The Power of Introversion: Plearn on Feeling Misunderstood & Trusting Herself Anyway

Beyond the achievements, Plearn is passionate, introverted, and a dreamer. In this episode, she shares what introversion truly feels like for her, the experience of being misunderstood, and how deep listening helps others feel seen and understood.

Plearn reflects on leaving an eight-year corporate marketing career to pursue a master’s in psychology and education focused on spirituality, mind, and body. She opens up about navigating fear, external validation, and family expectations while learning to trust herself more deeply.

We also explore her work as a Reiki master and tarot reader, including Reiki’s origins and her perspective on emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual healing. The conversation expands into perfectionism, self-compassion, journaling practices, intergenerational patterns, and the contrast between life in Bangkok and New York.

This episode is an honest reflection on intuition, authenticity, and the power of embracing your inner world.

Here is how to connect with Plearn:

Instagram: @plearnsoulsister

LinkedIn: Plearn Pitikarn Suriyamongkol

Transcript

Rachel & Plearn 0:00

Hello, everyone, and welcome to "Unmasked," a Beyond Worthy podcast. My name is Rachel Peck, and I am so grateful that you are here listening today. Let's take a moment. Pause. Breathe. Feel free to close your eyes. And just slow down. Notice your breath. Take one more intentional inhale and exhale. And then we'll get started. Am so excited to welcome Plearn to the studio today. Plearn, thank you for being here. Your presence is such a light, and I'm really excited to chat with you. How are you feeling? Thank you, Rachel. I am feeling very excited to be having this conversation with you today, and I'm excited where our conversation takes us. Going to start with your three words. This is how we begin every podcast. passionate, introverted, and a dreamer. Beautiful. Care to expand on these words? Of course. I am someone who's really passionate about the things I am interested in, and that happens to be my spiritual practices and philosophy and mental wellness. I am introverted, so don't be surprised if I'm in a big group and I don't say a single thing. I'm just there for the vibe. I'm there to be with everyone, but sometimes I don't speak too much, I'm just happy to be there. But if you ask me questions, I will talk. So I'm kinda like more re-resonating with the introverted energy. And I am a dreamer because I have a lot of dreams, a lot of big dreams. There's a lot of conversations around introversion and extroversion. Have you always considered yourself an introvert, even when you were little? Yeah. I feel that I'm just someone who enjoys being in the presence of people, and just observing and noticing things about them, and just giving them my presence. I feel that I am more energized when I'm alone. I feel that my solitude is something that brings me more energy, I don't love, love going into places with big crowds, like concerts. I kinda get, overwhelmed when there's too much people in the same place, and they're... It's loud, and it's, so many sounds. So yeah, I can be a little bit nervous in big crowds. yeah, I've always been an introvert, always felt I enjoy my own company and, smaller groups. Has your relationship always been positive feeling introverted? Yeah, I would f- I would say that, in my experience, my introversion is something that, makes me myself, and I just show up authentically. And the people who love me, they're gonna be able to bring me out of my shell through conversations and through spending time together. Incredible. What would you say one of the hardest parts of being an introvert is? I think it's about being misunderstood. Sometimes being too quiet, people are like, "Oh, is something wrong with her? What is she thinking? Is she okay? is she like, like sad or anything?" But it's just nothing. It's just, I'm just here. I'm just me, and I just don't talk a lot, but I love you, so don't worry about me. Yeah, being misunderstood was the biggest challenge of being an introvert, I'd say. How do you make other people feel understood? Listen to them. When they wanna share something, I would say, being able to hold the space for them to express themselves is the first step of making someone feel understood. I would agree. I think listening is a really powerful tool that is getting left behind a little bit. Hmm. Agree. With all the distractions between phones, technology, stimulation- it can be really hard for people to be present with others and listen. That's probably one of the ways I feel seen the most is when I can sense that someone else is hearing me- and seeing me. Is there anyone in your life who has made you feel the most understood you've ever felt? Ooh. I have more than one person that comes to mind, but I can describe what they do. it's like a collective of many people in my life. I can't just pinpoint to a single person. Oh, but okay. I can talk about my best friend. Yeah. As I think it would