Podcast — Page 8

51 Sail Above The Clouds With Carole Fontaine

January 23, 2021 By Shauna

WHAT THIS EPISODE IS ABOUT…

Hello everyone. I’m Shauna Hoffman. I am so excited to have this amazing guest on our show today. You all know how passionate I am as a sailor and how I use sailing analogies in my podcasts all the time. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to lock in Carole Fontaine as the guest. Known to some as the sailing, Yogi. Carole Fontaine teaches by sharing stories of her 20 years of living aboard a sailboat to illustrate the life lessons and challenges. A successful professional graphic designer, she left the world of design after her health failed and started on a 10 year journey to search for answers and heal from chronic disease. In that time, she found her voice, took control of her health, and discovered her passion for forgiveness and strength. All while sailing the ocean, diving in caves, swimming with sharks, surviving hurricanes, waking up in a sinking boat and maneuvering in a meager 41 feet of living space with an unconventional husband. And of course a dog. Do you all see why I had to have her on the show? Carole’s a certified life coach, author, meditative writing, Shakti dance, yoga Reiki, master teacher, and she loves to share the stories of being a co-captain of her boat,The Windsong. I can’t wait to talk to her today about her book, Sail Above The Clouds. Now listen to this sail… S A I L, simplify, align, integrate and let go so you can live an extraordinary life. Welcome Carole.

Carole (01:43):
Thank you for this beautiful introduction. Yes. May we all sail above the clouds!

Shauna (01:50):
Every day and always. I’m so excited to have you on the show. I really, really am. I’ve been reading the book. All of you have to get this book. We’ll give you links later as to where you can find out more information about Carole, but Carole, I thought we would start by you sharing this amazing journey from hippie biker.

Carole (02:13):
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I was very in touch with my rebellious child when I was younger. So I was a young woman in college. I was into bikers and motorcycles and I bought my first Harley. I met my husband who was also a biker and of course we fell deeply in love. And we in Canada, I’m from originally from Canada. So over there in the winter it snows. So we ended up moving to Florida on our motorcycles. When we ended up there, we realized it was way too hot to ride a motorcycle, a motor in your legs and 90 degree weather. So we turned to the ocean, we ended up, I mean, it wasn’t instant. The first few years we wrote a lot and we ended up to a lot of parties and we went to the biker scene, but I really was not satisfied with that.

Carole (03:15):
I became very disillusioned, disheartened, and I wasn’t fulfilled in Florida. And the big dream, the American dream on the beach just wasn’t what I had expected. And I remember being on the beach with my husband and looking out to sea and seeing these boats up there. And I was like, wow, this is the dream. This is the summer of freedom. And we ended up living on the boat, buying a boat from there, living on the boat for 20 years.

Shauna
Had you ever sailed before?

Carole
I had not. I had zero experience in sailing. I think I went on a boat when I was a child once on a vacation, a family vacation. Cause I didn’t even remember if I was seasick or not. My husband had done a tiny little bit of boating on the Lake, but not sailing.

Shauna (04:14):
We talked so much on the show about reinventing our lives and talk about reinventing. Yes, that is a massive reinvention. Then what happened? What were those 20 years like?

Carole (04:28):
Well, we ended up moving on the boat. We needed to reinvent ourselves. We needed to simplify our life. It had become just a, a never ending party. And we needed to get out of this party scene and get in touch with each other and with life and what we want and what our dreams are, what pushed us to move thousands of miles away. We know what had brought us there. So the boat represented that, that dream, what we’re looking for. So the first few years we grew ourselves into learning everything about sailing. We took courses, we, we tried it out. We went cruising. We went to The Bahamas, we made mistakes, but thank goodness, the Morgans are tough boats. But we learned. We learned, we had fun. We enjoyed ourselves. We were young, carefree. It was amazing. It was amazing life. And then eventually we fell back into that mode.

Carole (05:28):
We had, we were back into the party scene, but with the boating crowds. So we had just simply changed a scenery around an underlying dissatisfaction, this satisfaction. We had not addressed what was going on in our hearts and our relationship, what we’re looking for. I was still unaware back then of, I wasn’t really listening to, how am I happy? Are, you know, is everything that I’m doing fulfilling me. Of course I did live in paradise. Some of the places we’ve been, ah, yum, amazing. You know, sailing is just absolutely, but it’s not always idyllic because happiness comes from within.

Shauna
Oh, that is so well said. So how did you start to find that happiness?

Carole
I had five years. I would call my dark night of the soul where after maybe 10 or 12 years on the boat, I became very ill physically ill.

