Sense of Soul - The Beautiful Purpose of an Empath

Episode Date: November 2, 2020

This is a very special episode, because my friends we had the honor of sharing space with a very special soul, Dr. Michael R. Smith!  As an Intuitive and Empath himself, he has for over two decades, dedicated his life  to helping empaths and highly sensitive people recognize and embrace their true 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. He has been featured in documentary films and on numerous mind-body healing summits, including the Shift Network and 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 light and he’s with us today to share some of that wisdom!. He has spent the last 16 years working with indigenous healers around the world to deeply explore and promote human potential. He shared with us teachings and wisdom from his elders. Are you an Empath go to his website and take the quiz! Check out all of his amazing classes and workshops!! Also grab his vital book for Empaths 'The Complete Empath Toolkit!  www.empathconnection.com Follow Dr Michael R Smith on his Social Media IG: empath_connection.  Check out www.mysenseofsoul.com to see our latest workshops and shop for the soul at our online store! Don’t forget to Rate, Comment, Like and Subscribe!

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 Dr. Michael R. Smith. Michael has worked for over two decades 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 the best-selling authors like Sonia Shoket and Judith Orloff. He has been featured in documentary films on numerous mind-body healing summits,

including the SHIFT Network. Michael has workshops worldwide, including New York's Omega Institute. He has personally coached several thousand individuals to stronger connections between the mind, body, and spirit. He offers classes and coaching to stronger connections between the mind, body, and spirit. He offers classes and coaching to support empaths and highly sensitive people on their journey to awakening and empowerment. And it is such an honor to have such an amazing soul with us. Thank you so much for

being with us. Thank you. It's so great to be here. I'm really excited today to explore with you and with the listeners what all this means, where we are and where we're headed. Thank you so much for inviting me. I can already really sense your energy and it's so positive. I just know that this episode is going to be epic. Well, I don't know about epic, but we'll see. At least on my end, it may be. Well, we think it's going to be epic because this is absolutely our favorite topic. We feel so honored to have you because this is something you have dedicated your life to researching, understanding, and teaching. And, you know, let's talk about that. What gave you that passion?

Just want to learn about you. Let's talk about Michael. Okay. Probably like a lot of the listeners I've had experiences in my childhood, the overarching primary trait of someone who is an empath or identifies as an empath is this emotional connection that we have with other people. And we use our emotional bodies to be able to connect with other people. And so when we look at someone, we can just sense what they're going through. So when I was a kid, I must have been maybe seven or eight. I remember I was at a, I think it was an anniversary party for my grandparents. And there was this guy standing in the corner and he was like, still to this day, I think probably the saddest person I have ever felt. It was like dripping from him. I mean, you know, here I am seven years old.

And what do you do with that? What does an empath do when we are in the field of energy, you know, standing a few feet away from someone who was probably suicidal, had to have been. What did I do? I went into the other room, closed the door, and cried, and just like bawled at like this energy that I was perceiving, and maybe even absorbing, you know, being around him. And of course, my parents were completely overwhelmed when they found me in there by myself. What's going on? Oh my gosh. And I tried to explain, I can feel this man. And this is in the late seventies, early eighties. They had no clue about any of this stuff, but that you can actually feel another person in that way. And so they tried to convince me that I was the one who was, you know, no, no, no, that you can actually feel another person in that way. And so they tried to convince me that I was the one who was,

you know, no, no, no, that you can't do that because they are uncomfortable. So that's the all too common experience for those of us that are empaths. We have those situations in our lives where we can see beyond the veil, so to speak. We can see it and perceive the energy of others in that way. And we just know what's going on. We can see the lies. We can see the bullshit or the whatever you want to call it,

you know what I mean? So that led me to, because I have such a strong, and empaths in general, have such a strong ability to connect with people emotionally. I wanted to be a counselor. I wanted to help people. I had a strong intellect. I liked using the mind and helping people come to some cognitive frameworks. Got my PhD in counseling. And then I realized or felt very strongly that, hmm, something's missing here. And the piece that was missing was the spiritual. So yes, counseling and psychology are fantastic to help us understand what goes on up here. What it misses is here. And that's what I wanted. So I've spent since that time, that was in 2003, I've spent my life dedicated to exploring, Mandy, what you already know, having two near-death experiences, that we're all one. We're all connected. You and I, the three of us here, we're the same person in three different bodies.

To me, that is just utterly fantastic. So yeah, that's what I've been doing since then. And it's such a joy to be able to do that, you know, in the same way that when I listened to your guys's podcast, I can sense the passion that you love what you do. And I also love what I do. I love holding space for people. I love using my own intellect in combination with my emotions to help people and bring them healing. That's awesome. Yeah. It's all about that oneness that you're talking about. And you're right. I do feel so blessed that I was able to experience that. You explained it in such a positive form because when you were talking about how great it is that we're all connected, it can also be very disheartening and it can hurt sometimes too to be part of everyone. Absolutely. And that's what I enjoy working with. I like going into

the pain to what I call excavating it, to bring it to the surface so it can be dealt with in whatever way feels good to each person. So what you just said was really a fundamental truth that most people, you know, in the species in general, humanity, don't like that process. We don't like pain, we want to avoid pain, right. And so that's where the things like addictions come in, and illness, because when we perceive that our ability to perceive the energy from other people, we perceive their shadows. Gosh, there's so many different labels. I'm fascinated with the use of the word language. So in Christianity, it's sins, right? Sins of the father or sins of the past or the ancestry. I like to call

it the shadows. Some people call it the wounds or the wounding. There's a different word to represent what those energies are. And they're usually energies that are born of the past, limited ways of thinking, behaving, that kind of get programmed into us literally through our genes. So we use, because of the pain and because of our ability as empaths and sensitive people to perceive all of that darkness, another label, we find things like alcohol or sugar or shopping or sex or social media, right, to distract us temporarily from the pain, from the wounding. And as you guys know, that's not particularly helpful in the long run. You know what I found also is you just mentioned a lot of things that we use to ignore the pain. I found it really interesting that the first thing that a lot of

