May 12, 2025 • 58 mins
Hi!! I would love to hear from you!
When the hospital beeps follow you home and echo in your dreams, you know your nervous system has been fundamentally altered by your work. This was Eva ZobianWolfe's reality during her 25+ years in critical care nursing before she discovered the transformative power of adaptive yoga therapy.
In this deeply resonant conversation, Eva reveals the barely discussed truth about healthcare burnout – how the hypervigilance required to save lives creates a physiological state where true relaxation feels impossible, even threatening. "I felt like an angry shell of myself," she confesses, describing how burnout manifested in her relationships and wellbeing. This emotional honesty creates immediate connection with anyone who's experienced the crushing weight of compassion fatigue.
Eva's journey from bedside nurse to founder of Eva Z Wellness represents a radical reframing of self-care for healthcare providers. She exposes why traditional "treat yourself" activities provide only fleeting relief, while offering evidence-based alternatives that create lasting nervous system regulation. Her expertise in adaptive yoga therapy and mind-body wellness shines through practical suggestions like the Kirtan Kriya meditation, which research shows improves cognitive function even in dementia patients.
What makes this episode particularly valuable is Eva's holistic approach to healing. Beyond physical postures, she explores all eight limbs of yoga, including ethical principles that naturally support boundary-setting – something desperately needed in healthcare environments. Through personal anecdotes and professional insights, she illustrates how these ancient practices can help modern caregivers recover their joy and compassion.
Whether you're a healthcare professional fighting burnout or simply someone whose nervous system feels perpetually overwired, this conversation offers both validation and viable pathways forward. Listen now to discover how reconnecting with your authentic self might be the most radical act of healthcare you can provide – to yourself and those you care for.
You can find Eva at http://www.evazeewellness.com/ or join her Facebook community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/selfcareisyourhealthcare
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello and welcome back to another episode of
Empowered Ease, the podcastwhere we explore the
intersection of health, wellnessand women's empowerment.
I'm your host, jen Olinger, andI'm thrilled to introduce
another remarkable guest.
My guest today is EvaZobian-Wolfe.
Her work is transforming thelives of countless individuals
(00:24):
in the healthcare community.
Eva is the founder and CEO ofEva Z Wellness.
She's a true pioneer in thefield of mind-body wellness.
As a mind-body specialist, anurse and an adaptive yoga
therapist, eva has dedicatedover two decades to helping
chronically exhausted nursesreclaim their vitality and
(00:46):
well-being.
Through her personalizedmindfulness plans and
transformative sessions, shetackles chronic illness, pain
and mobility challenges head-on.
Eva's expertise spans a diverserange of modalities, including
adaptive yoga therapy, reiki,and her approach has proven
effective in reducing stress,boosting energy levels and
(01:10):
enhancing sleep quality.
Not only is Eva deeplycommitted to improving the
health of those in her care, butshe also actively volunteers
with social advocacy groups,showing that her dedication to
well-being extends far beyondher professional practice.
So join me in welcoming ourguest today, eva, to Empowered
(01:31):
Ease.
Well welcome, eva.
How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
I'm great.
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, thank you for being here.
I'm so excited to talk aboutall the awesome work you're
doing and find out a little bitmore about you.
So I guess first, just like Igave you a good intro, but tell
us, like, where you're locatedand your intro- Well, my name is
Eva Zobian-Wolf.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
I am the founder of Eva Z Wellness.
One of the reasons that Istarted this particular work is
because I have been in themedical field for over 25 years.
It sounds really weird when Isay that.
I'm like how is that possible?
I'm not, I can't possibly beold enough to have that.
I'm not that old.
(02:25):
I'm not right, the math isn'tmathing right now, but I've been
in the medical field for over25 years.
Part of that was the entire timehas been in pretty decent-sized
hospitals, in pretty decentsized hospitals and in roles
(02:46):
where I was involved in traumaresponses, code responses,
working in the ER, working in aneonatal intensive care unit,
(03:10):
and I finished out the last 10years as a nurse in a hospital
here in San Antonio, texas.
As in the ICU and the hospitalshere are pretty large, we get a
lot of patients from differentareas around Texas, from San
Antonio down towards the borderand down into West Texas and one
of the things I started tonotice after a few years of
working in the ICU was it wasn'tme, and anybody that has
(03:36):
experienced an extreme amount ofstress and burnout can maybe
recognize some of these aspectsin themselves.
I felt like a shell of myself,but it wasn't an empty shell.
It was like an angry shellwhere I didn't have a lot of.
You were a loving shell, yeah,I mean, I was very quick to be
(04:00):
angry, but not so quick to becalm to be angry but not so
quick to be calm and definitelynot so quick to be happy.
And I started looking for thingsthat I could do for myself to
bring more of that happy versionof myself back into my life and
to be, you know, a better wife,a better mom, a better friend,
(04:22):
a better coworker.
And with that I startedpursuing yoga teacher training.
It was something that I hadbeen wanting to do for years,
but I've had scoliosis since Iwas 12.
I was in a back brace for 12years or not 12 years, for like
six years and I thought well,who's going to take yoga from
(04:44):
somebody that some days can'teven touch their toes right?
There's days where I wake upand I'm in so much pain that I
have a hard time standingupright, and I thought how do I
teach a yoga class when this isa norm for me?
And after taking yogaconsistently for a few months, I
(05:09):
started to see a different sideof yoga from what I had seen
before and I thought this is thetype of yoga that I want to do
and I want to find a mentor whowill be with me for the rest of
my life.
And that part is reallyimportant, because the mentor
that I found is one of my bestfriends and we talk regularly,
we work together now, and so shehad an adaptive, trauma
(05:36):
informed curriculum that reallyfocused in on the therapeutic
benefits of yoga.
Everything was rooted in how isthis going to be beneficial,
how is this going to betherapeutic, how is this going
to help you, not just physicallybut mentally and spiritually,
to be able to improve all theareas of your body and your mind
(06:00):
and your spirit?
And then one of the otherthings that I started doing was
volunteering with differentnonprofit organizations, and for
about nine years I was medicalsupport for a cycling
organization that worked withveterans and first responders
with PTSD.
Eventually, I went through yogateacher training and went all
(06:26):
the way through yoga therapytraining, which is more intense.
You create treatment plans, youcreate a with the client.
You're creating this holisticplan of what are the areas that
you feel you need more in yourlife.
Do you need more energy?
(06:47):
Do you need more sleep?
Do you need more joy?
And then together we work on aplan where we're incorporating
all of those aspects into yourlife.
And when I started working withclients privately, I started
seeing people improving theirsleep, coming off of blood
(07:09):
pressure medications, eitherbeing able to completely come
off of pain medications orneeding their pain medications
so much less frequently, beingable to space out their pain
injections further and furtherapart, and all of these things
were.
(07:29):
You know, I'm not the onedictating how that's happening.
That's a relationship they'rehaving with their physician, but
these are things that I'vereally noticed were missing when
I was sitting in the ICU and atthe the last, at the last
moments of a person's life, andI'm watching all of the things
(07:50):
that we're doing all themedications, all the drips, all
the procedures, the CPR, the24-hour dialysis machines, the
ventilator, the complete carethat they need when they have to
be turned every two hours, andjust the amount of suffering
(08:11):
that's involved in that process.
And what really got to mewasn't necessarily that that
person was having to go throughit.
It was watching the people inthe room with them and thinking
this isn't a product of adisease.
This is a product of I'm notknowing not knowing how to
(08:36):
listen to their body, notknowing how to feed their body,
not knowing how to nourish theirenergy, not knowing that a lot
of the things that are justthrown out into our world aren't
always beneficial for us, and alot of us don't question that
(08:58):
and my thought was what wouldhappen if somebody had a
conversation you know, of course, outside of the ICU, because in
the ICU you're stressed andthat's not a time for those
conversations.
But what happened if somebodyhad this conversation and
offered different choices thatwere more specific to you?
(09:22):
What do you need?
What's going to make you happy,what's going to make you
healthy?
And how would that change thetrajectory of the timeline, the
storyline for not only oneperson, but for an entire family
.
And that's something that I'veseen with a lot of my students
(09:43):
where, instead of reprimandingchildren, they're saying okay,
you can have whatever tempertantrum you want to have, but
before you can do that, you haveto take.
You know, if you're two yearsold, you have to take two big,
deep breaths with two longexhales.
If you're four years old, youhave to take four breaths.
And then hearing that thefour-year-old is coaching the
(10:05):
two-year-old on how to do thosebreathing habits, because it has
become a habit for them now.
So now, instead of, you know,having a hissy fit, they take a
deep breath and then, mommy, I'dlike a snack yeah, regulating
your nervous system.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Yes, like this regulative, I relate so much.
You said so much stuff therethat I can relate to.
I'm a critical care nursemyself.
That's my history.
I just actually this week isthe first time I started a new
job in 10 years outside ofcritical care and I'm like um
leadership in a critical caresetting.
But it's my first time notbeing bedside and so I relate.
(10:45):
And I just finished a contractwhere I was driving two hours to
to it, so in 18 hour days I'mso much of what you said.
I'm like oh my god, yes, andright before this episode for
the listeners, we were talkingabout uh like driving in deer,
uh like infested woods and likejust your nervous system being
on edge.
So after you know, you'retalking about critical care.
(11:06):
I'm like.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Oh yeah there's that.
And that's just it.
We have these patterns of beinghyper vigilant.
And for critical care nursesfor all nurses, right, there's
this amount of vigilance thatour nervous system is.
In critical care nurses I feellike it's another level.
(11:27):
Er nurses are, you know,they've got so many patients,
they're going in so manydirections.
I think they still have it andthey have it a different way,
and that's the same, really, forall different types of nursing.
Critical care nurses.
That's what I can speak to,because that's what I was, and
so when we're talking aboutthere's never.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
The gas pedal is never let off of in critical
care is the thing I'll say.
It's never like the other otherdepartments, like there's an
interview, not saying it likecomparing, because there's worse
things about med surgery.
There's a reason I work incritical care, because I prefer
it, so it's not all bad, butwhen it comes to the toll it
takes on your nervous system,there's more sounds.
(12:13):
I have a trauma therapist formyself and we a lot of times
struggle to get to my rootedstuff because she says I have
layers of micro trauma Justkeeping some of the real trauma
from being able to be processedsometimes because I have 10
years of spending the worst dayof people's lives with them over
and over again and it's anhonor.
I love that I did it.
I can't even get away from it,even when I know I should,
(12:36):
because it's not good for me,because I love it, but it's it
takes a toll.
We pay a price for that hugeprice.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Absolutely, absolutely.
So I was teaching a.
It was funny, I was teaching aclass on neuroscience to yoga
teacher trainers Say that again.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
I said that's.
My specialty, by the way, isneuro, so I love everything
neurology, psychology,neuroscience.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Love it, love it, love it, love it.
Yeah, and there's so much to it.
And the interesting thing iswhat I've learned in yoga is so
much more than I ever learned inschool.
I had a degree in physiologybefore I went to nursing school
and I still learned so much moreabout this and the application
(13:23):
of it than I did in nursing,which to me just is absolutely
astounding.