Carole (06:29):
And I ended up seeing many doctors. I was swollen. I had inflammation, a lot of pain. I ended up having a hysterectomy. I had lesions on my liver had skin problems. I had, I could not eat without getting sick and I was getting anemic. So there was a lot of things going on and the doctors weren’t communicating with each other. And I thought I fell into this, the Western medicine cycle of having 10 different doctors that don’t talk to each other. And I became depressed. Of course, at that point, my husband really came through for me and said, this is not working. You need to look at what’s going on and he called my mom from Canada. She came in to the rescue. He really took a look at what was happening. And I fired my doctors. I went the holistic route.

Carole (07:31):
I started searching for answers for myself. I took responsibility for my health. I took risk. And when I did that, I realized that I was very unhappy and that unhappiness might have simmered there for so long. That the only way that my body had been able to have me listen to it is scream loudly and make me sick. And this is when I finally stopped and say, Whoa, hold on. What’s going on here? Something deeper is happening. And I reinvented myself completely. I fired my doctor. I fired my boss, quit my job. I even fired one of my best friends. That was a toxic relationship. I reevaluated my relationship and I realized that my husband and I were really having a lot of problems and we needed to face them.

Shauna
How did you do that?

Carole
We talked. Communication first. There’s always a period when we become aware where we’re not quite certain, what’s going on, we’re like, Oh, we know something’s wrong, but we’re not quite sure what it is. And so we asked questions and I had a friend that was adamant on me getting a journal and write in it. You got to write. And I’m like, what? How is writing gonna fix it?

Carole (08:54):
But I did. And that really was the best remedy because writing opened up a whole world of wisdom and awareness, self awareness.

Shauna (09:07):
I love that. I so often give that to my clients to do. And we talk about it here in an every workshop. One of the things that I say over and over and my listeners hear it over and over is when we make the subconscious conscious, it can go away. And when you journal, even when you start the page, if you start journaling … “I’m so angry” and you’re writing and all of a sudden four pages later, you have gotten underneath why you’re angry or hurt or sad or lonely. But until you get it from your head out and a lot of people can do it with meditation. But journaling I find is one of the most positive and productive forms of self-awareness because you’re getting it out of your brain. Then when you talk about the fact that we have talked about it with the connection of mind, body is the fact that we, when we have so much unhappiness and dis ease, it has to, you’re absolutely right. It has to go to someplace in your body. And that’s where so much illness comes from. Deepak Chopra talks about it all the time. Being able to get the disease out of your mind, get in touch with your emotions, your feelings, your fears. Then you can start releasing them and letting them go.

Carole(10:34):
Absolutely. It’s like doing a cleanup of your mind. It’s decluttering your mind. I talk a lot about how to simplify your life in my book, because it sailing above the clouds, how to simplify your life. It’s, it’s more than just simplifying your physical space. It’s simplifying your emotional, your spiritual, your mental space. We carry so much stuff and we don’t ever clean it up. We don’t look at it and writing helps that. And for me, writing, help me get clear on what was going on because I knew there was a dis ease in my life. I did not felt that things were right. I was happy, but it was surface happy. I wasn’t joyful in my heart. And writing helped me get to that space. It helped me uncover all the murkiness. It helped me declutter, all that was taking up rent in my space. I evicted everything that was, that was renting space and say, and once that was done Once you simplify and you clear out the clutter, then you can clearly see what’s left and what you want to keep and what you want to pursue and support and nurture and what you definitely don’t want back in your space.

Shauna (11:59):
None of you can see we’re recording this live so I can see Carol, as she speaks in my head is just sitting here, shaking my head. Yes, yes, yes, yes. I love decluttering our mind. I love that so much. You just nailed it. So in your book, it’s SAIL, simplify, align, integrate, and let go. Speak to those four.

Carole (12:23):
How, when you simplify, just address that when you simplify your life, your life, you, the pattern becomes clear, whatever is left after you simplify, Oh my goodness, it’s clear what you, you want to pursue or what you, you, what brings you joy? What brings you passion? What’s your purpose is because you’ve gotten rid of everything that was making your life busy, but not necessarily passionate. And once you’ve simplified, now that you are clear on your goals, how can you align your life with those goals? So the second book, all the stories and the lessons and the exercise going to be, how to align your goals with your purpose and then integrate. How do you integrate these tools that we have in our life around that are so many amazing tools and exercises and coaches out there that shares things that we can do in our life.

Carole (13:21):
But how do we apply them? We take so many, we take courses and we’re like, Oh yeah, this is really good. This is really good. 30 days later, we sign up for another course and on and on and on. Where does it stop? It stops when we integrate certain practices and we commit to certain things in our life daily life that will really affect our success. When we integrate these into our morning routine, our work routine, our schedules, et cetera. And when we have all that in play, we’re, we’re now aligned. We’re clear on what we want. We have tools to support us. We can take actions into the world that are very aligned, but then we have to let go. We have to trust because once we’ve taken, we’ve done everything that we can. We’re aligned in our heart. Our actions are aligned with our purpose. We need to trust. We need to trust the universe that we need to trust that the universe has our back. And the last book, that’s a tough one. The letting go,

Shauna (14:27):
The letting go. I think also trusting ourselves that we have gotten to that fourth step because we have been genuine to ourselves because we have looked within because we have become truly self-aware. And then if you don’t let go, the things that we don’t let go of, and we hold onto that we know are unhealthy for us. There is much discontent in knowing that we’re holding onto that. I think that ends up being the motivator to finally let go.

