#38 - Valentina Algeri on Finding Balance, Being Resilient & Leaving an Impactful Legacy.

On this episode I shared a conscious conversation with the lovely Valentina Algeri.


Valentina is Founder of Statera Collective and a Yoga Teacher.

We dive deep into topics including doing what lights you up, combining passions in life, creating your vibe tribe, taking a GAP year at any age, responsible volunteering, having balance, letting go of fear and trusting the journey, consuming good conscious material, prioritising what you want, the importance of resilience, having a greater impact, leaving a legacy and so much more!


This was the first time meeting Valentina and we talked for so long after this recording! Valentina has such an amazing energy and soul, and is impacting the world in a responsible & powerful way.


So much wisdom and lessons in this episode for anyone!

I really enjoyed this and I hope you do too! 

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Website: www.stateracollective.com

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hi everyone. This is Valentino. Oh Jerry. And you're listening to the conscious podcast.

Speaker 2: 0:17

The conscious part of my name is college to reload and this is your place to cultivate wisdom, weariness, life insights to raise your ba and become more conscious in your daily life.

Speaker 3: 0:36

How are you conscious fam? Welcome to episode 38 of the conscious podcast. On this podcast, I shared a conscious conversation with the lovely Valentine or El Getty. Valentino is founder of Strattera collective and a yoga teacher. We dive deep into topics including doing what lights you up, combining passions in life, creating your vibe, tribe, taking a gap year at any age, responsible volunteering, having balance, letting go of fear and trusting in the journey, consuming good conscious material, prioritizing what you want, the importance of resilience, having a greater impact, leaving a legacy and so much more. This was the first time meeting Valentina and we talked for so long after this recording. Valentine has such an amazing energy and soul and is impacting the world in a responsible and powerful way. There's so much wisdom and lessons in this episode for anyone. I really enjoyed this and I hope you do too,

