She Speaks: Women's Wisdom For Every Woman

S1-Ep 8. Your Intuition Is Speaking: How to Turn Your Pain into Your Superpower with Isabel Meijering

• Charlotte Wilson

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Have you ever had a gut feeling about something—one that felt so clear and certain—but you second-guessed it? Maybe you talked yourself out of it. Maybe you let fear or logic take over. Maybe you ignored it altogether… only to realize later that your intuition was right all along.

This week on She Speaks, I sat down with my friend, Dr. Isabel Meijering, a Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, life coach, and soul sister, to talk about how our biggest struggles often point us toward our true path—if we’re willing to listen.

We’re diving into:

✔ Why burnout drowns out your intuition (and how to clear the noise so you can hear it again)
✔ The unexpected link between nervous system regulation and trusting yourself
✔ How to recognize the difference between fear-based thinking and true inner knowing

💡 Listen in as we explore:
✔️ [07:45] Why we often ignore our intuition (and how to tune back in)
✔️ [12:30] How Isabel made a life-changing decision based on a gut feeling—and never looked back
✔️ [20:15] The connection between nervous system healing and intuition (and why burnout blocks clarity)
✔️ [30:40] How to tell the difference between fear-based thinking and intuitive knowing
✔️ [42:50] Practical ways to strengthen your intuition & start trusting yourself

If you’ve ever questioned your path or felt stuck in the “what now?” phase of life, this episode is for you.

Resources: 

  • If you’re ready to calm your nervous system and tap into your intuition, I’ve got two resources to help you:
  • Connect with Isabel: Admiring You Wellness Facebook, Instagram, and Main Street Yoga, Main Street Yoga Bastrop
  • Looking for virtual community spaces and in-person gatherings to reconnect with your authentic self and sacred sisterhood? Join me here…
    • The Invitation, a virtual studio offering yoga, breathwork, and meditation classes. *Book your first class and use my teacher code “CHAR” for a full discount.
    • The Woman’s Portal, offering monthly full moon sister circles 
    • Women’s Ranch Retreat: Nourish in Nature, October 23-26, 2025 hosted on a stunning 46-acre ranch oasis in the beautiful hill country of Marble Falls, Texas. *Sign up now for an early bird $150 discount

Disclaimer:

The information shared on this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. While we share advice and personal experiences, it’s not intended to replace professional medical, legal, or financial guidance. Please consult qualified professionals for advice tailored to your specific needs. The views shared here are those of our guests and host, and do not represent all women’s experiences. We encourage you to explore what resonates with you personally.

Char Wilson:

Welcome to she speaks women's wisdom for every woman, a space for us to feel seen, celebrated, connected, and inspired here. We come together to tell our stories, share our lessons and celebrate our unique strengths. As we reconnect with the sacred feminine wisdom that exists in all of us. And guides us towards a lit up life of peace, empowerment, purpose, and prosperity. I'm Char Wilson, your host and owner of Wilson Phoenix wellness. I'm a mind, body wellness, content creator, and coach helping high performing professional women transform from burned out to lit up through a holistic wellness approach. And each week I invite you to join me and my special guests. And intuitively led heartfelt conversations on holistic health and well being, resilience, and living authentically. Whether you're navigating life's big changes, seeking deeper purpose, or simply craving connection and inspiration from sisters, you will walk away with bite sized brilliance as we uncover empowering insights and practical steps to help you create a life of balance, joy, and fulfillment. Today, I'm joined by my guest and a newer friend, but a soul sister for sure, Isabel Meiring, and she is a doctor of acupuncture, Chinese medicine, as well as a life coach. She is a wife and a mother to some fur babies currently living, uh, in. Bastrop, Texas, which is just outside of Austin, Texas. If you're not super familiar with Texas and Isabel's mission is to help people live the life they've always wanted to live or haven't been able to because of physical or emotional pain. So welcome to she speaks sweet sister, Isabel.

Isabel Meijering:

Thank you, Char. I'm so, so honored to be here with you.

Char Wilson:

Yes, we are so excited to hear your stories. And one of the things that I learned very quickly from Isabel, we met back in June at a women in business wellness retreat, and I was very fortunate to be bumped up with Isabel. And it was just kind of like this immediate. Connection. I was like, I, I like you, you are a cool bad ass chick. I like this girl. And very quickly, just hearing your stories, being around your energy. I was able to pinpoint, this is a woman of, of giftings with deep intuition. Like you move through the world in a different way than a lot of people. And I love that. And I, and I'm still learning to tap into. My well of intuition. So I'm really excited to tune into this today and learn about this from your lived experience. Today, before the call, um, one of the coolest things that she said to me was I've opened two businesses and we're going to talk about this. You navigated everything, opening two businesses, which you are currently maintaining both simultaneously. And you did this mostly with intuition. You said, my story makes absolutely no logical sense. All of it is magic and comes from learning to listen to my guides and my intuition. So, tell us, first off, to kick off the call, why acupuncture? What, what led you down that road?