Carole (15:01):
Yes, for me, it’s a big it’s a big step that letting go. And I always ask myself, how deeper can I let go? Because there’s always different levels because we’re just, when you think you let go, quite enough, you move thousands of miles again, and you start over again. I had a sailing injury a few years ago, so I could not teach. I couldn’t. I had to move off the boat in a town that I did not know by myself with my dog, while my husband’s sailed away with the boat, because my back was so hurt. I could not be on the boat anymore. I really reassessed myself in that. Oh my God, what’s my identity? Letting go, moving off the boat. I can’t teach anymore. I’m not a teacher anymore. Letting go of all these things. Oh my goodness. It was one of the greatest acts of letting go. My life, that to trust that all will be well. And letting go also means letting go of trying to be perfect of controlling everything expectations and really trusting that you’ve done all that you can, and that whatever’s going to come to. You may not be what you want exactly, but they will be what you need. And from that, you can grow.

Shauna (16:26):
What I love about this process is I don’t think you can get there until you’re aligned. Once you’re aligned and you know, your purpose and you know, you’re aligned with your dreams. You’re aligned with your goals. You’re aligned with your genuine self. Then the letting go can happen. People I think do it backwards. I think they think, Oh, I’m just going to get rid of this relationship. Or I’m going to change my job because I’m not happy in my job, but they haven’t really aligned their spirit. They haven’t simplified their life. I love this so much. They haven’t really done the work. And like you said, you ended up going, you’ll go for one place to the next place with the exact same lessons

Carole (17:15):
You do. That’s what happens. We just, you can move to as many places and change as many jobs, but it’s like when you have a relationship, a lot of women say, I always end up with the same types of relationship. When you see repeating situations in your life, you really want to stop and ask yourself, what’s the lesson it’s disguised somewhere. And once you really noticed this, Oh my goodness. You know, you declutter everything around and get to really, to the bottom of it. And then when you’re clear about it, you want to sure does this align with what I want in my life? And if it doesn’t then it needs to go,

Shauna (17:54):
I have a word that I talk about. And I think I did a podcast. I’ll have to go back and look which one, and it’s on willingness. You have to have willingness to look at yourself. That’s the biggest for me. If you can throw in another word for wind or willingness, sail with the wind, the willingness to look at yourself. If you don’t have the willingness to take that first step, you can’t get there.

Carole (18:28):
Yes. Yes. It gets, it gets scary. It’s scary to look at ourselves this closely, because it’s not always a fun process. There’s a lot of things that were scaring me. I was, I was refusing to look at this. I did not want to look at my relationship and my job. It’s such a ride. I lived in paradise. I lived on the South or, and people, you know, if it would be back down, it was, you know, I’ve been on a boat for 20 years. So back then it wasn’t social media, the way it is now. But if you would looked at my page, it would have looked. Ideally, people are like, Oh my goodness, Carol, how beautiful your life is. But it’s an illusion.

Shauna (19:13):
Which is so funny. Cause that’s the name of my boat, the illusion.

Carole (19:17):
I love it, my, the illusion.

Shauna(19:23):
And it is, it is. And we live in this illusion all of the time and we have to see what is true to ourselves and genuine to ourselves. Yeah. I, I could talk with you forever and I know I’m going to already want you back on another episode. How can people get your book? How can they read? Do you have any workshops coming up? Do you have anything? Where can my listeners find you?

Carole (19:49):
Yes. The easiest way is to go to my site that sailabovetheclouds.com. So sail above the clouds that come from there, you can get the book. You can connect with me. I don’t have a workshop plan, right? It’s the dates not set yet, but I do have one coming up in February. Most likely about meditative writing, some simplifying your life. I teach on zooms. I have different kinds of classes and I love to connect with your listeners and see, you know, how I can support them and inspiring their life and helping their lives. And there’s a free excerpt on there so they can read the first two chapters.

Shauna (20:30):
And what’s wonderful. Everyone she gives great fun examples of what’s happened in her life. And then she gives you exercises in the book for you to work on for yourself. And maybe if the winds are in our favor, we do a workshop together.

Carole (20:50):
Love to love to collaborate with you. Let’s talk more about that. Absolutely.

Shauna (20:58):
We’re all hearing it right here right now, everyone. Thank you so much, Carol. We wish you fair winds and calming seas!