people in AA do is start working out. And they don't realize that positive things can also be a way to avoid pain. So they jump into all these new things. All of us want to all of a sudden be a certified addictions counselors, and we want to have like the best bods, and we're working out three hours a day. So I think it's important to mention, you know, people hide their pain with positive things too, but anything that's not in balance can be harmful. Oh, it's so true. I mean, if you think about that, I mean, yeah, working out, oh gosh, I've done that not recently, but in the past, absolutely. Work is always a big one for me. When I'm feeling at my worst, nothing grounds like just going into work. And then before you know it, sometimes you can just take that to an extreme. So even things like our work are real common, anything right to distract

from the pain of perceiving others. So what we want to be doing as empaths now, if you're listening and you're identifying yourself as an empath in my story or in Mandy's story and Shanna's story, you will very likely want to find more adaptive, healthy ways of coping with the stress. And it is a huge stress. However, the more that you commit and that we commit to changing our habitual patterns of limited thinking and behaviors the more that we commit to doing things differently the higher we raise our vibration so to speak connect to source energy spirit energy love energy god energy divine energy again the words right everyone has a different word representing similar concept the more that we do that, the more light we bring, we connect to our highest self. And then life becomes a lot easier. Yes, it becomes doable. And if you are listening,

we are three empaths here, right? We know what it feels like. They may think they might be an empath. They don't know. So let's talk about the characteristics. Yeah. And just the definition for people that have never heard of it before, because, you know, I had never heard of it until like five years ago. It's really exploding in mainstream awareness right now. And it's a largely in part, at least one of the pioneers is Judith Orloff. She was one of the first ones to amplify, at least in Western culture, the concept of an empath that was, we can sort of in pop culture, trace it back to Star Trek, the series in the 60s that Jim Roddenberry created a character of an empath in the 60s.

And so the concept has been, yeah, you're looking at me like, wow, really? Yeah. That's so freaking cool. I'm going to have to look that up. I love that. Yeah. It's really fascinating. He was really tuned in. If you think of all the great science fiction writers like Gene Roddenberry, who created the show, they were really tuned into the other realms and they can bring back some real truths. And so in his case, he was bringing back the truth that empaths exist. They're an archetype that we carry, but at least certain members of humanity carry that ability to tune into both the other realms, the spiritual realm, and then in particular, the realms of the emotions of other people. So then Judith Orloff kind of pioneered that. And thank goodness, the term itself is exploding in popularity. So people

are realizing and recognizing themselves around the following traits. One, we've already mentioned, an ability to connect with the emotions of other people. Number two, getting overwhelmed in public. We have incredibly sensitive nervous systems, meaning those lights above me, I'm very aware of them. They illuminate me so you can see me. And yet I can feel the heat when I pay attention to those lights. Things like connecting with the environment around us. So loud smells, loud sounds, loud noises. Our systems are designed to allow more information or data into our universe so that we can have for one goal. And our goal is to ultimately, we'll talk about this later. The importance of it is to help other people. We have this system in the brain. It's called the mirror neuron system. The mirror neuron system is there, and it is what allows us to empathize with another person

or an animal. Most empaths are highly attuned to the animal kingdom. And it's because of those mirror neurons that when we see someone else in pain, evolutionary, the universe has designed us to carry empathy for others so that we don't have to suffer. We can communicate with one another and we coordinate the things that we're doing as a species. And so those mirror neurons in our brains are incredibly active, really much more active than the average person and definitely more active than someone like a psychopath or a sociopath. And those individuals have deficient

mirror neurons, no empathy, no connection to others. Because of the overwhelming input, we find ways to cope with that, maladaptive ways of coping, addictions. Sometimes the body will put on a lot of weight. If you think about, you know, I work with a lot of people with trauma in their backgrounds. One of the traits of that is that the body, the nervous system itself feels like it's constantly under threat, fight or flight. And so the body will find ways to adapt, putting on a lot of weight in an unconscious belief of that this will protect us. So I would say that those are the most common

traits. Those are kind of the big three there. There's others that I'm probably blanking on. Oh yeah. Can you know, like some of the ones that I think is hilarious that Mandy and I both get all the time, you know, we go to the grocery store, just walking through and two hours later, we're leaving. You know, it often happens so an empath's aura just working on people's energy this is something that i've discovered and then validated through other energy workers their aura is so big it's so huge and open so you know if someone's walking by you they're like oh i like that yeah that's good. Give me some of that. If you're open, I mean, if you don't have boundaries, you'll end up talking to him for a good two hours.

And thus the connection with narcissists. So you've just given voice to a profound truth of empaths is that we carry a lot of energy. We have what we call diffuse or porous, or as meaning we let, we carry a lot of light. The light is designed to enter us more easily or information, energy in general. And because of that, you know, we carry that a lot of energy and people see that and they, and they can feed off that. And so one of the most common experiences, what you just described is, you know, if you're listening and you're wondering, Hey, is this me? Probably the one experience that I would offer to you, you know, as a confirmation of you being an empath is if you've ever had that experience

of being with someone and just sitting with them and being such a good listener that they just kind of dump their stories on you. And then you wind up at the end of the conversation, you feel like completely drained. You're definitely an empath. Yes. Leaves a lot of empaths like you, Shanna, we're talking about, and you, Mandy, you both

have fibromyalgia or had it or were diagnosed with it. And so the diagnoses of things like fibromyalgia, lupus, chronic fatigue, or ME, those types of things, in addition to other health concerns of the body, we can get really overwhelmed. And so what does the body do when we get overwhelmed? The body starts to shut down. So when the body starts to shut down, as you know, it's not a lot of fun. And so what we want to be doing as empaths and sensitive people is to really learn to become more embodied to such a degree that we can become aware of when the leaking, the energy leaks happen between us and another person. So in all of the work that I do in my classes, the Empath Academy, the Awakening Circle, the toolkit. We teach

processes, specific exercises and processes that allow us to clear the cords between ourselves and the others that we're around so that the energy running between us stays fresh, if you will. And we teach other processes of this is really important. If you're an empath, here's where we get into trouble. And this is why the body gets sick. We have a tendency because we carry so much light and the vibration of light is up here. It's above the head. Okay. And that's the crown chakra and the heart itself.

