.jpg)
Nearly Enlightened
Join Nearly Enlightened's host Giana Giarrusso and discover the body, mind and spirit connection! The Nearly Enlightened Podcast is for the soul-centered seeker who is on the path of personal growth and spiritual development. This podcast takes a light-hearted approach exploring topics rooted in themes of mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing.
Nearly Enlightened
Yoga, Intuition and the Art of Spiritual Soundscapes with Shelley Olm
We want to hear from you! Send us a text message.
Imagine finding the harmony between two seemingly separate worlds—yoga and Christianity. Join me as we reconnect with Shelley Olm, a distinguished wellness practitioner, to explore these interwoven paths. Together, we draw intriguing parallels between the ethical foundations of yoga's first limbs the yamas and niyamas and the Ten Commandments. Shelley unveils the alignment between spiritual gifts in Christianity and clair-abilities, offering a unique perspective on sound healing resonance with biblical teachings. Listen as we unravel the profound impact of the "still small voice" of the Holy Spirit, fostering a deep trust in our spiritual intuition.
Our journey through wellness doesn't stop there. Discover how sound healing and meditation have transformed personal relaxation and self-discovery. I recount my transition from the physicality of yoga to the embrace of sound healing, where the natural symphony of the vibrations of crystal singing bowls and gongs create a meditative escape. For those stepping into these practices for the first time, I offer insights into using breathwork to shift from stress to tranquility, allowing the mind to ease into a theta state of restoration.
The path to spiritual awakening is filled with growth and unexpected connections. We reflect on friendships that become lifelines during challenging times and emphasize the importance of compassion and understanding in our personal evolution. Through stories of a significant move to Arizona and the founding of "Nearly Enlightened," we explore the themes of intuition, divine timing, and embracing change from within. The episode concludes by celebrating the integration of faith and spirituality into wellness practices, inviting listeners to be the change they wish to see in the world.
Connect with Shelley:
IG @lil.yogi.olm
Website
Sound Healing Certification
Children's Book Shelley Snail Sees Sounds
Nearly Enlightened Podcast
Your high-vibe toolbox to connect with your body, mind, and spirit. Empowering you to uncover your Inner Wisdom.
Subscribe & Listen on your favorite platform.
Explore More: Meditate to Elevate | Blog | Free Guide
Let's grow together: @nearlyenlightened | Nearly Enlightened
Welcome to the Nearly Enlightened podcast. I am your host, gianna Giarusso, and today I am joined by the lovely Shelly Ohm. Shelly is a sound bath and sound healing facilitator, a prayer warrior, a follower of Jesus, mindful relaxation specialist, yoga teacher, people lover, mentor, master, energy worker and children's book author. She holds various yoga and health and wellness certifications, including a 500-hour RYT yoga teacher trainer, afaa group fitness booty yoga instructor, a Holy Fire, world Peace Reiki master, yoga nidra, restorative yoga, vibrational sound healing and sound healing practitioner. Wow, shelly, you have really just like. Your resume is unbelievable.
Speaker 1:She is passionate about healing, guiding, mentoring, using yoga and energy work, infused with various instruments and sounds to help free stuck energy and promote healing, restoration and renewal in spirit, mind and body. She incorporates Christian faith and biblical principles in her practice, believing in the power of Christ to heal and restore. Shelley's goal is to help people stop looking outside for answers but instead turn to Christ as their ultimate source of guidance and healing. She encourages others to trust in God's word, lean on the Holy Spirit for wisdom and search within, where the Spirit of God dwells, to discover their life's passion and divine purpose he has placed them in. Shelley believes that through prayer, faith and personal relationship with Jesus. True healing and transformation are possible. Only by surrendering to God can individuals find the strength and direction to work towards their own healing and facilitate healing for others, as Christ calls us to be his hands and feet in the world. That's so powerful. Welcome, shelly. I'm so happy to have you back on.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1:It's been a couple of years, I know, yeah, I think 2022. Um, I love that you're talking about this and bridging the gap between yoga and Christianity, because there there really are a lot of overlaps, and I've started to talk about it a little bit this season and maybe you can talk about it a little bit more. But one of the similarities I always come back to is there are two when we're practicing the physical practice of yoga, we kind of skip over the yamas and the niyamas, which are the first two limbs of yoga, and I think that they really closely mimic a lot of principles in the Bible and in Christianity. So maybe you could elaborate on that a little bit more for us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's a lot of similarities between the yamas and the yamas and actually the 10 commandments. Yeah, if you go through the yamas and the yamas, like the, you know doing no harm, you know not. You know being attached to things of this world, just being content and not always, you know striving for, you know items or possessions, things like that. So it does closely, you know they're, they're the yamas and the yamas are a code to live by. You know, a code towards your own body and your own self, but also towards the outside world. So it is kind of like going along with the Ten Commandments. There's a lot of similarities, even if you look at the biblical principles of spiritual gifts. Some of them they coincide with different claribilities. So we give the claribilities different names, like if you see or hear or smell or taste or things like that, they go along right along with spiritual gifts as well Words of wisdom, words of knowledge, discernment of spirits, just things like that. So there is a lot of similar. Even the.
Speaker 2:If you go through sound healing, people say, oh, listen to that still small voice. Well, that still small voice is the voice of the Holy Spirit. So a lot, and in the training that we'll talk about. I do kind of compare that as well. What is a still small voice? What is the Holy Spirit? Is it the same? Is it different? How do you tap into it? How do you listen to it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so how, how would you describe that still small voice that for people who are, you know, might not know what it is, but have that call? That call like how do you help people tap into to what that is and trust?
Speaker 2:so trust, that's a good, good um word for it, because a lot of times, um, you know, we hear that still small voice. Or we feel like we're being called for something, or we do get discernment, and either we don't trust our own self. We think like maybe we're crazy, we're hearing things, or who am I to say that I heard something? Or maybe you heard, you got a word of knowledge, or you got something. You asked a person or said something to them and they looked at you and said no like.
