Growth

62 Lessons On The Inca Trail

June 19, 2021 By Shauna

Hello and Welcome, I’m Shauna Hoffman

Did you ever realize how much you learn about yourself, your values, your dreams, your heart when you venture far away from home? Or have you ever escaped your everyday world just for a day in search of a missing piece of yourself, your sanity, or your soul? When I truly look at my own growth I realize that I have found more of myself in my world travels than I ever thought was possible. I was really thinking about this podcast and where I wanted to go with it in this new season. And it didn’t take me long to discover that I had named this podcast a Journey To Awareness for a reason. It’s on so many journeys I have taken that I have found out who I am and what is important in my life. It’s amazing how much you can learn about yourself when you leave behind all that is comfortable and known to you, all the things that define you. Your home, your job, your car. your favorite foods, the clothes you wear, the people that surround you.

So I am hoping you will indulge me this season as I take you on some of my journeys around the world to share the awareness that I have been blessed with on these amazing sojourns to magnificent places. In my old age, I have been lucky enough to have traveled to 37 countries, met the people, experienced their cultures. I have learned to leave behind my judgments and expectations in order to indulge in this thing I love about travel called the unknown. Travel pushes our limits of what we know as our reality if we let it. And what we learn about ourselves along the way is astounding… Sometimes whether you want those lessons or not. But hey…ain’t that life anyway?

So my very first adventure I want to take you on is the one I took when I hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu for my 50th birthday. I had this amazing friend, soul sister named Joni who had been the one to open my eyes to all things spiritual and metaphysical. One by one she handed me books to spark my thinking and open my soul. We used to sit for hours and dream of where we wanted to go in life. The one spiritual place that kept calling our name was the Inca trail hike to Machu Picchu in Peru. If you don’t know the story of this magical place, it was a trail that the Inca Tribe created out of granite to carry all the materials to build their temple city, Machu Picchu. All the way back in the 1400s. But it has been hidden from most of the outside world until it was discovered in 1911.

If you do any research into spiritual places around the planet you will read that Machu Picchu is considered one of the most spiritually aligning places to travel to. They say it opens and resonates all of the chakras. They even believe it stimulates the immune system and brings the body into balance. To the Inca’s all of the environment is Sacred. Pachamama, which they call Mother earth, has always cared for them, so it was their responsibility to care for her. It is listed as one of the NEW 7 Wonders of the Modern World.

Well, what better place to go on the big 5-0 than Peru to climb the Inca Steps and visit this spectacular place and reach into my soul on an amazing journey? I wanted a mind, body soul experience… and boy did I get it.

Actually, the idea for this particular trip came from a friend of ours. I call her Doc Liza, She called out of the blue and said wanna go hike the Inca trail? I had no idea what I wanted to do for the big 50 and just like that it was decided! How she knew that was on my spiritual bucket list…I will never know. But obviously, the universe knew! And we were off! Liza, who really is a doctor, brought her 17-year-old nephew along, too. Liza is a big hiker and mountain climber. She was ready for this trek. It was going to be a 4-day hike where we carried all of our own packs. We had hired this great company appropriately called Pachamama to do this as a private tour for us. We didn’t want to be hiking with 20 people and be at the behest of their pace. So birthday splurge it was! Private guide, private sherpas, and private chefs. 6 of them and the 4 of us.

Though Liza was very ready for a high-altitude mountain hike, My hubby, Bert, and me… not so much. In our brilliance… we thought we trained for it here in California. HA! We live at about 1000 feet. The Inca Trail takes you up to about 14,000 feet. Yup, we are talking altitude sickness! And on one day alone you hike from 10,000 ft to 14,000 ft. And these are steps! Not hiking on a trail! And the steps are uneven and made of granite. So let me break that down for you. And you’ll see how unprepared we were! A step is one and a half feet. That means that one day we walked up 2700 stairs. Now let’s break it down more! 10 steps is a flight of stairs. In that one day, it was as if we had walked up 270 flights of stairs! Seriously! We were soooooooo unprepared! And again…In the altitude that our bodies were sooooo not ready for!