So I'm teaching this workshop ofneuroscience to yoga teacher
trainees and we're downtown andin a second floor building or
(13:44):
second floor of a building, andthere's a garbage truck backing
up outside of the building, andthen we've got the beep and the
beep and the beep.
And as I'm talking to thestudents, all of a sudden I just
stop and my face glazes overand I'm zoned in on that noise.
And then, when it finallystopped beeping, I turn and look
(14:10):
at my students and they're alljust looking at me like
dumbfounded.
They have no idea what washappening.
And the irony here is thatlater that afternoon I was
teaching a yoga class to a bunchof ICU nurses and I was
explaining what had happened andin my mind when that I heard
that beeping, all I could thinkof is where is that?
What is it, how do I need torespond, who needs to be called
(14:32):
and what do I need to bring?
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Yeah, I'm always trying to place it, you know,
because it's like when I placeit, I know what to do with it
Exactly.
And if there's a sound I don'tknow when I'm at work.
Oh my God, I've never felt moreout of control Because I'm like
what is it?
Where is it what?
Speaker 2 (14:48):
is it Exactly?
And then what was funny is whenI brought it up to the nurses
and I said you know, this iswhat happened.
Well, they, immediately beforeI even said anything, they went.
Well, of course, you need toknow what is it, when is it, who
do you need to call?
What do you need to bring thoseexact phrases?
Speaker 1 (15:13):
I just got done with a three-week break and it's like
the sounds, like I hear themwhen I'm falling asleep and when
I'm in the shower and I don'teven notice until I take a break
and they go away, like when Igo on vacation, and I'm like, oh
my God, it's constant.
They're in my head constantlylike all kinds of stuff.
It's nuts.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
And like I'm wondering about the toll that
takes too.
You know, and the thing isthat's a lot and if we go back
to the HPA access and look atthat the hypothalamic, pituitary
adrenal access, and we look atthat, it's actually a negative
feedback loop.
Look at that, it's actually anegative feedback loop.
And so when we're in thathypervigilant stage all the time
, it causes an over activationof the amygdala, it causes
(15:52):
destruction to the hippocampusand it's continually dropping
cortisol and adrenaline into thebody, which we know we need all
of those hormones.
We need all of those chemicalsin our body which we know we
need all of those hormones.
We need all of those chemicalsin our body, but we don't need
them in the amount that we areactually producing, which is why
I don't know if do you workdays or do you work nights.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
I worked well.
I worked days, mostly Double.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
And this is happening on both both days and nights.
Night shift has the added bonusof working on the opposite of
their circadian rhythm, and sothey're already dumping more
cortisol and adrenaline intotheir body, which is causing
(16:43):
this cascade of inflammation anddestruction in the body.
And then, on top of that, wehave the hypervigilance, we have
the continual stimulation ofour sympathetic nervous system,
and this shows up in when we'recranky, when we're tired, when
(17:03):
we're overreactive.
You talked about how you stillhear the noises.
The same thing I would comehome from work in the morning,
go in, take my shower, lay downin bed, blackout curtains are
closed and I have it completelydark in the room, and then, as
soon as my head lays down in thepillow, it's like there's a
(17:26):
vent going off in the shower,and so I would always have to
play some type of noise,something that was familiar
enough that I didn't have to payattention to it, but it was
enough to drown out the noisesof the unit that were still
bouncing around in my head, andtowards the end of me working at
(17:47):
the bedside, it had gotten sobad I couldn't listen to music
that had words in it, because itwas just too much stimulation.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
That's funny because I listen to a lot of sound
therapy that has no words, justtones A lot, but I never made
that connection before.
But now I'm like, oh, maybe, Imean I don't know if I have to
pay more attention, I love that.
So when you say adaptive yoga,I love that.
I know more about, likeadaptive sports than I do about
adaptive yoga.
So tell me a little bit moreabout adaptive yoga and what
(18:23):
that is.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
So I kind of chuckle at this because and I talked
with my mentor about this wealways make the distinction that
it's adaptive and traumainformed.
And every once in a while we'llhave these conversations and
I'll say isn't yoga inherentlyadaptive and trauma-informed
(18:45):
which it is.
If you go back thousands ofyears to the original Vedic
practitioners, this was allabout a lifestyle and it was a
specific to the practitionerlifestyle.
What are the foods that you'reeating?
What are the clothes thatyou're wearing?
How are you moving?
What are you?
What are you taking in?
What's the environment thatyou're taking in?
(19:06):
And there's a perception, andthere's been a culture,
especially here in the UnitedStates with yoga, that it's
performative, that there's aspecific posture that you need
to achieve in order to developthat balance and in order to
(19:29):
develop that inner peace.
And, quite honestly, it's abunch of bullshit.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
I love that you say that, though, because I can't
like I've done.
I've practiced yoga since I wasreally young, because it was.
I got introduced to it incollege sports.
Our college trainer took us toa yoga class and I got addicted.
So I did it like on and off formy whole life.
But when I've told people aboutit that don't know about it,
everyone's always like I'm notflexible, I can't touch my toes.
(19:56):
It's like that doesn't evenmatter and like that's not the
point.
But that's what everybody says,and I love that you say that
because I'm like that'severybody's answer.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
I'm like and that's more proof to do it, by the way,
absolutely.
I mean, I am living proof ofthat because with my scoliosis
I've got an S curve in my spineand that was one of the things
that led me in that direction isbecause when I practiced it
consistently, but I had to startpracticing it in a way that
worked for my body, and that'swhere the adaptive component
(20:28):
comes in.
So I've really got two missionsin my life.
One is to help nurses and talkabout practicing radical
self-care and alleviating andpreventing burnout, and the
other is bringing yoga out intothe world in a way that
(20:50):
absolutely everybody canpractice yoga.
Because the thing is, if you'rebreathing, you can practice
yoga.
Because the thing is is ifyou're breathing, you're
practicing yoga.
It doesn't matter what themovement is, what's the favorite
pose, corpse pose, where youjust lay there.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
And that's the point of yoga is to get to corpse pose
.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And the thing is, even in corpsepose it has its own inherent
meaning and beauty to it,because the idea is that we are
a different version of ourselfevery single moment.
You know who we are now comparedto when we first started
talking is different than youknow who we are a week ago, who
(21:31):
we are a month ago.
And the idea with Shavasanacorpse pose is that you enter
into the pose as one version ofyou, but that version dies and
you rebirth as a differentversion of you when you come out
of that pose, and the idea,hopefully, is that you come out
of it knowing more aboutyourself, seeing more about
(21:55):
yourself, having a better anddeeper relationship with
yourself, and you move out ofthat making choices that are
more aligned with who youactually are.
And so the purpose of yogaisn't to be able to wind
yourself up into a pretzel shapeor balance in crow pose.
(22:15):
It's actually to be as close aspossible to your deeper,
authentic self, who you reallyare deep down inside.
That maybe you only let acouple people see, or maybe even
you yourself are completelyunaware of, because we've got
(22:37):
these layers, of layers that arethrown on us by the traumas
that we experience all the allthe experiences that we've had
in our life, but the things thatpeople say and expect of us
that we accept right.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
So one of the things that are programmed when we're
like real little and don't evenknow it.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Exactly right.
You know, I had a hairdresseronce that I went in and she's
like oh, you don't have bangs.
You need bangs.
You have a big forehead.
You need to cover that bigforehead.
You need to have bangs.
And I thought I didn't evenknow that I'm supposed to have
bangs.
I'm supposed to have bangs.
Now I'm like who are you totell me what to do with me?
(23:22):
Right?
And so it's those little thingsyou know when people say like,
oh, girls aren't supposed to dothis, or you're not supposed to
do this as you grow up, this oryou're not supposed to do this
as you grow up, these differentroles or restrictions that
people put on you.
You go into yoga and you gothrough the mat and you go
through the movements and thewhole time you're learning about
(23:46):
yourself, you're feeling,you're developing an awareness
of what it feels like to be inthe experience of your body and
the movement in your body, andalso, what does that feel like
in your mind, what does thatfeel like in your nervous system
?
And starting to unravel thatand find the places where, man,
(24:09):
this really makes me happy.
I should do more of this.
I feel really heavy and nothappy when I do these things.
I should do less of this, andso it's a whole process of
getting to know yourself deeperand deeper, and I think you know
(24:32):
we do that inherently as we age.
Hopefully, you know some of usare doing that as we age, where
we're starting to think.
You know we do that inherentlyas we age.
Hopefully, you know some of usare doing that as we age, where
we're starting to go.
You know what I know more, Iknow better.
I know what makes me happy.
I'm going to do more of that,and the way that we do that also
has to be kind to other peopleas well, like I can't be happy
(24:52):
at the expense of somebodyelse's happiness.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Yeah, so how, I guess ?
How are you working with peoplenow?
I know you used to be bedsidenurse and so are you teaching
yoga like a hundred percent.
Is that what you do?
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Well, I'm combining the two, so a lot of what I do
is excuse me um.
A lot of what I do is workingwith nurses in continuing
education classes or in coachingthat utilizes all the aspects
(25:34):
of yoga, and then I'm alsoteaching.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Okay, we had to pause .
My husband is weed whacking andhe got very close to my office
and so I had to go out there andbe like hey, don't come near my
office.
And then he started likerubbing the weed whacker.
I'm like he's such a like, buthe did walk away.
So thank you.
It is a huge job and he hasvery little time to do it and he
(26:03):
works nights.
So I'm like, thank you, thankyou.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Oh my gosh Well.
So I always find this funny,because whenever you know stuff
like this happens, I always sayI'm completely flexible, because
if you can't have your yogatherapist be flexible, who can
be flexible about it?
Right?
Speaker 1 (26:22):
right and that's like you know.
That's kind of I'm kind ofgoing to get off topic here, but
it's going to come back aroundis.
That's kind of like the purposeof my podcast, if I'm being
honest like one of the mainpurposes is kind of to challenge
the idea that we have to dothings in this very strict way,
because I feel like all of myguests, you included, have found
this way to do life, to dohealing, to do to connect.
(26:44):
That is your own and then youhelp most of my guests are
facilitating that in otherpeople and it's not about doing
it your way Like I coach womenthrough burnout too, and I don't
coach people to.
And it's not about doing ityour way, like I coach women
through burnout too, and I don'tcoach people to do it my way.
I coach them to figure outtheir way and I love that and
that's kind of like this.
It's not this flexible, likethis hard, rigid container that
(27:07):
we're in that a lot of thingshave become.
If we give things a littlemovement, we treat people like
humans with human needs.
I mean, of course, thoseboundaries are important.
That's part of this.
But you know, this is life,like you know.
Anyway, I'm off topic, butthat's kind of what you're doing
too.
You're encouraging people to dolife their way with what works
(27:29):
for them.
You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Absolutely, because it's such an important component
because that's some of theplaces where, especially in
healthcare, where we have somany issues that nursing in
itself is a flexible profession,right.
So if we look at the proceduresthat we have been doing,
(27:54):
medicine is constantly evolving.
We do a practice until we haveevidence that shows us that we
should be doing it differently.
However, what usually happenswhen a new policy, a new way of
doing something, is introduced,everybody gets up in arms and
(28:16):
thinks why are we doingsomething different?
