Embracing Intuition: How to Listen to Your Inner Guidance

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.

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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.

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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.

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And then Rowan and Grace back into high school this week, and it's still.

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That energetic shift in the house is so just crazy to me.

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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.

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What we.

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What we do as moms and as parents, especially this time of year.

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

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And again, a lot of it is around the energy shift in the house.

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And I'm telling you, even the dogs feel it.

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They're totally off.

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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.

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What is going on?

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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.

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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.

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And she speaks the language of things that I am.

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I'm so interested in and want to learn more about.

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

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And background to how she got to where she is.

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

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She has some really, really great ways that she either asks questions or brings you through different exercises.

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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.

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So I am grateful to be able to bring this conversation to you.

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And without further ado, here is Heather McGuire.

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Welcome to Just Breathe Parenting your LGBTQ team.

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The podcast transformed the conversation around loving and raising an LGBTQ child.

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My name is Heather Hester, and I am so grateful you are here.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Welcome back, everyone, to Just Breathe Parenting your LGBTQ teen.

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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.

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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.

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So, Heather, welcome.

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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.

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And I think it's always fun to how we cross paths and connect all the dots of how we know people.

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And that's always so fascinating to me because I think that a lot of it is.

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We are.

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We are all meant to cross paths in some way.

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So I'm very delighted.

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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.

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So it's just like, mentality.

Heather McGuire: 00:05:56

Rare, rare breed.

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We are.

Heather Hester: 00:05:58

We are.

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So I would love to know.

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

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

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And you are the unconventional intuitive.

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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.

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There's something about you.

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You're really good in this situation.

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

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Nobody else is talking about this.

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I'm giving them all of these ideas for how businesses they could start and all kinds of things.

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And I just got curious, what is it that I'm seeing?

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Like what is happening?

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And somehow that led me to an intuitive development circle, which was a mediumship development circle.

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I sat down in that circle and I was so happy.

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It was like I could relax.

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We just meditated and you talked about whatever was popping into your mind.

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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.

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It was just the most spectacular experience.

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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.

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So I'm wondering if you could.

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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?

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Is it fear?

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Is it.

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

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And how do I kind of tell the difference between just that noise.

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Right.

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Like the negative self talk, like berating us.

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Right.

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And.

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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.

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And there's two things I'll say.

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One is you want to think about your intuition almost like a bodily function.

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You're not.

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It's not that you have intuition.

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It's that you're intuiting like your heart is beating and your lungs are breathing.

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Your body is intuiting.

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It's happening all the time.

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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.

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You can really ask your body, like, you know, what do I want right now?

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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.

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It's not going to tell you you suck.

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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.

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It's in your body, it's in your senses.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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?

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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.

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And all day I had planned this full day, but I was like, completely out of it, exhausted.

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Couldn't put my thoughts together.

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Just felt really slowed down.

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And I said, okay, so today is just a day.

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I'm just going to move slow.

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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.

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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.

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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: 00:28:42

I know in my heart that I am.

Heather McGuire: 00:28:43

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: 00:28:51

And so I just asked that question, how can I feel that feeling that this is the person, this is my person.

Heather McGuire: 00:28:59

And I would start to notice little things.

Heather McGuire: 00:29:03

He does this thing that's so lovely.

Heather McGuire: 00:29:06

Look at him.

Heather McGuire: 00:29:07

What a great guy.

Heather McGuire: 00:29:08

Oh.

Heather McGuire: 00:29:09

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: 00:29:22

Don't just listen in your head, pay attention in your whole body for the answer.

Heather Hester: 00:29:27

Right, Right.

Heather Hester: 00:29:28

Because the head will try to overcompensate and make a lot of noise.

Heather Hester: 00:29:34

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: 00:29:43

And I was like, good for us all to remember that.

Heather Hester: 00:29:47

Right.

Heather Hester: 00:29:47

Like these thoughts, just because they're in there doesn't mean it's accurate.

Heather Hester: 00:29:51

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: 00:29:58

It's just processing through and isn't even ours.

Heather Hester: 00:30:01

Right.

Heather Hester: 00:30:02

It's just making its way through.

Heather Hester: 00:30:04

So it's a good thing to just remember along the way and to, you know, again, I think the.

Heather Hester: 00:30:13

One of the bigger pieces is just that ability to slow down for a moment and like come into your body.

Heather McGuire: 00:30:20

Exactly.

Heather Hester: 00:30:21

Really just.

Heather Hester: 00:30:23

And to, you know, to breathe and do that breathing, which talk about all the time, that is so very important.

Heather Hester: 00:30:30

Important.

