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How We Can Heal
A podcast to share deep conversations about How We Can Heal from life’s toughest circumstances.
How We Can Heal
Yoga for Real Life: Kitchen Yoga, Fierce Kindness and More
Yoga doesn't have to be perfect to be powerful. That's the refreshing message from Melanie Salvatore August, who brings her background as a classically trained actor, writer, and veteran yoga teacher into a conversation that strips away pretense and gets to the heart of what makes practice sustainable.
Melanie's journey began with meditation books discovered as a preteen and evolved through her years in New York and Los Angeles before motherhood completely transformed her approach. With disarming honesty, she shares how having three children forced her to reimagine what yoga could look like - leading to her book "Kitchen Yoga" and a philosophy of "microhabits within opportunities." These practical strategies include putting self-care tools where you'll actually use them (like a toothbrush in the kitchen drawer) and finding moments for stretching, breathing, or gratitude practice throughout ordinary activities.
The conversation explores her concept of "fierce kindness" - the gentle but firm redirection of ourselves from fear-based patterns toward love and connection. Melanie offers wisdom about pausing before reacting, using awareness of death to prioritize what truly matters, and finding community to support your practice. Her evolution as a teacher reveals how yoga itself has changed, becoming more inclusive and adaptable while still honoring its transformative potential.
Whether you're struggling to start a practice, finding ways to maintain connection through different life seasons, or seeking to deepen your existing relationship with yoga, Melanie's practical wisdom serves as both permission slip and invitation. As she puts it: "Even bad yoga is good yoga" - a reminder that showing up imperfectly is infinitely better than waiting for perfect conditions that rarely arrive. Ready to discover how simple shifts might transform your everyday experience? This conversation shows the way.
Welcome back to the How We Can Heal podcast. Today our guest is Melanie Salvatore August. Melanie Salvatore August is a classically trained actor, writer, theater producer, and seasoned yoga and meditation teacher. She's the author of Yoga to Support Immunity, Fierce Kindness, and Kitchen Yoga, which we talk about today. She's currently the lead yoga teacher trainer for the Chopra Center 200-hour yoga teacher training, and she hosts classes online and in person through her Melwell studio. Melanie and I met years ago when I was training to lead yoga teacher trainings at Yoga Works, and I was assigned to assist her and Nikki Estrada, both beautiful, authentic, whip smart, and super funny people. We connected instantly and have kept in touch through the many iterations of life since. She's a breath of fresh air, and she's sharing some of her favorite wellness secrets with us here today. So please join me in welcoming Mel to the show. The more you learn about trauma, the more you see it everywhere. It's a superpower to see it, and it's also necessary to see beyond it. This fall, I'm offering a new class, Freedom from Trauma. In it, I'll describe why it's essential for us to identify trauma and how we can approach healing in a way that we don't end up swimming in it. You'll learn simple, not always easy, perspective and practices to help you move out of the trauma vortex and stand in something stronger and more powerful than the impacts of harm. I'm looking forward to sharing what I know with you in this new way. Visit howwecanheal.com forward slash freedom from trauma to register for the training. Thanks for having me.
Melanie Salvatore August:I'm so happy just to talk with you and to be able to share this with people. Too, me too. Thanks for doing all you're doing in the world.
Lisa Danylchuk:You know, I don't think I know this about you, so I want to ask, how did your yoga journey start? How did yoga become such a big part of your life?
Melanie Salvatore August:I laugh because I get this flash of the preteen me.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:And the pre-teen me used to go and sit in Walden books. I don't know if you you know the Walden books, but and they had an not a yoga section, but they had an occult section. Yes. And it had meditation and transcendental meditation and all the different stuff in it and yoga. And so I would just, whenever we went to the mall, I would be like, right? And so I picked up a few different books on meditation and on channeling and on right, um, Shakti gay one, on you know, creative visualization, and they became so helpful. You know, I like I was always a sensitive, the extra sensitive being, you know, I was too sensitive, you know. So I really came into that journey and kind of like I'm anxious, um, I'm really drawn to this. I I feel this feels real to me in a really potent way. So affirmations, creative visualization, meditation, that was all a part of it. And I was dancing and moving and doing all these things, and then I didn't really get into the asana part of yoga until I was in New York City living, and I was in my early 20s. And then I had Shavasana, like that this is the ending pose, right? The corpse pose where you're like, and I had like relief from my own self for like three minutes, and I was like, oh my god, what is this? You're like, sign me up. Where do I get more? I remembered this as like meditation before, but now I got there like when I couldn't get there, I was so anxious. So, anyway, um, it's been a long journey.
Lisa Danylchuk:It has, it has, and then you were in New York for years, right?
Melanie Salvatore August:So New York for years and Los Angeles for years, and I went back back and forth.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah.
Lisa Danylchuk:And then back to the bay. Because we started crossing over. I remember seeing your name when I was in the Los Angeles like yoga works world and doing teacher training and all of that. And I don't know if we ever actually met until up here. I think we first met at the yoga works in San Francisco up here. But how what was your experience like in the Southern California yoga world?
Melanie Salvatore August:Lovely. Like when I was in entertainment world, right? So theater and film, and I always felt like a fish out of water, right? Even though it was like fun and I but it wasn't felt right. But when I walked gotten really into the yoga world, I thought, huh, I belong here. And it was the first time that I felt like maybe something wanted me as much or more than I wanted it. And I was surprised. So when I taught in LA, I was amazed at, you know, that friends were like, oh, you we're bringing something we love. And I was like, wow, I have something to offer. Yeah. So so Southern California was great for me and an awakening for me that like I could let go of an idea of who I thought I needed to be, and I could be myself, whatever that meant, and be helpful and have success, whatever, whatever success is.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah. How many yoga lifetimes do you feel like you've lived at this point in life?
Melanie Salvatore August:So so many. So many, right? Just how many lifetimes? Yeah. You know, how how and and each lifetime, like in each era of like, you know, and and then the big ones, like before I met my partner. That was a big shift, and then before kids, and then after kids. I mean, that's like you know, and that absolutely changed my yoga, my practice, yeah, everything.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah. So let's talk about that. How how did specifically that transition from before kids to after kids? How did your relationship with yoga change?