Speaker 1: 1:40

Ventana. How are you? Well thank you. How are you? I'm excellent, thank you. What have you been out to today? This morning I woke up, I had a cow and I've done some yoga stretches. But aside from that, just enjoying a coffee together with you. Awesome. You had some, what was it? A cow. A cow drink. Yes. So sometimes I have that in lieu of a coffee. If I know I'll have a coffee later. I have one a day. Yeah. But it's a really nice way to start the day. Awesome. And that's just raw cow cow with hot water. Okay, nice. What's the benefits of that? Uh, eat? They say with meditation, it's actually a really nice way of going to a vibration that is aligned to where you need to be, where your intentions are going to be set for that day. So that's why it's a really nice lead done before meditation or yoga so that you can, I suppose, vibrate to that level. Nice. So you're basically saying, we're supposed to be eating chocolate for breakfast. Yeah, absolutely. Who doesn't want that. I think everyone's dream just came true. Yeah, he's really nice. Nice. What are you most excited about in life right now? Uh, at the moment I'm really excited that this is a new year's eve and we're starting a brand new year. Um, I'm excited that I will be doing some stir terra collective volunteering trips in April. So I'm busy preparing for those and I'm excited to be meeting more aligned to people such as yourself. I think when you put it out there, you do receive and it's been such a blessing to start to see these great interactions and alignments, um, coming into reality. And that's like even being here today, meeting you, I think it was only a couple of weeks ago. Um, and this all came about through like you're just saying like in g putting out what I guess, uh, what's the word? My mind, my passions, my purpose, my thoughts, my authenticity and that attracted Kali and Hannah, which then attracted me, ebony as well, which then they network. Maybe you connected me with you and then the networks growing and it's like, aw man, I'm meeting all these align Peterloo and it's amazing and all of a sudden you have this tribe, it's great. And that's the conscious collective. And then all of the things you're doing is just super exciting. I can't wait to get stuck into all of that. And for me, I don't know too much about, you own the, obviously through Instagram and Facebook and checking out everything that you do on there. But for myself, and for the listeners that don't know you too much, what's a wrap up of your life from start to now? Everything you're doing now is try and keep it short answer seem to, but I'll give you an overview. So I originally was born in Perth and come from a really beautiful, wholesome, loud Italian family. And when I was 26 I came out of a long relationship and I spent a year just being blissfully single and really just developing myself. So I spent lots of weekends alone at the beach with a coffee, reading books and started to find yoga. I practice yoga. I was working in a busy corporate role at the time, so I did throw myself into work probably unconsciously at that time, but it was a great distraction and I really enjoyed being around the energy of people, et Cetera. So after I was transferred with my job over to Sydney, so I moved to Sydney five and a half years ago. And um, it was at that point that my nonna passed away, so no, no, my grandmother in Italian. Yeah. And it was funny because that was probably the catalyst for so much growth and change. So regionally I hadn't wanted, wanted to move away from Perth because I knew that time we'd, grandparents was limited. Um, obviously them being older, but, um, that was really my only reason for not wanting to move. And I had made that move and then lost her and we had a really close connection. So I think, um, I was busy in my corporate role. I had just started dating someone who is now my husband and I was wondering what is the purpose of life? What is a purpose for me doing these long hours? At work, where am I going? Um, the, I was climbing the corporate ladder. I had no way, I didn't have any idea as to where this corporate ladder was leaning up against, you know, so climbing, doing really well. Um, and then it was, I decided to leave that job because I thought that that is it. I'm ready for a new opportunity. But it just so happened that when you work in banking, they give you four weeks of gardening leave, which means they pay you for the four weeks when you finish a role and you have four weeks off because they're protecting their intellectual property. So they want you to leave immediately. They pay you for four weeks, so you get time and money and they're two things that I know a lot of people want in life and you kind of get the time and money and you think, what am I going to do? Um, so it was, at that point I decided, I've always dreamed of volunteering. I'm going to Cambodia. So I literally booked a flight on the spot, which was quite spontaneous and a, I went to Cambodia and I have to admit, I went alone. Um, my first time for first time volunteering, first time just I suppose, uh, traveling on my own to a place I had no idea about, did not research it at all. I arrived at the airport to what I thought would be air conditioned transport to pick me up and it ended up being a took, took and completely freaking out. Anyway, went to the hotel. It was all safe and a great experience. The following 10 days was literally life changing. So we built a house in a veal agency and rape. And it was funny, that trip, I just started to feel me. Um, and I just had this yearning to return back and I had no idea how or why or when, but I knew that it was going to happen. So got back to Australia and went into another corporate banking job. At that time, I wasn't aware that it probably wasn't my, um, alignment, but I needed, you know, an income and it was what I did. So I did it. And I stayed in that corporate banking job for 18 more months until I realized that I needed to travel. And my partner who became my fiance at the time, we decided that was what our next chapter was. So, um, I suppose having a family, friends, some people thought we were mad to take a gap year in our thirties, but I thought, why not? You know, we organized our finances, we have investment properties, we lined everything up and we just did the massive cart. We left our corporate jobs and we went traveling for 10 months, which was epic. And being older, taking a gap year, you realize that you don't just, um, it's a very different experience. I think too, if you take a gap year when you're 18, so I would recommend it to anyone of all ages. Gap Year, it's

Speaker 3: 8:56

been seven years, right? It's like, and as you get older you appreciate more finer things and yeah,

Speaker 1: 9:01

you just have a different, I don't know, you just have a different experience. Um, so we traveled around the world. We literally bought a world lonely planet book. We sticky, noted all our favorite places that we wanted to go. And um, we visited 14 countries, so we did a hike to Machu Picchu, we went to Cuba. We um, we went to New York and Iceland, spend some time in Europe and I, and we ended the trip with me starting Strattera collective in the first two of the volunteering trips that I now run. So, um, the end of that trip, which was the end of 2017 was the beginning of Sutera collective. And that's what I do now. I organized responsible volunteering and wellness trips for people.

Speaker 3: 9:46

Amazing. And I've got all those dates as well. Just talking before about which one I can fit in and it's going to be over my birthday, which will be amazing cause it's something that ever since I was little, it was always, I seen someone somewhere would have been maybe on TV or something. Building Wells. Yes. Like how amazing would that be? Not Not knowing when I was younger that they didn't have clean water, but it would be like, how cool would that be to build a, well instead of these you see obviously on TV then carrying it fat miles. Um, and even now it's, it's more so clean water, you give them water but it's gotta be clean as well. So, um, and then this building is it to houses or schools? Houses like real.