We've been doing it this wayfor how long?
And it's been totally.
It's been working fine.
Why do we have to change thepolicy now?
Speaker 1 (28:24):
I think it's because it's one more thing and we're
already juggling the.
I mean, if you really considerit, if anyone ever sat down and
actually wrote down all theexpectations that a nurse has to
uphold during her shift.
It's not possible.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
But you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
It's just dropping one more thing on that bucket
that's already overflowing andit doesn't matter if it's
helpful.
It just feels like a smack inthe face when they ask that,
sometimes because you're sooverworked.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Exactly, and that's the thing that right there is a
symptom of an over-activated,over-stimulated nervous system,
because the whole reason that wewent into the profession was to
be able to help people, and wewanted to help people in the way
that they needed help.
We wanted to be able to offerkindness and comfort and care,
(29:12):
and not necessarily what wethink it is, that they, that
they know.
However, one of the thingsthat's going on in the medical
system right now is we've got alot of overstimulated nervous
systems.
And just just to highlight that, you've heard the, the, the
phrase nurses eat their youngbefore.
(29:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Right, it's actually shifting.
At least it is in a lot of theplaces I've been and I see a lot
of people pushing for it.
But that was alive and wellwhen I started.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Absolutely.
Oh, yeah, I had.
I had three differentpreceptors when I started in the
ICU Two were phenomenal and onewas a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
One moment, super helpful thenext minute just bashing me left
and right and speaking to me,in a way that I'm just sitting
(30:08):
there looking at the persongoing.
Really, this is what you thinkis going to be helpful.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Yeah, I had this interaction early in my nursing
career with um.
I really respected her.
She was a she was a nursepractitioner at the time and she
was, I mean, she'd been like atrauma nurse and life, like I
mean, she was like one of thosepeople who went after a lot of
years of doing a lot of amazingthings.
And, um, I don't remember whatwe got into it about, but I was
(30:34):
like you don't have to approachpeople that way and she was like
you need to thicken your skinif you're going to be in this
environment.
And I remember like I respectedher so much, I was so upset she
said that, because I'm like no,you don't, and if you keep
treating people like that,there's not going to be anybody
left.
You know what I mean and what Ilove about this new generation
is they just do not accept thatbullshit, they do not accept
(30:56):
being talked to that way and I'mlike woo, holly, Right, Move on
, Absolutely yes.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
I was having a conversation with somebody.
She's a realtor and she wastalking about how her daughter
was thinking about following herboyfriend to Germany.
He was going to do his master'sprogram there.
And the mom, of course, waslike well, what are you going to
do about your job?
And she said well, I'm going totell them they get the
(31:25):
opportunity to let me workremote, or then I'm going to
quit.
And she straight up looked ather mom and said I'm only as
loyal as my paycheck.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Well, I mean, that's how the company sees you.
Why not?
You're a number, so why not?
It's kind of funny how businesshas shifted, because that's I
mean, you can see that trend inso many places.
But I feel like nursing so much, like I've never kept a
position more than two years.
I don't want to.
I get bored.
I you know there's alwaysproblems.
I'll deal with a new set ofproblems.
I'm tired of these problems.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
You know what I?
Speaker 1 (32:00):
mean For the most part I shift a lot.
But older generations I meanlike I'm people you know, they
my husband's met the same job 20years.
He's an old soul.
But there's a lot of peoplelike that, you know they get a
place.
They don't want to move, theywant to, they want to say they
want to invest.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
I worked with nurses that had been in the same unit
for 30 years.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Yeah, I don't see those anymore, but I used to
like I think like the last twohave retired from where I am now
, but yeah, I feel like that'sjust, it's rare to see that and
I've been traveling for fiveyears and it's.
There are a lot of places thatdon't have any of that anymore
Since COVID, post-covid,pre-covid, yes, but post-COVID.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Yes, absolutely, absolutely.
And that's one of the things isthat when you start to step
into your worth and you start tocreate healthy boundaries and I
think that's where theseyounger generations are really
doing an amazing job, becausethey are they're establishing
boundaries immediately andsaying this is how I expect to
(33:01):
be treated.
You can treat me this way,because all I'm asking for is
human decency andprofessionalism, and if I'm not
receiving that, then there areplenty of places for me that I
can go work, yeah, yeah.
And the thing is is, again,they're not being rude, they're
not being mean about it, they'resimply stating, stating a
(33:22):
boundary, and saying okay,here's the line, lines get
crossed, I'm out, see, ya, yeah,and I love that, because I mean
, brene Brown talks constantlyabout this the people that live
most wholeheartedly have themost boundaries.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Yeah, yeah.
And you know, I thought thisthing that I was on a TikTok and
then I brought it to mytherapist because I thought you
know, what do you think aboutthis?
But this girl, she's a nurse.
She's like, you know, whenyou're at work and someone's
giving you pushback or someone'sacting in from their emotions,
reactive towards you, like justuse a gentle parenting, like
she's like gentle parent.
(34:00):
People like I am not going totalk to you when you're in this
place, like you know, if youwant to come back and have this
talk later, when you're liketake a few minutes or you know,
like very respectfully, but notengaging with that behavior in
any way.
And I was like god, that's sucha great way to do it.
I thought so I went to her.
I'm like what do you thinkshe's like?
I think it's wonderful.
I was like, okay, this is mynew, this is my new way to deal
(34:20):
with this.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And something that I heard andI implemented it in the very
first conversation right after Iheard it was before immediately
going to you know your bestfriend or one of your friends
and just dumping on them aboutwhat's going on venting.
Ask them do you have the mentalbandwidth for me to talk about
(34:44):
something?
Speaker 1 (34:47):
I have a really old friendship but that's something
we've implemented in the lastprobably like five or seven
years.
We've been friends over 20.
And it really makes a hugedifference.
I feel like in, becausesometimes you don't know people
are carrying stuff, we get wornout and then you back away when
you don't have energy to.
You know what I mean.
You ghost people for a whilewhen you don't have energy to
(35:07):
carry their stuff.
But if you're just honest, youdon't it, then we stay closer.
You know what I mean.
We operate.
I feel like it's very muchadded to our friendship
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
I don't know what happened to my hair here.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Just for a second, sorry no, you're good, just your
hair.
Well, I, how long have we gotmy going here?
Oh, we still got time.
Good, I was gonna say it's sofun talking to you.
I don't want to miss talkingabout your offer and what you're
um you too, so we'll talk aboutthat too, okay absolutely,
absolutely, um so.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
So creating these boundaries is all part of yoga.
One of the things that I talkabout with my students and my
clients is there's actuallyeight different portions of yoga
.
There's eight limbs of yoga thepostures are only one of the
limbs and the Niyamas, and theyare practices that you introduce
(36:03):
into your life how you interactwith other people, do no harm,
non-stealing, non-possessivenessand then there's the Niyamas,
which are the practices that youhave with yourself self-study,
self-discipline, surrender,purity.
(36:25):
These are things that you'repaying attention to.
What are the things that I'mbringing into my life?
Am I surrounding myself withpeople that are gossipy and
nitpicking and pull me down, oram I surrounding myself with
people that lift me up andempower me?
You know, going back to thenurses eat their young, and I
(36:45):
have a friend of mine that has amovement nurses feed their
young, and it's all aboutproviding that supportive,
empowering environment to nurses, and so those are the things
that I'm focusing in on is howcan I support, how can I empower
, how can I remind people thatyou are an absolute, freaking
(37:09):
amazing person, that there isliterally nobody else in the
world like you, so why would youtry to be like anybody else.
Instead, be the best version ofyourself that you can possibly
be, what makes you happy, whatmakes you light up.
And if you're doing things thatdon't light you up, those are
signs and symptoms that maybeyou know.
(37:32):
It's not saying you'll quityour job and go do something
else.
Maybe that is the solution.
But instead, how can you addmore things into your life that
do make you happy, that do lightyou up, that when you start to
talk about those things, youknow, know, just like when you
and I started talking, andimmediately it was just okay,
we're both going and we're bothenjoying it and we're like, yes,
absolutely, because this issomething that lights us both up
(37:55):
when you talk about how thesethings are beneficial, how, how
burnt out.
It took me a good couple yearsof stopping away from the
bedside to be able to see justhow burnt out I actually was.
I knew it and I started to seeit more and more.
The real big indication to mewas we've got three children and
(38:21):
the last one was still livingat home, when I was still
working at the bedside and I hadgone from full-time to
part-time to per diem.
And I'm getting ready for workand I'm packing my lunch and
getting everything all set up.
And he looks at me and he goesyou're always so smiling and
happy.
Now that you've cut back yourhours, it's like you're just.
(38:42):
You're just happy all the timeand I thought, well crap, what
have I been before now?
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Tired really tired.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Tired, exhausting.
You know, exhausted, exhaustingSnappy.
Speaker 1 (38:59):
Yeah, yeah, controlling Snappy.
That was one of like I I Iexperienced habitual, like
intense, severe burnout, likewhere I had medical problems and
had to take months off work andall that and came back and have
found balance now.
But prior to the habitualburnout, that's one of the first
things that started happening.
I don't think I was quite asaware of then, but I think that
(39:22):
was one of the first signs thatI wish I could go back and make
changes.
Then is when I started feelinglike real snippy, real short,
like I can't handle one morething.
You know that like I'm gonnalose my temper.
You know that kind of like realedginess and I feel like I
operated that way for a long,long time.
You know what I mean.
I justified it because I waslike I'm protecting people.
(39:44):
You know like this is my job.
You know what I mean Like.
But in reality, like when I,after I healed and I really I
what I tell some of the newnurses is like I practice a
level of detachment now that Iwasn't capable of before and
that helps me so much.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Because the thing is is and thisis probably going to a lot of
nurses are going to seethemselves or hear themselves in
this the idea that we sit inour car before we go into work
because we have to sit there andmentally prepare ourselves to
the barrage of whatever it isthat we're going to experience
(40:25):
when we go in.
Right, we know that there'sgoing to be stuff happening and
the question is are we going tobe able to see it fast enough to
do something fast enough to beable to be where we need to be?
And having to sit in our carand have that space of okay, I
(40:54):
can do this, I'm not going tolose my shit over this, it's
going to be okay, right, orcrying before we go into work.
And then there's the coming outof work and sitting in your car
and then just mentallyunloading, crying, screaming,
venting, whatever it is that weneed to do.
The problem is, it's still notenough, and I don't think people
(41:20):
realize that and I don't thinkwe, as nurses, are talking about
this enough.
Speaker 1 (41:26):
Yeah, they need to have better preparation.
I know that's like a hugechange, but I feel like it needs
to start in nursing school,also in med school.
We're not the only ones thatcarry this.
We just deal with it differentand face a different set of
stressors and a lot of people inhealthcare honestly are teased.
It's a different set ofstressors so, like you know, and
a lot of people in healthcarehonestly like our teeth, you
know.
Like I mean, you say, nursingit's the biggest, most common,
(41:53):
huge group of people.
But really anyone who's workingin healthcare in I don't know
about the outpatient settings,but the inpatient settings is a
very stressful, hard, hardenvironment on all levels.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
Well, I will tell you , I worked.