One of the upper chakras that carries that divine energy. When you have an ability as an empath, as a spiritual being here on earth designed, some would say, myself included, here for one reason and one reason only, primarily, is to help other people, help source, help spirit. We are here to serve the divine. God, if that word resonates for you, I know it doesn't for a lot of empaths, just because we tend to see the world in very non-traditional ways. And that word can be very activating for us. We're here to serve God in order to do that. And here's the kicker. I've spent my entire career, the last 13 years teaching this. It's so important. And this is where we run a little bit

astray as empaths. We must be grounded. Mind connection is only through the earth. Only, only, only. It must come through the earth. And that's hard. That was the challenge. That was the whole deal for me because I was so used to being up in my head. And when people wanted to suggest that I do grounding exercises and this and that, I'm like, I don't need that. I'm so spiritual. It's good. Like I can meditate for hours. I'm good. And actually the grounding piece

and the root chakra awakening was the hugest. I didn't even know what it felt like until it actually was. Grounding is huge if you're an empath. It is vital for people that don't even know what grounding means, let's talk about that. Okay. Good question. All right. What is grounding and what does it do? What grounding is, is being aware, being aware of what's going on around us.

And the only way we can really do that, and that includes awareness of primarily of the body, the vessel. So right now, this is an easy way to get grounded. Take your hands wherever you are. If you're listening, just take your hands, put them together. Feel the heat, look for the heat, feel the heat, search for the heat in between your hands. Super easy. If you're an empath and you're carrying a lot of charge, you can put your hands, you know, feet apart and you can, like, I can feel stiff. I can put my hands all the way out here and I can still feel the heat between my hands. Empaths are healers. So we have the ability to carry charge in our field and we only can do that if we're

grounded. If you think about how lightning works, right? Lightning. Can lightning come down to the earth if it doesn't have a spot on the point in the earth to ground into? No, it can't. It has to have that connection. And the only way that lightning, which is the energy of source, it is source, it can only come into earth through earth. There are different forms of lightning, of course. I'm just using this air to ground as a metaphor. So in order to carry that heat that we can feel in our awareness, that light, it can only come, or at least the awareness of it and the manipulation or the flowing with it can only come when we're aware of our physical vessel. Now, I would be willing to bet that when you, the listener, were just doing that, I would ask you the following

question. Where did your ego go? It checked out. Your ego got real quiet because it was intrigued and it stayed silent because, you know, you were focused on what you were doing. You were focused on bodily awareness. And that is one of the many different ways to ground. Another way to ground, again, grounding is awareness, awareness of everything around us other than our minds or our mental body. Listen to the sounds in the room where you're at right now. Got my computer running fast, right? What are you guys aware of? I can hear my air conditioning and I can actually hear the light bulbs buzzing. I heard Lindsay in the kitchen.

Really was just, it was like there was this space, the space just to be still. Just listen for stillness. That brings you to stillness. Shianna, what you just said, space, it's one of the five elements in Chinese medicine, in Asian ways of viewing the world, there's five elements. And so what you identified for all of us who are listening is that space is an element that is created in our own awareness and in particular our mind. And so the world right now with the pandemic and the world is shifting, we are decluttering our minds and our bodies because they're intimately connected and our energy in general. The world is decluttering right now. All of the old habits, which one of the biggest addictions of all is overthinking. That's an addiction,

huge addiction. Absolutely. I agree with that. I think another vital part of my journey was discovering discernment and really, really learning to use my body and my intuition together, making decisions, just trusting myself. Yes. And trust is the key word there that you use. That's the vibration that we're, that's our intention. So you guys know that the universe is a call and response system here. It's really not that difficult. When we get down to the bare bones, the universe and the way the world really works and the totality of who we are is that it's all based on our intention. So, you know, if we have an intention for stillness or an intention for peace, that's what the universe is going to give us. So one of the things that we're learning as empaths is to really find more

fiercely our own desires. What are you seeking? What are we seeking in order to transcend the limitations of the past so that we can have more of what we want, the good stuff, fun, you know, stepping into our own authentic power and our own truth is at least with the people that I work with for the last 13 years, that's the primary energy that we're stepping into is owning our own power, owning our power, because it's so easy for us to get lost in the energies of other people because we can perceive other people's energies and we get lost. We get taken out of the body that you just talked about right that's the default being taken out of our body into this which is a liar it has so limited its perception the truth is far greater than that and the truth is that we can have anything really that we

want i mean obviously that's kind of an overgeneralization and it is a fundamental truth that maybe we can't have it right away or within a year or two years, we can have it. The universe wants to shower its love on us. And for many of us that are empaths, we're so used to pain and dissonance and disease that our minds can't even accept the possibility that the good stuff is actually available. So true. So do you find that a lot of people who are empaths have issues with self-love and self-worth? Huge. Oh, every single one of us.

That's what we're here on earth to do. I would propose that it's not just empaths, it's every single person on earth. We're here for a reason. We're here to love ourselves as we are, as we are. You know, who are we? We are so many different things. Yes, we are light. And the light also includes the shadow, what's known as the shadow of the wounds.

So as long as we don't judge ourselves for any of it, as long as we don't do that, we don't create the charge of resistance. Resistance to, oh gosh, resistance to judgment or the judgment of the judgment is more of a problem than the judgment itself. Wow. Look at another person. That person just judged me.

