55155 In this enlightening episode, Eddie Isin sits down with Beth Nuesser, a certified yoga therapist with a rich background in holistic healing practices. Beth shares her journey from a diverse career background into the world of yoga therapy, where she combines ancient wisdom with modern science to offer personalized healing experiences. This episode dives into the transformative power of yoga therapy, breath work, and meditation, and how these practices can offer profound healing for trauma, anxiety, depression, and beyond.
Show Notes:
[00:00] Introduction
[02:40] Beth’s Personal Journey into Yoga Therapy
[08:55] The Spiritual and Therapeutic Journey
[13:01] Practical Applications of Yoga Therapy
[18:22] Getting Started with Yoga Therapy
[25:34] Beyond the Practice: Yoga Therapy’s Broader Applications
[33:36] Measuring Healing and Progress
[41:48] Expanding Horizons: Beth’s Work with Autistic Children
[51:38] Misconceptions about Yoga and Yoga Therapy
Resources Mentioned:
Contact Information:
Subscribe to Transform Your Future Newsletter for personal development tips and information to Reinvent & Dominate your industry: http://transformyourfuture.com
55155 In this enlightening episode, Eddie Isin sits down with Beth Nuesser, a certified yoga therapist with a rich background in holistic healing practices. Beth shares her journey from a diverse career background into the world of yoga therapy, where she combines ancient wisdom with modern science to offer personalized healing experiences. This episode dives into the transformative power of yoga therapy, breath work, and meditation, and how these practices can offer profound healing for trauma, anxiety, depression, and beyond.
Show Notes:
[00:00] Introduction
[02:40] Beth’s Personal Journey into Yoga Therapy
[08:55] The Spiritual and Therapeutic Journey
[13:01] Practical Applications of Yoga Therapy
[18:22] Getting Started with Yoga Therapy
[25:34] Beyond the Practice: Yoga Therapy’s Broader Applications
[33:36] Measuring Healing and Progress
[41:48] Expanding Horizons: Beth’s Work with Autistic Children
[51:38] Misconceptions about Yoga and Yoga Therapy
Resources Mentioned:
Contact Information:
Subscribe to Transform Your Future Newsletter for personal development tips and information to Reinvent & Dominate your industry: http://transformyourfuture.com
Beth Nuesser (00:00):
The last signal is pain. It's like we'll have this cadence of you'll wake up one day and it's a little stiff, and then you keep going, and then you wake up a little further and you're like, oh, I'm getting on that this isn't good. And it's uncomfortable, but it's not painful yet. And then you keep going. You don't look at it, you don't look at it. And then one day you wake up and you can't move and you can't turn your neck because it's just bulging. And then you're calling a doctor or we're in crisis. You're in pain. The body is saying, I told you that this was happening. It's like foreshadowing. And then when you're in pain, your body's saying, I need to rest. I need this. And we are in a hustle culture and we live in an interesting societal state where we come last or there's always something else to do. And so your body will tell you, it's like you go years without being sick, and then all of a sudden you get this horrible flu and you can't get out of bed. Sometimes. We need to get flus. We need to sit down. We need to find that time for ourselves.
Eddie Isin (01:41):
Here we go. Welcome to another episode of Transform Your Future with me, Eddie Isin, where we sit down with entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and high achievers as they identify areas I can improve on and guide me to further my self-improvement practice. Together we look at practical applications and ways to improve current systems and processes and stay focused on my mission. These are honest, open conversations designed to transform your future. For more information and monthly topics of interest, please go to transform your future.com and join our newsletter. Our guest today is Beth Nuesser, certified yoga therapist and sound therapy practitioner. She has a passion for holistic healing and a deep clinical background in understanding trauma. Beth guides children, adolescents and adults on their journey towards inner peace and transformation. Beth's work is deeply informed by her own life experiences in the field of yoga, somatic movement, and working with hundreds of clients.
(02:40):
She combines ancient wisdom with modern science to create personalized healing experiences that are evidence-based. Her work nurtures the body, mind, and soul specializing in trauma-informed yoga therapy. Beth brings a compassionate and empathetic approach to her practice. Beth specializes in anxiety and depression, addiction, trauma and PTSD relationship issues, mood disorders, eating disorders, autism spectrum disorders. Beth is trained as a trauma-informed yoga therapist with clinical experiences in CBT, ACT and DBT approaches. Whether you're struggling with the lingering effects of trauma or seeking relief from chronic pain or simply looking to deepen your connection to self, Beth is here to support you on your journey towards wholeness and wellbeing. Together let's embark on a transformative journey of self-discovery, healing, and empowerment. You deserve to thrive and Beth is here to help us do just that. So welcome Beth.