Then this happened. On our first night on the trail, Liza’s 17-year-old nephew got pulmonary edema, fluid in the lungs from the altitude. We had thought for sure he was the one who would fly through this hike, young strong. But it was the opposite. In order to make sure he didn’t get worse, Doc Liza and her nephew had to go back down the mountain. Their hike was over. We were all so sad. We had planned this for months. But I gotta tell you, traveling with a Doctor as a friend can surely save a life! And the good news is they met us at the end of the trip at Machu Picchu after their own 3-day journey to awareness.

Now it was 6 of the Pachama team and just me and Bert. If I wasn’t so totally exhausted at the end of the day I could have appreciated the spoiling! They even brought a Birthday cake for me all the way up the muntain!

OK, I wanted a mind-body, soul experience and I got it. How the hell was I to keep going when my body was aching and exhausted? The answer was mind over body.

There is a great quote that says it all.

Your body can stand almost anything. It’s your mind that you have to convince.

So it became amind game I played with myself. For those of you who hike mountains you know that you come to these curves ahead of you,

switchbacks, where you are sure you are at the top of the mountain! Then you get there, round the bend feeling victorious only to see that the climb actually goes on and on higher and higher!

So the next piece of advice I gave myself is what I preach and preach and preach on my podcasts and to my clients… stay in the moment.

I realized that I could not look ahead of me with expectations. I had to stay in the moment, one step at a time. Well, how the hell was I to do that when all I saw were more stairs? Mind over body-mind over body-mind over body. I had to occupy my mind with thoughts that had nothing to do with the exhaustion I felt. I had to see the beauty all around me. After all, that is why I was there.

In therapy, we call that Stop thought! You stop the negative or scary thought and replace it with a better thought!

I had an idea. I started to name every step I took for someone I knew, picturing them in my mind. I started with the people I loved…ha! Well as we climbed higher and higher and those switchbacks came one after the other, the list turned into every person I had known since childhood! But there was something so spiritual about that. It was like every person I knew was on that trail with me, walking my journey by my side.

And my walking stick!

I had bought this beautiful blue carved wood walking stick in one of the villages before we started. That walking stick became another limb to me. It was beautiful and strong and I was grateful for it every step of the way. And for every step I took, I looked at all that magnificence surrounding me. Then I would try to take a deep breath as I thought about all of the Incas who had traveled this path hundreds of years ago. And I thought of each friend or family member that was now on that trail by my side.

Breathe Shauna breathe…

Well, that wasn’t easy! We know that breath is one way we connect to our bodies. We breathe through pain, or sadness, or anxiety. We take nice big sighs when we are happy and content. Now here I was trying to breathe when my oxygen was getting less and less in the altitude and my head was swimming. And when you can’t breathe deeply you tend to breathe shallower or hold your breath. Well, none of that was gonna work because I had miles yet to go and breath was the only way to get there. Suddenly my journey to self became about breath… and life.

I love this quote by Thich Nhat Hanh. It describes my lesson on the trail perfectly

Breathing in I calm my body.

Breathing out I smile, dwelling in the present moment.

The only moment.

And then all of a sudden this happened. We were at a beautiful valley when our guide said “Look all the way up to that mountain peak. That’s where we are going. It’s called Dead Women’s Pass.”

Seriously. Seriously? I swear I looked at him, with my mouth agape wondering how many people have died trying to get there! But he just laughed!

Dead woman’s pass was named because, when seen from the valley below where we were, its crests resemble the form of a woman’s body lying down and facing up to the sky. Ok, well that made me feel a LITTLE better!

Then I looked even closer to the peaks and I saw a deer standing there and silhouetted by the sun. Our guide saw it too. He was shocked. He said deer were very rare on these mountains. And all of a sudden I got tears in my eyes. Joni. What I didn’t share earlier is that my friend Joni who was my spiritual partner on my soul searching journey, who had dreamt of hiking this trail one day, had left this earth ten years earlier. She never made it here.

Or so I thought. With all of my being, I knew that deer was a sign from Joni. You see, my nickname for her was “Doe Eyes”! She had the biggest brown eyes. She always looked like a baby deer. And her yard was filled with delicate deer sculptures. Doe Eyes.

Mind Body Spirit. Here was the beginning of the soul part of my journey. It was like Joni was standing up on that pass telling me I can do it! Believing in me and more than that…calling me up the mountain to finally share our dream of hiking the Inca Trail together.

