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Welcome to the, my natural wellness podcast with Dr. Michelle, TRIZ giving you your holistic healthcare perspective.

Welcome back to my natural wellness podcast. A holistic perspective on health and wellness. I am joined today by a very special guest and dear friend of mine, Jaylene, and I'm so excited to have her on the podcast. Uh, lots of reasons why, uh, what she particularly does for herself, her family, the world is so important. Um, but I'm gonna start by just saying hello. Hello is Eileen <laugh>.

Hi, I'm Michelle. Thank you so much. I'm so honored to be on your podcast.

I'm honored to have you too. So I talk a lot, or you've heard me talk a lot if you've been on my website or on the podcast about health, about wellness, and mostly you've heard about me talk about food on my last podcast, we talked a little bit about mindset and, uh, I wanna dig into that a little deeper on this podcast, which is why I have invited Jalene to join us. And, uh, Jalene does yoga meditation. She's also does home organization. She's does ju has a jewelry business with beautiful gemstones and jewels. She does a lot of things. She, but, um, you know, she's, uh, a guide for mindfulness, uh, through meditation and yoga as well. And, um, she has guided me through many meditations, um, since we've known each other and many yoga classes. And, um, so tell us a little bit about yourself, um, and yeah. About what you do about how you feel about all of that.

Yeah. So like you said, I'm into a lot of different things. Uh, it took me a little while to kind of be okay with that, but actually one of the things that I do called human design helped me embrace that I am multifaceted, that I love to do different things and I can be successful, lots of different things. And so I've been really embracing that for the last couple years. Um, but yoga, I feel was really the start of it all. When I was introduced to yoga, I just fell in love and the breath was what I felt had the biggest impact on my life and not realizing I would breathe shallow a lot and that there was no intentional breathing. Um, and I didn't realize that that was, uh, missing until I started to do it. Once I started doing intentional breathing in with my yoga practice, I realized how much more calm I was, how much more clarity I had in my mind find then going deeper into very intentional, not just breathing with your movements through yoga, but very intentional breathing, finding different techniques and little by little going deeper into that.

But I do believe that it's just so integral for the, the way we live our lives to have some kind of practice where we're moving the body in whichever way feels best for you. Of course, I'm a little biased. I think yoga is the best way <laugh> um, I just feel like it's encompassing everyone. It's accessible to everyone. It doesn't matter, you know? Yeah. And I

Agree the breath

Work, the breath work in with the movement starts to introduce you, to breathing, breathing appropriately breathing in a way that's highly beneficial. Uh, not just rest to feel clear of mind, but it's just good for our body. You, you know, this very well of what it actually does to our body, to ourselves, to our brain, the, that our body functions. Right. I've done it more. So you have more of the, uh, knowledge on it where I've done it more through experience. Like the way I feel is I, I have to share it with everyone. I just feel amazing from doing all of these things from myself first.

Yes. It's so helpful for mental health, right? It's so helpful for relaxation because we're in this stress high paced world. But from, from the holistic perspective on your health, you know, we walk around with, you know, our mind and our body feeling very separate and breathwork and yoga and meditation, they take these things and they put them together and say, you're not separate for, from your body. And so doing the breath work with the yoga, it's, uh, it was my foray into mindfulness too, to merge the two that's when I really started to feel that, oh, we're one, we are one with our breath and our body, but it relaxes the nervous system. It calms down the body in a lot of different ways. And when you're healing, it actually facilitates that healing process because the nervous system is able to do what it's supposed to do instead of trying to fight or flight the situation that you're, you're constantly feeling that stress. So it sort of turns that switch off and allows the body to do what it's supposed to do from a, from a health perspective. But like you said, it feels good, right? <laugh>

Yes. It feels recharging. I just feel rejuvenated very, uh, grounded, clear mind, everything flows a little bit easier. I feel more in tune with my own body, with everything around me, my emotions, like everything feels more manageable when I do keep a, uh, regular breathwork practice. And I like to start my day off that way. That's the first thing I do. I get up, brush my teeth, come back to bed and do my breathwork, uh, it's changed throughout the years, what I've done. And I think that's also a nice way to keep it fresh, you know, changing it up, trying new ones, seeing what works, seeing what doesn't feeling it out, you know, finding the one that works best for you, for your body, for the way you feel and what you need with where you're at in that moment.