So I'm going to judge them back. Boom. You instantly absorb more of their energy into your field. So the best protection is going to the judgment, addressing the lack of self-love or the lack of love in general, the judgment, it's everything. We can talk about protection strategies and Judith Orloff does a marvelous job giving us strategies, meditations, and exercises as do I. I work with those types of exercises all the time. They're very useful. You know, right now, imagine yourself in a big bubble, protective bubble, seal your aura up with whatever color you want,

and push out anything that you don't want that's not yours out through the door of your aura. Close the door. Here we are. Mandy and I call that the Yes. Yes. That's the energy that we're all stepping into. You can't fuck with me just because I have the ability to know you, perceive you in all of your glory and your shadow. You can't fuck with me. I will not allow it. I'm stepping into my personal strength, my power, my truth. And that's the fierceness. We're all stepping into it right now. Now, that's great. Here's kind of the thing that's going on underneath that. It's far more effective to address all of our wounding, all of our judgment head on. We all are being asked to be incredibly refined in our ability

to witness ourselves to such a degree and witness our mind, how our minds work, credibly slide, incredibly slide. This thing will lie to you all the time. It's limited in its perception. Now, what we do is we don't judge that. We don't create a war with our egos. We accept our egos. We accept every single part of us, the part of us that lust. And for me, being addicted to porn for 30 years, do I judge that? No. Do I still look at porn? Yes. Is it controlling me like it used to? Absolutely not. Is it in moderation? Yes, yes, yes. Because I'm committed to the divine. I'm committed to total radical self-acceptance.

And this is going to be the subject of my next book. Thank you for facilitating this in me. So we can all talk about this, that the biggest protection strategy of all is loving yourself to such a degree and with such radical self-acceptance that it doesn't create the resistance or the charge in our fields so that the universe has to bring us additional experiences that are dissonant that we must then learn from. Going through, oh.

You're letting it go. When you go to the judgment and have total self-acceptance and acceptance of everything, including someone like Donald Trump, who for me as a Democrat, man, politics is such a mirror. When I can have love for someone like Donald Trump and I can pray for him and pray for his health and pray that, you know, just pray, right? That's the energy I'm putting out, love. I accept you, Donald Trump, even though you trigger me, I'm like anyone else. I love you. I let go of that energy of judgment.

I have nothing in my field to process out of me. I don't absorb that. Wow. That's intense. Thank you for sharing that. So if I'm hearing you right, naturally, we're all going to judge. It's just part of who we are. So it's bringing awareness to that judgment, accepting yourself for it, and then pushing it back out with love. Love is unconditional. And so if you think about i used to think how can i have unconditional love i'm a human in a body how is that possible how is that possible i didn't it didn't compute to me well now it computes because i love myself such a degree that no matter what i've ever done in my life, no matter what anyone else has ever done, I have the energy of forgiveness. If someone wronged me, I don't give a shit. I just don't

hang on to it. I'm choosing in this moment, we all have this power to love everything about us. Granted, it can be difficult work. If you're willing to go through that, what we call the transfiguration of going head on into that, you know, that's what the work that I do. So if you are listening and you are finding like, hey, I'm really resonating with this, or I'm intrigued, or I'm curious by this, go to my website, take a look at my stuff, consider signing up for one of my classes, because there is, and this is not hyperbole, you guys can feel me on this you know i'm here to serve as a to create a sacred container and a holder of space for you to look at your own wounds and in particular the wounds of other people that those other people have inflicted on you and therefore you have to

you are being invited not have to you're being invited again the language. You're being invited, again, the language piece. You're being invited and offered an opportunity by the universe to stop that cycle that has been repeating for a lifetime after lifetime after lifetime, and certainly in your own lifetime, on repeat. We stop that. And the only way that we can stop that cycle from repeating is acceptance. I think that, you know, a lot of people throw around the word unconditional love. What that is, is that you are loving yourself with no judgment. Like Michael said, you're not saying, okay, I'm a good person as long as I do this, or I'm worth it or loving my life as long as everything's going well, or I'm successful. So this means love. You know, you have to love with all the mess, with all the struggles, the pain, you have to love all of it. Would you ever not love your child if they failed a test or was sick and couldn't do the things that

other kids could do? No, you could still love them unconditionally. We don't do that for ourselves. So listening and being aware to the soul and ego or these subconscious thoughts is so important to be able to say, you know what? That's not really true about myself, but I can tell myself that all day. And just continue to listen and love yourself with no conditions, no judgment. Yeah. And it's amazing how quickly that process will happen once you are witnessed by another person. And this is the magic of our group work. And I'm not trying

to toot my own horn here. I'm trying to toot our horn. So when we come together in community, like we're doing today in the classes that I offer in particular, I have one intention or there is one intention for the work that I do is to be able to be witnessed by another person who will love you until you can love yourself. And when you are loved by another person as, which is what we do in the class, because I, I help facilitate that energy. Cause I that energy because I'm not going to judge you. I'm just not. I don't judge myself. I don't judge you.

When you have someone or a group like that, there is such a power in the group. When you take 10 to 15 people as we have in our classes or when you go to your church and you truly have a church that is truly tuned into the energy of source and God. Mandy, you know God doesn't judge. Source doesn't judge. No, not at all. That's the energy and the power of source and of the divine is that when you realize

when you can stand before God, we are God, right? You're God, I'm God, we're all God. There's no separation. When you can stand before one another and another person and realize that they're not going to judge you, you're set free forever. And we just did that last night in our class. We just had, I mean, the most massive, I mean, every class, I just, I look at the miracles that happened, and it's just like, thank you, God, I'm just so grateful for the power of source, the power of the divine, the power of each one of us when we come together. It's unbelievable. So thank you for allowing us to talk about this because there's nothing else in my life.

