Sense of Soul - Empath Connection

Episode Date: September 13, 2021

Today we have a with us again one of our favorite souls on earth, Dr. Michael R. Smith, he has been working professionally in empath consulting for several decades as a counselor, coach, energy healer, spiritual medium and author. He has been featured in several documentary films, has given workshops worldwide, he has literally helped and touched millions, he is our Empath go to, and has such a special soul, his genuine love and care for humanity is truly extraordinary and felt throughout the world. For over two decades, Michael has worked to help empaths and highly sensitive people recognize and embrace their gifts. As a doctoral trained educational psychologist/counselor and energy healing practitioner, his work on empathic sensitivity has been endorsed and promoted by best-selling authors like Sonia Choquette and Judith Orloff. Michael has not only been featured in documentary films but on numerous mind-body healing summits, including the Shift Network.  Michael has given workshops worldwide, including at New Yorks' Omega Institute. He has personally coached several thousand individuals to make stronger connections between mind, body, and Spirit. Over a million individuals have been guided by his materials since 2007. Michael has spent the last 18 years working with indigenous healers around the world to more deeply explore and promote human potential. He uses indigenous techniques when called for in his work, and is a spiritual medium, although that is not the focus of his work and advocacy.    Michael announces and offers exclusively here on Sense of Soul amazing news of what he’s up to and what is coming your way Empaths this fall and Shanna and Mande share a secret too!!! To learn more about Michael, his classes, community, books and more, visit his website! https://www.empathconnection.com His most popular class for Empaths is the transformational 5-week live online class The Empath Academy. https://www.facebook.com/Empath-Connection-134926033194344/ Recommended reading to learn more about the ozone therapy  “The Ozone Miracle" by Dr. Frank Shallenberger. Lots of fun stuff to check out and coming soon on www.mysenseofsoul.com, new merch, coaching programs, readings, classes and more!  Click here to check out our new Sense of Soul Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/senseofsoul Please Rate, Review and Subscribe, we appreciate the love and support. Xoxo!

Welcome to the Sense of Soul podcast. We are your hosts, Shanna and Mandy. Grab your coffee, open your mind, heart and soul. It's time to awaken. Today we have with us one of our all-time favorite souls on earth, Dr. Michael R. Smith. He has been working professionally in empath consulting for several decades as a counselor, coach, energy healer, spiritual medium, and author. He has been featured in several documentary films and has given workshops worldwide. He has literally helped and touched millions. He is our empath go-to and has such a special soul. His genuine love and care for humanity is extraordinary and we are blessed to have Michael back on with us today. Hello, hello Michael. Hey you two beautiful

things. Michael, you have got a lot going on this year. This has been such a blessed year for me I'm like happy and grateful and I've got my health back and I'm moved and I dissolved the relationship yeah I've had a lot going on the man of my dreams I've been dreaming about you which that was such a fun dream because it was like we were children and you had this like rainbow light going around you, like spiraling around you. And then you were like, your turn, Shanna, you do it. And I was like, okay. It was like a playful playground, like almost feeling. Yeah.

It was amazing. And then as soon as I woke up, it must've been like the last dream I had. Cause it was like right there. And I was still like in that theta brainwave and I'm like writing everything down because I was dream journaling. And then when my brain came to, I was like, holy shit, I think he mentioned something about a rainbow light in our episode with him. Do you work with the rainbow light? Well, not the rainbow light, but we were talking about the rainbow warriors. Warriors. the rainbow light well not the rainbow light but we were talking about the rainbow warriors and warriors that's kind of it's a prophecy from you know indigenous cultures yeah we did talk

about that yeah isn't that it was such a cool dream michael what was with your health issues what was going on um it was actually post-covid syndrome. Really? Okay. Yeah. I probed it in December and had the stomach being consistently. Yeah. Up until probably about a month ago. The way that it presents in like in you, like with digestive and me with, you know, neurological and muscle asthms and all kinds of weird, crazy kidney stuff. I had kidney stuff and I had vertigo that put me in the hospital. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. I had bouncing off the walls and brain fog. I can't remember shit. Oh my gosh. How did you come out of it? I kept on seeing all these signs of Vegas,

Vegas. And so Mandy's like, do we need to go to Vegas? And I'm like, no, all we have to do is great. So it was interesting. We had an amazing soul on our podcast talking about Vegas nerve and how, you know, what it does to your brain and all these healthy things. And of course she hooked it up with so many meditations for me to activate it. But then I was researching it and, you know, during, they had actually come up with some sort of device that you hold to your neck that stimulates the vagus nerve through vibration, which I'm like, hello, we can just chant, same thing. But it's because during COVID, there's a cytokine storm that happens in your system and stimulating the vagus nerve actually reverses it. Wow. I didn't know the connection between the vagus reversing the cytokines storm.

Yeah. Wow. I mean, it makes sense because it calms everything down, right? Yeah. The inflammation, you know, it does the opposite. Even the indigenous cultures, one of my elders in the Lakota tribe he talks about how his elders like long ago even before science like not knowing science they just knew the vagus nerve was like the connection to our higher self or one way to access blissful states of being or better states of being and it just always blows me away that there's so much knowledge in the indigenous traditions that was there before science and

then science validates it when we have that experience ourselves you can't deny it yes it's so true it's all about the experience and i'll tell you i was extremely frustrated when i started researching the vegas nerve and COVID for Shanna, because I'm like, I've had severe asthma since I was two years old. And I have been in doctor's offices my whole life and pulmonologists, and no one has ever taught me about stimulating that vagus nerve and how it could help me to breathe. Like what? Right.

