The Next Perfect Step
Candid conversations about spirituality, how to navigate in the world, channeled messages, guided meditations, book reviews and other topics. We invite comments and questions as we look to connect with a community of similar interests.
The Next Perfect Step
The Next Perfect Step: Meet Our Hosts and Their Unique Healing Journeys
Three healing paths converge as we launch Season 3 with a special episode introducing our remarkable hosts and new co-host Kim McStay. This conversation pulls back the curtain on the personal journeys that brought these women to their healing practices and the podcast itself.
The podcast was born from transformative conversations between Lori and Laurie during a weekend getaway. What began as planned activities evolved into deep, judgment-free discussions that created sacred space for exploration. Recognizing how these exchanges nourished their souls, they created this platform to share that experience with listeners—a place to discover new healing modalities and perspectives without criticism.
Kim McStay brings her fascinating work with equine-assisted learning to the trio. From childhood animal rescuer to certified equine specialist, Kim explains how horses serve as natural counselors by reflecting our true internal state. "They don't really hear your words, they only feel your words," Kim shares, revealing how horses provide honest feedback about our energy that we might not recognize ourselves. Both Loris describe their profound experiences with Kim's horses, with Lori Mullen noting how the animals showed her the difference between the welcoming energy she thought she projected versus her actual reluctance to let people in.
Laurie Mullen introduces her work as a Reiki master teacher and soul coach focused on helping people discover joy rather than dwelling on healing. Her passion lies in guiding others to go within and find their own answers—"We all deserve to love our life, and that starts with us." Meanwhile, Lori Tremblay shares her journey with Reiki, creative expression through art and piano, and her channeled writing that delivers messages of love and support to readers.
The conversation weaves together these different healing modalities, demonstrating how each offers unique pathways to self-discovery. As we embark on this new season, we invite you to join us for upcoming conversations with fascinating guests—and perhaps experience Kim's equine therapy demonstration on July 19th at Raven Rest Ranch. Follow your intuition to discover your next perfect step.
Hello everyone and welcome to the next perfect step for all possibilities lying conversation. I'm your co-host, lori Mullen.
Speaker 2:I'm your co-host, Lori Tremblay, and we have a special day today because it's season three and we have a new co-host with us, who is Hi, I'm Kim McStay and I'm the new co-host with us, um who is hi?
Speaker 2:I'm kim mcstay and I'm the new co-host yay, so we're excited to go into our third season. We met um. Just to recap how we got started, laurie and I and another friend went for a girls weekend just to get away do some Reiki and healing and reading cards and different things and pretty much our plans. We didn't do much of what we had planned at all. We did a lot of talking and we did some hiking too and had a great time and relaxing time. But through that weekend was birthed the idea, through Lori, of doing a podcast. And Lori, can you just explain what you were thinking about while you were doing the podcast?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so every time that I spoke with Lori on the phone or in person, we just had these really. We just had these really soulful conversations. We held space for each other to explore new ideas, new ways of thinking, new ideas or thoughts that other people had, without judgment. We were able to work through it and find for ourselves how we felt and believed about the directions know the directions that we were going in, or new ways of being. And you know, there wasn't a whole lot of people around me at that time that I could have these conversations with, without judgment or anything else. And when I talked to Laurie and we would have these conversations, like my, my, I just felt so good all the way to my soul, like something had shifted and there was more space and more love in my body and I wanted that for more people.
Speaker 1:So my thought was to create a platform where we could have these open conversations about new ideas and new thought process and explore things we didn't even know were out there. I mean, there's not one way of healing, there's not one way of being. There's many for everybody. There are many, many paths, and so I wanted to open a forum for everybody to find their own way, find their conversation, find someone they could have that conversation with, explore everything that's out there in a, you know, a supportive environment. So those were the reasons that you know. I really had started thinking about how we could do that, and podcasting was an up and coming thing, right. So I had talked to them about us creating what we created when we were together and open it up for more people.
Speaker 2:So thank you, Laurie. Yeah, that was, and we've had so much fun since the first episode up to now. We have wonderful guests, but today we thought we would share a little bit about each one of us and what we do, and so you could get to know us a little bit better. So that's what we're going to just talk about today. That's our conversation for today, and we hope you enjoy it. Kim, would you like to start? We can't hear you though.
Speaker 1:There you go not Okay, sorry.