And it feels like your life as well, because you're devoting your lives to this, talking about spirit and soul. there's just nothing more exciting. It's so true. It creates such a freedom and it does, it makes your life so much easier. I can remember once going into a therapist and she said, how can you so easily talk about these things that you've done in your life, but yet you don't really have a lot of emotions that are attached to it. And I said, because I don't judge myself for it anymore. Like an example would be, I willingly always express to people how bad my alcoholism was. And I don't judge myself for that anymore. I've accepted it and I love myself for it. And that's why I'm able to be so vulnerable, which makes some people very uncomfortable, but it's because I just love myself that much. And it's given me this freedom to just be me. And then to be able to offer that to other people. And that community piece you mentioned,

those people in AA loved me before I could love myself, just like what you're doing in your classes. Yes. AA, right? Anyone who's struggling with alcoholism, that's the power. It's the power of the group. It's the power of all of us. And what makes AA, I would propose, successful is the fact that there's a spiritual connection. That's it. That's why it's been so successful.

Carl Jung told Bill and Bob, if you don't find a God, then you got to go. I can't help you. I mean, those were his words. He said, if you don't have a spiritual connection, I'm sorry, you got to go. And I mean, wow, that was powerful when Shanna brought to my attention after nine years of reading that book that he had such a piece in that. I didn't even know that, but yeah. Yeah. The power of love is like so strong, right? I know for myself, when I'm working on clients, the energy that comes off of the heart, it is like no other, you know, a lot of times though, we're carrying other people's stuff. This can look like anxiety. And so in my house, we stopped calling it stress and anxiety. We call it energy on the chest. Even my eight-year-old will define it differently. And cause that's really what it is. You can't take a x-ray of anxiety or stress, you know, it's not tangible, but it feels very freaking real. And over time can cause serious stress on your heart, identifying what is happening in your body and how much of the

world's stresses are you carrying? How much of your children's stuff? I mean, energy is supposed to be exchanged. We're not supposed to keep it. You know, you can feel it and then just let it go and move on. And, you know, I used to think that was selfish. Isn't that crazy? Because I didn't have enough self-love. What you're giving voice to so beautifully is that we have a right to be sovereign beings. We have the right, and it's so hard for a lot of us growing up, and especially just from having the gifts that we carry to feel that sovereign nature that god or

source or spirit whatever label resonates for you wants us to feel the universe wants us and is offering us this invitation to facilitate for us our divine. And when we are divinely connected, everything we perceive around us takes on, it just doesn't hurt us. That's our protection is the light of source, the light of spirit. We are really giving voice today to stepping out of the wounded paradigm, which keeps us small and moving into sovereignty, which is us in all of our bigness. And that is a very triggering word. We talk about light shadows or in dark shadows in some of my classes, and I love exploring the shadow work and, you know, shadow work is not just the dark, it's the light as well. And it's a word like big, who am I to be big or strong or brave? You know, the energy of the word represents the energy that has been judged. Who am I to be big? What you're really saying is I don't deserve to be powerful.

Again, that's a very triggering word for some of you. If you can say the word I am powerful with no charge, you're in your God self. If there's any kind of resistance to the word I'm in my power or I am powerful, that's a light shadow. It's a shadow of a light, a word that is light that you resist or suppress. And when you resist or suppress, you're judging it. And therefore, what does the universe do? We're going to keep sending you experiences until you stop judging the word. I am powerful, or I am strong, or I am whatever, right? I'm beautiful, right? Who am I to think that I'm beautiful or I'm attractive? These are light words that represent light that we secretly judge because others have judged us. And so our goal as spiritual beings on the planet, as humanity in general, is to just break the cycle of judgment in all of its forms. Yeah, wow.

You just, you have such a beautiful way with words. Yeah. That's what I love about your emails. It's like your writings are very powerful. Yeah. Thank you for them. Thank you for saying that. And you know, one of the things that I've realized, thank you for witnessing me in that way. I just appreciate it so much. And I'm grateful for hearing that. And I can see that you're having kind of an emotional response to that. It's like, wow. So thank you for showing me your emotion. Yeah.

And thank you also for, I always try to, or aim, not try, I always aim to what is the opportunity for all of us in what you just said. So no matter what someone else is saying, there's at least in group work, what we do, and especially on your podcast, people are listening. How can we make this relatable to others? So when I write those emails, I go in there with a specific intention. And the intention is that what I write will resonate and light up something in someone else. So that's my intention, first of all, and that's what makes it successful, or that's what helps me facilitate that in you is the intention. And then the second thing that I would add to what you just said is that our word is

our wand. Our words are spells. Language itself creates our reality here on the earth plane. Language, words. What I've been working a lot with myself and of course my clients on is structuring our words and letting go of words that don't resonate and bringing in more words that carry more light. Let me just give you an example. I used to say, oh, the universe or God is giving us some interesting lessons. Okay. I don't use that word anymore

because there's a pain attached to that word. Oh my gosh, the universe is giving me lessons. Oh, it's so hard. Our guest yesterday calls God her sugar daddy. because there's a pain attached to that word. Oh my gosh, the universe is giving me lessons. Oh, it's so hard. Our guest yesterday calls God her sugar daddy or the universe. Don't you freaking love that? Randy and I are like, yeah, that's our new thing. Sugar daddies. Yes, giving us exactly.

I love that. It's just the energy. So the energy behind sugar daddy is what I've been using. I don't say sugar daddy. Maybe I will now. Opportunity, invitation. So the energy behind Sugar Daddy is what I've been using. I don't say Sugar Daddy. Maybe I will now. I know. Opportunity. Opportunity.