Heather Hester: 00:30:30

And it allows us to get out of our heads and into our bodies.

Heather Hester: 00:30:32

Right?

Heather McGuire: 00:30:33

Yeah.

Heather Hester: 00:30:34

Bring the nervous system down and bring the cortisol down.

Heather McGuire: 00:30:38

All the stuff.

Heather McGuire: 00:30:40

It's so huge.

Heather Hester: 00:30:42

So huge.

Heather Hester: 00:30:43

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: 00:30:53

So I'm wondering if you can share that a little bit with us.

Heather McGuire: 00:30:57

I am so excited about the energy lab.

Heather McGuire: 00:31:00

I have been teaching intuitive development and a number of different things for a long, long time.

Heather McGuire: 00:31:07

And it kind of all occurred to me last year that what we're doing is energy experiments.

Heather McGuire: 00:31:16

We're experimenting with our energy.

Heather McGuire: 00:31:18

And that's what a heart rock walk is, experimenting with your energy.

Heather McGuire: 00:31:21

And so my Energy Lab is series of different talks and teaching this system of experimenting with energy.

Heather McGuire: 00:31:30

I'm starting a Facebook group where we're going to be running experiments and everyone's welcome to join us there.

Heather McGuire: 00:31:36

And I'm going to be leading talks.

Heather McGuire: 00:31:38

I did one for a local business a few weeks ago.

Heather McGuire: 00:31:42

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: 00:31:52

Almost like there I have this hypothesis, I have this hypothesis that, you know, my kid isn't safe.

Heather McGuire: 00:32:02

How.

Heather McGuire: 00:32:03

What can I do to change that feeling?

Heather McGuire: 00:32:05

What can I do to find out if that's true?

Heather McGuire: 00:32:09

How can I experiment with this rather than just sitting in worry?

Heather McGuire: 00:32:14

How can I experiment with my energy and then notice what happened, notice if it changes?

Heather McGuire: 00:32:20

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: 00:32:30

Really powerful changes can happen.

Heather Hester: 00:32:32

That is awesome.

Heather Hester: 00:32:33

Okay, so in order to be part of this, people need to go to your Facebook page.

Heather Hester: 00:32:39

Go to where can people learn more about this?

Heather Hester: 00:32:43

Because I think this is such awesome work.

Heather McGuire: 00:32:48

I'm so excited for it.

Heather McGuire: 00:32:50

So, yeah, go to the Facebook group and join there.

Heather McGuire: 00:32:55

I'm going, I'm starting here.

Heather McGuire: 00:32:58

I'm in Boston, so I'm doing talks here and sort of spreading out from there.

Heather McGuire: 00:33:05

This fall, my daughter's going to be headed off to college.

Heather McGuire: 00:33:07

I have two kids and my daughter's my second and she's headed off to college.

Heather McGuire: 00:33:11

So I am ready to take this show on the road.

Heather McGuire: 00:33:15

And really, I just really want to bring this out to people and.

Heather McGuire: 00:33:23

But start at the Facebook group.

Heather McGuire: 00:33:24

Start there.

Heather McGuire: 00:33:25

We'll be leading experiments.

Heather McGuire: 00:33:26

We'll be talking about it.

Heather McGuire: 00:33:27

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: 00:33:41

Right.

Heather Hester: 00:33:42

Which is so, so important.

Heather Hester: 00:33:45

Now one, just one other quick question about that is will you do virtual talks?

Heather McGuire: 00:33:52

I am guessing that I will.

Heather McGuire: 00:33:55

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: 00:34:05

And as it gets going, I'm pretty certain that it's going to evolve into an online experience also.

Heather McGuire: 00:34:11

But yeah.

Heather Hester: 00:34:12

Okay.

Heather Hester: 00:34:13

I just thought I would ask because I'm sure people are wondering.

Heather Hester: 00:34:16

Okay, that's awesome.

Heather Hester: 00:34:17

Well, I will definitely have all of your Facebook information in the show notes and all of that good stuff.

Heather McGuire: 00:34:23

Yeah.

Heather McGuire: 00:34:23

And you also have, I think, a link to my.

Heather McGuire: 00:34:31

Some practices for developing your intuition.

Heather Hester: 00:34:34

Yes.

Heather McGuire: 00:34:34

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: 00:34:42

Yes, yes.

Heather Hester: 00:34:43

I actually highly recommend that because I did get.

Heather Hester: 00:34:46

When you go on to Heather's website, you can get.

Heather Hester: 00:34:49

It's right at the beginning, just you get a download and it's awesome.

Heather Hester: 00:34:52

It's like a 10 page download and it's really, really good.

