70. The Secret to Unlocking Creative Flow with Gabriela Blandy

In this transformative episode, I sit down with Gabriela Blandy—writer, life coach, breathwork facilitator, and shamanic practitioner—to explore the deeper reasons behind creative resistance and procrastination. 

Gabriela reveals that most of us weren't taught that our dreams are our most precious possession, leading to automatic patterns of looking away from our creative urges. She explains how childhood conditioning creates physical tension in our bodies that literally blocks creative energy from flowing, and why traditional productivity tips often fail when deeper emotional and energetic wounds haven't been addressed. Through practical techniques like chakra-based body diagnostics, specific movement practices, and reconditioning journaling prompts, Gabriela offers accessible ways for writers to identify where they're holding tension and learn to welcome creative energy back into their bodies. 

This conversation goes beyond surface-level writing advice to address the root causes of creative blocks, helping writers understand that procrastination isn't about lack of commitment—it's about safety and the need to heal our relationship with creativity itself.

For more on The San Francisco Writers Conference, visit here.

For more on Gabriela: Website | Substack

Find more on Nicole : Website | Substack 

Transcript

THE WHOLE WRITERR EP 70 - The Secret to Unlocking Creative Flow with Gabriela Blandy

[00:00:00] Gabriela Blandy: Most of us are not taught that our dreams are the most important precious thing that we possess as humans. They are number one, but most of us are not taught that. So then what happens is we have this automatic, I'm gonna look away from the dream because nobody has taught me to give it my full attention.

[00:00:23] Gabriela Blandy: If we all truly knew who we were and we truly understood what creativity was. We would be creating, we would all be creating,

[00:00:41] Nicole Meier: welcome to the whole writer, a place where we talk about what it means to show up as a writer, not just a better writer or a more productive writer, or a published writer, but a whole one. Someone who's grounded in their voice, in their community, in their creative path, even when the world tells them to hustle, compare, or conform.

[00:01:02] Nicole Meier: I'm Nicole Meier, a multi published author and book coach who believes that nurturing the person behind the page is just as important as refining the words on it. Each week we'll explore the terrain of riding life with honesty, warmth, and practical wisdom, creating space for you to write from a place of wholeness rather than depletion.

[00:01:22] Nicole Meier: Whether you're drafting your first manuscript or publishing your fifth book, you'll find conversation and companionship for the journey here. So settle in, bring your questions and your curiosity, and let's discover what it means to write and live with authenticity and purpose.

[00:01:42] Nicole Meier: This episode is sponsored by the San Francisco Writers Conference. Whether you're just starting your writing journey or you're an established author, the San Francisco Writers Conference has something for everyone. But here's what makes it special. It's not just a conference, it's a community. You get year round engagement with masterclasses.

[00:02:02] Nicole Meier: Ask me anything. Sessions with industry pros and writing contests. Founded over two decades ago, the San Francisco Writers Conference has established itself as one of the most reputable writing conferences in the us. With high profile keynote speakers, agents and editors attending every year, it's an incredible opportunity to mix and mingle with the best in the business.

[00:02:26] Nicole Meier: Check out the San Francisco Writers Conference today and follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Blue Sky. Hello creatives. Welcome back to another episode of the Whole Writer. I am thrilled that you're joining me today because I have a special guest. I'm joined by Gabriela Blande to talk about something that's important to all writers, and that is the secret to unlocking creative flow.

[00:02:50] Nicole Meier: But before we welcome Gabriela, let me first share her bio. Gabriela Blande is an award-winning writer, qualified NLP and life coach Breathwork facilitator and chakra yin yoga teacher, as well as a shamanic practitioner and tree goddess. Love it. Welcome Gabriela. 

[00:03:10] Gabriela Blandy: Nicole, thank you for welcoming me. And I just wanna say, because I've tuned in to your podcast for many episodes, solo and interview episodes, and there is something about the way you deliver your content.

[00:03:27] Gabriela Blandy: I'm like, she sounds so real. And now having seen you behind the scenes, having heard your introduction, I'm just like, she is. She's real. She's doing it, and it's such a delight to be. The interviewee for this one. 

[00:03:41] Nicole Meier: Oh, thank you so much. And this is especially fun for me because we connected on Substack and I Adore Your Substack, which really blends all things creativity, spirituality, nature, which is very important to me.

[00:03:54] Nicole Meier: So we'll get into how to share where you are with listeners, but I do wanna tell everybody, please, if you don't already follow Wild Muse on Substack, because it really just feels like something that fills the creative well, so. This is really fun. We get to talk about all things creativity today.

[00:04:10] Nicole Meier: Absolutely. Yeah. I have a bunch of questions I'd love to get into with you, but first, since some of my listeners might be new to you, do you wanna share a little bit about your journey of being a writer, being a creative into where you are now, which is really kind of holding space for others as well?

[00:04:27] Gabriela Blandy: Yeah. Funnily enough, when you did your name change on your podcast, and I sensed your journey as being. More focused on craft, not that you weren't focused on the holistic picture, and then you were like, actually, I'm gonna bring in more of the whole writer as it's called. I could really relate to that because my journey started firstly as a writer, and then I took a job managing a retreat for writers.

[00:05:00] Gabriela Blandy: And I was seeing about 18 writers show up every week. We ran about 42 retreats a year. Oh my gosh. So I was seeing about 16 to 18 writers show up every week desperate to learn about the craft. And they were incredible retreats hosted by two published writers teaching all sorts of elements of craft. And I just had this feeling that something was missing.