Isabel Meijering:

Awesome question. I love this question. So, I actually will rewind the clock to when I was 22 years old and I got into veterinary school, and that's what I wanted to do forever. I love animals. I, um, worked in the veterinary field for four years and, uh, I got accepted and I thought that that was going to be The light at the end of a tunnel from a year that was really hard for me personally. And it wasn't, I, I was miserable. I didn't understand why and I had to sit with that. And at the time I was a very new student of yoga, like very new. And I had, I was also a very new client of energy work. My aunt is a healing touch practitioner and I had had some injuries, some right ankle injuries that, um, actually, Were the reason for me not playing basketball in college. And her work is what ended up being the final thing to heal it. So at the time I was like, okay, this energy thing is, it sounds really cool. I've seen it work with me physically. I'm feeling really Zen after these yoga classes, but I'm not really understanding what that means. However, the pull towards this energetic work was so strong that I realized I had no passion in veterinary medicine. I did not want to be a surgeon and prescribe prescription drugs. And hear me when I say that those things are so important and there's so much value in them, and they do save people and help people every day, and they are also overprescribed. And I had no passion in it, bottom line. So, I went and sought out a Reiki master near my college. And was like, this energy thing is cool. Why don't we experience something else? I feel stagnant. Didn't really know what that meant, but I just knew I needed something moved. So I went and had a session and I came off the table and I said, I'm not going to vet school. And the practitioner was like, Oh, what are you doing? You know, kind of concerned. And, uh, I said, you know, I don't know, but I'm, I'm done being miserable. And I'm, I'm, I just can't do this anymore. So I'm driving home. I lived in Corpus Christi. So I'm driving like over the causeway and I'm sitting there and I was like, okay, universe, what do I do? How do I combine these Western, this Western schooling and all of the schooling I've done for something medical With my newfound passions of energy, whatever that means. And when I tell you that like out of the sky dropped acupuncture, I don't know how else, how else to describe it. It was like, Oh, I've heard acupuncture is cool. What a way to combine these two worlds, one of which I'm way more familiar with. So the next day I applied to acupuncture school had never received a session. Um, at which point I then found an acupuncturist and had great results with him. And, uh, two months later, I. Moved to Austin and never looked back and went to school.

Char Wilson:

Yeah. So help us understand. I just love your story. Like it's wild. It's wild. And there's so much more like if you're listening or watching the podcast right now, please keep listening. Cause there's more to this. She, she really is a little magic maker. I don't understand it, but it's so cool. So. Okay, so acupuncture drops down from from the sky, you have this download acupuncture and you're like, oh, it's a mix of both worlds. How tell us how acupuncture is a missed mix of Western science and this energy healing.

Isabel Meijering:

Perfect. So, when you get into Eastern modalities, and of any kind. Whether it's Reiki, whether it's acupuncture, whether it is, um, oh my gosh, with the doshas out of India. Yeah. Ayurveda.

Char Wilson:

Yeah.

Isabel Meijering:

That's what I'm studying

Char Wilson:

and totally fascinated with. Yes.

Isabel Meijering:

Yes. Whenever you get into any of those Eastern modalities, the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies are not seen as different. Yeah. And there's this deep set belief of you cannot treat one without treating the rest. And that for me changed my life because in the Western world, we love to make things really segmented and really isolated and, oh, you have elbow pain. It must only be because you swung your tennis racket the wrong way. Okay. And that may be true for some injuries, but there's also this. Whole entire other world encompassing past traumas, the emotional body, you know, and looking with Chinese medicine, the organ systems, you have physical and mental and emotional symptoms when something is off balance. And when I started learning about that, I felt so seen and so validated because so often in the Western world, because things are so isolated. Symptom wise, you know, treatment wise, how could your stomach ache and a rash on your scapula and your anxiety be correlated? Well, that's all the, that's all the fire element. That's all small intestine, heart. Those organs, those meridians. And yes, they're all related. It doesn't mean that you might not also have something off with your gut microbiome. You know, that's not what we're saying, but your body is speaking to you and it's giving you signs and learning about these Eastern modalities brought me so much peace and so much comfort. And so much, I just felt very grounded in it because everything's connected. And I've seen that with my clients too. When you start really digging into symptoms and symptomologies and people are like, wow. I just feel so validated. I feel so seen and like there is a, there's an answer for what's going on, what's happening to me, what I'm experiencing. And once you feel that validation, You're never going to go back, you know,