Oh, so frustrating. Yeah. Wow. You're healthy. What did they end up having to do for you? Well, I just went on this crazy quest to find everything I could about what was going on with me. And so what happened was I had the Epstein-Barr virus my whole life. And I had those symptoms of chronic EBV Epstein-Barr infection for like 15 years, but the COVID, getting the COVID on top of it, my body fighting off two viruses, that's what pushed everything over the edge. So I found ozone therapy. And so I did five IVs of ozone therapy and it just completely knocked it out of my system. And I've never felt better. Okay. You're going to have to elaborate on ozone therapy and it just completely knocked it out of my system and I've never felt better. Okay. You're going to have to elaborate on ozone therapy.

Oh my God. Anything autoimmune is almost certainly some kind of a pathogen, whether it's a virus or a bacteria like streptococcus or staph aureus, you know, you've got fungi, you know, like mold and you've got candida, right? So you've got those three. And then any other thing that's microbial really. So disease, you've probably heard this, like disease can't thrive in the presence of oxygen. So what ozone is, it's like, it's amplified oxygen. It's O3, it's three molecules of oxygen instead of two, like two is the air we breathe. Ozone is like even more pure. It's O3. It's three molecules of oxygen instead of two, like two is the air we breathe.

Ozone is like even more pure. It's more powerful. So the moment you put that ozone, which is pure oxygen into your body, it just kills anything that is hanging out, including chronic infections that most people have. And they don't realize it like I did that like that feeds off of the heavy metals and the glyphosate that is in our bodies and so like it helps everything and anything like especially autoimmune like for empaths okay well I need that Mandy why do you what's going on with you that's severe joint pain all the time and it's flaring with the stress and the joint pain. I mean, there's times where I feel like I can't even walk the fatigue. It's not arthritis. I've gone to doctors. I can't, I have to shake my hands out in the morning and my feet and oh, it's beautiful. The ozone therapy, give it

a shot. Isn't it funny how you're just like us. Like if there's something wrong with us, we used to just go to a doctor and go pick up our prescription and go home. Now we spend weeks researching and finding out answers and just sitting in discernment and connecting with like the spiritual world. And then we always are led to these like amazing places. Totally. I mean, that is what this day and age is all about. It's all about finding our own answers, really what you just said. I mean, that is what this day and age is all about. It's all about finding our own answers, really, what you just said. I mean, discernment, going within. Taking responsibility for your own health. empath like you and I make it through detoxing out toxic relationships because it's hard because in my experience, it's been so hard on me, but also as an empath, I found that I, I even,

I even had a dream where I felt sad for him last night. Like, it's just painful. It's just hard. It is. And you're what I'm hearing underneath what you're saying, you know, it's pain, it's just painful. It's just hard is that you're giving yourself space to, to, to go through that process, to process the energies that need to be processed. And you're just sitting with it. You're not trying to change it. You're allowing it to happen. You're giving yourself permission to grieve if you will, or just process whatever label applies to you. And you're not trying to force anything. And neither am I, I've had many, many moments or hours of feeling guilt, you know, and that's my, that's my process, you know, feeling and feeling sad for my former husband too. Right.

And it's like, we wouldn't be empaths. We wouldn't be human if we didn't have those emotions. Michael, can I also tell you, you look really good. Your energy is just a little brighter. Yes. Thank you for reflecting that. It's shedding all of that kind of unnecessary BS that I was trying to make the relationship work. And it was like, Carissa Schumacher is a channel for Yeshua. When she was seven years old, Yeshua came to her and said, you're going to be my channel here at this time on earth. Ever since then, she spent her entire life devoted to preparing for this moment when he birthed in her channel a little over a year and a half ago. And so I've been working, I've known her for a decade, but

I've only known that she's been a channel for a couple of years since she outed herself. So I've been working with that energy and letting go of shedding all kinds of different layers. Oh, he said in a channeling, he said, don't try to get your oranges from an apple tree. And I was like, this is totally my relationship. The moment I heard that is when it landed that I needed to relieve that relationship because I was trying to ask for something that he could not give me. And that quote is what made me make the decision finally. Isn't it so funny? Like the other night I was sitting on the porch with Shanna and she's like, you have gone through such big events in your marriage that would have, anybody would have just been like, I'm done right then and left. This time, nothing really big happened,

Mandy. Like what was it? And honestly, for me, it was like a small quote. It was just, it was these signs, synchronicities. It was guests that we had on that were speaking to my soul and I could feel my soul grabbing onto their messages and saying, Oh, it's time to make that shift. It came from a different place before when I thought about leaving the marriage, it was coming from in here and coming from resentment. This time it was coming from like this place in my soul that was just like, you've got to let go if you want to evolve. Oh my God. god that is amazing that's like goosebump inducing for me to hear that yeah evolution is what we're here to do on this planet and like it's fucking painful or it can be usually is and that's a perfect example of that

