January 20, 2025 • 45 mins
Life is messy, unpredictable, and full of surprises—so how do we protect our energy and stay grounded when it all feels like too much? In this episode of Spirit Speakeasy, I’m pulling back the curtain on my personal approach to “energy protection”—and it’s probably not what you think.
Spoiler alert: it’s not about shielding yourself from the world but shoring up your own energy so life’s inevitable storms don’t knock you off course.
I’ll share what’s been working for me lately, from small but mighty self-care routines to practical tips for showing up as your best self—even when life gets “extra.” Whether you’re juggling a demanding career, family responsibilities, or just the ups and downs of being human, this episode is full of insights you can personalize, adapt and easily integrate into your own life.
You’ll learn:
- Why energy protection is more about you than external forces
- Simple ways to check in with yourself and process emotions
- Hacks for supporting “future you” in everyday life
- How to build a flexible “foundation” that evolves with you
- The surprising role of fun, play, and creativity in keeping your energy balanced
Plus, I’ll reveal the one mindset shift that changed how I approach self-care completely—and why “busy” is never an excuse to ignore your needs.
This episode is packed with practical tips, heartfelt advice, and a little nudge to prioritize yourself without adding more to your plate. Tune in to spark more joy and create a life that feels truly aligned with your energy.
🎙️ Have a foundational practice, hack, or tip that keeps you grounded? I’d love to hear it! Email me at admin@joyfulmedium.com for a chance to be featured in a future episode.
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YouTube: Psychic Medium Joy Giovanni
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Joy, hey, beautiful soul,welcome to spirit speakeasy. I'm
Joy Giovanni, joyful medium. I'ma working psychic medium, energy
healer and spiritual giftsmentor. This podcast is like a
seat at the table in a secretclub, but with mediums, mystics
and the spiritual luminaries ofour time. So come behind the
(00:22):
velvet ropes with me and seeinside my world as I chat
insider style with profoundlygifted souls, we go deep, share
juicy stories, laugh a lot, andit wouldn't be a speakeasy
without great insider secretsand tips. You might even learn
that you have some gifts of yourown. So step inside the spirit
(00:43):
speakeasy. Hey, beautiful soul,welcome back, or welcome in for
another episode of spiritspeakeasy this week, we are
talking about sparking joy,what's working now, and my
personal version of energyprotection. This episode is
actually going to release on mybirthday. And I don't know about
you, maybe it's just because mybirthday is in January, but
(01:06):
around the time of my birthday,I really start reevaluating,
looking at kind of what'sworking now for me and my
personal journey in my spiritualwork. So I want to share a few
of those things with you,because so often I know you guys
are wanting to know how I'mworking this energy, what tools
I'm using in my day to day life.
It's wonderful to talk about allof these expansive topics and
(01:27):
talk to all these wonderfulluminaries that we do on the
show, but what can we implementin our own lives, or even, what
can we tweak? It doesn't have tobe whole new things that we're
implementing. I know we're allso busy already. So in honor of
my personal New Year, I justwant to share a little bit with
you. First, I want to talk aboutthis idea of energy protection.
(01:51):
I want to have a workingdefinition for this episode. In
particular, the idea ofprotection isn't about something
outside of ourselves. Like tokeep you safe from something
outside of yourself. Life ishectic, and things happen
unexpectedly all the time, pluseveryone else also has free
(02:13):
will, and we can only, quote,unquote, control or work on
ourselves. So this type ofenergy protection that we're
going to talk about in thisepisode is really about shoring
up your own energy so that whenthe storms of life like
inevitably rise or rush in, itdoesn't turn your own world
(02:33):
upside down. Because the truthis, life is always going to be
hectic. Things are always goingto pop off or be thrown at us,
and how can we protect orbolster our own energy so that
we're not as susceptible to kindof being knocked off course, or
when these things do happen thattake us by surprise, we're
(02:53):
really rooted in who we are andin our own practice. So in this
episode, I will share a few ofthings that are working for me
right now. I don't know if thesewill work for you, but this is
what's working for me right now.
Maybe some of these willresonate with you, or give you
something to check in withyourself about. Maybe you're
already doing a wonderful job ofall of all of these, and you
(03:17):
have some suggestions for me,which I am totally available for
that too. Feel free to messageme. And I started writing this
episode actually in December,and then I got a really bad cold
and flu, so I'm actually offtrack with some of these in my
own life right now, and I amreally feeling it. It's how I
(03:37):
know that these tools and tipsthat I'm going to share today
are so important for me rightnow, just because I'm really
feeling that I'm a little bitoff track with them. And the
other thing is, you'll notice Ikeep saying right now, it's
because this list evolves as Ievolve and my needs change. And
for you, the same as you growand change in the stages of your
(03:59):
life, are different differenttools might work for you. So I
had that bad cold. I got offtrack, plus we had the election
in the United States, and thepolitical government drama is
already in full effect in boththe US and Canada now, and as
well as many other countries inthe world, there is a lot
(04:20):
popping off politically and ingovernments all over the world,
and as part of this recentenergy, a few of the people
close to me have also had somereally hard things that they've
needed just some extra supportwith. And it's important to
recognize that these types oflike extras, can always pop up
or pop off at any time. So wealso get to work on patience and
(04:44):
flexibility and grace as a partof our regular way of being
grace with ourselves as well asothers. We have to stay present
in this reality and informed.
But it's also okay to take likemedia breaks and ask our. Selves
and acknowledge the moments thatwe feel like life is kind of
extra hard, and it's not aboutcomparing ourselves to others or
(05:06):
the suffering of others that'salmost never helpful I feel
like, but just giving yourselfpermission to work with yourself
as needed and like I said, Iknow this piece is not
necessarily like a revelation,but be taking social media
breaks. Stay informed is, Ithink, how I want to say it, but
with reliable sources. And thetruth is, as we go through this
(05:32):
list of like tips and tools andthings that are working for me
personally, that I hope willhelp you, I know most of you
have full time, demandingcareers and or family members
that you support, whetherfinancially or emotionally,
medically. Some of you, maybeyou also have kids that need a
generous slice of your time andattention, plus just the regular
(05:52):
ups and downs of the emotional,blind sides of our human lives,
right? And I'm at a place in mylife where my kids are grown. I
don't currently have a romanticpartner at the moment. I do have
more than a full time smallbusiness, and even though my
kids are not home anymore, forthose of you that also have
grown kids, I'm still a mom. Sothat is always still a part of
(06:16):
what's happening in my world.
And I just say all this toremind you that we all go
through ages and stages andversions of our life that look
vastly different. So some ofthese things that I'm gonna
share now, they weren't alwaysimplemented in my life and
integrated in this way,especially, you know, when I was
(06:36):
single momming and had kids inschool and was working two or
three jobs. And so give yourselfGrace there, and just adjust
these suggestions to fit yourown current needs and
boundaries. Pick a couple maybethat really resonate with you,
and try them out, then come backfor more. If that's working,
don't feel pressured to add moreto your plate, and many of these
(06:58):
can just easily integrate withyour regularly scheduled day to
day living like these aren'tnecessarily all a whole side
project for you to implement.
Some of them are just littlethings to kind of add into the
way you're already movingthrough the world. Okay, so this
first topic under this, what'sworking now that I want to talk
about is, and actually this is abig part of the the energy
(07:20):
protection that I was talkingabout, self care, just the stuff
you need. And I wrote need andlike, big capital letters for
myself. For me, it's walking andstretching and meditating. Oh,
my self care, like the typicalstuff that
people talk about all the timeon like YouTube and social
(07:41):
media, and a lot of those thingsjust aren't enjoyable to me
personally, and often feel likeextra tasks, or they just make
me really uncomfortable. I'mpretty sensitive in my energy
and in my body, things that alot of people enjoy, like going
for a luxurious pedicure, thatdoes not feel fun to me. It does
not feel like self care to me,it just feels like something
(08:04):
else on my to do list. Soreally, when you think of the
self care you need, it's notabout these extra fluffy things
that you have to add into yourschedule. It's like, what are
the very base, bottom layer,foundational things that you
absolutely need to be doing totake care of yourself. I will
(08:27):
say checking in on your emotionsis wonderful. That's something
I'm always doing, especially ifyou notice like subtle emotions.
For me, it's often resistance orannoyance or frustration.
Sometimes it can be as fiery orpowerful as like anger. But
(08:47):
maybe it's not, maybe it doesn'treach that level for you. Maybe
it's subtler emotions, andsometimes they're just below the
surface, hiding like a littlecrocodile in the water. So as
emotions are coming up for methroughout my day to day, I'm
trying to at least make a mentalnote of them. Sometimes I can
process them and look a littledeeper. Sometimes, you know,
(09:09):
maybe journaling or self help,or if you do therapy, that could
also be wonderful. But justnoting the the emotions that you
feel, digging deeper when youcan, and noticing the nudges,
like I said, for me at thispoint, at this little phase in
my life, these often show up aslike resistance. Sometimes it's
(09:31):
something I know I need to do.
Sometimes it's even something Iwant to do. Like, when I ask
myself, do you actually want todo this? The answer is yes, or I
want the longer term result, butI'm resisting the action in the
meantime. Right now, the thingI'm currently resisting is
adding in some strengthtraining. I noticed that I am
not as strong and my my bodyjust doesn't feel comfortable in
(09:53):
the way I need it to, as far asstrength and strength training.