Char Wilson:

yeah, I think this is such an important topic to take a little bit more time to, to keep talking about because right now where we are with Western medicine, obviously, our, our systems are struggling, they are outdated, they're not working for us, especially as women, and there are more and more women that are speaking out on this on social media channels, tick tock, whatever it is saying like, My doctor isn't listening to me. He's just, I just keep getting prescribed medication. That was my experience before I got into understanding mind body energy connection. I was prescribed three antibiotics in a row consecutively over the course of three months. And they just kept telling me it's an UTI. It's a UTI. Meanwhile, those antibiotics are like a nuclear bomb to my gut. to my microbiome. And I did not have a UTI. Finally, I made my way to a nurse practitioner who was a little bit more holistic and woo woo. And she was like, tell me, you know, I see that you're a Virgo. So I know you're type a, I was going through the, my divorce at this time. This was back in 2019. And she was like, okay, you're going through a divorce. He sounds like a son of a bitch. Like she, she just was the coolest. That's like manner, but she spent time with me. She listened, she was compassionately witnessing and asking the right questions about my symptoms. She was not treating the most acute symptom of, Oh, it looks like you have a UTI. She said, I think I know what's going on here. I see this in women in their late thirties who are type a, who are ambitious, who are going through a hard time. She did a bladder scan and come to find out it was my pelvic floor. My pelvic floor was so tight. From anxiety and tension and just chronic stress that I was not actually emptying my bladder. And, and it was just that experience of like, Oh, you see me, you're not just going to throw another pill at me and shove me out the door. You're listening. And I think that is what these Eastern approaches give us and what women are really, really seeking right now. Versus I'm just a, like, I'm an, I'm a cow in a line of cattle. I get 15 minutes with my gynecologist. I get 15 minutes with my doctor and they're not going to really listen to me. They're just going to prescribe me a drug and send me out the door. And that's probably going to cause other. ripple effects down the line. And I witnessed that with my mom who suffered from an auto immune disease for 12 years. She just kept getting prescribed new things that created new issues. So what you're doing is just so important and necessary. specifically in this time and space for women.

Isabel Meijering:

Yeah, that's all, that's all very true, unfortunately.

Char Wilson:

So what is, um, what's like a really cool tidbit that you could share for the woman listening? Who's like, okay, I'm interested. I don't know. Acupuncture still seems really woo woo. What would you say to her?

Isabel Meijering:

I would say that acupuncture, if you want to look at it this way, it's a really good gateway into energy healing because As an acupuncturist, you have to have pharmacology classes. You have very in depth anatomy classes. I mean, there's a lot of Western training. That goes into what we're doing. So if you want someone who can actually look at, you know, your medications, your, your supplements, your symptomology and understand what the Western world is saying or diagnosing you with, you know, if you come in with a couple of diagnoses from a Western provider. We are trained in that, and then we can translate it into Chinese medicine diagnoses, you know, how we look at the body and kind of bridge this world, bridge the gaps between the two worlds. And then, you know, from there, some of some acupuncturists are more esoteric oriented. Some of them bring in Reiki, some of them bring in all kinds of things, but all of us have to have that Western training. So we will understand what you're bringing in from the Western world.

Char Wilson:

Yeah, there is a true legitimacy to this medicine and it's it's ancient, right? Yeah, 5,

Isabel Meijering:

000 years

Char Wilson:

So there's a thing or two and I and I think what we're seeing is there's more and more holistic and integrative and functional Doctors in the Western space, but really they're just, they're just recalling this ancient wisdom, which is what you're leading with. Am I understanding that? Yeah, I think so. Okay, cool. So that was your, your first story of how intuition guided you at, what'd you say you were 21, 22? Like, yeah, I

Isabel Meijering:

do.

Char Wilson:

Yeah.

Isabel Meijering:

Have

Char Wilson:

you always kind of been intuitive or is that something that you've grown over time?

Isabel Meijering:

I, I have always been intuitive. I was pretty. high strung and stressed as a child. So it's something that I've had to really grow as I've learned to heal my nervous system. But I do remember having these big moments of Of intuition of, um, you know, other experiences with the esoteric world. But I will say that I think it was really not until I was 20 that I really started tuning in and, and weaning into all of this.

Char Wilson:

So tell us about the second story you've recently opened. The only yoga studio in Bastrop, Texas, five months ago, and it has been wildly successful and I, you were telling me about this. This was like early baby dream. You were just getting like business partners and funding back in July of last year. I honestly didn't think it was going to happen this quickly. But I'm so thrilled. Tell us about that. How did your intuition guide you to opening a wildly successful yoga studio in the heart downtown of Bastrop, Texas, which is a conservative town. I mean, they're, they're a little bit more kind of like hippie ish, but it's still your, it's still your small Texas town. So tell us about that.

