May 9, 2025 • 30 mins
In this expansive episode of In Your Element, Kathleen Kenneally goes far beyond the buzzword of “manifestation” to unpack the deeper forces at play in how we shape our lives. Through heartfelt reflection and grounded wisdom, she explores how perception, attention, and emotional awareness influence not just what we attract—but how we move through the world. Drawing from her work with patients and her own journey, Kathleen shows how discomfort can be a portal to healing, and how our reactions often stem from unresolved past wounds that still live within us.
Kathleen invites us to “pay attention to what you’re paying attention to”—a guiding phrase that reveals how much power we have to shift our experience simply by noticing where our focus rests. From the mirror of other people to the stories we tell ourselves about pain or conflict, she encourages listeners to see discomfort not as something to avoid, but as an opportunity for transformation. She also shares practical tools, like her playful “Where are your feet?” grounding exercise and the calming practice of box breathing, to bring listeners back into their bodies and back into the present moment.
This episode is both a reality check and a love note for anyone stuck in reactive loops, navigating relational triggers, or seeking clarity about the energy they’re putting into the world. Kathleen reminds us that perception isn’t passive—it’s participatory. And with choice comes power: the power to soften, to realign, and to return to love as often as possible. For more insight, healing support, or to book a session, visit kenneallyacupuncture.com.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kathleen Kenneally (Intro) (00:00):
Hello and welcome to In Your Element with
Kathleen Kenneally, where we explorethe wisdom of natural healing and
the deeper rhythms of life fromthe five elements to live out loud.
Spirituality.
This is a space to reconnect withyour most authentic self, whether
you're seeking balance through Chinesemedicine, tuning into your energetic
(00:21):
blueprint, or fully embracing themost vibrant, alive version of you.
This is your space toexplore, expand, and.
And realign.
Let's dive into today's conversation.
Kathleen Kenneally (00:36):
Okay.
Welcome to In Your Elementwith Kathleen Kenneally.
Yep, that's me, We've been talking aboutso many interesting topics, at least for
me, I. I hope you've been finding value.
I hope it's been interesting.
At the very least, perhaps it, thethings we've been talking about has,
has just given you another perspectiveor piqued your interest or thought.
(00:59):
Hmm.
I haven't thought aboutthat in that way before.
And that really is what I'm hoping to,create in these podcasts is I want to.
Bring some different perspectivesfor people and find ways that
we can all connect, within them.
So let's begin.
(01:20):
I really wanted to talk aboutsomething really interesting to me.
A couple of concepts kind of big.
it's the idea ofmanifestation and perception.
And how they work togetherand how that shows up.
And, I know, stay with me.
I know we're going a little deeptoday, but I promise you'll come out
of this feeling lighter, more empowered,and at the very least, like I said,
(01:43):
thinking about something a little bitdifferently from a different angle.
Alright, so let's get started.
Let's dive in.
I have to say, I am so incrediblyfortunate that every day.
I get to have these Amazing conversationswith people, with my patients,
with, people I meet in stores.
(02:04):
I just find that there is so many people,if given the right circumstances, you know
that the energy opens and flows and wejust have so much to learn from everybody.
And I think I've said this before,is that everybody is a mirror
and everybody is a teacher.
If we can hold that perspective aswe're moving through life, and some
(02:26):
days definitely are easier than others,then there is so much to be gained.
There's so much, it's so rich.
There's a richness.
And so again, I'm grateful andI'm fortunate that I, do the kind
of work where I get to talk topeople and people open up and
they, we share stories and so on.
And When we're talking about the ideaof, perception and we talk about the
(02:51):
idea of manifestation, is that as weconnect to other people, we have the
ability to, and have moments wherewe recognize that we are not alone on
this path, and that in our, growth.
trajectory that we as people are showingus things about ourselves and we are
showing them things about themselves, thatit really allows us to expand and grow.
(03:15):
And sometimes, you know, thesereflections that people show us, right?
The things that we see, perhapssomeone, something in somebody
really bugs us or irritates us, oroftentimes that is something that we.
Maybe don't like within ourselves thatthat's something that we're uncomfortable
with about ourselves, that maybe it'ssomething we do too and hmm, maybe
(03:37):
we don't really wanna look at that.
and then conversely, we can alsohave those people that come into
our lives that we just adore.
That there's something about their energy.
There's something about their positivityor how they're going, about, how they
process, how they communicate, whatever itis that you really, really appreciate and
(03:57):
you feel familiar with and you recognize.
And in those instances, I like to.
Think of that, you know, those are thetimes perhaps that we are seeing the
things that we like actually withinourselves, that people are reflecting
back to us the things that we feelgood about or that we, yeah, that we
feel good about ourselves that we like.
And, again, we get to have both ofthese experiences and, and what we
(04:21):
choose to do with those experiencesis completely, again, up to us.
We can say, oh yeah.
Cool.
I'm learning something.
Or we can get pissed off orirritated or, walk away.
because sometimes it can bereally scary to come face to
face with things that, Hmm.
We've put on a shelf orwe've chosen to kind of Yeah.
(04:45):
Not deal with at the moment because life.
In every present moment and lifeas we are projecting to the future.
Because a lot of times we're futurethinking, keeps us from being
present in the moment of like, okay,yeah, this is right up in my face.
And so one of the things I inviteeverybody who's listening to do, and
one of the things to think about isthat it's okay to be uncomfortable.
(05:10):
Get okay with being uncomfortable becauseit's in those moments of discomfort
that if we're just stay there, wehave a chance to actually transmute.
We have a chance to work through,we have a chance to move past it.
If we.
You know, Bob and Weave anddodge and, put things on shelves
(05:32):
and just say, mm, not today.
Fair enough.
I mean, that's fine.
Go ahead.
You know, we can do whatever we want.
We can deal with our, stuff, ourtrauma, our whatever it is that
we are just kinda like, nah, Idon't have the bandwidth today.