Beth Nuesser (03:43):
Thank you for having me. I'm super excited to be here.
Eddie Isin (03:46):
Yes. So tell me a little bit about what you do and about your yoga practice and how it's very helpful, even like we were talking earlier about me just doing some darn breath work to get them centered.
Beth Nuesser (04:03):
Yeah, I know. So it's been an interesting journey getting to this part of my life. So I can start with, I've been practicing yoga for well over a decade personally, and prior to me stepping into this next space in my life, I was a hairstylist for 25 years and also an entrepreneur with my husband. We started a clothing line that had roots were in the mixed martial arts industry in 2006. So I've lived a couple of different lifetimes before moving into this next journey. And when I started, I always say yoga found me and that I didn't find yoga. And I was on a trip with a girlfriend in Mexico about 15, 16 years ago, and she said, what do you want to do when we go to Cabo? And I said, I just want to do yoga by the water. And she was like, okay, done.
(05:10):
So the first time I did yoga was in Mexico at a hotel at a resort, and we did yoga every day and it was absolutely incredible. And I thought, when I get back home, I'm going to start doing this. So I found this yoga studio and it was a hot yoga at the time, and I started going, and I didn't enjoy it at first because hot yoga is a different type of style, but what I know is that if you try something at least seven times, you'll know if it's for you or if you need to switch it up and try something else. So I did it seven times. And in that seventh class I had, I would say you would maybe call it a spiritual awakening. And I had this experience in my body and spiritually in my mind, and I just felt incredible leaving class.
(06:01):
And I thought, there's something here. There's something different. It's not just the breath or the movement. There's a deeper connection. And so if you fast forward from then until now, I just kept diving into my practice and just really learning more about myself spiritually, emotionally. When yoga found me, I was going through some of my own mental health struggles. It really brought me clarity and it was really helping me through things that I was going through. So my husband and I and our kids, we moved to this house four years ago, and then I found this yoga studio down the street and I went in for a candlelight restorative yoga. And very long story short, I found out they had a teacher training and I jumped in feet first and I got my 200 hour and I hit the ground running. It was like my calling had really set in.
(07:06):
And for the next year, I finished my 200 hours during the pandemic, which was really interesting. And so everything shut down towards the end of my training and everything moved to the internet and a lot of people were so resistant to what that felt like and what it looked like, and I thrived. I had background being on camera and doing interviews and all the things through fight checks really set me up for the success of moving onto a virtual platform. And so from my 200 hour, everything became online, everything became virtual, and I learned better that way. And so then I thought, well, I want to take this a step further. So I became a registered children's yoga teacher. So I had my RCYT after 200 hours, and that was from a trauma informed perspective. And then that's when things really started opening up. There's more layers to that.
(08:07):
And I thought I didn't even realize that there was a trauma type of yoga. And that was something I really gravitated to for a lot of different reasons. And from there, I grew to 500 hours and then decided not to stop and go to the highest level, which is to become a certified yoga therapist, because I wanted to be in a space that set myself different from just teaching. And maybe I should rephrase that, not just teaching, but from being, I really wanted to come from a therapeutic standpoint. So that might be a long answer to your question, but I think it's important to give space of where I started and kind of where I'm at now.
Eddie Isin (08:55):
Yeah. So it's been a spiritual journey for yourself, this whole process. So tell me a little bit about, I know I have certain things that you've touched on that I think are very interesting. So as a therapist, as a certified therapist, how is it that yoga and the process works for releasing traumas and helping to overcome traumas?
Beth Nuesser (09:29):
Yeah, that's a great question. So when I really started to unfold in this space from that trauma-informed perspective, I had been working at a women's residential center for the last two years and working with women with such complex trauma and complex cases, we would say they have a variety of different things. So an example would be maybe an adolescent who has a substance use diagnosis on top of PTSD from some sort of traumatic event or events, and maybe they have some eating disorder. And so you have all these layers of different things in the case. And so how I step into that is one, the biggest thing is developing therapeutic rapport. If you can't feel safe with your practitioner, whether it's myself, a licensed therapist, doctors, things like that, if there isn't a safe connection, you really can't do the work. And so once that's established, then you start to, there's an assessment that I'll put my cases through my clients.
(10:50):
And what I do is I work off the chakras. There's seven chakras in the body. There are the energy systems and from every layer, physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, cellularly, everything is stored in those chakras. Chiropractors use it, they call them the meridians, tomato, tomato, they're the same thing. And so what I do is I do an assessment and then I look to see what chakras have I balances, and then I'll ask specific questions. A lot of it has some intuition with it. And then I'll ask them. And then when there's safe space, they will start to unravel. And then you see this timeline and then you start to pull from it like a therapist would. And then you connect them, you connect this thread, so to speak. And then you see, okay, let's say they had a sexual trauma. Let's say they were sexually assaulted.