[00:05:28] Gabriela Blandy: They had a question that wasn't being answered, and it was almost like the insatiability to be told how to structure, how to develop characters, how to manage dialogue. There was a different kind of need that was actually going on beneath the surface, and that's really where it started for me. And as you've probably experienced in your own life, when you have that question of like, what's the bigger picture?

[00:05:54] Gabriela Blandy: Or what am I missing? The answer shows up pretty quick. So we had a staff training day and I was asking the question, what is it these writers are struggling with and how can I help them without giving them advice? Because whenever I started to give advice, I could see them glaze over and I thought, this isn't it.

[00:06:14] Gabriela Blandy: And we had a staff training day and a woman showed up and she said, I'm a life coach. Life coaching is non advisory. And I was like, amazing. So we basically did a workshop on limiting beliefs, and I was like, oh, this is such a great place to start with writers. So I started with life coaching with limiting beliefs, and I ended up in the middle of the forest listening to the trees and learning about energy and creativity.

[00:06:48] Gabriela Blandy: So that was the start and the beginning. It is such a great point in my journey that you find me like where so many things have come together. 

[00:06:56] Nicole Meier: Wow, that is so inspiring. And I can only imagine that once you had that sort of aha moment, not only did the writers not glaze over anymore, but you also probably had this snowball type of effect where you realize, this is exactly the spot I wanna be in.

[00:07:12] Nicole Meier: And then suddenly. All these thoughts and inspirations and ideas open to you of how you could reach creatives in a completely different way. Is that right? 

[00:07:23] Gabriela Blandy: Yeah. And also very much in the way that you talk about your work as getting to be the person that you wished that you'd had. Yes, it very much felt that way for me.

[00:07:34] Gabriela Blandy: I was really modeling my ideal potential client on all of the things that I wish someone had been able to help me with. And what was so interesting is when I did my life coaching training, there was a part of me that was like, this is so simple, really. I'm just gonna ask these questions and fireworks are gonna go off.

[00:07:56] Gabriela Blandy: But I remember coming back to the retreat and saying to my boss, I would like to run one life coaching workshop a week. And I did it in a group. So I asked the questions and people journaled their answers. And I must have run this workshop over a hundred times in the duration that I was there at the retreat.

[00:08:18] Gabriela Blandy: And the first question was always, what's your dream? And without a doubt, there was at least one person in that room when I asked that question, who started to cry? And that really signposted to me. What it was about creativity and what really the struggle was about. There was something trying to come through and it was painful and scary and upsetting, and I was like, I am gonna make it my mission to try to figure this out.

[00:08:51] Nicole Meier: Incredible. I almost felt like I, like my chest is I feel an ache in my chest. I almost felt like I was gonna well up when you said every time there was at least one person that started to cry because we ignore that little intuitive voice inside of us that says, there's something more. I have a story to tell.

[00:09:12] Nicole Meier: I've lost my voice, whatever it is. And you were able to give people permission to think about that. I 

[00:09:18] Gabriela Blandy: think that's such a powerful word to say we ignore because in so many ways it's right. But I also want to say that it's almost like a little bit harsh on ourselves to use that word. And as part of my NLP training language is everything.

[00:09:39] Gabriela Blandy: So for me, like when I'm being interviewed, just to pick a word and be like, let's talk about this for half an hour, but. It can be so hard to say, you know, why am I ignoring this? I can't believe I'm ignoring this. But it's to understand that the ignoring is happening in the body without us even being aware of it.

[00:10:00] Gabriela Blandy: It, it's the body choosing safety, that's all. 

[00:10:04] Nicole Meier: Yes, 

[00:10:06] Gabriela Blandy: because most of us are not taught that our dreams are the most important precious thing that we possess as humans. They are number one, but most of us are not taught that. So then what happens is we have this automatic, I'm gonna look away from the dream because nobody has taught me to give it my full attention.

[00:10:30] Nicole Meier: That's really powerful. That's really powerful. I just wanna pause so people can absorb that for me. That's actually a beautiful transition. The first question I wanted to ask you, as you said, many of us learned early messages about creativity. Maybe that's, it's not practical or it's only for talented people.

[00:10:50] Nicole Meier: So can you say a little more, walk us through how these old conditioning patterns actually show up in creative work today, and what are some of the most common ways our past programming kind of sabotages our creative urges? 

[00:11:04] Gabriela Blandy: What I love is that word conditioning is becoming a lot more popular. I dunno about when you were doing your training, Nicole, but when I was doing my training, if I wanted to use the word conditioning, I had to make sure I was talking to a life coach.

[00:11:17] Gabriela Blandy: 'cause everybody else would be like, what are you talking about? Yes. But now it's like people are really beginning to understand this idea that we can be taught beliefs and opinions and values by other people and that that's gonna shape our thinking. I wanna take it a little bit deeper because when it comes to creativity, what's happening here is firstly, we are not being taught what creativity is.

[00:11:44] Gabriela Blandy: So that in itself is a form of conditioning or like deconditioning. We've got this flow of something incredibly magical that passes through all of us, but we are being deconditioned to it. We are not being taught what it is, how to feel it, how to respond to it. On top of that, we are then taught that creativity isn't gonna make us any money.

