capitalism, consumerism, but on an individual level. Really, what is your relationship to where you are right now? Do you know where some of your things come from? Starting to like, just try to be more local about how you source the things that you put on your body and in your body? Do you know where your food comes from? Do you know the names of the trees that are around you? What are some of the local herbs that grow near you? Just some of that just honouring the place on earth that you live in by just learning and acknowledging it. I think that's a great place for us to just start.
Unknown Speaker 30:17
I like that. And ash, thank you so much for taking us on a journey of how you managed to like overcome your burnout. You can turn your life around, you started your business, the kind of reconnection with the rewilding part of ourselves, and anyone who's really feeling burnt out, please, please reach out to ash, he's going to be able to help you. I just got such a wonderful energy about your ash. And it's been such a privilege to speak to you today. Do stay tuned listeners. As always, we will end the show and meditation inspired by today's show. But ash Burnside, thank you so much. And I look forward to speaking to you again in the future. But thank you for joining us today.
Unknown Speaker 31:02
Thank you so much for having me on Jane. Oh, no,
Unknown Speaker 31:05
you're very welcome. Thank you, Ash. As promised, here is your meditation, inspired by today's show. Top Tips for the meditation is either sit nice and cross legged on the floor of a nice strip back. Always nice to sit on a block or a cushion. Or that's not available for you, you sit in a chair with the back nice and straight. The important thing is you're not slouching. And if you're doing something that requires the concentration, all you to do is just pause this and you can reconvene the meditation at a time that is good for you, if you're doing the meditation that's begging. But today's meditation, we're going to learn how to kind of let go, let go of that which no longer serves us and let go so that we can create the space for new life, new light, new possibilities to flow into our being. So you're going to inhale and exhale through the nostrils. And as always, you can either do this sitting down on the floor or on a straight back chair. So you're going to inhale slowly through the nostrils. And then you're going to exhale slowly through the nostrils. And then you're going to continue inhaling slowly through the nostrils. exhaling slowly through the nostrils. And then again, inhale, slowly. Exhale slowly. This is quite a simple component, but very powerful. So you just want to continue inhaling slowly through the nostrils. And then you're going to exhale slowly through the nostrils. And then you're going to continue inhaling slowly through the nostrils. exhaling slowly through the nostrils. And then again, inhale, slowly. Exhale slowly. As you inhale, slowly, feel as if you allow yourself to feel whatever it is that's kind of blocking or restricting. And as you exhale, you feel as if you let that out of your being. And as you exhale, you give it back to Mother Earth, and so that she may transform that into positive light. So if this sounds a bit too, off the wall, just try and go with it and see how it feels. So inhale, slowly. Allow yourself to feel whatever it is and then exhale, transmute it back to Mother Earth. So inhale, feel, exhale, expel. Inhale, feel exhale, let it go into that loving, nurturing energy of Mother Earth. And then just continue this meditation and then he slowly, slowly come back into the moment. And for this final breath, you're going to inhale, you're going to fill yourself with the most positive healing, energy, positivity, joy, all those positive, uplifting emotions. And as you exhale, you feel as if that encompasses your whole body, bringing that nurturing energy into your being. And then very slowly open your eyes and go about your day. So thank you so much for listening to today's meditation. And as always, I'm here bringing words of wisdom from the gentle yo lawyer.com. But thank you so much. Take care. Bye
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