Shauna (21:09):
Everyone, I wish for you fair winds and calming seas. May you be so good to yourself in the next week. Please take wonderful care of yourself. Eat nourishing foods, get lots of sleep. Surround yourself with loving beings. Thank you for letting me into your life this week. And I look forward to popping back in again next week.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CONTENT DISCUSSED…

• A Journey to Awareness Podcast: All Episodes
• Shauna’s website: https://www.workingonme.com

WHEN DOES IT AIR…
January 23, 2021

50 An Animal Can Heal Your Soul

January 16, 2021 By Shauna

PODCAST NOTE:

This Podcast was recorded the day before the assault on our Capitol. There is no mention of that or what all of us have gone through since that day. I hope this podcast on how animals can heal our souls is a comfort to you now.

Stay safe, Shauna

WHAT THIS EPISODES ABOUT…

Hello and welcome, I’m Shauna Hoffman,

Happy 2021! We made it! We actually made it! 2020 Kicked off this podcast and all of the wonders that went along with it! I talked about it in the last episode of 2020, The Gift Of Time. I hope you had a chance to listen to it and realize the many gifts that you got in that last crazy year. If you haven’t listened to it yet, go for it! Because definitely, the pendulum is swinging!

And now I wish for you 2021, a year filled with so many wonders! Today I am talking about one of my most favorite wonders! Animals. Pets and their healing power in our lives. Many of you know that I am a mad crazy animal lover and rescuer. My social media feed is filled with lost dogs and forlorn cats needing homes. Or humans who are searching desperately for their lost animal or on the search for their forever new family member..four legs, tripod, scales, wings! I am really honored to say that I am the Area Coordinator for Southland Collie Rescue. Saving all the lassies in Southern California. So as you can imagine I have wanted to do this podcast all year.

We have all heard this one before, “I thought I rescued this dog, but it didn’t take long to realize that he was the one that rescued me!”

I have owned dogs and cats all of my life…or are they the ones who owned me?

I believe in reality neither is true. We have come into each other’s lives to share the love of human to animal and animal to human.

Isn’t it funny this thing called owning an animal? Sure, we are responsible for their upkeep, their health, food, medicine, keeping them safe with a comfy place to lay their head at night. But in all truth, their job is much harder. They make us feel loved with no judgment, they calm our hearts when they look in our eyes. They fill our homes with crazy antics, zoomies, upside-down cat sleeping, and hours of modeling for us that we can just take a nap if things get out of hand! They try to understand what we humans want from them when it truly is another language! And mostly, they make us feel worthwhile.

Animals don’t think about what we look like or our abilities, or our careers, or how big our yard is. All they care about is how you show them love.

I have so many rescue stories I could share of human saving animal and animal saving human. I have stories about my clients who have been in the midst of huge loss and the only way out of the sadness was with the love of an animal. I have stories of clients stuck at home alone in covid times whose only companion is that of a cat or a dog. And I know many of you have your own stories of how you saved some amazing animal and how they, in turn, saved you. And that is what brought me to this podcast today!

OK, let’s start here with some medical facts of how animals heal us every day. Let’s share a little science!

I am pulling these facts from pets.webmd.com.

Let’s start with what they say about Mood boost-

It only takes a few minutes with a dog or cat or watching fish swim to feel calmer and less stressed. Your body actually goes through physical changes in that time that make a difference in your mood. The level of cortisol, a stress hormone, lowers. And serotonin, a feel-good chemical your body makes, rises.

Yup. I know that so often I can be in the midst of a chaotic day and all of a sudden I catch a glimpse of my cat, Gypsy all curled up fast asleep. It’s like this magnet that makes me want to go over and kiss her. And all of a sudden the chaos slips away for a minute. Or I am stressed trying to get a podcast finished and my collie Treasure comes in and starts pawing me for attention. Or is it that she feels my stress and is trying to be there for me? At first, I feel irritated, after all, I am working! Then all of a sudden I stop and look at her and realize she is not the reason I am irritated. She is the reason for me to stop for a moment and reflect on what is important in my life. This is hysterical because that’s the goal of this podcast, self-reflection and self-awareness! Oh yes, sometimes it takes a pet to remind us of it all.

Here is another medical fact. Blood pressure.

Having a pet can help you manage your blood pressure. In one study of 240 married couples, pet owners had lower blood pressure and lower heart rates during rest than people who didn’t have a pet. Another study showed that when children with high blood pressure petted their dog, their numbers improved.

Our first collie, Marley, was a rescue dog who ended up being a therapy assist dog. I’m going to share a few stories about him on this episode, but in regards to the medical facts about stress hormones and blood pressure, I thought this one was perfect.