Speaker 3:So yeah, one of the exciting things about becoming a co-host here is that I really found your podcast to be intelligent conversation and I think sometimes we you know, in the in the world that's going on now, we have a tendency to get into conversation that becomes very, you know, judging, like Laurie Mullen was saying, that you know to be able to be in a conversation without feeling that judgment and feeling that exception, you know, being accepted is, you know, different YouTubes that I've watched, different conversations that I've listened to there's, there's that like negative controversy that you know, I think controversy is a really important thing because I think it helps us to grow. But what I liked about your podcast and I was attracted to listening to it and watching it is that you know you had everybody's ideas but it was very, it was very light and very out there, but very deep and intelligent. So I, you know, I want to thank you for letting me join this podcast. So, as far as getting to know each and every one of us you know we had done the podcast on on my feral upbringing, so I won't get too far into that, but as far as like who I am as a person that contributes to society.
Speaker 3:From a very young age I was a animal rescuer, you know, which drove my parents crazy, because I was always bringing home, you know, baby possums or that were hit by their mom, was hit by a car, and so I had bringing home, you know, baby possums or that were hit by their mom, was hit by a car, and so I had those and I, you know, I'd find stray kittens and you know, whatever needed a little TLC I would end up with in my house, including like rabbits and you name it. So some of these were very wild and I including snakes, and I would just let them go in the house, forgetting that, you know, as a kid I forgot that I hadn't let them free again, and you know I did. I give my parents a lot of credit, especially my mom, because she really did put up with that. And then, as I, as I grew up, you know, I became very invested in working with kids. You know, I became very invested in working with kids and I went to college to become a teacher and very shortly figured out that I could be a mother or I could be a teacher, but that I couldn't do both because I didn't feel I would have the patience, tolerance or, you know, empathy to be able to love these children at the end of the day.
Speaker 3:So I saw my weaknesses and I stuck with animals for a long, long time and once I decided to utilize my teaching degree I had because of my back, I decided to do exactly what the doctors told me I shouldn't do, which was I taught aerobics because they said I shouldn't do any kind of aerobic work or ride horses again. So I took on a horse that was as crippled as I was and I started training for low-impact aerobic classes and I overcame my back issues and I continued to do the aerobics and doing with the teaching and all of that. But I still hung on to the animal aspect of it and as a child doing all the horse shows, I was very interested in the whole aspect of how horses made me feel. So when I went to Montana for a few weeks and bumped into this woman who was doing what was called equine assisted learning, I was totally enthralled. So I talked with her for a while and she gave me a lot of information to research on my own, which I did, and then I started taking courses in that, and one was through UNH, another one was through Prescott University in Arizona, which was my favorite because I love Arizona, and then I've taken one from the OK Corral, which he travels around and does courses. So I was very intrigued with this and what the basis is of that, and both of you have experienced a little bit so you can share your thoughts on that.
Speaker 3:But it's basically the horses are the counselors and so they bring to light what really is going on internally in a person, because they don't really hear your words, they only feel your words on internally in a person, because they don't really hear your words, they only feel your words and they don't care how they react, because they're survival-based animals and fight or flight. So they don't not like a dog who's very loyal and wants to please you, no matter how bad they're feeling. Horses are not like that. If they're not feeling great, they're gone.
Speaker 3:And one of the aspects that I noticed with this line of work was that I wasn't really thrilled with and have my own take on it now is that the instructors kept telling us that we shouldn't let people know what horse behavior was, what horse behavior was. We should just allow them to experience what they're experiencing. But what I saw was people took it personally because they didn't understand horse behavior. So they were internalizing their mistakes rather than growing through the expression of what the horse was providing for them. So after I started working with explaining to people horse behavior, after I started working with explaining to people horse behavior, I felt so much more positive with the work and so much more benefits that appeared for the person working with the horses. So I have a different take than what I was trained to do with this type of work. Do with this type of work.
Speaker 3:But I do feel too that a lot of horsemanship totally different from equine assisted learning. So in horsemanship there's a lot of deprogramming and desensitizing horses and you know where they what they call sacking them out, where you know they're not afraid of anything anymore. But what I have found with those kind of horses is they tend to lose their own identity and their own mechanisms of, you know, discernment. They might not notice that the bridge doesn't feel right under their hoods or they might not notice that there's a bear over there in the woods that you know is going to frighten them. So I really trust horses that haven't been desensitized because I feel if you can make that energetic connection with that animal. You have an actual, like really cool experience on a trail ride because you're communicating the whole time.
Speaker 2:So so that's the basis to the work that I do with that that was so well said, kim um, and you're right, lori and I have both experienced that for the first time recently with your horses and with you guiding the experience, and, um, it's a deep, deep experience.