(11:51):
Most of the time that lies in your sacral chakra or your second chakra. And so from there we'll work on are you having some discomfort in your hips? Are you having lower back pain? Is there this nagging at your system that's saying heal? Help me talk to me. So a lot of it's somatic and everyone is different. I could use visualization, I could do sound bowls with them. We could do some specific stretches, maybe we go on a guided journey. Then there's some physical type of techniques we can do. Honestly, every single person is different. In yoga therapy, it's tailored to meet the person where they're at. You're treating the whole person, and it's a completely individualized approach.
Eddie Isin (12:44):
So again, just I'm remembering this is back to this idea that everything that happens to us, it affects us physically in our body in some way,
Beth Nuesser (13:00):
Right?
Eddie Isin (13:01):
Yes. And so you work to figure out with the client what's the areas that they need to work on, what are those things that happen, those traumatic experiences, and then get them to open up about those things and then try to find out where it's coming from and then what they could release it.
Beth Nuesser (13:22):
So the beauty about the way that I approach my clients in yoga therapy is I meet them exactly where they are. So what that looks like is when you go to another therapist, they want to know more history. And I don't necessarily need to know history. If they choose to open up, that's beautiful and I love that, but they don't have to. Everything is from an invitational perspective for me, which is from that trauma-informed background and training that I provide the space, we talk about things and then whatever they want to discuss and disclose with me is what happens. And most of the time they'll feel so safe and natural that those things unfold. So maybe it's not from childhood, maybe it's from a month ago. Maybe they're grieving the loss of something in their life in the last year, but that grief is still connected to something.
(14:22):
We have these little dots that we kind of put together. And so what I do is I ask them together, we work on a treatment plan and the goals of maybe they just say, I just want to be more flexible. But what they're not realizing is that they're so tight in that space because their fascia is so constricted. And so if you hear the term, the body takes the count, it takes the score. And so there's evidence that when we have experiences that your body takes the score and it holds it at a cellular level. So she might say, he or she might say, well, I just want to be more flexible in that area, but maybe they're in a car accident on that right side, and they were T-boned. And that right hamstring, that hip, that muscle is really not the same. And so what do we do from a physical standpoint and emotional standpoint? What do we do to work on that area? So really it's just all different.
Eddie Isin (15:36):
Yeah, I suffer from chronic pain from my back and neck. I have all kinds of problems there. I've had multiple procedures and been avoiding major surgery for 20 something years. I don't want to have screws rolling around in my neck or my neck, but I think that possibly, I'm hearing what you're saying, and I think this could be a good thing for me to start practicing and to help me to manage my physical disability and problems and pains that I have all day and learn to function a little bit better.
Beth Nuesser (16:17):
I think the last signal that the body says to us, the last signal is pain. It's like we'll have this cadence of you'll wake up one day and it's a little stiff, and then you keep going, and then you wake up a little further and you're like, oh, I'm getting in that this isn't good. And it's uncomfortable, but it's not painful yet. And then you keep going. You don't look at it, you don't look at it. And then one day you wake up and you can't move and you can't turn your neck because it's just bulging and then you're calling a doctor or we're in crisis. Your pain, the body is saying, I told you that this was happening. It's like foreshadowing. And then when you're in pain, your body's saying, I need to rest. I need this. And we are in a hustle culture, and we live in an interesting societal state where we come last or there's always something else to do. And so your body will tell you, it's like you go years without being sick, and then all of a sudden you get this horrible flu and you can't get out of bed sometimes. We need to get flus, we need to sit down, we need to find that time for ourselves.
Eddie Isin (17:49):
We end up in these situations. I like to say sometimes God does for me. What I'm not able to do for myself in those situations gives me that opportunity that I wouldn't give myself.
Beth Nuesser (18:03):
I always say, make time for your wellness or sit in your illness. You choose. That's good,
Eddie Isin (18:11):
That's good. Make time for your wellness or sit in your illness. I got to remember that one. That's a nugget for you right
Beth Nuesser (18:18):
There.
Eddie Isin (18:22):
So I'm interested to know more about the process that you take your clients through in order for them to get in touch with these different areas and release whatever is hurting them and center themselves. Is that right? Words for what?