One of the places we would go to do pet therapy was to the emergency rooms at the hospital. We were all licensed and cleared with tetanus shots and more to be able to be there. When we first started going I thought it would be to support the patients. It didn’t take long for me to realize it was for the overworked, exhausted nurses and doctors. The minute we arrived they all would gather around us and start petting Marley. Being with this big furry collie was their moment to breathe, to smile, to take a moment for themselves to collect their wits to go back to the hard work they were doing. When we showed up in the ER it was like they were getting their own emergency help!

One of their survival tools is to shut off their fears and emotions to do the jobs they need to and fast. When Marley would show up it was a minute where they could allow their emotions to be felt. Many a day I would be taken aside by a doctor with tears in their eyes and a big smile of thank you. I was like…. don’t thank me! Thank Marley… this big furry Lassie come to life!

They say that another medical advantage of owning an animal, specifically a dog, or horse, or one that gets you out to exercise is that they can Lower Cholesterol.

pets.webmd.com

People who have pets tend to have better levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, compared to people who don’t. The reason for that isn’t clear.

OK, I don’t think it has ever stopped me from having all the carbs I love to eat. But having two collies has sure forced me out on some amazing walks. And talk about it changing my stress levels! Walking in forests, or beaches, or a park, or even down the street has been my life saver during these covid times! Not to mention how many calories I burn off getting up and down to let in and out my barking dogs!

I can go on and on about the medical perks of owning a pet. They Help Your Heart. web.md

People with cats and dogs may have some heart benefits. In a 20-year study, people who never owned a cat were 40% more likely to die of a heart attack than those who had. Another study found that dog owners had a better survival rate one year after a heart attack.

Maybe it’s tied into exercise or lower stress from sharing a life with a pet. But I believe it’s because our hearts are fuller with the love of animals. This is true for strokes, too. There is proof that cat owners have fewer strokes than those who have not owned a cat. For some reason, cats have a calming effect that makes a difference.

But let’s get to the best parts of having pets in our lives. They heal our souls. They give us unconditional love. They look into our eyes like we are their heroes when we are having rotten days!

I love this quote by the American Author, John Grogan “Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day. It is amazing how much love and laughter they bring into our lives and even how much closer we become with each other because of them.”

When I think of how many friends I have met in my life because of my animals or are still in my life because of them… it’s crazy.

One of the things that I have learned in rescue is the power of healing and resilience that animals have. I have witnessed some of the most heartbreaking rescue stories and have seen how with love… an animal can heal. I have two stories to share. The first is about Sophie. Sophie came to Mutt Scouts, a rescue I worked with, after living on the streets of Mexico. She was part bulldog and part pit we think. When she was found she was sleeping in a pile of garbage. Her body had been horribly abused as a bait dog and breeder dog. People would take her off the street and breed her, take her pups then throw her back. Her teeth had been filed down so she couldn’t fight back. Her life was so sad that even Dodo did a story about her rescue when Mutt Scouts saved her. But on my life, she was one of the sweetest dogs I had ever had the joy to help find her forever home. Oh, she was definitely a work in progress. She was defensive of other dogs from being on the street or in a fighting ring. But she loved humans. I mean how does that happen when it was humans that did this to her? I believe there is an innate quality in animals to trust. And with work almost any animal can get it back again. It may take time. but it happens. Sophie ended up being adopted by the most loving huge family! They spent thousands of dollars fixing her teeth and healing her soul. She is loved and in turn showers this huge family with so much love back.

I believe that we humans have this innate ability to trust too. Just like so many animals, many of us have been hurt. When I work with my clients I help them to realize that with love and safety they will learn to trust again. It is so much of the work that I do. And often the thing that helps a human gain trust again is having an animal in their life that shows them it is ok. Often this is the tool I assign to help them get past the sadness. Get something to love that shows you how lovable YOU are.

Let me repeat that….Get something to love that shows you how lovable YOU are.

Here is my favorite story about trust. It’s about our first collie Marley.

When we got Marley from Southland Collie Rescue he had been neglected and abused. When his owner moved he left him locked in the backyard alone. Somehow he got out and wandered the streets for months. He was finally saved when he walked into a shopkeeper’s store. He was dreadlocked and filthy. But by the length of his nose, she knew he was a collie. So Southland Collie Rescue was called. When we got Marley he was afraid of any loud noise, or a big stick. A baseball bat terrified him. And he refused to go into our back yard for fear he would be locked outside again. But every human he met he loved. We would go to the park and he would stand there and let ten kids pet him at once. So after lots of love, so much help from neighbors and friends to not be afraid of sticks, or rakes or sounds and with kindness and consistency, he flourished. Then one day we knew his path. He was to be a therapy dog. There is nothing like the soul of a collie for therapy work. Their herding breed instincts are to protect the little lambs of the world and that’s what they do with their humans. The show Lassie was not far off from the truth.