Isabel Meijering:

Yeah. So this is the best ever. I, uh, over the summer, around the time when I met you, I was, um, kind of thinking about the future of my career. And, uh, you know, obviously I worked for myself, um, the acupuncture business. And I was thinking, you know, what, what is my superpower? And, and I got to really, really sitting with that and. I've heard so many women say that they know they're on a path to healing when they turn their biggest wound in this lifetime into their superpower, whatever that is. And I love hearing stories like that. And I, up until this point, had never understood how to do that with my story. It was just fine. You know, we all have our own timing, but I sat there and said, okay, what's my biggest wound, which is community. My parents moved us around a lot, a lot, a lot. So naturally the biggest wound is community. And I sat there and thought, okay, how do we, how do I create this for myself and for others, if this is what, if this is what I've been spending so much time and effort on healing. And I thought, Oh my gosh, like a yoga studio, having a space for everyone to come together. To breathe together, to talk about health, for people to teach their workshops, you know, whether they're a teacher here or not, rent the space, have something, have a space to just land, like have a place to call home. And here in Bastrop, I'd had a couple of locations where I was able to rent out for workshops, but all of them have transitioned into other businesses, and so I was also not having a place to teach. I also teach yoga, um, but I was more, I, I, I teach once a week. I was mostly wanting to do the workshops and all the other events that I do. So, I thought, why not me? And I tend to approach life from this way, um, Like a, why not me space, not a, Oh, like that couldn't be me. Like, here's the reasons why it couldn't be. I thought, why not me? Do I have all the money to put into this? No, I don't have all of that liquid cash to pour into this. Could there be a creative way to make this happen? Absolutely. So, the voice was getting louder and louder and louder of like, yoga studio, yoga studio. So, I walked by this location, this one that I'm in right now, in July, and it was empty. It's on Main Street. And I texted my reorder and I said, Hey, what's going on with this space? He texts me back, he goes, it was taken off market, you know, this other business is moving in there. And I thought, that's so weird because I felt such a pull with this space, but I could be wrong. I mean, the universe works in weird ways. So I kept looking for a space and there was one other that I had toured that just. It wasn't on main street and I felt really passionate about it being on main street and it, it just wasn't a fit. And I thought, you know, I'll just wait because I want this to be like a hub of community. It needs to be on main, maybe the timing of this just isn't right now. So end of August, so we're now six weeks later. And I'm in the meantime, I'm working on my business plan. You know, I'm it's like a 16 page thing. Here's how I want it to structure, you know, more, more just like creating the dream and none of it was serious. Cause there wasn't a location and my realtor texts me, he goes, Hey, the, that business fell through that the location is open. Do you want it? And I said, yeah, right. The lease, he goes, okay. So, and this realtor is a friend of mine. Um, he's like, you have everything done. Like your financing is done. Like you're ready to go. And I said, yep. I had nothing done. I had, um, a third of the startup money I thought I needed coming from me. I was like, I can put a third into this, but I don't feel comfortable doing more than that. And, uh, and I truly felt like I, I felt that I needed the number in my head to have it because I wasn't sure how it would land here being the only studio. And there's been studios here before and they've all closed for one reason or another. So, uh, I said, yes, I was like, yeah, yeah, I have it all. It's all ready. So meanwhile, I'm telling my friends about this plan and, uh, I was like, I don't know, am I going to go with investors? Am I going to just take out a loan for the rest of it? Like, what makes sense? I'd really love to not have like an investor that I don't know. Um, I'd really love to not take out like a massive loan, but I will, because I believe in this so much. And they came to me and they were like, Hey. We love you. We believe in you. We'd actually like to be your partners and like, here's what we can put into it. I was like, you're joking. You, you trust me that much to be like, here's all of this money. Here's what I want in return. And they they'll do everything that I'm not good at, or that I don't want to do for business, like the backend stuff, like the bookkeeping, the, the payroll, the contracts, all these things that are very, very important. And they're not my strengths. I can do them, but they don't really bring me joy, but they. So good at these things. And I'm like, this is crazy. Like the universe truly has somebody for everything. And they're like my perfect balance. They're a married couple, my business partners and just friends of mine, like the perfect balance of me in every way. And I thought this was like, Un fucking believable. I like, I, and I didn't, I didn't approach them to ask them this. I was just telling them about it as a friend. So. Meanwhile, we're getting the lease signed, we have it all done, the, um, owner of the building is not understanding, like, what yoga is, and I was like, I, I have like six pages on my business plan of research on yoga, like, please read it. He's like, I don't understand why someone would pay to stretch, and I was like, oh my god, like, we, okay, so not only did I write six pages of information for you, but can I just meet with you and, like, tell you about yoga? That didn't happen, but he, he was like, okay, why don't you give me six months rent up front? And I said i'm not gonna do that. How about three months rent up front? That's six months is wild. It does happen It does happen. That's wild. So we negotiated we did three months rent up front and uh We made more money in in three months than I in one month that I thought we were gonna do in three from Opening to end of the year. Yeah, and It's just been unbelievable. Like the community is so awesome. I mean, it shows how ready they were, but also like all of the divine timing that went behind this and all of the hard work and we, and I, I can't discount like How much effort went into this on the back end and me saying we need to come out of the gate like swing and basically like we need to have events planned up like we have to show that we are the studio that is here to stay and like we are serious like we have the business experience and we have the the woo experience. We have all of this and we're going to bring it together because a lot of I see a lot of wellness businesses fail, not from a lack of talent. From the practitioner or the lack of talent from the teacher, they almost always have incredible talent, but the business side of things isn't, you know, up to speed, which is really sad because, you know, we need we need to have both, but we have to have both in this and I feel truly, truly, truly feel like this time with all of us involved in the studio, we've gotten a balance of all of that and it's working and it's like, It's just unbelievable. It's more than I could have dreamed.