So. Yeah, it's adding in alittle bit of light strength
training, and I am in so muchresistance about it. I know that
I want the long term benefitsget, to get that bone density
right, but I'm resistingactually implementing it. So
that's something I can look alittle deeper out of just
(10:13):
noticing, like, Oh, I'm kind ofhaving some resistance to this.
What's that about? Do I wantthose benefits. Yeah, actually,
that's I can agree to thatthat's really good. Okay, so
what's happening between this,this is a good thing that I want
to do, and actually doing it. Sothat's kind of one of the things
I'm working with right now. Butjust noticing those nudges and
noticing the emotions, whetherit's for you, resistance or
(10:37):
maybe it's another shade ofemotion, and one of the other
pieces of this self care, for meis going within or just sitting
in the quiet, or some version ofmeditation or contemplation is
part of your relationship withyourself, with your intuition
and receiving your own answers.
I believe ultimately, we all dohave our own answers. We just
(11:02):
don't always like the optionsthat are being presented with or
that are available at the time.
But we almost always haveoptions, and even when we don't,
we often do know the answer.
It's just we don't like theanswer. So going within at this
point, I do most mornings, notall mornings, but most mornings,
I do about just under an hourmeditation. That is for me, but
(11:26):
for you, that could even looklike five minutes of quiet or 10
minutes of contemplation orsitting in the stillness with
yourself. It's just making spacefor that intuition, right? The
other thing is like, don't youcheck your email or your text or
DMS every day, or pretty closeto every day? Why? Why don't we
(11:46):
have permission, or why don't wethink to check in with ourselves
for even just five minutes ofgoing within, in our quiet,
sitting in the stillness withourself? So that is a big one
for me. I notice when I don't doit, or when I am have gone like
a good long period of timewithout doing it. It does, for
me, affect everything. So that'sthat's what I'm working with.
(12:09):
And start where you are. Therewas a time it took me a long
time to really settle intomeditating. There were many,
many, many years where I wouldhave told you I absolutely can't
do it. So even if it's fiveminutes or 10 minutes, even if
for you, it's not sitting inmeditation, it's going for a
walk or just being in silencewith yourself in some other way.
I hear a lot of people say thatthey check in in this way, in
(12:29):
the shower. So checking in withyourself going within. I try to
work these into my regularroutines. This next one that I
consider self care things thatwill help, like the way I say it
is help future joy. So this canbe self care in a way of it's
almost like loving yourself inadvance. For me, sometimes it
(12:52):
can be as simple as like settingout clothes with socks and shoes
the night before. Like fillingthe coffee water the night
before is a big one for me, itcould look like meal prep or
even just making lunch for thenext day. It could look like
going to bed earlier, if needed.
When I have an interview on mycalendar, for example, I always
list all the info, the links andhave the page notes, like any
(13:13):
notes I might need ready. It canbe in any area of your life,
just building in ways to loveand care for future you in
advance. If that makes sense,this one started many years ago
for me, because morning time joyhas not always been the most
able to remember like she's notthe most competent. I'm better
(13:34):
these days, but for many years,I'm just not the I'm just not
the most natural morning person.
So I'll even often have a listof things I need to like take
with me to the office, if Ihaven't put them all in my
little backpack already. Isometimes even leave a sticky
note on my front door if there'ssomething I really need to
remember, so I'll see it whenI'm leaving, but just sprinkling
(13:56):
throughout your regular day today. How can you love or help or
care for future you in advance,it's even little things that we
do, like flossing, right?
Flossing, yeah, maybe it helpsme today, but it's really more
for long term Joy so that shecan have good dental health, or
whatever it is. You might evenbe doing some of these already,
but the more that I do, thebetter it is. So I really like
(14:18):
this one. This one's worked forme for a long time, but I'm not
perfect at it at all, andsometimes I'm doing more than
other. Times there's an ebb andflow to everything. I think most
of you have been here know bynow that I believe in this ebb
and flow. Yeah. So sometimes I'mnot doing as great of a job at
it, but when I'm in the flow ofit and when I'm really setting
(14:41):
up things for sometimes it'sjust tomorrow joy. I think,
like, what can I set up todaythat would really help me out
for tomorrow? And sometimes it'smore long term in the future,
okay? If you personally alsoneed other types of self care,
incorporate them, we're alldifferent, right? Maybe there
are things. Maybe you need amonthly. As part of your health
care. It's wonderful foreveryone, if it's within your
(15:02):
means, or if you want to add inadditional things, you can, but
it's good to have anunderstanding of the very, very
bottom line of your own selfcare for yourself, not just your
physical body, but your wholeself, like actually you. So for
me, really, it just is, I needto move my body in some way.
(15:23):
That's the one I'm kind of likestruggling to get back on track
with. I need to stretch my body.
I tend to be very flexible, butI get stiff real easy. And
especially now, I sit so muchwith my work as a medium. I'm
not, you know, it's not asphysical. And I need to go
within for me that looks likemeditation. I need to be
(15:44):
checking in on my emotions,regularly, noticing the nudges
or noticing the even very subtleemotions that are rising up. And
I need to be doing things forfuture joy, because those are
the things that just really,really help me to do self care.
So kind of reimagining, maybeeven what self care looks like
for you, and then just reallyunderstanding, like, what is
(16:07):
your very bottom line of whatyou absolutely need to, you
know, function in the world in away that feels good to you. The
next one that I want to throw atyou. Some of these might sound
obvious, but some of these, Ireally, I really struggled with
this one for a long time,permission to rest. I generally
don't work on Sundays, justbecause it's always kind of
(16:30):
worked out that way for lots ofreasons. But sometimes, and
again, this is where my kids aregrown. I'm currently single, so
I maybe have a little moreflexibility here, but sometimes
I stay in bed all day on aSunday. Yeah, I might also be
working just because that's kindof how I am. Sometimes there's
little bits of things that needto be get get done, but I have
(16:51):
permission to just rest onSunday, not do anything. Not you
know, I could do laundry if Iwant, but I don't have to. So
even if it's not an every once aweek occurrence, even just once
in a while, like once a month,giving yourself permission to
rest. Maybe it's in the eveningfor you, that's where it shows
up, where it's like, oh, do Ihave to, do you know this one
more set of things? Or can Ihave permission to unplug at
(17:15):
10pm whatever it is for you. Butpermission to rest has been a
big one for me. It is workingfor me right now, but it was a
hard one line item for me. Ijust, there just was something
for me about I needed an excuseto rest like I was being lazy or
not pushing to my fullpotential. So there is a balance
(17:37):
of when trying and striving andworking so hard can become
unhealthy for us, right? Sopermission to rest. I won't go.
I won't harp on that one for toolong. It's pretty obvious.
Another one for me is permissionto play. And this actually for
me again, another one that's alittle hard one. This had to
become a requirement, like Irequire of myself permission to
(18:00):
play, and what that looks likefor me is different all the
time. Last year, I went to thezoo quite a bit. It's just up
the street. For me, I doDisneyland. I have a pass,
because I live not too far, justan hour and a half away. I
schedule with friends to go tocomedy shows. I love stand up
comedy I don't know if you guysall know that about me, but I'm
super stand up comedy nerd, andI have been since I was in like,
(18:22):
the third or fourth grade.
I schedule in person, time withanyone who's on my a team. It's
not just anyone. I don't havetime for just everyone who wants
to hang out, or every personthat wants to get together.
We're all busy in our own way,right? But those people that are
on my a team kind of my closecircle, I intentionally schedule
(18:44):
in person, time with them, andthis idea of play doesn't
necessarily come naturally toall of us, depending like where
we grew up and our culture andand who we are as an individual,
but for me, it really issomething that revitalizes me.
The hard thing is, my naturalurge is to feel like I don't
(19:07):
need those things for and formany, many years, they felt too
frivolous. I definitely had notime for all of this, like fun
stuff. And now that I'm adifferent phase in a different
place, I've had to reallyreassess and understand, like,
what even feels fun to me? Whatdo I enjoy if I could just have
(19:27):
a day off and do whatever Iwanted? What would I do? That is
I feel like I need to, like,energetically, push myself out
into the world, like, not astaying home activity, something
else. And for you, maybe fun islike doing some crafts. Actually
have a craft project waiting onmy kitchen table right now that
I'm putting out intentionally tokeep reminding myself you want
(19:47):
to do this fun project. Sopermission and again, for me,
requirement for fun, I need tomake sure I get things scheduled
on the calendar, or weeks andweeks can go by with like, very
little fun. One or connectionthat's not connected to work. I
just love my work. And I feellike when you have a small
business, many of you know youhave small businesses too, it is
(20:10):
there's not a lot of separationbetween our work and ourself,
especially if your business iskind of you. So I really need to
get those things on thecalendar, because in the moment,
like I said, I will genuinelyfeel like I feel good. I don't
need I don't need that. I'mfine. I can go another week
without, you know, hanging outor seeing anyone or going to
anything or whatever. And I am alittle bit introverted in some
(20:34):
ways by nature. I have kind of agood flexibility there. So I
need to make this a requirementfor myself. I feel better ever
after having engaged in whateverfun means that week and it's
different in different times,right? Even week to week. It can
be different or look different,but if I wait too long, I just I
(20:56):
just notice, and it makes mewant to withdraw more and more
and more. So I do really make aneffort to get these things on
the calendar, especially ifyou're someone that your natural
urge is to feel like you know, Idon't, I don't need to have fun,
or I don't even know what thatmeans, because for many I
believe I get it. For manyyears, I didn't either. And it
(21:19):
doesn't have to be a whole dayof fun. It can be a couple
hours. It could be going out andhaving a cocktail or a boba tea
with a friend. Doesn't have tobe an elaborate thing. If there
are occasionally elaboratethings you want to schedule.
