Sensitive Stories

66: Reconnecting With Your Authenticity Through Myths + Magic

• April Snow and Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol • Episode 66

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Do you feel disconnected from your true self? In this episode, I talk with Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol, CST, LMFT about finding your authentic self through myth and archetypes and:  

• What myths can teach you about healing and acceptance of all your parts 

• Finding stories from popular culture or your own lineage to feel less alone  

• Surviving a dark night of the soul through introspection  

Giulietta is a licensed therapist, certified sex therapist, HSP, and founder of Aphrodite Counseling, a practice devoted to sexual healing, deepening relationships, and embracing authenticity. She’s also the host of Psyche Meets Mystic, a podcast that explores how myth, magic, and psychology can come together to support deeper healing and self-discovery. 

Keep in touch with Giulietta:
• Website: https://www.aphroditecounseling.com  

Resources Mentioned:
• Free Guided Persephone Meditation: http://www.psychemeetsmystic.com   

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https://www.sensitivestories.com

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This episode is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for treatment with a mental health or medical professional.

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Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

As HSPs, we can connect with such depth and meaning and sacredness in everything. It's not surface level. Like having sex can be lovely and fun and all this, but there can also be such a depth to it. Same with moving our bodies or being connected with the earth or reading a story. And I think slowing down and embracing the sacredness that comes with that can really help with the authenticity.

April Snow:

Welcome to Sensitive Stories, the podcast for the people who live with hearts and eyes wide open. I'm your host, psychotherapist and author April Snow. I invite you to join me as I deep dive into rich conversations with fellow highly sensitive people that will inspire you to live a more fulfilling life as an HSP without all the overwhelm. In this episode, I talk with Julietta Magical Pingle about reconnecting with those different parts of yourself, being more of your authentic self with the support of symbols and stories in your personal practice. Julietta is a licensed therapist, certified sex therapist, HSP, and founder of Aphrodite Counseling, a practice devoted to sexual healing, deepening relationships, and embracing authenticity. She's also the host of Psyche Meets Mystic, a podcast that explores how myth, magic, and psychology can come together to support deeper healing and self-discovery. For more HSP resources and to see behind the scenes video from the podcast, join me on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube at Sensitive Strengths, or sign up for my email list. Links are in the show notes and at sensitivestories.com. And just a reminder that this episode is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for treatment with a mental health or medical professional. Let's dive in the welcome to the podcast.

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

Yes, of course. So I always knew I was highly sensitive. My mom is also a highly sensitive person. And I just grew up around a lot of highly sensitive adults, I think, when I was younger. So that was kind of the norm for me when I was a lot younger. As I grew up though, I recognized that that maybe wasn't the norm in school and with peers and things like that. I felt things just much deeper than other people or a lot of other people I recognize. You know, I felt sadness deeper, I felt anger, I felt joy, and just everything was a little bit more amplified and intense. And that was a little bit difficult to feel like there was this difference. And so I kind of went back and forth. I think my journey was very much embracing my sensitivity and all that came with that, which was for me being really connected with the earth and with cats and animals and you know, stories and myth and art. And for me, that was, you know, the sacred dropping into all of that and then feeling like, oop, that's not okay in this world. And so I'm gonna shut that down, push that aside, and just try to numb out and be like everybody else. So that was kind of my journey for a good portion of my life. And knowing I was sensitive, I didn't think I was just kind of saying, okay, you are sensitive. And so what do you do with that? You just kind of deal. And it wasn't until I think actually a few years after I got licensed, where I was just much more tired and burnt out than my colleagues. I was trying to keep the pace up with everybody else. And I was always having, you know, migraines and I was getting sick and I was tired, and I didn't have the energy that my other therapists seemed to have at the end of the day. And so I was having this kind of existential, what is going on with me? And so I deep dived and I Googled and I actually found your blog posts, which was so helpful. And then found other literature and stories about sensitive people and sensitive therapists. And it was just this huge moment of, oh, okay, I'm sensitive and I can't be living like a less sensitive person.