One day we went to a hidden home for abused women, mothers, and their children. I would always bring a short leash for the kids to walk Marly, while I actually had him attached to a longer one as I followed behind. There was the sweetest little 3-year-old boy who we met that had been terribly abused by his dad. His mom asked if he could walk Marley. Of course, I said!

So we started on a nice gentle walk around the house. After about 10 minutes the little boy stopped, kneeled down, kissed Marley on the head, and said: “I love you, Marley”. All of a sudden the mom grabbed him and started crying! The other women in the place came running over. I had no idea what was going on. Then they told me. Abuse had scared this little boy into silence. He hadn’t spoken a word in the 4 months they had been there. The first words he spoke were, “I Love You Marley.” Well then I started crying and smiled the biggest proudest smile at Marley ever. They kept thanking me! Again, I said, don’t thank me. Thank Marley. You see the soul of an abused now healed dog just started healing the soul of an abused little boy.

Ok, I admit that every time I tell that story I cry all over again.

There is a book by Jennifer Skiff called The Divinity of Dogs: True Stories of Miracles Inspired by Man’s Best Friend. In it, she writes this.

“Dogs, for a reason that can only be described as divine, have the ability to forgive, let go of the past, and live each day joyously. It’s something the rest of us strive for.”

The resilience of animals can teach us so much about life and forgiveness and hope. And truly about love. They can drag us out of depression by bringing us that damn ball over and over again until we finally just laugh and give in! They curl up with us when we are lonely and make us not feel so lonely any more. They make us feel wanted and deserving and adored even when we can’t find that for ourselves. And when they are sick and we feel so helpless… they teach us what is really important in life! We pray to a God we may have forgotten about for a while. A sip of water or a spoon of food that they eat makes us filled with hope and joy! And when we lose them to the animal heavens or rainbow bridge, or wherever else we believe they have gone… they teach us one last lesson. That love is so much deeper than possessions and titles and money and things. And the love of an animal is one of the purest kinds of love you can have. And we give thanks for the precious time we shared.

Emmy Lou Harris said this: “Animals have a much better attitude to life and death than we do. They know when their time has come. We are the ones that suffer when they pass, but it’s a healing kind of grief that enables us to deal with other griefs that are not so easy to grab hold of.” Thank you, Emmylou Harris.

And that’s why with time and with our own resilience and in memory of our beloved pet we choose to do it all over again!

Aaah the healing power of animals!

For many of my listeners, your life is not conducive to having pets right now. But if you still crave an animal hit then volunteer with a rescue. Whether it’s a dog, cat, horse, wildlife, bird sanctuary or any animal that steals your heart, try to volunteer. And you don’t have to go and be with them. So many rescues need people who are internet savvy and can network dogs or accountants to oversee their spending… or or or! There are so many animals that need the help of loving humans. And you may find that there are so many humans that need the help of that one very special loving animal. And most importantly you may find that by giving back to animals it fills a piece of your soul that you didn’t even know was missing.

If you need some extra animal-loving hits grab a book like Cat Tails or More Cat Tails by my rescue friend Jeffyne telson, founder of Resqcats in Santa Barbara. Or one of my favorites. The Art Of Racing In The Sun by Garth Stein. Then there are classics like Black Beauty and my all-time favorite collie stories ever written by Albert Payson Terhune, Author of Lad A Dog and so many more. All of his books were the inspiration for my undying love of collies.

I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes by Charles Yu, “If I could be half the person my dog is, I’d be twice the human I am.”

Happy New Year, everyone!!! Remember to be good to yourself. Drink lots of water, eat nourishing foods, get lots of sleep, and surround yourself with loving beings. And remember, just remember that those loving beings may have 4 legs and a tail.

Thank you for letting me into your lives this week and I look forward to popping back in again…next week!

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CONTENT DISCUSSED…

• A Journey to Awareness Podcast: All Episodes

• Shauna’s website: https://www.workingonme.com

WHEN DOES IT AIR…
January 16, 2021

49 2020 The Gift Of Time

December 19, 2020 By Shauna

WHAT THIS EPISODES ABOUT…

Hello and Welcome, I’m Shauna Hoffman

This will be the last podcast for the year. I decided to actually take off a few weeks and reboot myself! Rest, relax, clear my mind to allow so much creativity to seep back in as I welcome with open arms, and a few hallelujahs and a few THANK GODs, the year 2021! The last year has been quite the journey for all of us. So I wanted this podcast to be all about how we release 2020 while honoring all that it has brought to us. The good, the bad, the heartache the fear, the changes, the new closeness, and reality checks, and every other crazy emotion that we have all been experiencing. For many, it has been upheaval, sadness, illness business loss and so much stress. For others it’s become an opportunity for change, letting go of all that we thought we knew and all that was our “quote-unquote” normal. And for many of us, it’s so much of all of those things in a fricking big mess of what the hell! But I have to say, there is an interesting phenomenon that happened this year that doesn’t happen often. It is a rare shared experience with the world, with other people from other countries, and cultures, and with all of our neighbors in our own towns, across the street, in cities across our own countries. It has been one helluva year.