You know, we can chooseanother time to do that.
I'm just suggesting that.
(05:53):
Pay attention to those momentsthat you do feel uncomfortable.
Pay attention to those momentswhere you just can't get outta there
quick enough or you just, you know,you want to go turn on the TV or.
My favorite is to eat Eastercandy, but that's no Easter's done.
Now I'm weaning myself off,but you know what I'm saying?
It's kind of like whatever it is that wehave in place, that takes us away, that
(06:15):
distracts us, then we're gonna go there.
So just entertain the idea that it's okayto be uncomfortable sometimes, and it's
in those moments of discomfort that themost growth can happen, and we get to
move through stuff because you know what?
We can't go around it.
we really do have to move throughstuff and release it and let it go.
(06:36):
so that's kind of myfirst thought around all.
That's some of my first thoughtsaround all of this and that.
Pay attention to what youare paying attention to.
that's like such a key phrase for me.
Pay attention to what you arepaying attention to because.
Again, it's one of those thingswhere if we move into the idea of
(06:59):
manifestation, you know, where ourintention or attention goes, energy flows.
So for example, if you Believethat oranges are yellow.
the fruit orange is the color of yellow.
you know that, that's your truth.
Well, you know what?
You can find things that aregonna support your truth.
(07:22):
You'll be able to find, you'll be ableto identify and locate other people or
information or something that is goingto support what you believe is true.
and conversely, there are alwaysgonna be things available too that
are going to, discount what you'vesaid or show you that that's not true.
(07:43):
But we get to choose.
We can choose and say, Nope, thisis my truth, and I'm gonna find
the things that support my truth.
and it's kind of like we take thatone step further is that, man,
I'm in fear, so I am going to.
Keep seeing the things that confirmevery reason why I should be in fear.
(08:05):
This happened and this happened, and Isaw that on the news and this, and so.
I think you can get where I'm going withthis is that, you know, whatever word
we choose to place our intention, we canfind the things that are gonna back us up.
We can find the things that aregonna support our perspective
and revalidate the yes.
You have every reason to be scared oryou have every reason to be angry, of
(08:25):
every reason, to be fill in the blank.
And so again, that's that whole energy ofa perception of a situation, for example.
And some people are gonna be like,Hmm, I don't know about this.
But think about it just for a moment.
Consider the possibility that if youcan just for a moment, consider that
(08:45):
an event, something that happens inyour life, can be just an event until.
We place meaning onto it.
So something can happen to me in mylife and it could be pretty awful,
or somebody did me wrong, or theyhurt my feelings, or, you know,
(09:06):
fill again, fill in the blank.
Something happens.
But if I can just see that as like, thatwas just an event that just happened
and how I choose to perceive it, how Ichoose to respond to it, gives it its
fuller meaning, then it means something.
But if I stay neutral.
If I just stay in my zone withthings, then I'm in my zone and I'm
(09:32):
not necessarily going to be impactedby, you know, what somebody's
saying to me or if they've donesomething or whatever, because I.
I am just separate from it.
And so again, that brings me back to thatconcept and the idea that our perceptions
are everything, how we perceive things,and again, we, always are in choice.
(09:53):
I know now people might argue withthat or say, no, that's not the case.
And, and certainly there are.
Events and things that happen in our lifeand things that happen to people that we
love, or we see it in the news and youthink, well, they didn't choose that.
how could somebody have chosen that?
and I'm not gonna say you're wrong.
(10:13):
however, there are many,many, many occasions where.
We do have a choice in terms ofhow we're going to respond, how
we're going to react, and how weare going to move forward after an
event or something has happened.
And so again, obviously there are thingsthat it's hard to place this equation.
(10:36):
You know, things aren't just an equation.
A plus B equals C all the time.
There are variationsThere's the gray area.
And things aren't always just blackand white, and I think it's within
the gray area that this is where wecan, Again, take a moment and pause
to reflect and have a look like,hmm, what does that gray look like?
(11:00):
Like what are the variables,what are the variations of this
particular, uh, how could thiscertain situation actually end up?
And so that puts us into thislike, well, I'm gonna make sure I
think of every possible scenario.
And then it turns out completely differentthan anything you could have imagined.
Hmm.
That's interesting.
(11:21):
Right?
I think it's kind of interesting, so.
speaking of interesting, I had aconversation with, somebody couple
weeks ago, and this is somebody thatI really, really enjoy talking to and
she and I were talking about my podcastand, and then she's really enjoying it
and so on, and she shared a, story ofsomething that happened in her life and.
(11:43):
You know, I was kind of surprised asI heard the various events that she,
had gone through and what had happened.
And she looked at me and she said,how do you handle the haters?
How do you handle the haters?
And I have to tell you thatnot a split second went by and
it was like, immediately whatI re my response was to her.
(12:07):
And I had this feeling of like,I was perplexed at the question.
And I looked at her, I said,I don't have any haters.
I don't have any haters.
And honestly, after this came outtamy mouth, I paused for a second
and I was genuinely surprised.
I thought, wow, what the heck?
Um, wow.
Okay.
(12:27):
I don't have any haters.
and so I kind of thought that I, myperception of that, or what I was feeling
was that my higher self, if you will,big Kathleen, the higher version of me
immediately swooped in and answered thequestion before the small little Kathleen.
Um, and maybe, I kind ofrefer to that as my ego part.
(12:49):
the part that's.
You know, doesn't have the, it getsenmeshed in the drama and so on.
she didn't have a chance to pipe in.
She didn't have an opportunity toget her 2 cents in because of course
she could take a moment and certainlystart thinking about, well, you
know, that person, and there's thatperson, and then, you know, my sister.
And, it was so fascinating to mebecause it, of course, obviously
(13:14):
there are, People in the wor I'm noteverybody's cup of tea, obviously.
There's probably people that don'tlike me or, you know, whatever.