Hey, great, but it's just aboutgetting to understand what feels
fun to you. It really doesrefill me in a way that I have a
(21:40):
hard time putting words tobecause, like, I said, even,
even sometimes when I am on thedrive to the fun thing, I am
like, I don't want to go tothis. Like, why did I schedule
this? Like, I just want to stayhome. I don't want to put on
pants or shoes or whatever itmight be. But when I go, of
course, because I'm choosingpeople intentionally that are on
(22:02):
my a team. I always have fun.
There's always somethingenjoyable that comes out of it,
or I just feel better when I gethome, even if the thing itself
isn't all that much fun, maybeI'm helping them with an errand
or a thing they need to do, andit's not necessarily something
you would like label as fun.
It's just a time together. Ireally do feel filled up, so
(22:23):
that is a necessity for me rightnow, which, again, another one
that was hard one. The next onethat I want to highlight is the
way I labeled it in my notes. Isfeed your ears and your spirit.
This can look like frivolouspodcasts. Yeah, sometimes we
learn stuff on podcasts, butthere are also some that we can
learn things sometimes, but thehosts are fun this podcast. Love
(22:45):
it. That would be one of yourfeed your ears things and
definitely share if you love usthis podcast music at least a
few times a week. I know thismight sound ridiculous, because
so many of us are so moved bymusic in our day to day life. I
think it's because I eitherworked in places that had lots
of music, or other times, likewhen I did massage therapy for
(23:06):
so many years, I had kind ofthat meditation type music on
all the time, so I wanted tojust hear a podcast or hear
people talking. So I sometimesforget about music, which I know
sounds ridiculous. So when I'min a good mood, or even just
over time, I'll hear a song outand about I'm constantly adding
to my playlists, and then justsometimes, I'll even have,
(23:27):
you've heard me say it herebefore, a little dance party in
the kitchen, just with myself.
So really, we need otherpeople's creativity. We need to
consume art that others havecreated to fill us up in a
different way. You'll be able todraw on this energy too. So it's
not just like a waste of time orfrivolous. We can draw on the
(23:48):
energy of the creativity ofothers. Sometimes it can move
our own inspiration, our owncreativity and sometimes our own
emotions. Sometimes it'll clickin a little aha moment for us a
little bit deeper, or it can bea breadcrumb on our path to
something else, but it can justfill us up with joy and
creativity and inspiration, andwe need, sometimes, someone
(24:11):
else's art form to like, matchour energy to especially if
you're in a job that's helpingothers, or that is a little bit
tedious in some way. We need tobe filled up recently. So
sometimes I will, like I said,do a little kitchen dance party.
I do have some playlists. I havea short list of podcasts that I
(24:32):
listen to all the time. But oncein a while, like on New Year's
Day, I did this, I went down aYouTube rabbit hole. And of
course, we know there's lots ofdrama, and I was going to say
trash, but there's lots of stuffto find online, especially like
YouTube and social media. So ifwe can find negative stuff or
(24:54):
stuff that brings us down, wecan also find positive,
wonderful. Stuff, I went downthis whole rabbit hole, and I
ended up on YouTube, findingthis channel. I don't know if
it's called piano or piano te iwill link this YouTube channel
in the show notes just for funthese in case you want to check
it out. There is this incredibleartist. His name is John
(25:14):
Batiste. He's not a new artist.
He has a gajillion Grammys andis like an incredibly known and
celebrated artist, but on thisparticular channel, they he's,
he's like a prodigy, like amusical genius. He can play tons
of instruments, and he can hearhis perfect pitch, and he can
hear songs for like, a fewseconds and and start, like,
(25:36):
creating his own part to it, orversion of it. And I went down
this whole rabbit hole of justwatching him. They'd play a song
for him that he'd never heard,and he would just start, this
was piano, but he would startlike creating the piano segment
of the song, because they'd playit for him with that piano track
removed. And just to watch hiscreative genius, watch him feel
(25:59):
in his body this inspiration. Isay this so lovingly. I don't
mean it in a disrespectful way,but this wonderful man reminds
me of if a Sesame Street Muppetcame to life like he is just so
full of creativity andinspiration and just exudes joy
in his work as a musician. Sothere are wonderful rabbit holes
(26:23):
like that that we can go down ofjust getting incredibly inspired
through art that other peoplecreate. And like I said, I will
link that in the show notes,because it was pretty fun and
incredible. You might not findit as inspirational as I did. It
just struck me at the rightmoment, right? So feed your ears
and your spirit. The other thingI want to touch into is this
idea of having a firmfoundation. This is this, like
(26:46):
doing our own work, thing thatwe always talk about. It's a big
piece of the puzzle. Truly, aswe all know, life throws itself
at us from various directionsall the time, and this is a
constant.
And what's really I'm sureyou've noticed in your own life,
what's really crazy is thatsometimes we can have a
(27:09):
wonderful thing happening orunfolding in our lives and also
a really chaotic or difficult orpainful thing happening in
another area of our life.
Sometimes these things arethings that we're actually
experiencing happening to us, orit could be we have a really
hard challenge in our life, andsomeone we care about is
(27:29):
celebrating a wonderful joy orachievement in their life, or
vice versa. And how do we holdboth of those energies at the
same time and be a human whilelife is throwing all of this
craziness at us and chaos fromdifferent directions all the
time. It's not something we canescape. It's part of our human
(27:50):
experience. But we can work onthis. We can process what comes
up. We can't like, fix it andmake everything perfectly even
keel all the time as we mightwant, but we can process what
comes up in our own waydifferently the more we learn
and grow. So I challenge you tokind of start thinking about
(28:13):
what is your own foundationalpractice that you continue to
learn and grow and deepen,right? This can change with you,
too. For many people, itincludes in pieces and parts in
their daily routine, things thatthey're implementing and really
just making a part of theirregular world. Part of it is
(28:35):
checking in with ourselves in aneutral, kind of self aware way,
meaning, like, not anemotionally charged way, but
seeing if we can get to this iswhy I like to do this work.
Walking. I do a lot of myemotional processing walking.
Something about moving my bodyhelps me take the charge, the
energetic charge, off of theemotions, and then I can process
(28:57):
them differently. So like, what,what is your foundational
practice? Or practicesmeditation is a big one for me,
listening within, even if youcall it something different from
meditation, like you could callprayer or contemplation, or
like, what is your relationshipwith your own soul and spirit,
or something greater thanyourself, infinite energy,
(29:21):
Source Energy, whatever you liketo call it, what's your
relationship with that energy?
And what's your relationshipwith yourself? It's important to
note that we often think of theword foundation as something
that's set, like, you know, afoundation of a house. We hope
it's pretty set and solid, ourfoundational tools can change
(29:44):
and expand and shift. I like tothink of it more as a
foundational toolbox, like maybelike a builder or a contractor
would have always adding up,keeping the tools we do have,
incorporating what works best atthat time or for that. Situation
or job or moment. If you've everI've known a lot of contractors
and builders over my life. Theyalways have so many tools, and
(30:07):
sometimes they have the mostspecific tool for just one very
particular use. That's how ourenergetic tools can be. But
what's the foundation thatyou're using? What I've shared
today really is my foundation.
These are the things that I'mimplementing. It's not just
about this relationship with ourown soul, not just about the
universe, not just about all theunseen energy plus the life we
(30:30):
have to live. It's all of thesethings combined. So I'm so
curious to know like, what isyour foundation? Or what are the
foundational tools that you use?
Are there things that you'vedecided you absolutely need? And
for me, there are some toolsthat are just in my toolbox I
don't pull out all the time.
There are probably tools that Iforgotten. Thank goodness I've
(30:53):
made notes and have books andreminders and all kinds of
things. Yeah, so just reallykeeping up and incorporating
what works best in any givenmoment, and I am reevaluating
this, like what works now for meall the time, I actually often
even keep a Notes tab. Like inthe Notes tab, I keep a section
in my phone about what's workingnow, just to remind myself,
(31:14):
because if I'm having a bad day,I can't always remember. And the
other thing is, I'm going togive you a couple quick pro tips
just to help you integrate someof these things or even evaluate
them in your own day to daylife, so you can see what's
working now for you, or whatmight work a little better, or
what you might want to tailor orshift. For me, one of the key
(31:36):
things to remember is, if itdoesn't get on the calendar,
it's not happening. So I evenschedule in time, not on my
like, formal calendar, but in mymental calendar. In the morning,
I set a wake up time I'vealready done the math of like,
okay, the meditation takes thismuch time. I take this much time
to get ready. I need to stretchthat takes this much time. So
(31:58):
building it into your scheduleor getting it on the calendar,
like for me, with that one thatI have about, like requiring
myself to have some fun andincorporate fun that has to get
on the calendar, I'm it's notthat I'm not a spontaneous
person. I can be spontaneous,but the truth is, I will fill in
my time with other things, and Idon't always have a lot of
(32:19):
spaciousness. So I love gettingthings. I have a few friends
that every month we schedule forthe next month on the calendar,
so it's just there. So get it onthe calendar in some way, shape
or form. Another tip is busy.