April Snow:

Absolutely. I think everyone has that kind of breaking point almost. And it's interesting, your story is a little different than most that I hear in the sense that you did grow up with other sensitive adults and having that in your world, and almost that became the norm. And then you go out and you realize, oh, I am different than this bubble at home. And maybe that's not okay. Is that what was happening? Then you feel like you have to change the fit in to the outside world.

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

Yeah, I think in a lot of ways, I also saw my mom struggle with her sensitivity. Even to this day, you know, she still has had a hard time finding her place in the world. And so for me, at home, we were both just sensitive and a little sensitive, you know, family, but I kind of saw that she struggled with that sensitivity in the world. And for me, I felt like if I'm gonna be functioning in the world or successful or whatever you want to call it in this world, I need to just push that aside and push through. And so I think it was that, and then also just really wanting to not be different. You know, when you're a kid and a preteen and teen, you just kind of want to be part of the norm. And so I think those pieces were really part of that pushing that side of me down.

April Snow:

Yeah, it we can't get away from that, right? That urge or that instinct to fit in and be part of the village. It's tough. And even as you're seeing sensitivity at home, you're also seeing the struggles of sensitivity, right? You can't escape that. So, how do you start to honor your sensitivity and find a sense of authenticity and not change yourself? Yeah.

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

And I think that's kind of was actually part of that aha moment for me. Cause prior to having this moment of, you know, I'm always sick and tired, and what's going on with me? And oh, I'm sensitive, and maybe life has to look a little different for me. Sensitivity was connected with not the greatest things. Oh, you know, you don't fit in in this world, or things are too stimulating, or too much. And then I started to really connect with the beauty of sensitivity that, oh, when we actually drop in and aren't in burnout and feel connected with ourselves, everything feels so alive and beautiful and authentic. And that's been really my journey since that kind of breaking aha moment where oh, there's so much incredible qualities of being a sensitive person that we can feel these levels of depth and heart connection and love, and just everything is so beautiful when we can really allow ourselves to drop into sensitivity.

April Snow:

It really is. And I see you embody that joy, that bliss, the curiosity. Yeah. And that is what opens up to us when we can accept ourselves and kind of live at our own speed as sensitive people. And you mentioned, you know, you were a lot of people find this out as therapists when they hit reach that burnout or that kind of too much moment. And is that the point where you start to realize, oh, there is something here to hold on to that I need to make a change? Or was that already happening up until that point? I wonder, that path to authenticity.

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

Yeah, I think that's when I recognized. I think I was already kind of on an authenticity path, but I wasn't on a slowing down path until that moment. And once I slowed down, that's when I recognized connecting with my nervous system, feeling more grounded. And then when I did that, I discovered these parts of me had been shutting down for a long time, where I was reconnecting back with the earth and reconnecting back with my, you know, inner love of cats and animals and myths and archetypes and all of those things. And so the less I numbed my sensitivity, the more I discovered all of these amazing qualities of my sensitivity that had actually just been tucked away for so many years.

April Snow:

Yeah, they were waiting under the surface. I really appreciate you differentiated that. You know, there's the authenticity path, but we could burn out on that path. Doing, I'll say this about myself. Like sometimes I burn myself out from the inside out because I'm just doing so much of what I love or I'm interested in. And I feel that from you, like, well, you I can feel your excitement vibrating, like, oh, you're really loving this, and I can feel it, and it's beautiful to watch. And when I'm in that space, I can push it too far.

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

Yeah.

April Snow:

So like we have to also slow it down a little bit. So I appreciate that distinction. And before we go on, I want to check in because you named myth. This is part of your practice and what lights you up. For folks who maybe are new to those terms, who haven't heard that. Could you say a little bit more about what those are? What your reference.