Melanie Salvatore August:Well, some of the what seemed esoteric practices that, you know, like my favorite teachers would say to me, like, your time of practice is 4 30 in the morning. And I remember being like, oh, like I don't think so, or whatever it was. It suddenly I understood that there was a potency to these practices and rituals that would help ground me. And I realized, you know, I could do hard things, meaning after I gave birth to another human uh and was part of that process, then I was like, oh, after I've you know been up for weeks on end and slower, you know, like it's like I can do hard things. I I actually and it and it's not so hard because it it gives me that nourishment that I need. It quiets my mind, it helps me be kinder. Instead of being all over the place, I have a more centered base to start. So a lot of the practices became much more practical. Yeah, like oh, that's why you do it like this. I get it.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah, yeah. And you wrote a book called Kitchen Table Yoga. Kitchen Yoga, yeah. Kitchen Yoga.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know, I you know, you as an author, a mom, you know, you you handle so much, Lisa. I so I had one kid in kindergarten. So, you know, half days pick up, all that stuff, right? And then I had one little one, and he it was a toddler preschool. So I put him under uh watch Thesame Street, and then I had a newborn, just birthed him, but I I had very, you know, graciously had gotten an offer like, would you like to write this book? And I was like, sure. So I just put I pulled it out, it was like I wrote this, right? Like, how am I surviving? How am I living my yoga? Yeah, and literally, Roman, my my third, he was brand new, and he would be on my lap. And I'd be like this, right? And typing with one hand or the other one. And I'd be like, let's do another Sesame Street, like Sesame Street saved my life, yeah. Um, so I you know, it was maybe it's not the most uh well-developed book, you know. Like I read it now and I think, oh, there's so much more I could add. And it's it's really that like, okay, what are the bare bones? Like, how do you um either do a dinacharya, a morning routine, get your mind on board, get your heart on board, keep your lymphatic system moving while you're so b busy, and then also, you know, go into more traditional asana, of course, too. Yeah. So that was, I feel like that's Roman's book. That's that's my little one.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah, well, that's also like the three on top of each other book, right? Like it's it's the third child's book, but it's also the three children's book.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah, yeah. And it is really like, okay, this is this is what I'm doing.
Speaker 02:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:I don't get it all in. That whole book is not what I'm gonna do in all one day, but if I can get a little bit of that in each day, I'm a nicer person, a kinder person, a more conscious person.
Lisa Danylchuk:When you were in that space, what do you remember now that was serving you the most in terms of your kitchen yoga, your moments of relief? And that can be different for different people. And there might be, you know, some things in the book that you practice at different seasons, too. But what in that early stage, while you're writing a book, you got a newborn in your lap, you got a toddler watching Sissippi Street, and you got a little bit older kid in school, what were some of the moments or rituals or yoga practices that fed you?
Melanie Salvatore August:That's such a great question. First, I will say that they were they're microhabits within opportunities that don't seem like traditional yoga opportunities. Yes. So that's where I was like in the kitchen, right? I just put on the water for the oatmeal, right? And I'm going to stretch against the counter, right? I have the bouncy here, I bounce, and then I stretch, right? And I do a couple things, and I, you know, I also made things as easy as possible.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:A lot of people have like junk drawers, like a kitchen junk drawer. I switched out my kitchen junk drawer for you know, my my toothbrush, my cream for my face, my dry brush, right? Like everything that I would need, you know, to my massaging stone, like it's because I knew my lymphatic system was sluggish because I wasn't sleeping, you know. So a lot of that, you mean, you know, friends might not be like, oh, is that yoga? It is, right? So those different habits, whether it's moving lymph in the body or scraping the skin or whatever. So I would make things as easy as possible for me and put them where I was, which is the kitchen. Yeah. I'm in the kitchen all the time. I'm on the floor of the the living room with all the toys. So then I would stick whatever it was that maybe would help me a block or whatever, it became a part of my house. So there was as few excuses as possible.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah. And more opportunities everywhere because they then you're in the kitchen. And I just relate to this so much of like trying to find a time to actually brush your teeth before going to bed or after waking up. If your toothbrush is there in the kitchen, then if you walk into the kitchen and start feeding everybody, you can also brush your teeth immediately. You don't have to wait until however much longer later, where you're like, wait, did I shower? Did I brush my teeth? I don't have my contacts on like the amount of times where I'm like, especially early on with her, I'd be like, what time is it? It's 11 a.m. or it's 2 p.m. And I still didn't put my contacts on, like, or my glasses for that matter. I've just been living in a haze.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yes, yes, yes, yes. And and with that, you know, this might be so obvious, but like to put things it in visual eye line. Yeah. Yeah. Hydration has always been a big deal for me. So I always have my water bottle, it's glass, I can see how much water is in it, and I keep it constantly filled up where I could see it, right? Especially when I was nursing, how important to be hydrated, right?
Speaker 02:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:Same with my toothbrush. I mean, I try to put it so it's not obnoxious or like your toothbrush is in the kitchen. How gross is that? But you know, like I, you know, scrape my tongue and chew it all there. Um, yeah, to help because you know, we're gonna be the last things to go, like or or the last being to get support from ourselves.
Lisa Danylchuk:Right, which ideally isn't the case, but is the case a lot of the time, right? And just being able to prioritize your to to make it easy to take care of yourself, to make it easy to prioritize yourself and to make it easy for your physical body to be cared for. What about like little mental moments of space? Um, but I know you have this long history. Talk to Sarah Ezren on this podcast too about yoga and parenting. It's like you have this long history of like two-hour yoga practices and weekends where you're just in the studio the whole time and then you go outside and do yoga on a mountain at the end, like you know, weeks at a time where you're just breaking down trikonasana and all this stuff. So that's all in there, and then you're in this space where that's not what's happening right now. And so, how did maybe the the spiritual or mental impact of all of that show up in those, I want to say in those early days, but the in those series of years where you're primarily caretaking?