Speaker 1: 10:29

That's awesome. Um, it's a very long process for the family to go through to qualify to receive a house. So they need to be proving that they are entrepreneurial and the husband and wife are working so they don't just, not just to anyone. Yeah, absolutely. So, um, the family that received it a quite worthy and they have a social worker following their journey to make sure that they are fulfilling their promises, I suppose to the NGOs. So it's beautiful when you see a house go into the hands of people that are working hard and really have that authentic vision for the future that it is going to be better and they are willing to work hard for that. Yeah. Yeah. Something really special about that. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 11:09

That is so cool and sounds so rewarding. So that's what you do now is just these trips. Are you still working with a corporate job? I know I have, I'm finishing corporate but I do teach yoga on the side and um, yeah, I do some contract roles here and there based on what I did in the past. But really now is my focus is to terra collective and organizing these trips. So yeah, I love it. I love what I do is it really is my dream. It can binds everything that I, I love organizing things. I love events, I love traveling and I always dreamed of doing volunteering. So now it's kind of put together in a beautiful package and that's a really good lesson for people is that you can put all these little passions that you have together and make that your life. You don't have to just do one and no, you can't do that without that. Just put'em all together.

Speaker 1: 11:58

Yeah, absolutely. I remember, uh, two years ago I went to see a business coach. I had three sessions with him, epic guy, and he just literally made me write down all the things that I used to do, that I felt very aligned and that I loved. And it was so simple. It was like, you're doing yoga, spending time with my dog, spending time with my partner, traveling, um, and volunteering. And it was funny how all those elements came together to create this dream business in a way. This social enterprise. Sorry. Yeah. Awesome. That is unreal. And I've, I've, I've go so many questions, but I feel like they'll come up in what's coming up. Would you say your living your purpose? Absolutely. Definitely. Um, I think sometimes we in the past, so I came from a family who have owned businesses and have worked so hard to get where they were, where they are now. And I think everyone wants the best for their kids and they work hard so their kids and future generations have a better opportunity. But I think sometimes, um, those values can lead to maybe being, um, you know, safe, you know, not, not really like living purposefully but just living safely. And that's okay too. But I think it gets to a point when people's lives where they start to assess and they think maybe safe isn't all there is. Maybe there's something else. Maybe there is something that lights me up. Maybe I do want to do something every day that's a bit different. It may not be safe, but it's fun and you feel alive. So, um, absolutely. I do feel I'm living my purpose and I love connecting people and that's what I do. I connect good people with good volunteering opportunities and at the same time give them an amazing experience through enabling yoga and mindfulness and just guiding people back to themselves because essentially that's what everyone's looking for. Yeah. Just returning back home. Yeah, it sounds very full circle. Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 3: 14:00

So having your Italian background, we are you second gen, so like your grandparents came over?

Speaker 1: 14:07

Yes, my grandparents came over and then my dad also migrated when he was nine years old.

Speaker 3: 14:12

Okay. So very similar background to mine. So say story, but I guess you could say story of them coming over. I think that whole be safe, be secure financially. A job wise is something that was definitely passed down through that age because they came over with nothing. Absolutely. I had to create something and it was like we're putting food on the table. Yeah. Whereas living your purpose really wasn't something that was talked about. It's really a new age thing of people living their purpose. Like I'd say, I've only seen it in the past five, 10 years, but surely it's been around longer. But yeah, that generation coming over was like, just survive it.