Char Wilson:

Yeah. Yeah. There's, I just, there's so many things I want to play back from what I heard, but first I want to ask you another question. So from, from these two key experiences where your intuition guided you to a successful, a very successful aligned outcome, what is the one lesson from that, that you would want the women on this? Who are listening to this show to walk away with

Isabel Meijering:

my one lesson is to notice your body's reactions when you're telling someone about About your dream. So for example when I like in July I showed up at my house My husband was home with yoga studio stuff that I'd bought from the previous studio that had closed here And he was like what is in our garage and I said it's for the studio. I'm opening and he was like Maybe I love you and I believe in you, but like, we, we can't just like store things on our garage for like an undetermined date. And I was like, watch me. But this feeling of like, he wasn't being disrespectful. That man is so supportive of me. Yeah, but I had this feeling like deep, like deep within me and I was like this anger and this like, No, like this is real. Like I know how real this is. And I understand that to everyone else, this sounds insane, but this is real. Like just wait. And two months later, the studio was open. Interesting.

Char Wilson:

Tell me about the anger, because I think that's a piece that a lot of people, when they think about manifesting their dreams, it's all like feel good rainbows and unicorns and kittens, but there are other emotions involved. So tell me about that anger reaction and how that. Served you.

Isabel Meijering:

So anger and I are old friends. Um, I love my relationship with my anger. I, I feel I should preface that. And what it's showing me is a better word for that is probably passion or fire. I mean, I'm so, I'm, I'm all fire. I, like, I, and I work very hard on balancing that, but that, that passion of, of I, like, I know this is real and I know what I'm capable of. And so when I would. Speak this plan and see doubt or see disbelief or see like distrust from someone else not in an offensive way, but like a how could this be real? My body's reacting of like a, I understand that this isn't an alignment for you. Like you're not understanding this, but like I understand it. And it's like defensiveness of no, I have this is right. No matter what reaction I'm getting from anybody else. It's on the outside world, like this is, this is true. So passion might, might be a better word, but it does, it does border on anger and it borders on like a, like a try me, but I curb that reaction, like, no, but this is real.

Char Wilson:

Yeah. It, it, what it sounds like is a, it's a protective energy and that is what anger is usually protecting those more tender. Emotions like fear and sadness, but in this case it was protecting your dream from the non believers. Which is so nice. Because you had like this little baby bird. Believe that you were growing and you had to protect it.

Isabel Meijering:

I did.

Char Wilson:

Yeah. Yeah.

Isabel Meijering:

Seriously.

Char Wilson:

Tell me a little bit more about, let's make the connection between, cause I too am fire. Like I'm a, I'm a, I'm a pretty good mix. I'm a Virgo sun. I got that Sagittarius fire moon Pisces rising, but in Ayurveda, which we talked about, I'm a Pitta red hair. We are all fire. And I'm constantly having to, to balance that out. Tell me about the connection that, that you've seen in your own life and in your practice between balancing the fire so that it does not create a burnout scenario. How have you managed that in your life?

Isabel Meijering:

That's an excellent question. Um, I physically spend a lot of time in water. Whether it's a bath or otherwise, which is really helpful. I also with the fire and maybe just with where I'm at in my life, I tend to know the answer to things pretty quickly. Um, but I've learned that even that, that gut reaction I have is usually correct. Sometimes that's wrong, but it's usually correct. But I've learned to remove myself from the situation and say, you know, I know this is right, but we're going to go and take a walk. We're going to go and just. We're going to go and wait until, until this lessons and then, and then act on it, even though we know the answer, um, because otherwise, and I have done this in the past, it's just like a go, go, go nonstop. And with that fire, it's. There's a, there's an aspect of it that for me can get almost like, like making sure it's not acting out of like an ego place or like a self righteous place, if that makes sense. Because sometimes, um, when I'm really activated, my responses can be a little bit curt and just fiery, just like snappy and just to the point, but it's no longer having those like social graces or those like, take a second and like, Talk to someone about how they're doing or take a walk. It doesn't all have to be action all the time. So I've learned over the past decade to, to go into those non action states and to go into those more lower energy states by energy. I mean, like, we're not just action all the time, very like masculine operating system to like bring in that more feminine flow and when it's balanced, which I. It's not all the time because I'm still human, but I found a good flow with it of knowing I know what I'm going to do. But right now let's just enjoy and let's be in the flow.