Beth Nuesser (18:45):
Yeah. So when I see a client, I send them over a couple of different forms. One of them I was speaking to a little bit ago was the chakra assessment form. And so there's a variety of questions that are related to all those chakras. And then what I do is I go in and there's a scoring system, and then I'll go in and score it. And then I'll say, okay, let's say your first chakra is your root chakra, and let's say that's at a 13. And then we will go to the sacral shock, which is the second. And then let's say that one's at a 20. And I'll be like, Hmm, that's interesting. And then I'll go into the next one, which is solar plexus, the third, and then I'll see that one's a 25, and then I'll go into the heart chakra and they'll say, that one's a 10.
(19:44):
And then keep going. So if that's a 10 throat chakra, let's say this one's like a 26 and let's say third eye, which is the six is a 20. And let's say the crown is a 22. So look at that. And what the scoring tells me the data from the information tells me is that their root chakra is, it's a little imbalance and it needs some work, but then the second chakra is a higher number that's healthy maybe, but they're still in balance, right? Because root, we always want to score higher because that's our foundation. So I always say, when you build a house, if you don't have a basement, everything is going to crumble on top. You have to have that foundation, that stability. But if the lowest score is, let's say the heart, there's something going on here. And so this is information.
(20:45):
And so the way that I approach it is I look at the leaves. So if the heart is at a nine and the solar is higher, and then there's that imbalance and the root, I'll say, okay, if there's a forest fire, you don't run right in with water because you're going to get burned. So what you have to do is you have to slowly inch your way around and then condense it to stop the fire, to stop the outbreak. And so what I'll do is I'll look and see, and I'll look at questions and I'll see how they answered them, and then I'll ask them to unpack that a little deeper. And I'll say this question right here, you hold a lot of grief in your heart. Can you speak more to that? And then we start to process. And then from there, I start to learn more about them just from these questions.
(21:48):
I just had a new client the other day, and we didn't even get to the chakra assessment yet. It was just five questions of how often do you feel pain in your body? And they wrote it down every day. And I was like, oh, that's interesting. And she's like, yeah, my hips and this and that. And then she told me about the labor of giving birth to their child four years ago. And I was like, was it traumatic? And she's like, no, not really. And she starts telling me more about the story, and I was like, the details she gave me, I was like, that's traumatic what happened. But her nervous system, her trauma response was different and she couldn't see it. So I thought just from this one question, I was able to get so much information about what's going on with her to be able to assist and meet her where she's at.
Eddie Isin (22:44):
Beth, when you were talking about the numbers for that, where do those numbers come from? Is that me scoring it for myself?
Beth Nuesser (22:53):
So sometimes clients will go in and they'll just score it themselves, and then they'll send it over, and sometimes they'll just answer the questions, and then I'll see the scoring system. So there is a book that is part of our required reading through yoga therapy from the school that I went to, and this book is the assessment. And so it's so helpful. And so that is what I use. I think I edited some of the questions a little differently, but pretty much in the same framework. But it's been so helpful. So
Eddie Isin (23:37):
Yeah, I am interested in all of this because I read this book a while ago that wasn't about yoga, but it was on the periphery of those ideas because it was about releasing the chakras in your body. The focus of the book was about extending your life and rejuvenating yourself. This is something that I focus a lot of my attention and energy on because I want to live a very long time and be very healthy and be very vital in my life. And this book is called The Fountain of Youth, and it uses those principles that you have these chakras in your body. And so every day you exercise these, I think it's six areas. And then if you really, really wanted to live a very long time and be very, very happy in your life and be well, then you would abstain from any sexual activity because that's the biggest energy that you could focus on and use internally.
(24:49):
So it's just an interesting thing. But again, that is interesting. Again, this is the only education I have about chakra is an understanding of these things. And this is also why I think it's kind of interesting about yoga and using that as a process to center myself for spirituality, for getting in touch with my body and who I am and living in my body and all those other benefits of being able to release whatever trauma pain I'm holding onto because I don't want to hold onto it. Why should I want to hold onto it? I want to release it, right? Yeah. So it's very interesting stuff. So how do I get started?
Beth Nuesser (25:34):
I always say the best thing you could do to get started is starting with breath work, so that it's all we have, it's our life force. And so we talk about it within our teachings. It's working on from the Sanskrit, it's our prana, that energy, and then pranayama, which is the breath, the energy with the breath. And so it's the first thing we have when we come into this world, and it's the last thing we have as we exit. And I think that sometimes we are forgetting to just breathe. And so a lot of the teachings I'll use for myself and with my clients is account counting breath, whether that's a box breathing or a regulating breath. It's just the same. You count up so you have something to focus on. If you just breathe, you're going to look around and you're like, okay, when can I be done with this?