All of a sudden I felt like I could fly up those steps! Mind-body…. soul. I was going to meet Joni on Dead Woman’s Pass!

How appropriate!

There are so many parts of this journey to self I could share with you. Waking up on the last morning in time to see the sun rise over Machu Picchu took my breath away. To share it with my husband was a memory that has bonded us forever. To have seen and felt Joni on that trail broke away all the questions of the “here and the after” for me and gave me so much peace. The struggle to overcome so much physical stress from exhaustion to not being able to breathe only helped me to learn that truly my mind can overcome my body if I try. And the unbelievable satisfaction of achieving what at moments felt truly unachievable reminds me that whenever I think I can’t do something…I actually can!

Doc Liza and her nephew met us in Machu Picchu. They had gone back to stay in another mystical village, Urubamba, which sits in what is known as the Sacred Valley. And once again we shared this dream. Then we stayed overnight n a town outside of Machu Picchu called Aguas Calientes. Doc Liza had arranged for me to have a massage before we got there! She knew I would need it. Always a healer that woman!

Once again, I had the most spiritual moment as the Inca music was playing and the massage therapist soothed my muscles. I swear for a moment I left my body. Maybe it was the exhaustion finally being healed. Or maybe as the Incas say… my chakras were opened and being aligned! Whatever it was, I will never really know. But I can still feel it in my soul today.

My own journey to my journey to awareness.

Machu Picchu itself was more than I could imagine. It’s mystical and magical and filled with the stories of a culture now gone. To get there on the same steps that the Incas took gave me a feeling of one with a people I would never have known if I didn’t literally walk in their footsteps.

And my beautiful blue carved walking stick is mounted with pride above my window at home. Whenever I wonder if I can achieve something or not I just look up at that beautiful stick and I know the answer. Of course, I can.

This quote says it all.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

If you ever have the chance to see Machu Picchu whether by the Inca Trail or by the new train that now takes visitors there. Do it! And say hi to Doe Eyes for me while you’re there!

So to my podcast family, I Thank you for traveling on this journey with me. I hope you come back and listen to more of my “journeys on my own journey to self-awareness”! And please, share this episode with anyone you feel would enjoy it.

Now be good to yourself, drink lotsa water, eat nourishing foods, challenge yourself to do what you think is impossible! Let your mind body and soul be one. And venture out of your known to experience the unknown!

Thank you for letting me into your life this week and I look forward to popping back in again next time.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CONTENT DISCUSSED…

• A Journey to Awareness Podcast: All Episodes

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

WHEN DOES IT AIR… JUNE 19, 2021

54 Our Podcast Anniversary Lovefest

February 13, 2021 By Shauna

Hello and Welcome, I’m Shauna Hoffman

I am so excited for this episode because Valentines Day is the one year anniversary of the launch of this podcast! One year! Wow… did I ever think when I started it that today would come? And…and… we hit 3000 downloads this week! That just blew me out of the water to think about. I started this podcast with the sole purpose of being able to help people on their journey to self-awareness. A journey that sometimes is so gentle and uplifting and other times can be so painful and hard. Every listener that I have is in a different place at the time they hit play on the podcast. But for me knowing that I could be there for you through this process is what brings me so much joy. And what you don’t know is how much you have been there for me! Every download, every like, every comment was a way for me to know I was helping. But it was searching for the theme of every podcast that was my own journey to awareness. Many times the topic for that week had something to do with something going in on my own life. Or something going on in the world that I knew if I discussed on the podcast it would bring me answers or insight that I needed. Working through it on the podcast with my listeners was like my own therapy. Other times the topic was brought on by an issue I was helping a client with. So I knew that if I could go into more depth on the podcast they would get more relief or answers.

I thought it may be fun if today if I took you on a behind the scenes tour of the podcast world… in other words…the journey to awareness of the journey to awareness podcast!

Ha… all of a sudden I thought of the song from The Sound of Music.. Remember the lyrics.. you start at the very beginning… a very good place to start… Well, the beginning of this podcast was truly inspired by my brilliant friend, Jody Colvard. Jody Colvard is the founder/ CEO of FMG Networks, Voices of Women, and The Podcast School, she is a powerhouse that empowers writers, speakers, and experts to share their voices and messages through podcasting, radio, and TV. And she truly inspired me and set me on the right track. I learned everything from her. She helped me get the website ready to launch. She is the brains behind all of the production of this podcast. and lucky for me, she taught me how to edit the podcast each week. Or more likely, lucky for her. Because this was definitely a work in progress! This podcast would not have happened, I promise you if it were not for Jody Colvard. So here, my Goddess friend, I say thank you!!!