Melanie Salvatore August:Well, um, I found that I was able to do this at night before I fell asleep more than in the morning, because, and maybe you know, you've had this or have this, but I had it with all of my kids, I would be woken up by screaming on a nightly, daily, morning basis. So my waking up uh part, which now I sew like I hold sacred, when I open my eyes and I become conscious that I am alive and awake, and here it's morning, that there was a series of kind of meditative uh breath work things that I do to kind of like get my radio station attuned, you know, my brain. But in the early years of parenting, I I really wasn't able to do the mornings. So hell with the mornings, it was the nighttime. So, okay, I've just settled you in. I would create so simple symmetry in my body. So I'm laying in bed and then I would consciously align my body so it is as balanced as I could make it.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:And then work, you know, because I was crunching my jaw and lifting my shoulder and to see if I could soften it, yeah, and then balance my breath. So that became my nightly, you know, nightly practice. Um, and then from there guiding my mind to you know appreciation, you know, just like that that kind of prayer form of just like thank you and and go through, you know. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. And then I how I mean I what it that lasted three minutes and then I was asleep because I was super exhausted. Yeah, right. But I still build on that now. That's not really any different, but now it's both PM and AM. Yeah, right, yeah, and anywhere, you know, we had this Thomas a train, right? And and and all my kids push Thomas around this little part of the driveway. When we were pushing Thomas, I was doing squats. Yeah, I know that that's not you know, yoga is so much more than squats, but those squats were really helping me, yeah, right, clear my head, strengthen my body, move move all those things, energize me because I was so tired, right? So, like Thomas, the train time is squats and lunges, yeah. Okay.
Lisa Danylchuk:So you're just fitting it in in whatever capacity, whether it's feeding your mind or your body or your or your energy, all of the above. It's like you're just taking those hours upon hours of surya namaskar A and Surya Namaskar B and going, okay, squats and lunges during Thomas the Train time, okay, uh, toothbrush, a skin brush, massage in the kitchen drawer, like all these things that we could potentially in a retreat setting, especially like luxuriate on and have all this time for. But when it's not, everything else is gone and the whole focus is you on retreat. And when it's not even life where you're the primary person taking care of just yourself, it's like, okay, we've got to make this happen somewhere, right? To not lose touch with it. A lot of what I hear in that too, that I've talked to many yoga teachers about is like the relationship to your practice and keeping that alive. So rather than being so rigid about it has to look this one way, life is gonna change and seasons are gonna change. So, what's your relationship to it? How do you stay connected to it? And so that's what I hear you doing is just staying connected to your practice, which is a form of self-care.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yes, yes, and and utilizing whatever um wonderful little micro moment there may be, utilizing that micro moment with intention. Yes, and with positive intention. And we all I was just listening to to some sort of research basically on, you know, that it's important event with your girlfriends, that it actually, you know, that it actually is healing. And as all things can be taken out of alignment and too much, right? So to to uh acknowledge, yes, my mind is going into a negative bent. I feel sorry for myself and angry that this is going on, you know, that at least for me, that's a typical loop. You know, here I am again, right? And where I can then intentionally, whether you call it affirmation or mantra or seeing the positive or being grateful, to mentally redirect my mind into uh an intentional positive mindset um while I'm doing the lunges, yeah, while I'm scraping my tongue, when I'm drinking my water. That's one that I have really um I'm good at. I'm good at being positive when I drink my water. And when I drink my water, I basically say thank you.
Speaker 02:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:And I see it move through my body. And that then, you know, so a moment of like, okay, I'm all right.
Lisa Danylchuk:Refreshment.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yes, instead of go, go, go, go, go, where are we going next? Right. Which, you know, that's that's regular life.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah, and it's not just what you're doing, but your relationship to it and how you're doing it and the intention that you're bringing to it. There's so much power, you and I both know, and habits too, right? And so rather than setting up a big expectation, I'm gonna spend 30 minutes gratitude journaling every night. It's like I'm just gonna fall asleep too. Thank you for, thank you for, thank you for. I'm gonna drink my water. Oh, thank you for this hydration. Which anyone with a human body, if you haven't had water for 10, 11 hours, right? You take that drink, you're gonna feel that thank you really strong, right? So we can bring it into everyday hydration and these everyday practices that you you share and you write about. You mentioned wanting to add or or thinking that you could have added more to kitchen yoga. Is there anything that comes to mind now that you're like, oh, if I could write another edition, this is what I would focus on?
Melanie Salvatore August:I would proofread it better.
Lisa Danylchuk:Uh-huh.
Melanie Salvatore August:So we'll just start there and I'll just leave that because there's like one page where it's like the wrong description to and I was like, oh.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah, like, come on, friends, somebody catch this. Yeah. It's amazing. How many editors things can go through though, and there can still be typos. I remember getting like emails of like, oh, I found this word backwards on page 67. And I was just like, like releasing it to the universe because I'm like, you know, I really did have like I read it three times and had an editor, and oh well.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah, oh well, editor, copy editor, you know, there was there was a lot of sweet, awesome people.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah. And we just I know, and I remember like writing to my editor once, how do we miss this? She's like, We missed it. And I'm like, Oh, well, okay. Thanks. That's another lesson, isn't it?
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah. So that I think that you know, that would be the main, and and and maybe it just not being as simple. And as I say that to you, Lisa, I think simple is potent.
Lisa Danylchuk:It's the point, yeah, it's the whole point.
Melanie Salvatore August:Simple is the point. Yeah. And uh, and I think that's and and that I think of that, and you just said something like, you know, 30 minutes of gratitude journaling, right? Yeah. So sometimes we put the bar so high, yeah. And somehow we think it's only beneficial if it's complicated, if it's in words that our brains like, oh, whatever, or it has so much time to it. And I think that um, at least for me, I'm realizing more and more that there is this like primal simple part of me, and uh, and I don't need more sometimes than just thank you. Yeah, I don't need to even attach anything to that, just thank you. Yeah, yeah, just simple, simple moments.
Lisa Danylchuk:You know, and I always think about yoga like this gentle approach that's really powerful. The image that I always connect it to is water on rock and have this memory being in Yosemite. Some people might have been there. There's Vernal Falls and then there's Nevada Falls. Have you ever been to that area?
Melanie Salvatore August:Have not.