Speaker 1: 14:52

Make a living, look after your family. And that's it. That, that's, and that's, there's nothing wrong with that. But like you were saying, I think people now are like, okay, yes, but do I want to be in this job for the rest of my life, nine to five and my aligned, am I feeling lit up about what I'm doing? And most people, a lot of people are going no. And that's where I think all of this stuff is happening. And that's why you see all the quotes, the courses, the coaches coming about because there is ways to live your purpose and find your purpose. Absolutely. And I am so grateful to my grandparents and my great grandparents for coming to Australia because I feel as if their movements, their idea of a better future has really led me to enable and help more people. Because at the end of the day, um, we all have this innate need to help and to better our situation. So I absolutely, so my great grandparents when they are my mom's side were moved when they moved to Australia. They would, uh, give boxes of fruit and Veg to new migrants coming to Australia from Europe. So they were Greek or ucass Levin's as talions and they just had this innate generosity. And so it's kind of gone full circle that now I'm doing enabling people on a global level and that example, that work ethic, um, those values have now manifested into what I'm doing now. So I think on some level they would be proud that this is where the hard work has ended up. And I think that that's something of all cultures and religions is like that. Compassion and kindness, February. So beautiful and needs to be a highlight of life. What is success to you? Success is having a general balance. So a lot of people I know are being deterred from the word balance. So knowing that you can't have everything at one time. And I completely appreciate that, especially as a woman. I think there's this whole notion of you need to have like the perfect husband, the perfect kids, the perfect Korea, be fulfilling your dreams, do yoga, be amazing in the kitchen, etc. I'll be the best lover and there's all these competing priorities. But I think, um, success really looks like leaving your day simply. It could be simply living your life authentically. I'm doing just showing up at your best every single day in everything you do. I believe the way you do, one thing is how you do everything. So success could be in the form of a great career or living your life in a very authentic way. Eating well, exercising, whatever is a priority to you to be at your best. That is success. So, um, if you have that niggling feeling that you're not doing what you're meant be doing, then it's just really listening to that. That is success is just knowing yourself on that level. Yeah, I agree. What are you most proud of in life? I am most proud of, uh, facing, uh, suppose my biggest fear. So, um, like I mentioned before, I was in a corporate job with a really great income, um, as a young professional female, there was a lot of people backing my career and wanting me to grow and step up to that next level of leadership. And it was taking that step out is probably something home really proud of because on the day that I did resign, I didn't actually plan to resign that day. I had seen my coach and he got me into this head space where I realized that I deserved a lot more and I literally walked, I felt catatonic. I walked down the road with my resignation letter and resigned on the spot. So I'm really proud that I was able to tap into myself and really appreciate that there was so much more that I could be doing and face that fear of not knowing what the future would bring, but just letting go of that fear, that security and diving into the unknown. That is something I'm hugely proud of because it was a block for so many years and it's probably a block for a lot of people out there as well. Um, a lot of people say they have kids or they have mortgage commitments or things like that. Um, I have mortgage commitments and I don't have children yet, but I still think there is an element of being able to take a risk and pursue what you love even if you do have those commitments and responsibilities. I feel a lot of people don't take that risk because this,

Speaker 3: 19:33