But the point of it is, is thatmy perception is that in that
moment, where is my attention going?
I'm not paying attention to thosepeople that are not vibrating
(13:35):
at the same frequency that I am.
Although we don't see eye to eye or they,view life through a whole different lens,
and it's not compatible with my view,I'm not hanging out with those people.
And so I'm not evenfocusing on those people.
I'm not paying attention to those people,and I am just focusing on doing what I
love and really capturing as much joy.
(14:00):
That I can in my lifeand to have as much fun.
I mean, for me, it's so importantthat everything that I do.
That I find some joy in it, and Ican honestly say that I love my work.
I love my home.
I love my son.
I love my family.
(14:20):
I truly, now it doesn't mean there's notmoments and lumps and bumps in the road.
It doesn't mean that it's, you know,always ice cream and cupcakes and kittens.
It just means that.
For the most part, in the biggerpicture, even the macrocosm, the
microcosm, all of it, I am focused andpaying attention to the things that
(14:44):
I love, that support me, that help memove forward in my life so that I can
also help others move forward in theirlives and so it truly, truly can be.
That simple.
It really can, it can be that simpleif you just take a moment, take
the time and really look at how youare approaching a situation or what
(15:11):
lens are you looking through, whenyou are interpreting, when you are.
Discerning when you are figuringstuff out, and sometimes we
just need to take a break.
We just need to take a pause.
We need to just take a breath.
Whew.
Take a deep, deep breath.
(15:32):
I'm telling you when.
People are busy, busy, busy, and,and I encounter a lot of people in my
practice with, you know, a lot of stress.
People are doing a lot, they're doingtoo much, not doing enough self care.
And I have to truly watchthis for myself as well.
I mean, I am vigilant, I am,catching myself going up.
(15:53):
Wait, you haven't walked forthree days, you haven't been
out and about, you haven't.
Just as a way of just reminding myselftoo, this self-care thing is a practice
because I, I work and work and workand I'm doing, doing, doing as well,
and so it really is kind of just, theseare the reminders that we have to take
(16:15):
a breath and sometimes when peopleare worrying about stuff or they're
going over their lists or they'retrying to, you know, get to the next.
Whatever the next task is.
you know, they're, not in their body.
They are in their head.
And then people wonder whythey have anxiety attacks.
Then they wonder why they, haveinsomnia, why they always feel uneasy.
(16:37):
And part of that truly is on some level,they're not grounded in their body.
So what does that mean tobe grounded in your body?
It just means that.
You are fully present in everymoment, and not in your head,
trying to get ahead of every moment.
(16:57):
And so again, when people are notin their body, when they're stressed
out or they're overthinking andthey're going, going, going, going.
The body becomes uneasy and it,again, palpitations, anxiety.
all of these things can show upand so acupuncture treats that
really, really well, and so doesmeditation, helps yoga, breath work.
(17:23):
Even just practicing box breathing,which I'll go over in just a minute,
can be very, very, very helpful.
And so.
One of the things I tell my patientswhen they're talking to me about
how they're spinning and they're intheir head all the time, I'll look
at them and say, where are your feet?
(17:43):
I'll say, where are your feet?
And they'll look at me, and then they'll,kinda laugh and again, they, they get it.
They get the exercise, which islike, yes, when you are feeling
anxious or whatever, ask yourselfthe question, where are your feet?
And immediately.
Immediately your attentionwill be at your feet.
And so what does that do?
(18:04):
That brings you back into the presentmoment that brings you back right here.
And it's a great exercise.
It's an easy tool to have.
And it's kind of funny, you know, andit can, if you play with it, be playful
with it and know that, yeah, every timeyou ask yourself, where are my feet?
If you were gonna comeback into your body.
And so again, theseare the kind of things.
(18:25):
So when we're back in our body, then.
Guess what?
We get to take a breath.
We get to remember to breathe.
I am telling you, sometimesI forget to breathe.
Truly.
I am busy.
I'm going to room to room, or I'mon the computer or whatever, and
then I'll be like, oh, hey, I.
Why don't you take a minuteand take a deep breath.
(18:45):
Okay, so lemme tell youabout box breathing.
It's really, really simple.
Again, another easy tool, areally simple thing to do.
Let's do it together right now.
Sit back in your chair or howeveryou're listening and just if you can,
if you're not driving, but you know,take a deep breath, close your eyes.
And you're gonna holdthat for four counts.
(19:06):
1, 2, 3, 4, and then you're gonnaexhale to the count of four.
1, 2, 3, 4. Gonna hold yourbreath again for count of four.
1, 2, 3, 4. And then you'regonna take another breath in.
(19:32):
And you're gonna holdit for four and so on.
And so you're doing these fourbreaths of four, if you will.
And by the time you get through perhapsthe third round of doing it, you are
gonna feel much more relaxed, much moreat ease, and definitely in your body.
(19:54):
And so again, these are thekind of things throughout your
day like, oh, am I breathing?
Where are my feet?
And so these are just tworeally simple tips that will
go really far to helping you.
again, stay in the present momentand be exactly where you need to be.
(20:15):
Now, we, like I was talking about,you know, where, about every
event and where you put your focusand so on, and you know, again.
It's not when I go back, to theidea of, an event is just an event
and then we place meaning onto it.
again, it's not about, makingexcuses for example, that if someone
(20:41):
is doing something hurtful orovertly unkind, and it's not about.
you know, again, spiritually bypassingit and saying, oh, okay, kumbaya, I'll be
okay, and doesn't matter, and all that.
It's more about, again,choosing where do I wanna live?
Do I wanna live in a state of anxietyand fear and anger and so on, or do
(21:02):
I want to live in a place of peace?
and again, weighing all of that out and.
Again, if we can stay at least inthe space, for example, if we're
going through a situation, if wecan somehow pull ourselves back far
enough and say, take a look and say,Hey, what am I, learning right now?
(21:23):
What is this showing me?