Invitation. These words carry a vibration of, hey, I'm giving you a gift. Opportunity. Gift. Andy had one earlier this week. She said, propose. And I really connected with that when she said, propose. I used to think, you know, even as recently as a year ago, I was thinking like when I,

when I saw on Facebook, I would see these posts about other healers and who would say, oh, I'm, I'm sending you light or I'm sending you energy, right? There was still a part of me that didn't quite understand. So when I, when I thought the past, the Michael, that's a healer, right? I would take my hands. So you both know this, that the Michael that's a healer, right? I would take my hands. So you both know this, that our hands are portals to the divine. So I would think in my mind, like, okay, I have to send energy. I have to use my hands or I have to push energy literally into their field. No. So what I didn't understand what I do now is that it's words, it's language. All we have to do

is ask, uh, divine father, whatever word resonates, God, please send energy to this person. Please send them health, uh, happiness, abundance in all of its forms. That's a spell. That's, you just create, you literally created that reality. So whatever we're thinking or saying, right, it becomes true in this day and age. And our ability to manifest is quicker than ever. We're doing this work together. We are right now on this call. We're excavating the wounds of the past.

We're bringing you guys, our illuminating light, into the shadows. And that, since we're all doing it, there's not a person alive that's not doing it. Since we're all doing it together, boy, it's exponential. And our ability to manifest is just like it is in heaven or spirit in that realm of consciousness. It's instant. And that's why we come to earth because heaven is so boring. It's instant manifestation. What fun is that?

We come here for the journey and we're on this massive journey now. And boy, is it cool. Oh my gosh, that is awesome. I love it. You've got me really thinking about words because you said shadow. And it's interesting how in my mind, I always thought a shadow was dark. And now you're talking about, you tweaked my perspective that there's light in that too. You're right. Language is so important and what you have attached to that word in your toolkit. There was a part of how to use your tongue. Tongue exercise was actually using the tongue. So it's interesting because you're picking up on a physical act, so if you stick out your tongue, when you stick out your tongue, you actually invoke the vagus nerve. And when you move it to the left or right,

your nervous system, there's something about the vagus nerve that likes that. And so the vagus nerve gets activated by the tongue movement left to right. Really? Yes. And then what the vagus nerve does is it calms you, takes you out of fight or flight.

It activates the parasympathetic system that instantly calms you. Did you say the vagus nerve, like Las Vegas? Yes, Vegas. How appropriate. Okay, this is very interesting. I posted on our Sins of Soul tribe this amazing kodahaka. It's a ritual, a tribute to this young man who had passed. And it was a beautiful tribute.

Well, a lot of them have their tongues out and doing things with their tongues. And during that, I mean, my whole entire body was the vibration. Everything on my hair and my body stood up and I just lost it. I cried. It was such a cool thing. You should go look at it or I'll send it to you. It was a beautiful tribute. I think America's missing that, which is why I posted it. I cried. It was such a cool thing. You should go look at it or I'll send it to you. It was a beautiful tribute. I think America's missing that, which is why I posted it because I think that our ancestral traditions have been lost. But it's interesting because the tongue

thing, and you see that in a lot of practices, sometimes in different cultures. That's so interesting. There's something about when you're really embodied in your divine or God self, your body takes over. There's no ego interference. So the body has a natural way of moving. So when we say that if you are present or embodied in your God self or out of your ego and present and grounded, same thing, grounded could be looked upon as being in your divine presence, your body will make movements on its own as it wants to. And so, yeah, there's an innate wisdom that the body carries. And our goal as sensitive as an empath is to tune into that more frequently. Do you find that empaths have a harder time asking for help? Yes. Oh, absolutely. Because we're designed to give help.

Yeah. Here to help. So there's the fundamental truth under that question that you just asked is, yes, we understand that we're here to help. We're spiritual beings. We're here to hold space for other people through our exceptional ability to know exactly what's going on with them. So I have connection to light.

I'm offering them my presence, my energy, my ability to be silent, to let them process. Because of that, because that's our primary goal, I would say and suggest, because of that dynamic, we lose ourselves yet again. We lose ourselves when we give and give and give too much so that we get out of balance. So it's a learned skill that we are, the universe is offering again,

this invitation. Will you step outside of your comfort zone? Will you ask for help instead of you being always the one that asks for help? And you guys are having an emotional, someone, are you, is one of you having an emotional reaction to that? That's been me my whole, I mean, Mandy tell you i'm gonna i'll freaking drown before i lift my hand up to say somebody here it's really it's a challenge for me no i i am doing better though am i not yes you're you're doing better no but i i definitely can relate with that a lot of people want to know right now about the narcissist and the empath relationship and how knowing if you're an empath helps you in relationships.

You know, it's one of our, again, the word opportunity or invitation by the universe is to step into our personal power fully. And when we do that, we're not going to attract narcissists anymore. Because if it will come down to one thing that is the root of why empaths attract narcissists, it's poor boundaries. I so see that in my life. Thank you for validating that. That's so true.

Another thing I wanted to ask you about, if you find a lot with the people that you work with, is that chameleon aspect, which can be manipulating or both very beneficial in working with people. Mandy and I are very good at that. We're good at that. And I think that's one of the reasons why when we have guests on, you know, whatever energy, you know, we're able to both say, okay, this is the energy, we're going to shift to their energy now. Yes. And so what you're calling the, you know, the chameleon aspect is very present. We're shapeshifters.

That's another label that we might use. I'm a shapeshifter. I know and I'm aware that I have that ability. Just like you just said, we can merge because we literally become the energies that we're around. And then who we are at our core, which is always the light, it can sometimes get lost. So if we're around a lot of dissonance or sadness or wounding, then we can sort of become that. So we're being asked to

amplify our own energy. I have a right. And it's that sovereignty and what you're talking about, there's a strong connection to codependency. This is where the connection to codependency comes in because what codependency is, I can feel you and therefore I must make you feel good in order to make me feel good. And that's an erroneous, it's a true belief, but it's also erroneous if we adopt it as the only truth that you must feel good in order to make me feel good. No, I have a right to feel good. Even if you feel like shit, I have a right to feel good, even if you feel like shit. I have a right to feel good. And that breaks the chain of codependency. There's a strong link between codependency, as you guys know, as you're illuminating,