Speaker 2:When you're interacting with those beautiful animals that they just they have, um, you can feel their energy and they can obviously feel yours, but it does show you what is inside and in such a powerful and beautiful way, like some of your horse hoses would come over and put their muzzle on my hand and they got to touch and and interact with them and love them and and then also it showed, showed me that I had to strengthen my boundaries and things like that. So I can't even really have words to describe how wonderful and impactful it was for me and I want to thank you for that. You, you have a lot of you know and I, like your, the way you um followed your intuition as far as not listening to you know the teachers that said don't talk about the horse behavior, because that was very interesting to me is to learn about that, the horse behavior, and to experience um, their energy and in your knowledge and together with the horses and your knowledge, it was just an incredible experience. I want to do it again.
Speaker 1:And then lori had a great experience too yeah and um, I definitely want to do it every single day. It was wonderful, but, as kim said, um, you know, for a while I couldn't put it into words exactly what the experience was like. I mean, it was just on such a level that there really was not words to put it in and I sat with it for a long time like how could I explain to somebody? Because people were asking me. I had done a little video and people were asking me about it and I couldn't put it into words. Actually, we showed the picture first and that's what got people asking me. And then one morning I woke up and there was the answer for me personally and I and I do really want to emphasize that it is. I am sure it is different for every person, but it's very personal experience, very wonderful personal experience For me.
Speaker 1:You know, we're all made of energy and we walk into a room and we, you know, we say, oh, we can feel other people's energy. You know, a lot of us talk about being empaths, but do we feel our own energy? I think we're always looking outside ourselves, not within, and this was really something that the horses, for me, showed me truly what energy I was putting out there. We all think we know what energy we're putting out there. Right, I think I'm kind and inviting and welcoming. Think I'm kind and inviting and welcoming and really my energy is not. I don't let people in easily. I mean I'm kind to everybody, but really to let them into my energy, no, not so good at. And the horses were really able to show me this and even if I didn't truly understand or want to go back and relive all of the reasons why that is true, the horses really helped me release some of that, showed me what actually I was putting out there instead of what I thought I was putting out there, and was able to work with me in such a love and safe way.
Speaker 1:I had no fear of working with these large, beautiful animals. I mean, I've always loved horses since I was a little little girl. I was a unicorn horse girl, little girl. But really I mean, for a lot of people they're very large animals and they are animals right, and it was just Kim facilitates it in such a way that you are able to do your own growing and healing without the fear wrapped around the animals or their size.
Speaker 1:Because once you connect with these horses like and I found throughout my experience was I wanted them closer to me. Kim wanted me to push them away and I didn't want to push them away. I wanted them as close to me as possible. I actually felt safer the closer they were. So it's just, it's a wonderful experience. Like I said, I would want to do every single day and I can't wait for Kim to offer more. But Kim is offering a demo for you to experience this for yourself. So on July 19th she's offering a demo where you can come help self-discovery through interacting with horses on her ranch. We'll put the information down below so you can easily find it. But if you have ever ever loved horses, loved working with horses, want to experience this for yourself, I highly recommend doing her demo. It was an experience I'll never forget and want to do continuously, over and over again. Thank you for the offer, kim.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Thank you, it was very nice. I appreciate that. So now I would love to hear about what you do, laurie Mullen, and what your gifts are.
Speaker 1:Thank you. So some of the things that I've done I am certified, I am a Reiki master, teacher, teacher. I am a soul coach, and really what that is is I have facilitated and helped people to discover what brings them joy in their life and how to turn around and focus on what brings them joy instead of focusing on what the wrong is or what they feel like they have to heal or anything like that, and I love doing that work. We all all deserve to live our best life ever, and I am super passionate about helping supporting people to do exactly that. I have wrote a book called Living your Dream Life, and that's what this book was my soul coaching put into a book so I could get it out to more people to hopefully help them live their dream life.
Speaker 1:My goal would be for everybody to honestly say and feel all the way to their soul I love my life. That's we all deserve, that we all deserve to love our life, and that starts with us, and that's something that I have become extremely passionate about is going within. We hear all the time that everything we ever need is within us, and that is so true, but most of us don't really understand what going within means or even how to go about that and how to create the thoughts and feelings and to create our own dream outside of ourselves. There's nobody who's going to do it for you. It starts within you and it doesn't have to be a scary process. It really isn't about going back and reliving your past. It's really about letting go of your past, being in the present moment and finding the answers within yourself, and how to hear and discover that, and that's really what I'm super passionate about right now. So that's me in a nutshell. So, lori, would you like to tell everybody a little?