So before I was a nurse, I wasa phlebotomist and I was also a
pseudo med tech.
And then I was trained, butactually wasn't, you know,
didn't have that particularbackground in medicine, and I
worked in urgent care.
That was part of our hospitalsystem and it was in the
(42:22):
evenings and so we would have,you know, people come in with
the nail through the hand, youknow, fell and broke their arm,
the sniffles, you know, thethings that people go to urgent
care for.
But then we would also have theODs and the cardiac arrests and
we would have these situationswhere, you know, shit hits the
(42:46):
fan and there was a skeletoncrew there of one doctor, one
nurse, one x-ray tech, one MAand a phlebotomist.
And when you've got that tinyof a staff, everybody's doing
everything together and so it'snot as intense.
It's nothing like the ICU,nothing like working in, you
(43:08):
know, one of the main hospitals.
It has a different, it's moresporadic, it's like feast or
famine.
It's either everything.
Everything is nothing.
Speaker 1 (43:16):
When you see it all the time.
So there's not necessarilysaying that it's harder Like
when I talk about, I rememberlike talking, talking about this
is the best example for me tosee.
This is when you talk aboutlike child trauma, like kid
trauma is like because thingsthat you don't think are
traumatizing traumatizedchildren because like the worst
thing they've ever experiencedis the worst thing they've ever
experienced, regardless ofwhether it seems dramatic to us,
(43:38):
and that is like such a presentthing.
You know what I mean withtrauma's.
You can't compare it, you can't, but you know cause it's all
different.
You know there's a reason I'm anICU nurse, it's because I
probably I learned to deal withtrauma before I was a nurse.
I learned to compartmentalize along, long time ago from other
things, and that's what made megood at it, and so that's you
(43:59):
know, yes, you know, yes.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
that is such a big component of an understanding
that we don't necessarily have.
Is that the one of the reasonsthat we went into medicine, that
we went into nursing in thefirst place, is because we were
already the nurturers, we werealready the people pleasers, we
were already the take, you know,the caregivers of somebody at
(44:26):
some point in our life.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
We're very likely putting other people's needs
before our own until it gets sobad that we learn to do it.
You know what I mean, Becauseuntil we suffer enough that we
learn to put ours first, we'remost likely most of us are
putting other people's needsbefore our own.
Speaker 2 (44:40):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And that's the thing is, whenwe go into a career such a high
stress career, with an alreadyoverstimulated nervous system,
it's no wonder that we've hadthis culture of nurses eat their
young, because we're alreadyoverstimulated that
(45:01):
disconnection from our emotions,disconnection from our
compassion.
We think we're compassionateand we are.
However, we havecompartmentalized so much that
we're not as compassionate as wehave the potential to be, we're
(45:21):
not as kind as we have thepotential to be and we're not as
loving as we have the potentialto be.
We're not as kind as we havethe potential to be and we're
not as loving as we have thepotential to be.
And that doesn't just go to ourrelationships with our patients
, family members, doctors,coworkers.
It extends to our own family,our own inner circle.
Speaker 1 (45:36):
Yeah, for sure, for sure.
Speaker 2 (45:39):
And that's the area where, when we learn to extend
kindness and compassion andgrace to ourself and to have
that inner language change towhere we start to recognize the
(46:02):
direct imbalance that we have inour body, in our brain, in our
nervous system, we start toshift and make small little
choices that bring thatdisconnect.
So if our sympathetic nervoussystem is up here and our
parasympathetic nervous systemsdown here, we do things like go
(46:23):
on vacation, go get a pedicure,go to get a massage, spend some
time with our friends, and wethink, oh, wow, like I did so
much self-care and I feel somuch better.
But then we go to a yoga classand the person says, okay, we're
gonna sit in stillness here for15 minutes, and we think that's
(46:44):
torture, why would I do that?
And like boom, we're back uphere again and the reason for
that is because there's stillthis disconnect between our
nervous system, we're still notin balance, and so anything that
is truly restorative, relaxing,rejuvenating, that would bring
us closer to balance, feelsuncomfortable.
Speaker 1 (47:07):
Yeah, it's like I remember meditating when I first
started meditating and alsoexperiencing friends of mine as
they start meditating, talkingto me about it, like it's so
hard to turn your brain off, youjust want to quit, and it's
like the practice is sittingthere and letting that, not
judging yourself for thinkingduring it, letting that, letting
that be okay.
It's acceptance on every level.
(47:27):
And it's so hard to practice atfirst until you get in, get
into it a little bit.
Even now, some days I'm like ahabsolutely.
Speaker 2 (47:36):
And the thing is is, again, just like, just like with
yoga, because meditation ispart of, it's one of the small
parts.
Again, there's different styles, there's different forms, and
so when meditation is reallydifficult for us, that's a sign
that we actually need even moreso, and that's when we can use
(47:57):
different styles of meditationwhere we can incorporate
repeating a word, we can dochanting, we can do mantras, we
can do affirmations, and I lovethat there's so many variations
because it doesn't, again, itdoesn't have to be the words
that I say, it can be whateverwords you want to.
If you want to chant ladybugover and over, because the
picture of a ladybug makes youfeel calm, chant ladybug, right.
(48:19):
So it's whatever it is thatmakes you feel calm.
Or my favorite is the KirtanKriya.
It's sa-ta-na-ma, and you sayit out loud for two minutes,
softly for two minutes, silentlyin your head for four minutes,
(48:41):
and then softly for two minutes,and then out loud again for two
minutes.
So it's a 12 minute meditation.
And this specific meditationhas been.
There's a white paper done onit by the Alzheimer's Research
Foundation that shows that itimproves cognitive function in
dementia patients.
Speaker 1 (49:00):
Interesting.
I didn't know that I have towrite that down.
Speaker 2 (49:03):
And so when you do a meditation like that, especially
when your mind is just like alltwirly and you can't ground and
you can't silence your mind,the thing is, remember, the
whole point of meditation is notto empty your mind, it's not to
silence your mind, it's to notfollow the thought.
So you see the thought and youstart.
You know well, I need to getthis when I go to the store and
(49:25):
I need to make sure, oh, and Igot to make sure that I get by
and pick up that outfit, right,you notice, oh crap, I just
deviated.
And then you come back andyou're like okay, breathe in,
breathe out.
But if you're doing somethinglike sata, you know you're,
you're using hand mood mudras orhand movements and
(49:46):
incorporating some type ofrepetitive sound.
Then you're focused in on thehand movements and the
repetitive sound and yourthoughts don't stray as much
harder for them to leak in?
Yeah, stray as much harder forthem to leak in.
(50:08):
Yeah, exactly, and.
And so it's those littlemoments where you go okay, I
can't do this one today, becauseit's just not.
And this is again going back toadaptive yoga is okay, what is
what?
What's the state of my, mynervous system right now?
What's the state of mybreathing?
What's the state of mind?
What's going to be mostbeneficial for me today?
Is it doing a yin yoga practice?
(50:30):
Is it doing a restorative yogapractice?
Do I need to go to hot yoga andburn off some extra energy?
Or, honestly, that's?
Speaker 1 (50:36):
my like, if like the worst ever, if I can't manage
hot yoga as the thing that makesme feel better and that's the
thing is you know't manage hotyoga it's the thing that makes
me feel better.
Speaker 2 (50:45):
And that's the thing is.
You know, there's so manydifferent styles of yoga.
One of the things that I reallylike is a lot of fascia flows,
because it helps to unstick thesticky areas of my hips and my
low back, and so it's a realslow flow and it's really good.
(51:06):
But then I also need some someenergetic movements periodically
, and so there's differentstyles of yoga and there's
different styles of meditation,just like there's different
styles of breath work.
You can do breath of fire whereyou're and then that changes.
Speaker 1 (51:22):
You know for me like it changes.
But what works?
All the time I'm going back andforth, I use them.
Have you ever heard?
Are you on insight timer?
Yes, I was gonna say I keepmeaning to mention it on this
show, but it's a free app and ithas like that.
I mean I want to say overthousands, like probably
hundreds of thousands, of freecontent in different styles
meditation, sound therapy, likereal therapists on they're doing
(51:45):
actual courses, and then youcan pay an upgrade.
But there is probably tens ofthousands, if not hundreds of
thousands, of free content onthere.
Speaker 2 (51:52):
There's no need to pay and it's a great, great
resource I want to say it's likesomething ridiculous like 19 a
year.
Speaker 1 (51:59):
If you do pay, I pay for it, because I like it, but
and I, I'm like but it's a great, great resource.
We're getting kind of long ontime here, so I want to really
make time to even talk aboutwhat you do for people and how
you help people and how peoplecan get ahold of you, because
you've said such wonderfulthings I could talk to you.
I mean, honestly, we could dolike a four hour show, probably
(52:21):
talk about this forever.
I love talking about this stuff, so, but tell me about how
you're helping peoplespecifically now and how people
can get a hold of you and whatkind of people you're helping,
like who?
Who's who are your clientsright now?
Who's who could benefit fromyour services?
Speaker 2 (52:37):
I'm working with nurses that are stressed out,
overwhelmed and want to havemore happiness, joy in all areas
of their life, and so I offer Ioffer courses.
I offer CE courses onmindfulness, meditation, yoga,
(52:58):
movement, things like how to sayno without guilt.
There are nurses that areentrepreneurs.
I also offer courses on how tobe a confident speaker, so
there's a lot of different waysthat we can incorporate yoga
into all the different areas.
I work one-on-one with clients,I have group therapy sessions,
and then I also have courses,and soon there will be yoga
(53:22):
retreats happening with CEcourses as well too.
Speaker 1 (53:26):
And so you work with clients one on one.
Do you incorporate yoga intothat practice at all, or is it
just coaching?
Speaker 2 (53:33):
I do incorporate.
It's, yes, it's yoga therapy,so it's it.
It's different every singletime, so it could be we do a
meditation, it could be when wedo a movement, it's it's all of
the things.
And so yeah, absolutely so yeah.
And then we I incorporate reikiand also veda counseling as
(53:55):
well too.
Um, which veda counseling is?
Um very similar, it's uh,similar to astrology.
Um, using using thatinformation so that you can see
what are your challenges, whatare your tendencies, where are
the areas so it's not likeayurveda veda is vedic is
(54:15):
different.
Speaker 1 (54:16):
Yes, it's, oh, I didn't know that okay yeah.
Speaker 2 (54:19):
so ayurveda, yeah, is the sister science of yoga,
because it's more about themedicine and food and all of the
holistic aspects of it.
Vedic astrology is looking atthat specific moment in time
where you were born, and seeinghow that influences your life,
(54:48):
your language and your impact onthe world, and incorporating it
in terms of how does it affectyour health as well too Love
that.
Speaker 1 (54:52):
So if people are looking for you and they're like
yes, want to do this, do you dothat all in person, or is it
virtually as well?
Speaker 2 (55:00):
I do it virtually.
The majority of it is virtual,okay, and so they can find me on
social Eva Z wellness.
Eva Z wellness on differentsocial media, and then my
website is Eva Z wellnesscom.