The word busy, quote, unquote,is not a reason not to get basic
self care or personal needs met,like how we talked about
(32:41):
whatever is your absolute musthave version of self care that
you do, not just for yourphysical body, but for your like
actual self. It's always busy.
So busy is not a reason to notget these basic needs to feed
ourselves. It's always busy. AndI bet you can attest to that in
your own life, that's alwaysbusy. Something else that really
(33:03):
helps me as a little pro tiphere is smaller steps to chip
away. If I remember, I told youa lot of times my anxiety shows
up as resistance. So if I'manxious or feeling resistant.
This is one of my areas that Ithat I work on, habits, self
care, any of it, I ask myself,can this be broken down into
(33:29):
smaller, more manageable steps,even if it's like recording the
podcast, for example, becausethis one applies to any area of
your life. I kind of know therhythm and the the task list of
the podcast at this point, I'vebeen doing it for how a couple
years now, and sometimes I am inresistance. And what I noticed
(33:49):
was, if I break things down intosmaller steps, I can it's not
that that resistance completelydissolves, but I can move
through it a little moreeffectively. So I've noticed
that if we have a task on our todo list, whatever it is, big or
small, and we're resisting it,often it can be broken down into
smaller chunks, and then thathelps us move through it, even
(34:11):
if the original task is wellwithin my capability, it's more
about moving through theresistance than the task itself.
And the entire time, I try to beaware for more subtle emotions
or clues that something deeperis going on, because that can be
the case, not always. So what Ihad started doing, like with the
(34:33):
podcast, for example, was I prewrite all the episodes.
Initially I was just havingnotes for myself about what I
wanted to say, but now I haveexpanded into additional notes
or more, writing out what I wantto say, because I get
sidetracked. I get distracted. Iget something comes up, and I go
off on a tangent, and then Ilose where I was, or I lose what
(34:55):
I wanted to say. So I. I am morelikely to feel comfortable
sitting down to record thepodcast if I have already spent
time setting up the episode andunderstanding what the topic is
and making the notes or writingit out, or whatever I want to do
for myself. So the place that Ihave the resistance was sitting
down to record and the way Iworked it was like it doesn't
(35:19):
for me personally, I know thisis not true for everyone. It
doesn't make sense for me tofeel resistant to sit down and
record something. I'm finerecording. I'm fine being in
front of a camera. You guys knowI can talk like let's be honest,
but I just sometimes resistsitting down to record. So I've
noticed if I break it intosmaller steps, like I was saying
(35:39):
that I'm more likely when it istime to record I can just set it
up differently. I don't know ifthat's the best example, because
I know that doesn't necessarilyapply to everyone, but hopefully
you can think of something inyour own life that if you break
it down into smaller steps, itreally does make a big
difference.
(36:01):
Yeah, and it can even be aboutsmall things. Just I was gonna
go off on another tangent, but Iwon't. I'll just leave it there
and let you think about whattasks in your life do you have
resistance to that? Maybe youcan break it down into smaller
steps, but still, as you'reworking this tool, be aware or
available to just check theemotions as you go. Because
(36:25):
sometimes the resistance isabout the we feel subconsciously
overwhelmed because the taskfeels too big, even if it's like
I said, Well, within ourcapability. But sometimes that
emotional resistance isindicating something else it can
be indicating that you don'twant to be doing that thing at
all. And truly, there are somethings in life that we just have
to do, whether we like it ornot, right as a part of our work
(36:49):
or whatever, but just beingaware for those subtle emotions
and clues that like somethingdeeper is going on here. Okay,
another pro tip that I've talkedabout before is this idea of
recognizing the ebb and flow oflife. I give myself a lot of
permission on this one, becauseI am a person who can get in
(37:10):
this it's truly, it's a traumaresponse, and it's that's also
some of the reason I work on it.
But I can get in this mode whereI can drive so hard and be so
focused and so on top of my ToDo lists and and really working
myself too hard, and I reallyhave worked to try to understand
that there's an ebb and a flow.
(37:31):
It's why I sometimes give myselfpermission to just, I call it no
pants Sunday, just just likelounge my best friend calls it
couch rotting so whatever, justhave a day of just complete
rest, because there is this ebband flow of life. And the truth
is, in most of our personalworlds, we will have times where
we will have to really be drivenor push hard or focused or just
(37:54):
super busy in one area. And thenthere might come a time where it
backs off a little bit. I'mthinking about a dear friend of
mine who has a kiddo that doeshigh school band and during band
season, as you might imagine,crazy busy, not not necessarily
always time for all of theseother components, but then
there's, there's an ebb rightwhere it recedes and it's a
little less busy. So justrecognizing the ebb and flow of
(38:17):
your life as part of this andgiving yourself some grace. As
silly as this might sound, thisis one that I've had a really
hard time with. I usually canfind lots of grace for other
people. I understand that at anygiven moment I don't know what
someone else is going through.
That's I think we all can acceptthat, but I often have a hard
time giving myself grace. Therewas a week, not too long ago,
(38:41):
within the last couple monthsthat I actually missed a podcast
day, and it was one of myfriends that was like, can you
just give yourself permission toskip this one? And it was when I
was sick, actually, when I hadthat bad cold I had previously
mentioned, and I was fightingreally hard against it. It might
have even been this episode thatI was supposed to do then, but I
was really being so hard onmyself, because I'm so
(39:04):
intentionally trying to becommitted to getting an episode
out every week and posting aboutit, and doing all the things
right, because we know the onlyway to move forward in this kind
of work is consistency, but justfinding that grace for ourselves
as part of it. It's not makingexcuses for ourselves or not
getting the things done we needto do, but just finding ways we
(39:26):
can give ourselves grace as apart of this work. So I just
wanted to throw that in there aswell. And you guys, I hope know
how much I love you as theSpirit Squad. You're all such
amazing individuals in your ownway, and I love
(39:48):
if you would share your bestfoundational practices. I mean,
maybe you're a foundation, andthe practices you use isn't
completely formed. I think allof us, it's like I said, we're
all. Adjusting it, alwaystweaking it, always
understanding what we need andwhat's working for us right now.
But if you have some tools or asmall tip or hack that helps you
(40:10):
get through your days, I wouldlove to compile these for a
future episode, because I thinkthat's part of community, right?
We all have bits to share. Weall have a hack for something or
a trick for something, or a oh,this is the best foundational
practice that I've learned thatreally helps me. So if you have
even a small tip or hack thathelps you, I would love it. If
you would share it for your fora future episode, you can call
(40:33):
in to the podcast at305-928-5683
which is also 305928love, l, o, v, e, and share it
on a voicemail so I can use yourvoice in the podcast. Or if you
don't feel comfortable usingyour own voice, I could use an
AI voice for you. Or you canwrite it in in an email to admin
(40:53):
at joyful medium.com admin, A,D, M, I N at joyful medium.com
and send me your best hack ortip or spiritual practice that
is working for you or tool orwhat's working right now, even
if you feel like it's small, Iwould love to hear it, because
it is in the small details ofour day to day where we actually
(41:14):
live, right? Yes, we live in thebigger picture of our lives, but
it's these small day to day,things like, hey, what can I do
for tomorrow joy that willreally help her out or give her
a break or make her feel caredfor? What tips do you have call
in and leave me a voicemail.
305928, love, 305-928-5683or email admin at joyful
(41:36):
medium.com share your tips for afuture episode, I really want to
compile these, and I would loveit if you would join me at the
workshop that is coming up justthen this weekend, from when
this is being released onJanuary 25 live online with me.
Doors close on the 24th so ifyou want to get into this web,
web based online, live workshop,live with me on Zoom. Just sign
(42:01):
up. Even if you can't make thelive session, you can get the
replay. I will link in the shownotes, the link to sign up and
to get all the information. Itis a full day session, 10am to
4pm with breaks. It's threesessions. This learning page,
info page will tell youeverything you'll get. It'll
(42:22):
break down the sessions, whatwe're going to be doing, what to
expect, what your day will looklike, all of it. So just check
that out. You can either find itin the events section of my
website, joyful medium.com,under the Events tab, or you can
check the link in the shownotes, and it'll take you
directly to that page. So manyof you had said you really
wanted to, like, kick start your2025 learn how to use your
(42:42):
intuition. Intuition is one ofthe things I'm getting asked
about all the time. The emailsthat I'm receiving say, I want
to work with my intuition. Howdo I be more intuitive? How do I
like I feel disconnected from mysoul self, for my higher self, I
feel blocked. This workshop isgoing to address all of that. So
check out the link. I hope youwill join me on january 25
either live or sign up and getthe replay. I'm so excited to
(43:06):
just cruise into 2025 it's gonnabe a chaotic year, probably. I
also am following the ninethemes of the nine year, and she
tells 2025 for six months toadjust my schedule and
expectations, and let's do ittogether, right? Let's go
through this time together incommunity, supporting one
(43:29):
another. I am always grateful tohave you here with me. It means
more than you know. I would loveit if you would follow the
podcast wherever you'relistening. Give it a little like
subscribe, and while you'rethere, if you could share it
with a friend, that alwaysreally helps. What are you
excited about for 2025 what'sworking for you right now? What
(43:50):
are your tips and tricks? I'mgonna keep fine tuning mine, and
I hope you will keep fine tuningyours. And thanks for being here
with me today, as always. Bighugs. Lots of love. Bye for now
from inside spirit speakeasy,you.