[00:12:10] Gabriela Blandy: That creativity can get us laughed at, creativity can get us sent to detention. That creativity can get us bullied. Creativity can get people jealous of us. So we are taught lots of negative messaging around the thing that we're not even taught about in the first place. So we've got this mystical thing.

[00:12:31] Gabriela Blandy: And our body has a sense that it's wrong, it's bad, it's something to be afraid of. And then as writers, we feel it. We sense something moving through us, something that wants to express and we are afraid of it, but it's happening on such an unconscious level. So the way that it shows up first and foremost, because we don't.

[00:12:57] Gabriela Blandy: Understand what creativity is, and we are not taught how to have a relationship with it. The first way that it shows up, this conditioning around it is patterns of procrastination. We want to follow a dream, but we don't. So what's happening here? The result of our conditioning we've been taught, do something else other than take action on this creative urge.

[00:13:25] Gabriela Blandy: So a lot of the time that's what's happening with procrastination. It's not necessarily that we're putting the writing off. It's that we've learned this is what I do when I feel this creative urge. So some of that is to do with the conditioning that we received as women, and some of that conditioning is generational.

[00:13:47] Gabriela Blandy: So for women, it's keep house. It's be a really great wife. I can't tell you how many clients of mine are like, I don't get it. I wanna write a book, but I'm just cleaning my house. That's so relatable 

[00:14:02] Nicole Meier: to everyone listening, 

[00:14:04] Gabriela Blandy: and so. There's this like, why am I procrastinating? Why am I procrastinating? But the question is, can I observe the action that I automatically take when I want to be creative?

[00:14:17] Gabriela Blandy: That is very empowering because procrastination gives you a sense of powerlessness. I can't do anything about it. I want to write, but I can't stop hoovering versus, ah. My body and brain understand that when I have the feeling to create, I put that energy into creating a beautiful home. So the conditioning really shows us here's how we were conditioned to behave in response to our creativity.

[00:14:47] Gabriela Blandy: So whether that's to shut it down, whether that's to cook and clean. Whether that's to scroll, whether that's to binge watch Netflix, all of these is how we've been conditioned to respond to our creativity. Firstly, because we weren't taught what it was, and secondly, because we were taught it's not a good 

[00:15:10] Nicole Meier: option to choose.

[00:15:12] Nicole Meier: Right. I think that that is cutting deeply to a lot of us listening because. On a surface level, we understand, yes, when I don't wanna sit down to the work to the page, I'm gonna go do the dishwasher or whatever it is. But really you're touching on a much deeper level is can we recognize the conditioning and where this came from, from the first place?

[00:15:32] Nicole Meier: I don't think many of us have stopped to think about that and really reflect on it. 

[00:15:38] Gabriela Blandy: It also connects to our conditioning. Tells us who we are, but that's not who we are. So I suppose the more correct way of saying it would be our conditioning tells us more about the person who's giving us the comment.

[00:15:57] Gabriela Blandy: So let's say I'm growing up in a household and I'm writing stories, and I'm drawing pictures, and my father says to me, you are never gonna make any money from that. I take that as personal. I take that as I'm not good enough. My urges are unsafe. Maybe this is something to be embarrassed about, versus, ah, this is telling me about my father.

[00:16:19] Gabriela Blandy: This is telling me that he's afraid of his creativity. He doesn't understand his creativity, but of course, we are too young to have that rational thinking. So then we grow up with this. False perspective of who we are. So that's also another layer to the conditioning. I think it can be really common for writers to say procrastinate.

[00:16:41] Gabriela Blandy: 'cause that's what we touched on before. And to think this is because I'm not committed or this is because I'm not good enough, or I'm, I'm lazy. But what's happening here is we are the result of this conditioning that has given us a false perspective of ourselves. If we all truly knew who we were and we truly understood what creativity was we would be creating, we would all be creating.

[00:17:08] Gabriela Blandy: So again, the question to ask is, what false misunderstanding do I have of myself versus, oh, it's because I'm not good enough versus I incorrectly believe that I'm not good enough, and that just gives space for the truth to come through. 

[00:17:26] Nicole Meier: Wow. What a wonderful journal prompt too, to just sit with those questions, really sit with them, and I know that you like to bring things back into the body too.

[00:17:36] Nicole Meier: So can we stay on this thread of talking about the resistance and the procrastination, and maybe talk about what does it feel like in your body? Because honestly, Gabriela, when I'm listening to you, I have this sort of feeling, I don't know if it's tightness or something in my chest. That feels like my body is trying to tell me something.

[00:17:53] Nicole Meier: So can you talk a little bit about that? 

[00:17:56] Gabriela Blandy: Hmm. And I love it. 'cause you, you are like pointing to it here. So it's in between your heart and your throat, isn't it? Yes. Yeah. Are you, can we use that as an example? Sure. Great. Thank you. Yeah. So as you mentioned in my bio, I teach chakra and yoga. Yes. What I love about the chakra system.

[00:18:17] Gabriela Blandy: It's almost like a diagnostic for creativity. If we understand at its most simple, that creativity is the experience of energy flowing through the body and the energy comes up through our roots, just like a plant. So that might be the base of the spine, it might be the feet. People experience it differently, so it might come up through the feet, through the legs.

[00:18:43] Gabriela Blandy: It might just come straight up into the spine. Then it comes through. If we're a woman, it comes through that womb area or the bladder area. So those are our waters. That's a real creative center. Then it comes up through our solar plexus, into our heart, and at this point, the energy is really powered with our emotions.