and between being empathic. Yeah. And you know what's interesting? But I remember as a child, like hanging out with people and my mom saying, well, wow, you sound just like so-and-so. You picked that up from her. Or, wow, you sound just like so-and-so. You picked that up from her. Or, wow, your attitude is just like this. I think that empaths do do that easily if they're unaware, is they're picking up other people's maybe personality traits or their negative habits

and stuff like that much easier. Yes. And so what we as empaths are designed by God or its source or divine to do, we have a natural inherent ability to become the energy that we are around. Therefore, our brain, neurology and the way that we think and the actual neurochemistry of our brain is designed to focus on similarities. How am I similar to this person? Oh, okay. So that's what we're designed to do to make people feel comfortable might be one way of

suggesting that. So I know for me, like when I go up to Minnesota, I always talk like this. Oh, here I am in Minnesota, you know, and I have my natural accent comes out because that's where I'm from. That's where I was, I grew up as a child. So when I'm around someone who speaks with a certain accent, Texas is no different. I start like subtly, right? I catch myself. You too? I'm talking to someone from Louisiana, all of a sudden, boom, I've got my accent back or, you know, a little bit of a draw. My family was making fun of me. They're like, why is it whenever you talk to

our Hispanic landscapers, do you get like this, like Hispanic accent? Hey, did you finish my yard? Is that what you sound like? I'm like i'm like yo sa what are you doing back there and that's for a good reason right because it helps you or helps us connect with another person they they feel like oh this person really gets me and the challenge is we've discussed is just taking that too far and realizing that we lose ourselves, can lose ourselves in that process if we're not careful. Yeah. You know, earlier when you asked if I was having an emotional experience, you know, I am because for some reason today, I so desperately want these young kids, you know, that are with a suicide rate going up to be able to ask for help because we know that if you're alone that your oxytocin in

your brain isn't going to be there we know that you know asking for help can be so hard and a lot of them I feel like are just empaths and I just want to reach them so badly because they're misunderstood and I've seen how when they're in front of me and I just say no what you're experiencing is actually a gift and just tweak the word for them. It's like their whole being changes and they're like, really? And my heart just hurts for them because they're being told by society and by conditions that something's wrong with them. And if we could just get this out to them and let them know that what they're feeling is just love. And they're never alone.

We know someone who just lost their son, 21 years old. Suicide? Yeah. Do you see the wave of empaths? I do. So I have children from the age 8 to 23. My 8-year-old and that generation, whoa, they might be the saviors, their amazing little generation. They are. And in the indigenous ways, I owe the Lakota healing tradition since 2003.

That's really what saved me from suicide. And that was what began my healing journey is when I realized that I had to get help and ask for help, I asked the Native Americans, because that's sort of part of my soul. And I just resonate strongly with those traditions. And so in those traditions, my elders always would talk about, they're not here anymore, they're passed on in the spirit, they would talk about how children and the elderly, both poles, are the closest to God, the closest to source, the closest to divine, and they carry more light. That's designed that way. 20s, 30s 30s 40s 50s are designed to be where we move a little bit further away from the divine for a reason and so at those polls especially with those young children oh there is such innate wisdom and intelligence there and i really thank

you for bringing this up because it's so important and i just personally i've never worked with kids because i'm trained as a doctoral counselor, as a psychotherapist. And I've made a shift though out of that. And I do more intentional spiritual work now. And the question that I've always asked myself over the years is how can I work with kids legally where I'm not putting myself at legal risk? Well, I throw that question out now. My intention now is I want to work with kids. And so it's interesting that you're bringing this up i want to work with kids more than i ever have because it's really important because that's what has changed the course of human history is through the children yeah they are in the future you were about to sing michael jackson we know i was i was about I want to ask you if you saw this or can you connect with what I connected with?

So my son, he is autistic, high functioning. My oldest son was coaching a special olympics kind of basketball team and there was kids from very severely disabled like you know in wheelchairs which was amazing and awesome and then you know kids who are high functioning some kids are verbal some kids are you know just a range and I walk into this gym I almost can't breathe. First of all, I get very overwhelmed, not just with the energy, but I get very emotional as well, because I'm so happy. They make me feel so happy. And if you know anybody in that gym who has a child or friend, I mean, they're all so happy around these children. What are they lacking? Sure, they're lacking some skills that we all need to

function as, you know, like the normal, I guess, to put on quote. However, they're missing the things that we're trying to kind of quiet. They don't have a lot of ego. They don't have the judgments. Okay, they don't care about what people think about them, what they're wearing, and all these things. They're just souls. I swear to God, they're the closest thing to freaking angels. And then you wonder why they have sensory issues and they can't be around the light. They can't stand the sound. They don't like to be too close to people. They're doing certain things that show that they're under stress when they're around a lot of people. But these are the things that empaths struggle with. And so when you think

about these special, I call them special souls. That's what I started calling him after that, because it's not that they need anything. In fact, we need to look at them and be more like them. Yes. Isn't it amazing? It is amazing. They're like a great example of really exactly what this world means. It's amazing. They are nothing but unconditional love. And guess what? What have they been the victims of?

Judgment. No, don't make me mad. Oh, yes. You know, and it's like, you know what? You spend a day with a child who has down syndrome they will light your freaking life they will change you forever you want to know another one i is that a lot of transgenders are some of the most loving humans on earth because they have an amazing balance of feminine and masculine energy and they have that like that she ranta like that's the

closest you can get to divine because they have both yeah most special needs kids are asexual you know i remember ethan he really likes this girl's hair he wants her his hair long like this girl finds her hair beautiful he doesn't give a shit you know if it's male or female or anything like that literally just divine little souls here on earth that we can learn from. And they're always the ones that have judgment put on them. Shanna, what you just said is incredibly important because it's, you know, that piece about them being special souls and divine souls existing in pure form. So there are certain individuals, and Mandy, you just gave voice to this, and this is where I just get so jazzed and excited because what you're giving voice to is a uniting of the indigenous cultures, the Native American cultures, and the Western viewpoint.