(26:48):
But if you have something to focus on with whether it's a mantra or it's a counting breath, you have that connection with the mind and body. So I would say first breath second would be some sort of meditation, even if it's for five minutes. And I could give you some pointers on some resources that have been really helpful for myself and what I give everybody else. Yoga nidra, I could talk about that all day long. That is the most incredible yoga that every single person on this planet should try or at least do at least three times a week. And that is,
Eddie Isin (27:35):
I would like to know more about that because I mean, breath work is something I do all the time. Meditation. I do that daily several times during the day, and I've been practicing a very, very long time. Good. And I love it, and it's so helpful to me. Good. But what was the name of that yoga again? I'm sorry.
Beth Nuesser (27:56):
So it's called Yoga Nidra. Nidra. Nidra, yeah. N-I-D-R-A. It's also referred to as Nons Sleep, deep rest. And who is it? It's another podcaster who? Hoberman. It's his first name.
Eddie Isin (28:16):
Yeah, I know. Can't
Beth Nuesser (28:18):
Talking about. Yeah,
Eddie Isin (28:20):
I think it's Andrew maybe.
Beth Nuesser (28:21):
Yeah, I think so. Yeah, he talks a lot about it. When my husband heard it, he was like, babe, you're never going to believe this. And I was like, I've been talking about this forever. But sometimes people have to receive it differently, and that's okay. So yoga Nidra is also referred to as long sleep, deep rest. The military has adapted this type of meditation, and because it is clinically and scientifically proven to help reverse PTSD effects, especially in our veterans. And so I really, really honed in on it. I had a surgery about two and a half years ago, and I couldn't move my body for almost 18 weeks now for someone who practices yoga daily, and it's part of my lifeline. I was like, what am I going to do? So I found yoga nidra on YouTube through this wonderful, amazing yogi. Her name is Allie Booth, and she has the most amazing voice, so soothing, and she's got all of these free videos on YouTube.
(29:37):
So I started doing yoga nidra because even though it's not a form of moving your body, there is this science behind the fact that it's a type of meditation where the person who's facilitating it, they call in different points of the body. And so regardless of how long the meditation is, I listen to a two hour one to go to sleep almost every night. Because what happens is that when you get into this, they call it the theta delta state, when you get into this brainwave state, it is truly proven the most healing effects that the body and the mind can ever experience is in that state. You can heal so many different things. And when you are in that state mother, let's say it's for 15 minutes, that's equivalent to a 30 to 45 minute nap. When you're in that state for an hour, it's equivalent to four hours of sleep because it's just this deep, deep state, and it's hard to get into that. So I always recommend for everybody to try out yoga nidra, and it can be a little scattered at first because they're telling you to focus on your eyes and your nose and different points of the body. So
Eddie Isin (31:13):
I'm sorry. That's okay. These devices, that's okay. They make noises.
Beth Nuesser (31:19):
Yeah, that's why we have to turn them off.
Eddie Isin (31:22):
Yes, they do. And still they have to make,
Beth Nuesser (31:25):
Yeah. So yes.
Eddie Isin (31:27):
Yeah. Yeah. So I'm sorry. Please continue. That's okay about it. Yeah. Yeah.
Beth Nuesser (31:34):
So the Yoga Nira is something that I speak to, and that's one of the main interventions and therapeutic techniques that I'll use with clients. When I worked in the clinical setting at the residential center, I did that every day. I'll start off with that, and then I'll end with some meditation so that your nervous system is primed so that it can receive more healing through the bowls. And so those are the things if you're already doing breath work and you're already doing meditation, try yoga nidra. And then after that, start doing just a basic sun salutation and there's lots of stuff online. And so you can just do a very gentle flow and you could just be standing and you do a flow coming up, going down. And that way you're not feeling intimidated or pressured about doing more yoga poses. You could just take it super light.
Eddie Isin (32:44):
The Nira, the yoga Nira, is that guided? Is that so you listen to something to start the process for you?
Beth Nuesser (32:56):
Correct. I have a five minute one that I've recorded that's on YouTube that I can send you. I always say start off with something realistic versus just jumping into a 30 minute, start off with that five to seven minute, which is a good sweet spot, and then kind of build from there and do it at least seven times so that you can understand our mind is going to take us other places. It's hard to focus. And so give it a couple of times before if it's not for you or not,
Eddie Isin (33:36):
I'm going to definitely start practicing that. I mean, I've been aware of some of these ideas and I've tried to actually practice them in different ways. And it's kind of hard sometimes to gauge your success if you're doing it. How do I know that I'm actually healing something or not healing something by doing this over several days or a week or whatever. What kind of ideas do you have about that?