[00:19:08] Gabriela Blandy: It's powered with our will. So it's, it's ready to emerge. It's a really common area to feel that block just above the heart or in the throat because it's a very effective way to stop the creative energy from continuing to flow. So that feeling that you are experiencing is just showing there's a little bit of attention here, rather than an allowing of that energy to flow through.

[00:19:39] Gabriela Blandy: Now, as we talked about earlier, whatever the messaging was, your ideas are too much. Your ideas aren't good enough. Like whatever the messaging is, there's going to be an impact in the body to just try to hold back that creative urge. Because as young children, we are feeling that energy. Yes, I believe we are just expressing it.

[00:20:02] Gabriela Blandy: Left, right, and center. It's coming out in all directions. And as children, depending on the messaging we get, we will start to contract in different places in the body. That's why the chakra system is such an amazing diagnostic. I can't tell you how many people have said to me, I had messaging when I was younger that my desires were naughty or rude.

[00:20:30] Gabriela Blandy: And then I'll say to them, do you struggle with digestive issues and lower back problem? And they're like, oh my God. Like how do you know that? Because I know that in order to suppress desire, we have to clench around the stomach and around the lower back. 'cause that's where we feel desire the most. If we have messaging that talks about being too sensitive.

[00:20:55] Gabriela Blandy: Or our love is being rejected, or we are trying to give love, but it's being laughed at, or we're not receiving love, or we are talking about the way that we feel and that's not being well received. We'll often find that we've got tension around the throat, the chest area, and around the heart area. We might notice that we have some breathing challenges.

[00:21:17] Gabriela Blandy: We might notice we've got asthma. So again, like what's so beautiful about the chakra system, it starts to really help me diagnose A, the physical ailments, the more mental and emotional wounds, and we start to work through both of them. So neck problems, neck stiffness, really, really common amongst writers.

[00:21:41] Gabriela Blandy: Because if we just put our neck slightly out of alignment, we are just restricting that massive creative flow. So we're controlling a little bit. We're toning it down a bit. So lots of neck issues. Other symptoms in the body that can be really common are feelings of lethargy. So if we come right back to what I said, creativity is the flow of the energy coming into the body.

[00:22:07] Gabriela Blandy: So a very effective way to resist that creativity because of fear or 'cause we're not gonna make any money from it, is to just not receive it at all. So that can happen with lethargy, like the energy is coming into the body. The first thing to do, like what happens when we feel energy? We wanna get up, we wanna move around, right?

[00:22:28] Gabriela Blandy: But if we respond to that by cutting it off, then we're immediately gonna feel lethargy. 'cause the energy isn't even coming into the body. And you might experience this with your own clients. You've got writers who say like, I really wanna write, but then just suddenly I'm really exhausted. And that's a sign that they're just, you know, tightening the tap, feeling it off.

[00:22:49] Gabriela Blandy: No energies coming into the body at all. 

[00:22:52] Nicole Meier: Right, and that makes perfect sense. But they will look at it as, I have too many demands on my life and this is why I have no energy, or I can't focus. They'll try and point to a different source. But that makes so much sense. 

[00:23:07] Gabriela Blandy: And actually you've touched on something really important, the too many demands, because that can be another counterpoint.

[00:23:15] Gabriela Blandy: If you remember earlier, I was saying rather than give ourselves a hard time because we are procrastinating, it's to look what am I using the energy for? So when someone talks about too many demands, I immediately understand it's safer for them to give their energy to other people. If I use it on my family, there's not gonna be any left for me, and then I'll be too tired to write the book.

[00:23:40] Gabriela Blandy: And that's safe. They're working effectively, just not effectively for their dreams. 

[00:23:45] Nicole Meier: That makes so much sense, and I know that people listening right now are kind of, you know, exhaling saying, okay, I know this is what I'm dealing with now I have to really face it. I've shared this before is I have people who've been on my email list or my newsletter list for years saying I'm almost ready to write a book, or I'm almost ready to get it back to the work, but not quite yet.

[00:24:08] Nicole Meier: I'm so busy, I have so many demands, but I also know this is the person who's constantly on social media constantly scrolling, constantly giving their energy away to other things, and I just think, oh my gosh, if you could just re-channel that energy, just think of all you could do. Yeah. 

[00:24:26] Gabriela Blandy: It's hard, isn't it, to witness someone from the outside perspective with the knowledge that you and I have as creativity coaches, as book coaches.

[00:24:38] Gabriela Blandy: I mean, you are on your fifth book now, right? My fourth published last year. Your fourth published last year. So you really know a lot about what it takes. It's so easy to witness somebody and have a sense of knowing where they're at, knowing the struggle that they are contending with. I think something really shifted for me when I did my breath work training, when I really understood, yes, we have to understand this.

[00:25:07] Gabriela Blandy: At the mental level, to some extent, we have to understand, okay, if I'm gonna give my energy to my husband and I'm gonna be supporting his career, there's not gonna be enough energy for mine. Like I understand that intellectually, but we've also got to understand that for now, that is the safest option.

[00:25:27] Gabriela Blandy: It's too scary. The body isn't able to take the energy back for itself. Because it's so easy to give ourselves a hard time. Oh my God, that was another day that I spent on social media versus, okay, it's still not safe enough for me to take back my time or to take back my energy. And I think that was a huge shift for me to understand some people.