be easy. But okay, my best friend, she's from Thailand, and she's visiting me this spring break, so I'm really excited to see her. So she and I, we are spiritual sisters, so we've been, very close over the past three, four years. her name is Nui, so she is a few years younger. We went to undergrad at the same university, but back then we didn't really talk to each other, and we only grew closer in recent years. So she is someone who's so full of love and understanding. She would listen to me no matter what I say, like "Oh my God, I'm stressed out about school. Oh my God, I'm stressed out about this, about that," and she would just hold the space for me to let it all out. And she says, "I trust that you're gonna do okay. Just, believe in yourself." And she's someone who's always supporting me throughout my journey. That's really special to have someone in your life like that. I'm glad that you have her. You say you're a dreamer. Are there any dreams you would feel comfortable sharing that you've had in life or that you currently have? Hmm. Yeah, of course. I'm currently living out my dream. So more than five years ago, I was working in a corporate job. I was doing what I feel was right, or what society and what my family expects me to do, which is to work in an office. And I graduated I had a degree in marketing, so I'm just doing what I feel like is the path that I'm supposed to do. But then over the past three years, I started feeling that this journey of going into corporate and just moving up the ladder is not something I wanna do for the rest of my life. I had an awakening of, getting back in touch with my childhood dreams of wanting to be someone who brings peace to people, someone who possibly teach something someday. So I started applying to grad school, and now here I am. I'm doing my degree in, master's of psychology and education with a focus in the spirituality mind body. So it's a dream to be here, because five years ago, if you'd asked me what my dream is to be authentic and just to live out my purpose without having to stick to what people tell me to do or what I think others expect me to do. I could see that being a hard transition. Hmm. It wasn't easy. What did it feel like leaving corporate world, deciding- Mm-hmm applying, making the jump? What sort of feelings were inside of you during that whole transition? It was exciting But at the same time, I was very scared. nobody in my family or, my peers except Nui my best friend, understood what spirituality is. my friends would be like, "Oh, she's moving to New York. She's going to school." And, I felt I couldn't really explain to them why I'm doing this, and at the same time, I really know I wanna do this. So I felt conflicted because in the past I'm someone who used to be really validated externally, so I'd need someone to tell me I'm doing okay, or I need someone to tell me, "Oh, you're doing good. You're approved. So your dreams are approved. Just do it because we think it's okay to." But now I had to rely on my inner compass of just trusting myself and knowing what's good for me without having to rely on someone else to tell me what to do. it was like I had to jump off of a cliff. But I did it, and now I'm happier than ever. I felt free. I feel so free. The people who didn't necessarily approve of this jump- Mm-hmm of you jumping off a cliff- which sounds like it was a lot. In their... From their perspective, they would imagine that I'm jumping off a cliff. Yeah. And- Yes they might feel, "Oh, that's so dangerous." I had, this eight-year career in business, and now I'm doing something else out of the blue. So people are like, "You're taking a risk. what if, it doesn't work? What if you don't actually like what you're doing afterwards?" But I... We gotta take risks sometimes. So true. of fruit to bear in risk-taking. Mm-hmm. So those people who were worried for you, how do they feel now? And how do you feel One of those people are definitely my family, so my parents. For context, they are from another time. They're baby boomers. They're more than 70 years old. I love them. There are times when I feel that they support me But they are not fully understanding what I want to do. So there's still this, mixed feelings of "Okay, we are supportive of you, but at the same time, we are not sure if the dream you're going to pursue after you graduate is something viable for the long term." There may be times when my mom used to say things like, "Oh, why can't you have normal people jobs?" And I'm like, But this is also normal." you don't know the future. Anything can change, and just me being authentic, it might not seem, standard or normal to her, but it feels real and true to me. So I'm still living with, trying to integrate that mindset into the way I live. And I see the passion shining through. Because without the passion, it probably would've been harder for you to take that risk. Hmm. Take that leap away from an eight-year career, which it's a long time. Yeah. Were you happy? At first I was, because I thought I wanted these things. So I worked, at, an