What is it bringing up in me?
What do I need to work on?
What part of me, forexample, is showing up?
And what do I mean by that?
Well, for example, what can happenis that we go through different
traumas when we were kids.
And different events may happenand some are quite catastrophic
(21:45):
and maybe others are less so.
But nonetheless, these leaveimprints in our, system.
And so sometimes we reactto certain situations.
A button gets pushed.
I'm sure you familiar with that.
Somebody pushes ourbutton and we're reacting.
But we're reacting from the wound.
We're reacting from that place that waswounded when we were five years old and
(22:09):
never got resolved because there was noway to have a resolution at that point.
And so we shove it down or we.
Put it on a shelf or we carry itaround with us and it comes out
at these odd times by something.
When somebody pushes a button that ofa situation that feels kind of similar,
it might be that we feel invalidated orwe might feel you know, that were not
(22:34):
important in this person's lives or that.
You know that we're not good enough,we haven't done enough, and so on.
So if we can't at least pull back enoughand, take a look at what's being shown and
the lessons that we're perhaps learningor what we need to look at, and we can
(22:55):
spend some time maybe through quietcontemplation, reflection, meditation,
and go back and have a conversation,check in and say, okay, whew.
What age, where are you, what ageare you and how can I help you?
What do you need from me?
Do you need a hug?
(23:15):
Do you just need me to acknowledge you?
Do you need to, just let me listento how you're feeling and, This
is such a powerful practice.
I'm telling you, it is so powerful togo back to these pieces of ourselves,
the pieces that are connected totrauma, and have these conversations
(23:35):
and give these parts of us.
Love and reassurance that they're okay,that, you know, we're a grownup now.
And I got you.
I got you.
You're safe.
That's not gonna happen to you again.
And, I find that these are the kindof things that I do in my own life.
These are things that I share withmy patients because I work with a
(23:56):
lot of people that are in, in theprocess with the acupuncture and
so on to clear, stuck emotions.
And it really, really,really, Is powerful.
And so if you can stepback, a situation happens.
And if you can pause for just amoment and not become reactive
and not become defensive, that iswhere the gold is in the moment.
(24:20):
It's, when we come, in contactwith people That they just have
their own version of disconnect,that they might be doing something.
They have their own wound, they'vegot their own stuff, and they, they
are acting out of that space thatit is, You know, it's, you can have
that awareness too that they're notnecessarily, perhaps they're not used
(24:44):
to sharing space with other people.
Let's go there.
Let's talk about that a little bit.
I've recently had experience ofthat where, where you're sharing
space with somebody and the way thatthey respond in the space really.
you have a sense that they're justnot used to sharing space with other
people that what might be perceivedas a lack of consideration or.
(25:10):
Why didn't you ask me?
Or Wow, you know, that it's justa different way of operating.
really wasn't intentional.
They weren't intentionally tryingto be rude or inconsiderate.
It's just because they're intheir own level of disconnect.
And so again, it's about Kind ofstepping back so you can see a bigger
(25:32):
picture of it and then have a greaterawareness of what's really going on.
And again, that is not always,that is not always possible.
That is not always easy.
and however is possible sometimes, andagain, if we kind of keep that running
around a little bit as like, ah, letme, oh yeah, I remember now today.
(25:54):
I remember today I remember.
I'm not gonna react.
I'm not gonna react.
I'm going to respond.
How about that?
I respond to really what's beingpresented to me and not reacting
to how my wound is being activated.
So I know I've kind of been talkingroundabout about manifestation and
perception and I know, It's, uh, alot I've been, you know, kind of, and,
(26:18):
and there's more to be talked about.
But these are some of the thingsI wanted to share with you today.
And, again.
if we can take things out of beingpersonal and feeling like it's a,
personal affront and just being,again, back to being authentic.
and someone said to me once they said,oh, you know, people don't like me
very much because I speak the truth.
(26:39):
I tell the truth.
And I had somebody once tell methat, oh, that's not me speaking.
That's spirit speaking through me.
And, and that's why it sounded like that.
And here's what I say to thatis that regardless of how we are
given information, whether it'scoming from our higher self, um,
we're getting it from our guides.
(27:01):
it's just from our own experiencethat I. I believe that at some level
we still have some responsibility inhow we choose to deliver the truth.
The truth is always the truth, buthow we choose to deliver it, I. I
think can make all the differencein the world to how people are
(27:24):
going to perceive it or receive it.
Now, that's just my take on it.
You might have a different view.
It might be, you might havea different experience.
I believe that if we are communicatingfrom our heart from a place of
love, because that is the highestvibration and fear is the lowest
(27:45):
vibration that you know and thetwo can't coexist at the same time.
Did you know that fear and lovecannot exist at the same time?
We can feel one or the other becausethey basically cancel each other out.
And so again, if we can choose love,the path of love as often as possible,
(28:06):
then everything is so much easier.
And who doesn't want tohave things be easier?
So I am.
Suggesting here and invitingeverybody who's listening to
spend a little time in your ownself-reflection, spend a little time.
(28:30):
And, and again, I didn't talk a lotabout manifestation only from the
context of, you know, we can, we'regonna find, what we're looking for.
So whatever it is we are looking for andanything that we, we basically are looking
for and what we want, we will find it.
Whatever it is, it's just a matterof whether we're aware enough to
see it and to, properly, let's sayutilize it in a way that's beneficial
(28:54):
for not only for ourselves and butfor the highest good of everyone.
So with that, I think I will close fortoday and I'll leave you again with
my biggest, it's my newest mantra ispay attention to what you are paying
attention to and make a point to choosethe things that are important to you,
(29:19):
and remember to do that with love.
So from my heart to yours, I amwishing you a most abundant time.
And until next time, andstay tuned because next time.
I think I'm gonna talk a littlebit about, being a mother
(29:40):
and what that means and, how.
A society, what that role means to be amother and what we bring to the table.