If you listened to the last podcast with the Amazing Britt Bolnick I asked her how we look forward to 2021. I loved her answer. “We need to embrace what was good in 2020, what I’m grateful for. Then look at what I want to do differently.” So there is another shout out to listen to podcast episode 46 “Keep the gratitude flowing!”.

I also had an interesting conversation with someone that believes that sometimes the pendulum has to swing in another direction to right itself in the end. There is no question that the political pendulum is swinging, the concept of work is swinging, the care we take of our emotional and physical selves is swinging!

I know for me personally, my business pendulum has been hard at work all over the place! Many of you know that one of my absolute passions is taking people on retreats on the high seas or to the Caribbean! Art trips to Cuba! Writers Cruises! Women’s retreats! One side of me is a passionate world traveler who loves to experience people and cultures that I have never seen before, and then to share these experiences with as many people as I can! It really is an offshoot to my therapy practice for I believe we all grow exponentially when we experience other cultures and see the world with a new lens. Travel is the best way to shake up your norm!

Well let’s put it this way….until this damn covid grounded all of us! My life and my business were shaken to the core. The travel business came to a screeching halt. But what it gave me in return was something I can never truly explain and yet we can all relate to. It gave me the gift of time. Grounding all of my travels gave me the opportunity to be here when my therapy clients needed me most. When the travel pendulum swung all the way in a scary direction, my therapy practice swung the opposite way and it all balanced out.

With telehealth, I was able to continue seeing women, families, and couples! The anxiety and stress that everyone is feeling through so much change and loss has created a world of clients reaching out to me. Many who have not been in contact for years! I was given the blessing of helping others. With every call I got, I knew why I needed to be doing what I love so much, healing the wounds, hurts, and fears of others. Covid has affected each of my clients differently. I know it has affected each of my podcast listeners differently, too. But Covid lockdown gave me the time to be here for those who need me.

Aaahh the gift of time. It gave me this podcast. I launched it in February literally weeks before Covid hit. I have to be honest with myself. I had no idea of how much work it would take to create, record, edit, and promote each podcast. I know without a doubt that had my travel business been going strong I would never have been able to continue on a weekly basis. Being able to share my thoughts and insights with all of you through this podcast has been profound on more levels than I can name. Not only has it helped many of you. It has helped me.

I have so many personal gifts from 2020! I have been able to help my grandkids with their homework via zoom! We definitely never thought of that before the craziness of virtual school! And though it has broken my heart for every child learning this way and for the parents and teachers struggling with it I have tried to see ANY silver lining! I think that there will be a new vision of teaching that comes out of this. I know from families that I see… that parents have been able to witness first hand any struggles their children have learning. Parents and teachers will have new eyes to see the needs of every student now. I believe! Although side note! I am not digging the New Math!

Another silver lining! The crazy workforce! So many clients and friends are working from home! Some love it, some hate it. There will surely be a shakeup of how companies view this option in the future! They will have a new paradigm when a single mother or father needs to work from home. There are talks with some companies for a 4 day in-office work week and another day at home! This “offering” that 2020 handed us will change the workforce in the US forever. What it will be? Who knows! But you know the saying, there is no going back. I believe that working from home has shown so many families what they were missing. Both at home with their families and getting away from home! What its going to look like in 2021 is going to be a mystery yet to unfold!

AAAAH And our pets! This is huge change for me and so many other animal-loving humans. Mine are getting so much attention it’s nuts! In the past, they knew when I took out a suitcase that I was leaving. Well, they have not seen a suitcase in 9 months! Shelters and rescues have had an influx of adoptions! People are home and can find time for a new pet. And believe me those pets have been like little therapists for so many people! I only hope that when people go back to work they plan properly for the care of these new pets. If you are a pet owner at home for a while make sure that you start to think about a healthy transition for your pets to life after covid! That’s going to be an adjustment for humans and pets alike!

The lessons around the world in 2020 have been so profound. From Black Lives Matter to reality checks on the importance of our planet and science, medicine, and health care. Again, we are watching THE PENDULUM SWINGING TO CORRECT ITSELF.

And we lost some amazingly strong role models this year, like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Lewis, groundbreaking artists and musicians, amazing athletes, Kobe. But with everyone, we were each reminded of our own mortality. And our own purposes here on this earth. What is our purpose? Everyone has their own paradigm of how to judge your self worth and reasons for being here. But I find that with every New Year that is the most hidden and unhidden question most people ask themselves. Why am I here and what am I going to do differently in the next year to fill my heart, my passions, and my soul?