Joy, hey, beautiful soul,welcome to spirit speakeasy. I'm
Joy Giovanni, joyful medium. I'ma working psychic medium, energy
healer and spiritual giftsmentor. This podcast is like a
seat at the table in a secretclub, but with mediums, mystics
and the spiritual luminaries ofour time. So come behind the
(00:22):
velvet ropes with me and seeinside my world as I chat
insider style with profoundlygifted souls, we go deep, share
juicy stories, laugh a lot, andit wouldn't be a speakeasy
without great insider secretsand tips. You might even learn
that you have some gifts of yourown. So step inside the spirit
(00:43):
speakeasy. Hey, beautiful soul,welcome back, or welcome in for
another episode of spiritspeakeasy this week, we are
talking about sparking joy,what's working now, and my
personal version of energyprotection. This episode is
actually going to release on mybirthday. And I don't know about
you, maybe it's just because mybirthday is in January, but
(01:06):
around the time of my birthday,I really start reevaluating,
looking at kind of what'sworking now for me and my
personal journey in my spiritualwork. So I want to share a few
of those things with you,because so often I know you guys
are wanting to know how I'mworking this energy, what tools
I'm using in my day to day life.
It's wonderful to talk about allof these expansive topics and
(01:27):
talk to all these wonderfulluminaries that we do on the
show, but what can we implementin our own lives, or even, what
can we tweak? It doesn't have tobe whole new things that we're
implementing. I know we're allso busy already. So in honor of
my personal New Year, I justwant to share a little bit with
you. First, I want to talk aboutthis idea of energy protection.
(01:51):
I want to have a workingdefinition for this episode. In
particular, the idea ofprotection isn't about something
outside of ourselves. Like tokeep you safe from something
outside of yourself. Life ishectic, and things happen
unexpectedly all the time, pluseveryone else also has free
(02:13):
will, and we can only, quote,unquote, control or work on
ourselves. So this type ofenergy protection that we're
going to talk about in thisepisode is really about shoring
up your own energy so that whenthe storms of life like
inevitably rise or rush in, itdoesn't turn your own world
(02:33):
upside down. Because the truthis, life is always going to be
hectic. Things are always goingto pop off or be thrown at us,
and how can we protect orbolster our own energy so that
we're not as susceptible to kindof being knocked off course, or
when these things do happen thattake us by surprise, we're
(02:53):
really rooted in who we are andin our own practice. So in this
episode, I will share a few ofthings that are working for me
right now. I don't know if thesewill work for you, but this is
what's working for me right now.
Maybe some of these willresonate with you, or give you
something to check in withyourself about. Maybe you're
already doing a wonderful job ofall of all of these, and you
(03:17):
have some suggestions for me,which I am totally available for
that too. Feel free to messageme. And I started writing this
episode actually in December,and then I got a really bad cold
and flu, so I'm actually offtrack with some of these in my
own life right now, and I amreally feeling it. It's how I
(03:37):
know that these tools and tipsthat I'm going to share today
are so important for me rightnow, just because I'm really
feeling that I'm a little bitoff track with them. And the
other thing is, you'll notice Ikeep saying right now, it's
because this list evolves as Ievolve and my needs change. And
for you, the same as you growand change in the stages of your
(03:59):
life, are different differenttools might work for you. So I
had that bad cold. I got offtrack, plus we had the election
in the United States, and thepolitical government drama is
already in full effect in boththe US and Canada now, and as
well as many other countries inthe world, there is a lot
(04:20):
popping off politically and ingovernments all over the world,
and as part of this recentenergy, a few of the people
close to me have also had somereally hard things that they've
needed just some extra supportwith. And it's important to
recognize that these types oflike extras, can always pop up
or pop off at any time. So wealso get to work on patience and
(04:44):
flexibility and grace as a partof our regular way of being
grace with ourselves as well asothers. We have to stay present
in this reality and informed.
But it's also okay to take likemedia breaks and ask our. Selves
and acknowledge the moments thatwe feel like life is kind of
extra hard, and it's not aboutcomparing ourselves to others or
(05:06):
the suffering of others that'salmost never helpful I feel
like, but just giving yourselfpermission to work with yourself
as needed and like I said, Iknow this piece is not
necessarily like a revelation,but be taking social media
breaks. Stay informed is, Ithink, how I want to say it, but
with reliable sources. And thetruth is, as we go through this
(05:32):
list of like tips and tools andthings that are working for me
personally, that I hope willhelp you, I know most of you
have full time, demandingcareers and or family members
that you support, whetherfinancially or emotionally,
medically. Some of you, maybeyou also have kids that need a
generous slice of your time andattention, plus just the regular
(05:52):
ups and downs of the emotional,blind sides of our human lives,
right? And I'm at a place in mylife where my kids are grown. I
don't currently have a romanticpartner at the moment. I do have
more than a full time smallbusiness, and even though my
kids are not home anymore, forthose of you that also have
grown kids, I'm still a mom. Sothat is always still a part of
(06:16):
what's happening in my world.
And I just say all this toremind you that we all go
through ages and stages andversions of our life that look
vastly different. So some ofthese things that I'm gonna
share now, they weren't alwaysimplemented in my life and
integrated in this way,especially, you know, when I was
(06:36):
single momming and had kids inschool and was working two or
three jobs. And so give yourselfGrace there, and just adjust
these suggestions to fit yourown current needs and
boundaries. Pick a couple maybethat really resonate with you,
and try them out, then come backfor more. If that's working,
don't feel pressured to add moreto your plate, and many of these
(06:58):
can just easily integrate withyour regularly scheduled day to
day living like these aren'tnecessarily all a whole side
project for you to implement.
Some of them are just littlethings to kind of add into the
way you're already movingthrough the world. Okay, so this
first topic under this, what'sworking now that I want to talk
about is, and actually this is abig part of the the energy
(07:20):
protection that I was talkingabout, self care, just the stuff
you need. And I wrote need andlike, big capital letters for
myself. For me, it's walking andstretching and meditating. Oh,
my self care, like the typicalstuff that
people talk about all the timeon like YouTube and social
(07:41):
media, and a lot of those thingsjust aren't enjoyable to me
personally, and often feel likeextra tasks, or they just make
me really uncomfortable. I'mpretty sensitive in my energy
and in my body, things that alot of people enjoy, like going
for a luxurious pedicure, thatdoes not feel fun to me. It does
not feel like self care to me,it just feels like something
(08:04):
else on my to do list. Soreally, when you think of the
self care you need, it's notabout these extra fluffy things
that you have to add into yourschedule. It's like, what are
the very base, bottom layer,foundational things that you
absolutely need to be doing totake care of yourself. I will
(08:27):
say checking in on your emotionsis wonderful. That's something
I'm always doing, especially ifyou notice like subtle emotions.
For me, it's often resistance orannoyance or frustration.
Sometimes it can be as fiery orpowerful as like anger. But
(08:47):
maybe it's not, maybe it doesn'treach that level for you. Maybe
it's subtler emotions, andsometimes they're just below the
surface, hiding like a littlecrocodile in the water. So as
emotions are coming up for methroughout my day to day, I'm
trying to at least make a mentalnote of them. Sometimes I can
process them and look a littledeeper. Sometimes, you know,
(09:09):
maybe journaling or self help,or if you do therapy, that could
also be wonderful. But justnoting the the emotions that you
feel, digging deeper when youcan, and noticing the nudges,
like I said, for me at thispoint, at this little phase in
my life, these often show up aslike resistance. Sometimes it's
(09:31):
something I know I need to do.
Sometimes it's even something Iwant to do. Like, when I ask
myself, do you actually want todo this? The answer is yes, or I
want the longer term result, butI'm resisting the action in the
meantime. Right now, the thingI'm currently resisting is
adding in some strengthtraining. I noticed that I am
not as strong and my my bodyjust doesn't feel comfortable in
(09:53):
the way I need it to, as far asstrength and strength training.
So. Yeah, it's adding in alittle bit of light strength
training, and I am in so muchresistance about it. I know that
I want the long term benefitsget, to get that bone density
right, but I'm resistingactually implementing it. So
that's something I can look alittle deeper out of just
(10:13):
noticing, like, Oh, I'm kind ofhaving some resistance to this.