Speaker 2:I'm not feeling that or I'm not. And so right there, you kind of were like, okay, well, the next time I'm not going to act on it because I did and this person told me no, first of all, just because they told you know, doesn't mean that it wasn't happening in them. And when you share the word of God, the Bible says that the word of God never returns back void. So it never falls on deaf ears. A seed is always planted. So I just invite you to actually, in your day-to-day life, this is how you tap into the still small voice, tap into hearing the Holy Spirit. If you, if I'm talking to you or if you call me or I don't see you and I just hear your voice. Gianna, I know that it's you because I've known you for some years. I know your voice, I know what it is to talk to you. So you can't same thing with the Holy Spirit. You can't just not commune in your day-to-day life and then all of a sudden be like Holy Spirit, talk to me Now, you don't know, is that you, is it me? So I just invite people to, in their day-to-day life, just communicate with the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2:I used to drive to Hartford every day and I would come to one spot in my drive and either I would take a right and go to the highway or I would go straight and just go back roads. And every day, when I came to that spot, I would just say Holy Spirit, which way should I go today? You tell me, should I go highway, should I go straight? And a lot of most of the time, I did go back roads, but every once in a while, you know, I got there, I was told you need to go highway today and I just obeyed and just went highway that day. Um, so the more that you tune into it, the more that you commune with it and try to listen to it, the more that, when it comes in, you'll know, so when you turn it on, I always say like once you turn it on, it's like a dripping faucet you can't unhear it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true. I so a little for this podcast. Right before I hop on, before I'm recording, I always tap into that and I I asked the Holy spirit to guide the conversation into what people need to hear.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly. And when people say like again, who am I, you know how you know who am I to be used. The Bible tells us you know, in John, in the book of John, that you did not choose me, but I. This is what God is saying to you. This is what God is saying to you you didn't choose me, but I chose you, so I appointed you. So it's not really everyone can do it, everyone is called.
Speaker 1:It's like I've heard this quote a couple of times, but it's something like God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called. Yes, yes. And I come back to that all the time, when I have these moments of self-doubt and it's like, am I doing the right thing? Should I continue doing this podcast, should I continue with Nearly Enlightened, or should I go and get a nine to five job? And I have to say, like every single time, it's like keep going, keep going. You got this.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, say like every single time it's like keep going, keep going. You got this. Yes, yes, it's again just like you said. He doesn't I mean time and time again, even in the bible, it's like moses, you know, he wasn't a public speaker like, but he was called. So time and time again he calls the lowly, the lower people. It's not the big priest or the bishop or the this or the that, it's the, you know, the common folk, just the people. He looks at.
Speaker 2:God, looks at your heart, and so if you have the heart for it, he'll call you to do it. Whether you answer the call, that's a different thing, and I call it kind of like playing ping pong with God. So God will hit the ball and say, oh, I'm putting this on your heart to do maybe a calling or whatever it is, and you throw the ball back and say, oh, I don't have time. And then then you've got some time and the ball comes back how about now? And you're like, oh, my kids are too small and your kids grow up. Oh, how about now? Until you really don't have any more excuses and you finally have to catch the ball. And then you know, heed the call. And when you do. Sometimes it's not easy either, but just know that you are called to do it and, and you know, don't give up. Just let your heart keep leading you. And I always say too so. God will shut a door. Once he shuts the door, it cannot be opened. And once he opens the door, it cannot be closed.
Speaker 1:Wow, with that in mind, like you can do, you can do anything you put your mind to, yes, and with, with that, going into like one of um something that you facilitate a lot are sound healing. So, like, what is a sound bath? What is a sound healing? How is it used? What are its benefits Like? Tell us all about sound healing.
Speaker 2:So sound is like water, so it comes in waves just like water. I always say, you know, people say, don't even have a pinhole in your roof, because if you do, when it rains water is going to come in. Find that little tiny hole and kind of come right in, you're going to have a leak in the roof. And the same thing with sound. It finds any opening and it kind of goes in and just like water, it takes the shape of the vessel that it's in and, just like water, it kind of smooths out things that are in the way. As it flows, it kind of like lets loose, like debris that are in the way and just kind of, you know, gives a peaceful ambience. It allows peace to come in, just like kind of streaming in. They say, like man's always been trying to find like the smallest particle and it used to be like, oh, it's a cell, it's a this, it's a that, and so right now they're thinking that the accepted thing is that they're just tiny, vibrating strings of energy and so sound. Same thing, vibration, it's all vibration, and when it comes and enters your body, it's just it interacts with your own cells, kind of giving you, like I say, an internal massage too also in a way, and I see that your body is just like a hotel and you have like all these rooms in your hotel and sometimes something will happen. Some kind of trauma could be religious trauma, any trauma. You may think you released it, but you put it in one of those rooms, you shut the light off, close the door, lock the door and something will happen next month or next year and all of a sudden you're just reacting. You know it just activates you and you're like where is this coming from? It's like in one of those locked doors. It was there. What sound does too? It kind of like it takes the shape of a vessel. It kind of gets in there, it goes under the threshold of the door and kind of goes into those corners and kind of moves things out. So that's where healing will take place, because it'll bring a release of some of those things. So a sound bath is more different, playing different sounds.
Speaker 2:A sound healing is the sounds are a little bit softer and the point is to release, release things that maybe you're harboring inside. So when you go to a sound healing or a sound bath, you might get a little emotional because you feel things start to get released from you, even when you leave. Sound doesn't stop once you leave the sound bath. So you may be driving home and someone cuts you off and you're just like, oh, it's okay, you just go right ahead of me, I don't mind. And then you're like, well, who said that it's okay, you just go right ahead of me, I don't mind. And then you're like, well, who said that, oh, that's me, I'm nice and relaxed from this release that I just got. Or maybe you're home later and you get a little weepy. Well, you maybe get a little happy, but it's just sound continuing to do its work and release things inside of you.
Speaker 1:Yes, I always say that sound baths are a great gateway for people who think that they can't meditate.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly Because it gives you.
Speaker 1:It kind of gives you something to focus on, because you can focus on the frequency, the sound, but also like the feeling, because sound makes vibration, so we can also like feel these frequencies. So it kind of gives the mind something to focus on, so that it's not I mean, it can still be all over the place. For sure, it's a practice, um, just like any, uh, meditation modality, but I really think it's a good. It's a good gateway for people who are like wanting to maybe see what that's like, but can't or won't sit and meditate in quiet. It gives like a good, almost like a good, distraction.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, and if they're, you know, I say in the beginning, if you find your mind wandering, just tune back into my voice or the sounds of the instruments you know, and even if you have to keep doing that, you know you'll get used to it.