[00:25:54] Gabriela Blandy: Yes, they can come and they can get the intel, they can get the 10 tips to productivity, and they can put it into action because they don't have possibly the emotional or the energetic wounding that other people have. But for some people, it isn't enough to know the 10 productivity hacks because if their body doesn't feel safe enough to take those hacks, it's not going to.

[00:26:21] Gabriela Blandy: And it helped me understand why it had taken me so long to heal and to really take claim of my creativity. So yeah, I just wanted to add that in because I know that there will be people listening, being like, oh my God, she's talking about me. And it's like, yeah, if that's you and you've been on Nicole's list for two years and you really wanna reach out to her.

[00:26:49] Gabriela Blandy: It will be safe to do that. It will be 

[00:26:51] Nicole Meier: safe. Right. Well, I so appreciate you bringing that up because it's really important to know the difference between, like I brought it up earlier at the top of the call, the surface level sort of tips and hacks and things, and just the surface level. Why, why we're facing resistance versus going deeper.

[00:27:09] Nicole Meier: And now that you've touched on some of those reasons, the deep work that we have to do to identify the root causes of things. People are listening thinking, okay, if I go through all that, I would love some suggestions on how to shift my perspective. So this is a beautiful transition into my next question.

[00:27:28] Nicole Meier: Now that we've recognized the creative resistance, can you talk a little bit about some practices or some things you would encourage people to think about when they do wanna shift their perspective? And maybe there's a technique or two you wanna share. 

[00:27:41] Gabriela Blandy: Mm, thank you. Yeah, I. That phrase creative resistance, it can really help to understand at its most simple, what's happening in that moment is a resisting of the energy that wants to flow through you.

[00:28:01] Gabriela Blandy: Because we can get tied up in a knot of like, why am I resisting? Or, I know why I'm resisting, but I'm still resisting. But if we understand, ah. There's energy that wants to flow through me. That's just how it is. It flows through me. It flows through you. It flows through trees, it flows through water. It's life force, and it's just flowing everywhere unless we block it or we resist it.

[00:28:32] Gabriela Blandy: One of those ways we do that is by creating a little micro tension in the body, just in the way that if you squeeze a garden hose, the water's not gonna flow through. So I think when we understand it on that level, it's like, oh. So it's not about taking another course on how to develop emotionality in characters.

[00:28:53] Gabriela Blandy: And I'm not saying there isn't a place for that, but I'm saying if you've taken. A dozen mini courses on a dozen aspects of craft, and you're still not writing, then look at the fact that you might be resisting the energy that just wants to flow through you and turn you into a creative God or a creative goddess.

[00:29:14] Gabriela Blandy: So that's the shifting of the perspective. It's not, I'm not good enough. I need another book, or I need another course. I would certainly say it's always good to have someone supporting you. So in terms of like people getting in touch with you, it's like, yeah, have someone keeping you accountable, have someone asking powerful questions, but you don't necessarily need to take another course on how to structure your novel if you've already taken one.

[00:29:41] Gabriela Blandy: So the shifting of the perspective is in what way am I preventing this energy from moving through me? Then we can start to do a little bit of a diagnostic. I've got a really interesting one that I like to do with clients, so I'll see if I can describe it in a visual way. So you're gonna lie on your back and you're going to straighten your right leg, and you want the toes to be pointing upwards so the leg isn't sneaking out to the side, so the toes are pointing up to the ceiling.

[00:30:14] Gabriela Blandy: Then your left leg, you're gonna bring the knee towards you. So the leg is at a right angle. So the thigh is pointing up, and then the knee to the foot is perpendicular to the ceiling. You're gonna hold that bent leg very simply. You're gonna do clockwise and anti-clockwise circles with your ankle. Two minutes on each side.

[00:30:39] Gabriela Blandy: Now, quite often what happens is we notice pain, discomfort, it becomes exhausting. That can be a really useful diagnostic to say there's little micro tensions in your ankles, and that's preventing the energy from flowing up the body. I. So something like that someone can do and they can be like, oh, I'm actually experiencing this.

[00:31:03] Gabriela Blandy: I'm experiencing where in my body there's a micro tension, because a very simple ankle rotating activity is exhausting me. Now again, notice if the mind is saying, well, it's a really tiring activity. I haven't moved my ankles for age. It's like the mind will justify it, but. As you said earlier when you were talking about this tension here between your heart and your throat, the body is trying to communicate.

[00:31:28] Gabriela Blandy: The body is saying, Hey, you are holding me in tension, like ease up, let go. Another diagnostic, and this was something that I could relate to, is notice how often you catch yourself holding your muscles as if you need to go to the toilet. That can be another really common one. So I had to work with this for quite some time, and it was very strange when I first discovered it.

[00:31:55] Gabriela Blandy: This was in one of my first chakra yoga trainings. And I was like, I do that all the time. I'm like holding as if I need the toilet. And when I started to relax, there was this feeling of like, oh my God, what's gonna happen? But I was like, there's nothing in my bladder. So that was a way for me, my conditioning earlier on was like, you are too much.

[00:32:16] Gabriela Blandy: So I was really holding myself there, and when I started to relax that area, oh my goodness, so much shifted for me, Nicole. It was ridiculous how much shifted. So learning to relax in that area can also be another really nice tool. Spending time in the bath as well because water and flow can really help recondition the body to let go and to receive the energy that wants to flow through it.