Speaker 1 (55:20):
Okay, and then I'll guess this question but like,
what is your go to when thingsare like overwhelmed?
Your go to like a self care oryour mindfulness practice.
It's like your go to.
Speaker 2 (55:34):
For me, it's being outside, going outside, either
sitting outside and listening tothe sounds around me or going
for a walk, and being reallyintentional about how I'm
breathing, how I'm walking andtuning into me, turning into my
body.
Speaker 1 (55:56):
I love that.
That's perfect.
Well, Eva, thank you so much.
I had such a blast talking toyou.
Hopefully you'll come back andtalk to us again when you've got
new promotions.
Love to hear about themAbsolutely.
Speaker 2 (56:07):
Absolutely, I would love to do that.
Thank you so much for having me.
This was a blast and you'reright, we could sit here and we
could talk for hours.
Speaker 1 (56:14):
Yeah, it's been a pleasure.
So thanks so much.
Bye.
Hello and welcome back to another episode of
Empowered Ease, the podcastwhere we explore the
intersection of health, wellnessand women's empowerment.
I'm your host, jen Olinger, andI'm thrilled to introduce
another remarkable guest.
My guest today is EvaZobian-Wolfe.
Her work is transforming thelives of countless individuals
(00:24):
in the healthcare community.
Eva is the founder and CEO ofEva Z Wellness.
She's a true pioneer in thefield of mind-body wellness.
As a mind-body specialist, anurse and an adaptive yoga
therapist, eva has dedicatedover two decades to helping
chronically exhausted nursesreclaim their vitality and
(00:46):
well-being.
Through her personalizedmindfulness plans and
transformative sessions, shetackles chronic illness, pain
and mobility challenges head-on.
Eva's expertise spans a diverserange of modalities, including
adaptive yoga therapy, reiki,and her approach has proven
effective in reducing stress,boosting energy levels and
(01:10):
enhancing sleep quality.
Not only is Eva deeplycommitted to improving the
health of those in her care, butshe also actively volunteers
with social advocacy groups,showing that her dedication to
well-being extends far beyondher professional practice.
So join me in welcoming ourguest today, eva, to Empowered
(01:31):
Ease.
Well welcome, eva.
How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
I'm great.
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, thank you for being here.
I'm so excited to talk aboutall the awesome work you're
doing and find out a little bitmore about you.
So I guess first, just like Igave you a good intro, but tell
us, like, where you're locatedand your intro- Well, my name is
Eva Zobian-Wolf.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
I am the founder of Eva Z Wellness.
One of the reasons that Istarted this particular work is
because I have been in themedical field for over 25 years.
It sounds really weird when Isay that.
I'm like how is that possible?
I'm not, I can't possibly beold enough to have that.
I'm not that old.
(02:25):
I'm not right, the math isn'tmathing right now, but I've been
in the medical field for over25 years.
Part of that was the entire timehas been in pretty decent-sized
hospitals, in pretty decentsized hospitals and in roles
(02:46):
where I was involved in traumaresponses, code responses,
working in the ER, working in aneonatal intensive care unit,
(03:10):
and I finished out the last 10years as a nurse in a hospital
here in San Antonio, texas.
As in the ICU and the hospitalshere are pretty large, we get a
lot of patients from differentareas around Texas, from San
Antonio down towards the borderand down into West Texas and one
of the things I started tonotice after a few years of
working in the ICU was it wasn'tme, and anybody that has
(03:36):
experienced an extreme amount ofstress and burnout can maybe
recognize some of these aspectsin themselves.
I felt like a shell of myself,but it wasn't an empty shell.
It was like an angry shellwhere I didn't have a lot of.
You were a loving shell, yeah,I mean, I was very quick to be
(04:00):
angry, but not so quick to becalm to be angry but not so
quick to be calm and definitelynot so quick to be happy.
And I started looking for thingsthat I could do for myself to
bring more of that happy versionof myself back into my life and
to be, you know, a better wife,a better mom, a better friend,
(04:22):
a better coworker.
And with that I startedpursuing yoga teacher training.
It was something that I hadbeen wanting to do for years,
but I've had scoliosis since Iwas 12.
I was in a back brace for 12years or not 12 years, for like
six years and I thought well,who's going to take yoga from
(04:44):
somebody that some days can'teven touch their toes right?
There's days where I wake upand I'm in so much pain that I
have a hard time standingupright, and I thought how do I
teach a yoga class when this isa norm for me?
And after taking yogaconsistently for a few months, I
(05:09):
started to see a different sideof yoga from what I had seen
before and I thought this is thetype of yoga that I want to do
and I want to find a mentor whowill be with me for the rest of
my life.
And that part is reallyimportant, because the mentor
that I found is one of my bestfriends and we talk regularly,
we work together now, and so shehad an adaptive, trauma
(05:36):
informed curriculum that reallyfocused in on the therapeutic
benefits of yoga.
Everything was rooted in how isthis going to be beneficial,
how is this going to betherapeutic, how is this going
to help you, not just physicallybut mentally and spiritually,
to be able to improve all theareas of your body and your mind
(06:00):
and your spirit?
And then one of the otherthings that I started doing was
volunteering with differentnonprofit organizations, and for
about nine years I was medicalsupport for a cycling
organization that worked withveterans and first responders
with PTSD.
Eventually, I went through yogateacher training and went all
(06:26):
the way through yoga therapytraining, which is more intense.
You create treatment plans, youcreate a with the client.
You're creating this holisticplan of what are the areas that
you feel you need more in yourlife.
Do you need more energy?
(06:47):
Do you need more sleep?
Do you need more joy?
And then together we work on aplan where we're incorporating
all of those aspects into yourlife.
And when I started working withclients privately, I started
seeing people improving theirsleep, coming off of blood
(07:09):
pressure medications, eitherbeing able to completely come
off of pain medications orneeding their pain medications
so much less frequently, beingable to space out their pain
injections further and furtherapart, and all of these things
were.
(07:29):
You know, I'm not the onedictating how that's happening.
That's a relationship they'rehaving with their physician, but
these are things that I'vereally noticed were missing when
I was sitting in the ICU and atthe the last, at the last
moments of a person's life, andI'm watching all of the things
(07:50):
that we're doing all themedications, all the drips, all
the procedures, the CPR, the24-hour dialysis machines, the
ventilator, the complete carethat they need when they have to
be turned every two hours, andjust the amount of suffering
(08:11):
that's involved in that process.
And what really got to mewasn't necessarily that that
person was having to go throughit.
It was watching the people inthe room with them and thinking
this isn't a product of adisease.
This is a product of I'm notknowing not knowing how to
(08:36):
listen to their body, notknowing how to feed their body,
not knowing how to nourish theirenergy, not knowing that a lot
of the things that are justthrown out into our world aren't
always beneficial for us, and alot of us don't question that
(08:58):
and my thought was what wouldhappen if somebody had a
conversation you know, of course, outside of the ICU, because in
the ICU you're stressed andthat's not a time for those
conversations.
But what happened if somebodyhad this conversation and
offered different choices thatwere more specific to you?
(09:22):
What do you need?
What's going to make you happy,what's going to make you
healthy?
And how would that change thetrajectory of the timeline, the
storyline for not only oneperson, but for an entire family
.
And that's something that I'veseen with a lot of my students
(09:43):
where, instead of reprimandingchildren, they're saying okay,
you can have whatever tempertantrum you want to have, but
before you can do that, you haveto take.
You know, if you're two yearsold, you have to take two big,
deep breaths with two longexhales.
If you're four years old, youhave to take four breaths.
And then hearing that thefour-year-old is coaching the
(10:05):
two-year-old on how to do thosebreathing habits, because it has
become a habit for them now.
So now, instead of, you know,having a hissy fit, they take a
deep breath and then, mommy, I'dlike a snack yeah, regulating
your nervous system.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Yes, like this regulative, I relate so much.
You said so much stuff therethat I can relate to.
I'm a critical care nursemyself.
That's my history.
I just actually this week isthe first time I started a new
job in 10 years outside ofcritical care and I'm like um
leadership in a critical caresetting.
But it's my first time notbeing bedside and so I relate.
(10:45):
And I just finished a contractwhere I was driving two hours to
to it, so in 18 hour days I'mso much of what you said.
I'm like oh my god, yes, andright before this episode for
the listeners, we were talkingabout uh like driving in deer,
uh like infested woods and likejust your nervous system being
on edge.
So after you know, you'retalking about critical care.
(11:06):
I'm like.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Oh yeah there's that.
And that's just it.
We have these patterns of beinghyper vigilant.
And for critical care nursesfor all nurses, right, there's
this amount of vigilance thatour nervous system is.
In critical care nurses I feellike it's another level.
(11:27):
Er nurses are, you know,they've got so many patients,
they're going in so manydirections.
I think they still have it andthey have it a different way,
and that's the same, really, forall different types of nursing.
Critical care nurses.
That's what I can speak to,because that's what I was, and
so when we're talking aboutthere's never.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
The gas pedal is never let off of in critical
care is the thing I'll say.
It's never like the other otherdepartments, like there's an
interview, not saying it likecomparing, because there's worse
things about med surgery.
There's a reason I work incritical care, because I prefer
it, so it's not all bad, butwhen it comes to the toll it
takes on your nervous system,there's more sounds.
(12:13):
I have a trauma therapist formyself and we a lot of times
struggle to get to my rootedstuff because she says I have
layers of micro trauma Justkeeping some of the real trauma
from being able to be processedsometimes because I have 10
years of spending the worst dayof people's lives with them over
and over again and it's anhonor.
I love that I did it.
I can't even get away from it,even when I know I should,
(12:36):
because it's not good for me,because I love it, but it's it
takes a toll.
We pay a price for that hugeprice.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Absolutely, absolutely.
So I was teaching a.
It was funny, I was teaching aclass on neuroscience to yoga
teacher trainers Say that again.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
I said that's.
My specialty, by the way, isneuro, so I love everything
neurology, psychology,neuroscience.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Love it, love it, love it, love it.
Yeah, and there's so much to it.
And the interesting thing iswhat I've learned in yoga is so
much more than I ever learned inschool.
I had a degree in physiologybefore I went to nursing school
and I still learned so much moreabout this and the application
(13:23):
of it than I did in nursing,which to me just is absolutely
astounding.
So I'm teaching this workshop ofneuroscience to yoga teacher
trainees and we're downtown andin a second floor building or
(13:44):
second floor of a building, andthere's a garbage truck backing
up outside of the building, andthen we've got the beep and the
beep and the beep.
And as I'm talking to thestudents, all of a sudden I just
stop and my face glazes overand I'm zoned in on that noise.
And then, when it finallystopped beeping, I turn and look
(14:10):
at my students and they're alljust looking at me like
dumbfounded.
They have no idea what washappening.
And the irony here is thatlater that afternoon I was
teaching a yoga class to a bunchof ICU nurses and I was
explaining what had happened andin my mind when that I heard
that beeping, all I could thinkof is where is that?
What is it, how do I need torespond, who needs to be called
(14:32):
and what do I need to bring?
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Yeah, I'm always trying to place it, you know,
because it's like when I placeit, I know what to do with it
Exactly.