Speaker 1:Like you were saying before, it's a practice, right, it's like training. It's training. I mean, it is training a muscle. It's just like training muscle. The first time you go to the gym it's going to suck, it's going to be really hard, but then it gets a little bit better each and every time you go. And, um, that was definitely my experience. I wasn't into meditating or I was into the physical practice of yoga, but like a hot power flow, so, like you were moving, you were breathing, sweating. It was more of a workout. And then, as you know, seeds were planted and I was ready for those other things.
Speaker 1:Some other things started to come into my field, and one of the first things for me that was beyond the asana practice was sound healing, and this is going back to like probably like 2013. So the first time I went to a sound bath was 2013. And now it's a big part of the tools that I use in my toolbox and over the summer, I've I've led some sound healings as well, um, on like this amazing place in Jamestown on the water. So we had, like all of the sounds of the bowls and the gongs, but also we had the healing sounds of nature the birds, the crickets, the ocean sounds, and that was some of the most powerful sessions I've not only led but gone to, because you are kind of working together with God's mystery and and mother nature and it really just like, yeah, you leave in, just like this bliss state.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're changed. I can't say the amount of times people have come to me after a sound bath or sound healing and just said to me oh my goodness, I wasn't even here, I was taken to this place or that place, or I just felt a release of something, or one of the sounds reminded me of this when I was a child, but I just reminded myself okay, you're not there, you're here and you're in a safe place. So maybe we can let that go a little bit now and I try in the beginning just to have people because we're just so, we try to control everything. So I try to do just a little meditation in the beginning, just saying, when your eyes are closed, just try to see beyond what your eyes will normally see and open your ears to hear beyond what you would normally hear. You know, just breathe in openness but breathe out control, breathe out judgment or any preconceived notions. Just let whatever comes to you, whatever message or vision comes to you, just allow it to come in and receive that blessing that's beautiful.
Speaker 1:It can be jarring, though, when it's like your first time. You might be new to this and and you're having these experiences.
Speaker 2:So for somebody who's kind of in that space, you know how do you invite them to just be open and and see what comes up um, I just I try to get them through like some breath work in the beginning too, just to like open, you know, up their body and just get them down into the parasympathetic rest and digest state, and then so important.
Speaker 1:Just talking about that quickly, like so important, because so many of us spend most of our time in fight or flight with the way that society is set up and constantly being rushed around and having all of these things to do. So just allowing an hour in this space to come in and and to really experience true relaxation that in itself is is such a gift to give yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I try to have them. You know I go through and just have them relax, get into whatever relaxed position they want to be in. It doesn't have to be a fixed position, but just have your body totally supported so that your mind can relax and get out of that fight or flight. Just let go of any thoughts of the day or anything that's plaguing you or just weighing you down, and just taking this hour, this time, just for yourself. And again, I say, you know, if the thoughts come in, maybe you can picture the way that they leave Either a breeze comes and takes them out of your field of vision, maybe it gets ripped up into pieces, maybe angels come and take it away, maybe it goes into the ground as compost. But however, you know, and if you have to just keep doing it and doing it, then that's what you do. But once you let it go, it's a beautiful feeling and I think, with the sound too, like you may have these thoughts and all of a sudden your mind's like Ooh, what does that be? Ooh, I like that, and then you kind of your mind gets off of your thoughts of the day and you're like like that and then you kind of your mind gets off of your thoughts of the day and you're like, oh you know, feeling the vibrations coming into your body from the bowls or whatever it is that your mind goes there.
Speaker 2:There's also brainwave entrainment that comes into play. So entrainment is when your brain hears a beat, it automatically wants to follow it. So whether you're thinking about it or not, your brain automatically wants to follow it. And when your brain starts to follow this beat, that's when it takes you down into that theta state. So you're not sleeping, you're not awake, you're kind of like in that in-between state and your brain is just connected to the vibrations. And that's where you can get into your parasympathetic, you can.
Speaker 2:Healing will take place because your body doesn't have to be concerned with running away from danger or reacting to any danger. Now it can let that part go and kind of go into its own self and look around what needs to be repaired, what, what needs to you know, a little bit of attention, what needs to be released, and let things go that way. I've had people tell me too oh, my stomach, like I hear all these crazy digestion noises. I'm like that's because you're in rest and digest, don't worry about it, that's normal Sounds loud because it's your body, but no one near you can hear because they're all in their own relaxed state as well.
Speaker 1:One of a sound healer that I used to go to used to say, like whatever sounds come from your neighbor are part of sound healing too, and I always really liked that, because there's always, you know, there's that one or two people that fall asleep and maybe they snore, and you know your brain wants to be like, oh, this is so annoying, this is pulling me out of my relaxed state.
Speaker 1:But she would always say, like that's part of the sound healing and just like, let it be what it is, and I used to love that because it's it's so true. And when you talk about the, the all-encompassing practice of yoga beyond the asana, that's really what you're learning to do, is you're really learning to not be affected by outside noise, stress, chaos and whatever is swirling on around you, to be able to stay in that place of center. That's really the true essence of the practice, which translates to that bliss state, that like peaceful state, and we've all met people like this where it's like, oh, wow, like the world could be burning down around them and they really just have like the most peaceful energy about them. Like how do they do that? Like this is what they're practicing.
Speaker 1:They're practicing the all-encompassing practice of yoga. You know I talk about this a lot Yoga is more than one limb, it's more than than the asana.
Speaker 1:Like, for a lot of us, asana is kind of the gateway that gets us in, because we go for the fitness but we stay. We stay for all the other limbs that that bring us to that place of wellbeing. And I really hope that you know most guests that come on this podcast. They do have a yoga background and I think that that's really cool because you can see all the different avenues that that yoga can take you, that yoga can take you in and um, I just I love that and I think that the practice of yoga, um, and and you talk about, like even the practices of taking care of yourself, they're, they very much mimic one another in this like science of wellbeing.
Speaker 2:Yes, I mean even the meditation, concentration. Meditation Bible says meditate on the word day and night it to meditate. Um, so it does. It's very, very closely linked. The? Um you know, bhakti, yoga, singing, chanting and prayer? Um, you know, even chanting. There's a lot of chanting in the bible. There's a lot of? Um talking about what words can do in the bible I mean proverbs is the tongue has the power of life, life and death.