And boy, we mamas bring it all.
So with that, you all have awonderful, wonderful, rest of
your day and I'll see you soon.
(30:01):
Bye for now.
Kathleen Kenneally (Outro) (30:03):
Thank you for joining me today on In Your Element.
I hope this conversation has sparkeda new awareness of how you can
align with the natural rhythms ofyour body and the world around you.
If you enjoyed today's episode, be sureto subscribe so you don't miss what's
next and if something resonated with you.
I'd really love to hear from you.
Connect with me atkenneallyacupuncture.com
(30:25):
or on social media.
Until next time, stay balanced,stay inspired, and keep tuning into
the wisdom within and around you.
See you next time on In Your Element.
Hello and welcome to In Your Element with
Kathleen Kenneally, where we explorethe wisdom of natural healing and
the deeper rhythms of life fromthe five elements to live out loud.
Spirituality.
This is a space to reconnect withyour most authentic self, whether
you're seeking balance through Chinesemedicine, tuning into your energetic
(00:21):
blueprint, or fully embracing themost vibrant, alive version of you.
This is your space toexplore, expand, and.
And realign.
Let's dive into today's conversation.
Kathleen Kenneally (00:36):
Okay.
Welcome to In Your Elementwith Kathleen Kenneally.
Yep, that's me, We've been talking aboutso many interesting topics, at least for
me, I. I hope you've been finding value.
I hope it's been interesting.
At the very least, perhaps it, thethings we've been talking about has,
has just given you another perspectiveor piqued your interest or thought.
(00:59):
Hmm.
I haven't thought aboutthat in that way before.
And that really is what I'm hoping to,create in these podcasts is I want to.
Bring some different perspectivesfor people and find ways that
we can all connect, within them.
So let's begin.
(01:20):
I really wanted to talk aboutsomething really interesting to me.
A couple of concepts kind of big.
it's the idea ofmanifestation and perception.
And how they work togetherand how that shows up.
And, I know, stay with me.
I know we're going a little deeptoday, but I promise you'll come out
of this feeling lighter, more empowered,and at the very least, like I said,
(01:43):
thinking about something a little bitdifferently from a different angle.
Alright, so let's get started.
Let's dive in.
I have to say, I am so incrediblyfortunate that every day.
I get to have these Amazing conversationswith people, with my patients,
with, people I meet in stores.
(02:04):
I just find that there is so many people,if given the right circumstances, you know
that the energy opens and flows and wejust have so much to learn from everybody.
And I think I've said this before,is that everybody is a mirror
and everybody is a teacher.
If we can hold that perspective aswe're moving through life, and some
(02:26):
days definitely are easier than others,then there is so much to be gained.
There's so much, it's so rich.
There's a richness.
And so again, I'm grateful andI'm fortunate that I, do the kind
of work where I get to talk topeople and people open up and
they, we share stories and so on.
And When we're talking about the ideaof, perception and we talk about the
(02:51):
idea of manifestation, is that as weconnect to other people, we have the
ability to, and have moments wherewe recognize that we are not alone on
this path, and that in our, growth.
trajectory that we as people are showingus things about ourselves and we are
showing them things about themselves, thatit really allows us to expand and grow.
(03:15):
And sometimes, you know, thesereflections that people show us, right?
The things that we see, perhapssomeone, something in somebody
really bugs us or irritates us, oroftentimes that is something that we.
Maybe don't like within ourselves thatthat's something that we're uncomfortable
with about ourselves, that maybe it'ssomething we do too and hmm, maybe
(03:37):
we don't really wanna look at that.
and then conversely, we can alsohave those people that come into
our lives that we just adore.
That there's something about their energy.
There's something about their positivityor how they're going, about, how they
process, how they communicate, whatever itis that you really, really appreciate and
(03:57):
you feel familiar with and you recognize.
And in those instances, I like to.
Think of that, you know, those are thetimes perhaps that we are seeing the
things that we like actually withinourselves, that people are reflecting
back to us the things that we feelgood about or that we, yeah, that we
feel good about ourselves that we like.
And, again, we get to have both ofthese experiences and, and what we
(04:21):
choose to do with those experiencesis completely, again, up to us.
We can say, oh yeah.
Cool.
I'm learning something.
Or we can get pissed off orirritated or, walk away.
because sometimes it can bereally scary to come face to
face with things that, Hmm.
We've put on a shelf orwe've chosen to kind of Yeah.
(04:45):
Not deal with at the moment because life.
In every present moment and lifeas we are projecting to the future.
Because a lot of times we're futurethinking, keeps us from being
present in the moment of like, okay,yeah, this is right up in my face.
And so one of the things I inviteeverybody who's listening to do, and
one of the things to think about isthat it's okay to be uncomfortable.
(05:10):
Get okay with being uncomfortable becauseit's in those moments of discomfort
that if we're just stay there, wehave a chance to actually transmute.
We have a chance to work through,we have a chance to move past it.
If we.
You know, Bob and Weave anddodge and, put things on shelves
(05:32):
and just say, mm, not today.
Fair enough.
I mean, that's fine.
Go ahead.
You know, we can do whatever we want.
We can deal with our, stuff, ourtrauma, our whatever it is that
we are just kinda like, nah, Idon't have the bandwidth today.
You know, we can chooseanother time to do that.
I'm just suggesting that.
(05:53):
Pay attention to those momentsthat you do feel uncomfortable.
Pay attention to those momentswhere you just can't get outta there
quick enough or you just, you know,you want to go turn on the TV or.
My favorite is to eat Eastercandy, but that's no Easter's done.
Now I'm weaning myself off,but you know what I'm saying?
It's kind of like whatever it is that wehave in place, that takes us away, that
(06:15):
distracts us, then we're gonna go there.
So just entertain the idea that it's okayto be uncomfortable sometimes, and it's
in those moments of discomfort that themost growth can happen, and we get to
move through stuff because you know what?