I think what I want to share with all of you about this process is that I really knew nothing except my topic and I had my speaking abilities. But with the right support system, I went for it. I am sharing this with you because I hope it may inspire you to go after some dream you have that you may be clueless about how to actually do! I am hoping that you can believe in yourself enough to surround yourself with people who also believe in you and who have the knowledge you may not have. It really is ok to not be adept at something and still start it! We learn so much from our mistakes and every time we have a new accomplishment it is THE most empowering feeling!

Ha.. ok, that reminds me of an experience that we had with our Sailing instructor. Many of you know I am a sailor and love to use sailing analogies when I speak or write. Well, we were out on our boat the Illusion. I was having the best time and felt so confident. Then at one moment, I was about to tack…which means to change the sails so I can change the direction we are going. Then all of a sudden our sailing instructor said. “Wait are you going to do that?” I froze and said, ”Why? What? Shouldn’t I”. He said nonchalantly, “It’s up to you, you’re the captain.” Then I said, “But am I about to make a mistake?”. He answered,” I don’t know, try it, you’ll soon find out!”. OMG! Really? So, I really had to think it through and decide what to do. After a minute I realized that I did know the answer! And what I was about to do was totally fine! So, I did it and he laughed! Seriously I was like “You put me through hell for a moment!” His answer was “No… you put yourself through hell.”

You see, He was just empowering me to be confident in my choices. I had hired the best and he taught me right. At some point, I had to believe in myself.

I think we so often second guess ourselves and that stops us dead in our tracks. But when we are truly self-aware we can take a moment to check-in and see the truth within. We have the opportunity in every moment to put other people’s voices aside…or for that matter…our own negative voices… to find the answers within. And better yet to realize we already have them! Truly that negative voice is hella loud! We have to shut it down so we can hear that soft confident and honest voice that knows us better than anyone. The one that says yes! You’ve got this!

OK, back to this podcast. I had the best support system with Jody teaching me. I knew the knowledge I had to offer to my listeners and I just had to do it. So one year ago I decided to allow myself to NOT BE perfect! To allow myself to make mistakes along the way. And to allow myself to grow. But I could do it all because I had a mission to help people find happiness. To find those places within that need to grow. To find forgiveness for themselves and others and maybe to laugh along the way! Deep within me, I knew why I wanted to do this and all I had to do was start.

Ok back to the behind the scenes tour. After I record and edit the podcast, Jody takes it and adds the intro and outro, and uploads it into the podcast platforms and my website. And now it is out in the world! But how do people find it? Enter social media! OOOOh I must admit it is the weakest part of this process for me. I absolutely love making memes with my quotes or other people’s quotes. But that’s where it ends. So, I finally hired Social Media experts to do it right! Again! It was admitting that I sucked at something so I could get help. Wait a minute! I didn’t have to be a pro at everything? Uhhhh no. Now I have these two brilliant souls, George and Sam who do it for me. Ya know…It’s just fine to check your ego and get help! It’s also fine to let other’s be there for your dream as long as they believe in you and your message! “Hashtag…surround yourself with loving beings”.

But what I also learned is that it was word of mouth from my listeners and all of you sharing the podcast that made the biggest difference. I have people send a link to a friend who may need it or a partner who is not hearing them and they think the podcast will help. FYI- Biggest shared episode for couples. episode #39 The Art of Healthy Fighting. I have newly single men or women who are reinventing their lives. I have therapists and healers that share it with their clients. I have mom’s and daughters that listen to it together. This really brought me back to the WHY of this podcast. My purpose… the podcast’s purpose… to make a difference in people’s lives.

And THAT is also why the podcast had a massive name change and new branding. The initial name was Guy Free Working On Me, based on my book. It was for ALL women on their journey, whether in a relationship or not. It was meant to show that you need to find yourself whether in a relationship or not in order to find happiness. Well hell… a big lesson in branding there! It missed a whole audience I was trying to reach. Then I heard about so many men who were listening and that was it… name change to… A Journey To Awareness.