Beth Nuesser (34:06):
Do you journal? Do you do any journaling? Yeah, I do. Anytime. So this is a good point. So the concept and the framework of yoga therapy is that you allow your clients to start bringing in and incorporating good habits. Everything is habitual, same time every day for a certain amount of time. And then you kind of add on from there. And so I always say, if you don't journal or you do journal, get something dedicated. Write down the date, write down the time that you're going to start bringing in this new habit, whatever that looks like for them, and write it down. And then write down what emotion you're feeling from one to 10 or maybe a word. And then track yourself. When you're charting something and you're collecting that data, you can go back and say, huh, I felt like this way to three when I started this on Monday. And then you go to the next week, and let's say now you're already at six, and you're allowing yourself to see the proof is in the pudding, and you're able to see this is actually helping me, or maybe it's doing the opposite. So it's information. And when we have information, it helps us to be able to make decisions for ourselves.
Eddie Isin (35:40):
Interesting. So tracking everything, seeing where your head's at. Okay. So that's a great way for anybody to start working on breath work, meditation and nidra, yoga nidra to start out to get the benefits of it. And then from there, as you mentioned, not being too hard on myself, but starting some kind of practice of learning some of the poses and taking it slow, and then adding more positions on as time goes on.
Beth Nuesser (36:21):
Yes. Yep. You start off with, we hold such high expectations for ourselves. So we want, as humans on earth, we have an ecosystem. It's how we get up and do the things that we do. And so sometimes that can go a little too high, and that story, that critic, everything starts to set in and you're like, okay, I'm going to go do this. And you guess out it'ss not realistic. And so just like a personal trainer or nutritionist, people I've worked with, just little small adjustments, big rewards in the body, the mind, your space, your family, everything. So if you can just make these small adjustments and then keep almost like titration, and then you can start to see those rewards, because otherwise you're just setting yourself up for failure. You want to set yourself up to be successful. And how you do that is you start in one area, and so it's like five minutes of meditation, I could do this, I could do this. And then all of a sudden a month later you're like, I love the meditation, and now I'm ready to do something else, because otherwise you're just going to fall off the wagon. It's like a diet, right?
Eddie Isin (37:47):
Yeah. You don't want to make things hard on yourself. Exactly. My meditation practice, by the way, I had the total wrong idea about what meditation was when I was younger, and as I practice it more and talk to other people about their practice and read books about it and everything, I found that it's actually really easy and wide open. I remember one guy was talking about when he washes the dishes, he focuses on the soap and his fingers and the feeling of the plate and the water running over his hands in the plate. And this is a form of meditation. It's about focus, right? So it's interesting. And of course, focusing on breathing which was one thing I could do. My practice for many years now has gotten me to a place where I would say that I don't pay attention to the critic. I mean, there's still a critic in there. I hear it every once in a while. It's low, it's a whisper. And I hear it once in a while, but I just go like, whatever, and I just don't let it affect me.
Beth Nuesser (38:55):
That's good though. You're what we would call that almost like a yogi mindset is that you have this way to detach from that, that you're not connected to it anymore, that it doesn't have power over you. And I love that you used the example of the washing of the hands, and it's important for people to know too, who listen to this, that I always say that meditation looks different for everybody. Maybe walking in nature is your meditation, maybe washing your hands, and that sensory. That you see, the soap foaming, you're washing the plate, there is this ritual about it, and so find what works for you. Maybe journaling is your meditation. Maybe it just looks different for everybody. So from not the traditional, like, okay, I'm going to lay down in bed, I'm going to put my, it's like a whole thing that might be, that's my meditation, but also nature. Nature is my meditation too, listening and not talking.
Eddie Isin (40:12):
When I was younger, transcendental meditation somehow had a big cultural movement that was going on back in the late sixties, early seventies. And so when I was first introduced to these ideas that would be helpful for me to grow and to better myself in my practice of personal development, I thought of transcendental meditation. That's what I thought. I thought I was going to go, that's what I thought. It was burning incense and sitting in a certain pose and position. And I came to find out that that was just one way that people do it, but it's not the only way. And there's lots of other ways. And the main thing is to quiet the mind. The best example description I heard. It's not about stopping thinking, it's just about going 10 feet below the thinking. The thinking's, like the waves crashing on the ocean, and you go 10 feet below where the water's calm, the water's calm down here, up there, it's still crashing crazy, but you just go down below it. So those kinds of things were very helpful to me and I think helpful to everybody. So yeah. That's awesome. So we've got some synchronicity going on over here. I like it. I want to know more. Absolutely. I want to start practicing some more. And this practice, I know you work with a lot of different people. Yeah. Do you want to talk about some of your specialties? I know you mentioned you even work with autistic children who are on the spectrum.