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

So I love, I've always loved myths. Actually, I first really did a deep dive in them in my undergrad program in psychology. I went to just a traditional state school, but we had a whole program all about myths and eco-psychology and archetypes. It was the coolest thing. And so myths really are this experience throughout humanity. We've had myths, which are basically stories. You know, we've heard of the hero's journey, we've heard of different goddesses like Persephone or Aphrodite, you know, different mythology that kind of explain the seasons, life cycles, our experience of aging, our experience of going through grief or trauma and healing, birth and death, all of those pieces. And I feel like myth to me has been such an experience of kind of connecting with this collective, of feeling less alone, of feeling connected with, you know, all of our ancestors and other fellow humans that have been here before us and the earth and all of those symbols. And archetypes are big parts of myths. They're, you know, frequently known as the lover, the hero, or the warrior, or all these kind of more the caregiver, different archetypes that show up. And each of them has their own journey of wholeness, of embracing the shadow parts of themselves, the parts that help them feel whole and less fragmented and feel more alive in this world. And so I feel like as HSPs myths and this experience of descent and ascent and wholeness is such a rich experience because I think a lot of us can relate to that.

April Snow:

Oh, we absolutely can. And we love the depth, the layers, the exploration. And I feel like these stories, these archetypes or types of people just provide this kind of sense of structure or framework for us to help understand ourselves or the world. Is that too simple?

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

I think that is exactly kind of how it feels. And something that in my own journey and even working with clients, you know, sometimes we I think can feel there's this term that shows up with these underworld myths is, you know, we go into this dark night of the soul where we feel disconnected from everything. We feel like there's no meaning to life. We feel this existential dread. We kind of think, why am I in so much pain? Or why am I suffering? Why did this happen? And myths and these archetypes can help us kind of recognize this as part of life, is that we go through darkness and shadow and pain and we heal and integrate and find new layers of resilience and new layers of authenticity. And so it's kind of recognizing, okay, I'm down in another descent, and it makes meaning out of this really messy, messy human journey that we're all on.

April Snow:

Yeah. Yeah, that meaning is such a helpful anchor, especially during times of grief or transformation, life change, or just exploration. So Dark Knight of the Soul, could we share an example of what that might look like in someone's life? Is that when they lose someone or they are discovering a part of themselves that was hidden, or what what might that look like?

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

Yeah, I think it's kind of those moments where it feels like everything has been stripped away, you know, whether we've gone through a trauma, we've gone through a loss, even a loss of identity, you know, whether that's a career shift or burnout or an illness, things like that. It just feels like who am I and why am I here? And I think that's that pattern of just sitting in that darkness and recognizing that this darkness is actually this place of transformation. It kind of reminds me of, you know, a butterfly in the cocoon, right? You kind of like fall apart and come together. That's how I view that dark night of the soul where everything gets stripped away and everything feels so dark and disconnected, but it's this pattern of putting everything together and coming out transformed. Like we're always going to be changed by this darkness. But that change can actually be this really incredible new layer of our human journey. So we don't have to be afraid of it.

April Snow:

Yeah. Yeah, I love that. It's like with anything, this is a very simple example, but we talked about this in grad school. You have to take the everything out of the closet first to organize it and put it all back together. Same thing happens with like surgery or any type of transformation. It gets messy before it gets beautiful again. And that feels uh reassuring, especially in that inner darkness when you feel kind of hopeless or confused or uncertain. It's like, no, there's a butterfly coming out. Yeah, it's really incredible. And so with myths specifically, because I know this is something you use a lot. How can we use them to move through our transformation of this the chrysalis to the butterfly? And you know, what does that look like?

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

Yeah, I think one thing that I really love about myths is there's no judgment that comes with them. You know, they're all these kind of characters. I'm really personally drawn to the Greek and Roman mythology. That's part of my ancestry, and so I've been so drawn to them. And they're just so dramatic. They're just so much like cool to drama. But when I think of their journeys, they have this intense jealousy that happens, or these traumas that they go through, or these really wild awakenings that they go through. But every time that you explore them, there's this new nugget of wisdom. And we can often see ourselves and maybe a less dramatic version of ourselves. But oh yeah, you know what? I do have that jealousy part of me, or I do have that despair, or I do have that part of me that, you know, feels like I can't be myself, or that I'm overcoming obstacles. And so through looking at myths we can kind of see like I'm going through this, just as how many generations of other humans have gone through this.