What's that about? Do I wantthose benefits. Yeah, actually,
that's I can agree to thatthat's really good. Okay, so
what's happening between this,this is a good thing that I want
to do, and actually doing it. Sothat's kind of one of the things
I'm working with right now. Butjust noticing those nudges and
noticing the emotions, whetherit's for you, resistance or
(10:37):
maybe it's another shade ofemotion, and one of the other
pieces of this self care, for meis going within or just sitting
in the quiet, or some version ofmeditation or contemplation is
part of your relationship withyourself, with your intuition
and receiving your own answers.
I believe ultimately, we all dohave our own answers. We just
(11:02):
don't always like the optionsthat are being presented with or
that are available at the time.
But we almost always haveoptions, and even when we don't,
we often do know the answer.
It's just we don't like theanswer. So going within at this
point, I do most mornings, notall mornings, but most mornings,
I do about just under an hourmeditation. That is for me, but
(11:26):
for you, that could even looklike five minutes of quiet or 10
minutes of contemplation orsitting in the stillness with
yourself. It's just making spacefor that intuition, right? The
other thing is like, don't youcheck your email or your text or
DMS every day, or pretty closeto every day? Why? Why don't we
(11:46):
have permission, or why don't wethink to check in with ourselves
for even just five minutes ofgoing within, in our quiet,
sitting in the stillness withourself? So that is a big one
for me. I notice when I don't doit, or when I am have gone like
a good long period of timewithout doing it. It does, for
me, affect everything. So that'sthat's what I'm working with.
(12:09):
And start where you are. Therewas a time it took me a long
time to really settle intomeditating. There were many,
many, many years where I wouldhave told you I absolutely can't
do it. So even if it's fiveminutes or 10 minutes, even if
for you, it's not sitting inmeditation, it's going for a
walk or just being in silencewith yourself in some other way.
I hear a lot of people say thatthey check in in this way, in
(12:29):
the shower. So checking in withyourself going within. I try to
work these into my regularroutines. This next one that I
consider self care things thatwill help, like the way I say it
is help future joy. So this canbe self care in a way of it's
almost like loving yourself inadvance. For me, sometimes it
(12:52):
can be as simple as like settingout clothes with socks and shoes
the night before. Like fillingthe coffee water the night
before is a big one for me, itcould look like meal prep or
even just making lunch for thenext day. It could look like
going to bed earlier, if needed.
When I have an interview on mycalendar, for example, I always
list all the info, the links andhave the page notes, like any
(13:13):
notes I might need ready. It canbe in any area of your life,
just building in ways to loveand care for future you in
advance. If that makes sense,this one started many years ago
for me, because morning time joyhas not always been the most
able to remember like she's notthe most competent. I'm better
(13:34):
these days, but for many years,I'm just not the I'm just not
the most natural morning person.
So I'll even often have a listof things I need to like take
with me to the office, if Ihaven't put them all in my
little backpack already. Isometimes even leave a sticky
note on my front door if there'ssomething I really need to
remember, so I'll see it whenI'm leaving, but just sprinkling
(13:56):
throughout your regular day today. How can you love or help or
care for future you in advance,it's even little things that we
do, like flossing, right?
Flossing, yeah, maybe it helpsme today, but it's really more
for long term Joy so that shecan have good dental health, or
whatever it is. You might evenbe doing some of these already,
but the more that I do, thebetter it is. So I really like
(14:18):
this one. This one's worked forme for a long time, but I'm not
perfect at it at all, andsometimes I'm doing more than
other. Times there's an ebb andflow to everything. I think most
of you have been here know bynow that I believe in this ebb
and flow. Yeah. So sometimes I'mnot doing as great of a job at
it, but when I'm in the flow ofit and when I'm really setting
(14:41):
up things for sometimes it'sjust tomorrow joy. I think,
like, what can I set up todaythat would really help me out
for tomorrow? And sometimes it'smore long term in the future,
okay? If you personally alsoneed other types of self care,
incorporate them, we're alldifferent, right? Maybe there
are things. Maybe you need amonthly. As part of your health
care. It's wonderful foreveryone, if it's within your
(15:02):
means, or if you want to add inadditional things, you can, but
it's good to have anunderstanding of the very, very
bottom line of your own selfcare for yourself, not just your
physical body, but your wholeself, like actually you. So for
me, really, it just is, I needto move my body in some way.
(15:23):
That's the one I'm kind of likestruggling to get back on track
with. I need to stretch my body.
I tend to be very flexible, butI get stiff real easy. And
especially now, I sit so muchwith my work as a medium. I'm
not, you know, it's not asphysical. And I need to go
within for me that looks likemeditation. I need to be
(15:44):
checking in on my emotions,regularly, noticing the nudges
or noticing the even very subtleemotions that are rising up. And
I need to be doing things forfuture joy, because those are
the things that just really,really help me to do self care.
So kind of reimagining, maybeeven what self care looks like
for you, and then just reallyunderstanding, like, what is
(16:07):
your very bottom line of whatyou absolutely need to, you
know, function in the world in away that feels good to you. The
next one that I want to throw atyou. Some of these might sound
obvious, but some of these, Ireally, I really struggled with
this one for a long time,permission to rest. I generally
don't work on Sundays, justbecause it's always kind of
(16:30):
worked out that way for lots ofreasons. But sometimes, and
again, this is where my kids aregrown. I'm currently single, so
I maybe have a little moreflexibility here, but sometimes
I stay in bed all day on aSunday. Yeah, I might also be
working just because that's kindof how I am. Sometimes there's
little bits of things that needto be get get done, but I have
(16:51):
permission to just rest onSunday, not do anything. Not you
know, I could do laundry if Iwant, but I don't have to. So
even if it's not an every once aweek occurrence, even just once
in a while, like once a month,giving yourself permission to
rest. Maybe it's in the eveningfor you, that's where it shows
up, where it's like, oh, do Ihave to, do you know this one
more set of things? Or can Ihave permission to unplug at
(17:15):
10pm whatever it is for you. Butpermission to rest has been a
big one for me. It is workingfor me right now, but it was a
hard one line item for me. Ijust, there just was something
for me about I needed an excuseto rest like I was being lazy or
not pushing to my fullpotential. So there is a balance
(17:37):
of when trying and striving andworking so hard can become
unhealthy for us, right? Sopermission to rest. I won't go.
I won't harp on that one for toolong. It's pretty obvious.
Another one for me is permissionto play. And this actually for
me again, another one that's alittle hard one. This had to
become a requirement, like Irequire of myself permission to
(18:00):
play, and what that looks likefor me is different all the
time. Last year, I went to thezoo quite a bit. It's just up
the street. For me, I doDisneyland. I have a pass,
because I live not too far, justan hour and a half away. I
schedule with friends to go tocomedy shows. I love stand up
comedy I don't know if you guysall know that about me, but I'm
super stand up comedy nerd, andI have been since I was in like,
(18:22):
the third or fourth grade.
I schedule in person, time withanyone who's on my a team. It's
not just anyone. I don't havetime for just everyone who wants
to hang out, or every personthat wants to get together.
We're all busy in our own way,right? But those people that are
on my a team kind of my closecircle, I intentionally schedule
(18:44):
in person, time with them, andthis idea of play doesn't
necessarily come naturally toall of us, depending like where
we grew up and our culture andand who we are as an individual,
but for me, it really issomething that revitalizes me.
The hard thing is, my naturalurge is to feel like I don't
(19:07):
need those things for and formany, many years, they felt too
frivolous. I definitely had notime for all of this, like fun
stuff. And now that I'm adifferent phase in a different
place, I've had to reallyreassess and understand, like,
what even feels fun to me? Whatdo I enjoy if I could just have
(19:27):
a day off and do whatever Iwanted? What would I do? That is
I feel like I need to, like,energetically, push myself out
into the world, like, not astaying home activity, something
else. And for you, maybe fun islike doing some crafts. Actually
have a craft project waiting onmy kitchen table right now that
I'm putting out intentionally tokeep reminding myself you want
(19:47):
to do this fun project. Sopermission and again, for me,
requirement for fun, I need tomake sure I get things scheduled
on the calendar, or weeks andweeks can go by with like, very
little fun. One or connectionthat's not connected to work. I
just love my work. And I feellike when you have a small
business, many of you know youhave small businesses too, it is
(20:10):
there's not a lot of separationbetween our work and ourself,
especially if your business iskind of you. So I really need to
get those things on thecalendar, because in the moment,
like I said, I will genuinelyfeel like I feel good. I don't
need I don't need that. I'mfine. I can go another week
without, you know, hanging outor seeing anyone or going to
anything or whatever. And I am alittle bit introverted in some
(20:34):
ways by nature. I have kind of agood flexibility there. So I
need to make this a requirementfor myself. I feel better ever
after having engaged in whateverfun means that week and it's
different in different times,right? Even week to week. It can
be different or look different,but if I wait too long, I just I
(20:56):
just notice, and it makes mewant to withdraw more and more
and more. So I do really make aneffort to get these things on
the calendar, especially ifyou're someone that your natural
urge is to feel like you know, Idon't, I don't need to have fun,
or I don't even know what thatmeans, because for many I
believe I get it. For manyyears, I didn't either. And it
(21:19):
doesn't have to be a whole dayof fun. It can be a couple
hours. It could be going out andhaving a cocktail or a boba tea
with a friend. Doesn't have tobe an elaborate thing. If there
are occasionally elaboratethings you want to schedule.