this income from this job pays for this and it like my car, my house, my bills, and it works and I saved that little bit at the end and that's, that's how I'm living. And it's like, yes, maybe if you risk it, you might not be earning the same, but it could be only more, you could have a better lifestyle as well. So I definitely know the feeling because I had that even just recently getting the van and moving and leaving my job. But for people that are in that situation, what would your advice be? Or what would the steps be to then moving into taking the risk, but moving into something that they feel more aligned towards? Are you saying everyone should quit their job right now and start doing that? Or is there, was there a more, um, I guess structural approach to what your coach told you to or what you did? Um, so I would say firstly, I'm not to you, you knew what you wanted to do. I didn't, to be honest. It's kind of morphed to, so there's an element of planning and there's an element of just winging it. And I'm actually reading Emma acts, winging it at the moment. So it's quite timely. Um, I think it's really getting

Speaker 1: 20:47

your head get around good people, get around people that are energetic, that are live, living in abundance, that are living a good life, that are happy. If you hang out with those miserable, you know, kind of, there's this, you're going to end up like that. Right? So I think it's really about surrounding yourself with energetic people. Um, people that inspire you. Sometimes, and I've even been in this position where I realized, wow, I'm lifting everybody else up. But who's my, who's my light? Gloria? Who is my light? Who, who am I reaching up to? So being around great people, reading good books, being around energy, being in a positive mindset. So just consuming all this good stuff that is high vibrational. Um, just sitting down, closing your eyes, 10 minutes, set your timer on your phone. You don't have to meditate, you don't have to like levitate, just start, start somewhere. You know, just go to a yoga class. It's beautiful in pursuing all these different things that you'll find something that is aligned and you'll start to get some more answers. So my advice for anyone wanting to live a more aligned life or taking that risk is keep working your day job. But alongside that, start consuming good stuff. Being in a positive mindset, being growing, a growth mindset first and foremost, because you'll start to even realize that that will impact your day job. Um, and planning, maybe even 12 months. If you wanted to leave a corporate job and pursue something, save up some money, maybe cut out some little luxuries day to day to put that money aside for your dream because you'll realize you'll start prioritizing things that matter to you. And that's how you kind of work towards going towards maybe a dream, a dream business or a goal or something like that. Yeah. So just setting yourself up. Just brie prioritizing your life. Yeah. Yeah. Love that. Because that re re prioritization is where your focus will go into those things. Absolutely. The focus on that goal or that shift or that holiday and then your actions will align with that focus and your energy goes into that as well. That's when you start manifesting. Exactly. It starts happening. You're focusing on that thing and you, I guess you have something to look forward to, but it's like you look forward to each day, but there's also that you're aiming for and moving towards. So there's a greater vision. There's a burning why, you know, you wake up in the morning and you know, it's not just earned money that day. Go for Brunch on the weekend, go for drinks with friends. There's this greater vision that you're working on in the background and that keeps you motivated, that keeps you aligned. There's been a lot of butchers papers and texters and rioting and lots of that kind of stuff. You know, lots of yoga classes, um, lots of meltdowns, a lots of reconnecting back to yourself. It's not an easy journey, but it's absolutely possible. And you get a drink. You could cow. Absolutely not every day. I have to say I don't have a set morning routine. I know a lot of people are hell bent about doing something every day and staying aligned and doing the same thing. But you also need to give yourself permission to have that flexibility. Mix things up if something's not working or if you're feeling you're in a different headspace, try something new. We are not robots, so you don't need to do the same thing all the time. Just listen to yourself and give yourself what you need. Flexibility. Absolutely. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 24:24