Beth Nuesser (41:48):
Yeah, so I have a little one who is five, he'll be six next month. And he was diagnosed with autism, autistic spectrum disorder, level three. He was nonverbal for a very, very long time. And we used sign language as a way to be able to communicate with him. And then that was when he was around two, and then when he turned four, he was able to start talking, which was pretty incredible through all the therapies he's went through. And so I, I'm a big believer of things happening for reasons or very purposeful. And so when I went on this yoga journey for myself, it became not just for me anymore. Everything that I have learned has been through this life experience of this little person coming unexpectedly into our lives. And so he just has helped me see through the world in a different type of lens, and then me being able to tend to him in a way and learn from him.
(43:09):
Our children, I believe, are teachers. Some of 'em are harder teachers than others. And so he has really allowed me to do such great work in my expertise now because of being able to be an advocate and provider for him and parent him. So a lot of the work that I'm doing now is with children. So I work in the school districts and I'm an independent contractor, so I kind of do a lot of gig work, which allows flexibility so that I can still be able to do the things that I need to do for our son and myself. So, a lot of the work that I'm doing is with children at this point. So I still have my clients. I work at one place called Evoke Counseling. It's near me. It's in Glen, Illinois. And so I see clients there a couple days a week.
(44:14):
And then on Tuesdays I work at Valley View School District. And that has been amazing. I developed this pilot program called the Mindful Movement Minutes. And so what I do is I go into the classrooms and I'm there as extra support, and I'm teaching mindfulness and yoga and breathwork to elementary students. That's awesome. It's really amazing. And then this month I got an extra grant that came through in another district, and I've been working with sixth and seventh graders the past two weeks, and it's been incredible. I wish I had this when I was that age to be. And these kids, the sixth and seventh graders, it's so awkward at that stage of their life and development that they're doing yoga. And then afterwards they're like, that was amazing. Thank you so much. And everything I teach them, there's evidence behind it. So when we're doing our movement, we're doing our poses.
(45:19):
I can say, do this before a test, and if you are having brain fog or brain fart during your homework or something, get up and do these torso twists and it balances the right and left hemispheres of your brain and go into your star power pose, because science has shown that when you go into this pose, you're 75% more likely to bring in confidence and do better. Like Amy Coy did a TED talk on it, and it's real. You go into a power pose and it's real. There's evidence behind what I'm teaching, and it's exciting. And even just fingertips when you do it, you actually realize that you don't think about anything else except tapping your fingers. Everything goes out the window because you have that mindful connection. So yeah, it's pretty awesome. I have a really great job. So
Eddie Isin (46:20):
That's great. That's great. Very rewarding. Very rewarding.
Beth Nuesser (46:25):
It is. Yeah. I mean, working with that population, it could be incredibly tiring at times working with kids. They're just like little squirrels running around everywhere. But it is rewarding something that I have coming up, which is exciting. I'm doing a free virtual event for parents. So it's about cultivating calm and the chaos and what we can do for ourselves, how we can help our children, and teaching them in that hours through the Autism Chicago network, and being able to just give back everything I've learned for free to parents and being a parent of a child on the spectrum. I can speak to this, I live it every day. I'm not a doctor or provider coming in, selling my stuff, selling my experience. And I think that that gives some street cred for sure, that they're like, oh man, she gets it.
Eddie Isin (47:35):
That's awesome. So what is the thing that you really want to leave the audience with, that you want them to really understand about you and what you do?
Beth Nuesser (47:48):
Yeah, so I thought about that a lot as one of the questions that you said that we would kind of talk about. And if anybody who truly knows me, if I ever want anybody to leave a conversation, whether it's at a restaurant, on a podcast, a phone call, I preach self care. Nobody will. It is our lifeline. It is something that anytime anyone talks about something going on in their lives, my first question is, what can you do for yourself today? How are you taking care of yourself today? What can you bring in? Even if it's for five minutes, what does your self-care look like? And I know that we see that all over the internet lately. This is my self-care and self-care, and I feel like it's kind of being drowned down a little bit. And I think just if anyone could listen or a takeaway would be the old saying of your oxygen mask first.
(49:00):
And we have, I know I'm 43 and there's a conditioning of me growing up in the generation of that. My kids come first or this comes first and my job comes first and everything now, and then I, I'll take the beating. And so I've had to relearn those trends that shouldn't be, because if I don't fill my cup, there's nothing left. And I am doing disservice not only to myself, to my children, to my husband, to my clients, to my community. So what does that look like and how are you putting that into your daily and weekly practice and really just emphasizing that you have to do those things because you want to live a long life. You want to do all of these things. You want to travel. If you do not tend to the emotional needs of yourself, that won't happen.