Lisa Danylchuk:So if you go to the top of Vernal Falls and then go back, there's a bridge before you get to Nevada Falls. And the water there, it's snow melt, and it's so powerful, especially certain times of years, just thundering through there, right? But it's water, it's malleable, it's soft, it's and then you see this smooth rock, like like somebody's been polishing it for centuries, you know, and that somebody is water. And so I think about that with mantras like thank you, when you have that every time you drink water, that's a lot of repetition over time, and like arguably more powerful than 30 minutes of writing every night. That's just like now I'm doing my journal because it's so integrated into your life and so repetitive. So you could be traveling and at a restaurant or wherever and drinking water and having that stick with you. So there's something really powerful about the smallness and this the repetitive way that it's integrated into you.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yes, yeah, yeah. I I beautifully, beautifully put. Um I think the the organizational mind, the doubting mind makes it complicated. And um, and that more witness space, observer space, that one that is not so gripping or worried, you know, the less fearful mind, then it's like well, this would be where I am. It's the now, right?
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:You've been teaching yoga how long now? 20, 20 ish, 20-ish years. And I've been teaching teachers, which is so wonderful, been very fulfilling for 17.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah. What's most alive in your teaching of teachers these days?
Melanie Salvatore August:What's most alive? That's such a wonderful question. Um, even bad yoga is good yoga.
unknown:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:Right? Meaning, like, you know, start where you are, use what you have. You have the intention to help others, help yourself and help others at the same time. That's a beautiful intention. We can all have little markers, you know, like you know, raised with certain even in yoga, there's elitism, you know, about understanding functional anatomy and this is no all that, right? My lineage, right? Wonderful, yes, yes, and get out there.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:So, um, so I think that I've become in some ways, I'm a little, you know, a little more not strict, but a little more like, hey, ahimsa, let's not hurt anybody. And like, I'm serious. No, stop that. And on the other hand, I'm kind of like, you know, like as long as you're not hurt anybody, just anything goes. And yeah, spread the love.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:People breathe.
Lisa Danylchuk:That's such a it's such a yoga evolution, too. I mean, I think about we've shared you know, very similar yoga worlds for a long period of time. I feel like you get really steeped in certain cultures, like yoga work so powerful. I think influence on both of us, and both of us teaching there and teaching teacher trainings and working together on teacher trainings. Remember, that's how we met. I was assisting the one that you and Nikki taught. So I feel like we can get really steeped in that culture. And there's this culture of excellence and dedication and depth and science and digging into the philosophy that I love. Like, I drink it like a fresh glass of water. I'm like, bring it. I remember someone telling me somewhere in there of they went to India and they went to this yoga practice space, and it wasn't one of the main lineages that we were studying. And they were like, wow, their form was just all over the place, like hips out here and knees over there. And I was just like screaming the whole time. She's like, but they were so kind and so happy. And so I figured it must be working, it must be working for them. Like they're sticking out their hip and triangle pose and their knees not over their ankle and wire two, but but they're peaceful. And so, you know, I feel like it's such an evolution to just come back to the basics and and we come back to the philosophical basics in yoga of what is yoga, ahimsa. It's practicing non-harming towards self and others. And it's so funny, Alex and I use this, it's almost like becomes a little sword. We're like ahimsa, ahimsa to each other whenever one person is getting too feisty. Hey, ahimsa. Like, no, I want to be grumpy, right?
Speaker 02:Yeah.
Lisa Danylchuk:But I think coming back to ahimsa and coming back to like it's all good, it's all yoga. I mean, even pain science supports, like, you know, if we get too rigid in, oh, if your knee goes this far, it's bad for you, then it's actually it we become afraid, and we can even sort of create a situation where we're doing something that feels harmful, sure, that are helpful. So there's there's just this breathing room and what you describe of coming back to the foundations of yoga and coming back to something that also feels really inclusive, like just wherever you are. Like it doesn't have to, it's never about it looking pretty, even though it can really seem like it is.
Melanie Salvatore August:For sure, for sure. And uh this aspect of you know, what are we leaving behind? Yeah, I I I think about that on a regular to my family's uh frustration. They're like, why are you always thinking about like going? And it's like, well, because I think about leaving my body and going every day, and that helps me to be more present here.
Speaker 02:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:Um, and intentionality and that, you know, being aligned in our heart and soul with our body, with our actions, with our words, that's really what's gonna matter at the end of the day. So, how are we doing that? And whether you're doing that with asana and you're in it, you know, it looks like yoga, whatever, however, you're doing that, that's your yoga, you know, like ideally it's being done awake, right? How much can we help ourselves awaken? Um, and there are those moments, you know, in there was like ahimsa, or you know, um, fierce kindness. Yeah, fierce kindness is still part of my world, but fierce kindness is the book, the book Fierce Kindness, but this thought of like turning fear to love, and it's a hard thing, it's like you redirect yourself, right? But my family used to always be like, You're not being furious, kindness. And I'd be like, I am indeed being furious, kindness kindness. I love that. Yeah, yeah, our families. Families are wonderful, but they remind us how human we are.
Lisa Danylchuk:Oh, yeah, which is great. And it's lovely to be human and laugh and just, you know, be imperfect while remembering that this is something that's important to us, and while being reminded in those moments where we're, you know, maybe getting a little out of line or in going in the direction that might feel harmful to someone, like, okay, this is actually important to me. Yeah. I mean, it does make us laugh when we go, ahimsa. We're like, oh yes.
Melanie Salvatore August:Fine, fine, ahimsa, fine. I'm gonna take a break right now. I'm gonna take a break and and come back when I'm a little nicer.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah. Can you talk about fierce kindness and what that means to you now?
Melanie Salvatore August:I always see a mama cat moving a baby cat by the back of the neck.
Lisa Danylchuk:By the back of the neck. Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:Stop it this way. You know, you're you're going the wrong direction.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah, really picking them up and moving them. Yes.
Melanie Salvatore August:And I feel like the hardest person for me to redirect is myself.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah. Yeah.
unknown:Right.