Char Wilson:

Did you figure that out on your own or did you have mentors, teachers, you mentioned your guides. How did you figure that out and what was the most impactful thing that that you that they taught you.

Isabel Meijering:

Um, I've had so many mentors. I'm a firm believer in having mentors and To keep learning about yourself, whatever that looks like, um, whatever courses, uh, therapies, teachers, classes, all of those things are so important. So it was a really slow, it was, I think over the past decade, a really slow integration of, Oh, okay, here's what. Fire looks like in a positive way, and here's what it looks like in a way that's hurtful and learning about other people and other elements, especially when we get to the Chinese medicine aspect of, you know, fire, earth, wood, et cetera. I learned that not everybody does react to things like me and it does take all kinds of this. I mean, in my early 20s, this was like revolutionary for me because as a really fiery person, you just think that everyone is acting out of this, you know, any element you're like, Oh, everyone must be doing this, must feel the same, but that's so not true. And that was really, really, truly revolutionary of, of seeing the balance between how all the elements need to work together.

Char Wilson:

Yeah, absolutely. That's been one of the coolest things for me to understand as a, as a core teaching of Ayurveda, which is the sister science of yoga and the science of living a vital life. And it's all about the elements and the core tenant is when you feel that imbalance, there's too much fire and maybe that like that shows up for me with. With looser stools, with looser digestion, or like you said, the, the rashes, or it shows up as impatience. You balance it by reaching for the opposite. So you wouldn't reach for a spicy pepper when you're already fired up, you're going to go get yourself in some water, or you're going to eat like a root vegetable. So you want earth and water to balance out that heat, that fire. And that that's what I'm hearing you talk about. And I just think it's so cool when those elemental principles, you can see them across a wide variety of these Eastern. Modalities, but they're all kind of saying the same thing, which is balance and balance. We get from reaching for opposites of what we're currently experiencing. Totally. So there's some really cool pieces that you said earlier. One, I would just want to recap the advice that you offer the key lesson. If there's nothing else that sisters listening to this walk away with, it's this. And Isabel said, notice your body's reaction when you're telling others about your dream. Notice your body's reaction when you're telling others about your dream. Does it light up or does it, does it contract? Do you feel protective of it? Like I'm gonna, I'm going to protect this dream. It's mine. I don't know how it's going to happen, but. By God, it's going to happen. So noticing your body's reaction as you are vocalizing or writing out your dream. Some of the other things that I heard you say, um, you know, as you were intuiting your way into acupuncture school and becoming a doctor of acupuncture and opening your, your yoga studio, there were some key elements that, that you said that I want to highlight. Um, one was the starting point of I'm done being miserable. I can't. Do this anymore. And that was your pivot point. So for sisters listening, if you have said those exact words, just look at that. As it's an open doorway, it's a portal to something else. It doesn't, it doesn't mean you're stuck. It doesn't mean you've made a poor decision. It's just a sign. It's just a moment to pivot. Ask what else? And listen, some of the other things you said was I, to enhance your, your intuition, you actually healed your nervous system. And I, I am a specialist of nervous system healing. That is very, very important. I can geek out about it all the time. So will you talk a little bit more about that? The importance of, because I think that is probably Once we realize I don't want to do this anymore, and we start opening up to the other, that's probably the first step to enhancing our intuition is being a stable vessel for the dream to come in. So what did that look like for you as far as healing your nervous system?

Isabel Meijering:

It looked like finding and, and honing in on a regular self care practice. Um, it looked like healing. trauma, you know, healing everything from my past and I incorporated a lot of modalities into this. I mean, we're talking, I mean, it's been over a decade of this process. Um, but if you're in a state, you know, a fight or flight, it's very difficult for your body to do anything other than just live, survive on a daily basis. Yeah. So your intuition is going to be pretty. Pretty focused on survival and what you need that day. And if you're able to step out of that and you don't really nourish your nervous system, then your body, your chakras, everything can can focus on these other messages that are coming in. And you're getting these messages all the time, but you have to ask the question of what is your body, have the capacity to notice and listen to.