Eddie Isin (50:07):
Exactly. Yes, you can travel anywhere you want, but it'll all be the same, but you don't take care of yourself. Yes.
Beth Nuesser (50:16):
When people say, oh, I don't like this house anymore, or This is why I need a bigger home. Well, if you can move into a bigger house, that's great, but you're going to take the same luggage and energy with you in that house. It might aesthetically look different for a period of time, but you'll start to notice after the first 30, 60 days, you're going to feel exactly the same. It doesn't matter if you have seven more closets or you are going to put all the baggage in those seven closets. So we have to make time. And what does that look like? It is needed. It's so imperative that we find, that's why I teach pretty much only restorative yoga in my events now with sound meditation, because I want to remind people that it's okay to relax, that it's okay to just hold a pose and you don't have to move or do all these things. I love being able to give back with that.
Eddie Isin (51:19):
I know that we've just covered a lot of ground and we went over a lot of stuff, and I really value your time, and thank you for sharing with me. But I did want to ask you, what are some of the main misconceptions that people have about yoga and the practices of yoga therapy?
Beth Nuesser (51:38):
So a lot of the time when I say I'm a yoga therapist, it doesn't really register with people right away. They immediately think of a yoga teacher. And I also am a yoga instructor as well. The area and the framework that I work in with yoga therapy is that, and the difference of those is that it's an individualized approach, and there's certain, it's a therapeutic application. It also has integration into the healthcare system. So I'm working with healthcare professionals and other providers that have a clinical background. And so I'm working directly with a care team at times. And in really addressing a lot of the emotional wellbeing, the mental health aspects of things, diagnoses. So yoga instruction and yoga teaching is focusing on breath queuing, poses, going through a style of flow, things like that. It's not as integrated. And so those are the types of things that are different with yoga teaching. You're going to go to a class and you're going to have an instructor and it's a group. And then with yoga therapy, it's more individualized. Most of the time you could do yoga therapy. However, again, it's that individualized approach. You're diving, digging deeper. You have therapeutic application and have that healthcare principles.
Eddie Isin (53:18):
Very good. And if anybody listening is interested in finding out more about what you're doing, maybe get some of that individualized therapeutic attention. How would they do that?
Beth Nuesser (53:32):
So they could go to my website. It's Beth er my name.com, and there's a little contact button. And if you would like, if you're interested to explore and learn more, I'm happy to do a free 30 minute consultation and kind of see if we're a good fit and what some areas you want to work on and go from there.
Eddie Isin (53:56):
Excellent. Beth, thank you so much for your time. I know we've talked a lot and I've asked you a lot of questions. Is there anything that we haven't talked about that you want to close with?
Beth Nuesser (54:09):
I don't think so, actually. Yes. So in the beginning when we were off camera, you were telling me about papaya, right? Yes. Am I saying that right? Yes. So my papaya is oing. It's how I start practice and how I end practice. Because when you own, we are collectively uplifting on an energy level, individually and with ourselves. And then from a science standpoint, it stimulates the vagus nerve, which helps you move into that rest and digest. You're in that safe, parasympathetic state, so you're in that calm, neutral setting. So I would love to finish our podcast if you would like to omm with me. Are you down? I would love
Eddie Isin (54:58):
Yes. Okay.
Beth Nuesser (55:00):
Okay. So I'll guide us through it. So just get comfortable, kind of rocking your seat a little bit, and maybe just kind of roll your shoulders out. Roll your shoulders out. There you go. Okay. And then we're going to end. We'll sweep our arms up overhead. Yep. There you go. Bring your palms to meet in a prayer symbol. Yep. Take a big breath in and exhale. Bring your hands to your heart space. Then you rub your palms together. So this grounds us, and you can find a soft focus, or you can close your eyes. And we're going to do one inhale and exhale to empty our breath. And on the second breath, we'll omm together. So we'll breathe in, breathe out ammo, breathe in for, oh, and then we bring our thumb knuckles to our third eye. It's the space between the eyebrows. Thank you so much for having me on today. It's always an honor and a privilege. The light and the love in me sees and honors the light and the love in you for my heart to yours. Yes. Namaste.
Eddie Isin (56:44):
Namaste. Thank you, Beth.
Beth Nuesser (56:47):
Thank you. What
Eddie Isin (56:48):
A great way to end.
Beth Nuesser (56:50):
Yep. Giving you just completion, right? Yep. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for having me. I really, really enjoyed it.
Eddie Isin (57:01):
We'll talk soon.
Beth Nuesser (57:02):
Okay, thanks.
Eddie Isin (57:05):
For more information and monthly topics of interest, please go to transform Your future.com and join our newsletter.