And so what you just shared, and it's so important, is that the individuals like myself and who are gay, lesbian, queer, transgender, bisexual, you know, that whole spectrum on sexuality, those individuals, and you don't have to be gay or lesbian to have what is called two-spirit nature. So in the Lakota tribe that I have been so blessed and grateful to have been really given an invitation into their worldview now for almost two decades as a white guy, which is very rare. And I'm fully aware of that and grateful for that because they don't open up to the white man very often. When they do, and if you are blessed enough to be able to, like I, be a part of that. What I've experienced is a deep, deep respect and almost a reverence for those individuals on the LBGTQ spectrum because

of what you just said, that we carry the masculine and the feminine more balanced than someone who's not. And so in that tribe, in the Lakota, they're called Winkte, W-I-N-K-T-E. And those of you that are listening and want to know more, you know, do a little Google on Winkte. I would just caution you to not read a whole lot into it because those traditions tend to spread orally. Like I'm giving, kind of giving a little teaching myself here right now on that. And they spread from elder to young person primarily. So there is some information out there. Here's the thing that I would really like to say or invite you into. There are many of us that are here right now on earth that are what are called rainbow

warriors. And the rainbow warrior is any person like myself, and I'm sure you guys, I can see on your face, that are absolutely stimulated by indigenous culture, know that there is a deeper truth there that they are sharing, that we are all one. And there's a phrase in Lakota, metakweoyasin, metakweoyasin, their version of amen, the Christian version of amen. It means I'm related to everything, all my relations, after every prayer, this is what we say. We affirm to the universe, I'm related to you, you're related to me. There's no superiority, there's no judgment there attached. And so it's so cool that you guys are bringing this into the conversation because what you are literally doing is uniting the Western man, the white man, so to speak, or the non-Native man

with Native culture. And that's been one of the primary drivers of my life. So I'll just put this one final piece out there. If you are listening and are intrigued by that, if you have a call in your soul that you feel and know that when I say rainbow warrior, that that lights up something in you, don't go to Google. Come to me. This is my role. Part of my role is to share this one-on-one with you and help you understand some of your gifts, like I do with all my clients, in a sacred space where we can explore this with reverence and sacredness so that you don't get overwhelmed by some of the misguided information that's out there on Google. You're so awesome.

Yeah. I'm seeing on your faces that something's touched a nerve there within you. Was it about the Rainbow Warriors? Shanna. I can't even talk. My third chakra's like, thank you so much. Thank you. I can't even talk right now either, Shanna.

Well, we wanted to talk about your book because your book, oh my God, it has such amazing content and stuff that I've never even heard of, like the tongue thing. I mean, there's just so much in this book. I feel like people, everyone needs it, but we are definitely going to have you on again. And your courses sound so, so awesome. I can't wait. I want to join one. What are you offering right now? Right now we have coming up as we always, the most popular class that I offer is

called the Empath Academy. That's the group work. That's where we go really deep. And if you are someone who wants to finally address your patterning head on, bravely step up. That's the energy that we bring into the class because that's the energy you bring. So I'm speaking to the listener right now who is thinking like, boy, this is really intriguing.

We offer an ability, a way for you to transcend your limitations and the energies of the past and to help you step into the energies of your true empowered, non-judgmental self. And we do it in a group format and that's what makes it so powerful. And I use my skills as a facilitator, as a therapist to create a very safe space for you to be witnessed probably for the first time in your entire life in that way, in that very profound,

non-judgmental God, because we connect to the divine. We bring in our souls into the class, every class intentionally. We have meditations. You learn new energy exercises and techniques that you can use outside of class. We ask you to commit to doing homework and really take it seriously, journaling outside in between each class. So that's a five-week class. Our next cycle is in January. And then we also have, if you're more of a self-study person and not so much ready for the groups yet, then you can commit to the Complete Empath Toolkit. And that's a program as well as a book. It's a book. It's much more than a book. It's a whole library of materials, a self-study program to peruse and to commit to it on your own time. So there are benefits to that as well. And then

I have my year-long program that I only do once a year. And that is the awakening circle. And we do that every September. And what's your website? It's empathconnection.com. Thank you for asking. And you know, if anything I've said here sparked anything in you today, please check that out. And please send me a personal email. I also would highly recommend to our listeners to go to his website at the bottom. He offers weekly updates that I'm telling you will bless you. I mean, they are just beautiful. So I love that you offer that. Go take the quiz. You have so much awesome shit to offer. No, not awesome shit. I received that. I love that. And you're not alone listeners. I mean, if these are things that you connect with, I know how dark that place can be. It's really overwhelming to be an undiagnosed empath because

it can look like so many other things. It can look like addiction. It can look like codependency. It can look like a depression, anxiety, all of these things. But if you can connect with this, if this is what's happening, reach out to Michael, reach out to us. It's very important that you know that you have a special gift. There is a purpose that you have this too. So connecting with that will help you live the rest of your life as you're intended to. We're going to ask you, Michael, to leave our listeners with anything that's on your heart right now. And now it's time for break that shit down. Gratitude. That's the first thing that comes to mind. It's really, really simple. The process of life and the process of manifesting the things that we want.

If I were going to break it down to one energy or one small piece, which I love doing, I love taking the big and making it small for our minds. Gratitude. Every day, commit right now. What could you do in the next 24 hours to commit to bringing in more of an energy of gratitude. Maybe it's something as simple as going right now to a sheet of paper and writing down five or 10 things that you're grateful for, or even better, maybe it's sharing that on social media, because then you amplify it and somebody else tunes into your gratitude. And guess what? You just create energy that the divine then brings back to you. So if you really want to manifest something right now, go say, I am so grateful for my ability

to manifest perfect health. Put it on social media and look what happens to you in the next 24 hours. Drop the mic. At the top of my list for today is that I am truly grateful for you, Michael. Thank you. And I for you. It makes me emotional. Now I'm getting emotional. Thank you so much. It's just been a pleasure. 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.