Hey, great, but it's just aboutgetting to understand what feels
fun to you. It really doesrefill me in a way that I have a
(21:40):
hard time putting words tobecause, like, I said, even,
even sometimes when I am on thedrive to the fun thing, I am
like, I don't want to go tothis. Like, why did I schedule
this? Like, I just want to stayhome. I don't want to put on
pants or shoes or whatever itmight be. But when I go, of
course, because I'm choosingpeople intentionally that are on
(22:02):
my a team. I always have fun.
There's always somethingenjoyable that comes out of it,
or I just feel better when I gethome, even if the thing itself
isn't all that much fun, maybeI'm helping them with an errand
or a thing they need to do, andit's not necessarily something
you would like label as fun.
It's just a time together. Ireally do feel filled up, so
(22:23):
that is a necessity for me rightnow, which, again, another one
that was hard one. The next onethat I want to highlight is the
way I labeled it in my notes. Isfeed your ears and your spirit.
This can look like frivolouspodcasts. Yeah, sometimes we
learn stuff on podcasts, butthere are also some that we can
learn things sometimes, but thehosts are fun this podcast. Love
(22:45):
it. That would be one of yourfeed your ears things and
definitely share if you love usthis podcast music at least a
few times a week. I know thismight sound ridiculous, because
so many of us are so moved bymusic in our day to day life. I
think it's because I eitherworked in places that had lots
of music, or other times, likewhen I did massage therapy for
(23:06):
so many years, I had kind ofthat meditation type music on
all the time, so I wanted tojust hear a podcast or hear
people talking. So I sometimesforget about music, which I know
sounds ridiculous. So when I'min a good mood, or even just
over time, I'll hear a song outand about I'm constantly adding
to my playlists, and then justsometimes, I'll even have,
(23:27):
you've heard me say it herebefore, a little dance party in
the kitchen, just with myself.
So really, we need otherpeople's creativity. We need to
consume art that others havecreated to fill us up in a
different way. You'll be able todraw on this energy too. So it's
not just like a waste of time orfrivolous. We can draw on the
(23:48):
energy of the creativity ofothers. Sometimes it can move
our own inspiration, our owncreativity and sometimes our own
emotions. Sometimes it'll clickin a little aha moment for us a
little bit deeper, or it can bea breadcrumb on our path to
something else, but it can justfill us up with joy and
creativity and inspiration, andwe need, sometimes, someone
(24:11):
else's art form to like, matchour energy to especially if
you're in a job that's helpingothers, or that is a little bit
tedious in some way. We need tobe filled up recently. So
sometimes I will, like I said,do a little kitchen dance party.
I do have some playlists. I havea short list of podcasts that I
(24:32):
listen to all the time. But oncein a while, like on New Year's
Day, I did this, I went down aYouTube rabbit hole. And of
course, we know there's lots ofdrama, and I was going to say
trash, but there's lots of stuffto find online, especially like
YouTube and social media. So ifwe can find negative stuff or
(24:54):
stuff that brings us down, wecan also find positive,
wonderful. Stuff, I went downthis whole rabbit hole, and I
ended up on YouTube, findingthis channel. I don't know if
it's called piano or piano te iwill link this YouTube channel
in the show notes just for funthese in case you want to check
it out. There is this incredibleartist. His name is John
(25:14):
Batiste. He's not a new artist.
He has a gajillion Grammys andis like an incredibly known and
celebrated artist, but on thisparticular channel, they he's,
he's like a prodigy, like amusical genius. He can play tons
of instruments, and he can hearhis perfect pitch, and he can
hear songs for like, a fewseconds and and start, like,
(25:36):
creating his own part to it, orversion of it. And I went down
this whole rabbit hole of justwatching him. They'd play a song
for him that he'd never heard,and he would just start, this
was piano, but he would startlike creating the piano segment
of the song, because they'd playit for him with that piano track
removed. And just to watch hiscreative genius, watch him feel
(25:59):
in his body this inspiration. Isay this so lovingly. I don't
mean it in a disrespectful way,but this wonderful man reminds
me of if a Sesame Street Muppetcame to life like he is just so
full of creativity andinspiration and just exudes joy
in his work as a musician. Sothere are wonderful rabbit holes
(26:23):
like that that we can go down ofjust getting incredibly inspired
through art that other peoplecreate. And like I said, I will
link that in the show notes,because it was pretty fun and
incredible. You might not findit as inspirational as I did. It
just struck me at the rightmoment, right? So feed your ears
and your spirit. The other thingI want to touch into is this
idea of having a firmfoundation. This is this, like
(26:46):
doing our own work, thing thatwe always talk about. It's a big
piece of the puzzle. Truly, aswe all know, life throws itself
at us from various directionsall the time, and this is a
constant.
And what's really I'm sureyou've noticed in your own life,
what's really crazy is thatsometimes we can have a
(27:09):
wonderful thing happening orunfolding in our lives and also
a really chaotic or difficult orpainful thing happening in
another area of our life.
Sometimes these things arethings that we're actually
experiencing happening to us, orit could be we have a really
hard challenge in our life, andsomeone we care about is
(27:29):
celebrating a wonderful joy orachievement in their life, or
vice versa. And how do we holdboth of those energies at the
same time and be a human whilelife is throwing all of this
craziness at us and chaos fromdifferent directions all the
time. It's not something we canescape. It's part of our human
(27:50):
experience. But we can work onthis. We can process what comes
up. We can't like, fix it andmake everything perfectly even
keel all the time as we mightwant, but we can process what
comes up in our own waydifferently the more we learn
and grow. So I challenge you tokind of start thinking about
(28:13):
what is your own foundationalpractice that you continue to
learn and grow and deepen,right? This can change with you,
too. For many people, itincludes in pieces and parts in
their daily routine, things thatthey're implementing and really
just making a part of theirregular world. Part of it is
(28:35):
checking in with ourselves in aneutral, kind of self aware way,
meaning, like, not anemotionally charged way, but
seeing if we can get to this iswhy I like to do this work.
Walking. I do a lot of myemotional processing walking.
Something about moving my bodyhelps me take the charge, the
energetic charge, off of theemotions, and then I can process
(28:57):
them differently. So like, what,what is your foundational
practice? Or practicesmeditation is a big one for me,
listening within, even if youcall it something different from
meditation, like you could callprayer or contemplation, or
like, what is your relationshipwith your own soul and spirit,
or something greater thanyourself, infinite energy,
(29:21):
Source Energy, whatever you liketo call it, what's your
relationship with that energy?
And what's your relationshipwith yourself? It's important to
note that we often think of theword foundation as something
that's set, like, you know, afoundation of a house. We hope
it's pretty set and solid, ourfoundational tools can change
(29:44):
and expand and shift. I like tothink of it more as a
foundational toolbox, like maybelike a builder or a contractor
would have always adding up,keeping the tools we do have,
incorporating what works best atthat time or for that. Situation
or job or moment. If you've everI've known a lot of contractors
and builders over my life. Theyalways have so many tools, and
(30:07):
sometimes they have the mostspecific tool for just one very
particular use. That's how ourenergetic tools can be. But
what's the foundation thatyou're using? What I've shared
today really is my foundation.
These are the things that I'mimplementing. It's not just
about this relationship with ourown soul, not just about the
universe, not just about all theunseen energy plus the life we
(30:30):
have to live. It's all of thesethings combined. So I'm so
curious to know like, what isyour foundation? Or what are the
foundational tools that you use?
Are there things that you'vedecided you absolutely need? And
for me, there are some toolsthat are just in my toolbox I
don't pull out all the time.
There are probably tools that Iforgotten. Thank goodness I've
(30:53):
made notes and have books andreminders and all kinds of
things. Yeah, so just reallykeeping up and incorporating
what works best in any givenmoment, and I am reevaluating
this, like what works now for meall the time, I actually often
even keep a Notes tab. Like inthe Notes tab, I keep a section
in my phone about what's workingnow, just to remind myself,
(31:14):
because if I'm having a bad day,I can't always remember. And the
other thing is, I'm going togive you a couple quick pro tips
just to help you integrate someof these things or even evaluate
them in your own day to daylife, so you can see what's
working now for you, or whatmight work a little better, or
what you might want to tailor orshift. For me, one of the key
(31:36):
things to remember is, if itdoesn't get on the calendar,
it's not happening. So I evenschedule in time, not on my
like, formal calendar, but in mymental calendar. In the morning,
I set a wake up time I'vealready done the math of like,
okay, the meditation takes thismuch time. I take this much time
to get ready. I need to stretchthat takes this much time. So
(31:58):
building it into your scheduleor getting it on the calendar,
like for me, with that one thatI have about, like requiring
myself to have some fun andincorporate fun that has to get
on the calendar, I'm it's notthat I'm not a spontaneous
person. I can be spontaneous,but the truth is, I will fill in
my time with other things, and Idon't always have a lot of
(32:19):
spaciousness. So I love gettingthings. I have a few friends
that every month we schedule forthe next month on the calendar,
so it's just there. So get it onthe calendar in some way, shape
or form. Another tip is busy.
The word busy, quote, unquote,is not a reason not to get basic
self care or personal needs met,like how we talked about
(32:41):
whatever is your absolute musthave version of self care that
you do, not just for yourphysical body, but for your like
actual self. It's always busy.