Speaker 2:The world was spoken into existence by sound. God's name is a sound, so they say that God's name is a sound. It's like the wind, so it's kind of like a sound. That's why they're really so, it's kind of like a sound. That's why there really there's a lot of names for God but there really isn't like God's name.
Speaker 2:And back, like an example of this is back in biblical times, when you made a covenant with somebody you would exchange, like belts you would exchange, maybe swords you would exchange, you know some items. But part of covenant making in biblical times was also taking part of somebody's name. And so that's why, like, if you take an example of Abram and Sari, when they made the covenant with God, their names were changed to Abraham and Sarah, to Abraham and Sarah. So it was like taking part of God's name, which is just like the wind, which is the sound, and giving it to them too and just making that covenant with them as well. So all of this sound, healing and sound, it all is very much interconnected. I mean, the Bible has many, many affirmations, many words of affirmations. You know, if you go through the walls of Jericho, all the instruments playing there and the walls coming down, jesus, you know, commanding Lazarus to get up, all of that together just closely follows the practice of yoga, which is really a path trying to get connected.
Speaker 1:Finding that bliss state. Yes, that is the last. That's the last limb of yoga. When you've reached that bliss state, yes.
Speaker 1:And I think that, like I said, I think a lot of the biblical practices kind of mimic too, like when I was reading the yoga sutras.
Speaker 1:In the yoga sutras it says sit, pray, meditate om, and you practice and you read the word you will get these spiritual gifts. And in both texts it says but don't stop here, don't receive these gifts and stop. You have to keep going. And I've talked about this a few times on the podcast too, because I think even as healers, we kind of go through these waves of like you're deep in your practice and then something happens, life happens, and you notice that you pull back from those practices and then more life happens. But then that helps bring you back to the practice. And I've I've gone through these waves myself. I've been very candid about speaking about the last like year and a half of my life and when you're kind of like in the thick of life things, it's sometimes really hard to lean on. These practices that do help you through and getting back to them and being consistent with those practices are kind of what helps pull you out.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, it's. It's funny because at those times is when you need these practices the most and sometimes you know we don't always, you know, sometimes it's a fail. So sometimes I'm like, okay, god, yesterday was a fail, here I am today, like give me another chance. I always say, give me another chance to react, you know properly, not properly, but react, you know, as you would want me to react, instead of out of my flesh or out of my self. Let me react in the spirit to someone, or use me to help someone, or give me that word of knowledge and I promise I won't be quiet and ignore it today. Give me that word of knowledge and I promise I won't be quiet and ignore it today. So I always again, some days are fails and I acknowledge that. Oh boy, that was a big fail.
Speaker 1:But that's why we're called the children of God and not the adults of God. Right, it doesn't matter how old we are, we're still learning, yes, yeah, we're still learning to tap into his image and acts accordingly.
Speaker 2:Yes, and you know where I see like, oh, my goodness, I've come a long way. I still have work to do, you know. And again we're always we're a work in progress. Again, here we go, relating that to yoga always a student, always learning. We don't know it all. There isn't. I mean whether you know, like I've written this sound healing curriculum here, but that doesn't mean I know everything about it. You know, I'm still reading my Bible and I'm still delving in and still, you know, practicing, and even during sound bath, I try to, you know, I listen to the Holy Spirit and sometimes, you know, I'm having an internal thing with me, like nope, I'm not going to do that like whistle now or whatever it is. I'm like nope. So it's just always learning, always just trying to strive to be better.
Speaker 1:Yes, I feel that way. That's that's my philosophy. I will continue to like Just weed through and see where the path unfolds. And you know, our friend Danica talks about this too, and I believe she says it on our first podcast. She said it literally the day that we met her, because we both met her in the Booty Yoga 200 hour RYT, and she said I'm here as your teacher, but I'm also a student and know that I'm not an expert of anything, but I'm a pretty good guide.
Speaker 1:And that has. That has stuck with me and um has kind of become something that I say as well. You know, now I'm I'm getting to the point where I've been teaching for almost 10 years now, which is crazy to think about. Um, but I'm not an expert, I'm, I'm a pretty good guide and I'm just doing the best I can.
Speaker 2:Right and bottom line is, you know, yes, we're always students and everything but bottom line. We are here to bless other people. We are here to lift other people up, to be a blessing to other people. So as long as I'm trying to, you know, I just feel like my calling is to help people to learn, get tools to connect themselves with God, bringing in the Holy Spirit, you know, bringing in Jesus, just making you know, because people are just so hurt these days, they are so her. The world is tough, it's a tough place, and if I can show love to someone who needs it, you know, just a little bit of love, or give them just the tiniest of blessing, then I get blessed myself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's so selfless and it's something that we get lost in in this spiritual journey because it can be very eye-centered. But realizing that, like the real healing is is reaching out to neighbor, to treating your neighbor as yourself, and not just doing the internal healing like that's not enough, but to reach out and to touch community, like that's a really important piece. It's something that I think we've been missing over the last, like yeah. And you don't realize.
Speaker 2:Just the tiniest thing that you can say, just like I was saying, the tongue can build up, the tongue can tear down. The tiniest thing you can say can really touch someone and just build them up. You have no idea. And even getting back to Danica, you know I didn't really know her, met her. You know we both met her at the same time and that was like one. I was going through something really tough with my sister-in-law being ill and just she really, really blessed me in ways that I can't. I mean, I can't tell you. I'm getting emotional thinking about it because she didn't really know me, but I just feel like she looked at to bring out the best in someone and knowing that we're all going through different things at different times, you know. So that always stuck with me too and I try to see beyond, like again, what I'm seeing in the physical realm. I just try to see beyond and try to look into the person's heart and see what's happening, you know, with them behind the scenes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Something that I've talked about in the healing journey, which is it's this is like a little funny anecdote, but, um, when I was going through my first RYT, the teacher that came in. He, he was teaching mantra and chanting and song bhakti and um, he said, you know, you're truly enlightened when someone cuts you off, when you're driving and you're in a rush and your first thought is an fuck you, asshole, Right, and you know, yeah, no, you're truly enlightened when you can just be like, oh well, I guess they have a really important place to be and they're in more of a rush than I am.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've changed my fingers person. Yeah, I've changed my fingers. Yeah, I've changed my fingers. Instead of middle finger, now I'm just like thumbs up, hope everything's good with you.