Right? Yes. I totally agree with that. And then, you know, like you, when I, I started out with just yoga and then the breath work, and then the mindfulness sort of came after that sort of, can you talk a little bit about, um, mindfulness and the importance of it and, and what, what that really means just because it's, it's this term that we throw around, but, um, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

Yeah, of course. So mindfulness to me is not, not having a full mind, right. Or even if we do have a full mind that we're able to be at ease and I strongly strongly believe that it's a work in progress, that it's a practice, right? Just like our yoga practice. We're never done practicing. I've been teaching for years and I'm not done practicing. I still show up. I still go to class. You know, I still wanna learn new things. I wanna get deeper in my practice. I wanna learn how to do something different and new or deeper. So same thing with mindfulness when we start, it might just be listening to our breath, you know, relaxing in the morning. And then all of a sudden it starts when we're driving also. And then we're trying to get things done. If we have kids and, you know, before we speak to them taking a deep breath and before we speak to our partners and our anybody else, like really just being mindful of how we show up, how we express ourselves, not being reactive, being more responsive, taking a moment, take our breath, relax, cause your body for just a second, it makes such a difference.

It doesn't have to be a huge practice and we have to do it for 30 minutes or, you know, for any amount of time, it literally can be one breath. It could be five breaths and that will dramatically change the way that you feel, the way you react, your relationships, you show up feeling good about yourself. So to me, mindfulness, um, kind of means being proud of the way I show up. So how I shop, how I eat, how I behave with people, uh, how I treat myself <laugh>, uh, so kind of income, everything. So just being very aware of how we show up what we do, um, the impact that we make, you know, no matter how small it is, whether it's for the people, for the earth, for ourselves, for whatever it might be. Um, so having a deep reverence for all things is what that means. I like that.

I, I like got a lot. I, I find that there are certain times in the day that it's easier for me. Like, uh, when I'm washing the dishes, for some reason, the warm water and the motion, I just I'm very present when I'm washing the dishes. It's kind of a running joke in the house. Like, Hey, mom loves to wash dishes. I'm like, not true. I do not like wash dishes. I swear. But they're like, you're so really, and I'm, I'm breathing and I'm present. And I, and I, I feel like what you made such a good point about how it doesn't have to be this huge thing. Like, oh, I have to sit down and I'm gonna meditate and I'm gonna do this for 30 minutes. And, and, and then I feel, I, I add this to almost every one of my patient's protocols now to have like a mindfulness meditation breathwork practice.

And, and out of all the things I'm asking them to do, this is the one where people have the most, um, you know, pushback. They're like, well, I'm really bad at that. Right. I'm really bad at meditation. And I try to explain, like, I, you know, nobody's, you're never gonna get good at it. It's not the point. If you're trying to get good at meditation, you've lost the point of meditation. Yeah. So, um, you know, like even when you pick up a glass of water and you drink it, or even when you're peeling your carrots, when you're, it's like being awake instead of being asleep, which is right. You know, earlier today I was driving somewhere and what happened? I was lost in thought and I ended up yeah, like 10 minutes further than I needed to be. <laugh> couldn't believe that happened. But that's like the definition of, or the antithesis of mindfulness. Right. I was, I was asleep. I was awake and asleep and we spent so much in of our time on this planet asleep and mindfulness to me is like, it's like, wake up, be here, be present, pull you in.

Exactly. Right. So a lot of times we're in the future or in the past and thinking about all these things. Right. So very much so just being as present as possible in every moment. And I think that's why the word reverence to me kind of, uh, is so linked to, to mindfulness because it's having such a deep respect for everything you're doing, whether it is washing dishes or folding the clothes, you know, noticing where your mind goes, where your thoughts go, what stories are you saying? Like, oh, I don't wanna be doing this. You know, but if you were to just enjoy it by taking a few breaths and being really in the moment, you'd be surprised. And I think why people think it's bad is because until you do it, you really don't know mm-hmm <affirmative>. So people think they're bad at it, but until they start to see what happens, mm-hmm <affirmative>, you really don't know if you just try it once.

If you just try it twice, even might take you five or six times or, or more there's no right or wrong way, you know, there's no specific place to get to. I, I wouldn't say right. You know, it's, it's just a practice. It's just something that you do. It's not something you have to win at. It's not something you have to, it's not another one of those things. We have plenty of that in our lives. The same with the yoga. I think it's just something to do. It's a practice to have, because it feels great because we show up in an even better way.

Well, we are going, you're going to lead us on a guided meditation in a little bit, which will help all of us to, if you're listening to this and hopefully you're not driving, please don't drive and listen this and close your eyes or anything like that, but we're gonna, Zena's gonna lead us into a meditation. But before we do that, I, um, wanted to talk about, um, a great way to learn about meditation and yoga would be to come to a wellness retreat that saline and I are hosting. Um, I'm very excited about this because it's coming up in February and why give your wife or your husband the gift of, uh, a dinner that everybody's gonna get, or some flowers that are gonna die in a week, or, you know, why not do this couple's wellness retreat and come out to fish, eating Creek with us and spend some time deeply, uh, engaging with, with another and, and, and getting that connection, uh, restored in a, in a really great and positive way back to nature. So Jalene is, is a wonderful guide, and she's gonna be participating in a big way in this, uh, in leading this, um, in this retreat, that's coming up February 17th through the 18th. Can you tell us a little bit more about what you'll be doing for the retreat?