but it's like right on for you for going towards your soul, the call of your soul and not resisting or listening to this thing right up here. Well, and then I found that trying to explain that to people that aren't awake, they're like, wait, what? What the fuck are you talking about? Like, what do you mean you left a 23 year long marriage because you want to evolve like what the hell are you talking about oh yeah judgment we love that when we get the judgment from the yeah but mandy too when she first had come around that like even it was just like the first week i was like damn like something's different about you you're just lighter it wasn weight. I mean, you just literally felt lighter. Yeah. It's almost probably uncomfortable because when you've been, you know, within something and within an energy, whether it's good or bad,

it's warm and it feels like, and sometimes can look as weight even, you know, when you start to shed it, everything around you probably is affected. Oh, absolutely. It all starts with us. You guys talk about that on your show all the time. Like it starts with us. I mean, and everything just automatically the moment we make changes to and decide, because it's a, it's a conscious decision to evolve and to grow. And the moment that we make that decision to step outside of our comfort zone and to like pursue the highest version of ourselves, the version of ourselves that our soul wants us to be, then everything changes. Everything changes. It's like we don't have to do anything other than just to keep stepping outside of our comfort zone always from now until the day that we take our last breath always what do they say the miracles happen in the discomfort zone yeah you know I I think it's interesting too that I've seen this

shift within me with a lot of people in my life that as an empath when they were sitting in their pain I wanted to like go to them and say, how can I help? What can I do? And I realized I was doing a disservice. I do that for my children because there's a lesson in that pain for them. And so if I go in and try to save them from that, then I'm taking that lesson from them. And that was like a huge awakening for me, but as an empath, that is so hard to do. It is because we were born with the desire to help and we have to have boundaries with our own desires to help. We have to say no, like you did to sort of step away with discernment and be like, yeah, there's value in, in stepping away. And oftentimes the best way to help

is to just disengage from that desire to sort of rescue or fix or save. I call it superhero conditioning that many of us empaths have. It's like, yeah, we want to help. And we are being asked by our higher selves to learn when to let go of that desire. Oh, that's so hard to, and especially as someone who works in helping people recognize this,

right? Because I mean, that's what I always say. I love to be able to work with people's energies, not because I can kill them in any freaking way because I can't, but I can help them become aware of their energy and help guide them. And I find myself doing that more. And what do you think about that? Honestly, because instead of sometimes walking away, especially from my children, I'll say, Oh, you know, how are you feeling today? You know, you know, just say like, gosh, have you been breathing enough? Or, you know, it's kind of heavy in here just to kind of like

clue them in to maybe sitting with themselves, to be able to experience it for themselves, what I'm feeling. That is like magical and masterful, not projecting your version of reality onto someone else and rather helping someone through asking questions and allowing that person, whoever it is, loved one, friend, coworker, whoever, parent, letting them come to their own answers and really go within. So you're doing a far better service by asking a question of someone rather than trying to project anything of what you believe onto someone else. That's masterful. That's beautiful. OK. Yeah, because it's still kind of a boundary, right?

It is a boundary because you're not, and see, this is where empaths, this is a really important point you're making. A lot of empaths, the number one issue that I've seen in my work over the years is that empaths will absorb energy from other people. And they're like, well, why am I absorbing? How do I stop this? One of the ways that you can stop courting yourself to other people's pain or suffering is by detaching in the way that you just talked about, Shannon, is that you're not trying to go in and fix it for them. You're just taking a neutral detached position and asking them and elucidating their own responses. And so in that way, you're not courting yourself energetically to any outcome. You're not courting yourself to

their energy. You're remaining in your own energy and you could care less about what they say or how they respond. You're just there as a facilitator. I love that. Sometimes I'm holding up signs. Did you hear me? I asked you a question. Do you feel the fire? Yeah. you do not have to protect yourself as an empath. She didn't believe in protection. As soon as you can create that energy and that space that you stay in, you don't need to. It's not necessary. I agree with that.

I cannot agree with that more. That is 100% my experience. That is the truth. That is the absolute truth. So for many empaths, if you're listening and you know, you're beginning your journey, it's great, right? To be able to use all protection techniques. It's great for a quick kind of, you know, fixer upper, but you really don't need to focus on

protection because the moment that you focus on protection, you give your power away to, you know, the subconscious fear or oh, other people are a threat. Other people's energy is gonna infringe on mine. And then that's the story that runs in the background. When you just focus on yourself, embodying the best version of you and accepting and loving yourself exactly as you are, that is your protection.

The divine, the light that you are inside yourself is your protection. The divine, the light that you are inside yourself is your protection. I know for me, like I used to walk around 10 years ago and I would be like, oh, being an empath, it's like there was a subconscious belief like, oh, it's so hard. I'm like, first, first, right? Like, why is it so difficult? You know, this martyr complex that I had, and trying to rescue and fix and save everyone. And then I wondered why I had to go constantly dust and clean myself off and do sweat lodges twice a week, because I was constantly,

unconsciously courting myself to other people trying to rescue, save, fix, change them. No, I only changed me. Now I focus only on me. And because of that, honestly, I can't even tell you the last time I felt somebody else's energy where I took it on. It's been years, years. No, God, Michael, I can't agree with you more because I used to see it as this curse

and then I saw it as this power but now I mean it is very powerful but the thing is is it shift from using my own energy to me being able to use this gift to completely understand everything that's going on within you so that you can connect with it. Amen. That's beautiful. We had several people on Did We Not Mandy that talked about empaths as being a negative thing. And I kept on thinking, what is wrong with these people? Like what? And then there was something else that popped up too. I feel like it is just such a gift. Do we all have? Absolutely. There's a spark in all of us. Now, some of us are designed for it more than others, like a design, the way that we have actually come into a body as a soul and the way that our physical bodies are structured by the

divine, the choices we made before we were born to come into a body. We chose this. We chose and were designed by the universe to be able to do what you're just talking about, Shanna, is that we can feel someone else, perceive them, understand what they're going through, so that we can reflect back to them and act as a mirror, so that we can help another person. And we chose this because it's, it's a hell of a ride. It's a hell of a journey to grow, expand, to be an empath, be in this body with these mirror neurons that activate and fire when we're in the presence of someone else. And basically we're just, we're here to make sense of vibration is all that we're here to do. That's the role of an empath.