April Snow:

Right. It's so normalizing.

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

It normalizes it, and it's this experience of this is part of the human journey. We all have these things we need to look at and process. And so, myth is this, I think, a lot less of a shamey way to kind of drop in and look at them and look at parts of ourselves that maybe would be a little more scary to look at otherwise.

April Snow:

Yeah, I love that it's such a helpful guide so you don't have to do it alone. Yeah. Just have this a bit of a map, so to speak. Yeah. And I love that that's personal to you. You feel connected to it, makes sense. And I imagine abuse more meaning to the process. Are there other so you're mostly working with Greek Roman myths? Are there other types of myths someone might work with or be drawn to?

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

Yeah. So one thing that I, when I've worked with clients around this, and you know, some clients I work just very much more, you know, traditional sex and couples therapy, but I do have, especially a lot of my more highly sensitive clients, they we we love the depth work and the creative work they do. Um, so you know, I'll even have clients sometimes talk about, you know, literature that they're reading, right? Or a book or a movie and what that awakened for them. So I think myths, our movies and you know, trilogies and things, those are our modern day myths, right? So that's one thing that we can look at. I also think there is something beautiful about connecting with our own lineage and ancestry. And so, you know, sometimes when clients are doing their own healing around messages they've internalized or ways that, you know, their parents have had their own traumas, they're also connecting with how do I embrace these beautiful wisdom nuggets, right? From my my ancestry, from my lineage, from my culture, from my great-great, great, great-grandparents. And so that can be a really beautiful thing to explore from that perspective as well. So I think there's a few different ways that we can embrace myth and find really what resonates with us. That's the beauty. There's endless myths, endless movies, literature, cultural myths. There's something for everybody.

April Snow:

I love that because if let's say you are drawn to think like a fantasy series, and there's a character in that story that you're drawn to, you could use that as maybe as a container with which to work with what you're going through if you relate to it. I think that's uh we've talked about this on the pot a little bit, but this I think takes a level deeper around a lot of times we don't see ourselves maybe out in the world. Yeah, we might see ourselves on a story. Or we don't see our experience reflected, but we might find it in a myth, you know, something in our lineage. That is could be incredibly healing, I would guess.

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

Yeah, it makes us feel less alone because I think, you know, it can be a little bit lonely sometimes in this world, especially things are kind of not super sensitive in the world right now. And there is something I think so healing about seeing a part of yourself represented and knowing that these themes they've they show up everywhere, you know, whether that's the hero's journey or highly sensitive people show. I mean, even some of these Greek and Roman myths, I'm like, oh, I think that that one's HSB. You know, there's ways of people coming into wholeness, authenticity, healing through all these different forms of story, really, which is beautiful and much more connecting, I think.

April Snow:

Yeah, absolutely. When you you see parts of yourself or your whole self represented in someone else, it's incredible. I just feel so safe. Yeah. Emotionally, physically. And this is not something I work with in my practice. I'm wondering if you could kind of paint the picture a little bit for us. So let's say I am drawn to a myth, whether it's cultural present day, or something deeper from my lineage or from maybe some of the resources that you've created around Greek and Roman mythology. Let's say, okay, I have the myth or the archetype that I'm working with. What does that process look like? What do I do once I find the connection? I'm just curious what that might look like.

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

Yeah. And I think the beauty, again, is it can look so different for everybody that there's no one size fits all. But a few of the different ways that I've kind of worked with it is for some clients, it's really doing this inner kind of meditation work. So there might be a symbol. I've had it even where people weren't even sure what that myth was yet, but we did this inner journey of descent, of going into that underworld and connecting with these parts of themselves and then integrating and healing and kind of ascending. And, you know, they're recognizing, oh, like there's this really wounded child part of me, or there's this really angry part of me. And then we can explore how those themes have shown up in humanity, those parts of ourselves. So can go that way. Or sometimes, you know, some of my clients I'll say, can I get a little, you know, hippier witchy with you for a second? Can I can I get bring some goddess stuff in? And if they're down, you know, I usually know who's down with that. And so I'll I'll kind of bring it in and I'll say this feels like a very, this feels like an underworld journey that you're in. And we'll explore the underworld themes and talk about how that shows up in different myths, modern day stories, ancient stories, and talk about how they can start to integrate and not try to kick and scream from getting dragged into the underworld versus saying, okay, I'm in the underworld, what do I do?