Char Wilson:

And if

Isabel Meijering:

it's trying to survive, then that is way more important than getting a message about. What, what else is around you, you know, what's coming in the angel numbers over there, you know, whoever's visiting you, there's just no space for that,

Char Wilson:

right? Cause your mind's just fixated on threat detection and protecting survival. Your brain literally thinks that you're in a constant state of under attack and surviving you. So intuition, while it is there, it's always there. It's kind of like it's underneath the surface or many layers under the surface and your survival and stakes are what you are most focused on and what is driving you. Did I hear that correctly? Yeah. Yeah, nervous system healing is probably the primary step to start working on to start enhancing your intuition because once you're into a calm state, then your brain isn't fixated on neutralizing the perceived threats that may not actually be a threat. Then you can start to feel into your body and notice those subtle energy shifts. And you can start to notice where the universe is actually working with you, whereas before you were just focused on neutralized threat. Don't die. Like we're just, we're just running through the motions. And I, and I think that's why one of the biggest lessons for me of noticing my pattern of chronic burnout and the immense amount of. Healing that I had to do to my nervous system was that when I was in burnout, I could not hear my intuition. I was making very, um, emotional knee jerk reaction decisions. And that's one of the other pieces that I wanted to highlight is you said, um, You know, I'll, I'll just wait. Like you had this gut intuition that I'm going to open a yoga studio, but the element of patience was so important that you kind of rode the wave of your emotions, and then you made the decision when you were emotionally neutral. Can you talk a little bit more about intuition versus ego and how those play out in relation to our emotional highs and lows?

Isabel Meijering:

Yeah. Yeah. That's a really good question. And, um, I think the better or the clearer you get about these two, the faster things will happen for you as well. You know, so if you're listening to this and you're like, wait, but the idea was in July and you opened in October. Yeah. And I've been working on this for a long time, intuition and listening to my body and nervous system healing. So don't let that discourage you. But if you have this idea, so we'll use the yoga studio studio as an example. And. And if I had gone on to this and said, I want to open a studio because I want to have community because I switch into the ego mind here. I deserve this and I am the best person to open this and all of this is to serve me that to me feels really ick and really, oh, you're in this for attention on some level you're in this because you're feeling self righteously. And although there are some things in that sentence that have good in them, there's a lot of. This feels misplaced instead, if you're like, I want to open a yoga studio because I want to serve. I also am craving community and I'm wanting to create this for everybody and I'm wanting to do this for the success of the community, for the resources of the community, for this, for that. You're now going into this from a way of service, which is not ego based. I think you have to be really careful about your intention and be really careful about the energy that you're putting into your dreams and desires because. For example, if you go into something and all you're looking at is money, I think the build is usually slower. And I think people can feel that whether it's conscious or subconscious. Now understand that when you go into something from a service based aspect, the money will come. Like if that's what you're, if that's what you need, which we need right now in the society, capitalistic, blah, blah, blah, that will come. But when the focus is money, the focus is money. And everyone can feel that consciously or subconsciously when the focus is people and the focus of service and the focus is a space community, that's what's felt. And then whatever you need out of that financially to survive, blah, blah, blah, that's going to come. Does that make sense? Does that land? Yeah.

Char Wilson:

Yeah. And it, it ties right back to one of the other things I loved hearing you say is you started with your wound. You said, what is my superpower? But the way to find out the superpower was to start by asking yourself, what is my deepest wound? And that's such a beautiful entryway because a lot of people are just not ready to go into their childhood wounds. Like I don't, I don't have the capacity for that. I'm barely surviving over here, but what if. As you work on your nervous system and you create more capacity to go into your wounding, that wounding actually, it shows you your ego and it, and it leads you towards your, your intuitive Superpower because that's what drives us as people. And that's where it becomes so beautiful as it's like, what happened was it was the, it was the juxtaposition, the crossroads of me, Isabel, I have a need for community and I also see a need for community and I'm going to live at the. At the crossroads of that and create something for that. And that's why it's been wildly successful. It wasn't from your ego of. Um, like I need, I need attention or I need to, I need another like money making business adventure. It wasn't that it was just the exploration of what is my deepest wounding and how can I turn that pain? Into my power and my purpose. And that's just, it's such an important lesson. So I think that is a, a really beautiful invitation for our sisters listening that if you've been afraid to go into your pain, yes, do some nervous system regulation, slow breath, find your way to a yoga studio, preferably mainstreet yoga and Bastrop if you live nearby. Or another yoga studio, go to a Reiki practitioner, move your body, get an acupuncturist, like all of those help to regulate your nervous system. And then you can start asking the questions of what is my deepest wounding? Where do I feel the most pain? And that's where your ego voice is going to live. You start to get really, really clear with the ego story, and that's going to take you right to your intuition. Now, how can I turn this pain into my purpose, into my superpower so that I can serve the world? I just got a preachy soapbox, but that that's been my, that's been my experience too. So I just want to, I just want to keep reiterating like this is how you find your way to intuition. You calm your nervous system so you're not always looking for threats and you get a little bit closer to the pain. Where does it constantly hurt you? That's going to showcase your ego. And then you start asking better questions, not with judgment for yourself, but with curiosity, compassion, and that is going to guide you right to your intuitive superpower. And when you're in that place, dreams do come true. And you are living proof of that. Okay, so to wrap this up, I just love this so much, but we're at time. Ah, okay, so let's end with, um, let's end with this question. Um, Two questions really quickly. What is a common myth or misconception about success or happiness that you want to debunk for the women listening?