So I just want to interrupt really fast. I just want to clarify and tell me if I'm wrong or what your opinion is. Like, I feel like maybe when you're first coming into getting to know yourself and have that self-awareness and learning to pause and learning not to feed pain body and learning about, you know, yourself and your triggers and you're doing the shadow work and you're really getting into it, that you might find that it's important to protect yourself at first with other tools. And then when you start going through the journey and you can get real solid in your

knowing and your voice and you're aligned energy wise with your chakras and you're really in the work, then that's when that protection is not needed because then you know how to sit in that energy of protection. Is that, am I, am I hearing that? Absolutely. It's a journey, right? I mean, we're not, we don't all start out in the embodiment phase. So what you're talking about, Mandy, is like what I would term the embodiment phase. So what you're talking about, Mandy, is like what I would term the embodiment phase of being an empath. In my experience, there are three distinct phases of empath development.

Number one is the awakening when you just learn, right? And there is a focus somewhat on protection and using those tools, Gaia-based tools to help you. The second phase is the integration phase where we're integrating our shadow and light. But we realize like, oh, it's important shadow work. It is really important for me to accept all of myself. And that's the second phase. And the third phase where we really don't need the protection or where we could care less about it is the embodiment phase, because we're embodying our dharma, we're embodying our light, we're embodying our light body, it's descended, if you will, into our physical body.

And there's more of a union between the higher self soul and our physical body. And so we're embodying what it really means to carry that Christ consciousness in here in our body. And when we are accessing Christ consciousness, or some people call that 5D, then we absolutely have zero interest in protection because we don't need it because we're carrying so much light that anything with this lower vibrational, it just bounces right off of our auric field. I love it. Awesome. Awesome.

Oh my gosh. Yeah. I'm glad you asked that. Yeah, me too. Important. Yeah, it is important because I know at the beginning of my journey, when I discovered I was an empath, I discovered I was because I was physically taking on every single client I had their physical pain.

And so obviously, you have to make a shift to decide and choose that that's not going to be a healthy thing for you as an empath. So you have to, you know, figure out ways to be able to protect yourself from that. And I think that you're right, though, I'm not afraid of that anymore, Michael, because I don't absorb people's energies just loosely like that anymore. or at least those of us that have chosen to be, have the empath experience are here to engage that journey and then share it. That's the thing. Share it, be of service. And even if it's just sharing a little nugget that one of the listeners heard you just say,

heard me say, or heard Mandy say, sharing that, paying it forward, right? We're here to serve. And it doesn't have to be like doing a podcast or working professionally. I have a lot of clients that are empaths that think erroneously like, oh, I have to be like,

I'm not fulfilling my purpose in life. I have this gigantic purpose and I'm not fulfilling it. And then it's just really, it's an easy process of reframing to like direct letting them know that that's just the ego.'s an easy process of reframing to like direct, letting them know that that's just the ego. It's the voice of the ego speaking because your higher self knows that you are a super

cool mom. You know, you can be a very good mom and that be totally success. I'm definitely an empath and a super mom. So, and I think that's such a great point because the word purpose or, you know, like aligning with your purpose, that can be really intimidating because people think that means that it's like, you have this very high and mighty, you know, full-time 24 hour a day, nonstop.

Yeah. And it could be as simple as just sharing your story with someone in a grocery store. Totally. From what I understand of those that have crossed over and had the life review with near death experiences, that's one of the truths that is revealed is that those small moments are your life purpose, like smiling at someone in the grocery store line or helping someone across the street, or, you know, these small little moments are often more miraculous and have more of an impact than, you know, writing a book that sells a million copies, equally as important. Yeah, says the most amazing soul that I know, Michael, you are such a light to so many people. Sometimes I'll catch you on Facebook, which you're the only person who can

actually catch me because otherwise I'm on and off. I, you know, I'm only on there for business or for family, but every once in a while I'll see you and I'll just listen in. And I'm like, my God, you are so extraordinary. You've helped so many. Well, I feel the same way about you, both of you. Well, I truly do. I mean, I just, we text back and forth occasionally and you're sharing your dreams with me and I'm looking at your work on Facebook and the things that you're doing and listening to your podcast. I'm like right on because you guys are such role models,

such role models. I just had this vision of me and Shanna. Basically, we're like a big, well, I'm a really tall stick of butter and she's like a shorter, like a half a cup of stick of butter. And by the time we're done watching you and talking to you, we're like, just like melted butter. That's what your soul does to us. Well, you make people feel special. Each person you make us all, you know, individually feel

important and special. And I see that you interacting with the people. And it's just truly amazing. Well, thank you. I really appreciate that. And what you just did there is an example of what I do and what all of us empaths are striving to do, which is look for the light. Always like every interaction, one of my most favorite, I guess, for lack of a better word, archangels is Archangel Gabriel. And I love Archangel Gabriel and him and Michael and Raphael to the big three. But Gabriel, what Gabriel does is he allows me and all of us when we call on the archangelic energy, he allows us to see only the light. And so we look for the light. I see the light in you. I see the light in Mandy. I see the light in me, wherever I go, like from the moment that I get out of bed in the morning, I put my two feet on the ground.