[00:32:49] Gabriela Blandy: So that will be the third one I'll give. We looked at the two lower chakras because those are actually the most common to be blocked. The ankle holding the toilet muscles. So the third one is, it could be in the bath, it could be in a river, it could be in water. But you are allowing yourself to be in the water and to be totally relaxed.

[00:33:11] Gabriela Blandy: So it could be that if you are in a pool, you want to either hold onto the side or put some kind of flotation device on. And again, you're just noticing what happens when I try to be completely relaxed in water. And the micro tensions show up a lot more. Like you might notice a bit of activity in the shoulder.

[00:33:30] Gabriela Blandy: The stomach clenching the heart beginning to pound, and again, that just shows you what happens when you try to relax your full body. So those three practices on their own, moving the ankles. Always relaxing the toilet muscles, and if you think that you are relaxing them, it's to clench them and then relax them, clench them, and then relax them, and then spending time in water to just allow yourself to float.

[00:33:59] Gabriela Blandy: Those can be really lovely ways to sort of add on to the shifting of the perspective, how am I preventing this energy that wants to move through me? Oh, 

[00:34:08] Nicole Meier: I love that. I can relate to two of them very strongly. I have a good friend who's an energy healer, and she was saying for years that I was holding everything up in my head and I'm not allowing anything to flow through to my lower chakras.

[00:34:22] Nicole Meier: And she taught me a trick to breathe as if I was breathing through the soles of my feet and then see if I can visualize it going through my entire body. And that always gets me outta my head. And then That's lovely. The water thing. I know so many people listening can relate to whether you're in the shower or a pool.

[00:34:37] Nicole Meier: I mean, my fourth story idea came to me just by floating in water. So the second you said that, I said, oh yeah, I can relate to that for sure. 

[00:34:47] Gabriela Blandy: Oh, that's lovely. Oh, I love that. That came to you. And is that the one about the books? 

[00:34:52] Nicole Meier: It is, yes. Yeah, yeah. Oh, that's so great. Those are really, really good. And a lot of times when we share techniques or ideas for people, it's hard for them to visualize themselves doing that.

[00:35:04] Nicole Meier: But each of those three things that you mentioned, I could visualize myself doing that. I know listeners can visualize themselves doing that. It's not, you know, stand on your head for 10 hours a day and you know it's really accessible techniques. That makes sense. 

[00:35:18] Gabriela Blandy: It's funny actually, because if someone had said to me.

[00:35:21] Gabriela Blandy: 10 years ago or 20 years ago, you are gonna be a yoga teacher. I would've been like, not gonna happen. Why is that? Because I would look at people doing yoga and sort of twisting themselves up into these incredible contortions, and I would just feel so far from that. And it's kind of ironic 'cause yoga really is about preparing the body and managing the body so energy can flow through it, but it's become more of a keep fit class in many respects.

[00:35:55] Gabriela Blandy: But there was always something in me that was fascinated with movement in the body and. Tiny small movements as a way to heal, and I could never really explain that. I was like, this is kind of bizarre. When I was working with life coaching clients, I would always be noticing how they were moving their body, and let's say a client was describing something to me and they had their hands clenched into fists and they were kind of holding their fists in front of their neck.

[00:36:27] Gabriela Blandy: I would notice that. Then I would say to them, what happens when you repeat what you just said to me? But you open your hands like they're butterflies flying out into the room. And they would do that and they'd start crying and they'd say, oh my God, I feel so completely liberated. So I had the sense of like, something wants to come through me.

[00:36:46] Gabriela Blandy: That's about noticing how people are in their body and kind of giving them mini movement prescriptions that have nothing to do with flexibility or strength. And then I just happened to be on a chakra yoga experience and I was like, this is it. Because it's such a random form of yoga, there's very little asanas.

[00:37:09] Gabriela Blandy: It's much more about just noticing the body and doing kind of random movements. So it's almost like I knew about that form of yoga. In my body or from another life and I had to find it to then realize this is exactly the sort of movement prescriptions that I've been giving my clients anyway. So yes, I think what's so beautiful about it is it is really accessible.

[00:37:35] Nicole Meier: I just love that what you've done is not only give people prescriptions, I would say to tap into what's going on a deeper level, giving them a little freedom to play around, but you're also giving them something to explore. On their own. They don't have to be an expert at it. They don't have to have a certification to do it.

[00:37:53] Nicole Meier: This is something they can tap into for themselves and that's really powerful. 

[00:37:57] Gabriela Blandy: I love that you mention that, like the personal side of it, because actually when the movement comes from the client first, it's significantly more powerful. Like, yes, I can design a chakra yoga class around the fear of expressing emotion.

[00:38:17] Gabriela Blandy: I know the postures, I know the affirmations, I know the sounds to make. But if I'm with a client and we're working on that exact same thing and we're going nice and deep, at some point I can say to the client, how would it feel to be free? And they will make a gesture. And that gesture then becomes the prescription.

[00:38:40] Gabriela Blandy: So when we get to that level of work, the body is waiting to show you what it needs to come out of its holding pattern. And then it's like, I saw it, I noticed it. It amazes me how many times a client isn't even aware that they just made that gesture. 

[00:38:56] Nicole Meier: Oh, I fully believe that. I'm envisioning it in my mind.

[00:39:00] Nicole Meier: Yes. That's incredible. That's incredible. Okay, so we've talked about the resistance, we've talked about some preconditioning. We've talked about some nice techniques, accessible techniques. Now I love you're starting to talk about how people can work with you. So let's go through this and maybe you can share a little bit of what it might look like if someone worked with you.