Isabel Meijering:

I love this question. The common myth about success and or happiness I want to debunk is that you'll get it when X happens. This is a state of being, this is a mindset. So if you're waiting for this amount of money to come in, then you're successful. You're waiting for this partner and then you'll be happy. You're waiting for that. Recipe to land and then you'll be ecstatic. There's always going to be something else. If that's the mindset you're in of next, next, more and more and more, then that's your mindset. It won't matter how much money you make or don't make. You'll never get there. So when you have this mindset of success and you're choosing to look around at your life and seeing what is successful or what makes you happy, then you'll always be there. And that is in the little things. So if you're walking around your house and you're like, wow, you know what? My business did all right this month. I had enough money to pay my bills success. I have three happy animals running in my house. That's such success. And when you can learn how to have success in the little things, then guess what? The universe is going to reward you with the bigger things, whatever that is, whether it's a bigger business employees, I don't know, moving across the country, whatever that is, but you'll never experience or understand the success of the big things. If you're not able to look at those little ones on a daily basis.

Char Wilson:

Yeah. So I'm hearing you say shift from the mindset of I'll be happy when, which is the grass is always greener to I'm happy now because, and start paying attention to the things that are already creating those little glimmers of happiness, a gratitude practice essentially. So what's one practical action that you would recommend our sisters take to undo that belief in their body of I'll be happy when and enhance their intuition. What's a simple practice that they can take with them today.

Isabel Meijering:

You know, if you look at videos that are, you know, going around on Instagram and TikTok right now of, um, some influencers, you know, the ones that are, seem to be genuinely happy in their lives and they're just enjoying their life. They're enjoying what's in front of them. They're enjoying sitting on the couch with their two year olds and like playing with blocks and looking in the mirror and doing their makeup at 2 p. m. in the afternoon because they can, because that's where they're at in their life. And my question would be, you know, why, why aren't you doing that? And let's find a practice of doing that. So if you are a stay at home mom right now, I'm using this example because a lot of my clients are, are in this right now, then be a stay at home mom, then do it and enjoy it and be present with that, because you're not going to have young children forever. Be happy there. My guess is you probably worked really hard to get to where you are. And now it's hard to take in all of that success, but play with the blocks with your children and be present and find the joy and the magic in it. And know that this is not a forever chapter, you know, for good, for bad, for neutral, for whatever. If you're walking around your house and you're like, wow, I worked really hard to be. In this house and to have the things I have noticing what's in front of you and being grateful for whatever it is. You have five minutes for breakfast. You wish you had 20, find a way to be happy with those five, you know, like find the gratitude for where you are right now in this moment. And I think the first step is awareness. So just being aware of what's around you. Yeah.

Char Wilson:

Yeah. And I'll add onto that something, a practice that I've been doing is I just created a note on my phone and every day I'm typing on my phone. One glimmer moment. It doesn't have to be like this big miraculous thing. Just like one glimmer moment. And then after a week, go back and read through those. Yeah, that's beautiful. Thank you friend so much. Um, I could talk to you all day long, like all of my other, so much wisdom to share. Um, and you're just a cool, you're just a cool chick and a wise woman. So I'm just very grateful to have you on my show and, um, appreciate the wisdom that you've shared through your stories, through your lessons and through your expertise, your advice. So thank you for being here today.

Isabel Meijering:

Thank you, Char. It was truly a pleasure. I appreciate you so much.

Char Wilson:

Yes. Alright, sisters, we are so glad you joined us today on She Speaks. I hope you leave feeling seen, inspired, connected, and ready to take one step closer to living as your true self. Remember, the wisdom we seek is often found within. Keep shining, keep speaking, keep listening to your inner voice and join us next time as we continue this wisdom journey to wholehearted living. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a five star review and share with the beloved sisters in your life. And be sure to check the show notes for ways to connect with Isabel, which is going to tell us here just a second before we log off, as well as resources that I'll provide you to support you on your journey to health and happiness. So Isabel, how can our sisters. Find you website, social media, upcoming events. Let us know.

Isabel Meijering:

Yep. So my Instagram name is admiring you wellness. That's my acupuncture business name. And my website is www dot admiring you wellness. com. And if you're local main street yoga bathtub,

Char Wilson:

man. All right. We love you. Sweet friends, sisters. We will see you next week.