Speaker 1:Yep, yep, that's so funny, but yeah. So that's something I'm definitely still working on.
Speaker 2:I'm not perfect at saying sometimes it's a fail but sometimes not.
Speaker 1:So we'll take it. We'll take it and celebrating those times that it's not. You know it's easy to be hard on yourself when things don't go the way that you think that they should. Or you know you could be hard on yourself when you're like, damn, I shouldn't have shown up that way, I should have shown up this way, or whatever it is. But just allowing yourself to have grace and knowing we're all learning because we're children of God. We're not adults of God.
Speaker 2:Right, and you know there's things going on in the spiritual realm too. Like you know, we're not battling, the Bible says, against flesh and blood, but principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. So there are other things that come into to practice here too as as well, and that I think is also important in sound healing and sound baths, to know that there are some other forces at play as well.
Speaker 1:Yes, and not to get dark or, like you know, negative, but this is something that I have also talked about since 2020, and it's a big part of why this podcast was born, why this platform was born, because I do believe that we are in a spiritual war. I believe World War III it's spiritual and it has already begun and we are in it. And something that I've said since 2020 is like it is time to get right with yourself and to get right with God, because that is like the only thing that matters right now. But when we lean into that relationship with God and whatever you want to call it God creator, spirit, whatever it is we're really all talking about the same thing and it's time to tap in and to do better and to be better. And once you know that, then there's only stepping forward, there's only moving forward. So I think that all of these tools are beautiful tools to helping people heal themselves, to heal their relationship with spirit or God creator, whatever you want to call it and to choose better.
Speaker 1:We all want to see a change in the world. Well, it starts with us. That ripple effect starts with us. So if we can be the change that we want to see, then we give other people to also have that courage and to be the change that that they wish to see. And talking about your journey, when we did do that 200 hour yoga teacher training that was back in 2019 I feel like you have just like you're reading your bio, like you, really I think that when you went through your 200 hour, you might not have even wanted to necessarily teach. It was like maybe for you a little bit, and then you really like, stepped into this place of power and now you're teaching and you're leading all kinds of trainings and you're you're doing the work, you've stepped in and God qualified you and you said, okay, let's do this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I didn't.
Speaker 2:I had no idea where that was going to go. I was just offhandedly talking to um Angela Vieira one day. We were just chatting and she said, you know, having a 200 hour, um, and I'm requiring all my teachers to do it, and so if you ever want to like sub here or work here, you know you might want to look into it. And so I was like I don't know. And I looked into it and I just like felt called to do it. And I will say that you know, I had been practicing yoga for a while but I had no idea there were eight limbs. I only know about yoga asana. That was it. I also wanted, you know, I was booty yoga certified, so I also wanted to just be able to teach my students correctly of what I was doing, what the postures they were doing, just lead them in the right way. And um, and I got to 200 hour. I didn't.
Speaker 2:It was very challenging and it was one of the hardest things that I'd done and I was just like I'm not going to give up Again. I was going through emotional stuff too, but I was like no, I'm just not giving up, like this is something. I felt very old. I felt not as bendy as people in the class, as the younger bendier people, but I was just like it was just I felt called to do it. So I was like I'm not going to give up.
Speaker 2:And then, as you know, I did it. I just got you know, god does what. He's got a way of getting you when he wants you. And you know, sound kind of came in like through the back door to me and then it was like, oh, do something more with this. And it kind of just evolved and then I really felt called to share with other people. So I did write a sound training. I've also written a yoga teacher training which I've facilitated, a 200 hour yoga teacher training, and I've taken in some of the things that I went through where, like I realize it's a lot. So I try to give a lot of support. I understand when people are get to the freaking out stage and I just remember how it was, you know, when I was there and we had quite a few people in our class.
Speaker 1:I try to keep my trainings very small so that I can give more attention to people and it is the biggest transformation I think you will really go through in your life.
Speaker 1:Because I talk about this I don't know if it was the last podcast or the podcast before this, but when actually it's the last podcast. So when you really immerse yourself in the yoga space, like not just the asana, but when you're doing breath work, when you're doing meditation, when you're bringing in all of the limbs and you're really immersing yourself for 200 hours in the principle of yoga, that has a profound effect on you, like you are peeling back some layers and you are really looking at your true, raw self. And yes, it is. It really is an emotional roller coaster and not to be deterrent, um, but actually to like celebrate that and like it can be uncomfortable in the in the midst of it, but when you get to the other side, it's like this this weight has lifted and you feel like brighter and fresher and more yourself than you've ever felt before, even in the midst of going through really hard things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I and I just even like in the training, again going back to like God orchestrating everything. He, whoever was in there, needed to be there and me being there, and just like meeting Danica, meeting you. Just there were so many people in there that that I met in that training, that I'm still, you know, connected to that. I just feel like was divinely orchestrated that I meet these people and connect with them and even if I don't talk to them every day, like I still feel like a connection to them and and and supported by them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and they touch your life in a way that, like you, you don't get in an everyday life, in a way that, like you, you don't get in an everyday, everyday setting. I mean that training was part of the reason why no, I'm going to take that back that training was the reason I moved to Arizona. So it brought me and I would have never wanted to go to Arizona before that. But, um, so, shortly after that 200 hour wrapped, um, they were launching a 300 hour and I had already previously done a 200 hour and I was kind of like ready to take it to that next level and so I said, ok, I'm going to do this. And part of the training was Well, the training was supposed to happen in two places, one place being Scottsdale Arizona, the other place being New York City. The training was supposed to happen in two places, one place being Scottsdale Arizona, the other place being New York city. And in the midst of signing up for it and getting settled, doing the first, the first module in Arizona, the New York training got canceled and the Arizona training got pushed back. And I even remember being in that. That first training and the first module was with Anton Anton Mackey I probably talked about him a lot through this podcast, but he is one of my biggest yoga mentors. I think he he changed my life forever.