[00:39:20] Nicole Meier: I know you also, besides the yoga, in addition to the yoga, you have some wonderful journaling, prompt ideas and things like that. So do you wanna talk a little bit more about that? 

[00:39:29] Gabriela Blandy: Yeah, I'm really glad that you mentioned the journaling. 'cause we touched on that earlier as well, didn't we? Yes. The journaling comes up in my group work as well as in my one-to-one work.

[00:39:43] Gabriela Blandy: And the reason I love doing journaling is because very specifically there's a kind of journaling that I teach. Which is reconditioning. So we are coming back to this like redoing what we were incorrectly taught. It's reconditioning us to be curious about what wants to come out of us, and I think that in itself can be really powerful because we've got this energy that wants to move through us.

[00:40:14] Gabriela Blandy: That's the source of creativity when we experience that energy. We want to express it almost like the source code of the energy moving through us is to manifest. So that's why we create, we feel the energy and we're like, I wanna turn this into a song, or I wanna turn this into a story. And often there's a sense of, I want this to touch somebody.

[00:40:41] Gabriela Blandy: I want it to impact somebody. When we understand that's energy, that is the pure love source code of this energy. It's moving through all of us, inspiring all of us to create, to then touch other people. I. If we all remembered that that's our true conditioning, if we all remembered that, my God, can you imagine the place the world would be, it would be so 

[00:41:08] Nicole Meier: beautiful.

[00:41:09] Nicole Meier: Yes. 

[00:41:10] Gabriela Blandy: We'd all be dancing and singing and just in this wonderful co-creative journey of I'm touching you, you are touching me. We're touching each other. So what the journaling starts to do. Is it invites you to be curious about what's coming through you, what's moving through you, and it also starts to help you notice what's getting in the way of that.

[00:41:36] Gabriela Blandy: So for example, let's say I ask a question, which is, how might you welcome creative energy into your body? You said earlier like, oh, these are great prompts that you could just sit with. So I'm like, yeah, these journaling prompts are not a kind of one and you are done. They're the kind of thing that you just wanna sit with day after day for at least 28 days.

[00:42:00] Gabriela Blandy: So I start to journal, how might I welcome creative energy into my body the first day? I might be like, I haven't got the first clue. What an amazing piece of intel. 'cause if we come back to the principle that creative resistance is I'm preventing that energy from coming in, then I'm like, oh, I don't even know how to let it in.

[00:42:22] Gabriela Blandy: Oh, thank God. I thought that I was just a really crap writer. No, I just dunno how to let the creative energy into my body. So first of all, in our response to the prompt, it's giving us a huge amount of intel. And then the prompt is asking you, do you want to keep going or are you going to allow this first roadblock?

[00:42:42] Gabriela Blandy: And that's the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. If I come to the prompt and I say, I dunno how to allow creative energy into the body, and that means I'll never know how, then we know that the mindset is fixed versus, oh, I remember Gabriela said, this is just telling you how you are now I.

[00:43:02] Gabriela Blandy: So then we can start to bring our imagination in. Well, if I don't know how, how might I imagine allowing it into my body? Well, what if my toenails were like little doors and I imagined opening up my toenails and seeing the energy flowing in? And that to me is one of the saddest parts of our conditioning.

[00:43:24] Gabriela Blandy: 'cause we are told, oh, imagination. It's just make believe. It's something that isn't creditable. But I like to remind people, journaling teaches you that imagination can make you believe whatever it is you want to believe. 

[00:43:41] Nicole Meier: That's so powerful. 

[00:43:43] Gabriela Blandy: Yeah. When you look at it like that, the journaling is inviting you to help yourself make believe in the version of the life that is tapping you on the shoulder, asking you to be lived.

[00:43:56] Gabriela Blandy: So I love working with journaling prompts. If I'm running a workshop, they're very curated to start to relax the mind, they start to relax the body and they start to really, through the writing and through the use of the imagination, they start to get that energy flowing. They start to bring inside. And then if I'm working one to one, what tends to happen is at the end of the session, 'cause I've been watching the physical movements of my client, I've been listening.

[00:44:24] Gabriela Blandy: I can hear the journaling prompts within them that want to be asked. So I'll then hand over between one and five and I'll say, explore these every day until we meet. You know, that's my prescription. The side effects are terrific. You don't have to go to the pharmacy to do it. You just need to open your notebook.

[00:44:46] Gabriela Blandy: Yeah, that's what's so interesting about One-to-one is I will hear the journaling prompts that are going to set that client free, that are gonna give them the creative freedom that they are craving. And it's always really understanding that main principle, which is what can we do to help the client rebuild that relationship with their creativity?

[00:45:10] Gabriela Blandy: That's really the core of it. 

[00:45:12] Nicole Meier: And trust in themselves. I mean, just you giving that, I keep using the word permission, but permission back to them to trust themselves, to tap into their inner voice, to sit with their own journal prompts and see what kind of fun answers they get. They may have been so afraid to trust themselves before, and then you just saying, this is how we're gonna do it together.

[00:45:31] Nicole Meier: And I mean, it's just so empowering. 

[00:45:35] Gabriela Blandy: Yeah, and I love that you say permission again because. Most of us didn't get that. Most of us didn't have someone looking over our shoulders saying, yeah, that's so silly. I love it. You can be as silly as you wanna be. Or, yeah, that's just insanely creative. I don't know what you're gonna do with that idea, but oh my God.