We can't go around it.
we really do have to move throughstuff and release it and let it go.
(06:36):
so that's kind of myfirst thought around all.
That's some of my first thoughtsaround all of this and that.
Pay attention to what youare paying attention to.
that's like such a key phrase for me.
Pay attention to what you arepaying attention to because.
Again, it's one of those thingswhere if we move into the idea of
(06:59):
manifestation, you know, where ourintention or attention goes, energy flows.
So for example, if you Believethat oranges are yellow.
the fruit orange is the color of yellow.
you know that, that's your truth.
Well, you know what?
You can find things that aregonna support your truth.
(07:22):
You'll be able to find, you'll be ableto identify and locate other people or
information or something that is goingto support what you believe is true.
and conversely, there are alwaysgonna be things available too that
are going to, discount what you'vesaid or show you that that's not true.
(07:43):
But we get to choose.
We can choose and say, Nope, thisis my truth, and I'm gonna find
the things that support my truth.
and it's kind of like we take thatone step further is that, man,
I'm in fear, so I am going to.
Keep seeing the things that confirmevery reason why I should be in fear.
(08:05):
This happened and this happened, and Isaw that on the news and this, and so.
I think you can get where I'm going withthis is that, you know, whatever word
we choose to place our intention, we canfind the things that are gonna back us up.
We can find the things that aregonna support our perspective
and revalidate the yes.
You have every reason to be scared oryou have every reason to be angry, of
(08:25):
every reason, to be fill in the blank.
And so again, that's that whole energy ofa perception of a situation, for example.
And some people are gonna be like,Hmm, I don't know about this.
But think about it just for a moment.
Consider the possibility that if youcan just for a moment, consider that
(08:45):
an event, something that happens inyour life, can be just an event until.
We place meaning onto it.
So something can happen to me in mylife and it could be pretty awful,
or somebody did me wrong, or theyhurt my feelings, or, you know,
(09:06):
fill again, fill in the blank.
Something happens.
But if I can just see that as like, thatwas just an event that just happened
and how I choose to perceive it, how Ichoose to respond to it, gives it its
fuller meaning, then it means something.
But if I stay neutral.
If I just stay in my zone withthings, then I'm in my zone and I'm
(09:32):
not necessarily going to be impactedby, you know, what somebody's
saying to me or if they've donesomething or whatever, because I.
I am just separate from it.
And so again, that brings me back to thatconcept and the idea that our perceptions
are everything, how we perceive things,and again, we, always are in choice.
(09:53):
I know now people might argue withthat or say, no, that's not the case.
And, and certainly there are.
Events and things that happen in our lifeand things that happen to people that we
love, or we see it in the news and youthink, well, they didn't choose that.
how could somebody have chosen that?
and I'm not gonna say you're wrong.
(10:13):
however, there are many,many, many occasions where.
We do have a choice in terms ofhow we're going to respond, how
we're going to react, and how weare going to move forward after an
event or something has happened.
And so again, obviously there are thingsthat it's hard to place this equation.
(10:36):
You know, things aren't just an equation.
A plus B equals C all the time.
There are variationsThere's the gray area.
And things aren't always just blackand white, and I think it's within
the gray area that this is where wecan, Again, take a moment and pause
to reflect and have a look like,hmm, what does that gray look like?
(11:00):
Like what are the variables,what are the variations of this
particular, uh, how could thiscertain situation actually end up?
And so that puts us into thislike, well, I'm gonna make sure I
think of every possible scenario.
And then it turns out completely differentthan anything you could have imagined.
Hmm.
That's interesting.
(11:21):
Right?
I think it's kind of interesting, so.
speaking of interesting, I had aconversation with, somebody couple
weeks ago, and this is somebody thatI really, really enjoy talking to and
she and I were talking about my podcastand, and then she's really enjoying it
and so on, and she shared a, story ofsomething that happened in her life and.
(11:43):
You know, I was kind of surprised asI heard the various events that she,
had gone through and what had happened.
And she looked at me and she said,how do you handle the haters?
How do you handle the haters?
And I have to tell you thatnot a split second went by and
it was like, immediately whatI re my response was to her.
(12:07):
And I had this feeling of like,I was perplexed at the question.
And I looked at her, I said,I don't have any haters.
I don't have any haters.
And honestly, after this came outtamy mouth, I paused for a second
and I was genuinely surprised.
I thought, wow, what the heck?
Um, wow.
Okay.
(12:27):
I don't have any haters.
and so I kind of thought that I, myperception of that, or what I was feeling
was that my higher self, if you will,big Kathleen, the higher version of me
immediately swooped in and answered thequestion before the small little Kathleen.
Um, and maybe, I kind ofrefer to that as my ego part.
(12:49):
the part that's.
You know, doesn't have the, it getsenmeshed in the drama and so on.
she didn't have a chance to pipe in.
She didn't have an opportunity toget her 2 cents in because of course
she could take a moment and certainlystart thinking about, well, you
know, that person, and there's thatperson, and then, you know, my sister.
And, it was so fascinating to mebecause it, of course, obviously
(13:14):
there are, People in the wor I'm noteverybody's cup of tea, obviously.
There's probably people that don'tlike me or, you know, whatever.
But the point of it is, is thatmy perception is that in that
moment, where is my attention going?
I'm not paying attention to thosepeople that are not vibrating
(13:35):
at the same frequency that I am.
Although we don't see eye to eye or they,view life through a whole different lens,
and it's not compatible with my view,I'm not hanging out with those people.
And so I'm not evenfocusing on those people.
I'm not paying attention to those people,and I am just focusing on doing what I
love and really capturing as much joy.
(14:00):
That I can in my lifeand to have as much fun.
I mean, for me, it's so importantthat everything that I do.
That I find some joy in it, and Ican honestly say that I love my work.
I love my home.
I love my son.
I love my family.
(14:20):
I truly, now it doesn't mean there's notmoments and lumps and bumps in the road.