international bank where I get to interact with one of the sharpest minds in business in Thailand. my supervisors and my colleagues, they're so smart, they're so bright, and I just enjoyed working there because I was able to contribute value to the business, and I just felt passionate about, my marketing things that I do. I guess that part is still in me. I'm still very much in love with creativity and marketing, but I'm expressing it differently through spiritual practices. I would love to share more that I'm a Reiki master. So I work with energy healing, and I also am a tarot reader. So I, read for people, and it started as a part-time job when I was still doing my corporate career. But now I'm transitioning to making my passion a full-time job. Will you tell myself and the audience more about what Reiki is? 'Cause I'm still pretty unfamiliar with it, and I imagine a lot of people are as well. Yeah. For sure. so my Reiki practice is an energy healing practice originated from Japan. So it is, energy healing modality which- in which practitioners channel energy to the recipient to help balance their life force. So the practice of reiki is built on the foundation of belief that there is a universal life force flowing through human body, and, this life force can become stagnant if there are blockages that occur in the person's life. So blockages can be manifested in various forms. It can be a physical blockage, an emotional blockage, a mental blockage, or a spiritual blockage. You want me to go into all of them? Yes, please. Okay. So I would actually start with an emotional blockage because it's something that might be easiest to understand, I would say. experience really strong emotions without the ability to express them, there's some manifestation, like a metaphysical, manifestation of energy that is going on in the person's body. For example, grief can manifest as a stuck energy in the person's lungs and heart. There may be, cases of people developing lung cancer without ever smoking in their lifetime. One way that, reiki understands emotional blockage is that the negative energy can cause physical illnesses and diseases. So emotional blockage can cause physical blockage, which manifests in the form of diseases or stagnation. It can also show up as muscle tension, and so many different physical symptoms can be a result of emotional blockage. A mental blockage, on the other hand, is, An example would be limiting beliefs or, truths that people hold about things in their life that may prevent them from living authentically. And I find that emotional and mental blockages, they're always linked. I mean, all four them are always linked: emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual. Spiritual blockage, on the other hand, disclaimer, don't have to believe this, but it's just, my personal belief. So I believe in reincarnation of people, having past lives and future lives. So a spiritual blockage would be something that is so deep in a person's, soul that it could be wounds that they carried from a past life Or even wounds of their ancestors through intergenerational trauma. And it also can, include things that are called spiritual entanglement, which is when, the person's energy is being impacted by, Lower vibrations. It's clear you are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate on this subject. I'm learning things. And I also appreciate a lot of people in this program who are willing to have these conversations when we don't all believe the same things. We don't all see spirituality or experience it through the same lens or ways. And I think that's comforting for people to hear and speak about because, for example, I'm still figuring out if I believe in reincarnation- Mm-hmm because I don't know a lot about it, and I'm learning. So I really appreciate you sharing all of that. Of course. Thank you. You've expressed that you are introverted, as we've gathered. You're living in New York City- Mm-hmm which is a place of great stimulation. Yeah. How are you finding that combination as well as the fact that you are from Bangkok? Mm-hmm. Tell me a bit about your existence in those two environments. Sure. Bangkok, Thailand is also a big city. the population's around almost 9 million now, but we are, like, very much different from New York, even though we have, a similar population size. Bangkok is my hometown. I was born there, raised there, went to school there. I was there most of my life, with the exception of the time that I'm here, and six months which I spent in an undergraduate exchange program. So it is a lively city. I love Bangkok so much for its food and lifestyle and, shopping malls are so modern. So it's a city that's very much alive in Asia. New York, on the other hand, is much faster than Bangkok New York's always moving, and I feel that ever since I moved here, I started walking faster because everyone's full of energy, and somehow we're always running late. And on the subway and everywhere you gotta rush, you gotta hustle. So it's energizing, but in a different way, and I love it, too. But