And the very first prayer that I pray is to Archangel Gabriel. And I say, let me see the light and only the light today and reflect back and be a mirror wherever I go to be to see only the light and to look for the light always look for the light that and the owl energy the owl energy is very similar to Archangel Gabriel those gigantic eyes they allow so much light to come in so they're in the way that I work that's what I do and so like when you reflect back to me that that's when I make people feel special it's because of my relationship with the divine, with the owl and Archangel Gabriel. Shannon and I with our paranormal people that we've had on and our people that like to talk about the extraterrestrials, a lot of people that have spotted ETs, there's always an owl yeah yeah it's interesting the owl is very powerful

yeah that's a very important energy that we can all call on so you don't have to be trained in indigenous healing uh to call on the owl energy you simply ask to you just ask the owl you can say owl spirit because it is a spirit, it's distinct consciousness, just like you just like me, we're distinct, it's distinct, it's sometimes hard for the human mind to conceptualize that, that there is such thing as owl spirit, you don't have to know how it works, you just simply ask you say owl spirit, I would like help me to see the light, help me invoke your light so that I may see the light in others.

I had taken some shaman classes and actually I was really, really fortunate to take Sandra Ingram's lineage. So she learned from Sandra. And one of the things, and I know that she does have some, a little bit of pagan background as well, but she doesn't believe in bringing back in like creepy crawly things. We learned how spirit animal retrieval had a journey and help someone retrieve their animal. She doesn't believe in creepy crawly things or like snakes even. So one day I'm journeying with my oldest daughter. I'm like, shoot, there's a snake here. And so when she, she said, if you know, if you have one, just ask him for something else. And so I'm like, okay, so I'm going to ask,'m gonna ask you know no no not the snake I'm not gonna bring that back give me something else

and so then I I see an owl so I bring the owl back and I give it you know I I give Lindsay her owl and then afterwards I actually did do some research in some books that I had and they have very similar meanings so I was like the energy didn't change so even though I was asking for other things they were like fine we'll give you something similar then if that's why you're gonna be picky about it but it's still the same totally totally yeah interesting I'm not but a lot of us are afraid of snakes and somewhat unfairly because the snake there's so much medicine and power in the snake archetype right the energy right of the snake i mean it's like it's pure potent kundalini life force and whenever i hear that individuals are like judging snakes or don't want to be

you know like what you just shared it's like I kind of cringe just a little bit, like the human side of me. It's like, Ooh, that's, it's kind of sad because the snake is just like you or me. There is a subtle judgment against snakes. Yeah. And just like anything that I've been taught in classes and stuff, whatever I didn't align with or feel that was right. I mean, I did that a few times, I kept getting stuff that supposedly wasn't able to bring back and like, screw this, I'm bringing it back. I'm showing up for this person. This is what they're getting. Yeah. Because I have no reason not to. And so that's kind of like where my shift in life has happened that you could tell me that you're not supposed to do something. But until I experienced that I shouldn't then why you

know what i mean i live by my experiences so michael you are currently living in arizona correct i am i just moved like staff about a month ago i have to tell you um the desert has been speaking to me like the tarantula the cactus you know, my friend Kelly is a photographer and her favorite place to go is Arizona to do pictures. Yet she lives in Colorado. So she leaves our lush mountains and goes to the desert. And she's like, Mandy, there's so much beauty in it. And last week, a friend of mine sent me the most beautiful picture of this cactus. It had really sharp thorn needles, but these beautiful purple flowers just coming out of the top of it everywhere. Yeah. The desert's been speaking to me lately. I love that, you know, you live there. Yeah. And thank you for bringing that up because,

you know, what I try to do, and this is kind of a technique that all of us can use, is to project my consciousness into whatever is around me and to understand like, so for the cacti, the cactus plant, oh my goodness, they have such a strong vibration. It's just like, it's almost to me, it feels otherworldly. It almost feels alien, like from like another planet it has this incredibly strong strong vibration to it and i just love projecting my consciousness into those plants because i get back it's just like i can't even like words it's just like you just sit and you're mindful with it they will speak to you i mean when i saw that picture i was having a really rough day and it spoke to me on so many levels now i've always been that little girl though that i found more beauty in the weeds than i did in the roses

i always told people if you want to buy me a bouquet of flowers, bring me over some weeds. I don't want, yeah, I just, I find them to be so beautiful. Some of our most beautiful flowers and colors are on weeds that people pick and throw away. Wildflowers, cactuses are just like such strength that they can survive in that heat and with no water. And, and then they're prickly, but at the same time, they're, they're soft and beautiful. I don't know. It just really spoke to me. Amazing how like each place you go, if you just pay attention, I mean, they have such unique, beautiful, wild nature, and that's only exclusive to them. I mean, like in Louisiana, the magnolias, oh my God, and these large, massive