It doesn't mean that it's, you know,always ice cream and cupcakes and kittens.
It just means that.
For the most part, in the biggerpicture, even the macrocosm, the
microcosm, all of it, I am focused andpaying attention to the things that
(14:44):
I love, that support me, that help memove forward in my life so that I can
also help others move forward in theirlives and so it truly, truly can be.
That simple.
It really can, it can be that simpleif you just take a moment, take
the time and really look at how youare approaching a situation or what
(15:11):
lens are you looking through, whenyou are interpreting, when you are.
Discerning when you are figuringstuff out, and sometimes we
just need to take a break.
We just need to take a pause.
We need to just take a breath.
Whew.
Take a deep, deep breath.
(15:32):
I'm telling you when.
People are busy, busy, busy, and,and I encounter a lot of people in my
practice with, you know, a lot of stress.
People are doing a lot, they're doingtoo much, not doing enough self care.
And I have to truly watchthis for myself as well.
I mean, I am vigilant, I am,catching myself going up.
(15:53):
Wait, you haven't walked forthree days, you haven't been
out and about, you haven't.
Just as a way of just reminding myselftoo, this self-care thing is a practice
because I, I work and work and workand I'm doing, doing, doing as well,
and so it really is kind of just, theseare the reminders that we have to take
(16:15):
a breath and sometimes when peopleare worrying about stuff or they're
going over their lists or they'retrying to, you know, get to the next.
Whatever the next task is.
you know, they're, not in their body.
They are in their head.
And then people wonder whythey have anxiety attacks.
Then they wonder why they, haveinsomnia, why they always feel uneasy.
(16:37):
And part of that truly is on some level,they're not grounded in their body.
So what does that mean tobe grounded in your body?
It just means that.
You are fully present in everymoment, and not in your head,
trying to get ahead of every moment.
(16:57):
And so again, when people are notin their body, when they're stressed
out or they're overthinking andthey're going, going, going, going.
The body becomes uneasy and it,again, palpitations, anxiety.
all of these things can show upand so acupuncture treats that
really, really well, and so doesmeditation, helps yoga, breath work.
(17:23):
Even just practicing box breathing,which I'll go over in just a minute,
can be very, very, very helpful.
And so.
One of the things I tell my patientswhen they're talking to me about
how they're spinning and they're intheir head all the time, I'll look
at them and say, where are your feet?
(17:43):
I'll say, where are your feet?
And they'll look at me, and then they'll,kinda laugh and again, they, they get it.
They get the exercise, which islike, yes, when you are feeling
anxious or whatever, ask yourselfthe question, where are your feet?
And immediately.
Immediately your attentionwill be at your feet.
And so what does that do?
(18:04):
That brings you back into the presentmoment that brings you back right here.
And it's a great exercise.
It's an easy tool to have.
And it's kind of funny, you know, andit can, if you play with it, be playful
with it and know that, yeah, every timeyou ask yourself, where are my feet?
If you were gonna comeback into your body.
And so again, theseare the kind of things.
(18:25):
So when we're back in our body, then.
Guess what?
We get to take a breath.
We get to remember to breathe.
I am telling you, sometimesI forget to breathe.
Truly.
I am busy.
I'm going to room to room, or I'mon the computer or whatever, and
then I'll be like, oh, hey, I.
Why don't you take a minuteand take a deep breath.
(18:45):
Okay, so lemme tell youabout box breathing.
It's really, really simple.
Again, another easy tool, areally simple thing to do.
Let's do it together right now.
Sit back in your chair or howeveryou're listening and just if you can,
if you're not driving, but you know,take a deep breath, close your eyes.
And you're gonna holdthat for four counts.
(19:06):
1, 2, 3, 4, and then you're gonnaexhale to the count of four.
1, 2, 3, 4. Gonna hold yourbreath again for count of four.
1, 2, 3, 4. And then you'regonna take another breath in.
(19:32):
And you're gonna holdit for four and so on.
And so you're doing these fourbreaths of four, if you will.
And by the time you get through perhapsthe third round of doing it, you are
gonna feel much more relaxed, much moreat ease, and definitely in your body.
(19:54):
And so again, these are thekind of things throughout your
day like, oh, am I breathing?
Where are my feet?
And so these are just tworeally simple tips that will
go really far to helping you.
again, stay in the present momentand be exactly where you need to be.
(20:15):
Now, we, like I was talking about,you know, where, about every
event and where you put your focusand so on, and you know, again.
It's not when I go back, to theidea of, an event is just an event
and then we place meaning onto it.
again, it's not about, makingexcuses for example, that if someone
(20:41):
is doing something hurtful orovertly unkind, and it's not about.
you know, again, spiritually bypassingit and saying, oh, okay, kumbaya, I'll be
okay, and doesn't matter, and all that.
It's more about, again,choosing where do I wanna live?
Do I wanna live in a state of anxietyand fear and anger and so on, or do
(21:02):
I want to live in a place of peace?
and again, weighing all of that out and.
Again, if we can stay at least inthe space, for example, if we're
going through a situation, if wecan somehow pull ourselves back far
enough and say, take a look and say,Hey, what am I, learning right now?
(21:23):
What is this showing me?
What is it bringing up in me?
What do I need to work on?
What part of me, forexample, is showing up?
And what do I mean by that?
Well, for example, what can happenis that we go through different
traumas when we were kids.
And different events may happenand some are quite catastrophic
(21:45):
and maybe others are less so.
But nonetheless, these leaveimprints in our, system.
And so sometimes we reactto certain situations.
A button gets pushed.
I'm sure you familiar with that.
Somebody pushes ourbutton and we're reacting.
But we're reacting from the wound.
We're reacting from that place that waswounded when we were five years old and
(22:09):
never got resolved because there was noway to have a resolution at that point.
And so we shove it down or we.
Put it on a shelf or we carry itaround with us and it comes out
at these odd times by something.