Speaker 2:bit Sure. Yes, I like what you said about going within and because that's really true. I mean, everything that we need is within us and I've I've learned that more and more through the years is to not like depend on outside for your growth and knowledge. So I think that's an important point. So all of us have in common that we do energy and healing work and had a benefit of having sessions with Lori and Kim and receiving healing. I've been trained as a Reiki master teacher as well and one of my joys is to teach classes, teach people how to heal themselves, because the energy there in the class and the discoveries that happen when people connect with themselves and their healing abilities is so magical and so special and the relationships that form. It's kind of tell people like it's kind of like a spa day, because it's so full of spirit and love and we learn a lot and we and they practice Reiki with each other and I love the interaction. I love to facilitate that. I like facilitating groups of people, small groups, especially women, just to have them share. We have a share with each other. So I think that's so healing in and of itself.
Speaker 2:The other thing that I express myself with is very creatively. I've always, since I was a little girl, I've always drawn, painted. I played the piano since I was a girl and I've taught piano and I have had the ability since I was a girl to sort of let the music just come from me and to the piano, which is something that I still do, and I want to do a little bit more recording of that music because it's healing for me and I think it's healing for other people too. So I've learned to sort of relax and let go as far as channeling things like that and channeling is just to me, is a flow of energy, a flow of love, and it doesn't have. It doesn't mean you're somebody special, it's just you're actually opening yourself up to that potential. And I think Reiki helped me open up my senses, my to be more sensitive to you know, hearing messages, my intuition, which everyone has, intuition, just tuning into that, and that's just been a joy to see what happens when you do tune into your intuition, to see all the synchronicities and the little I just I'm finding myself more in the present moment, more and more. Like you know, I went outside the other day and this little hummingbird was just right there in front of me and I was like this is, this is a gift, this is a wonderful gift. In front of me and I was like this is this is a gift, this is a wonderful gift.
Speaker 2:So lots of little. You know people that you're thinking about and connecting with and they need help, you know, or they are thinking of you and you connecting with them, on us, on the soul level. So those connections are we're all connected. We are all truly in I've heard the term the morphic field, which means, like you said, laurie, we're all energy. So our energy is all connected and to the plants, to the animals, to everything, and we can use our gifts, our own unique gifts, to connect with each other and to ourselves. I think that's really where we grow the most, and I've recently started taking art lessons again to reconnect with that aspect of me as a little girl, and I've enjoyed that. I love to garden, I love to be outside and just take my shoes off and touch the earth and give healing sessions too. So that's kind of me in a nutshell. I like to write too as well.
Speaker 2:I do a blog called True. You Channeled Writing on substackcom, so I try to do one or two a month and I've done that for about three years and that was just a little short story about how that got started. Was I call it a tap on the shoulder? I would be woken up in the middle of the night. I call it a tap on the shoulder? I would be woken up in the middle of the night.
Speaker 2:And, as I said, I learned to listen to my guidance, my inner self, my higher self and my guides. It's all the same to me. But I heard the messages coming through and got a prompt to write them down. So I got up, took my notebook, notebook and my journal and went out in the living room and just started writing down what was kind of coming through. And that's um, that's how it started with the, with the channeled writing which it comes. Like I said, it's a flow of information or a flow of. I would call it download, sometimes just the flow of well, and it's always loving and inspiring messages. So that's how I know it's for real.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, yeah, absolutely it. Every time you write one of your blogs, it's always about the energy and what in some way related to what I'm going through or feeling at that time and present, and her messages are they're just love and support, helping us, guide us through the energies of what's present in our lives at that moment moment. So we should also, laurie, put a link down below on if you'd love to receive these messages from Laurie. I highly recommend their supportive, loving, just what you need to hear at that moment type of message. That's always what I feel like. It was like confirmation of what I've been thinking or feeling at that time. So really, I look forward to them. Every time she tells me she's putting one out, I just I'm like a little kid, I can't wait. I can't wait to hear it and receive some message for yourself too. So, yes, well.
Speaker 1:I hope you have gotten to enjoy getting to know us. Well, I hope you have gotten to enjoy getting to know us.
Speaker 2:Is there any last things that anybody would like to share before we close? Well, we're always looking for people, guests. If you're interested in becoming a guest or you know of someone that would be, someone that would be in the spiritual world or in the healing arts or have something positive to add, just let us know through the next perfect step at gmailcom wonderful and we look forward to our third season with many more exciting guests we have already lined up and ones we know are to come.
Speaker 1:We are grateful to have Kim joining our third season with her knowledge and wisdom. I think it's a perfect trio. So it's wonderful. And once again, I would love to just say that July 19th, at Raven Rest Ranch, kim is doing the self-discovery through interacting with horses. Again, we'll put the link down below so you can look into that, but if you have any inclination or desire to work with horses, I cannot highly recommend this enough. So look, look for that down below. So again, until next time. How is your intuition leading you to the next perfect step?