trees, but there's also different animals and different birds. I love that, like sitting just with the land and what it's birthing and what's flying above you. And just, yeah, it's amazing. It really connects you to where you are. Where we are, exact conscious awareness, because everything has a message for us if we ask i can't remember who said it but when you look at a cactus or when you look at in this particular person was saying like when you look at a leaf you are god to that leaf you are witnessing that leaf in its purest uh expression and therefore you are god to that leaf and i just thought that was so beautiful and just like made me cry so every time i see a leaf i i'll never forget like

every time i see a leaf i'm like oh there you are have you ever been to louisiana michael um yes i have just one time i was in new Orleans. At night in the summer, it is so loud. Like constant. Because there's so many bugs in the trees. And you're just like, I can't believe this. And here in Colorado, you can hear a pin drop at night, you know, or a plane or anything. But it's so loud. And there was this one morning i was like i couldn't believe it i was like this is absolutely insane but then i started to follow the sound and i could hear it like moving from tree to tree and it was like louder and something was almost like a freaking symphony it was the most amazing thing ever and i just i felt like i was like experienced something like i'd never ever experienced in my life just sitting there with these loud trees that people probably pass by

and don't even realize like on a daily, like background noise. Yeah. I remember being on the phone with you once and I'm like, Oh my God, the, the bugs in the background are so loud. Like the locusts is in Arizona. One time I remember we're so loud. Like the locusts in Arizona one time, I remember were so loud that you couldn't even have a conversation like at the baseball field with someone next to you because they were so loud. Michael, I have a question. If someone wanted to really drop into that energy, learn more about their healing and their medicine and their herbs and those original practices, like where does one go? Where does a listener go? Like, I feel like, you know, I want to go live with them, which is not possible. Can they, you know, what did you do?

Well, I'll just share my story briefly, and then I'll answer the question as to how someone else can sort of do something similar. So I was at the lowest point in my life. I attempted suicide in 2003. And thankfully, I am still here. I knew, though, immediately after that, that I needed to get help. And so somehow stumbled across a gay men's spiritual retreat in Santa Fe, which was not that far from where I was

living in Laramie, Wyoming at the time, and met this amazing man named Wolf, who is Native American and a practitioner as well. And he helped me for many years, was my first true spiritual teacher. And then I had several after that, but he was the one that got me started on the path of following Native American spirituality and learning from the indigenous traditions that are you know eons old and so the moment that I got in what's called a sweat lodge or more appropriately termed a purification lodge to let go of all that holds us back when I was in there under the willow trees that are covered in blankets in the complete pitch black with heated stones in the middle of the dirt floor

and you're pouring water on the hot stones and you've got like amazing like steam all around you and you're singing at the top of your lungs these ancient songs, you know, you know, that loud. It's an otherworldly experience transported me into the other dimensions, but I felt totally at home. I felt at home on earth and I felt home in spirit. Now, if that resonates with you, the listener, I would recommend that you just ask spirit, ask your higher self, ask the universe to bring someone into your path who can help you connect you with something like that. It is very

difficult to find a practitioner who offers something like that, a purification lodge or a Chinupa ceremony, unless you know someone. Now, I am a practitioner. I hold a Chinupa. I am a pipe carrier. I've never said that publicly, but I'm saying it here now because about five minutes ago, I heard spirits say that you need to talk about the Chinupa. So I offer those ceremonies. They are always in the traditional way done by donation. I use the Chinupa as a tool in my sessions. You get that as a bonus because I can't charge ethically. It's not traditional to charge, but the person who is the carrier of the medicine, in this case, me will gratefully hold space for you, connect spirit in that way as long as you just ask and that's all you have to do is ask and then offer some kind of donation so if that interests

you if you want to learn the native ways contact me wow i love that you were just told that i love that you were just given that to share on our podcast thing and i love that you brought up the question because otherwise I probably wouldn't have mentioned it. Let me just tell you, it was like eating at me when you know that the question keeps coming in your mind over and over and you're being, that's how you know you're being led to make sure you answer it because I don't even know where I came up with that. It was just, I was being told to ask you that and that people right there is listening to spirit a ho a ho a ho is the is the lakota version of amen yeah ho ho uh-huh a ho mandy

michael this is so serious that i've been going through this so of course i took reiki i've been working with energy work and then i have you know i go through the ancestry journey and this, you know, ancestor of mine, who was a great first nation shaman known as the apostate. Okay. He was known as the apostate converted to Christianity forcefully from the Jesuits. I learned his story. He starts visiting me in different meditations journeys. Of course, I intentionally was connecting with him.

That's why I took the classes was to only connect with him. But then what happens, he started to work with me. He started to be present with me during my session a lot. I just feel this, you know, and then what happened is I started to use more of the shaman practices during my Reiki sessions. But the reason why I did it wasn't conscious. I just know that this works. This is the same thing. So I'm going to do this kind of like, I'm trying to open up all your chakras. Well, I know, boom, this works like that. Like I don't have to do all of the steps of, you know, what I teach even, which is where my conflict is because I feel like I'm keeping myself in a box because I don't just do Reiki. I keep hearing

like, you know, that was just like an opening and it's been really, really heavy on my throat. You know, you're giving voice to it. Thank you for giving voice to it right now because that heaviness on your throat is just, that's releasing the more that you share the truth is that in this day and age we don't need a label we don't need certification we don't even need training in some respects we simply need our divine connection and your divine connection is telling you the truth and the truth is that it goes well beyond the reiki It's the essence of who you are. It's you. You are the medicine. It's not the Reiki. It's not shamanic techniques. It's you. You, you, you, and we, we, we, Michael, Mandy, we are the medicine in this day and age. We are the gift to another person, or we act as the gift so for you shannon what you know what