What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you and how was that the best thing

Speaker 1: 24:29

that has ever happened to you? Um, I'll probably revert back to, um, so when my nonna, the past, that was a worst thing that happened. But it's funny that since, um, maybe physically believing the earth, I would say, um, my sense of spirituality and my mindset, everything has grown from that experience because I went into a dark, not a dark place, but I say a very sad place when she passed away. And it's funny since then, that really ignited my sense of purpose. Um, I realized that we were only on this earth for a limited amount of time. And what would be the legacy that I would pass on to people? The community? Um, I think I had always seen, oh, you have an impact on your family and your friends and that's it. But now it's what do you, what's your mark on this earth? Like what are you going to leave? You don't need statues, statues, or plaques in your name, but what is your impact? What do, what are you going to touch and leave others? Um, so that's probably been the worst and also the light of my life. Um, and also realizing that I suppose now being spiritual that just because somebody passes physically doesn't mean they're not around is a lot of things in life that we can't explain. But um, yeah, I think it's just, yeah, it's been a blessing in a way.

Speaker 3: 25:54

And I think that reminds me of what you were saying at the start in holding these volunteers a volunteer retreats, volunteer year trips, trips, um, how you were saying that you do them very consciously and sustainably so that it's, is it, what's the words ethical for ethical for them? Like it doesn't impact because you can go on some that I know. I know cause I've been, I've looked at some where you can go and do stuff and volunteer, but it's not, it's affecting the community in also a bad way. For example, I know some, there's been some bad stuff being shared around of that. Some retreats go when they leave rubbish. They make, make a mess. They use, let's say they don't support the local, so they're supporting more the westerners that are there. So yeah, to explain

Speaker 1: 26:44

more about that, like I love what you're doing, but yeah. How, what's the difference there in, in your impact of what you do too? Absolutely. So, um, we, this Atara collective, we call them changemaker trips, so they're a week long and the idea is to go and assist or support a responsible project so that project could look like spending a few days at a community school or building a house for example. So the, the idea around responsible is, um, leaving a sustainable legacy. So we don't go there as heroes. Um, I know there's a lot of charities out there that gets slammed for having that kind of white volunteer white hero complex and we absolutely don't advocate them. So we don't go there of saviors or as heroes. There's no one to save. Right. So you go there, it's just really an enablement is being able to share, is it just going there, doing your thing? You don't need to even make best friends with the locals. Just go there, do your thing and come away. That's it. You know, there's no, you don't even need to have that attachment. It's really just giving yourself that time and then stepping away. So with that being responsible, um, we also implement stuff like, uh, bringing 20 liter water bottles that we can all kind of top up our plastic water bottles with during the trip. So we reduce our plastic waste because of course when you traveled to Asia, the first thing you do is go buy bottled water because it's clean. So we like to just implement those little things during the trip to make sure that a, we're not actually, I suppose increasing the number of, of plastic bottles that are going to landfill. We're creating awareness around that. We encourage, um, we encourage also our volunteers to go and dine at community oriented cafes. I'm an eatery, so there's a lot of cafes that are set up to support foundations or provide school breakfast for local kids from more impoverished villages. So things like that. It's really just about enablement and raising awareness so people can travel, have a great time, but also know they're, they're helping the community in a small way. Um, we also do let all our volunteers know when they arrive about local scams and things such as not buying merchandise from kids. Because obviously when you buy things from kids, those parents, those, those kids will be taken out of school, for example, to sell things cause we buy things from kids cause they're cuter than the adults. And then that child gets taken out of school, which means I don't receive an education, which then obviously manifests that circle of poverty. So there's so many things that we just provide education even. And the great thing about humans is we talk. So as soon as we come onto a, we learn about a good thing. We tell our best friend and we tell our husband now our community, and it's just really word of mouth and education. So, um, it goes, I guess that's what embodies the responsible aspect of our tree.