sorry, New York, food in Bangkok is better. Hot take. Okay. Well, maybe not a hot take. I have not been to Thailand, but it is a dream, for sure. Mm-hmm. And I hear the food is amazing. Yeah. Not to mention the prices are ridiculously cheap. Mm-hmm. You raise a really good point about people walking so fast here, because I would say the same. Before moving here and before I lived in London for a couple years as well, after both of those experiences, I remember a few times catching myself while I was, what felt as though I was sprinting down the sidewalk and had nowhere to be but it was just, I was adopting this, Gotta get somewhere." Mm-hmm. So it's a really funny aspect of living here. I know this is jumping around a little bit, but I wanted to ask you, You said you weren't really raised spiritual. And yet it's clear there's a fascination for spiritual practice, Reiki. How did these develop? I think, I have gone through an awakening journey through my own lived experience. But at the same time, there are so many synchronicities in my family life about spirituality. Only after I became a Reiki practitioner, I started talking to my parents about, Reiki and energy healing, and I actually found out that before I was born, my parents were also energy healing practitioners. No way. Mm-hmm. But they retired from the practice because, let's say that they were, taught a different modality, by a different teacher, which I don't know about anymore because they didn't talk too much about it. it's kinda interesting to see, there are some similarities and at the same time big differences. A lot of conversations on this podcast revolve around identity and labels. Are there any labels you have carried in your life that have been defining? Defining in terms of? That have held you back, that people have assumed about you, that have helped you flourish. Anything that comes to mind? I would say, a label of being a good student So ever since I was super young, I've always excelled in my academic studies, and I also graduated my undergrad with the highest GPA in my class. So I feel going at it all the time, like studying, achievement-oriented life so in a way, it has defined my, work ethics or the way that I study or the passion I put into my projects or things that I wanna invest in. So it makes me a very disciplined and, I became a person so full of grit because studying requires a lot of grit you need to be able to sit with a book and read for hours to absorb the information and then take exams, and yeah, that was defining, in a good way. And in another way that I feel that it may have, sometimes negatively impacted me would be, being very attached to external validation. Like, trophies and titles and grades So I'm releasing my attachment to, those external validations to feel more whole in myself. But at the same time, I'm also recognizing that, that label also kinda helped me become someone who's really, got my eye on the ball for anything that I do. Would you consider yourself a perfectionist? I am. And I am slowly Redefining my relationship with perfectionism, I would try to replace perfectionist with very detail-oriented and very passionate instead. I feel that sometimes... In the past, I used to be very perfectionistic, and I'm very self cr- I was. I'm not gonna use present tense. I was self-critical. Even just a really small mistake, like a typo in an email, I would like, "Why? Why did that happen? I didn't do it well enough." But I didn't give myself enough credit, or I didn't give myself enough compassion to realize that, hey, it's okay. it was a typo in like maybe 1,000 emails that you sent this year. So reeling it all back, and instead of blaming myself, I'm bringing more compassion into my heart. So good student, perfectionistic, that's my two defining words. While you were speaking about the label of a perfectionist and a good student, it was clear to me that you've done a lot of work to reframe the way you speak about labels that maybe you've carried and held, that in some ways, for example, the perfectionism holding you back and there being a lack of self-compassion. While sitting here, you were able to be like, No, I'm not gonna say that-" in the present tense." Mm-hmm. And you switched it. Mm-hmm. Which a lot of people I don't think are able to do and are probably working towards that, or ultimately that's a goal, is in present time, especially with self-critical thoughts, be able to catch it and put out a rebuttal as if that's not true. Are there tools you've used that have helped you get to a more healthy place around perfectionism, for example, and a lack of self-compassion? Oh, what a great question. Okay. I'm someone who journals a lot So I would write all my thoughts and feelings, even if it's like a super negative thought I had about myself. I would write it all down. I used to do this when I was like in my undergrad years. So I would have... I'm old school, so it's gonna be a notebook and a pen. So I'd write, "Oh my God, today I did a bad job in this exam. I didn't feel so great about myself today," and all the