i'm hearing underneath that is just it's your desire and your acknowledgement that you are owning your own strength power gifts whatever you want to call it so a lot of times and the first thing i'll tell them like not everything i teach you won't find in this book because i'm going to teach you what works for me and and i want you to do what works for you. So this is just, you know, a structure, but, you know, make it your own and I'm going to teach it. So it's. Shanna, what you're doing, what you're teaching is coming from that intention of love. And that's what started that journey for you. So true. A hundred percent. Is limiting and you're recognizing that. Yeah. You

know, it is true that, you know, so many times we think the soul doesn't have anything to do with the personality, but I think it does use our personality in so many ways. I mean, I'm a very creative person. It's very hard for me to stay in a box. So I cannot be just a box kind of teacher or person. It's just everything I go against. Yeah. And like so many empaths, I mean, the listeners who are listening right now are, we can totally relate to that because we came here to bust traditions. And what do you think's going on? What do you think 2020 was about? It was all about busting the patriarchy, busting and tearing down all of these old outdated structures, societal, economic, governmental, medical structures, and coming up with something new. And so we really

are creating new thought bubbles, new lineages. You know, you're creating something that goes well beyond Reiki. You're adding the best of Reiki and you're creating something completely new. And so am I. And Mandy, so are you and all of us, all of the listeners. We're evolving. We're evolving. And speaking of something new, you got me and Shanna like over here. Like what's going on? Because we saw your post the other day that you've got some big thing coming up. What a tease you are. Oh yeah.

So I'll give a little tease. So, so Mandy, yes, I do have something very amazing planned. We're calling it the Empath Sanctuary. And the Empath Sanctuary is all about taking what we were just talking about today, honoring ourselves and having fun while doing it. It's a party. It's a celebration. It's a membership in which we are creating fun together, joy, passion, love. We're having fun. It's party and celebration central. We're doing digital campfires.

I mean, we sit around and we just share honest shit about life where we're talking like we are now, but we do it with a party theme and we're like explorations and adventures and drum circles. And I mean, like, name it. You're welcome to join. The doors are open from September 1st through October 1st. The doors close on October 1st. And then we go on a year long journey starting on October 1st. And we are going to have an amazing amount of fun. Okay. So I am loving this because

first of all, I need more fun in my life. People are looking for fun right now after COVID. And on top of that, I feel like sometimes empaths are striving for fun because they tend to be a little bit more on the side where they take life too serious because we can feel so much pain of the world so this is freaking great it is it's it's joy and it's celebration that's what we came here to do we didn't come here to suffer no no no no that's bullshit it's a lie of the human ego we're not going to suffer we're going to transcend that and we're transcending it. You are going to be the most, if you join the sanctuary, you're going to be the most fullest expression of who you really are. You're going to be fearless and unstoppable to like just blast through whatever throat chakra blocks that you

might have. And empaths tend to have a lot of energy around the throat. Empaths can fear how other people are going to perceive us. Well, in the Empath Sanctuary, I mean, we're going to cover all of the topics about how to just stay in your own energy, not sponge, not absorb, connect with your higher self in every moment, amplify your intuition, set boundaries. And we're going to cover all of those wonderful, juicy subjects, narcissists, better relationships. How do we hand, how do we create space for ourselves? We're not drained, overwhelmed, fatigued. The kicker with this is we're going to do it in a way that is fun. And we're not going to take ourselves so seriously. They're not going to be dry,

boring lectures. We're just, we're going to party and we're going to be real with each other. And it's going to be a community. Yes. like so you get to connect with other like-minded people which is I think really what is missing I think it's so important that we have these communities people have been starving to have these conversations where you're just feeling safe and supported yeah no more isolation the days of the lone wolf empath are over. It's time that we're coming together. And we're realizing that our, we have so much more in common than we do differences and the differences that we do have. We celebrate them. We celebrate the difference. It's not, uh, you know, this word weird and different and alien,

all empaths, everyone, every single empath I've ever worked with says, I just feel like an alien in the world. I don't belong here. I'm the black sheep in my family. I feel so different, alone, isolated, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. No, we have so much in common. We're all cuckoo. We're all weird.

We all have our own uniqueness. And that's what you are being, your higher self is asking you to express, to share your delightful uniqueness. And that's what you are being, your higher self is asking you to express, to share your delightful uniqueness. I'm ready to party. I haven't said that in like 10 years. I'm ready to party. And I also have a book that I'm writing about finding your own Yeshua within, finding your own Christ consciousness within. And it's going to be tailored specifically for empaths, for empaths who are on that journey of embodiment targeting next year for that to come out. And so that's another project I'm really excited about.

Wow. We need that book. Where can our listeners find you? Empathconnection.com. Empathconnection. We founded that almost 15 years ago. That's the website,athconnection.com. Empath Connection. We founded that almost 15 years ago. That's the website, empathconnection.com. Just go there. And if you are inspired by anything that we've talked about today and want to learn more about yourself, I will gratefully facilitate that for you through our class, the Empath Academy, which I offer three times a year as well.