Melanie Salvatore August:I can I can see it all for everybody else. Right.
unknown:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:Very clear. Right. So I feel like that fierce kindness is everything that we're talking about. And you know, I love the idea of the water on the rock and that consistency. And I also see like it's a little more like it's gonna take a little bit of shakti, a little energy, a little awareness. It has some oomp to it, some fire to it. And and so whatever direction that you're you're stuck in, um, in that fear channel, in that channel of doubt, of clinging, of you know all the aspects of what's making you suffer, right? Can you use whatever tool, whatever works, and get yourself into that channel of harmony, of appreciation, of love for yourself. So it has always kind of meant that to me, and it still is and it still continues to be my greatest challenge. It's redirecting myself. And I think if it's changed, it I think it has gotten a little gentler.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah, yeah, a little more loving pickup and drop off.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yes, instead of just claws. Yeah, I'm not as much as a tiger mom with myself. I'm you know, but I'm a little, yeah. The gray hairs are coming, you know, like it they're here in here, and the gray hairs are coming. And so, like, I feel that kind of that wisdom older wisdom woman.
Lisa Danylchuk:The loving tiger mom. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So fierce kindness is in large part acknowledging where we're in fear, making an intentional pickup and drop-down shift into love, appreciation, gratitude, connection, those things. Do you also think about it? Because you started mentioning them in English in terms of like the klasias, the aversions, the things that make us suffer. Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah. Yeah. And identifying, you know, and again, I think of like and whatever works. Yes rings to me, like and whatever works, that aspect of like how to re redirect yourself. And I think of then the science of like how to regulate your nervous system. Like this is all, you know, kind of all a part of that, which comes back to the microhabits.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:So if you know, you haven't brushed your teeth, and that could be one of those moments that you know, when you do it with intentionality and you love yourself and you take care of yourself, it's like you can use it as that kind of moment to shift yourself from fear to love, from that program habitual.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:But who can blame us, Lisa? I mean, I I love we've got brains, we're humans.
Lisa Danylchuk:Spiral doom is right there.
Melanie Salvatore August:Coming at us.
Lisa Danylchuk:There's so much coming at us. Yeah, it's hard to filter. Our brains are constantly doing it. But what I love about these practices is that they bring us together in a way where we go, how do we feel better? What works? You know, and not that we're trying to change, you know, we're we're also just trying to become aware, like how what is actually happening? How do I feel? And I where do I have choice? Where does that choice lead to me banging my head against a wall? And where does that choice lead to connection or progress or growth? And growth isn't always easy or pretty, but there's a sense of maybe fulfillment or satisfaction or expansion in that that we can appreciate. And so that's really what I hear. And that is, you know, supporting people through just the realities of being human, having a nervous system that's focused on problems that can internalize or externalize, you know, unkind feelings or harmful thoughts or even behaviors, and managing that, like finding tools to work with so that ideally it's a better experience for us and for the people that that we love. For sure. Or the people we don't love.
Melanie Salvatore August:It's that ripple effect. You know, how you know, we how do we be a positive change in the world? How do we how do we show up in that way that makes a difference? And it starts with everything you just said, and it starts with our own kind of micro life. Um what it keeps coming to me too, Lisa, is stacking, yeah, stacking onto whatever already works. What's working for you now? And you and sometimes we're like, uh, very little. Very little working for me. We have to start with whatever's working, whether that is like, yeah, I I I walk into the kitchen every day and I make my child food. So if that's working, then that's where you're gonna stack on those self-care habits habits, you know. So yeah.
Lisa Danylchuk:How do you feel like yoga has impacted your relationships exponentially?
Melanie Salvatore August:Like just you know, in in every way. Um I won't even say this in like I think I'm better. I'm definitely better. Yeah, you know, and I I I really try to apply compassion to the older version of Mel, you know, because we're on so many 0.0s at this point. Yeah, right. And I know there's gonna be more pointos that we'll look back to now and be like, oh ay, yeah, yay, ay, yeah, yay. So I I believe that um I'm a better friend.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:I'm a better friend because I'm a better friend to myself and I'm more intentional and I'm more honest within my own being on what I need and want. Yes. I feel kinder and like I'm a better friend, whether it's a romantic friend or a motherly friend, like everybody's a friend. I'm a better friend.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah, more compassion. Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:For sure.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So I'm curious if you could magically download a yoga skill into every person on the earth who wants it. Anyone who's like, yeah, sign me up. What skill would you share? Pausing.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah. The power of pausing, stopping and inquiring from the the kindest, the most expansive part of yourself beyond personality, known as Mel. If I can pause and stop and and and take a look and go, okay, is this in the big picture of life and evolution of life and spirit? Is this important?
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah. Well, you've mentioned incorporating awareness of death. And in yoga, we practice shivasana, which is corpse pose, which in in ways, depending on how teachers teach it, but in intention, it's meant to be a micro experience of death, of letting go, of letting all that experience just integrate and not doing any more, and even letting go of you know, influencing our breath, letting go of our physical body. So there's something about that, just being aware that this is impermanent and coming back to the power that you do have in this moment to make choices, right? Like that, there's the pausing, there's the stopping, but what you're describing is more even spiritual than that, right? You're talking about coming from a deep place within yourself. It's not just the personality that the lovely personality that is Mel, right? The funny and charming and wonderful personality, but something that feels like it has even more depth. Can you talk about how? And this might not have words, but how Shivasana or Yoga or even your relationship with death, like keeping it in your awareness, does that connect you more to a deeper part of yourself? Or what what does connect you to that deeper part beyond personality?
Melanie Salvatore August:Um, yes, that's that that's my big resounding yes. And uh I and again to my family's um not their their frustration, I think about death or leaving my body a lot daily, and I celebrate it. Like I really I find it a fascination. I'm very curious um about how that will go. Uh and in my mind and in my body, I rehearse it. Um, like I have desires about this, Lisa. I want to, I want to, I want to leave peacefully and with awareness, and I want to remember it all. And I ask all my people around me, you know, hey, if you leave your body first, you know, what signs you're gonna give me because I really want you to communicate, let me know. So there's that little kid part of me too that's like really interested. And I I would say that for me, that is the greatest thing that keeps me like, okay, I'm not promised dinner tonight. Yeah, time is limited, not in a panic way, but like, okay, so are you gonna put your attention on that one email that irritated you that really does not matter? Yeah, scheme of things, or are you gonna redirect your attention to what is your you believe in this imperfect moment is your soul's purpose? And and that may be really enjoying the memory game. My my 11-year-old, we play memory, you know, they're a little, you know, it's a Spider-Man game, and it'd like to give that a hundred percent, be completely present, smell him, squeeze him, right? That's my purpose in this moment because I may not get it again.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah. And I mean, he's never he's not gonna be 11 forever, it's not gonna be today forever. So even if it's it's bringing in the awareness of death to appreciate the transitory moment, to appreciate the impermanence of it all and be with it while it is for that fraction of a second, you know, not permanent, but happening, yes, alive, it's real, and appreciate and it comes back to that.