Speaker 1:And in that training I was like June 2019, it's like 119 degrees in Arizona and I'm like why the fuck would anyone want to live here? Like it is a wasteland. But if you read the bible, you know that God brings people to the desert to pray and meditate and to study. And I really do believe that I got brought to the desert for a reason. And after that first training, the New York training got canceled. So I was like okay, I could either go back and forth once or twice a month to Arizona for four or five months or I'll just move there for a couple months. And so I literally packed up what I could in my Jeep, I moved out there, signed a lease sight unseen. I had a friend out there. I was just trusting. I'm like this is going to work out. My parents were like what do you mean? You signed a lease and you've never seen the apartment before. Like do you even know where it is? I was like nope. I was like but my friend lives next door. So like how bad can it be. And then, like two weeks before I moved, I'm reading reviews and it's like rats, cockroaches, like two star reviews. I'm like, oh my God, what did I get myself into? But then, just trusting that, like you know what, I was brought to this place for a reason.
Speaker 1:Everything has been very easy so far, literally. Once I made the decision to move, everything fell into place. I got a job. I wasn't even out there yet I got a job. How crazy is that? And all of these things just kept falling into place and I was like, well, I guess it wouldn't be this easy if it wasn't meant to be so just trusted. Got out there and it was supposed to be out there for four months. I it just was a life-changing experience.
Speaker 1:But talking about like trusting that intuition, trusting the Holy Spirit, trusting that as the path unfolds, like sometimes you might think it's crazy. I thought I was crazy. I'm like what am I? What do I mean? I'm going to move to Arizona, like that's, it's 2,500 miles away from where I live. That's like it was just all crazy. But everything just fell so seamlessly into place and you have to just trust that. If it's put on your heart like it is, it is meant to be the way it is.
Speaker 1:And even in leaving it was hard and I didn't know if I wanted to leave. I felt not forced into leaving, but almost like I had no choice, like my back was kind of against a wall and I know I I I did have choices, but it was like that energy was coming to a close. God was like we're, we're shifting the path. Now you follow the path here. And as resistant as I was, cause I came back kicking and screaming Um, I do believe that this is where I was supposed to be, because my classes have never been more full, I've never had more opportunities. Nearly Enlightened is exploding beyond my wildest dreams, and I do think that that possibly could have happened in Arizona, but I don't think it would have been as powerful if it wasn't through that adversity, that shift or path recourse. I don't think it would be as powerful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree. I agree, there's a season. You know, for everything. God had you there for a season and that time was over. You learned what you needed to learn and blessed who you needed to bless and whatever got. You know, let go of whatever you needed to let go of and you know, a little seed change and you know, a little flower came out and now you're, you're moved back here to continue learning and continue your blessings.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I just um, you know, I've always been one to kind of listen to that voice and, even if it's like the craziest thing, trusting, and I don't know why that is I think I was given really good teachers early on in life. My grandmother was one of my biggest spiritual teachers and even though she's crossed over, she still is, but she was the one who would always cause I always had some of the Claire gifts and she was always the one that was like very encouraging, whereas other adults might've been a little bit fearful and trying to put the seed of doubt, she was always like don't listen, god, god knows what he's doing. Like keep listening, keep keep on going. And I frequently hear her voice because sometimes in this field I think I'm crazy, but, like God put it on my heart for a reason and I literally am just here to do his work.
Speaker 1:That's why Nearly Enlightened was born, because, like you, I wanted to. I did this work for myself and I found the amazing benefits for myself and I wanted to gift that to other people and even people coming on the podcast such as yourself. Like I, will only have people coming on this podcast who I would work with personally or who. I would recommend somebody that I love work with personally, because I know that they're out here tending to their own garden before they're out there trying to fix everyone else's.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly, exactly. I agree with that wholeheartedly. And I love like connecting with other people, I love collaborations, I love building each other up. I'm not, I'm very non-competitive person.
Speaker 2:My husband, it drives him crazy Even. You know, I'd be in a race and he at the end of the race, he, I don't even. He's like what's your personal best time? I'm like I don't know, and I'd look it up and find out, and then I'd forget and he's like how can you not know? He's like, oh, you beat so-and-so and I'm like that's just not me.
Speaker 2:I'm just very non-competitive and I feel like the more people who want to learn about sound healing, yoga, mindfulness, meditation, wellness, the better there's room for people say, people say, oh, it's oversaturated. I don't believe that. I believe that there is room for people with a heart. God wants to use as many people as he can and I, you know, people may come to me for something and then I will look on the schedule where I'm working and I'll say, oh, look, they're coming, but they're going to someone else where I'm working. And I'll say, oh, look, they're coming, but they're going to someone else and I'm like, okay, well, maybe they relate to that other person better than me, or maybe I was busy and they went to the other person. Those people that start off with someone else. Then they come to me. It's like your people. There's nothing you can do to keep people Like your people are your people. They're going to go where they're called and where they're comfortable and where they're going to get healing.
Speaker 1:And sometimes it's just that you have to plant the seed for that person and then they'll find. They'll find their teacher along the way, and that's something that I've had to learn. You know, it's really hard as a yoga teacher when somebody leaves your class or doesn't like your class, and that's a healing journey for the teacher in itself. But realizing that, like you, were the perfect person for them in that moment, and now they're going to go off and find their teacher, and maybe it just took that so that they could be connected to their teacher, and so I don't take it as personally anymore.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, yeah, it's a healing journey.
Speaker 1:Yes, it is, and, like you said, the teacher is always the student. So it's, it's always being. You know, even when I lead meditation, when, when I leave a yoga class, it's not because my yoga practice is perfect, I'm still. I'm still a student. I still go to class, I still study the texts, I still don't know everything like how and this is what I say to beginners all the time too, who get discouraged because they're coming into class with a room full of people who are from all levels and they're a beginner and they might be a little bit hard on themselves but, like you, can't learn a practice that's 5,000 years old in one one hour class.
Speaker 2:Right, right, and you know what, you giving them that encouragement and them coming that day or people coming to your class, you may give them just enough confidence just by saying, like it's okay that they, you know, seeing them in someone else's class and not getting defensive or not asking them, that might just give them the confidence to speak up outside in their life in a situation where they need to speak up and they didn't have the self-confidence to speak up. So it's all a learning process and, just like the chakras, all of that it all builds on each other. Yeah, that it all builds on each other. Yeah, like all that self-confidence and body acceptance and release and showing up the way that you are.