[00:45:55] Gabriela Blandy: Like, what a great idea. Like that permission, if we had that. The irony is if we had that permission right from the start, we'd all be millionaires from our creativity. 

[00:46:07] Nicole Meier: I feel like everyone listening is just on the edge of their seat because this is what so many of us needed to hear today. So can you tell listeners how they can find you, how they can work with you, and all of the good information?

[00:46:20] Gabriela Blandy: Thanks, Nicole. Yeah, I. They can find me over on Substack, which is how you and I connected, and actually I run a nature writing prize on Substack, so that's open at the moment. We've got prizes for first, second, and third place, but we also do run a long list as well. That's been judged by a really great UK literary agent this year.

[00:46:45] Gabriela Blandy: So that is very much looking at combining stories of nature and personal healing. So they can be fictional stories or they can be nonfictional stories. And the word limit is 2000. And when does this go? Until, when is the deadline? The deadline is September the 15th. 

[00:47:04] Nicole Meier: Okay. I'll tell all my clients. 

[00:47:07] Gabriela Blandy: Yeah. So I launched the prize last year because.

[00:47:11] Gabriela Blandy: There wasn't a space that was recognizing nature writing that talked about the magical connection that we can have with nature, the healing that can take place in nature. I just didn't see any places that were really offering credibility to people who are writing about personal development and nature.

[00:47:33] Gabriela Blandy: So I thought, well, you're meant to start it yourself if you can't see it. And last year's prize, oh my gosh. The entries was just so moving. I was like, I'm not alone. I'm not the only person who's having this wonderful experience in nature. It was such a great establishment of a lovely community. So that's all happening over on Substack for Wild Muse.

[00:47:56] Gabriela Blandy: Okay. I'm just in the final month of my group program, so I won't be starting another group program now until 2026. So the group program combines my teaching around safety and creativity. So that's looking at the nervous system and a lot of the wounding and the conditioning that's shut us down. We have a chakra yoga session every month, and we have a breathwork session every month, and that runs from January until July, so it'll start up again next year.

[00:48:31] Gabriela Blandy: But I do have an online retreat coming up, so my online retreat all about the dream. Why it hasn't been safe to dream, what's shut the dream down, how we can be better dreamers. It's three weekends. They're standalone, but I highly recommend coming on the full journey. Okay, so for that, the best thing for people to do is to subscribe to the Substack.

[00:48:57] Gabriela Blandy: 'cause I'm gonna start, this is actually the first mention I've given of it this year. So I'll start talking about that next month. 

[00:49:05] Nicole Meier: Okay. 

[00:49:06] Gabriela Blandy: Perfect. And then I do have a couple of one-to-one slots. At the moment. I've really minimized my one-to-one work just 'cause the group program has been so effective. But yeah, there are a couple of one-to-one slots and those always find the right people actually.

[00:49:22] Gabriela Blandy: Yeah. It's not funny how that works. People just know. Yeah. So if anyone's like actually the kind of bespoke. I like the idea that this woman is gonna notice the language I'm using and the way I'm moving my body and she's gonna set me free. 

[00:49:38] Nicole Meier: Absolutely. You cannot get that in a mass program with 300 people on a Zoom call.

[00:49:44] Nicole Meier: I keep trying to tell people that, 'cause they're signing up for these massive, impersonal programs and, but they want individual attention. I keep saying, okay, well you have to seek someone who's like-minded and you feel connected to. 

[00:49:58] Gabriela Blandy: I dunno about you, Nicole, but I never did. Even if the content of a group program was great, if there were too many people.

[00:50:07] Gabriela Blandy: It wasn't right for my sensitive soul. I always needed to find a small container. I do love group and I've always kept my group small for that very reason, because I will feel the group, but if there's more than two dozen people in the group, then I stop being able to feel them. I 

[00:50:24] Nicole Meier: agree 

[00:50:25] Gabriela Blandy: with you a hundred percent.

[00:50:26] Gabriela Blandy: Yeah. That's not what I do. Like for me, I need to sense the person. If I stop sensing them, then I know that that's not what I'm here for. 

[00:50:34] Nicole Meier: I totally agree. I. Gabrielle, this was an incredible conversation. I could have talked to you for four hours. I would've been happy for that. I know that my listeners will be very eager to sign up for all of the good things that come through your newsletter, and I know some of 'em are probably taking notes as they listen right now.

[00:50:52] Nicole Meier: So thank you so much for joining us. This was just a treat. 

[00:50:56] Gabriela Blandy: Thank you for having me, Nicole, and thank you for your deep listening. Oh, and your really juicy questions, like you really just laid it all out for me, so I really appreciate the space that you held today. Good. Oh my gosh. Well, 

[00:51:11] Nicole Meier: thank you listeners for tuning in, and thank you for just being here through the whole conversation because to me this was just a gem.

[00:51:19] Nicole Meier: I will see everybody next time on the whole writer.

[00:51:27] Nicole Meier: If you want to check out my coaching programs for fiction writers, visit nicolemeier.com. That's M-E-I-E-R. And if you like this episode, I'd love you to take a minute to leave a rating and review for this podcast. This will help more writers like you to discover the show. And to get going on their writing journey.

[00:51:47] Nicole Meier: Thanks so much for listening. Until next time, happy writing everyone.