Speaker 3: 29:53

And that's awesome. And the point I wanted to, well, why I want it to bring that up is just the, you said impact how you want to impact the world, the community and people. It's, yes, you can run events and stuff like that, but if you're not doing it in a wide, it's going to impact everyone involved in a good way. Then you kind of creating more of of the mess that's there. So yeah, I really respect that and admire that you're doing that. Sorry I'm losing the words there. What is the best advice you've ever been given?

Speaker 1: 30:31

I don't know who told me this, but I posted this on Instagram last night, so someone once said to me, as soon as you look around and you feel content and you have everything you need and you feel as if everything settled, it's stable, it's ticking along. That's when you pull your own rug from underneath you. And I don't know who told me that, but for some reason it always stuck in my head because I have got to places where it's taken me so long and I've worked so hard to get to this level of stability. And then I think now it's time to shift something and you just make yourself uncomfortable. So what does that look like? It looks like enrolling in a course or even Rsvp to an event, which he may be completely out of your comfort zone or investing money in an event or self development or um, I dunno, going back to school as an adult, just doing something that really makes you uncomfortable. Going to Cambodia when you haven't researched, you know, things like that. Really pulling the rug from underneath you so that you're uncomfortable because their whole notion around that is when you're uncomfortable, you learn and when things change around you, you also grow. So the whole idea that if we stop growing, if we stopped changing that we're not learning, we're not moving forward in our, in our growth journey, things would just be stagnant, stagnant, you know? And it just becomes a, that day to day grind and who wants to grind,

Speaker 3: 32:03

especially if it's day to day and you're not really like lit up, you're like, oh yeah. And it was something that I've realized even just before I started my little little journey is just being okay with getting by and it was comfortable. It's not a bad, it's not a bad thing. But I, yeah, definitely very aligned with myself and listened to myself and it was like, just get out. I would just do something.

Speaker 1: 32:31

It's those events that get your heart racing and like palms sweaty, anything, what the hell am I doing? But that is so good, you know, even to get into such a state where you're facing your fear right in the eyes. It's awesome. It's exhilarating. Yeah. What advice would you give your 16 year old self? Um, I've had a good think about this. So when I was 16 I was so ambitious and I used to do a lot of extra curricular stuff. So a lot of, um, self judgment, you know, I guess the mindset, even though I wasn't buying a house or you know, doing the, doing the things that you do to keep up with the Joneses as such, I was very much in a 16 year old mindset that I wanted to keep up with what a high achiever looked like, what I was meant to look like as a woman, et cetera. So I probably wouldn't talk so much to my 16 year old self, but I probably just hold her and give her a long hug because I think at that time and what a lot of younger people need is really just connection and presence, um, and understanding and just to be listened to. So I would probably just go back to the 16 year old self and really just listen, just reassure her that the gut was always going to lead her and she was going to make amazing decisions in the future and just to trust. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. How do you think people can become more fulfilled in life? Um, cutting out the noise and listening to the voice. So that's a concept from Peter Kelly. If you listened to her, she did a talk once on knowing what is noise and what is voice or the voice is your internal, your soul, your sense of self, the real you. The noise is the chattering thinking mind, the external staff, um, the radio, the TV, um, your friends, just that Chit Chat. Um, judgements, self judgements, ego, ego is noise. So it's really just connecting, even trying to connect with the voice that, that guiding, you know, that really sure sense of self, that that little voice that sometimes gets masked sometimes by this overwhelming sense of judgment and ego. I'm just tapping into that really in any way, shape or form. Some people find the voice through meditation. Some people find the voice through just going for a walk. You know, you don't have to bake a cow or drinking yoga, meditating, you know, meditators, you don't need to do that stuff, but whatever just brings you to that alignment and you're able to tap in with who you really are. Do more of that. What is a big problem you think it needs to be talked about more in society? This is an interesting one. So I think it's, um, I guess now we've consciousness may be starting to be a bit more mainstream. There's two things that have come from it. A is there's a sense of vulnerability that has come up and you see that a lot on social media. So people that look rock solid and live these fancy lives, we'll then have a Instagram story where they just cry. Their eyes are awesome. Awesome. It's very, very good. I think to be real aligned and vulnerable and openly vulnerable, show people that every day isn't Hunky Dory. It's, it's um, it is a journey. There's ups and downs, you know, very authentic. It's real to break open sometimes. Um, the other side of that is also resilience. So what I'm saying is a lot of people being vulnerable but not developing or focusing on bouncing back, coming back to themselves than not know. And maybe this is just my personal observation, but I think it's so important to identify being vulnerable and absolutely embodying that, acknowledging that, but also developing their sense of resilience. So have that moment where you do just take your mask off and um, have a breakdown, but also find ways and techniques that you can also reconnect back with yourself. Being resilient, you'll find a lot of, I'm very conscious, very spiritual people have this amazing ability to bounce back quickly. They don't stay in a Rut to very long. They'll have a meltdown and just step back into themselves. And developing those techniques I think is so important to keep growing. So what does that come down to? Is it a mindset? Is it actionable steps, baby? Maybe it's also just taking the time out to knowing when you've kind of reached your limit. So I know, especially around Christmas time, we've just come out of a lot of people feel very anxious about being around family or you know, maybe people, they are not there, their family or friends, but they're not actually aligned too. So it's really just like taking that step back, really reassessing where they're at. Maybe taking a few deep breaths just to recenter themselves and just come back to who they are. Love the, if this was the last time you seen me and I asked you to teach me something tangible that I can use every day in my life to improve my life, what would you teach me? I would say this is a very, a bit random, but I would say be a self actualizing consumer. So as an individual we all have, we are all consumers and especially now with obviously like plastic and the impact on the environment and the things that we do every day is, I'm not sure if you've heard of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. So he starts at the bottom with the needing your basic, you know, food, shelter, water and it goes all the way up to the tip of the pyramid, which is self actualization. So, aside from obviously we need to consume food and water, et Cetera, to leave and have shelter, but everything we, I guess energetically put our money towards are we, are we doing so in a conscious way, you know, obviously we need clothes and those things day to day, but are we really investing in things that self actualize us? Are we, are we working towards becoming a better human, connecting to us, our real selves? Um, so yeah, if I would always, I would probably just say to be a conscious consumer, um, and also be a conscious creator as well to create those things for also others, which is absolutely