Melanie Salvatore August:Like, thank you for this moment.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yes, I so relate to this sparkle.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah, thank you for as I look at you, just see the glow in you and and right, like whichever moment is just like um, so it it uh it is my regular daily practice.
Lisa Danylchuk:I so relate to this, especially in parenting, especially when you're tired, especially when you go to your phone to look up the dosage of Tylenol and get distracted by something else, right? Like coming back to like my child is never gonna be this this day, this age, ever again. And there is some element for me I think I I don't want to look back and have missed it, right? Like I don't want to be so pulled out, of course. Self-compassion, I'm gonna get pulled out. Like I'm gonna, I'm gonna go to look something up on my phone or respond to a call or a text message and get and wonder how did I end up on Instagram? Like it's gonna happen. And there are things I can do to put into place to prioritize my time and energy and the compassion and the return, like that pause and that choice are so powerful. And I know it's so much easier said than done. And it almost becomes like, oh yeah, duh, pause, take a breath, come back, be present, like all these things. But there's something really real and powerful about experiencing that. Like when it happens, we know and and we can be with the people we love. We can be with ourselves, we can connect with life. And I think when we do that, a lot of other stuff naturally falls away. Like when we really like sometimes like the cat picking up the kitten with their teeth, like we kind of yank ourselves up and over and go, no, I don't want my attention to go there. Like this is my energy and attention and life force. And and I really want to place it on my one-year-old stacking blocks right now. Like I really want to savor this. And maybe I can't even like feel like I'm savoring it enough, but I'm at least trying and I'm here and I'm looking at her and I'm breathing with her and I'm responding to her. And and you know, not from a place of perfection, but from a place of connection and enjoyment and intention. I just hear so much of that in what you're describing.
Melanie Salvatore August:I I love that. Yeah, I love the way you're sharing it. It makes me think of celebration, makes me think of BJ Fogg and his habit work. If you haven't read Tiny Habits, I'm sure. Oh, yes, like amazing, right? Any of our friends highly recommend it. But this aspect of when we celebrate, right? So when you do direct your attention on the light coming through the window, my goodness, right? When you do and you celebrate, whether you call it celebrate or appreciation, it does affirm the habit and make it easier to do. That was part of the science uh habit. So that celebration, um, I think it's I just want to pause. Yes, right. So keep celebrating. Yes, you know, not beating yourself up, but celebrate when you're like, oh yeah, all the air today. Oh, it's wonderful. Like, so simple, right? So you're alive and you're present. And I would also say give yourself little reminders, like you know, like you know, the the little bands, you know. When I look at my bands that cut ties my hair on my wrist, it it to me, it's it's I've infused it with it's it reminds me to like pause. Maybe maybe you put a post-it maybe you're a post-it note friend, and you you put like pause or appreciate or whatever, but like it's okay. And and try to make it easy for yourself to come back and remember.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah. One of my favorite mal isms is oh well.
Melanie Salvatore August:Oh my gosh, I live by it.
Lisa Danylchuk:Oh well, and whatever works. So it's like you live in my head in that way. So know that anytime if we are no longer connected in body on this planet, anytime I hear someone say, Oh well, I will think of you. And anytime I hear someone say whatever works, those are two things I've heard you say so many times, and I love it. But there's also that moment of transition where rather than getting caught up in any kind of drama around what I should be doing or what I wanted to be doing, or this isn't, it's like you can come into that celebration and we can also bring a sense of like, even if we were, you know, scrolling on our phone for 45 minutes. Well, that's over. I've tried to do that with my daughter too, because there's moments where she's upset about something, and I'm never someone to like sweep things under the rug. I want her to feel her feelings, but I let her know it's done. That thing is over now, you know? Yeah, it's not happening anymore. Oh well, yeah, moving on.
Speaker 02:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah, we can have our feelings about it after, but just so you know, it's that's not gonna happen anymore. Like, I'm not gonna wipe your face again. It's done.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah, oh, and I love that. And I just want to say, like uh ancestral healing, yes, evolution of human consciousness, yes, coming back to like I'm celebrating you, I'm celebrating that beautiful moment of parenting, right? We all like my parents did they did a lovely job, they did the best they could, and and we keep learning. Ideally, we're we are on the shoulders of what came before in whatever way we can be. And that's to be celebrated, you know, and and and she will go on, and our kids will go on to uh ideally be more aware and yeah, they're picking up on stuff that that I'm not I wasn't aware of, I'm still not aware of.
Lisa Danylchuk:She's gonna pick up on things and you know, live her life. And I mean, when you know better, do better type of thing, right? Again, without expectation or pressure, but I feel like that's kind of the natural order of what you're describing, right? As we go, oh, I didn't like that, so I'm not gonna do that.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah, yeah, that's no longer helpful.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah, yeah, it's no longer helpful.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah, it served its purpose, but but but not here and now in this new time. Um yeah, yeah.
Lisa Danylchuk:Speaking of evolution, the yoga world has changed so much in the many years that you and I have both been in it, and especially I think since 2020, the impact of the pandemic. And I love that you're in your studio as we're recording. You have a physical space. I have been there. It is close enough for me to drive there. I love it. Physical yoga spaces, I feel like are so powerful. And also, you know, even like the structure of yoga schools and training and practice, it's really changed. So I'm wondering what your hope, your vision for the future of yoga is in the next 20 years. What would you like to see?
Melanie Salvatore August:What a what a wonderful question.
Lisa Danylchuk:Um, I really want to know, right? Because we're in this kind of weird space, I feel like.
Melanie Salvatore August:I personally, in a way, I go blank. Yeah, like what yeah, and I think I think in the most simplest form, more of the same. And and what I mean by that is when we are online with each other, we realize how connected we are, right? And so there is something so very precious and and beautiful, right? The class, I just got to teach, I feel it's honored to teach, I just got to teach it. I'm so lucky. And and there were um multiple students who were on like complete, it's it's 11 a.m. here, it was 8 p.m. at you know, across the pond, right?