Speaker 1:Yes, you know something that the bible says and also the yoga sutras say it's like, despite all of this work that we thrust ourselves in, you're already whole and complete. Right, yes, and that is sometimes a nice reminder to have, because when you're on this healing journey, it could be like oh well, I still have to learn this, I still have to do this, I'm. You know, the practice isn't always regular, like you always feel like you have to be striving for this next thing, but, like being where, where you are, you're whole and complete as you are. It's always a nice reminder to have.
Speaker 2:Yes, and you, I mean? The Bible says like you are made in his image. I am made in the image of God, so I am his image. You know, I look in the mirror and it's like am I in God's image? I don't know what the Bible does say we see through a glass darkly. So it means we see what we see, but in the end we will be seen. But we're nearly enlightened right now. Yeah, we can only see so much.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So that's how it's funny. You say that because that's where I came up with nearly enlightened, because you could be on this path for a really long time. You could be on this path for your whole entire life, but there's no destination, there's no like. Okay, now I'm enlightened, I'm just going to, I don't know, leave this planet like, evaporate into the light. Yeah, it's like. No, it doesn't work that way. We came here to have this human experience like there's only so much enlightening you can get on this, yes, this planet, because, like you said, that that kind of glass that's over us, that's that human, uh perception, that kind of clouds, it yep, yeah, it's like that little, that little veil, you know, just kind of right there, even like when your eyes are closed.
Speaker 2:I always say that's not a black wall there, it's your third eye is seeing inside of yourself. Try to see beyond that black wall, try to invite in like whatever message or whatever you know God has for you for that day, but again remembering that we don't have all understanding. We, just right now, in this experience, we do not.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we're not supposed to, and it's OK that we don't Right, but we can still keep seeking God and it doesn't mean that we should stop.
Speaker 1:Right, right, well, I love that you're bringing God into the conversation of yoga. So I have to commend you for that and just celebrate that for a moment, because it is courageous, especially now when people are offended about very crazy things. So having the courage to connect the two like we have I've talked about this a lot this season too. We've separated a lot of things, but even Stefan, who was on a couple episodes ago now he is a scientist and you know we've separated science and God, but God created science and it's really one in the same. And so all of these people who are bridging the gaps between these things, like I, really have to celebrate that, because it is the joining together of one, and that is that's the practice of yoga.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly, it started off with just Amen and Asana. So I had this little thing called Amen and Asana and we would just come in and it would just be, you know, a whole yoga practice. But we just, you know, I had a, had a little message to it, and then that's how it just I just felt called to integrate more and more. And you know, the Bible says like, stand in the gap for people, pray for people, and so, with sound healing, I just found it, you know, just so profound and so healing that I wanted to bring it in and I was, you know, a little afraid in the beginning. You know, a little afraid in the beginning, you know, because I don't know what it is. But when you say the name of Jesus, people just get funny. You could say any other religious figure name and I could read from anything to my yoga class and nobody would bat an eye. But if I say any, if I said anything about Jesus, it would just people just react in a way. But I, this is something I was really called to do, and and I do address religious trauma, because that could be from religious trauma as well. It is a reason why people act that way. But you know, we're we're called to hold space which is standing in the gap, like the Bible says, and so I I try to incorporate that, to do like hold some space for people that do have, you know, religious trauma and help them to try to release some of that. I do realize that I can only go so far with people, so you know, every once in a while it'll be something that's beyond me, and I do work with a therapist that I refer people to if I know that it's outside of my scope. But I really feel like bringing some hope, bringing the Bible in, bringing it just brings in light, it brings in hope, um, and just like a calming to people that I've never, I've never really seen before.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I mean, in the Bible, god says many, many times like don't have fear and worry, give it to me, let me, let me hold the fear and worry Right, you continue on. And that that I come back to a lot, because I'm somebody who has suffered with anxiety pretty much my whole life. The first time I had a panic attack I was 10 years old, um, and that's why I started seeking the things that I did Spirituality, yoga, um, I went to Catholic school my entire life, so I'm one of those people who did have a little bit of religious trauma that made me go the opposite way. Most of my 20s, I would have defined myself as atheist, but my latter 20s definitely brought me back to God, and he has a funny way of doing that.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, and just like the Bible says, who, by worrying, can add a single hour to your life? No one has all your worries on me.
Speaker 1:So, and we're all looking for these tools to make us feel better. Like what better tool than that?
Speaker 2:Yes, what better tool than the Holy Spirit, what better tool than inviting you know the blood of Jesus, praying the blood of Jesus over your life, bringing in angels, asking them to make a hedge of protection over you? Again, same thing. People say, oh, picture a bubble of light. Yes, it's a bubble of blessings, it's a bubble of you know again, hope, falling down on you like rain. You can call in angels, you can invite in the Holy Spirit, your protector, your teacher, archangel Michael. He'll fight for you. Invite Gabriel in, he's the great messenger great messenger.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it doesn't have to be through the scope of religion either. A book that was gifted to me by another friend that I met through the booty community, kat Parks, who was just on the podcast as well for the second or third time. She's been on a few times too. She gave me this book called Conversations with God, and it's funny because I had gifted it to my mom after and she just recently read it and she's having all of these revelations. Like whoa, like religion isn't the answer. Like God is bigger than religion. Like humans created religion. God didn't create religion. So, like all of this, like you said, religious trauma, it's, that's other humans. Other humans have done that to you because they've made a definitive choice. God gave us free will and they made a choice and that has nothing to do with God, right, right?
Speaker 1:Or even a lot of people say well, if there is a God, then why are all of these bad things happening? And it's the same answer to that it's because all of those bad things aren't of God. It's humans having free choice and making the choice. Yes.
Speaker 2:Yes, we're not robots. We do have free will, fortunately, and unfortunately sometimes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so something that you've been working on is a sound healing certification, so tell us a little bit more about that for people who might be interested.
Speaker 2:So it's called Harmony of Heaven. Harmony was my 2024 word of the year and it's just something that God has put on my heart and it's been, I think, three years in the making. We would just keep working on it. I'd go away from it and then come back to it and it's just a sound healing certification, but it relates it all to biblical principles. There's a lot of prayer in it.