Yes, I'm so, so excited. I think that being out in nature just makes everything even more impactful. So I love the idea of us being outside and being able to, when I say ground down, we're literally on the ground. That makes me so excited. So, uh, I will be guiding everyone through a little bit of movement, just getting our body, moving, connecting down to the ground underneath us, the wind, the sky, just being out in nature is gonna be amazing for everyone. Even if you have already had a practice for yoga and breathing and everything, doing it outside, if you haven't done it, I think a is gonna be pretty impactful. Um, so moving our body move and then breathing. So breathing with the movements, I think is really important too, of going at your own pace. This translates to so many other things, you know, in the long run into life of moving at our own pace, not being rushed, not so we're not gonna rush our body, not gonna tell our body what to do.

We're gonna listen, right? We're gonna give back to our body, our bodies constantly giving to us and constantly doing everything we ask of it. So this will be an opportunity for us to really slow down, really get connected with our bodies, with ourself, with our breath. And then of course, we'll go into a little mindfulness, some yummy meditations with some sound healing or little Roman therapy. So I'll bring the crystal bowls, uh, providing a little bit of sound, um, baths for us to do while we're in meditation, visualizing different things, um, building this bond. If you're bringing your partner, definitely connecting deeper with them through the, these practices. It important, I think to deepen our own intimacy with our partners is to get really comfortable with ourselves, to know ourselves really well, to do these things for and by ourselves and then to do them together. Just feels so nice. So I'm super excited.

Yeah. I'm, I'm, I'm also excited. We'll be, um, providing you with these wonderful, um, 10 and air mattresses and a little nightstand, and we'll provide all of the meals and the drinks and the snacks. And then, um, if you're part of that, you'll also get, um, one on one time with, uh, me Dr. Michelle, and we'll talk through some health goals and things that you're wanting to do and will be doing, uh, kayaking and nature trails. I mean, this is a really great time, a great way to, you know, deepen that in intimacy and also connect with yourself, connect with nature. And I'm excited that, um, that we've partnered to do this together because it really brings, um, a alar, a great aspects of both the mindfulness and the body together. So, um, so that is Thursday, February 17th through, uh, Friday, February 18th. And so if you are interested in that, um, you can reach out to, to us, you can visit the website, um, my natural wellness.com/wellness for treats, um, and you'll have, uh, contact information for, um, Jaylene who you'll be reaching out to, to, to book your, um, your spot. We only have a few spots left and we're, we, we really hope to sell out. So that means that means you, you coming and signing up is what we need. So, um, anything else on the retreats that you wanted to share saline?

No. Uh, oh yes, actually that it doesn't have to be necessarily with a partner. We also have someone signed up. That's actually coming by themselves. So if this is a time for you and you're, don't have a partner and you do wanna deepen your, your intimacy with yourself, just getting to know yourself better, we already have a person that signed up doing that. And so that's definitely something that we can offer and just modify it a little bit so that it works for you for you being there by yourself. I think that's huge too. So it's not just specifically for couples.

Yes. It's, it's more about opening up that heart chakra and it's more about love and it's about, you know, expansion than it is about a particularly two couples, uh, together. So yes, if you are coming by yourself, we welcome you with open arms and we will definitely, um, be glad to have you. So, um, what do you think, should we meditate? Do you think?

Yeah, I'm ready.

I right. I'm ready. I have been very excited about this all day <laugh> cause I love to have guided meditation, so I'm ready whenever you are.

Thank you. Thank you. Uh, so I think that before in the past, it was challenging for me to kind of get into meditation because it feels a little challenging for me to be sitting upright and feeling like I have to have this very specific posture. And I've really been enjoying pride for the last year of just letting that go and laying down. So I lay down, but I keep my knees bent. I will ki kind of cave them in towards each other, or just find a really comfortable position where my low back is just totally relaxed. And I, and I'm not gonna also fall asleep. So, um, trying to find a position that kind of keeps me up. Knees bent kind of makes me stay up a little bit, but then my spine is relaxed and pressed down on the ground. I also feel more supported or even sitting up against the wall so that you have the support of the wall or a chair or anything like that.