Speaker 3: 39:23

what you're doing. Yeah. How can I find my purpose? Well, how can people find their purpose? Um, we did touch on it.

Speaker 1: 39:36

Yeah. We did. Um, I would say getting their head around more around and being around more amazing people

Speaker 3: 39:44

such as listening to these podcasts. Yes. But also just tricky just yet, but just also, um, just being mine. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 39:53

For about just checking in, um, being around good stuff, reading amazing books, being around people who lift you out. Um, there he's starting to become these community of people that are, I suppose waking up is a, is a word for it. So I suppose I said mainstream, it's not mainstream, but it's starting to be that, um, that level of consciousness amongst people and maybe in our, also our generation, um, across all generations, just people that are living more aware. So I suppose it's just being around those kinds of people and aligning with people who make you just in general feel good. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 40:32

Love that. Some very good advice for people, especially coming into the new year. Yeah, absolutely. What is most meaningful to you in life right now?

Speaker 1: 40:44

Right now? Most meaningful. It's really to the most meaningful thing I would say. Um, mindset, my mindset and also my ability to keep checking back in with myself. So obviously we're all humans and we can kind of go off course sometimes just in terms of questioning our why and our purpose. Why are we doing this? Sometimes you face struggle in your journey, but it's also, um, the most meaningful thing now is really self development and staying on track. Uh, I think it's really, really important. And coming into the new year as well, it's obviously very important as well. So just looking forward maybe the next 12 months and doing things. So I, I plan to do every Pasadena Meditation Retreat, which is 10 days of silence as you can tell. I love talking, so it's going to really challenging. Yeah. I love being outside of the comfort zone obviously, but I'm just doing things that, that grow me, that is the most meaningful thing at the moment. So inner work and inner work on yourself to absolutely. To have not become better because I don't think that's a word, but evolve. Have a greater impact. Be Fit for service. Yes. Yes. Switch. I have a bigger impact. What impact do you want to have people and the community and the world specifically for Sitara collective? My impact, I really want to make responsible volunteering a household activity. So with the trips, um, I offer a family friendly trip as well where people can bring even kids for years and older. So really make a lot of people have wanted to volunteer all their lives and then they get bogged down maybe by responsibilities and having a job, et cetera. So just making it easy, making it accessible for families, for individuals, for everyone to be able to volunteer overseas in a responsible way and without having to quit jobs and do anything extreme, just do what they love. So those trips around these seven days, seven days. So it's just accessible and um, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. I love it. What does it mean to be conscious? To be conscious I think is having the ability to keep checking back in with yourself. So you know how I mentioned that resilience factor, that bouncing back, it's really just keeping on coming back to yourself. Cause I think we put so much pressure on ourselves to always be perfect as such. So once you maybe have started to wake up or be conscious and then you have a really terrible day or an event really impacts your life and your mood and your mindset, it's not staying in that place, bouncing back, keep coming back to yourself. There's going to be a million zillion re times where you keep bouncing back and it's just having that resilience. That's consciousness. When you keep realizing you might be off your path but you keep coming back. I think that's consciousness because we're not perfect and we don't all live this linear great life. It's this, I realize that your consciousness, your life is this beautiful continuum, this ribbon in a way that has ups and downs and it's just that ability ability to keep coming back to what his equilibrium for you, which may be different to someone else, but it feels right for you. Perfectly imperfect. Yup. That's right. In perfectly perfect. Yes, that's right. So where can people see more of your staff, your events follow you? Yeah. Um, we love Instagrams or, and it's very visual. Obviously. It's awesome to see past trips. So we're on Instagram, so Tara dot collective and also online, our website, Easter terror, collective.com. So yeah, always happy to have a chat. We, people who want to volunteer, I'm a very involved in the day to day running of the business. So if anybody is interested or to be connected, we're also always keeping an eye out for other NGOs to partner with. So next year where I'm not only holding some trips in Cambodia, we're actually going to allow for the first time and holding a changemaker trip there. So that will be awesome.

Speaker 3: 45:06

Amazing. All the links will be in the show notes as well. Yes, absolutely. People want to get more information. There is a few dates coming up in the news.

Speaker 1: 45:13

There is, absolutely. So yeah, there's a trip starting on the 21st which is Easter Sunday of April in 2019 and there is the um, a community school trips starting that will be that week. Sorry, the week after is the hospital starting on the 28th of April and then on early May we've got a trip to allow, so I'll give you some links to those. Thanks. Thank you. To be on one or some of those as well. He also signed before, it's over my birthday. So it might be oh to give back one or, awesome. Is there anything else you want to share with the listeners? I think it's just really, this podcast is amazing. It's been a blessing to align with you. It's really just keeping on coming back to yourself, keep questioning why you're doing different things and questioning who you're around, your communities, what legacy you want to leave on this earth, and just align your day to day activities with your legacy. And then everything starts rolling. You may not even know what it is, but it's just starting to call that in and it will happen in some way, shape, or form. Awesome. Well, thank you. Thank you so much.

Speaker 3: 46:31

You are so welcome. It's been a pleasure. Um, especially in meeting New Year's Eve in Sydney. It's gonna be crazy. 2019 so I'm so happy we connected and aligned and set this up. I just want to say that I really admire who you are and what you're doing in the community because it's not just you're, you're impacting that community, but you're also impacting people like myself. Because as soon as I seen it, I was like, how amazing is this? I want to share it with everyone because people should be doing this, including myself in giving back. And um, yeah, I want to acknowledge you for that being that change maker and um, being that conscious creator and doing things that are aligned to you getting out of something that was comfortable and then taking that risk and now you're impacting so many lives, not just around you but also in different countries as

Speaker 1: 47:22

well. So, and likewise for you, this podcast has impacted so many lives and bringing together such an amazing of people

Speaker 3: 47:30

and manifesting that consciousness is next level. So thank you. You are so welcome. This is what I love doing. Um, and for you guys listening, if you want to get in touch with either of us, just the Instagram handles will be there. Make sure you click on those if you want to be in a conscious collective where we post a lot of stuff. Um, I know Valentino will start posting stuff because it will make her, but all those dates and stuff like that will be in the links. So if you go on the on Instagram or the Facebook page and click on the links in there, it'll have everything. Everything will be there or information to contact us and to see more. So apart from that, again, thank you so much. Have give a great new year celebration and let's make 2019 the best year ever. Absolutely. I think. Good job. See you guys. Peace. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen in on our conversation. Hopefully you got some insights and values to raise your awareness. If you like the podcast, please like and share on social media and leave a review on whatever platform. I would really appreciate it. You can also keep up, does eight on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Both handles are at the conscious podcast and also my personal account, which is at Carlow underscore Cirilo. Until next time, take care and be nice.