Speaker 2:The first half of it, the first day, is just learning the instruments, their history, where they came from, how they're used in the Bible to heal that's very fascinating, yes and how other cultures have used it to heal as well. So I bring all of that together. And then the second day is how I and how to facilitate a spirit led sound bath. So instead of being like I'll play this, then I'll play this, then I'll do this, then I'll do that. It's intuitive and how to just be prayerful during the whole sound bath, listening to the Holy Spirit and just following how the Holy Spirit has you lead the sound bath.
Speaker 2:We'll do a lot of practical things. I'll work with the students. I'll do sound baths along with them, a collaboration, and just try to help them to have confidence in themselves, to listen to the Holy Spirit, kind of read the room for them and just lead them on what to play. I usually I lay all of my instruments out at every Salabath and sometimes I only play one thing. Sometimes I play all of them, sometimes I sing, sometimes I hum, sometimes it just depends on how I'm led and I just allow myself to be spirit led during the sound bath and I'm always praying beforehand how to get rid of bad energy, evil spirits, anything that I sense that needs to be cast out, anything that I sense that needs to be cast out. So I go through like casting out banishment ways to cleanse a room.
Speaker 1:All of that is in there as well. How long is the training?
Speaker 2:So the training right now it's like a Friday night, friday evening, and then all day Saturday, all day Sunday, and that will just give you the basic certification. And then I have another program where if you want to work with me, then I'll continue to work with you and we'll do sound baths together. I don't either way. I don't just leave the students like okay, you're done, goodbye, like go figure it out, you're done, goodbye, like go figure it out. I do have like a section in there on the business of sound healing and how to you know all of those physical things that have to be addressed that a lot of times aren't in different trainings. Like even the yoga teacher training is like here's your 200 hour goodbye, like okay, what, yeah, right, which again through you actually and launch your light, is how this really like kind of got started in a way. And then through you, through Jamie, that's how, like it really started to like even know what to do because I had no clue. So I do go through all of that too in the certification as well.
Speaker 1:It's just a testament to God. Qualifying the call, you were like I don't know what to do, what to do next, where to go, and then here you go. There's like a Facebook post, it's like are you talking to me exactly?
Speaker 2:I was like okay, gianna, I'm going to sign up for this. And yeah, yes, I still have my notes from I was reading them the other day from our like one-on-one call.
Speaker 1:Oh my god, that's crazy, because that was probably like 2020.
Speaker 2:Yeah and I just remember you saying to me, like, even when I cause I would struggle with, like payment and what to charge, and I just remember you saying you know how long it takes you, like you know, you know what it's worth, like you know. So I just I have that written down with a star and I just hear your voice every time I'm like struggling. I have that written down with a star and I just hear your voice, um, every time I'm like struggling, struggling with that. So, um, I think that's an important part of it as well. So I do go into that as well. But, um, what makes this different is that it's really it's Bible-based and, again, it shows you how to lead an intuitive sound bath. Um, I I went, you know, in my trainings, my, the place that I went was was great. I loved it. I went to a couple of, did a couple of different trainings, but I knew even in there that I was called to do something with a Bible-based, intuitive sound bath.
Speaker 1:I love that. So if people aren't necessarily Christian, would you say that your sound bath or your certification is still for them?
Speaker 2:I would say yes, I think that it's open to everyone, it's accepting of all peoples. There is, you know Jesus is in there, but it's, it's um, you don't have to be a Christian to take this sound bath, the sound certification. It does teach you how to do an intuitive sound bath. Um, what I'll say is Jesus is invited to all of my sound bath. That's me, that's how I do it. So if, if you don't want to invite Jesus to your Sabbath, I want you to. I pray that you do, but it is not one way, this way or not this way, it does still teach you how to do an intuitive Sabbath. And whether you're a Christian or not, there still is spiritual wickedness in high places. There still is those evil entities. And it does teach you all about the spirit realm, because the spirit realm is very real. It doesn't matter what religion that you're in.
Speaker 1:And, like I said, right now we're in a very auspicious time of choosing light and dark. So just use your discernment, choose carefully.
Speaker 2:If the name of Jesus does like stir something up within you, I just invite you to explore why what you know. Maybe you do have some religious trauma, Maybe there's something that something there, but it is not a judgmental, exclusive training.
Speaker 1:I love that. When's the next time you're running this training? Is it open enrollment? Is it online?
Speaker 2:Um, it's the weekend of November 10th. Um, it's actually going to be in Rhode Island at the soul sanctuary.
Speaker 1:Oh, yes, justine was on with us this season too. So just as the owner of soul sanctuary in Coventry, rhode Island.
Speaker 2:Yes, I do. I do a monthly sound bath there now on the third Friday of every month and they're doing intuitive sound bath, spirit led sound bath, and this is the first in-person training of the Harmony of Heaven. So we have it like deeply discounted just because it's the first one, but it'll be. I think it's the weekend of November 10th and 11th and if you go on, you can go to my website, ownwellnesscom. You can also go to Eventbrite, soul Sanctuary's Eventbrite and sign up there as well. Um, and if you have any questions, you can contact me through my website or um send me a direct message through instagram. Little yogi home is lil. We're just, we're in portuguese. They're all little people, so everyone in our family we call each other lils, like I'm little yog Yogi, my mom's Lil Dottie, my son's Lil Mike, like we all just call ourselves Lil's.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's cute.
Speaker 2:Either way, you can message me if you have any. I'm happy to get on a call and discuss, you know, any questions that you have. Even if you don't sign up for the training, I'm happy to answer anything. I know a lot of people, so if we talk and it's not my training, I know a lot of other different trainings I can steer you their way as well.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you so much for bringing us your wisdom.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me, of course, anytime.
Speaker 1:I'm so happy to have you. So I'll link everything Shelly in the notes. You can listen to her other podcast from a couple of years ago. It's still up on here. She talks about her book that she wrote in that one. I can link that in here as well. She is just truly, just like a vessel of wisdom, so thank you for sharing that with us today. I appreciate you, I love you. You are just a bright light in this world and I thank you for sharing your gifts with us and with everyone else. Thank you, god bless everyone. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Nearly Enlightened podcast and I'll see you next time.