When somebody pushes a button that ofa situation that feels kind of similar,
it might be that we feel invalidated orwe might feel you know, that were not
(22:34):
important in this person's lives or that.
You know that we're not good enough,we haven't done enough, and so on.
So if we can't at least pull back enoughand, take a look at what's being shown and
the lessons that we're perhaps learningor what we need to look at, and we can
(22:55):
spend some time maybe through quietcontemplation, reflection, meditation,
and go back and have a conversation,check in and say, okay, whew.
What age, where are you, what ageare you and how can I help you?
What do you need from me?
Do you need a hug?
(23:15):
Do you just need me to acknowledge you?
Do you need to, just let me listento how you're feeling and, This
is such a powerful practice.
I'm telling you, it is so powerful togo back to these pieces of ourselves,
the pieces that are connected totrauma, and have these conversations
(23:35):
and give these parts of us.
Love and reassurance that they're okay,that, you know, we're a grownup now.
And I got you.
I got you.
You're safe.
That's not gonna happen to you again.
And, I find that these are the kindof things that I do in my own life.
These are things that I share withmy patients because I work with a
(23:56):
lot of people that are in, in theprocess with the acupuncture and
so on to clear, stuck emotions.
And it really, really,really, Is powerful.
And so if you can stepback, a situation happens.
And if you can pause for just amoment and not become reactive
and not become defensive, that iswhere the gold is in the moment.
(24:20):
It's, when we come, in contactwith people That they just have
their own version of disconnect,that they might be doing something.
They have their own wound, they'vegot their own stuff, and they, they
are acting out of that space thatit is, You know, it's, you can have
that awareness too that they're notnecessarily, perhaps they're not used
(24:44):
to sharing space with other people.
Let's go there.
Let's talk about that a little bit.
I've recently had experience ofthat where, where you're sharing
space with somebody and the way thatthey respond in the space really.
you have a sense that they're justnot used to sharing space with other
people that what might be perceivedas a lack of consideration or.
(25:10):
Why didn't you ask me?
Or Wow, you know, that it's justa different way of operating.
really wasn't intentional.
They weren't intentionally tryingto be rude or inconsiderate.
It's just because they're intheir own level of disconnect.
And so again, it's about Kind ofstepping back so you can see a bigger
(25:32):
picture of it and then have a greaterawareness of what's really going on.
And again, that is not always,that is not always possible.
That is not always easy.
and however is possible sometimes, andagain, if we kind of keep that running
around a little bit as like, ah, letme, oh yeah, I remember now today.
(25:54):
I remember today I remember.
I'm not gonna react.
I'm not gonna react.
I'm going to respond.
How about that?
I respond to really what's beingpresented to me and not reacting
to how my wound is being activated.
So I know I've kind of been talkingroundabout about manifestation and
perception and I know, It's, uh, alot I've been, you know, kind of, and,
(26:18):
and there's more to be talked about.
But these are some of the thingsI wanted to share with you today.
And, again.
if we can take things out of beingpersonal and feeling like it's a,
personal affront and just being,again, back to being authentic.
and someone said to me once they said,oh, you know, people don't like me
very much because I speak the truth.
(26:39):
I tell the truth.
And I had somebody once tell methat, oh, that's not me speaking.
That's spirit speaking through me.
And, and that's why it sounded like that.
And here's what I say to thatis that regardless of how we are
given information, whether it'scoming from our higher self, um,
we're getting it from our guides.
(27:01):
it's just from our own experiencethat I. I believe that at some level
we still have some responsibility inhow we choose to deliver the truth.
The truth is always the truth, buthow we choose to deliver it, I. I
think can make all the differencein the world to how people are
(27:24):
going to perceive it or receive it.
Now, that's just my take on it.
You might have a different view.
It might be, you might havea different experience.
I believe that if we are communicatingfrom our heart from a place of
love, because that is the highestvibration and fear is the lowest
(27:45):
vibration that you know and thetwo can't coexist at the same time.
Did you know that fear and lovecannot exist at the same time?
We can feel one or the other becausethey basically cancel each other out.
And so again, if we can choose love,the path of love as often as possible,
(28:06):
then everything is so much easier.
And who doesn't want tohave things be easier?
So I am.
Suggesting here and invitingeverybody who's listening to
spend a little time in your ownself-reflection, spend a little time.
(28:30):
And, and again, I didn't talk a lotabout manifestation only from the
context of, you know, we can, we'regonna find, what we're looking for.
So whatever it is we are looking for andanything that we, we basically are looking
for and what we want, we will find it.
Whatever it is, it's just a matterof whether we're aware enough to
see it and to, properly, let's sayutilize it in a way that's beneficial
(28:54):
for not only for ourselves and butfor the highest good of everyone.
So with that, I think I will close fortoday and I'll leave you again with
my biggest, it's my newest mantra ispay attention to what you are paying
attention to and make a point to choosethe things that are important to you,
(29:19):
and remember to do that with love.
So from my heart to yours, I amwishing you a most abundant time.
And until next time, andstay tuned because next time.
I think I'm gonna talk a littlebit about, being a mother
(29:40):
and what that means and, how.
A society, what that role means to be amother and what we bring to the table.
And boy, we mamas bring it all.
So with that, you all have awonderful, wonderful, rest of
your day and I'll see you soon.
(30:01):
Bye for now.
Kathleen Kenneally (Outro) (30:03):
Thank you for joining me today on In Your Element.
I hope this conversation has sparkeda new awareness of how you can
align with the natural rhythms ofyour body and the world around you.
If you enjoyed today's episode, be sureto subscribe so you don't miss what's
next and if something resonated with you.
I'd really love to hear from you.
Connect with me atkenneallyacupuncture.com
(30:25):
or on social media.
Until next time, stay balanced,stay inspired, and keep tuning into
the wisdom within and around you.
See you next time on In Your Element.
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