And if there's a sound I don'tknow when I'm at work.
Oh my God, I've never felt moreout of control Because I'm like
what is it?
Where is it what?
Speaker 2 (14:48):
is it Exactly?
And then what was funny is whenI brought it up to the nurses
and I said you know, this iswhat happened.
Well, they, immediately beforeI even said anything, they went.
Well, of course, you need toknow what is it, when is it, who
do you need to call?
What do you need to bring thoseexact phrases?
Speaker 1 (15:13):
I just got done with a three-week break and it's like
the sounds, like I hear themwhen I'm falling asleep and when
I'm in the shower and I don'teven notice until I take a break
and they go away, like when Igo on vacation, and I'm like, oh
my God, it's constant.
They're in my head constantlylike all kinds of stuff.
It's nuts.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
And like I'm wondering about the toll that
takes too.
You know, and the thing isthat's a lot and if we go back
to the HPA access and look atthat the hypothalamic, pituitary
adrenal access, and we look atthat, it's actually a negative
feedback loop.
Look at that, it's actually anegative feedback loop.
And so when we're in thathypervigilant stage all the time
, it causes an over activationof the amygdala, it causes
(15:52):
destruction to the hippocampusand it's continually dropping
cortisol and adrenaline into thebody, which we know we need all
of those hormones.
We need all of those chemicalsin our body which we know we
need all of those hormones.
We need all of those chemicalsin our body, but we don't need
them in the amount that we areactually producing, which is why
I don't know if do you workdays or do you work nights.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
I worked well.
I worked days, mostly Double.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
And this is happening on both both days and nights.
Night shift has the added bonusof working on the opposite of
their circadian rhythm, and sothey're already dumping more
cortisol and adrenaline intotheir body, which is causing
(16:43):
this cascade of inflammation anddestruction in the body.
And then, on top of that, wehave the hypervigilance, we have
the continual stimulation ofour sympathetic nervous system,
and this shows up in when we'recranky, when we're tired, when
(17:03):
we're overreactive.
You talked about how you stillhear the noises.
The same thing I would comehome from work in the morning,
go in, take my shower, lay downin bed, blackout curtains are
closed and I have it completelydark in the room, and then, as
soon as my head lays down in thepillow, it's like there's a
(17:26):
vent going off in the shower,and so I would always have to
play some type of noise,something that was familiar
enough that I didn't have to payattention to it, but it was
enough to drown out the noisesof the unit that were still
bouncing around in my head, andtowards the end of me working at
(17:47):
the bedside, it had gotten sobad I couldn't listen to music
that had words in it, because itwas just too much stimulation.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
That's funny because I listen to a lot of sound
therapy that has no words, justtones A lot, but I never made
that connection before.
But now I'm like, oh, maybe, Imean I don't know if I have to
pay more attention, I love that.
So when you say adaptive yoga,I love that.
I know more about, likeadaptive sports than I do about
adaptive yoga.
So tell me a little bit moreabout adaptive yoga and what
(18:23):
that is.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
So I kind of chuckle at this because and I talked
with my mentor about this wealways make the distinction that
it's adaptive and traumainformed.
And every once in a while we'llhave these conversations and
I'll say isn't yoga inherentlyadaptive and trauma-informed
(18:45):
which it is.
If you go back thousands ofyears to the original Vedic
practitioners, this was allabout a lifestyle and it was a
specific to the practitionerlifestyle.
What are the foods that you'reeating?
What are the clothes thatyou're wearing?
How are you moving?
What are you?
What are you taking in?
What's the environment thatyou're taking in?
(19:06):
And there's a perception, andthere's been a culture,
especially here in the UnitedStates with yoga, that it's
performative, that there's aspecific posture that you need
to achieve in order to developthat balance and in order to
(19:29):
develop that inner peace.
And, quite honestly, it's abunch of bullshit.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
I love that you say that, though, because I can't
like I've done.
I've practiced yoga since I wasreally young, because it was.
I got introduced to it incollege sports.
Our college trainer took us toa yoga class and I got addicted.
So I did it like on and off formy whole life.
But when I've told people aboutit that don't know about it,
everyone's always like I'm notflexible, I can't touch my toes.
(19:56):
It's like that doesn't evenmatter and like that's not the
point.
But that's what everybody says,and I love that you say that
because I'm like that'severybody's answer.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
I'm like and that's more proof to do it, by the way,
absolutely.
I mean, I am living proof ofthat because with my scoliosis
I've got an S curve in my spineand that was one of the things
that led me in that direction isbecause when I practiced it
consistently, but I had to startpracticing it in a way that
worked for my body, and that'swhere the adaptive component
(20:28):
comes in.
So I've really got two missionsin my life.
One is to help nurses and talkabout practicing radical
self-care and alleviating andpreventing burnout, and the
other is bringing yoga out intothe world in a way that
(20:50):
absolutely everybody canpractice yoga.
Because the thing is, if you'rebreathing, you can practice
yoga.
Because the thing is is ifyou're breathing, you're
practicing yoga.
It doesn't matter what themovement is, what's the favorite
pose, corpse pose, where youjust lay there.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
And that's the point of yoga is to get to corpse pose
.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And the thing is, even in corpsepose it has its own inherent
meaning and beauty to it,because the idea is that we are
a different version of ourselfevery single moment.
You know who we are now comparedto when we first started
talking is different than youknow who we are a week ago, who
(21:31):
we are a month ago.
And the idea with Shavasanacorpse pose is that you enter
into the pose as one version ofyou, but that version dies and
you rebirth as a differentversion of you when you come out
of that pose, and the idea,hopefully, is that you come out
of it knowing more aboutyourself, seeing more about
(21:55):
yourself, having a better anddeeper relationship with
yourself, and you move out ofthat making choices that are
more aligned with who youactually are.
And so the purpose of yogaisn't to be able to wind
yourself up into a pretzel shapeor balance in crow pose.
(22:15):
It's actually to be as close aspossible to your deeper,
authentic self, who you reallyare deep down inside.
That maybe you only let acouple people see, or maybe even
you yourself are completelyunaware of, because we've got
(22:37):
these layers, of layers that arethrown on us by the traumas
that we experience all the allthe experiences that we've had
in our life, but the things thatpeople say and expect of us
that we accept right.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
So one of the things that are programmed when we're
like real little and don't evenknow it.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Exactly right.
You know, I had a hairdresseronce that I went in and she's
like oh, you don't have bangs.
You need bangs.
You have a big forehead.
You need to cover that bigforehead.
You need to have bangs.
And I thought I didn't evenknow that I'm supposed to have
bangs.
I'm supposed to have bangs.
Now I'm like who are you totell me what to do with me?
(23:22):
Right?
And so it's those little thingsyou know when people say like,
oh, girls aren't supposed to dothis, or you're not supposed to
do this as you grow up, this oryou're not supposed to do this
as you grow up, these differentroles or restrictions that
people put on you.
You go into yoga and you gothrough the mat and you go
through the movements and thewhole time you're learning about
(23:46):
yourself, you're feeling,you're developing an awareness
of what it feels like to be inthe experience of your body and
the movement in your body, andalso, what does that feel like
in your mind, what does thatfeel like in your nervous system
?
And starting to unravel thatand find the places where, man,
(24:09):
this really makes me happy.
I should do more of this.
I feel really heavy and nothappy when I do these things.
I should do less of this, andso it's a whole process of
getting to know yourself deeperand deeper, and I think you know
(24:32):
we do that inherently as we age.
Hopefully, you know some of usare doing that as we age, where
we're starting to think.
You know we do that inherentlyas we age.
Hopefully, you know some of usare doing that as we age, where
we're starting to go.
You know what I know more, Iknow better.
I know what makes me happy.
I'm going to do more of that,and the way that we do that also
has to be kind to other peopleas well, like I can't be happy
(24:52):
at the expense of somebodyelse's happiness.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Yeah, so how, I guess ?
How are you working with peoplenow?
I know you used to be bedsidenurse and so are you teaching
yoga like a hundred percent.
Is that what you do?
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Well, I'm combining the two, so a lot of what I do
is excuse me um.
A lot of what I do is workingwith nurses in continuing
education classes or in coachingthat utilizes all the aspects
(25:34):
of yoga, and then I'm alsoteaching.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Okay, we had to pause .
My husband is weed whacking andhe got very close to my office
and so I had to go out there andbe like hey, don't come near my
office.
And then he started likerubbing the weed whacker.
I'm like he's such a like, buthe did walk away.
So thank you.
It is a huge job and he hasvery little time to do it and he
(26:03):
works nights.
So I'm like, thank you, thankyou.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Oh my gosh Well.
So I always find this funny,because whenever you know stuff
like this happens, I always sayI'm completely flexible, because
if you can't have your yogatherapist be flexible, who can
be flexible about it?
Right?
Speaker 1 (26:22):
right and that's like you know.
That's kind of I'm kind ofgoing to get off topic here, but
it's going to come back aroundis.
That's kind of like the purposeof my podcast, if I'm being
honest like one of the mainpurposes is kind of to challenge
the idea that we have to dothings in this very strict way,
because I feel like all of myguests, you included, have found
this way to do life, to dohealing, to do to connect.
(26:44):
That is your own and then youhelp most of my guests are
facilitating that in otherpeople and it's not about doing
it your way Like I coach womenthrough burnout too, and I don't
coach people to.
And it's not about doing ityour way, like I coach women
through burnout too, and I don'tcoach people to do it my way.
I coach them to figure outtheir way and I love that and
that's kind of like this.
It's not this flexible, likethis hard, rigid container that
(27:07):
we're in that a lot of thingshave become.
If we give things a littlemovement, we treat people like
humans with human needs.
I mean, of course, thoseboundaries are important.
That's part of this.
But you know, this is life,like you know.
Anyway, I'm off topic, butthat's kind of what you're doing
too.
You're encouraging people to dolife their way with what works
(27:29):
for them.
You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Absolutely, because it's such an important component
because that's some of theplaces where, especially in
healthcare, where we have somany issues that nursing in
itself is a flexible profession,right.
So if we look at the proceduresthat we have been doing,
(27:54):
medicine is constantly evolving.
We do a practice until we haveevidence that shows us that we
should be doing it differently.
However, what usually happenswhen a new policy, a new way of
doing something, is introduced,everybody gets up in arms and
(28:16):
thinks why are we doingsomething different?
We've been doing it this wayfor how long?
And it's been totally.
It's been working fine.
Why do we have to change thepolicy now?
Speaker 1 (28:24):
I think it's because it's one more thing and we're
already juggling the.
I mean, if you really considerit, if anyone ever sat down and
actually wrote down all theexpectations that a nurse has to
uphold during her shift.
It's not possible.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
But you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
It's just dropping one more thing on that bucket
that's already overflowing andit doesn't matter if it's
helpful.
It just feels like a smack inthe face when they ask that,
sometimes because you're sooverworked.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Exactly, and that's the thing that right there is a
symptom of an over-activated,over-stimulated nervous system,
because the whole reason that wewent into the profession was to
be able to help people, and wewanted to help people in the way
that they needed help.
We wanted to be able to offerkindness and comfort and care,
(29:12):
and not necessarily what wethink it is, that they, that
they know.