April Snow:

Yeah, right. I'm in the darkness. Let me find some light. And so we can be working maybe with multiple myths at the same time for different parts of ourselves. Definitely. I love that. Because sometimes, you know, if we have that angry part, or maybe we have that joyful part that just wants to frolic and be free and be playful, but we can make space for both of those and find objects to attach to or stories to attach to. I love that.

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

And feel whole and less fragmented. I think that's the beauty of this work is that so often we feel like we have to be disconnected or fragmented. Okay, I get to be this person here. This part of me isn't okay. But through going to these parts of ourselves and these myths, we get to just, oh, this is this part and this is this part. And I get to just own it.

April Snow:

Yeah. Just get to be in it. Yeah. Not have to change or apologize, but say, oh, there's nothing wrong with me. Here's my story reflected back. That is incredibly healing. Oh, I love it. It's such a I don't know, just it I always appreciate when we can have some containment around something, right? A little bit of a guy. There's still there's room to play, but just knowing I'm not all alone. And yeah, I'm excited to try this for myself.

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

Yeah, it's really fun. And I think again, the beauty is that we can, I think it fits with authenticity so easily. You know, sometimes even just looking at a symbol, right? Like looking at whether it's an oracle card or a tree or connecting with symbols, or you know, watching a show and and finding that we get lost in that character, you know, all of these can awaken these inner deep dives. And that can be an anchor for us when we feel disconnected.

April Snow:

Yeah, absolutely. A lot of times we'll not always on purpose, but just kind of intuitively just find an object that makes me feel comforted. It might be a like as seasons change, I'm like, oh, I might look for a certain leaf or a flower, and it's just a sense of that symbolizes something personal for me. And it just is like a little I don't know, nod from the universe, you're okay. Yeah, it's really helpful. So you're talking about authenticity, and if we're feeling disconnected from ourselves, you know, for me, symbols are a big way to find reconnection. Yeah, but how can we find our way back to ourselves, that sense of authenticity, whether it be in creatively, spiritually, sexually, how do we get back there?

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

If we could say more about that, yeah, and I think uh so much of this is all connected, right? It's I think it's releasing the sense of shame or sh. It's uh starting to allow ourselves to just feel and drop in and recognizing when I think of sexuality, creativity, spirituality, whatever that is, I feel like it's this portal to this life energy, right? Like there's such meaning and depth to it of being able to be really seen and to see a partner in that way, to connect with our own bodies and discover, ooh, like wow, that feels really amazing, and drop into that or come into flow with creativity or find the sacred with anything. Whether my favorite thing right now is I love to go look the garden and I like to look at the bees kind of going in and out of the flowers, and I just it's like magic. I just feel so connected with everything, or cooking, or whatever that is, is just finding that we have this as HSPs, we can connect with such depth and meaning and sacredness in everything, and that it's not surface level, like having sex doesn't have to just be this. I mean, it it can be lovely and fun and all this, but there can also be this such a depth to it. Same with moving our bodies or being connected with the earth or reading a story, and I think slowing down and connecting with our bodies and embracing the sacredness that comes with that can really help with the authenticity.

April Snow:

Yeah, it sounds like you're really highlighting that it's available anywhere. Just as we can find myths in pop culture, we can find depth and symbolism in our everyday lives, it sounds like yeah, and the blissful and the mundane. Yeah, is this hiding right there? Are you open to sharing a little bit more about maybe the personal symbols that you've worked with or drawn to just to give folks an example or a few more examples?