That's another option for you. Or private coaching, one-on-one offer three times a year as well. That's another option for you or private coaching. One-on-one is something I also offer as well. So just fill out the contact form there on my website. And I am the only person that sees that I reply to my own emails and I will reply to you within a couple of days. Yeah. I send people to you all the time, Michael. I'll get off the, you know, almost every, at least probably once a week, I'm on a Zoom and I'm like, you need to get on Facebook right now and join

the Empath Connection. Facebook is, the listeners are certainly welcome to go to the page Empath Connection. That's where I post themes and occasionally we'll do videos and Facebook lives. I love that you just went through like this massive transition in your life that, you know, you moved yet. And also the color of your shirt that you're wearing today, you seem so rooted right now. You seem so rooted. Well, thank you. When I do my meditations in yoga class and also outside of yoga class, several times a day, I root myself using the tree. And this is something we can all do. And then I push it into the ground and then I breathe up from the ground and then pull it down, exhale back into the ground. And using that tree meditation in union with moving my body in yoga is something I recommend for all empaths to get rooted because for most of us who are empathic, we tend to hang up in the upper chakras, our crowns, our third eyes are very open.

The uppers is not the problem. The problem is the rootedness, getting grounded, being aware of what's in our universe other than our own thoughts. I recently noticed that when I am teaching chakra stuff, because I just started teaching a lot more

chakras, just chakras. And I hardly ever talk about the upper chakras. And I was like, shoot, why am I doing that? Why do I spend two days on these lower chakras? Because no one has a problem with being in their head. Right? Yeah, no. You know what know what i mean yeah i just had this thought in my mind about how when i was a child and my mom would say you're grounded you guys you and your brothers are all grounded go to your separate rooms that you go in your room and you close the door and you want out so bad all you're thinking is like how do i get out of my room how do i get out of here how do i go back downstairs how do i go back in Iraq and now in my life it's like please tell me I'm grounded please let me go to my room and be alone yes

myself please ground me it's always so funny we're always trying to get back to being a kid. I know. And now it's time for Break That Shit Down. Okay. This will blow your mind. A lot of times when we pray, we petition the divine to help us out of need, a sense of need, or even a sense of want. Let's flip that around. What if the divine needs you? What if God needs you in this moment right now to connect with the universe, to connect with spirit? Ask God or the universe, what do you need of me?

And then take that and bring that out into the world. That's a different perspective. That's beautiful. Thank you for sharing that one. I'm excited about going home tonight and journaling out that break that shit down that you just left us with, because that is powerful. I hope that that's somewhere in shit down that you just left us with, because that is powerful.

I hope that that's somewhere in your book that you're writing, because in prayer, we always go to God asking, why don't we ever ask God what God needs? So thank you for that. I can't wait to see what what comes to me with that. Thank you. Oh, that gives me like amazing surge of energy. Like I just got a surge of energy from my root all the way up to my head, just feeling your excitement over that question. Cause it's a life changing question. When we realize that like the divine needs us, God needs us and is waiting for us to ask, what do you need of me? What would you have me do today? Who would you have me direct my, my energy with today? What do you need? And it's like, it's a mind altering question. That along with the asking for you to

see light every day. That was, that's such a big one too. Waking up in the morning and saying, you know, show me the light and I'm just going to follow the light. Yeah. That's huge. I love that. It just, it is a game changer because you realize that like, well, for me, I'm just speaking for myself, any focus that I have on anything

other than that question is completely irrelevant and a waste of time. And actually will lower your vibration. Yeah. Yeah. There's no worry. You know, I don't tend to worry very often but when I do

catch myself I immediately reframe like it's changed when I started understanding the negative energies all around me and how I was playing with them all along like I'm not playing with you anymore I'm so excited to see like the difference between in six months since we last talked, you guys are doing like circles and classes now. I'm so proud of you and excited for you. And then you know what, Mandy and I, we just came up with sense of soul oracle cards. And actually you want to hear something hilarious. You're on our list as a card. What? Oh, I want to see that one. Oh my God.

I know. Are you sure you want that? So funny when we were throwing out like our favorite guests, the most impactful people, you're on that list. And a few others, you know, like all of our little sayings and yeah, just all sense of soul stuff. So we start writing stuff down and and they're going to be hilarious but yeah really really educational oh wow that sounds so much fun like out of the box like i will sign up for that in a heartbeat and that will become my new favorite oracle deck

so fun totally and i totally want to see that come to fruition. And it's going to. Oh, God. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It's totally going to. And really, we're going to make you a card. It's going to be great. Would that not be great? That's called comedy.

Comedy. Yeah. But it will be comedy, though, because you know what? People need to be a little lighter, you know, in life. And so it will. It'll be funny. It'll be raw, but it'll be very educational, full of wisdom. You know, I already thought about Archangel Michael will totally look like Brad Pitt. Thank you, Michael, so much. Love you. Thank you for your time. All right. You too. Thank you. We'll see you. Hey, did you know that Sense of Soul now has a Patreon where you can get exclusive episodes,

mini series that Mandy and I have been working on for a long time that we can't wait to share with you, monthly readings, Sense of Soul sacred circles, workshops, behind the scene clips, and much more. Hop on Sense of Soul Patreon right now and sign up. Thanks for being with us today. We hope you will come back next week. If you like what you hear, don't forget to rate, like, and subscribe. Thank you. We rise to lift you up. Thanks for listening.