However, one of the thingsthat's going on in the medical
system right now is we've got alot of overstimulated nervous
systems.
And just just to highlight that, you've heard the, the, the
phrase nurses eat their youngbefore.
(29:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Right, it's actually shifting.
At least it is in a lot of theplaces I've been and I see a lot
of people pushing for it.
But that was alive and wellwhen I started.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Absolutely.
Oh, yeah, I had.
I had three differentpreceptors when I started in the
ICU Two were phenomenal and onewas a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
One moment, super helpful thenext minute just bashing me left
and right and speaking to me,in a way that I'm just sitting
(30:08):
there looking at the persongoing.
Really, this is what you thinkis going to be helpful.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Yeah, I had this interaction early in my nursing
career with um.
I really respected her.
She was a she was a nursepractitioner at the time and she
was, I mean, she'd been like atrauma nurse and life, like I
mean, she was like one of thosepeople who went after a lot of
years of doing a lot of amazingthings.
And, um, I don't remember whatwe got into it about, but I was
(30:34):
like you don't have to approachpeople that way and she was like
you need to thicken your skinif you're going to be in this
environment.
And I remember like I respectedher so much, I was so upset she
said that, because I'm like no,you don't, and if you keep
treating people like that,there's not going to be anybody
left.
You know what I mean and what Ilove about this new generation
is they just do not accept thatbullshit, they do not accept
(30:56):
being talked to that way and I'mlike woo, holly, Right, Move on
, Absolutely yes.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
I was having a conversation with somebody.
She's a realtor and she wastalking about how her daughter
was thinking about following herboyfriend to Germany.
He was going to do his master'sprogram there.
And the mom, of course, waslike well, what are you going to
do about your job?
And she said well, I'm going totell them they get the
(31:25):
opportunity to let me workremote, or then I'm going to
quit.
And she straight up looked ather mom and said I'm only as
loyal as my paycheck.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Well, I mean, that's how the company sees you.
Why not?
You're a number, so why not?
It's kind of funny how businesshas shifted, because that's I
mean, you can see that trend inso many places.
But I feel like nursing so much, like I've never kept a
position more than two years.
I don't want to.
I get bored.
I you know there's alwaysproblems.
I'll deal with a new set ofproblems.
I'm tired of these problems.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
You know what I?
Speaker 1 (32:00):
mean For the most part I shift a lot.
But older generations I meanlike I'm people you know, they
my husband's met the same job 20years.
He's an old soul.
But there's a lot of peoplelike that, you know they get a
place.
They don't want to move, theywant to, they want to say they
want to invest.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
I worked with nurses that had been in the same unit
for 30 years.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Yeah, I don't see those anymore, but I used to
like I think like the last twohave retired from where I am now
, but yeah, I feel like that'sjust, it's rare to see that and
I've been traveling for fiveyears and it's.
There are a lot of places thatdon't have any of that anymore
Since COVID, post-covid,pre-covid, yes, but post-COVID.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Yes, absolutely, absolutely.
And that's one of the things isthat when you start to step
into your worth and you start tocreate healthy boundaries and I
think that's where theseyounger generations are really
doing an amazing job, becausethey are they're establishing
boundaries immediately andsaying this is how I expect to
(33:01):
be treated.
You can treat me this way,because all I'm asking for is
human decency andprofessionalism, and if I'm not
receiving that, then there areplenty of places for me that I
can go work, yeah, yeah.
And the thing is is, again,they're not being rude, they're
not being mean about it, they'resimply stating, stating a
(33:22):
boundary, and saying okay,here's the line, lines get
crossed, I'm out, see, ya, yeah,and I love that, because I mean
, brene Brown talks constantlyabout this the people that live
most wholeheartedly have themost boundaries.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Yeah, yeah.
And you know, I thought thisthing that I was on a TikTok and
then I brought it to mytherapist because I thought you
know, what do you think aboutthis?
But this girl, she's a nurse.
She's like, you know, whenyou're at work and someone's
giving you pushback or someone'sacting in from their emotions,
reactive towards you, like justuse a gentle parenting, like
she's like gentle parent.
(34:00):
People like I am not going totalk to you when you're in this
place, like you know, if youwant to come back and have this
talk later, when you're liketake a few minutes or you know,
like very respectfully, but notengaging with that behavior in
any way.
And I was like god, that's sucha great way to do it.
I thought so I went to her.
I'm like what do you thinkshe's like?
I think it's wonderful.
I was like, okay, this is mynew, this is my new way to deal
(34:20):
with this.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And something that I heard andI implemented it in the very
first conversation right after Iheard it was before immediately
going to you know your bestfriend or one of your friends
and just dumping on them aboutwhat's going on venting.
Ask them do you have the mentalbandwidth for me to talk about
(34:44):
something?
Speaker 1 (34:47):
I have a really old friendship but that's something
we've implemented in the lastprobably like five or seven
years.
We've been friends over 20.
And it really makes a hugedifference.
I feel like in, becausesometimes you don't know people
are carrying stuff, we get wornout and then you back away when
you don't have energy to.
You know what I mean.
You ghost people for a whilewhen you don't have energy to
(35:07):
carry their stuff.
But if you're just honest, youdon't it, then we stay closer.
You know what I mean.
We operate.
I feel like it's very muchadded to our friendship
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
I don't know what happened to my hair here.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Just for a second, sorry no, you're good, just your
hair.
Well, I, how long have we gotmy going here?
Oh, we still got time.
Good, I was gonna say it's sofun talking to you.
I don't want to miss talkingabout your offer and what you're
um you too, so we'll talk aboutthat too, okay absolutely,
absolutely, um so.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
So creating these boundaries is all part of yoga.
One of the things that I talkabout with my students and my
clients is there's actuallyeight different portions of yoga
.
There's eight limbs of yoga thepostures are only one of the
limbs and the Niyamas, and theyare practices that you introduce
(36:03):
into your life how you interactwith other people, do no harm,
non-stealing, non-possessivenessand then there's the Niyamas,
which are the practices that youhave with yourself self-study,
self-discipline, surrender,purity.
(36:25):
These are things that you'repaying attention to.
What are the things that I'mbringing into my life?
Am I surrounding myself withpeople that are gossipy and
nitpicking and pull me down, oram I surrounding myself with
people that lift me up andempower me?
You know, going back to thenurses eat their young, and I
(36:45):
have a friend of mine that has amovement nurses feed their
young, and it's all aboutproviding that supportive,
empowering environment to nurses, and so those are the things
that I'm focusing in on is howcan I support, how can I empower
, how can I remind people thatyou are an absolute, freaking
(37:09):
amazing person, that there isliterally nobody else in the
world like you, so why would youtry to be like anybody else.
Instead, be the best version ofyourself that you can possibly
be, what makes you happy, whatmakes you light up.
And if you're doing things thatdon't light you up, those are
signs and symptoms that maybeyou know.
(37:32):
It's not saying you'll quityour job and go do something
else.
Maybe that is the solution.
But instead, how can you addmore things into your life that
do make you happy, that do lightyou up, that when you start to
talk about those things, youknow, know, just like when you
and I started talking, andimmediately it was just okay,
we're both going and we're bothenjoying it and we're like, yes,
absolutely, because this issomething that lights us both up
(37:55):
when you talk about how thesethings are beneficial, how, how
burnt out.
It took me a good couple yearsof stopping away from the
bedside to be able to see justhow burnt out I actually was.
I knew it and I started to seeit more and more.
The real big indication to mewas we've got three children and
(38:21):
the last one was still livingat home, when I was still
working at the bedside and I hadgone from full-time to
part-time to per diem.
And I'm getting ready for workand I'm packing my lunch and
getting everything all set up.
And he looks at me and he goesyou're always so smiling and
happy.
Now that you've cut back yourhours, it's like you're just.
(38:42):
You're just happy all the timeand I thought, well crap, what
have I been before now?
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Tired really tired.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Tired, exhausting.
You know, exhausted, exhaustingSnappy.
Speaker 1 (38:59):
Yeah, yeah, controlling Snappy.
That was one of like I I Iexperienced habitual, like
intense, severe burnout, likewhere I had medical problems and
had to take months off work andall that and came back and have
found balance now.
But prior to the habitualburnout, that's one of the first
things that started happening.
I don't think I was quite asaware of then, but I think that
(39:22):
was one of the first signs thatI wish I could go back and make
changes.
Then is when I started feelinglike real snippy, real short,
like I can't handle one morething.
You know that like I'm gonnalose my temper.
You know that kind of like realedginess and I feel like I
operated that way for a long,long time.
You know what I mean.
I justified it because I waslike I'm protecting people.
(39:44):
You know like this is my job.
You know what I mean Like.
But in reality, like when I,after I healed and I really I
what I tell some of the newnurses is like I practice a
level of detachment now that Iwasn't capable of before and
that helps me so much.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Because the thing is is and thisis probably going to a lot of
nurses are going to seethemselves or hear themselves in
this the idea that we sit inour car before we go into work
because we have to sit there andmentally prepare ourselves to
the barrage of whatever it isthat we're going to experience
(40:25):
when we go in.
Right, we know that there'sgoing to be stuff happening and
the question is are we going tobe able to see it fast enough to
do something fast enough to beable to be where we need to be?
And having to sit in our carand have that space of okay, I
(40:54):
can do this, I'm not going tolose my shit over this, it's
going to be okay, right, orcrying before we go into work.
And then there's the coming outof work and sitting in your car
and then just mentallyunloading, crying, screaming,
venting, whatever it is that weneed to do.
The problem is, it's still notenough, and I don't think people
(41:20):
realize that and I don't thinkwe, as nurses, are talking about
this enough.
Speaker 1 (41:26):
Yeah, they need to have better preparation.
I know that's like a hugechange, but I feel like it needs
to start in nursing school,also in med school.
We're not the only ones thatcarry this.
We just deal with it differentand face a different set of
stressors and a lot of people inhealthcare honestly are teased.
It's a different set ofstressors so, like you know, and
a lot of people in healthcarehonestly like our teeth, you
know.
Like I mean, you say, nursingit's the biggest, most common,
(41:53):
huge group of people.
But really anyone who's workingin healthcare in I don't know
about the outpatient settings,but the inpatient settings is a
very stressful, hard, hardenvironment on all levels.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
Well, I will tell you , I worked.
So before I was a nurse, I wasa phlebotomist and I was also a
pseudo med tech.
And then I was trained, butactually wasn't, you know,
didn't have that particularbackground in medicine, and I
worked in urgent care.
That was part of our hospitalsystem and it was in the
(42:22):
evenings and so we would have,you know, people come in with
the nail through the hand, youknow, fell and broke their arm,
the sniffles, you know, thethings that people go to urgent
care for.
But then we would also have theODs and the cardiac arrests and
we would have these situationswhere, you know, shit hits the
(42:46):
fan and there was a skeletoncrew there of one doctor, one
nurse, one x-ray tech, one MAand a phlebotomist.
And when you've got that tinyof a staff, everybody's doing
everything together and so it'snot as intense.
It's nothing like the ICU,nothing like working in, you
(43:08):
know, one of the main hospitals.