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

Totally. So, kind of as I'd mentioned in undergrad, that was I'd always known about myths and things like that, but that's when I just my whole world opened up. I really first connected with the Persephone myth at that point, which is I won't deep dive into her myth, but basically it's this journey of basically trauma and resilience and healing and integration. She ends up becoming queen of the underworld after a pretty difficult journey, but she also emerges from the underworld half of the year, and she's this playful maiden who's connected with the spring and you know, running around the fields. And for me, her journey really symbolizes that descent and ascent. And for me, you know, because of my own journeys of the underworld, that's like my grounding myth, and that's my grounding symbol. So I'll oftentimes connect with the pomegranate symbol for her. I'll have in the springtime, I'll connect with that frolicky energy and feel the sun on me. When it's getting in more into winter and fall, I'll just feel how my body feels as the wind starts to come and just kind of feel connected to that universal story of resilience and healing and transforming through darkness and through pain. And so that's kind of how that shows up for me all year long and through all of my journey.

April Snow:

I love that. Persephone is such a such a beautiful sensitivity symbol. Just the kind of going into the different spaces, dark to light. And I can see why you're drawn to it from multiple levels. Yeah. But it's beautiful that you could then you know throughout the year, you're finding those little threads through, like you're always connected to that myth. And I'm just curious, personally, you know, do you put like pomegranates out or is it a ritual for you? Does it come into the physical world around you?

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

Yeah, it definitely does. So I don't know if you can see, but I got a little thing behind me where I have a little like cauldron candle and some flowers, and I'll usually, you know, put pomegranates, or I have in the other area of my home, I have a kind of like an altar where I have urns for my kitties who have passed, pictures of others who have passed, and I have a Persephone image there, and I have a lot of symbolism that connects with her there. So that's symbolizes that energy supporting me through grief and darkness. And so I'll kind of really connect with that symbol and have that around my house to remind me, okay, I'm held with this. This has been, this is part of life, right? Is that darkness and that ascent. And so I definitely I bring in lots of those pieces.

April Snow:

I love it. Yeah, there's so many opportunities to create these sacred little altars or spaces. Yeah. And I love you have multiple throughout. It's beautiful. Yeah, all the little spots. Yeah, exactly. Just I just imagine for me. I I have one primary one, but I guess I have other little spaces with sacred objects, and it's just it just makes me so happy and just a nice I don't know, point of connection throughout the day. Yeah, I love that. Sanctuary of just saying home. Yeah. Exactly. That sanctuary. I'm wondering if there's anything else we should know about this work, you know, using myth or symbols or archetypes that we haven't touched on.

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

I think one thing that I really love about it is it's all about finding our own wisdom and our own intuition. You know, I think in this day and age, right, it's all about we're bombarded all the time. Do this, and then you're gonna be happy, and you're not gonna have the existential dread, and everything will be fine. And you know, there's it's kind of intense, or this pressure of you should be this way or this way, or this is the way to be healthy. And this archetypal work or this symbolism work or myth work is all about finding what works for us and connecting with our own inner wisdom. So, you know, reading the Persephone myth or looking at a pomegranate and thinking, okay, does something light up for me? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe this other thing actually awakens something for me. Like how do we connect with that the life energy? And as sensitive beings, usually when we look at art, we kind of know it lights us up, or we hear sounds, or we're in nature, we're reading stories or watching movies. It really invites us to come inwards and to trust our yeses and our no's on our healing journeys. And that's something that I love. It's so empowering and it's so unique for all of us.

April Snow:

Yeah, I mean, just the energy of that of following what is alive for you, what feels personal for you. That's such a life lesson for us as HSPs who tend to try to fit in. And as we talked about at the beginning of our conversation, you know, you're thinking like, Oh, I need to be like everybody else, essentially. I'm different. It's like, no, you don't have to. You can be yourself and follow what you're drawn to. And this work is a beautiful way to embody that. You know, staying in touch with yourself, staying in authenticity with yourself. And yeah, it's just a good practice for that.