I was asked to do a private seminar for a group in my town. So I decided to create a workshop of the same for my podcast listeners. I’ll tell you more about that in a few minutes. But for now, I wanted to share my wishlist for you for 2021!

My first wish is that you send off the year 2020 with love. I wish that you could make a list of the beautiful things that have happened to you this year. The lessons learned, The growth from the sadness. The growth from the joys and the wonderful realization that you just may have needed the gift of time.

I wish for you that you embrace the lessons learned and truly never lose track of the insight you have gained.

I wish for you that you can hug all the people that you love in 2021! Laugh with them, party with them, and celebrate all the beautiful milestones of your life together. It may be later in 2021. But I wish that it happens just when you need it most!

I wish for you so much health and the realization that your body and breath are sacred. Never to be taken for granted again.

I wish for you walks in nature on beaches and mountains, watching the sunset and embracing every sunrise you have.

I wish for you travel to amazing places filled with culture and new people, food, art, and music that you have craved to fill your soul.

I wish for you peaceful sleep knowing that our country is on its own path to healing. And if you are out of the US that your beautiful homeland is healing and mending from the challenges of 2020.

I wish for you the glory of your own self-awareness journey. That you stay on course! That you do the things that help you let go of past pains and embrace all of life around you. That you meditate and get lots of sleep, honor your body, and home. But most importantly I wish that you never give up learning and digging deep within your soul to find your own paradise.

I wish for you that you KNOW without a doubt that you deserve it!

Remember what Tinkerbell says in Peter Pan- All it takes is a little Faith, Trust, and a little bit of Pixie Dust!

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Here is the workshop that I will be offering on January 16th. I am making it really affordable for everyone and anyone. Just a $20 donation in these crazy hard times. I have also been asked if you can gift it and yes you can! But most importantly if you can’t afford it just shoot me an email and I will gift it to you!

[Read more…]

48 Talking Perseverance With the Amazing Britt Bolnick

December 12, 2020 By Shauna

WHAT THIS EPISODES ABOUT…

Hello and Welcome I’m Shauna Hoffman,

I am so excited to have the next guest join us today. Those of you who know me will realize why I had to ask her to be on the show to talk about “perseverance”!

Britt Bolnick is a successful biz owner and magic-maker living a life she loves in Maine. She supports magical, multi-passionate women business owners and mission-based entrepreneurs doing work they love but struggling to manage the business side and time-management.

She has traveled a path from financial scarcity to financial independence, building a 6-figure business she loves as a single mama working less than full-time.

Fun fact: She’s used her tried and true magic time-management tools to start a non-profit pit bull rescue while also running her business, having three days off a week, and being an avid book-reader and beach-walker.

Welcome Britt!

[Read more…]

47 Stop Texting, Just Call Me!

December 5, 2020 By Shauna

WHAT THIS EPISODES ABOUT…

Hello and Welcome I’m Shauna Hoffman,

OK, the A to Z of self-awareness. we have done A- Awareness, B- Boundaries today let’s tackle C- Communication! I gotta tell you in this day and age that word has so many meanings. First is how we communicate with others. The messages we send to them. Is it healthy? Is it aggressive or needy or convoluted, or manipulating or joyful, logical, emotional! Ohhhhh so many things to talk about there. I touched on much of that in the podcast called The Art Of Healthy Fighting. But there is another discussion around communication that has come up over and over with my clients lately that I think it’s time to dissect! The WAY we communicate in covid times. Do we text, or call?

With Covid, we can’t just show up for a little visit for some old-fashioned coffee talk. “Hey, I’m in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by.” Now it’s texting or zoom, facebook, facetime, and posting on Social Media. All of a sudden communication between people seems to all involve technology. So I thought for today we would talk about how to navigate this crazy world. How to make sure that we are reaching the people we want to have in our lives. And if we are doing it in a way that is healthy and honoring our relationship with them. And more importantly, are we actually communicating with them or just sending up smoke signals and hoping they know what we are feeling?

I want you to think for a minute about the important people in your life right now. Go through them in your mind. Your immediate family… your kids, parents, siblings. When was the last time you communicated with them and how did you do that? Is it a text hello? Did you pick up a phone and call them? Did you post something to them on one of the gazillion social media apps? Did you actually get a reply? Then did you respond back? And here is a big thought for you to consider. Was it trivial? What did you cook for dinner? What your dog or cat did that day? OK, that stuff is not trivial to you. But it does not engage your emotions with that of another person.

And THAT is what good communication does. We share our feelings with another being. We allow a connection that goes deeper than a picture or a like or a meme reply. We become vulnerable with another person.

[Read more…]

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