One of the things I have found fascinating is the way I can track the messages people need to hear by watching the downloads. The most downloaded episodes seem to track 2020 perfectly. My most downloaded episode was also the hardest one for me to do Episode #21 The Great Unlearning. It was recorded the week of the Black Lives Matter protests. So many podcasters went quiet that week. For me, I looked deep within to truly explore my own prejudices and where they came from. It was very hard to do but again…it was a podcast that by helping all of my listeners look within, I helped myself.

The second most downloaded podcast went up the week of the election. Episode #42, Calgon Take Me Away! HA! We all needed to take a deep breath and find a way to relax that week! It was funny because I was afraid to call it that for fear that my younger listeners may not get the reference. But I promise you I took many a relaxing bath that week! To this day it’s my favorite episode to send my clients to who are having a stressful week.

And right along with the world my last podcast of 2020, Episode #49 The Gift of Time is the next most downloaded episode. We all needed…and may STILL need a way to re-imagine 2020. What brought me peace was realizing that for so many of us 2020 was a gift of time to be with loved ones, not work so hard, work on ourselves, get creative and so much more. I hoped it gave my listeners a change in perception!

Now my most FUN episode I recorded for my birthday week. Oh, please, please, please go listen to it! Episode #30 “Your Wisdom Day. Ain’t It Fab?” I had such a great time rethinking what it means to get older. I imagined our lives if we could just have this counter that marked our wisdom growth versus our age, we would WELCOME that number going up! “Oh yes! Got through that fight and learned a lesson”.. DING DING DING Your Wisdom age has just gone up! It was really a fun episode for me. Feel free to send it to your friends on their birthday!

And then there are the episodes with a guest. I LOVE these! It is so much fun to hear their stories. It’s even more fun to share their wisdom, their books, their podcasts. Andra Millian, Acupuncturist healer… kicked me into gear on taking care of me. Victoria Fye, a therapist who with total dedication took 17 years to go after her dream of being a social worker and helping humanity. The fricking amazing LaVelda Conrad who shared her story on episode #11 about going from an abused woman, wife, and mother, through addiction to learning all about nature, wildlife, and herself as she became …wait for it…an African Safari Guide! Really I could hear her story of reinvention over and over again! Then there was episode 51 Sail Above the clouds with Carole Fontaine. OK… listen to it then go get her book!

There is nothing I love more than empowering men and women! Bring in Laura Piening to talk about Power on Episode #32, Episode 35 with Molly Lyda where she talks about women empowerment especially in the dating world. And then the quote-unquote “badass Britt Bolnick” who talks about success through perseverance. Truly this woman is badass and shows you how to be the same.

And that brings me back to this… the One Year anniversary of A Journey To Awareness. It’s Valentine’s Week. What if you made this week a lovefest to yourself? A lovefest to your own dreams? A lovefest that gives you permission not to be perfect? A Lovefest where you surround yourself with amazing humans who adore you and believe in you? A lovefest where you LOVE ALL of your imperfections and see them as an opportunity? An opportunity to truly get to know the you that is deep inside? A lovefest that says yes yes yes you are fricking amazing and with the right support and people surrounding you can do anything you dream of? A lovefest where you walk away from toxic relationships and rise up to say I DESERVE? A Lovefest where you stop judging your body or your age or your faults but instead ADORE all that your body can do for you… in all its nuances? A lovefest of the most magnificent kind!

And then with all of that love, you spread your gifts to the world. And more importantly… you receive all the gifts and the love the world has to offer you.

You know none of that list is unachievable. In fact, all of it is totally achievable! If you are willing to look within. If you are willing to take that beautiful magical and unbelievably healing Journey to awareness!

I love this quote by Oscar Wilde”To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.”Happy Valentine’s week everyone! May the romance endure and fill your soul!

To all of you, my sailing partners on this journey thank you for allowing me to come along. Now go forth this week in self-love as you eat the most nourishing foods, drink lots of water, get so much rest, be kind to yourself, surround yourself with loving beings, and believe in your dreams!

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CONTENT DISCUSSED…

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

WHEN DOES IT AIR…
February 13, 2021

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