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

It is, and to know that you know, I think it connects all of us that this has been themes that have run out through generations and generations, and finding that wisdom for us, I think is just it is so grounding. And I think, you know, as such HSPs, we can live in our heads a lot. So there's something really lovely about feeling grounded.

April Snow:

Yeah, it's true. Yeah, I mean, a couple things there. One that has gotten me through the last few years of just knowing there's these cycles that repeat, and I'm not the only one who's ever felt like this. And it's very soothing to my nervous system to know that. Yeah, and then just to do work that's tactile, right? Setting up an altar, yeah, finding those objects out in nature, putting up photo, whatever it is, reading through a book. Yeah, we need that balance.

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

All the senses, I think that fits perfectly with this work, is it you know, we read the myth, but we also think what comes alive in my body right now, or how do I connect with these symbols from a yeah, like from that tactile sensory experience, which I think is so powerful.

April Snow:

Yeah, exactly. Well, Juliet, so this has been a really rich conversation. I just really appreciate I can feel the excitement of the work, and it's really inspiring. And I mean, there's so much here for HSPs that I'm excited for people to dive into. And I know you have a ton of resources, more on the way. Yes. But I'll share everything in the show notes that you have so far. Your website, you have a new podcast coming out, Psyche Mates Mystic. Yeah, which is sounds incredible. Um, and you mentioned, you know, we talked about Persephone. You have a Persephone meditation for folks, a free meditation. So can you tell folks a little bit more about what that is and then how else can they work with you?

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

Yes, absolutely. So the meditation, you know, like I said, Persephone has been that archetype that has been, I'm just so passionate about Persephone. So I created a whole free meditation that really kind of brings you through descent and ascent where you connect with this archetype. You could connect with honoring your own grief, that darkness, that shadow, and then come into what feels alive and go through that inner journey, that inner ascent and integrate and honor those two parts. And it also includes some journaling, reflection questions, and also a deep dive into Persephone's myth and the symbols and how that can connect in the modern day in our own journey. So it's this really free resource because I just feel like there's something so grounding, and I just wanted to kind of put that out there and offer that and you know, have that for people. Yeah.

April Snow:

Oh, I love that. And that what a beautiful way for folks who have listened to this conversation to start practicing and trying it out, what it's like to work in that way. I'm definitely excited to try it because Persephone does seem so symbolic for sensitive people. I'll be curious to see what happens when I start to unfold the work, but what a perfect symbol.

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

Yes, I'm so excited to share it. And and I'm also a podcast episode is going to be coming out about Persephone, where me and my friend Liz, who's actually a therapist, turned priestess. She's talking all about the maiden aspect of Persephone, and I'm going into the shadow underworld part and how that's been my journey. And so it's a really fun episode. So that'll be coming up soon. And so people can check that out or work with me individually in therapy, where we can weave that into, you know, sex therapy, existential, all that good stuff.

April Snow:

Oh, yeah. And right now you're seeing clients in California?

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

I'm seeing clients in California virtually and do, you know, sex and couples therapy, focusing on trauma authenticity and work with mainly highly sensitive and neurodivergent clients and just working through all this human journey, journey things. Yes. I mean, yes.

April Snow:

And to have a guide through this is such an incredible gift. So I'll definitely share all of your resources in the show notes and please let me know about that episode.

Giulietta Madrigal-Pingol:

Yes, I will say it's um gonna be launching soon, so I'm excited to share it. Amazing.

April Snow:

Thanks so much for joining me and Julietta for today's conversation. I hope you'll start looking for meaningful symbols and stories in your daily travels that resonate for you and remind you that you're not alone. If you'd like help to get started with using myths and archetypes in your personal practice, you can watch Julieta's free Persephone meditation or listen to her new podcast. Links are in the show notes. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the Sensitive Stories podcast so you don't miss our upcoming conversations. Reviews and ratings are also helpful and appreciated. For behind the scenes content and more HSP resources, you can sign up for my email list or follow Sensitive Strengths on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Check out the show notes or sensitivestories.com for all the resources from today's episode. Thanks for listening.