So busy is not a reason to notget these basic needs to feed
ourselves. It's always busy. AndI bet you can attest to that in
your own life, that's alwaysbusy. Something else that really
(33:03):
helps me as a little pro tiphere is smaller steps to chip
away. If I remember, I told youa lot of times my anxiety shows
up as resistance. So if I'manxious or feeling resistant.
This is one of my areas that Ithat I work on, habits, self
care, any of it, I ask myself,can this be broken down into
(33:29):
smaller, more manageable steps,even if it's like recording the
podcast, for example, becausethis one applies to any area of
your life. I kind of know therhythm and the the task list of
the podcast at this point, I'vebeen doing it for how a couple
years now, and sometimes I am inresistance. And what I noticed
(33:49):
was, if I break things down intosmaller steps, I can it's not
that that resistance completelydissolves, but I can move
through it a little moreeffectively. So I've noticed
that if we have a task on our todo list, whatever it is, big or
small, and we're resisting it,often it can be broken down into
smaller chunks, and then thathelps us move through it, even
(34:11):
if the original task is wellwithin my capability, it's more
about moving through theresistance than the task itself.
And the entire time, I try to beaware for more subtle emotions
or clues that something deeperis going on, because that can be
the case, not always. So what Ihad started doing, like with the
(34:33):
podcast, for example, was I prewrite all the episodes.
Initially I was just havingnotes for myself about what I
wanted to say, but now I haveexpanded into additional notes
or more, writing out what I wantto say, because I get
sidetracked. I get distracted. Iget something comes up, and I go
off on a tangent, and then Ilose where I was, or I lose what
(34:55):
I wanted to say. So I. I am morelikely to feel comfortable
sitting down to record thepodcast if I have already spent
time setting up the episode andunderstanding what the topic is
and making the notes or writingit out, or whatever I want to do
for myself. So the place that Ihave the resistance was sitting
down to record and the way Iworked it was like it doesn't
(35:19):
for me personally, I know thisis not true for everyone. It
doesn't make sense for me tofeel resistant to sit down and
record something. I'm finerecording. I'm fine being in
front of a camera. You guys knowI can talk like let's be honest,
but I just sometimes resistsitting down to record. So I've
noticed if I break it intosmaller steps, like I was saying
(35:39):
that I'm more likely when it istime to record I can just set it
up differently. I don't know ifthat's the best example, because
I know that doesn't necessarilyapply to everyone, but hopefully
you can think of something inyour own life that if you break
it down into smaller steps, itreally does make a big
difference.
(36:01):
Yeah, and it can even be aboutsmall things. Just I was gonna
go off on another tangent, but Iwon't. I'll just leave it there
and let you think about whattasks in your life do you have
resistance to that? Maybe youcan break it down into smaller
steps, but still, as you'reworking this tool, be aware or
available to just check theemotions as you go. Because
(36:25):
sometimes the resistance isabout the we feel subconsciously
overwhelmed because the taskfeels too big, even if it's like
I said, Well, within ourcapability. But sometimes that
emotional resistance isindicating something else it can
be indicating that you don'twant to be doing that thing at
all. And truly, there are somethings in life that we just have
to do, whether we like it ornot, right as a part of our work
(36:49):
or whatever, but just beingaware for those subtle emotions
and clues that like somethingdeeper is going on here. Okay,
another pro tip that I've talkedabout before is this idea of
recognizing the ebb and flow oflife. I give myself a lot of
permission on this one, becauseI am a person who can get in
(37:10):
this it's truly, it's a traumaresponse, and it's that's also
some of the reason I work on it.
But I can get in this mode whereI can drive so hard and be so
focused and so on top of my ToDo lists and and really working
myself too hard, and I reallyhave worked to try to understand
that there's an ebb and a flow.
(37:31):
It's why I sometimes give myselfpermission to just, I call it no
pants Sunday, just just likelounge my best friend calls it
couch rotting so whatever, justhave a day of just complete
rest, because there is this ebband flow of life. And the truth
is, in most of our personalworlds, we will have times where
we will have to really be drivenor push hard or focused or just
(37:54):
super busy in one area. And thenthere might come a time where it
backs off a little bit. I'mthinking about a dear friend of
mine who has a kiddo that doeshigh school band and during band
season, as you might imagine,crazy busy, not not necessarily
always time for all of theseother components, but then
there's, there's an ebb rightwhere it recedes and it's a
little less busy. So justrecognizing the ebb and flow of
(38:17):
your life as part of this andgiving yourself some grace. As
silly as this might sound, thisis one that I've had a really
hard time with. I usually canfind lots of grace for other
people. I understand that at anygiven moment I don't know what
someone else is going through.
That's I think we all can acceptthat, but I often have a hard
time giving myself grace. Therewas a week, not too long ago,
(38:41):
within the last couple monthsthat I actually missed a podcast
day, and it was one of myfriends that was like, can you
just give yourself permission toskip this one? And it was when I
was sick, actually, when I hadthat bad cold I had previously
mentioned, and I was fightingreally hard against it. It might
have even been this episode thatI was supposed to do then, but I
was really being so hard onmyself, because I'm so
(39:04):
intentionally trying to becommitted to getting an episode
out every week and posting aboutit, and doing all the things
right, because we know the onlyway to move forward in this kind
of work is consistency, but justfinding that grace for ourselves
as part of it. It's not makingexcuses for ourselves or not
getting the things done we needto do, but just finding ways we
(39:26):
can give ourselves grace as apart of this work. So I just
wanted to throw that in there aswell. And you guys, I hope know
how much I love you as theSpirit Squad. You're all such
amazing individuals in your ownway, and I love
(39:48):
if you would share your bestfoundational practices. I mean,
maybe you're a foundation, andthe practices you use isn't
completely formed. I think allof us, it's like I said, we're
all. Adjusting it, alwaystweaking it, always
understanding what we need andwhat's working for us right now.
But if you have some tools or asmall tip or hack that helps you
(40:10):
get through your days, I wouldlove to compile these for a
future episode, because I thinkthat's part of community, right?
We all have bits to share. Weall have a hack for something or
a trick for something, or a oh,this is the best foundational
practice that I've learned thatreally helps me. So if you have
even a small tip or hack thathelps you, I would love it. If
you would share it for your fora future episode, you can call
(40:33):
in to the podcast at305-928-5683
which is also 305928love, l, o, v, e, and share it
on a voicemail so I can use yourvoice in the podcast. Or if you
don't feel comfortable usingyour own voice, I could use an
AI voice for you. Or you canwrite it in in an email to admin
(40:53):
at joyful medium.com admin, A,D, M, I N at joyful medium.com
and send me your best hack ortip or spiritual practice that
is working for you or tool orwhat's working right now, even
if you feel like it's small, Iwould love to hear it, because
it is in the small details ofour day to day where we actually
(41:14):
live, right? Yes, we live in thebigger picture of our lives, but
it's these small day to day,things like, hey, what can I do
for tomorrow joy that willreally help her out or give her
a break or make her feel caredfor? What tips do you have call
in and leave me a voicemail.
305928, love, 305-928-5683or email admin at joyful
(41:36):
medium.com share your tips for afuture episode, I really want to
compile these, and I would loveit if you would join me at the
workshop that is coming up justthen this weekend, from when
this is being released onJanuary 25 live online with me.
Doors close on the 24th so ifyou want to get into this web,
web based online, live workshop,live with me on Zoom. Just sign
(42:01):
up. Even if you can't make thelive session, you can get the
replay. I will link in the shownotes, the link to sign up and
to get all the information. Itis a full day session, 10am to
4pm with breaks. It's threesessions. This learning page,
info page will tell youeverything you'll get. It'll
(42:22):
break down the sessions, whatwe're going to be doing, what to
expect, what your day will looklike, all of it. So just check
that out. You can either find itin the events section of my
website, joyful medium.com,under the Events tab, or you can
check the link in the shownotes, and it'll take you
directly to that page. So manyof you had said you really
wanted to, like, kick start your2025 learn how to use your
(42:42):
intuition. Intuition is one ofthe things I'm getting asked
about all the time. The emailsthat I'm receiving say, I want
to work with my intuition. Howdo I be more intuitive? How do I
like I feel disconnected from mysoul self, for my higher self, I
feel blocked. This workshop isgoing to address all of that. So
check out the link. I hope youwill join me on january 25
either live or sign up and getthe replay. I'm so excited to
(43:06):
just cruise into 2025 it's gonnabe a chaotic year, probably. I
also am following the ninethemes of the nine year, and she
tells 2025 for six months toadjust my schedule and
expectations, and let's do ittogether, right? Let's go
through this time together incommunity, supporting one
(43:29):
another. I am always grateful tohave you here with me. It means
more than you know. I would loveit if you would follow the
podcast wherever you'relistening. Give it a little like
subscribe, and while you'rethere, if you could share it
with a friend, that alwaysreally helps. What are you
excited about for 2025 what'sworking for you right now? What
(43:50):
are your tips and tricks? I'mgonna keep fine tuning mine, and
I hope you will keep fine tuningyours. And thanks for being here
with me today, as always. Bighugs. Lots of love. Bye for now
from inside spirit speakeasy,you.
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