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah, so much for a different kind of AMP yoga.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah, yeah. And and just but what an honor because I know we I would not be connecting with those sweet souls. So I I said more the same, more of that us making the world smaller and continue to also grow our communities because it is super important to feel that you have a community and not feel isolated, and that happens in person, yeah, as well, not only, yeah, but as well. And I think maybe a little hope that we continue to evolve from the physical practice. If we are physically in pain and sick, right, we don't have enough muscle on the body, all these things our brain deteriorates, if our brain deteriorates, like our our quality of life here is comes to zero, right? So it's very important, all the physical stuff, super important. And yes, and so to continue to grow the the aspect of the daily intentional living and uh and creating that uh peace that the world really needs.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah, uh him so were you in improv? Because you were in theater, you did a lot of improv, huh? I'd love to do improv with you. That would be so fun.
Melanie Salvatore August:A lot of yes and and a lot of yes and um did you know that I used to perform weekly at the comedy store?
Lisa Danylchuk:No, stop it. Can I go back in time and watch? Can I buy a ticket? Oh my gosh, is it recorded anywhere?
Melanie Salvatore August:Uh yeah, there are I have like the you know comedy reels.
Lisa Danylchuk:Uh, but I have coming over, I'll bring popcorn.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah, I'm gonna find them. Rafael has them somewhere, but yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's where I learned. I was like, this world, I know I'm trying to like put some, I'm trying to plant seeds.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:But I was like, this world's too harsh for my very tender heart. But I did learn to plant seeds and to like enjoy the process. You know, people throw things at me, I'm on stage or yell at me. Yeah, just fine. You know, you're gonna cry and yoga class fine. Come on, let me hug you. It's fine, yeah, it never works. Let's keep going.
Lisa Danylchuk:So serious about we're having popcorn, it can be expeller press, coconut oil, Himalayan, salt, popcorn, but like in this studio, projecting on the wall, those comedy days. I mean, it could be a fundraiser, I just have all kinds of ideas for you. All your students will sign up.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah, that's why I stopped. I was like, I really do want to have kids, like that. That was the realization. Yeah, and I was like, and I really don't want them to identify that with me. And that's why I stopped.
Lisa Danylchuk:Wow.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah, they might want them to see this. And I was like, Oh, and I don't I don't want that to be who they know. Yeah, but they do know her. I mean, let's get let's get clear. My my kids know exactly what's going on here.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah, of course they do. Yeah, yeah. So somebody might be listening who's not a yoga practitioner. I was just talking to a client the other day who loves yoga and is like, why is it so hard for me to start? Like, why is it so hard for me to just I know getting on the mat when I'm anxious helps? And why is it so hard to make that transition? So, what might you say to someone who's in that struggle, whether it's to to do to try yoga or to start something that feels helpful or to just transition from an anxiety-ridden moment to plank pose? What would you say to someone who's in that in-between?
Melanie Salvatore August:Well, and it's gonna feel totally full circle. But wherever you are all the time, whether it's office yoga or you know, but like nix the mat. Yeah, nix the mat, nix the outfit, nix, you don't need any of that. Literally, it's time to get into your body, just push against your desk, bend your knees and stretch your spine. Yeah, and yawn. And and and then reach your arms up. So if it's that simple, you just need to shift the mindset by shifting your body.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah, right.
Melanie Salvatore August:Uh, something as as very simple as that.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:Put your arms up in the sky and breathe and look up. That's all that's all you need. So good. Doing it right now. So good. And doing it right now. And then that then that might be like, oh, well, that felt kind of good. I'm gonna do it again.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah. Or I automatically started stretching my hands behind my back next.
Melanie Salvatore August:Oh, yeah. You know, like it does not have to be like official.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:And then suddenly one minute turns into three minutes, and then you feel totally better, and then go from there, then be like, okay, maybe now I'll roll out my mat. Fine. Also, ask for help. There is a wheel that is turning. Whatever wheel that is turning, you get on it too, and you'll turn around, right? I love that kind of image. Yeah. So it's like whether they're talking to you and they then they they go, Oh, what are you doing, Lisa? Okay, I'm gonna come to your class or whatever, the lowest lying hanging fruit. That's already they're already doing it. It's easy to get to.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah, get on the wheel. Yeah, yes. It takes the burden of momentum off of the individual more. It's just like tune into a group and lean into the structure and just you can, you know, assess the place, oh, this looks good, and then follow along, right? And just yeah, it's easy.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah, like for me, it's like it's down the street, it's it's on my computer, it's you know, I I talk to my whoever all the time. Easy. Doesn't have to be perfect, doesn't mean just the right style, or like doesn't none of that matter, just start something.
Lisa Danylchuk:I also feel like there's something about meeting yourself where you are that also sometimes we feel like the goal is to change versus the goal is to connect. Like, if the goal is to connect in the moment, like, oh, I'm feeling really anxious, okay. Well, maybe like your hands are moving fast. Well, what if you move them faster? And what if you shake them over your head? What if you shake them to the side? And what if you shake them to the back? And then what if you stretch or whatever? Like, but rather than like the goal being to change, the goal being to feel and to connect and to, yeah, probably move some energy, but let that happen in an organic way. I think a lot of questions I get about yoga and trauma feel like they come from that place of like, how do I change my nervous system? I'm like, well, you you do change it, but you change it by tapping into it and listening to it and honoring it and having this relationship with it of like, it's heavy for a reason. Do you need sleep? Are you sad? Does it take a lot of energy to process something that's traumatic? Yes, like honoring that and knowing that, and then just working with it, right? Rather than against it. So that's what I hear you describing too. It's like working with yourself. You're at your desk. And if you think, well, I should be getting on my yoga mat and it's over there, it's like that can that can really be a big ask, right? Even though it seems simple and our minds go, yeah, yeah, I can do that. There's moments that all of us can agree, well, we didn't do it. So, what can you do right now? Can you press your hands into your desk? Can you stretch out? Can you shake a little? Can you work with what's happening in a gentle way and then see where it goes? Because, like you said, it starts to carry this new momentum, right? And so we're on a journey and we're connected rather than disconnected and in a tug of war.
Melanie Salvatore August:Ah, yeah.