things that I feel are being poured from my heart into the paper. And then I'd let it sit for maybe a week, and then I'd come back to the same note with a different color pen, and I'd start responding to myself. So the things I wrote about last week, I would say, You are just tired. You can take some rest. Don't worry too much," in a different color pen. And just looking back, reading both notes has been like really fulfilling it makes me feel okay. I am not gonna subscribe to the negative thoughts that I had in the past. I feel like it's like an intrapsychic conversation. That's my approach is just to use different color pens to respond to my own thoughts. I think it's pretty creative. I still do it. Yeah. Very creative. I am gonna try that. Yeah. It's fun. It sounds very healing. Mm-hmm. It is. And there's something to the embodiment of actually writing it down, returning to the paper, and responding, rather than just having that conversation or trying to in your head. Mm-hmm. And it also reminds me of a class that you're familiar with, which is positive psychology. Yes. And I think this might be the third shout-out I'm giving to Dr. Dan Tomasulo. He's great. He's amazing. He's amazing. The chair exercise- which is another form of embodiment when it comes to dealing with self-criticism, and it was a game changer for me when I tried it. The first time I discovered it was in his "Learned Hopefulness" book. It was an activity, and when you see an activity in a book, sometimes you're like, "Oh, God. Like I don't wanna do this right now." And that's what my reaction was. I remember reading like, "Okay, you're gonna sit in a chair. You're gonna have one chair across from you, and it's gonna be empty. You're gonna say out loud a self-critical thought that you might be having to the empty chair, and then you're gonna stand up and sit in the other chair and respond to yourself as a friend would respond to you." Mm-hmm. And that physical act of standing and moving into a different perspective to be able to speak kindly to myself A light bulb went off. Which sounds similar to your writing and your response to yourself- a week later. Yeah. And I agree, the chair exercise is amazing. I've been doing it, every time that I feel overwhelmed. instead of talking to ChatGPT this is better it's coming from myself. And I've been introducing the chair exercises to a couple of my friends, who, how I was mentioning some of them may feel that I'm jumping off a cliff, and they actually did it, and they loved it too. And they're like, "Oh, so this is what you're studying? That's just amazing." See? You just gotta do it. Yeah. Yeah. If there was someone who told you they were standing on the edge of a cliff- Okay not a literal cliff- but a metaphorical cliff, and were worried about taking a risk, what would you say? I would say they should do the chair exercise. But okay, other than that, I would invite them to just tune out what everyone else is saying and going within to listen to the voice that's coming from the bottom of their heart. That's my way of, getting in touch with my authenticity and also really shutting everything else down, because everyone else is living a different life. And as cheesy as it sounds, you only have your own life to live. So and I find that my response has a lot to do with introversion. But yeah. Say more about that. What I mean- As an introvert, we... for me, okay? I'm not gonna say for all the introverts out there, but just for me, always something going on inside. We have this inner world, like a bubble that we have, and there's just that small little voice inside us that's really keeping us on the path that we are meant to be walking. For me, I feel that the voice is always inside. it's not, it's never outside for me. So whenever I need to really have time to think about something, I can disappear for like three weeks without responding to people, going into my bubble and just being with myself when I really need to evaluate, things in my life or think about what I wanna do. When I'm overwhelmed, I would retreat into my bubble until a voice speaks to me from my heart. Which I think can be really important for everyone, introverted or extroverted. Mm-hmm. But I can imagine that would be a lot harder for someone who falls on the end of extroversion to take that time. Because usually their energy comes from being with others. Yeah. And when we're with others, sometimes voices can cloud our own. We're gonna leave everyone to ponder that. Yeah. Because before we hit the pause button on recording, I wanna just give people a chance to connect with you, whether that be Instagram, your Reiki, feel free to take the floor. Yeah, sure. my Instagram is plearnsoulsister. Um, Soul Sister is the name of my Reiki studio, and, you can always find me on LinkedIn, Plearn Pitikan Suriyamongkol. Which will be in the show notes. Thank you, Plearn, for showing up today and being honest and authentic. It's very clear you embody that. Plearn's three words: passionate, introverted, and a dreamer. Thank you for being here. Thank you, Rachel.