Heather Hester: 00:34:55

Just simple exercises.

Heather Hester: 00:34:57

So if nothing else, I highly recommend that.

Heather Hester: 00:35:00

But yes, that's the perfect way to.

Heather Hester: 00:35:02

Then you'll just get updates as you move this along, which is very exciting.

Heather Hester: 00:35:08

Great.

Heather Hester: 00:35:08

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: 00:35:16

That had come to you right before we were to start.

Heather Hester: 00:35:19

And I thought that would be a lovely way to end our time together today.

Heather Hester: 00:35:23

So I'm going to let you take it from here.

Heather Hester: 00:35:27

And I've just so grateful that you are with us today.

Heather McGuire: 00:35:32

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: 00:35:41

It is so valuable.

Heather McGuire: 00:35:44

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: 00:35:59

Thank you.

Heather Hester: 00:36:00

That's really cool.

Heather McGuire: 00:36:04

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: 00:36:15

And if you are someplace where you can be still and quiet, be still and quiet.

Heather McGuire: 00:36:21

If you are listening to this and you are walking, you can just let your imagination do this.

Heather McGuire: 00:36:28

While you are being safe on your walk as you are driving, obviously don't close your eyes and go too deep.

Heather McGuire: 00:36:36

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: 00:36:46

Most important, that you always go only so far that you feel safe.

Heather McGuire: 00:36:52

And we're going to find out how to ground ourselves and ask for help there in a very beautiful way.

Heather McGuire: 00:37:02

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: 00:37:21

These are woods where you feel comfortable and safe.

Heather McGuire: 00:37:25

These are woods that feel known to you.

Heather McGuire: 00:37:28

You know this path.

Heather McGuire: 00:37:31

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: 00:37:52

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: 00:38:13

And as you walk, that fear is present with you.

Heather McGuire: 00:38:20

Just notice it.

Heather McGuire: 00:38:21

It's along for the walk.

Heather McGuire: 00:38:24

Allow it to be.

Heather McGuire: 00:38:28

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: 00:38:41

And you know at the end of this trail, which you are approaching, there is a great big rock.

Heather McGuire: 00:38:50

And on the other side of the rock is a cliff with a lake down below.

Heather McGuire: 00:38:57

And it's a beautiful place, stunningly beautiful, but it feels somewhat scary to be at the top of that rock.

Heather McGuire: 00:39:10

And so you're taking care of yourself.

Heather McGuire: 00:39:13

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: 00:39:43

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: 00:39:53

And notice what happens when you place your attention on the earth.

Heather McGuire: 00:40:02

Those feelings of fear and worry may shift.

Heather McGuire: 00:40:05

Something may change.

Heather McGuire: 00:40:13

And what happens when we hold fear and worry is we start to argue with it and blame ourselves.

Heather McGuire: 00:40:22

And we tend to get deeper and deeper into the fear and into the worry and lose sight of other possibilities.

Heather McGuire: 00:40:31

And that may well happen here.

Heather McGuire: 00:40:35

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: 00:40:53

And you want to have that, too.

Heather McGuire: 00:41:01

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: 00:41:32

And I want you to ask for help.

Heather McGuire: 00:41:40

What can help me?

Heather McGuire: 00:41:51

And something may have occurred to you immediately.

Heather McGuire: 00:41:54

Your intuition is fast.

Heather McGuire: 00:41:57

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: 00:42:05

I want to invite you to feel their groundedness, feel their rootedness, feel their support.

Heather McGuire: 00:42:29

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: 00:42:43

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: 00:42:58

Help me see a bigger picture.

Heather McGuire: 00:43:02

Help me find courage and faith.

Heather McGuire: 00:43:07

Help me understand where and when I am safe, help me feel guided and trust in myself.

Heather McGuire: 00:43:20

And any other words that you wish to ask, write them in your letter now.

Heather McGuire: 00:43:35

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: 00:44:15

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: 00:44:26

Right back into your day.

Heather McGuire: 00:44:30

Back into here and now.

Heather Hester: 00:44:39

That was wonderful.

Heather Hester: 00:44:41

Thank you so so much.

Heather Hester: 00:44:44

And thank you so much for being here.

Heather McGuire: 00:44:47

You are so welcome.

Heather McGuire: 00:44:48

It was my pleasure.

Heather Hester: 00:44:51

Thanks so much for joining me today.

Heather Hester: 00:44:54

If you enjoyed today's episode, I would be so grateful.

Heather Hester: 00:44:59

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: 00:45:14

Please share this podcast with anyone who needs to know that they are not alone and remember to just breathe until next time.