It has a different, it's moresporadic, it's like feast or
famine.
It's either everything.
Everything is nothing.
Speaker 1 (43:16):
When you see it all the time.
So there's not necessarilysaying that it's harder Like
when I talk about, I rememberlike talking, talking about this
is the best example for me tosee.
This is when you talk aboutlike child trauma, like kid
trauma is like because thingsthat you don't think are
traumatizing traumatizedchildren because like the worst
thing they've ever experiencedis the worst thing they've ever
experienced, regardless ofwhether it seems dramatic to us,
(43:38):
and that is like such a presentthing.
You know what I mean withtrauma's.
You can't compare it, you can't, but you know cause it's all
different.
You know there's a reason I'm anICU nurse, it's because I
probably I learned to deal withtrauma before I was a nurse.
I learned to compartmentalize along, long time ago from other
things, and that's what made megood at it, and so that's you
(43:59):
know, yes, you know, yes.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
that is such a big component of an understanding
that we don't necessarily have.
Is that the one of the reasonsthat we went into medicine, that
we went into nursing in thefirst place, is because we were
already the nurturers, we werealready the people pleasers, we
were already the take, you know,the caregivers of somebody at
(44:26):
some point in our life.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
We're very likely putting other people's needs
before our own until it gets sobad that we learn to do it.
You know what I mean, Becauseuntil we suffer enough that we
learn to put ours first, we'remost likely most of us are
putting other people's needsbefore our own.
Speaker 2 (44:40):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And that's the thing is, whenwe go into a career such a high
stress career, with an alreadyoverstimulated nervous system,
it's no wonder that we've hadthis culture of nurses eat their
young, because we're alreadyoverstimulated that
(45:01):
disconnection from our emotions,disconnection from our
compassion.
We think we're compassionateand we are.
However, we havecompartmentalized so much that
we're not as compassionate as wehave the potential to be, we're
(45:21):
not as kind as we have thepotential to be and we're not as
loving as we have the potentialto be.
We're not as kind as we havethe potential to be and we're
not as loving as we have thepotential to be.
And that doesn't just go to ourrelationships with our patients
, family members, doctors,coworkers.
It extends to our own family,our own inner circle.
Speaker 1 (45:36):
Yeah, for sure, for sure.
Speaker 2 (45:39):
And that's the area where, when we learn to extend
kindness and compassion andgrace to ourself and to have
that inner language change towhere we start to recognize the
(46:02):
direct imbalance that we have inour body, in our brain, in our
nervous system, we start toshift and make small little
choices that bring thatdisconnect.
So if our sympathetic nervoussystem is up here and our
parasympathetic nervous systemsdown here, we do things like go
(46:23):
on vacation, go get a pedicure,go to get a massage, spend some
time with our friends, and wethink, oh, wow, like I did so
much self-care and I feel somuch better.
But then we go to a yoga classand the person says, okay, we're
gonna sit in stillness here for15 minutes, and we think that's
(46:44):
torture, why would I do that?
And like boom, we're back uphere again and the reason for
that is because there's stillthis disconnect between our
nervous system, we're still notin balance, and so anything that
is truly restorative, relaxing,rejuvenating, that would bring
us closer to balance, feelsuncomfortable.
Speaker 1 (47:07):
Yeah, it's like I remember meditating when I first
started meditating and alsoexperiencing friends of mine as
they start meditating, talkingto me about it, like it's so
hard to turn your brain off, youjust want to quit, and it's
like the practice is sittingthere and letting that, not
judging yourself for thinkingduring it, letting that, letting
that be okay.
It's acceptance on every level.
(47:27):
And it's so hard to practice atfirst until you get in, get
into it a little bit.
Even now, some days I'm like ahabsolutely.
Speaker 2 (47:36):
And the thing is is, again, just like, just like with
yoga, because meditation ispart of, it's one of the small
parts.
Again, there's different styles, there's different forms, and
so when meditation is reallydifficult for us, that's a sign
that we actually need even moreso, and that's when we can use
(47:57):
different styles of meditationwhere we can incorporate
repeating a word, we can dochanting, we can do mantras, we
can do affirmations, and I lovethat there's so many variations
because it doesn't, again, itdoesn't have to be the words
that I say, it can be whateverwords you want to.
If you want to chant ladybugover and over, because the
picture of a ladybug makes youfeel calm, chant ladybug, right.
(48:19):
So it's whatever it is thatmakes you feel calm.
Or my favorite is the KirtanKriya.
It's sa-ta-na-ma, and you sayit out loud for two minutes,
softly for two minutes, silentlyin your head for four minutes,
(48:41):
and then softly for two minutes,and then out loud again for two
minutes.
So it's a 12 minute meditation.
And this specific meditationhas been.
There's a white paper done onit by the Alzheimer's Research
Foundation that shows that itimproves cognitive function in
dementia patients.
Speaker 1 (49:00):
Interesting.
I didn't know that I have towrite that down.
Speaker 2 (49:03):
And so when you do a meditation like that, especially
when your mind is just like alltwirly and you can't ground and
you can't silence your mind,the thing is, remember, the
whole point of meditation is notto empty your mind, it's not to
silence your mind, it's to notfollow the thought.
So you see the thought and youstart.
You know well, I need to getthis when I go to the store and
(49:25):
I need to make sure, oh, and Igot to make sure that I get by
and pick up that outfit, right,you notice, oh crap, I just
deviated.
And then you come back andyou're like okay, breathe in,
breathe out.
But if you're doing somethinglike sata, you know you're,
you're using hand mood mudras orhand movements and
(49:46):
incorporating some type ofrepetitive sound.
Then you're focused in on thehand movements and the
repetitive sound and yourthoughts don't stray as much
harder for them to leak in?
Yeah, stray as much harder forthem to leak in.
(50:08):
Yeah, exactly, and.
And so it's those littlemoments where you go okay, I
can't do this one today, becauseit's just not.
And this is again going back toadaptive yoga is okay, what is
what?
What's the state of my, mynervous system right now?
What's the state of mybreathing?
What's the state of mind?
What's going to be mostbeneficial for me today?
Is it doing a yin yoga practice?
(50:30):
Is it doing a restorative yogapractice?
Do I need to go to hot yoga andburn off some extra energy?
Or, honestly, that's?
Speaker 1 (50:36):
my like, if like the worst ever, if I can't manage
hot yoga as the thing that makesme feel better and that's the
thing is you know't manage hotyoga it's the thing that makes
me feel better.
Speaker 2 (50:45):
And that's the thing is.
You know, there's so manydifferent styles of yoga.
One of the things that I reallylike is a lot of fascia flows,
because it helps to unstick thesticky areas of my hips and my
low back, and so it's a realslow flow and it's really good.
(51:06):
But then I also need some someenergetic movements periodically
, and so there's differentstyles of yoga and there's
different styles of meditation,just like there's different
styles of breath work.
You can do breath of fire whereyou're and then that changes.
Speaker 1 (51:22):
You know for me like it changes.
But what works?
All the time I'm going back andforth, I use them.
Have you ever heard?
Are you on insight timer?
Yes, I was gonna say I keepmeaning to mention it on this
show, but it's a free app and ithas like that.
I mean I want to say overthousands, like probably
hundreds of thousands, of freecontent in different styles
meditation, sound therapy, likereal therapists on they're doing
(51:45):
actual courses, and then youcan pay an upgrade.
But there is probably tens ofthousands, if not hundreds of
thousands, of free content onthere.
Speaker 2 (51:52):
There's no need to pay and it's a great, great
resource I want to say it's likesomething ridiculous like 19 a
year.
Speaker 1 (51:59):
If you do pay, I pay for it, because I like it, but
and I, I'm like but it's a great, great resource.
We're getting kind of long ontime here, so I want to really
make time to even talk aboutwhat you do for people and how
you help people and how peoplecan get ahold of you, because
you've said such wonderfulthings I could talk to you.
I mean, honestly, we could dolike a four hour show, probably
(52:21):
talk about this forever.
I love talking about this stuff, so, but tell me about how
you're helping peoplespecifically now and how people
can get a hold of you and whatkind of people you're helping,
like who?
Who's who are your clientsright now?
Who's who could benefit fromyour services?
Speaker 2 (52:37):
I'm working with nurses that are stressed out,
overwhelmed and want to havemore happiness, joy in all areas
of their life, and so I offer Ioffer courses.
I offer CE courses onmindfulness, meditation, yoga,
(52:58):
movement, things like how to sayno without guilt.
There are nurses that areentrepreneurs.
I also offer courses on how tobe a confident speaker, so
there's a lot of different waysthat we can incorporate yoga
into all the different areas.
I work one-on-one with clients,I have group therapy sessions,
and then I also have courses,and soon there will be yoga
(53:22):
retreats happening with CEcourses as well too.
Speaker 1 (53:26):
And so you work with clients one on one.
Do you incorporate yoga intothat practice at all, or is it
just coaching?
Speaker 2 (53:33):
I do incorporate.
It's, yes, it's yoga therapy,so it's it.
It's different every singletime, so it could be we do a
meditation, it could be when wedo a movement, it's it's all of
the things.
And so yeah, absolutely so yeah.
And then we I incorporate reikiand also veda counseling as
(53:55):
well too.
Um, which veda counseling is?
Um very similar, it's uh,similar to astrology.
Um, using using thatinformation so that you can see
what are your challenges, whatare your tendencies, where are
the areas so it's not likeayurveda veda is vedic is
(54:15):
different.
Speaker 1 (54:16):
Yes, it's, oh, I didn't know that okay yeah.
Speaker 2 (54:19):
so ayurveda, yeah, is the sister science of yoga,
because it's more about themedicine and food and all of the
holistic aspects of it.
Vedic astrology is looking atthat specific moment in time
where you were born, and seeinghow that influences your life,
(54:48):
your language and your impact onthe world, and incorporating it
in terms of how does it affectyour health as well too Love
that.
Speaker 1 (54:52):
So if people are looking for you and they're like
yes, want to do this, do you dothat all in person, or is it
virtually as well?
Speaker 2 (55:00):
I do it virtually.
The majority of it is virtual,okay, and so they can find me on
social Eva Z wellness.
Eva Z wellness on differentsocial media, and then my
website is Eva Z wellnesscom.
Speaker 1 (55:20):
Okay, and then I'll guess this question but like,
what is your go to when thingsare like overwhelmed?
Your go to like a self care oryour mindfulness practice.
It's like your go to.
Speaker 2 (55:34):
For me, it's being outside, going outside, either
sitting outside and listening tothe sounds around me or going
for a walk, and being reallyintentional about how I'm
breathing, how I'm walking andtuning into me, turning into my
body.
Speaker 1 (55:56):
I love that.
That's perfect.
Well, Eva, thank you so much.
I had such a blast talking toyou.
Hopefully you'll come back andtalk to us again when you've got
new promotions.
Love to hear about themAbsolutely.
Speaker 2 (56:07):
Absolutely, I would love to do that.
Thank you so much for having me.
This was a blast and you'reright, we could sit here and we
could talk for hours.
Speaker 1 (56:14):
Yeah, it's been a pleasure.
So thanks so much.
Bye.
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