So if you do wanna take it seated, which I think is a great way of doing it, it's just seated without any back support. To me has felt in the past really challenging to focus cuz I'm focusing on my posture. So I would say that they're really comfy, whatever that means to you. So if you're in a chair, just make it even more comfy, whether that's a pillow or just finding a way to get more comfortable into the chair, if you rather lay down and that sounded like a great idea, laid down, maybe keep your knees bent CAPD in towards each other and then arrive. So notice how we might be here physically, but where is our mind is our mind also here, maybe closing down the eyes might help if that feels comfortable and safe for you.

And then taking a few breaths to feel out this moment, take everything around you, whatever sounds are going on the temperature of the room. Um, if there's any light or color coming through the eyelids, even if they're closed any sense and see if you can soften a little bit more, relax the shoulders down into the back, the legs, softening through the mind, relaxing the forehead, the lips, the jaw being wholeheartedly here, the mind pulls you away into anything else. Just lovingly R it right back here. And an excellent way to do that with love and kindness and compassion to ourselves is our breath.

So I invite you to find your breath, notice your rhythm, notice the pattern. Do you breathe into your belly or the chest first notice any sensations? So how does the inhale feel? How does the exhale feel? Maybe lengthening your breaths. If that feels good, bringing in a little extra oxygen on the inhale and then just letting a little extra goal on the exhale. Don't be afraid to make sounds with every exhale. The body gets a little softer. The mind gets a little quieter or more relaxed. And if the mind pulls us away, we'll come right back to the breath.

If it feels right for you on the inhales, we're gonna pull in this mantra, maybe creating a new mental loop as opposed to our to-dos and what's next in our day or whatever we've got going on in our minds. Maybe it's an exciting thing we're gonna do later on. Can we pause at mental loop just for a few moments and add in this mental loop, breathing in. I love myself exhaling. Anything else that comes up breathing in? I love myself, exhale, everything else, just continue this mental loop, every breath in. I love myself every breath out, letting go releasing any unnecessary expectations we may have of ourselves today.

Just finding a nice deep reverence for exactly where we are in this moment, continuing to breathe. And I love myself at exhaling. Anything else, and then maybe adding a little bit of into that. So if you really, truly deeply loved yourself in this moment, how does your body feel? How does your mind feel? How does your heart feel? Continue your pattern of breath, your own pace. Maybe for the next few exhales, we bring in a little gratitude, inhaling, self love, exhaling gratitude. You can make it something specific or it can just be the feeling of gratitude, breathing in more self love, self acceptance, breathing out gratitude, bringing a little more feeling into that. Feel that self love, feel your gratitude to a few more breaths.

If it feels right for you starting to bring both hands to the heart space, maybe one hand on top of the other vowing to yourself for the rest of today. And maybe for a few more days, the rest of the week, vowing to ourselves to move in the ways that we would move if we truly deeply loved ourselves unconditionally, but before making any other decisions today, ask yourself if I truly deeply love myself, would I go there? Would I eat this? Would I listen to this? Would I watch this? Would I think these thoughts towards myself or others allowing this to be a soft, gentle practice that builds over time? No expectation, no forcing <affirmative>, we'll take three more deep breaths in and slow breaths out before we open our eyes. Just visualizing how it would look and feel for ourselves, picturing ourselves deeply loving and accepting ourselves uncondition of we. How does that look? How does that feel if you wanna join in, we'll close off by bringing both hands in prayer position. If that feels okay. Thumbs to the forehead center, maybe bowing, our beautiful minds to our courageous, fearless and giant hearts. Thank you for joining us on our meditation today. I hope you have a few moments to just soak in how you're feeling. I hope you realize how beneficial it is to just take a few minutes for ourselves to take a few breaths, to connect to chicken.

Wow. Thank you. Thank you so much. I feel so. I feel so good. And I was actually a little surprised that, uh, is a little emotional <laugh> yeah. <laugh> um, and just connecting to that, to your love you're in a love for yourself is, is, is amazing. And it's a practice that we should continue. And I, I really wanna thank you so much for, for joining me this podcast and sharing your gifts with, with everyone that's listening and everyone in the future that will listen. Um, if you want to reach out to Jaylene, if you want more information about her yoga classes or meditation or the other wonderful things that she does with, um, with her in her business, with, um, jewelry and, and, um, you can, um, see it in the show notes. Um, but it's also, um, X a Y L E E n.com. That's right. I got it right. Good. Um, but I will put it, I will put it in the show notes so everybody can, can, um, reach out to her and I hope you will. She's an amazing person. Um, so thank you so much. You,

You so much for having me, this was super fun. Thank you. I look forward to listening to more of your podcast and look forward to connecting with whoever feels pulled to, you know, work with me deeper. So appreciate

You. Thank you for listening to the, my natural wellness podcast with Dr. Michelle