Lisa Danylchuk:I love you.
Melanie Salvatore August:You're Marty alerted, too. Marty.
Lisa Danylchuk:What's next for you? Are you teaching teacher trainings? I know you're ongoing teacher training, teaching teacher trainings. So what's coming up?
Melanie Salvatore August:Uh, I am teaching teacher trainings. In fact, I am I have the honor. I I kind of like pinch me, Lisa. This is my life, right? I have our the studio here. I'm so I'm just feel very blessed. I'm very lucky. So I'm teaching a 300-hour program for like the advanced training. I I get to teach for the the wonderful Chopra people, Deepak Chopra. I'm his lead trainer. How how lucky am I? It's such a joy. That's an online training at 200 hour. I hang out with them. I have my own, right? Which has, you know, they're all similar quality. They'll they all cross-pollinate, right? You can't say, like, oh, this is so different, and that's so different. But it's all like, okay, and that's hybrid. So I teach people here. Um, and then online. Uh, so I'm deeply I have those all layered, and that's my main part of my life. And I'm doing spirit theater. Oh, tell me about spirit theater. I feel like it's, you know, anyone who has been in class are like, yeah, you've always been kind of like chanting and doing things to move energy and you know, all the different things. So the two most healing modalities that have affected me so deeply is one is yoga, the energetics, the movement, the pranayama, the mantra, all of it, right? And the other is the theater of using mask, specifically neutral mask, which is that you have nothing the the mask is just like almost like a faceless person. Wow. Um, and uh and and learning to neutralize uh and become aware of like programmed choices, behaviors, right? Um, in the theater, that neutral mask was really healing for me where I started to be like, well, I could let go. I didn't have to try so hard. I can allow myself to be where I am, right? So I'm bringing those modalities together, call it yoga mask, spirit theater, and in fact, just you know, uh coming up. I've sp I have time to do it. So I'm bringing that where we move, we clear, and then we set mantra and we we add the mask and uh and then connect to each other and ourselves in in kind of like a ritualized way, and to see where it's like, okay, I uh this is who I'm becoming, and what do I need to let go? Yeah, right, extra effort, thoughts, doubts, all these things to step in. And it's like to me, it's quantum entanglement because if you can experience the feeling with the mask right there, the freedom in the body, the joy, whatever it is, as we explore and play in this theatrical way, in a way, then when you take the mask off, it's still there and you're still entangled with who you want to become and the feeling of who you want to become.
Speaker 02:Yeah.
Melanie Salvatore August:So that's you know, the the crazy professor, you know, I love it. That's where I am right now, and so that's where my energy is going. Yeah. Doing it in New York at Ishta Yoga in October, doing it in Italy, in Naples, at a couple uh uh studios there.
Lisa Danylchuk:So that's my main focus right now. What brings you hope these days? You know, stop it, keep going.
Melanie Salvatore August:Sunshine.
Lisa Danylchuk:What brings you joy?
Melanie Salvatore August:Well, you right now. Same, same. Um you know, sunshine, nature, yeah, a moment where I see the the people that I love and all the different people that I love. My family, my students, friends, see their eyes sparkle when I can see the consciousness behind their eyes. I just like I it affirms to me like humans are good.
Lisa Danylchuk:Yeah, and even just somebody passed by on the street. I met someone in the coffee shop the other day, and I was like, You got it right there. We're friends.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, we're we're safe, we're friends. Humans humans uh inherently are beautiful and kind beings. So no matter what the advertisement says, humans are good.
Lisa Danylchuk:How can good humans connect with you?
Melanie Salvatore August:Easiest way is my name.com, Melanie SalvatoreAugust.com. There's a way to email me right there. There's a way to see classes and come on. I teach many times a week live streams. You can just pop on, get on a zoom, yeah, say hi to each other. So there's many ways, and that's the easiest way.
Lisa Danylchuk:Is it really not Salvatore?
Melanie Salvatore August:Well, you know what? Read your name in Italian before I put the August on. Well, no, no, honestly, my parents said Salvatore. My parents were really trying to you know stop to be Italian, they stopped speaking Italian in the house. Um, you know, bless them, I get it. Um, and then after I added Salvatore. Salvatore. I mean, that's how I see it. And then then I added on the August, you know, the evolutions, and then I left Salvatore, because it was it was becoming too much.
Lisa Danylchuk:A lot of syllables. Salvatore August, I see. Yeah, I'm I'm gonna stick with Salvatore if you're okay with it.
Melanie Salvatore August:Yeah, absolutely. Love it.
Lisa Danylchuk:I love just having the opportunity to have a conversation with you and connect with you and to share this with folks. So thank you for coming on the show and for being your wonderful, bright, beautiful self in the world.
Melanie Salvatore August:Thank you so much for having me. Thank you for doing all that you do in the world. You are such a bright light. May you have all the blessings around you.
Lisa Danylchuk:Thank you. Thank you so much for listening. Now I'd really love to hear from you. What resonated with you in this episode and what's on your mind and in your heart as we bring this conversation to a close? Email me at info at how we can heal.com or share your answers and what's been healing for you in the comments on Instagram, or you'll find me at How We Can Heal. Don't forget to go to howwecanheal.com to sign up for email updates as well. You'll also find additional trainings, tons of free resources, and the full transcript of each and every show. If you love the show, please leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, Audible, or wherever you're listening to this podcast right now. If you're watching on YouTube, be sure to like and subscribe and keep sharing the shows you love the most with all your friends. Visit how we can heal.com forward slash podcast to share your thoughts and ideas for the show. I always, always love hearing from you. Before we wrap up for today, I want to be super clear that this podcast isn't offering prescriptions. It's not advice, nor is it any kind of mental health treatment or diagnosis. Your decisions are in your hands, and I encourage you to consult with any healthcare professionals you may need to support you through your unique path of healing. In addition, everyone's opinion here is their own, and opinions can change. Guests share their thoughts, not that of the host or sponsors. I'd like to thank our guests today and everyone who helped support this podcast directly and indirectly. Alex, thanks for taking care of the babe and taking the fur babies out while I record. Last and never least, I'd like to give a special shout out to my big brother Matt, who passed away in 2002. He wrote this music and it makes my heart so very happy to share it with you here.